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An Apology for African Methodism:
Electronic Edition.

Tanner, Benj. T. (Benjamin Tucker), 1835-1923


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(title page) An Apology for African Methodism
Benj. T. Tanner
xxiii, 468 p.
Baltimore
s. n.
1867

Call number 287.8 T166A (Divinity School Library, Duke University Libraries)


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AN APOLOGY
FOR
AFRICAN METHODISM,

BY

BENJ. T. TANNER.

BALTIMORE:
1867.


Page verso

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1867, by
BENJAMIN T. TANNER,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the District of Maryland.


Page iii

        TO THE
BISHOPS, ELDERS, DEACONS,
AND
Members of African Methodist Episcopal Church,
THE WRITER DEDICATES
THIS BOOK,
With the most unfeigned Respect.


Page v

PREFACE.

        THE writer believes in earnestness, especially in regard to Religion. He has no admiration for the character, who is reputed to have prayed, "good Lord, good Devil."

        The most cutting reproof in all Scripture, is that against the Christians of Laodicea, who "were neither hot nor cold."*

        * Rev. iii: 16.


They are represented as making the Lord sick, like a nauseous draught, and he threatens to "spew them out of his mouth!"*

        * Rev. iii: 16.


A most sickening picture indeed. And yet how true is it. How perfectly contemptible--how sickening, is that class of professed Christians, who, like the Laodicians, "are neither hot nor cold;" like their neighbors of Sardis, "have a name to live, and are dead."*

        *Rev. iii: 1.


        In these times, this is the class of Christians that prays not, nor works not. Their time is spent in criticising the Minister, and ridiculing the more pious souls, who may be unfortunate enough to hold communion with them. Their Minister must be


Page vi

swift of tongue, more adept in politics than in theology; a constant attendant upon the fashionable gatherings; and not too stringent about the common demands of the Christian life. They are fashionable Christians! those of whom Paul doubtless speaks in his second letter to Timothy, "This know also, that in the last days, perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, * * * * * * Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof."*

        * II Tim. iii: 1.


        It is to this class that we have especially directed our Apology.

        "Methodism, has been well defined as Christianity in earnest." Disregarding the tastes and maxims of the world, it seeks to make men worshippers "in spirit and in truth"--real worshippers, and not the Apes of Christian service. Why do these fashionable folks ape the devotions of the pious? Having no heart for the service, yet do they go through the motions! Why not have manlier hearts? It is a question whether they should be pitied or despised. No, it is no question, for the Lord despised those of Laodicea.

        The tongues of this class of Christians have long been burdened with charges against Methodism.


Page vii

With Celsus, they say that Methodists "are uncultivated, mean, superstitious people--mechanics, slaves, women and children." With Lucian, they brand Methodist love as "a silly enthusiasm."

        This Apology is written that all such may judge with more considerate judgment, and that henceforth they may be left without an excuse, should they continue their tirade against us.

        Part II does not pretend to sketch all the leading and most intelligent members of our dozen Conferences. Those presented, however, may be safely taken as a general estimate of the intellectual strength of the African M. E. Church.

        What David said of his offspring, so say we of our Apology, our first offspring; and like him, too, we say it to friends: "Deal gently with the young man Absalom."*

         * II Sam. xviii: 5.



Page ix

CONTENTS OF PART I.


Page xv

CONTENTS OF PART II.


Page 13

AN APOLOGY
FOR
African Methodism.

PART I.

CHAPTER I.
THE REASONS WHY.

        "Hear ye my defence."--Paul.

        WE propose to write for the benefit of all concerned an Apology for African Methodism, or more especially, for and in behalf of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

        We are aware the title "Apology" grates upon the ears of many, arguing as they do, that in view of the splendid triumphs which God has vouchsafed unto us, no "Apology" is needed. But it should be remembered that after it had been recorded of Christianity, and recorded by its enemies


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too, that it "is spread like a contagion, not only into cities and towns, but into country villages,"*

        * Pliny's letter to Trajan.


also that the heathen "temples were almost forsaken," and the "sacrifices have few purchasers," that both Quadratus and Aristides presented to the Emperor Adrian, Apologies in its behalf; while Justin the Martyr, offered two Apologies, one to the emperor Antoninus Pius, and the other to the Roman Senate. Indeed the first three centuries of our era abound with Christian Apologists. What reader of church history has not learned of the Liber Apologeticus, presented to the Roman Senate by the fiery Tertullian?

        It is, in the ecclesiastical sense, then, we use the term "Apology" and not in the sense of an excuse.

        It is asked why we write this?

        We reply:

        I. That the members of the Ministry and Laity of the African M. E. Church, and especially the younger and more aspiring, may have somewhat to reply to those who would disparage the Church of their birth, as well as of their choice.

        II. That all those Christian peoples, and more particularly such as are our "brethren according to the flesh," who have seemed to regard the whole Bethel connexion, as they term our Church, and we accept it, in very much the same light that the ancient Jews did Nazareth, and in the spirit of that godless race, can see no good in it, constantly branding it as ignorant, fanatical, and proscriptive--that all


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such may be induced to "look with their eyes, and not with their prejudices," quoting Wendell Phillips; and judge us, if not by our words, at least by our works.*

        * John x: 38.


        III. That the candid and impartial man, the man whose soul is capable of appreciating the endeavors of the weak, of applauding the morally heroic--that all such men may have placed within their reach some data from which they will be enabled to come to just conclusions in regard to a Church and people, whose only offense was, they dared to obey God rather than man,*

        * Act v: 29.


whose only offense is, they stand on their way.


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CHAPTER II.
THE GREAT OFFENSE.

        "Stand up, I myself am also a man."--Peter.

        THE giant crime committed by the Founders of the African M. E. Church, against the prejudiced white American, and the timid black--the crime which seems unpardonable, was that they dared to organize a Church of men, men to think for themselves, men to talk for themselves, men to act for themselves: A Church of men who support from their own substance, however scanty, the ministration of the Word which they receive; men who spurn to have their churches built for them, and their pastors supported from the coffers of some charitable organization; men who prefer to live by the sweat of their own brow and be free. Not that the members of this communion are filled with evil pride, for they exhibit a spirit no more haughty nor overbearing than Paul, who never neglected to remind the world that he was a man and a Roman citizen.

        Slavery and prejudice, stood up like demons before Allen and his compeers, and forbade them to use the talents which God had given.

        Slavery bellowed in one ear, "You may obey but you shall not rule."


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        Prejudice thundered in the other, "You may hear but you shall not speak." And to utterly break their spirits, they both took up the damning refrain, "God may permit you to be Levites, but not Priests."

        They listened! and more than half dismayed, they asked themselves, "If we are not to think, for what purpose were reasoning faculties bestowed? if not to talk, why were our tongues created? If there be a fitness of things in creation; 'considered they in their sober reflection,' and the intellect was given to one class, with which it was to think and reason, and the tongue for utterance, and the muscular strength for every sphere of action, surely for the same high purposes were they conferred on all. But if it be true, that our white brethren must do all the thinking and controlling, all the preaching with the multiplied ministrations of the Gospel, then indeed is there an unfathomable mystery in the fact that we are made like them, with mind and voice and strength -- we whose normal condition, they teach, is only to work. Why not the horse and ox have mind and speech as well." Thus doubtless they reasoned, in substance, and never having heard that the Lord repented Him, of having bestowed rational powers upon the Negro, they concluded that they must use them at their peril, lest they be condemned like him who buried his one talent.*

         * Matt. xxv: 25.


        Other than the intuition of their own souls, to which allusion has just been made, need we ask,


Page 18

Who taught them these lessons of religious freedom and nerved them to be free?

        We answer on their behalf:

        (a) They learned it from God's word. "What," says a zealous Churchman, "learn schism from God's word?"

        No, not schism, for we argue that when it becomes clearly impossible for peoples to worship together to mutual edification, they commit not that heinous offence by separating, and forming anew such organizations as best redounds to the glory of God; if so, then indeed would Abram, by separating from Lot, and Paul from Barnabas, become the princes of the schismatics. Richard Allen, Daniel Coker and others, unable to endure the mad prejudices of their white brethren, which pulled them off their knees, drove them from the body of the church, thrust them into galleries, resolved to leave them in peace, and worship under such circumstances as would be to edification, and not condemnation--as would dignify and not debase.

        Allen was no advocate of Church divisions; he had read with trembling, the thundering imprecations against all who dare to rend the visible body of the Saviour;*

        * I Cor. i: 12.


hence, when compelled to leave, let it be said to his praise, that he made no attempt to bring in a new Ministry, or to institute rites and ceremonies not authorized by the Church. He sought only to have the acknowledged Ordinances conducted by pure and impartial hands; and who is there that
Page 19

will dare to brand the word "Schismatic" upon the old man's brow?

        The Hellenistic Christians in Apostolic times, when treated not half so cruel as were the Founders of our Zion, manfully took the matter in hand and rested not until it was adjudicated to their satisfaction. Nor did the Apostles resist, but appreciating the righteousness of their complaint, had it remedied by instituting a new order in the Ministry, even the Deaconate.

        Allen was too discerning a man to charge back upon Christian principles, the unfair treatment he received from professed believers; he was too honest to hold Jesus responsible for Simon Magus.

        It is not the province of the Reformer to loose the the foundations, to change Christian doctrine; he should rather say with Him who is the great Reformer, "I am not come to destroy the low, but to fulfill."*

        * Matt. v: 17.


        The word of God properly interpreted is the foundation of all doctrine, and every reformation must be toward it. The creed that conflicts with it must be annulled; that which is in harmony with, or flows directly from, must be received.

        "But," says a Caviler, "what mean you by the phrase, 'properly interpreted?' "

        We mean that interpretation, which the combined judgment of the Christian world has always given to it. As it is not the prerogative of the Reformer to change doctrine, it is equally beyond his prerogative


Page 20

to give a forced or individual construction to the revealed word. We would apply to interpretation, the same rule that our Book of Discipline, in consonance with every branch of the Christian Church, applies to the reception of the canonical Scriptures. "In the name of the Holy Scriptures," saith Art. V, "we do understand those canonical books of the Old and New Testament, of whose authority was never any doubt in the Church." Why should individual opinion be tolerated in the matter of interpretation, if not in determining the question of the Canon? Surely for the preservation of truth, a proper interpretation is just as necessary as the reception of the Canon itself, and no substantial reason can be given why personal judgment should be allowed in the one, and denied in the other.

        Cecil says: "The Bible is the meaning of the Bible."

        Staunton, of Ravenwood, says: "The Christian faith is not that interpretation which every man may choose to put on the words of Scripture, for then there would be ten thousand faiths, instead of one, and all certainty respecting truth be lost."

        One of the Bishops of London, recognizing the necessity of such a principle of action said, "Some decision right or wrong must be made; society could not subsist without it."

        The Catholic Fenelon believed in the principle to such an extent as to lead him to make the daring remark, "It is better to live without any law, than to have laws which all men are left to interpret according to their several opinions and interests."


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        Acting on this principle every well ordered government finds it necessary to have officers regularly appointed whose duty it shall be to define law--to give an expose of them: in our own Republic, the illustrious Salmon P. Chase sits as Chief Justice, the head of those thus appointed. We ask: Shall not the Church, which is the Kingdom of God, be as well ordered as any?

        And herein consists the strictest Democracy, the most approved Protestantism--a Democracy and a Protestantism, that rises in its might against a one man rule, and insists that the majority shall hold sway; believing as it does, that it is altogether more probable that a thousand men of equal wisdom, piety and disinterestedness, have the right view of a subject, while the single individual is in error; unless, indeed, that individual lay claim to inspired wisdom, and give sensuous demonstration of the same; should which be done, and his message conflicts not with the Gospel,*

         * Gal. i: 8.


then, say we, let the world bow down to his behests.

        Thus, we doubt not, reasoned Richard Allen, and the thought, doubtless, never entered his brain of attempting to change the received dogmas, or bring in new ones. He felt that the humane teachings of Scripture had been disregarded, that partiality the most flagrant had been entertained and practiced against him and his race. When he heard the sanctimonious Parson read, "For if there come unto your assembly, a man with a gold ring, in goodly


Page 22

apparel, and there come in also a poor man in vile raiment, and ye have respect to him that weareth the gay clothing, and say unto him, 'Sit thou here in a good place,' and say to the poor, 'Stand thou there,' (back by the door) or sit thou here (behind the door, or in some unswept gallery,) under my footstool, are ye not partial in yourselves, and are become judges of evil thoughts?"*

        * Jas. ii: 2-4.


and then tacitly consent to the most shameful treatment of the poor blacks, the unblushing hypocrisy of the thing, sank deep into his warm African heart, and he resolved to quietly withdraw.

        (b) Whence arose the common determination of the 'Free Africans' to be ecclesiastically free?

        We give a second reply:

        Allen and his liberty-loving coadjutors learned these lessons of religious manhood, from the very people who now strove to fasten upon them a hated authority. They had heard the stories which make up the religious history of the country; of the May-flower and its heroic band, who braved the perils of the deep, the greater perils of the land, all that they might not be ecclesiastically oppressed. They had heard of Roger Williams and the city which he built for all those who might be distressed on account of conscience.*

        * Providence, R. I.


They had heard of William Penn--of him who forsook inherited honors and riches, with all their concomitant train of earthly delights, that he might be free, religiously free.

        But the most potent of all, was the lesson taught


Page 23

them by the Methodists themselves. If the rise of Anglo Methodism is to be excused, that of African Methodism is to be plead for; and if the former is to be countenanced, the latter is to be most strenuously defended. Was John Wesley and his people ever made the subjects of brutal treatment, and at the hands of their religious teachers? Richard Allen and his people were. Was John Wesley denied any or all of the immunities which belong to a man and a Christian? Richard Allen was. Was John Wesley driven from the Assembly of the Saints, and bade in fact, "Go serve other gods?"*

         * 1 Sam. xxvi. 19.


Richard Allen was.

        Nor can Methodism, Anglo or American, be so successfully defended, as when arguments similar to these are employed, for all other arguments, as to rites and doctrines, do but "beg the question,"--are based on premises which ought first to be proved themselves. It was on this ground chiefly, that Wesley himself justified the American Methodists in breaking away from the English hierarchy, and becoming a self controlling body. In a letter addressed "To Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and our Brethren in North America," and written after the Revolutionary struggle, in speaking of Methodist Preachers receiving ordination at the hands of the English Bishops, he objected to it: 3rd. "If they would ordian them, they would likewise expect to govern them, and how grievously that would entangle us;" 4th. "As our American brethren are now totally disentangled, both from the State and the English


Page 24

we dare not entangle them again either with the one or the other. They are now at full liberty, simply to follow the Scripture, and the primitive Church; and we judge it best that they should stand fast in the liberty wherewith God has so strangely made them free."

        In plain words, Mr. Wesley's argument was, that if they remained in the Episcopal fold, they would have been controlled against their wishes, which was most true.

        Nor does Dr. Coke, at the consecration of the Rev. Mr. Asbury to the office of Bishop, fail to use a similar train of argument, as the first, as it is undoubtedly the strongest, in the defence he there makes. We could quote at length, but refrain; let the following suffice. Speaking of the Church of England he says: "The churches were in general filled with the parasites and bottle companions of the rich and great. The humble and most importunate treaties of the oppressed flocks, yea, the representations of a general assembly itself, were contemned and despised." And because of such oppressive treatment toward the people, Dr. Coke justifies their withdrawal from the English Church, and their organization into an independent body.

        So too, Dr. Bangs, in his "History of Methodism," when he speaks of the Fluvanna Conference held in 1779, says: "Here the arguments in favor of administering the ordinances, came up with double force. The war had separated them from Mr. Wesley; all the English Preachers, except Mr. Asbury,


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had returned to England, and nearly all the Ministers of the Establishment, being unfriendly to the American cause, had also left their flocks and gone home."

        And what says Dr. Abel Stevens, in his masterly work: "English writers have deemed it desirable to defend him (Wesley) against the imputations of disregard for the authority and order of the national Church. The task is not difficult, as will be seen in the course of our narrative; but it may hereafter be a more difficult one to defend him before the rest of the Christian world, for having been so deferential to a hierarchy whose moral condition at the time he so much denounced, and whose studied policy throughout the rest of his life, was to disown, if not to defeat, him."

        In short, the gist of the whole matter is, it was the manly upheaval of Wesley's bosom, that forbade him to wait longer the tardy motions of the English Bishops, and compelled him to exercise a power long before recognized as lawful by him, and ordain, and send on swift wing, Dr. Coke, to superintend the Methodist societies, as well as to ordain their preachers.

        It was thus too, on the part of the American Methodists. Weary with the prejudiced actions of pastors, who were opposed alike to them, and to their bleeding country; weary at not having administered to them, the Bread by which man lives; weary at beholding their little ones called to the bosom of God, without even a form of Baptism, they broke


Page 26

away with a firm determination to be Christian men.

        How then, can the world condemn a generation of men for acting the part of freemen, that had been tutored by such a valiant race. Richard Allen, taught by the example of Coke and Asbury, with a courage equal to theirs, only acted up to the necessities of the hour in which he lived.

        (c) The third answer to the question, "Whence learned they these lessons of ecclesiastical freedom?" we give:

        The very genius of Columbia, the genius that speaks only of freedom, told them to stand up with the crowd.

        Are not America and Liberty synonyms? Is freedom not taught by our mountains, in their defiant and unbroken range from pole to pole? Does not the rushing of our rivers tell us of liberty, as they in majesty sweep along, bidding the hills stand aside at their coming? and what are the wave songs of our Northern seas, but the songs of the untrammelled and unbought?

        They learned it from the school boy, as he threw up his cap and shouted, Liberty! They learned it from the broken accent of the fresh foreigner, as he muttered out Liberty! They learned it from the stereotyped prayer, uttered every Sabbath from ten thousand altars--the prayer of thankfulness for the privilege of worshiping God under our own vine and fig tree, none daring to molest or make us afraid.

        Lessons of liberty once learned are soon practiced to the confusion of tyrants, and the joy of the poor.


Page 27

CHAPTER III.
THE RESOURCES AT HAND.

        "For which of you intend to build a tower, sitteth not down first, and counteth the cost, whether he have sufficient to finish it?"--Jesus.

        It would be placing a most shocking discount upon the recognized common sense of Richard Allen, to suppose that he would embark in the work of organizing an independent Christian Body, without first counting the cost. He who believed implicitly in the taught doctrine, that no man should be willing to commence to build a tower -- much less a temple to the Lord, without first counting the cost.

        A practical man, in a most eminent degree, Allen surveyed the field, to discover if possible, sufficient material to rear up his projected building, sufficient at least for foundations and pillars. He was fully aware that the same powerful principle which drove him from the white churches, would be on the alert, and see to it, that he carried not his "abolition gospel" to the thousands of his enslaved brethren in the far South. He well knew that the oppressors understood to perfection, the philosophy of their ignoble calling; and would not hesitate to do any act of violence, deemed necessary to becloud still more the minds, and dwarf the souls of their unhappy victims. The border States then, must be his horizon; and they stood like mountains of blackness


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between him and his endeared race; while from their dismal peaks, came the muttering charge, "Thus far shalt thou come, and no farther."

        Turning from such a sight, Allen looked toward his brethren at the North.

        It was the year 1816, and six years had passed away since the last census was taken, yet it is scarcely possible that the free colored population, was as numerous then as in 1810; at least that class who are ever regarded as most necessary to the successful inauguration of any project, to wit, men of great courage.

        And does the reader ask, Why? astonished that there should be no increase during these six years!

        He should remember that the war of '12 had swept over the land, carrying before it all those heroic souls who love country more than life; and among such were hosts of black men, as New Orleans, Lake Erie and Red Bank testify. During that memorable two year contest, multitudes of chivalrous men had fallen, who doubtless would have gloried in seconding the efforts of Richard Allen. We deem it then, a liberal concession to account the free colored population of 1816, the same as 1810.

        By the census of '10, the State of Maine had a free colored population of 969; New Hampshire had 970; Vermont had 750; Massachusetts 6,737; Rhode Island 3,609; Connecticut 6,453; New York 25,333; New Jersey 7,843; Pennsylvania 22,492; Ohio 1,829; Indiana 393; Illinois 613; Michigan 120; making a total free colored population in the nominally free States of 78,181.


Page 29

        Here, then, was the material upon which that good man looked, as whence his new born organization would draw its support. In addition to these 78,181, there might be accounted the free colored population of Baltimore, Md.; Wilmington, Del., as well as those of the Capital, Washington City. We account these cities, but not the States nor the District in which they are situated, for it was at least a score years later, ere the whole of these regions became accessible to the preachers of the branded "Abolition Church." In fact, so late as 1859, many localities, at which multitudes of free colored persons could be found, were not to be reached. Annapolis, the Capital of Maryland, where now we have a thriving congregation of 400--250 members, was only then reached, and through the holy craft of Mary Morrison, one of the most faithful of the Methodist Sisters.

        In brief, to place the number of people to whom Allen could hope to have access at a round 100,000, will doubtless be regarded as a fair estimate. One hundred thousand souls! a field of missionary operation, that even a Paul would have coveted, or a spirit, like unto Francis Xavier's would have died to reach. But how was Allen to gather in this harvest, spoiling with ripeness? where were the laborers?

        Let Bishop Payne, in his late work, "The Semi-Centenary, and Retrospection of the African M. E. Church," enlighten us in regard to the force Richard Allen had at command, with which he hoped to reach the utmost limits of his projected organization--from


Page 30

Maine to Maryland, from New York to Michigan.

        Speaking of the organization at Philadelphia, Pa., in April, 1816, the Bishop says:

        "(b) Its founders were Richard Allen, Jacob Tapsico, Clayton Durham, Jas. Champion, and Thomas Webster of Philadelphia, Pa.; Daniel Coker, Richard Williams, Henry Harden, Stephen Hill, Edward Williamson, and Nicholas Gailliard of Baltimore, Md.; Peter Spencer, of Wilmington, Del.; Jacob Marsh, Edward Jackson, and Wm. Andrew, of Attleborough, Pa.; and Peter Cuff, of Salem, N. J. * * * * The above sixteen men opened the Convention on the 9th day of April, 1816."

        It is the pride of Christianity, even a recognized proof of its divinity, that its Founders were princes only in the heart, but not in the head nor in the pocket; lest indeed the grand result might have been accredited to means human. Christian writers boast that the reputed son of a carpenter, was preferred to the son of a Cæsar, that a Tax-gatherer had precedence of a King, and Paul the pupil, was chosen to Gamaliel the master; and all this that the work might plainly be of God, and not of men.

        To attain results, man works, but God speaks. Is a Palace to be constructed? Genius must then put forth her mightest effort, while thousands of hands, and treasures of gold are employed in the execution. Witness the erection of our own majestic Capitol at Washington, D. C., and be astonished at the time, the labor, the wealth, the genius employed.


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        But not so with the Lord. "And God said, let there be light, and there was light."* Not by might, nor power, are His results brought about, but by His Spirit. He chooses the foolish to confound the wise; the weak to triumph over the strong; the things that are base and despised, yea, the things that are nought, He uses to bring to nought the things that are.*

        Gen. i: 3.


        1 Cor. i: 27.


        But let us look more minutely at the forces which were at hand, and which under God, proved successful in bringing into existence the African M. E. Church; and then tell me if the work be not of Him.

        (a) Numerically. We have said there were sixteen persons--a goodly number to be sure. The Jewish exodus was by the Two; Christianity itself was propagated by the Twelve; the continental Reformation, at no time could boast of more than a half dozen leaders; in fact Luther was the heart, and Melancthon the head of the whole movement. So too, as to numbers, was the English movement, one or two men led off and the people followed in their wake. Men are given to the habit of underrating themselves and others, as to the amount of force, one man possesses. A terrible engine of weal or woe is that being, man! and yet, is he not God's breath, in a frame-work of clay? Why, then, be astounded at anything God's breath accomplishes. There are few things, save absolute creation, that man cannot do.

        "A few things," repeated a Genius, 'a few


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things. There are none save creation, but man will sooner or later do,' said he, 'the great Jah, has only reserved as his peculiar prerogative the creative force.' "

        And when I remembered what Watts, and Morse, and Stephenson, and Cyrus Fields had done, I almost believed what the Genius said.

        In numbers then, the Founders of the African M. E. Church, equalled those who have laid the foundation of any of the other religious bodies.

        (b) Intellectually. In secular learning, and even religious, this organizing force was weak indeed. Not a quarter of these sixteen were able to read or write intelligently. Unlike the men who usually lead off in forming new Church organizations, there was not a schoolman among them, even as there were none among the Apostles. It is the schoolmen--men of the letter, who usually thrust themselves forward as Reformers and Church organizers. In their studies they satisfy themselves, that such and such a doctrine is false, or such and such ceremony is detrimental to morality; it avails nothing to tell them that the wisest and best men of many generations have not so regarded them. Satisfied themselves, with a shocking want of modesty, they brand the generations past as fools, and are willing to cast aside the most revered doctrines and rites, to suit their egotistic whims. What mean now the multitude of divisions in the Christian Church, to the open disgrace of our Protestant faith, but that some overwise clerical schoolmen, who would have renown,


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even though they destroy, not a temple of Diana, but the temple of the Most High, with no fear before their eyes, presume to set at nought the teachings of the world. A writer in one of the New York Christian Journals--The Methodist, thus aptly describes one of these modern Organizers; he says:

        "He was a man of very considerable learning, of easy and popular address, bold and self reliant in debate, and by nature a controversialist. Some have charged him with egotism, and a large degree of personal vanity. He was formed for agitation, and seemed never to be more agreeably employed than when exposing the (presumed) errors of mankind, and waging a war of extermination against the "sects," as he was pleased to denominate other Christian Churches. He was a diligent student, but most persons who knew him, and who are not partial to his system of doctrine, find it difficult to resist the impression that he employed his vast powers of mind and body, and that he sought learning, to promote his personal fame and the interest of the sect he founded."

        Thank God for the fact that the Founders of the African M. E. Church, were no discontented schoolmen, a class of men whose chief merit consists in telling not what they believe, but rather what they disbelieve, but were, like the Apostles, "new men" in the Roman sense--men unaccustomed to controversy, but having a good degree of common sense, could discern the truth and embrace it.

        And does not their disinterestedness shine forth


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with a brightness only eclipsed by that of the Apostles? While Luther is charged by his opposers with dissatisfaction, on account of the preference which the Franciscans received over his beloved Augustinians; while Henry VIII is charged with an unlawful affection toward Anne Boleyn--an affection which the Pope denounced; and while even Wesley may be charged with disregarding an authority, which he professed to recognize, the sum of the charge which the most malignant foe may bring against Allen, is that he refused to submit to treatment, now acknowledged by all to be the most unchristian.

        But to return to the intellectual force. Of the education of Allen, it is said by John M. Brown in his Sketches, to have been limited in his youth, "and that which he did obtain, was obtained when manhood was upon him. He loved education. He improved himself and educated his children." To the Baltimore delegation in the Convention is to be credited, doubtless, the greatest amount of intellectual force, in the person of Daniel Coker, and Stephen Hill, a layman.

        But it was truth simple, that made these latter-day Fishermen strong, aye, stronger than any strange doctrine, however well fortified by literary acumen or party prejudice could possibly have done. What cared the hundred thousand souls to whom they went forth to minister, about the meaningless quibbles of theologians? They wanted only the truth--the truth as tried in the fire of ages--the truth as it is in Jesus.


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        These Sixteen knew not enough to venture in strange ways, they walked only the beaten path. Allen's example of exhortation was closely imitated by them all. "I pointed them to all manner of prayer," said the old Preacher, "and to the invitation of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 'come unto me all ye that are heavily laden, and I will give you rest.' "

        (c) Financially. Who is poorer than the man who lives by honest toil, but him who toils for nothing? With this latter class--the poorest of the poor, were these Sixteen identified. They were the representatives of a race, to whom not even the nights and the Sabbaths belonged--a peeled race, and scattered, a race meted out. Without capital, without resources, without lucrative positions, how weak indeed, was the force that must dispatch these simple Evangelists to the work. Then it was, as it is now, in the far South, where the followers of these Sixteen, and with a kindred burning spirit, have gone on the same joyful errand. Rev. H. M. Turner, writing from Macon, Ga., says: "I have just returned from a five hundred mile tour, travelling night and day, stopping here and there trying to preach. The people everywhere are eager to hear the Word of Life. And yet thousands have to be neglected for want of preachers and means to travel with; for these Railroads make no deduction for Negro Preachers."

        Let us sum up the forces to be employed, the resources at hand. In numbers, Sixteen; in learning


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only knowing Jesus, and Him crucified; in finances, the veriest beggars.

        And yet the building went up; though scores of Tobiahs said, "Even that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall."*

         * Neh. iv: 3.


        To conclude chapter III. A hundred thousand souls! A goodly heritage was before them; and as from their Pisgah they viewed the land, its mountains of oak and elm, its green carpeted plains, more charming than Esdraelon, with its ten thousand vineyards, its walled cities, its flowing streams, Allen whispered to Coker, "The land is good, let us go up and possess it," while the little company catching the words as by inspiration, uttered a deep, Amen.

        They separated, some to the South, others to the farther North, each one resolved to do and dare for God, each one repeating in his bosom: Giving no offence in any thing, that the ministry be not blamed: But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings; By pureness, by knowledge, by long suffering, by kindness, by the Holy Ghost, by love unfeigned.; By the word of truth, by the power of God, by the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left, By honour and dishonour, by evil report and good report; as deceivers, and yet true; As unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and, behold, we live; as chastened and not killed; As sorrowful, yet alway rejoicing; as poor, yet making many rich; as having nothing, yet possessing all things.


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CHAPTER IV.
THE GRAND RESULT.

        "By their fruits ye shall know them."--Jesus.

        LET us apply the Saviour's rule, "By their fruits ye shall know them," to the African M. E. Church. Let the balance be brought forth that she may be weighed. Fifty years have elapsed since its organization; what are the results?

        (a) As to Territory. The field of its operations has been so enlarged, until now, it is coextensive with the boundary of the Republic. No longer are its ministers confined to the sparsely populated States of the North, for the black mountain of slavery which stood up--and more impassable than a Chinese wall, has been removed. Mined by the prayers of a nation, in due time the match of war was applied, and from a thousand cannon mouths, God spake. "Behold, I am against thee, O destroying mountain."*

         * Jer li 15.


That blast was more successful than Grant's at Petersburg, and to day only the hateful debris of the mountain can be seen.

        Ere the smoke of battle had cleared away, the missionaries of the A. M. E. Church, the first regularly commissioned of any, who went to the Freedmen,


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were on the ground, in the persons of the Revs. J. D. S. Hall and Jas. Lynch. This was in the month of May, 1863; and to-day scores of our preachers are heard, all along the Atlantic coast, and through the green savannas of the once desolate South. St. Louis now re-echoes the voice of New York, and San Francisco that of St. Louis; while Boston gives a real Methodistic, Amen, to New Orleans. Yes, wherever the Negro is or goes, throughout the whole domains of the nation, there too, has he been followed by the noisy Methodist preacher.

        (b) With the increase of Territory, came likewise an increase of souls demanding ministration. The hundred thousand has been multiplied by forty. The precise number of colored people in the United States is not known. It is true the census of 1860 places the number at 4,427,093, but there are reasons to believe that the powers which then controlled the Interior Department, and had controlled it for forty years previously--the slaveholding Democracy, were not too honest in giving the true census of the Anglo-Africans in the South; not being desirous that their strength should be known. Then, we must make an allowance for the havoc of war--an allowance for those two score thousand heroic dead. However indefinite we may recognize their number to be, yet the people to whom the A. M. E. Church is called especially to minister, may safely be accounted 4,000,000. Truly, we may say, "The little one has become a thousand."*

         * Isaiah lx: 22.



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        From the most reliable information possibly to be attained, the absolute membership of our Church in May, 1867, will count considerably above a hundred thousand; while the number of those who attend our service--members and congregation, is a full quarter of a million!

        (c) As to Church Property and Buildings. On this score, the most enthusiastic of our thousands have no occasion to blush. To-day we have in our possession, and own, the most neatly constructed, and the most costly church edifices of all the colored congregations in the land, and a hundred per cent. more of them. The log cabin of two score years ago, has given away to the neat comfortable frame, and this in turn is fast being displaced by the stately brick. Nor, do we seek the alleys and byways as of old, for places of worship; but rather the most popular thoroughfares. In all the principal cities of the land, the vast majority of our churches, are models of architectural beauty.

        Foremost, for richness and elegance, stands "Big Bethel," as it is familiarly called, on Saratoga St., Baltimore, Md. Built under the supervision of elder D. A. Payne, now Bishop, remodelled and adorned according to the exquisite taste of Rev. John M. Brown, it stands to-day every whit a Cathedral--the joy and pride of the whole connexion.

        And yet Bethel, with all her Gothic architecture and Doric columns, her stained emblematic windows, and altar of Parian marble, her silver Communion Service, and velvet trappings--the glorious Bethel


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with the melody of two organs to enrich her service, stands greatly in danger of being eclipsed in architectural grandeur and costliness, by Ebenezer, now on the verge of completion, under the direction of Rev. W. D. W. Schureman. Ebenezer is of the adorned Gothic style of architecture, and is built, together with its superb parsonage, of the finest Baltimore pressed brick. It stands upon a broad, active thoroughfare -- Montgomery St., and will be, when completed, not only an ornament to our connexion, but even to Baltimore city itself.

        On Sixth St., Philadelphia, stands the "mother of us all," likewise known by the familiar sobriquet, "Big Bethel." Built of the finest brick, it is the largest, best designed and most neatly finished, of all the colored churches in that city. Within the iron railings which adorn the front, may be seen the tomb of the revered Allen, with the following inscription:

TO THE MEMORY
OF THE
RT. REV. RICHARD ALLEN,

         First Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal connection in the United States of America, and Founder of this Church. Who was born in this city, A. D. 1760. At the age of 17, experienced and joined the Methodist Society, in the State of Delaware; at the age of 22, commenced his ministerial labors, which were extended through various parts of the Middle States. In 1787, he returned to his native city, where his unexampled labors will redound to posterity. He was instrumental in the hands of the Lord in enlightening many thousands of his brethren, the descendants of Africa, and


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was the founder of the first African Church in America, which was erected in Philadelphia, A. D. 1793. He was ordained deacon in A. D. 1799, by the Rt. Rev. FRANCIS ASBURY, Bishop of the Methodist Church. At the organization of the African Methodist Church, A. D. 1816, he was elected and ordained a Bishop for said Church, by their first General Conference, and was the first African Bishop in AMERICA, which office he filled for upwards of fourteen years, with uncommon zeal, fidelity, perseverance and sound judgment. He was an affectionate husband, a tender father, and a sincere Christian. He finished his course in this city, after a tedious illness, which he bore with Christian fortitude, on the 26th day of March, 1831, in the 72d year of his age; gloriously triumphing over death, and in the hope of a better resurrection, through the merits of the Lord Jesus Christ. "I have fought the good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith."
Vox Populi,
Vox Dei.
Reader, go thou and do likewise.


        A Presbyterian Clergyman, but who is now an active Minister in our Church, Rev. Wm. T. Catto, in giving a synoptical history of the colored churches in Philadelphia, says of Big Bethel, "This church is located in South Sixth Street, east side, between Lombard and Pine. It was founded in 1816, as an African M. E. Church, by Rev. Richard Allen. It is a large brick edifice, substantially built, plain but neat; it is 62 feet wide, 70 long, with a basement divided into a lecture room, class rooms and minister's study, with a library attached. The church and lot upon which it stands, together with other property owned by the Corporation, are at the lowest


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possible estimate, valued at $60,000: the audience room is very capacious, and for neatness, is equalled by but few churches in the city; it is rated to seat about 2,500 persons. The church is composed of 1,100 communicant members. It has a Sabbath school containing 350 children, two superintendents, and 25 teachers, 11 males, 14 females."*

         * "Catto's Semi-Centenary Discourse."


        But time would fail me to speak of Bridge Street, Brooklyn, a most pleasantly located, and beautiful structure; of Sullivan Street, New York, and of those thousand and one temples which bespot the mighty West; beginning with Wylie Street, Pittsburg, (our Mother, God bless her!) in every city they stand, until we are led to cry out:


                         "These temples of His grace,
                         How beautiful they stand;
                         The honor of our native place,
                         The bulwark of our land."

        But not only have we bought and built churches, but there is our Publishing House, lately acquired. After years of trial the Book Concern, under the master guidance of Rev. Elisha Weaver, gives assurance of a lasting success. This building is prominently located on Pine Street, Philadelphia, Pa. It is quite commodious and is well adapted to the purpose to which it is to be devoted. It is of brick, three stories in height. On the first floor is the store room, large and well filled with a choice selection of the standard books of the day, and makes altogether, a creditable show. A number of the other rooms are used for the various purposes for


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which the business calls. It is purposed very shortly, to have printing presses placed in one or more of the numerous suits of rooms, and commence the business in earnest.

        But that which gives most notoriety to the Publishing House, is not the thousands of Hymn Books and Discipline which are there prepared and sent forth annually; but rather that sterling journal, the "Christian Recorder," which has really become one of the established fixtures of our Church, and to which every colored Methodist can point with pride. For six consecutive years, this weekly visitor has appeared at the doors of thousands, and always to be joyfully admitted. Ably financiered by the Book Agent, who held on, and worked on, with a a tenacity that demands universal praise, it kept afloat during the dark war days, when many richer journals and longer established, had to succumb. And now, it lives, as it were in the bloom and strength of youth, and promises to be a credit, not only to the Church whose organ it is, but even to the whole race. One of the most distinguished men in the nation, Hon. John J. Forney, now Secretary to the U. S. Senate, through the columns of his Washington City journal, says of it, "The Christian Recorder, is the title of a weekly religious newspaper, published at Philadelphia in behalf of the African M. E. Church. It is devoted to the religious and secular interests of the colored people of the United States, is ably conducted and does credit to the gentleman having it in charge. We commend it to the colored people of the District of Columbia."


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        The climax of grand results, at the end of fifty years' labor, is Wilberforce University, purchased from the Methodist Episcopal Church at an expense of $10,000, with the adjoining Springs of medicated waters, and fifty acres of land; it makes a spot the most delectable. Nor had the last payment been made, when lo! on that fatal Friday of 1865--that Friday on which the nation made its greatest offering to the cause of human liberty, the same foul spirit that pulled the trigger at Washington, applied the torch at Wilberforce, and our beautiful house was burnt up!*

         * Isa. 64: 11.


But from its ashes there rises Phoenix-like, a structure of such proportion and beauty, as will, when completed, be the pride, not only of Methodists, but of all Anglo-Africans in the land. One of the most talented of our rising laymen, Wm. Mathews, Esq., writes of this seat of learning as follows:

        "But what shall we say of the beauty and grandeur of Wilberforce? Why this: Never have we seen a spot for which nature has done more. Its hills and dales, its rocks, ravines, rills and meadows, and stately forests, together with the numerous mineral springs, which gush forth from every part of the fifty acres, making it at once the very embodiment of poetry and holy aspiration. The new building, which is now in course of erection, when completed, will be the finest educational establishment on the continent, owned and governed by colored men. It will be one hundred and thirty feet long, and four stories


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high. The foundation, which is now finished, is of stone, and is one of the finest specimens of massive masonry we ever saw. Wilberforce, then, is to be a certainty, aye, it is already such, for it now has some fifty students, and an able faculty. Then let the friends of education rally, and give their means to the support of an Institution which is destined to be the greatest and grandest monument of negro munificence in the land. While at Wilberforce, we saw autograph letters from Chief Justice Chase, major General Saxton, and Major General O. O. Howard, addressed to President Payne, expressing their warmest interest in the enterprise. Chief Justice Chase concludes his letter by saying: 'My name and limited means are at your disposal.' With such names as these Wilberforce must prove a success."

        The distinguished gentlemen whose names have been mentioned above are all Trustees of the College, and well may Mr. Mathews declare "Wilberforce must prove a success." From the catalogue of 1867, we give the Faculty of 1867: Daniel A. Payne, D. D., Professor of Christian Theology and Moral Science, and Church Government; John G. Mitchell, A. M., Professor of Greek and Mathematics; Rev. William Kent, M. D., Professor of Natural Sciences; Theodore E. Suliot, A. M., Professor of English, Latin and French Literature, and Associate Professor of Mathematics; Miss S. J. Woodson, Preceptress of English and Latin.

        We quote the following from the "Report on Wilberforce,"


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made before the "Society for the Promotion of Collegiate and Theological Education at the West," by Rev. T. Baldwin, D. D.:

        "After having worshipped with this people in their neat and well kept church at Xenia, witnessed their simple-hearted, but fervent piety, and visited some of them at their own houses: after having noticed here and there, convenient and tasteful dwellings springing up in the vicinity of the Institution; and stood on its site, where the flames had done their sad work; thought of what this people had done out of their deep poverty, and saw their unwavering faith, and the unflinching courage with which they entered upon the work of rebuilding their crumbled walls, I must confess to the kindling of a warm personal interest in the enterprise. Perhaps if we were to search all the annals of educational movements in our country, no more striking example could be found of perseverance in the face of appalling obstacles."

        Nor can we fail to notice as we conclude, the British M. E. Church as another of the grand results of the work inaugurated by Allen. The boundaries of the Republic could not stay the zeal of the early A. M. E. preachers for their brethren. Forbidden to minister to them in their Southern homes, they followed them in their flight to the chilly Province of the North, and gave that consolation on the banks of the St. Lawrence, they dare not give on the banks of the Mississippi, and those whom they could not baptize in the genial waters of the Gulf, they broke the ice,


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and baptized in the chilly lakes. For years did the Canadian Conference figure in history as part of the A. M. E. Church, until the technicalities of British law made it necessary for them to withdraw and act independently, that their rapidly increasing property might be made secure. This Child of the Connexion can boast of one Bishop, Willis Nazrey, who long filled the Episcopal chair in our own Church, a numerous band of itinerant preachers, well built brick churches in all the Provincial cities and many of the towns, a score hundred of members, and a well edited monthly organ "The Missionary Messenger," printed at St. Catharine's, C. W., with Rev. R. R. Dizney as editor. As a sample of the intellectual ability of this editor, who was raised in the bosom of our Church, and in a measure is still one of us, we briefly quote from an editorial of the Oct. No., 1866.

        "Whatever promotes and strengthens virtue, whatever calms and regulates temper, is a source of happiness. Devotion produces these effects in a remarkable degree. It inspires composure of spirit, mildness and benignity; weakens the painful and cherishes the pleasing emotions, and by these means, carries on the life of a pious man in a smooth and placid tenor. Besides exerting this habitual influence on the mind, devotion opens a field of enjoyment to which the vicious are entire strangers; enjoyments the more valuable, as they peculiarly belong to retirement, when the world leaves us; and to adversity, when it becomes our foe. There are


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two seasons for which every wise man would wish to provide some hidden store of comfort. For let him be placed in the most favorable situation which the human state admits, the world can neither always amuse him, nor always shield him from distress. There will be many hours of vacuity and many of dejection in his life. If he be a stranger to God and to devotion, how dreary will the gloom of solitude often prove! With what oppressive weight will sickness, disappointment or old age, fall upon his spirit. For those pensive periods the pious man has a relief prepared. From the tiresome repetition of the common vanities of life, or from the painful corrosion of its cares and sorrows, devotion transports him into a new region and surrounds him there with such objects as are the most fitted to cheer the dejection, to calm the tumults, and to heal the wounds of his heart. If the world has been empty and delusive, it gladdens him with the prospect of a higher and better order of things about to arise."

        As to the light in which these triumphs are viewed by others, let us quote from a letter, "On the Relations and Duties of the Free Colored Men in America, to Africa,"*

         * "Future of Africa."


written by that Cambridge University student, Alexander Crumwell, B. A., from the shores of his own beloved Africa. It is headed, "High School, Mt. Vaughan, Cape Palmas, Liberia, 1st Sept., 1860." He says: "There is one most pregnant fact that will serve to show somewhat their (the colored people) monetary ability. The African M. E. Church is one of the denominations of the
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United States. It has its own organizations, its own bishops, its conferences, its organ or magazine, and these entirely inter se absolutely disconnected with all the white denominations of America. This religious body is spread out in hamlet, village, town and city, all through the Eastern, Northern, Western, and partly the Southern States. But the point to which I desire your attention, is the fact that they have built and now own some 300 Churches, mostly brick, and in the large cities, such as New York, Philadelphia and Baltimore, they are large imposing, capacious, and will seat some two or three thousand people. The free black people of the United States built these churches, the funds were gathered from their small and large congregations; and in some cases they have been known to collect, that is, in Philadelphia and Baltimore, at one collection, over $1,000 dollars."

        But let us give a bird's-eye view of this whole matter, by placing in opposition two summaries, that of the first decade, and the one of the fifth decade, as we find them in Bishop Payne's Work; and it may be remarked of the latter summary, that the extreme honesty of the Bishop, if it did not lead him to understate the facts, as many contend, it certainly saved him from overstating them.

        But let the reader compare them and judge for himself.


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THE SUMMARIES.

        
OF THE FIRST DECADE. OF THE FIFTH DECADE.
Circuits 10 a. Churches 286
Stations 2 b. Pastors 185
Pastors, or Itinerants 17 c. Annual Conference 10
Salary total in Balto. Dis. for six Pastors $ 448 30 d. Circuits 39
e. Missions 40
Bishop's Allowance 25 00 f. Stations 50
Letter Bill 14 37½ g. S. S. Teachers and School 21,000
Travelling Expenses 9 00
Sec. Travelling Expenses 9 00 h. Libraries with Vols 17,818
Secretary's Fee 4 00 i. Members of Church 50,000
Livery for Travelling Preachers' horses 8 00 j. Aid to Orphans and Widows $ 5,000 00
Expenses for Conference Room 3 00 k. Support of Pastors. 83,593 00
l. Val. of Church Prop 825,000 00
Paid bal. due to Bishop 16 87½ m. Support of S 3,000 00
---- n. Total am't raised 100,000 00
Sum Total 537 55 Benevolent Institutions.
For Sal. of ten Pastors in Phil. Dis. 604 20½ a. P. H. and F. Miss. Soc. 1
---- b. Conf. Miss. Societies 10
Total 1151 75½ c. Preachers' Aid Societies 10
Our Total Membership 7,937 d. Educational Associations 6
Literary Institutions.
a. Literary and Hist. Soc. 5
b. Book Concerns 1
c. Weekly Periodicals 1
d. Collegiate Institutions 1

        As we survey these wondrous results, where can fitter words be found than those employed by the Lord's mother.

        "My soul doth magnify the Lord. And my spirit hath rejoiced in God my Saviour.

        For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden; for behold, from henceforth, all generations shall call me blessed.

        For he that is mighty hath done to me great things; and holy is his name.

        And his mercy is on them that fear him, from generation to generation.


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        He hath shewed strength with his arm; he hath scattered the proud in the imagination of their hearts.

        He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted them of low degree.

        He hath filled the hungry with good things, and the rich he hath sent empty away.

        He hath holpen his servant Israel, in remembrance of his mercy.

        As he spake to our fathers, to Abraham and to his seed forever."


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CHAPTER V.
THE COMPARISON.

        "Do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise for the same."--PAUL.

        THE late Rev. Wm. Douglass, in the first lines of his "Introduction to the Annals of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church," Philadelphia, says, "Seventy-five years ago, no church edifice could be found, throughout the whole country, owned and controlled exclusively by persons of color."

        Dropping full one-third of this comparatively brief period, it can safely be declared that the churches, owned and controlled exclusively by persons of color, were not so many as the fingers of the right hand. But what is the scene to-day? Apt indeed are the words of Balaam, as we gaze upon it, "How goodly are thy tents, O, Jacob, and thy tabernacles, O, Israel!"*

         * Numbers xxiii: 4.


        And who is it, that between two days--and upon a dark and stormy night too, has bespotted the wilderness with their pitched tents, if it be not the African M. E. Church; under whose auspices, at least fifty per cent. of these buildings have gone up? and whose numerous sentinels are these suddenly found pacing "to and fro," if not the sentinels of that church?


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        My task in Chapter V will be to find fit and true answers to the following interrogatories:

        First. Could or would the same material results as given in the preceding chapter have been obtained, had Allen kept up his ecclesiastical relation with the whites? and if so, could, or would the credit have justly redounded to the business capacity of the colored race?

        Second. Would as many colored men have been received into the ministry, and have found a field wherein to exercise the gifts and graces God had given them? Would as many have been ordained? Would as many have received the same amount of education? as many the same amount of ministerial training?

        Most fortunately for our argument, we have the answers to these interrogatories at hand, and it only needs that we allude to them. The question is,

        I. Could or would the same material result have been obtained, had Allen kept up his ecclesiastical relation with the Methodist Episcopal Church? and if so, could or would the credit have justly redounded to the business capacity of the colored race?

        At the organization of the African M. E. Church, a goodly number of colored persons, especially in the "Border States," either from choice or necessity, refused to join the manly movement; clasping the hand that bound them, and disdaining the hand that would have set them free, they kept up their relationship with the whites, fondly hoping, we believe,


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that their unchristian prejudice would soon wear away, and they would be permitted to enjoy all the immunities of christian brethren beloved. But what are the presented facts of to-day?

        It is true our colored brethren in communion with the M. E. Church worship in a large number of churches in Maryland, Delaware, and other of the Southern States, and many of them are fine ones, but the question is, "To whom do they belong? The congregations worshipping in them, or, the Methodist Episcopal Church?" As well may we ask, To whom does any one of our churches belong? The Congregation, or the Connexion? We all know that it is our glory, that our churches, our printing house, our Wilberforce, belong to no one congregation or body of Trustees in particular, but to the Connexion in general--to the African M. E. Church. Have we a rich church? it is ours. Have we a poor church? it is ours. Every part of the whole Connexion say, What is yours, is mine; and what is mine, is yours. "And all that believed were together, and had all things common."*

        * Acts ii: 44.


        As this community of wealth is our glory, even so is it the glory of the M. E. Church, whose polity and doctrine we received unabridged. Consequently all these aforementioned churches are not owned by their colored congregations, but by the respective Conferences to which they belong--do not belong to colored men, but to white men. Then as to material wealth, our colored brethren in communion


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with the M. E. Church, stand precisely where they did seventy-five years ago, not owning and controlling exclusively a single church. Nor could we thus argue, were they really and fully recognized, as a living, active, controlling part of the great M. E. Church, sharing alike its poverty, enjoying alike its riches; framing alike the laws which govern it, and alike obeying them; for as we have proclaimed this Democratic principle to be our glory, even so would it be theirs. But such not being the fact, we do dwell upon the fact that after a century of giving monies, the colored portion of the M. E. Church are just as poor in regard to church property, as when that century dawned; and made thus poor, by the ignoble fact that the highest judicatory known to that eminent body of Christians disfranchises its entire colored membership, both of ministers and people!

        We would not be understood here, as branding the M. E. Church, as wicked and anti-christian, because she does not place a slave man, unfortunate and unlearned, over her most aristocratic and refined stations, nor yet in her Episcopal chair; we plead not that an ignorant man should be placed in the shoes of a man intelligent, but only that every man take the place assigned by merit and not by prejudice. We plead that no man, be he white or black, be held responsible for the doings of God. Is a man deformed? Charge it not on him. Is he white? Hold him not for it. If charge ye must, and hold ye must, then charge and hold the sovereign Lord.


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        The answer to Question I, as to material results, is that all the church property in which the colored people worship, who remained in communion with the M. E. Church, together with the publishing houses, the seminaries, the colleges, in short all the material wealth of that princely Connexion, is, with the slightest imaginable fraction, owned exclusively by white people, and exclusively controlled by them: while the hundreds of churches in which those worship, who followed the manly leadership of Allen, are owned exclusively, and controlled exclusively by colored men. This happy result could not possibly have been attained had all the colored Methodists remained with the M. E. Church.

        These facts obviate the necessity of answering in length, the second portion of the first general interrogatory, to wit: "Would the credit of acquiring these material riches justly redound to the business capacity of the colored race?" We answer in brief. How could it, when white men did all the headwork, when white men really own it, and absolutely control it; a black vote having never been cast, since the Church was organized, neither to make a law, nor to annul one.

        The second general interrogatory, will be answered separately, according to the several questions, there propounded.

        (a) Would as many colored men have been engaged in the Christian Ministry? and have had a field wherein to exercise the "gifts and graces" God had given them?


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        But why ask this question, when the ruling powers in the M. E. Church, did not believe that God ever called a colored brother to the regular work and honors of the ministry. Be not surprized, good reader, at this apparently rash assertion; for, be assured, it is said in charity toward the men to whom it relates. These men, christian men withal, gazed upon the condition of affairs -- the existence of slavery -- the enforcement of the most oppressive laws -- the comparative ignorance of the men presenting themselves for the Master's work -- the fewness of their brethren to whom they would possibly minister, all these untoward sights appalled them, and made them believe that their colored brother was more likely to be mistaken in his impressions in regard to his call to the ministry, than that the Lord would call him to do a work, that seemed to them impracticable. Not believing that these Methodist ministers were wicked enough to still the voice which they doubted not, God had bidden to speak, we prefer in charity to believe, they thought God too prudent to commission a black Ambassador. And what was their crime, but acting upon the damnable policy of expediency--of doing what seemed to be necessary, but not just -- of compelling the Church, the Church that should account to no man, and to no times, to succumb to the base prejudices of the human heart.

        (b) Would as many have been ordained? Possibly in proportion to the number, there would have been as many ordained, but in a local capacity. The


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fact that these colored deacons, and elders -- made thus without the least regard to mental qualification (we know elders who can scarcely read or write) were expected to do much of the work of the white pastors among their people, to baptize the children, to administer comfort to the sick, and to bury the dead, casts a suspicious cloud over this mode of action of the M. E. Church, and makes it appear not altogether "disinterested benevolence."

        (c) Would as many have received the same amount of education? Let it be said to the lasting reproach of the M. E. Church, that Church which took it for granted that God had given it a vicegerency, more full than that of St. Peter's successors over his colored children, that while the Presbyterians, and Congregationalists, and Lutherans received colored men into their schools of theological training -- while even the "heterodox" Christians of New England would do the same--the Methodist Episcopal Church -- the Church that boasts of its evangelism -- the Church that thunders from ten thousand altars every Sabbath, the doctrine of a present sanctification, has uniformly closed the doors of its colleges, its universities, and its seminaries against the intrusion of any black; aye more, so bitter was this prejudice that it even excluded her own black children from entering on terms of equality,--even those sable sons of hers who were preparing to do her work in a foreign field!

        After having assumed to have special charge of the colored people for the last three-quarters of a


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century, need we ask, what is the intellectual status of the most enlightened of them, even of her colored ministry? Debarred from its schools, they went not to the schools of their more liberal neighbors. And why should they go? Why should a man labor for treasures he cannot spend? Why plant a vineyard, of whose fruits he must never taste? It is nonsense to answer that men should study for the simple pleasure it affords. However true, that is not the general principle upon which the world moves, and it is but tantalizing to apply it to the colored people--a people actuated by the same motives as are others. And yet in no mean degree, the colored people have done that very thing, to wit: studied for the simple pleasure it afforded; aye, they did more, they studied with the well-grounded assurance, that it would make them only the more desperate or unhappy! America has always presented the anomaly of subjecting merit to a low senseless prejudice. No, not always, for Washington could honor Phillis Wheatley, and Jefferson could pay homage to Bannaker. It was only in the degenerate days of the Republic -- the days anterior to the Resurrection, that an A. B. was compelled to shave scavengers, or an A. M. to black the boots of scullions; while a host of well-read men must be adorned with white aprons--and all to their country's shame, not theirs.

        The M. E. Church imbued with the low prejudices of the vulgar crowd, denied her own colored members, admittance into her schools of learning, schools too, which they had helped to build; and then


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whispered in their ears, as it were to climax a long course of ingratitude, the chilling words of Peter to Simon Magus, "Thou hast neither part, nor lot in this matter."*

         * Act viii: 21.


        In regard to the want of culture, which the colored ministry of the M. E. Church make manifest, we ask, and with solemnity, "Who shall answer the Master when He cometh, the body of men who demanded it, or those who tamely submitted to it?"

        (d) Would as many have received the same amount of ministerial training? How can a man have the fruits of a harvest he never planted? The results of a labor never performed? At the organization of the Mission Conference in Sharp Street Church, Baltimore, Md., in the year 1864, our dear brethren realized, and I have no doubt to the chagrin of their souls, that they were just fifty years behind their brethren of the A. M. E. Church. The very work that Richard Allen and Daniel Coker, with fourteen others, did, fifty years ago, with manlier hearts, and more independent wills, they were doing at this late day. Never having met in Conference capacity themselves, and thrust into the off corners of the galleries, when they would attend the Conferences of their white preachers, they but moved as one or more Presiding Elders directed.

        And now, as we conclude this Chapter, we feel constrained to speak to our dear colored brethren--those who are "kith and kin" with us, who are still in communion with the M. E. Church--Revs.


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Benj. Brown, Benj. Gross, Robt. Robinson and others. The writer feels conscious of having employed strong language in his argument, against the Church with which you are identified, but no stronger than the necessities seemed to demand. He writes to defend the manly action of Richard Allen, and to show that the results of fifty years, have fully proved the wisdom of his course. To do this most successfully, the truths of to-day, and of history must be told, and told to advantage. This, and only this, he has striven to do; yea, he believes that in your own thoughts you will say with the southern Queen "The half has not been told."*

         * 1 King x: 7.


        It would have been a source of unspeakeable joy had he been permitted truthfully to record, that your Church, had acknowledged your full and true manhood; and not denied it both in practice and in law--that it had opened its school doors to you, as did other Christian bodies, and like them, too, have received you into Conference upon a perfect ministerial equality; but alas! the doors of its schools, and of its Conferences as well, were locked, and bolted, and barred against you. But we do not feel like judging the M. E. Church of to-day, by what she did in 1860, nor yet in 1864. God forbid that we should. We know that Methodist preachers are men of like passions with others, and have a slight hankering after the multitude--the popular side; and yet we fear not to express the opinion, that the day is not far distant when that mighty organization,


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will not be ashamed to recognize, and with all their rights, all, of every nation and clime, who love the doctrine of Christ as expounded by Wesley. Nor would we complain of that Providence which led you, dear brethren, to remain beneath the parental roof, giving you grace to suffer, and hope to look for better days; for the sweet thought comes to us, that He has a high purpose in it, even the thought that you shall be the connecting link, whereby all the Methodists of the Republic, white and black, will be joined in one; and being thus united, move forward, like an invincible host, to the more perfect redemption of our own country, and of the world; which may God grant, for His glory's sake.--AMEN.


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CHAPTER VI.
EPISCOPALIANS ET PRESBYTERIANS.

        "Sir, come down ere my child die."--THE NOBLEMAN.

        DECISION is the stepping-stone to greatness, temporal and eternal; not rashness, not obstinacy, but an enlightened and reasonable decision, that sees a duty, and fears not to perform it. A man of such decided temperament was Richard Allen: meek as Moses, decided as Joshua, he was the very man to commence, as well as to complete the exodus of his people from the Egypt of ecclesiastical bondage, to the Canaan of an untrammelled Church organization--from the tyranny of Pharaoh, to the gentle sway of David. A society, denominated the "Free African"--the inception of St. Thomas' Episcopal Church, and organized in Philadelphia toward the close of the last century, was in no small degree, an institution to be credited to Richard Allen,--a first manifestation of his undying love to his race. It met first in his house, where it continued until its members became too numerous, which was in May, 1788. With Absalom Jones, Wm. White, Mark Stevenson, and other brethren beloved, he continued to meet the sessions of that Society, till the subject of organizing themselves into a religious body was


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introduced, when the final action of the Society upon that subject, persuaded him, says the late Rev. Wm. Douglass, in his Annals, "that the current of religious sentiment was not flowing in the direction he desired."*

         * Annals, p. 23.


        The Free African Society held a meeting November 15, 1788, when the following Report of a Committee was presented: "The Committee appointed in the 9th month (September) report, that having taken into serious consideration the manner in which this Institution comes together, they have agreed to propose that each member shall take his seat at 7 o'clock; and then all be silent fifteen minutes, after which time, the meeting shall proceed to business." "The meeting after some time spent in considering the proposal, unites with, and recommends it to all our members."

        The adoption of this Report, seemed to indicate to the mind of Allen, a purpose on the part of the majority of the Society to adopt a usage which to his mind prevented that freedom which the gospel permits, if it does not enjoin; to him it was the decided moment, the moment of action, and act he did, for upon learning the result, he quietly withdrew, and never after met the Society. Seven months afterward, having vainly striven in the meantime to win him back to their company, as well doubtless to their religious views, the Society felt called upon to adopt the following resolution:

        "We, the Society of Free Africans in the city of Philadelphia, having, according


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to discipline established among us, long treated with Richard Allen, one of our members, for attempting to sow division among us, and endeavoring to convince him of the error of so doing, and of the breach of good order which he has lately committed, but finding him refractory, and declaring that he no longer considers himself a member of our Society, do find it our duty to declare that he has disunited himself from membership with us, by refusing to submit himself to the rules of the Society, and to attend our meetings, and he is accordingly disunited until he shall come to a sense of his conduct, and request to be admitted a member according to our discipline.

Signed by the Committee, viz:

WM. WHITE,
CÆZAR WORTHINGTON,
CÆZAR THOMAS,
HENRY STEWART,
PETER MILLER,
NATHAN GRAY,
MARK STEVENSON."


        Thus ended, formally, the connection of Allen with the Free African Society with which, had he continued, he must inevitably have been carried into the bosom of the Episcopal Church, where, had he remained, the world perhaps would not have known an African M. E. Church; and Allen would have had the single parish of St. Thomas, which was tendered him, and not like Wesley, have had the world.


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        It is worthy of remark that the decisive step of Allen, in thus withdrawing from the Society, never changed the unfeigned love which existed between him, and that man of God, Absalom Jones, first Rector of St. Thomas, the absence of whose name from that Committee report, however honorable it really is to Allen, is most significant; for he (Jones) hesitated not in after years to validify the ordination of Allen to the Methodist Episcopacy, by the imposition of his own hands.

        But why did Allen disunite himself from the Free African Society? The members of it were untrammelled; free to lead, as well as to follow; to make laws, as well as to obey them. The answer is, that he recognized a fact which escaped the notice of the major part of his breathen--the common fact that he who leads must always keep in sight of these being led, a principle holding most true in morals. "As Methodism," says the compiler of the St. Thomas' Annals, "addressed itself chiefly to the feelings and affections, which are always strongest among undisciplined minds, the great majority gave their adhesion to that system." This indeed was the very fact which Allen recognized. His people were undisciplined, and sound judgment, with a high charity, dictated that their emotional natures be not forgotten, and swallowed up in a cold intellectual ritual. He was for blending together the emotional and the intellectual, believing that God made them both, and from both demanded the tribute of praise. He argued that when religion is all in the


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head, it culminates into morality only; when all in the heart, into fanaticism; but in both head and heart, the well proportioned Christian will be attained. Undisciplined minds are in the majority in every age and generation, and to say it is criminal to use the means best adapted to bring them to God, though perchance it may offend the supercilious pride of man, is to impugn the wisdom of the plan of saving man. Allen was determined that the heart should not pay tribute to the head, but that each should be sovereign in its sphere.

        In a letter refusing the proffered rectorship of St. Thomas, he says: "I told them I would not accept their offer as (a) I was a Methodist. (b) I was indebted to the Methodist, under God, for what little religion I had. (c) Believing that they were the people of God (d) I informed them that I could not be anything but a Methodist. (e) I was born and awakened under them (f) and I could go no further with them (g) for I was a Methodist, and would therefore leave them in peace and love."

        He is a bad leader who seats himself high upon some glorious table land, and echoes through the dark defiles leading thereto, "Come up hither." In fact they are all bad leaders, who are ever prating about bringing the people up to "us." The first great lesson in the philosophy of lifting up, and dignifying wretched humanity is, Descend; the second is like unto the first, and the third like unto the second--Descend! Descend! Descend! It is for all philanthropists to humble themselves, and say with


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the great Jah: "Come, let us go down and see"--to say with His Son, "I come." Descension first, Ascension second; the Cross, the Crown.

        Who can lift that up, under which he is not, nor with which he has aught to do; just as Jesus descended to the capacities of the people, and talked to them of the fields they could see; of the flowers they could smell; and of the light they could enjoy--just as Jesus was familiar with the Publicans and Sinners, condescending to eat with them, in preference to the proud Pharisees, even so must all philanthropists do, for the words are, "Follow me." The people once lifted up, may then be taught great metaphysical truths; it was Paul and not Jesus who wrote the epistle to the Romans. And is not this the very spirit of Methodism? Does not Methodism say, Give a man bread, even the Bread of heaven, before you cram him with the dry, spiritless pastry of the human intellect? give him water before you give him wine?

        Allen was a philanthropist of the Nazarene school. Hear him how he talks: "I was confident that there was no religious sect or denomination which would suit the capacity of the colored people, so well as the Methodist, for the plain, simple gospel suits best for any people, for the unlearned can understand, and the learned are sure to understand; and the reason why the Methodists are so successful in the awakening and the conversion of the colored people, is the plain doctrine which they preach, and having a good discipline."


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        Let us seek, as the concluding matter of this chapter, suitable answers and true, to the two interrogatories.

        I. Would the same results which we have seen in Chapter III, have been realized, had Allen gone into the bosom of the Episcopal Church?

        II. Would similar results have been attained had the colored people generally have become Presbyterians?

        We have seen what would have been the most probable result, had our people remained with the M. E. Church; we say "probable result," for we argue that the addition of a few more thousand colored people to its fold, would not in the least have affected for good, the conduct of that Church toward this people.

        Interrogatory I. Would the same results which we have seen in Chapter III, have been realized, had Allen gone into the bosom of the Episcopal Church?

        Let us have first a few sentences of plain talk. If the aristocratic priests, who ruled the Episcopal Church during the last half of the last century, respected not the religious necessities of the poor white people, as the early history, aye the very existence of the M. E. Church proves, what right have we to expect that they would have cared for the blacks? If they went not into the lanes, and alleys, and city suburbs, to minister to the spiritual wants of the Anglo-Saxons, pray tell us, would they have gone after Anglo-Africans? If they baptized not filthy


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white urchins, how would black ones have fared? Surely like Ephraim, they must have eaten husks, and drank in the wind. But suppose, for sake of argument, they had considered themselves as bound to minister to the blacks, and even treated them with more consideration than they did the whites of the same social standing; what would have been the result? History and the facts of to-day tell us that they would have held them in the veriest state of dependence, crippling their energies, and dwarfing their manhood.

        "Crippling their energies and dwarfing their manhood!" we think we hear one of our colored Episcopalians repeat, as he bursts out into a hearty laugh.

        Even so, good sir, for we contend that the colored Episcopalians of to-day, with all their recognized attainments, possess not that unpurchased and unpurchasable love of liberty, that is seen in the despised African Methodist. The Methodist stands, as the ancient chief Arminius stood on the banks of his Vicerges, and while the Episcopalian, like Flavius, may boast of his Episcopal ordination, his connection with such an honored body, and the like, he replies, "These are the wages of a slave cheaply purchased."

        The same fell spirit of proscription that made the Episcopal rulers provide, ere Absalom Jones could be made a priest, that the African Church, St. Thomas, was not entitled to send a Clergyman, nor Deputies to the Convention, nor to interfere with the general government of the Episcopal Church,


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not only continues, but has even grown. Then, in the year 1795, they declared it was only for the present; in 1843 it was reiterated; and upon a petition coming up from the Rector and Wardens in 1850, asking for the plainest Christian rights, the majority of a special Committee, appointed to consider the petition, concluded a lengthened Report as follows: "Resolved, That it is inexpedient to repeal the Eighth Revised Regulation; and that the Committee be discharged from the further consideration of the subject."

        The Report was adopted by a vote of 95 Clergy and Lay representatives for it; to 38 against it.

        Thus cramped by those who should have labored for their expansion, weakened by those who should have made them strong; pushed back by those who should have been first to bring them forward, the congregation of St. Thomas has always been few in numbers, and has done little toward gathering in the poor, to whom Christ, as His chief glory, preached His gospel.

        We quote the following as the spiritual work of St. Thomas, for more than a quarter of a century:

CONFIRMATIONS, BAPTISMS, &c.

        
Confirmations from 1834 to 1860 272
Baptisms, Infants 163
Baptisms, Adults 42
Total 205
Communicants, present number 105
Congregation, present number more or less 337
Sunday School, number of pupils, Male 47
Sunday School, number of pupils, Female 58
Sunday School, Teachers, Male 5
Sunday School, Teachers, Female 13


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        Yet is St. Thomas a fair representative of the colored Episcopalians in the United States; aye, in prosperity and influence, it is more than a representative.

        Two reasons then require us to give this interrogatory I, a negative reply.

        (a) The deep seated prejudice of the Episcopal clergy, prevented them from doing justice to an oppressed race, and giving encouragement to their manly aspirations.

        (b) These clergymen were not philanthropists of the Nazarene school, and consequently understood not its first, second, and third lesson -- the lesson of unrobing themselves, and coming down.

        Interrogatory II. Would similar results have been attained had the colored people generally have become Presbyterians?

        Let it be said to the lasting honor of this Church, that the vast majority of its theological Seminaries, both in the East and in the West, Princeton and Alleghany, have opened wide their doors, while their noble band of Professors have long stood and beckoned colored preachers of every denomination to enter and enrich their heads and hearts, and enter as men. The same liberal spirit has characterized this Church in regard to the colored pastors and ruling elders who might be sent to the Presbyteries. They were uniformly received as Christian brethren, and their every right, as members of these Bodies, was respected, speaking as they please, voting as they choose; and more than once colored ministers have been elected Moderators.


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        Why then are there so few Presbyterians among the colored people? Dr. Dickson, of Baltimore, estimates the whole number at a fraction over 14,000! Why is its growth so slow, compared with Methodism? There are three reasons which may be given to account for this fact.

        (a) Methodism was first in the field, and as the maxim is, "Possession is three points in law."

        (b) Presbyterianism acts not on the itinerating system, consequently it had no body of men--scouts, if you please, to hunt up those who dwell in the wilderness.

        (c) But the most potent reason of all was, that Presbyterianism disregarded too much the emotional character of experimental religion--it laid too great stress upon the head. In brief, its great failure arose from the fact that it strove to lift up without coming down, which involves both a physical and moral contradiction.

        While the good Presbyterian parson was writing his discourse, rounding off the sentences, the Methodist itinerant had travelled forty miles with his horse and saddle bags; while the parson was adjusting his spectacles to read his manuscript, the itinerant had done given "hell and damnation" to his unrepentant hearers; while the disciple of Calvin was waiting to have his Church completed, the disciple of Wesley took to the woods, and made them re-echo "with the voice of free grace," believing with Bryant,

"The groves were God's first temples."

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        Who then can doubt the issue in such a contest, especially in dealing with people like these Americans, who build a city in a week, and a Railroad in seven days.

        The parson was too slow to keep up with his Methodist brother; and while he dealt magnanimously by the colored people, he valued them not enough to make haste. Nor will we seem here to throw a Scythian arrow, but prefer to say that so slow indeed were the Presbyterians, in regard even to the uncared for whites, that we witness the same among them, that we do among the colored, to wit: The Presbyterian outstripped by the Methodist.

        The complete answer then to interrogatory II, in brief is, that the same results most probably would not have been attained.


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CHAPTER VII.
THE DETERMINATELY RELIGIOUS.

        "For they have driven me out this day from abiding in the inheritance of the Lord, saying, Go serve other gods."--DAVID.

        WHAT is African Methodism, but an outburst of all that is manly in the Negro--manly political, manly ecclesiastical.

        Politically, impossible to be free, he embraced his first and only opportunity to make manifest his love of liberty with other peoples.

        At the bottom of the great political fabric he lay buried, as the mighty stones in a foundation wall; and each was cemented to the other by mutual blood. Like the stone he was quiet, and the fabric seemed to have a sure foundation--so seemingly, indeed, that at home and abroad, we began to hear preached the doctrine of Free races, and Slave races, that is, races who will be free, and races who may be made slaves; and the Negro, of course, is one of the Slave races--meaning by this ignoble logic that the Negro is unfit for freedom. But to a mind unbiased, that logic vanishes like the morning dew, in the presence of the African M. E. Church: So reasons the astute Alexander Crummel, Esq.

        The Negro then was bound politically, and he lay


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helpless on the earth, and over him stood the stalwart Saxon, the Saxon of the South, and of the North as well, with sword, and bayonet, and lash; and while now and then a Negro of over-daring spirit would rise, and despite all, strike for liberty--strike but to fall, the sturdy good sense, and Christian faith of the millions, told them to trust in God and be still. But when in addition to the political yoke, it was essayed by the ruling race, to bind on the ecclesiastical yoke likewise, almost to a man, the free Negroes of the Republic cried out, No! And though coaxed and threatened, and threatened and coaxed in turn, their determined, No! only increased in volume, till Philadelphia had echoed to Wilmington, and Wilmington to Philadelphia; while from the far South, Charleston whispered, for she dared not speak, No!

        Whilst bound, to be patient is heroic; when free, to be led into bondage is cowardly. So thought the Negro, politically bound, I will be patient, ecclesiastically free, I will not be a slave. He had heard his Parson read: "Art thou called being a servant, care not for it; but if thou mayst be free, use it rather."

        And who can tell what the world would have thought, had the Negro, not only worn his political chains, but had permitted ecclesiastical ones to have been forged, and riveted upon him, and all without a murmur, without an effort! Surely while peoples of every land were striking for religious liberty, the Quakers, the Baptists, the Pilgrims, the Methodists,


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the class of men that would have stood still, would have presented a strange anomaly to the ages. We repeat: Had Allen and his religious brethren, treated as they were, and as dissatisfied, had they not caught the contagious fever of liberty, the fever that burns and consumes, it would have proved them unworthy of their times and opportunities.

        As diseases, physical, are contagious among men, even so, are thoughts, moral and religious; and he who escapes, in that same proportion ceases to be as his kind. By taking the disease, Allen proved his manhood. But African Methodism was not only an upheaval of all that was manly in the Negro, but also, of all that was religious--it was the outburst of his religious nature, which like the fires of Vesuvius, or Ætna, had long been pent up. In the Church the most partial regulations had been made in regard to him; cruel laws had been enacted, and more cruelly enforced. Whilst he longed for the "Bread that cometh down from heaven," he was forbidden to enter consecrated places for it, nor would the Priests bring it to him. He dare not carry his child to the baptismal Font, nor would these Priests bring salvation to his house.

        In short, he found himself well nigh like Ephraim, "feeding on the wind," and his soul revolted from a fate so terrible. Those pent up feelings--those longings after God broke forth, and the Negro resolved to take the matter in his own hands!

        Indeed, Methodism, both among White and Black people, is but a demonstration of man's religious


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nature; so mighty, indeed, that it overrode all antiquated maxims, save those only which flow from the Bible.

        Methodism, in short, is an uprising of the religious manhood of the Christian world against the slights and negligences, the oppressions and burden-some rituals of its religious teachers--it is a living protest against priestly injustice and disobedience.

        As such, it is a clear gain to God, over and above; that which the Church as ruled by an Episcopally ordained clergy, would have brought and laid upon the Altar. It is the uncared for multitude, the dwellers in the wilderness, led on by a few Priests who loved piety more than ceremonies, charity more than creeds, taking the matter of their salvation in their own hands. Uncared for, and unsaved by those whom sacred history declares, that God appointed to be the Saviours of the world--those Cures of the soul, they arose in their might, and assumed the right of saving themselves--assumed the privilege of being religious!

        And now grown to a mighty host, these determinately religious men, white and black, religious in defiance of Priests and orders--these men, who would not be pagans in a Christian land, aye, these men who would not be sinners, appeal from man to God, from earth to heaven. And their plea is, We were thirsty, even for thy Word, and thy Priests would not give us to drink; we were hungry, even for thy Bread, and they would not give us to eat; we were naked, and they would not clothe us; and


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turning from them, we fled to thy Word, and to Thee, O God, trusting that thou wouldst not turn us away, lest we faint by the wayside.


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CHAPTER VIII.
IGNORANCE.

        "Hear, O our God: for we are despised."--NEHEMIAH.

        LET us open this chapter, by noticing the remarkable similarity which may be seen, between the organization of the African M. E. Church, and the rehabilitation of Jerusalem under Nehemiah. Both had just emerged from bondage, and were weak. Unto both a scene of common desolation presented itself. Both had bitter enemies, Tobias, Greshom, Sanballet, Messrs. J----, S----, S----, R----,*

         * Bishop Allen's charity for his enemies, refused to mention their. names.


with which they had to contend. Both had temples to build, and unto both were said the taunting words, "Even*

        *Neh. iv: 3.


that which they build, if a fox go up, he shall even break down their stone wall." And both, thank God, the Jew and the Negro, had a mind to work. Each was successful, the former rebuilt his beloved city, the latter, established the A. M. E. Church. And now we leave the Jew, whose foes are seen no more, and propose to devote this Chapter in defending the Negro, as well as the Church he established, from the charge of ignorance, brought by foes who still are, but soon will not be.
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        As we hear the constant echo of the words, "An ignorant Methodist," we are more than ever confirmed in our belief of the sameness of humanity.

        But how so? says Mr. Inquisitive, how can so slight an affair be made to weigh in so great a metaphysical controversy?

        Why, don't you know, good Sir, that the Jews regarded all the rest of mankind as ignorant Gentiles, when lo! Socrates and Plato had lived; and did not the egotistic Greeks brand the outside nations with the general epithet, "Barbarians," when Italy could boast of Scipio Africanus the Second, and Polybius. And what thought Tacitus of the race that produced Moses, and David, Isaiah and Josephus, but that they were "the scum and refuse of other nations."*

        * Lib. V, Sec. V.


        Humanity being one and the same, in all times and countries, we find this same principle still alive. The half barbaric Chinese brand the races which have produced men like Newton, and Milton, and Shakespeare, as "Terrestrials," while they are the "Celestials;" and these Saxon nations, in turn have declared the race that produced Philis Wheatley, Bannaker, McCune Smith, and Douglass, an inferior race. So, too, the colored people, partaking of the same spirit, pass similar judgment upon one another. Rev. John M. Brown, an African Methodist, in making a point against the Spencer organization at Wilmington, Del., says, "They have no special liking to an educated ministry;" while our very wise Presbyterian brother, Rev. Chas. H. Thompson, tells the


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Rev. Mr. Brown that his Church "degrades the Negro." The Episcopalians, speaking way from Africa, say, "Doubtless all the religious societies of colored people in America are humble, that is, as it respects literary and theological qualification."

        But why this mutual underrating of each other, the Presbyterians assuming to out-rank the Methodists, and the Episcopalians, the Presbyterians?

        Surely the chief reason is, that they all show themselves ignorant of one important branch of knowledge, even a knowledge of each other, and of themselves. Nations and people do not sufficiently well know one another. Had the Jews known of Socrates and Plato; the Greeks of Africanus and Polybius; the Romans of Moses and David, surely each would have had a higher opinion of the other. There are always to be found among every class of men, more intellectual worth than their neighbors give them credit of possessing.

        Thus it is in regard to the African M. E. Church, its ministry and its people. In the eyes of its Presbyterian and Episcopalian neighbors, from the crown of its head, to the soles of its feet, it is but one scab of ignorance; and so free, indeed, are they to proclaim it, that even the floor of an Assembly, in the presence of the superior race, with whom I have been recognized as the equal, is not regarded as too public a place to proclaim our would-be shame, our degrading system of worship. Contemptible impudence that! Wendell Phillips once said in one of his burning speeches, "That America has the


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largest lakes, the longest rivers, the tallest mountains, and the most impudent white men," but surely he had never heard of our wise Bro. Thompson, else he would not have used the adjective.

        "Methodism degrades the Negro," Methodism, the organization that builds more churches, supports more preachers and missionaries, gives more money to the poor, and has done more to prove the absolute ability of black men to do everything which men do, than all the colored organizations in the United States--that is the organization, which in the eyes of Rev. Mr. Thompson, demoralizes the Negro. And he a Presbyterian! Who built the Church in which that Reverend gentlemen now ministers? The white Brethren. Who built four-fifths of all the colored Presbyterian Churches, and one-half the other fifth? The white Brethren. Who is it that assists in the support of four-fifths, if not every individual one of the colored Presbyterian pastors? The white Brethren. Who is it that makes their books, good or bad? The white Brethren. Who edits their papers, ably or only to mediocrity? The ever present, ever generous white Brethren.

        And yet the religious organization that does all this, inter se, degrades itself by so doing, in the eyes of our wise Bro Thompson. Surely from his stand-point, independency and suppliancy, freedom and bondage, have become inverted terms.

        The opinion of Rev. Alex. Crummell, which equals at least, that of Rev. Chas. H. Thompson, is quite


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different as to African Methodism. Prof. Crummell says, "But the African M. E. Church of the United States, has the machinery for the most comprehensive missionary service in Africa. They have a well tried system; they have experience; they have a large body of ministers; and they have a corresponding body already in existence under complete organization in Liberia--I mean the Liberia M. E. Church. If my old friend, Bishop Daniel A. Payne, would only enter into this work, with all that warmth of heart, that energy of purpose, and that burning Christian eloquence, which characterize him, what blessedness would he not impart to this land; what spiritual life would he not diffuse among all the Churches of his charge in America! His people could start on a saving, systemized plan, by which health, power, life and energy would be constantly poured, like a living stream, into the corresponding body in this country, and so be diffused throughout the land, to the villages, the hamlets, and the huts of tens of thousands of our needy heathen kin."

        Wonder if Prof. Crummell ever read the Rev. Mr. Thompson's speech? A copy addressed to Mount Vaughan, Cape Palmas, Liberia, would reach the Professor. He ought to have a copy of that speech! lest his generosity might bring, by invitation, a class of men to Africa who would further degrade it!

        That there are a host of ignorant men and women, within the pales of the African M. E. Church, no one pretends to deny. And be not astonished when we declare them to be her glory and not her shame!


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It is the glory of Jesus, that he mingled with Publicans, and sinners. It is the glory of the religion which he established, that it takes hold on the poor, and exalts them, but panders not to the tastes and prejudices of the rich. Do physicians wait on those who are whole? Do the righteous, really, or self-assumed, need a Saviour? Yes, the African M. E. Church, has thousands of lowly ones within her pales, and is constantly receiving thousands more; and just as hospitals, in which the maimed are healed and comforted, constitute the true glory of the Christian nations, even so, with the poor and ignorant, found within the A. M. E. Church; for those who came to the supper of the rich man, were not the inhabitants of the city, but of the wilderness; not the denizens of fashionable avenues, but of highways and hedges; they dwelt not in palaces, but in huts. Tell John, "The poor have the gospel preached to them."*

        * Matt. xi: 5.


        But to say there are no intelligent men, or but a few, found in the ranks of her Ministry, and among her membership, is a most false assertion, as the various sketches in the Chapters of Part II, with the accompanying productions prove.

        But, says Mr. E----, your Church is opposed to an educated and enlightened worship, to which his right hand friend, Mr. P----, assents, and for once says, "Amen."

        Before answering, yea or nay, to this charge, we would remark as follows:


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        Opposition to secular learning, even though it did exist within the pales of the A. M. E. Church, would be no new thing in the history of the Christian Church, and in the lives of good men. It could produce as its examples, the Christians of the first and purest ages of the Church. It is the united testimony of all ecclesiastical writers, that the Christians of the second and third centuries and even later, were strenuous in their opposition to learning. Nor was this feeling confined alone to the laity; the clergy themselves partook of it to a large extent. So late as the sixth century, Gregory the Great, who was a Pope, and is now a Saint, receives the credit, at least from the Protestant world, of causing to be burnt the Palatine Library. This most eminent character, writing to Desiderius, Bishop of Vienna, said, "Because the praises of Christ, and those of Jupiter, cannot have place in the same mouth. And consider how enormous a crime it is for a Bishop to sing, which is unbecoming even in a religious layman. The more horrible this in a priest, the more earnestly and faithfully should it be inquired into. If it should hereafter appear clearly, that the reports which have reached me are false, and that you do not study vanities and secular literature, I shall praise God, who has not permitted your heart to be defiled with the blasphemous praises of abominable deities."*

        * Mosheim, Book ii, Cen. vi, Part II, Chap. i. Note 4.


        And now the question addresses itself to us, "Why this opposition to education, on the part of


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the primitive Christians? for surely, as the intellect has to do with the soul, Christ has to do with Plato; the Church with the Academy; Jerusalem with Athens; notwithstanding, Tertullian in the zeal of his opposition to learning thought otherwise. Aside from the many thoughts, which arise after reading some of Paul's words, wherein even he seems to hold secular learning at a heavy discount, we would answer this last interrogatory by saying, that the ancient Martyrs, and Confessors, who are the glory of the Church, opposed not education in the abstract, but in the concrete,--they opposed education singing the praises of Jupiter, and chanting the glory of Venus. To this, they were eternally opposed, and the really pious of every age, the souls who prefer truth to vanity, will re-echo a hearty, "Amen."

        Again, the ancient Literati set the humble Christians such a godless example, that they could have no affiliation with them, without endangering their holy faith; the strongest of the Christians tried it, and well nigh made a wreck, as is clearly seen in the cases of Origen and Clemens Alexandrinus. Tertullian, himself bewitched, calls the Grecian philosophers, "the patriarchs of all heresies."

        Spurned by the simple Christians, their teachings set at naught, their gods despised, and their lives condemned, these philosophers turned upon the Christians, and denounced them as a set of religious enthusiasts, and ignoramuses. Indeed we are never more reminded of Celsus, the ancient defamer of God's poor, than when we hear some professed


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Christian and wiseacre railing out against the ignorant herd of Methodist; the language of both is the same, hear it, "They are all uncultivated, mean, superstitious people, mechanics, slaves, women and children."

        But let us turn from the dark picture presented by the ancient Literati, and while we thank God that the early Christians were unmoved by the shafts of ridicule hurled at them, let us turn and look upon the picture presented by the Literati of to-day, let us see whether it is any more charming. We ask, What is the example which the schoolmen of to-day set to poor believers? Has it been such, or is it, as to win them over to the love of books? Does it assure them that knowledge so ennobles the mind, that it will be ingenious in devising ways of charity and praise? Does it assure them a heart, overflowing with human and divine love? Would to God, that the truth would guarantee the assertion, that just in proportion as the colored people, as it is with them that we especially have to do, have become intelligent, they have become pious, God-fearing Christians. But what is the sad truth that presents itself? Alas! that we should be doomed to make the awful disclosure that the wiser they get, the worse they get; worse not in the heart and life, but in the head, which must eventually effect both heart and life. But why so sad a truth? Why is it, we ask, that almost in proportion, as our people have become educated, they have become irreligious and skeptical? or if professing Christianity at all, it was of


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the Sardisian kind, "neither hot nor cold?" Why, O, why? At the door of the American Church, lies this tremendous responsibility, false to her high and glorious mission, she existed but to the comfort of the oppressor--to the detriment of the slave; and these educated black men and women, horrified at the sight, fled in dismay from her unholy precincts, and took refuge in a cold humanity, or at best, in Churches, humane but heterodox. Unrecognized by Athanasius, they turned round, but to grasp the warm hand of Arius.

        The following is the record of one of the most gifted of American colored men, and yet is he weak enough to be drawn into open infidelity, by the hypocrisy of the American Church. He says, "I therefore resolved to join the Methodist Church in New Bedford...... The minister of the Elm Street Methodist Church was the Rev. Mr. Bonney; and although I was not allowed a seat in the body of the house, and was proscribed on account of my color, regarding this proscription simply as an accommodation of the unconverted congregation, who had not yet been won to Christ and his brotherhood, I was willing thus to be proscribed, lest sinners should be driven away from the saving power of the gospel. 'Surely,' thought I, 'these Christian people have none of this feeling against color. They at least have renounced this unholy feeling.' Judge then, dear reader, of my astonishment and mortification, when I found, as soon I did find, all my charitable assumptions at fault.......... After the congregation was dismissed,


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the half dozen colored members descended from the gallery, and took a seat against the wall most distant from the altar. Brother Bonney was very animated, and sung very sweetly, 'Salvation, 'tis a joyful sound,' and soon began to administer the Sacrament......... When it was evident that all the whites had been served with the bread and wine, Brother Bonney--pious Brother Bonney--after a long pause, as if inquiring whether all the white members had been served, and fully assuring himself on that important point, then raised his voice to an unnatural pitch, and looking to the corner where his black sheep seemed to have been penned, beckoned with his hand, exclaiming, 'Come forward, colored friends! come forward! You, too, have an interest in the blood of Christ. God is no respecter of persons. Come forward, and take this holy Sacrament to your comfort.'

        The colored members--poor slavish souls--went forward as invited. I went out, and have never been in that Church since, although I honestly went there with a view to joining that Church."

        When the choice is offered, orthodoxy and chains, heterodoxy and liberty, to men of thought and natural human pride--men of unchastened spirits, it requires no seer to reveal which will be accepted. These intelligent black men in making choice of heterodoxy and liberty, only demonstrate their common humanity with the world.

        But we apologise not for their want of "understanding;" nor plead we in defence of their


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manifest injustice--injustice to Jesus, by making Him responsible for apostate professors--injustice to their race, by robbing them of that deep spring of consolation found only in Emanuel--injustice to themselves, by reducing themselves to the forlorn hope of trusting in their own arm only, and not in the Lord Jehovah.

        As the untutored and religious colored people, beheld the sad defection of their more enlightened brethren, from the truth as it is in Christ, nor able perchance to account for it, they stood aloof from them, lest by walking in their footsteps, they might seem to forsake that Saviour who was uppermost in their affections. Like the primitive Christians, they oppose not education in the abstract, but if at all, it is education bowing before the altars of infidelity and heterodoxy--it is education railing against Jesus!

        So likewise the picture presented by the more intelligent orthodox colored Christians, is anything but inviting to the poor. In the things of God they are given to an icy coldness, while in the things of the world their spirits are at boiling point; their room is given at the prayer meeting, their presence, at the gay entertainment, or political rally; they give their money for wine and fashionable vanities, but not to the poor or the support of their ministers, who have invariably to appeal to the white Churches. Nor is this latter truth occasioned by their numbers and poverty. Methodist Churches there are of less numbers and greater poverty which support their


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own preachers, without foreign help. One of two things is true, either of which is to be lamented: The Presbyterian and Episcopalian ministers have not the self-sacrificing spirit of the Methodists; or else their peoples have not the blessed spirit of charity. Hence, when the humble Methodists--they who have built scores of Churches--they who support hundreds of ministers, with the whole paraphernalia of an extensive organization, hear themselves branded as wild religionists, by those who do nothing but eat the bread which more industrious hands have prepared, it is anything but the way to make them love education.

        Dr. A. Clark makes the following most judicious remarks on I Cor. iii: 19:

        " 'The wisdom of this world' [Whether it be the pretended deep, and occult wisdom of the Rabbins; or the wise drawn speculations of the Grecian philosophers,] 'is foolishness with God;' for as folly consists in spending time, strength and pains to no purpose; so those may fitly be termed fools, who acquire no saving knowledge by their speculation. And is not this the major part of all that is called philosophy, even in the present day? Has one soul been made wise unto salvation through it? Are our most eminent philosophers either pious, or useful men? Who of them is meek, humble, and gentle? Who of them directs his researches, so as to meliorate the moral condition of his fellow-creatures? Pride, insolence, self-conceit, and complacency, with a general forgetfulness of God, contempt for His


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word, and despite for the poor, are their general characteristics."

        Howe lamentably true are these words, in regard to the best educated of colored men. How blatant is the majority of them in their unbelief? How despicable in their sight are all those who have a zeal for souls?

        In our argument, it would seem that we had almost taken it for granted that the African M. E. Church really does oppose secular learning; but such a concession is the very farthest from our purpose, as it is from the truth. We have only shown (a) for warm-hearted, pious Christians to oppose education, when mixed up with errors and wickedness, is no new thing; and (b) as the ancient Literati did nothing to make education desirable, but rather a thing to be avoided, even so the modern Literati of colored Christians have done but little better.

        To conclude chapter VIII.

        (a) That many of our people, uneducated themselves, do not appreciate education, as they ought not in reason to be expected to do, is most true. While this is to be lamented, yet is it one of those disagreeable facts, which must be borne with, and continually worked upon--not be left to itself and derided, but worked upon.

        (b) That which seems most to give the impression that we as a Church, are opposed to education--opposed to an enlightened worship, is our unalterable determination, not to compel the heart to pay tribute to the head. If to become educated, involves a dead


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Christianty--a Christianity that builds no Churches, and bestows no charities--a Christianity that so robs us of manly aspirations as to make us willing to become perpetual paupers, to live by the sweat of other men's brows, then as a Church we say, Away with it! Jesus shall always be preferred to Euclid; the Fathers to the Philosophers; the Church, to every human organization.

        If Christianity be true, then say we, Let us have it in earnest. Or if it be true that an earnest Christianity is only for the simple; or still more portentous, if it be true that an earnest Christianity, and if not earnest, away with it, cannot stand the searching rays of truth and reason, let the world know it, for God is true, whatever else be false.

        (c) That we are no lovers of ignorance, our works and progress most indubitably prove. Neither on this Continent, nor on any, we venture the assertion, can there be found a body of men, who, unaided, have made the same literary progress. The love of Richard Allen for education, is thus spoken of, by Rev. M. M. Clark, in one of his sketches of that Negro A postle of Methodism: "No man in his day was a greater lover of education than he. Wherever he could hear of a young man going to College, or to any high school, he would send him a word of encouragement--if not some money to sustain him. He saw at a very early period two inevitable results--the oppression of his white brethren in the white Methodist Churches, would lead to their separation from them; and the other, in the event of their separation,


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their greatest need would be men of enlightened education to guide their ecclesiastical and governmental affairs. Hence, he never lost sight of the importance of education among the rising generation; knowing that upon them mainly would rest the responsibilities of sustaining Church discipline among them--and that without liberally educated men, it would be but poorly done."

        Every African Methodist itinerant has drunk in like pleasant nectar, this spirit of the glorious Organizer, and hence, to-day we find in the A. M. E. Church, which, fifty years ago, had to import a secretary, a boy, too, to write down the proceedings of a Conference! not merely one, nor yet two, but a score and more of men, that would do credit to any pulpit of colored Christians in the land.


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CHAPTER IX.
FANATICISM.

        "The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up."--JESUS.

        BUT the outcry of some of our Christian neighbors against our Ignorance, is completely drowned by the vehement denunciation of what they are pleased to call our Fanaticism.

        "Fanaticism!" methinks I have heard that word before, and under similar circumstances, too. No, "Superstition" is the word, and it is used by Tacitus when reviling the Christians of the Pauline age; "exitiabilis superstitio, destructive superstition." The precise point where Christian zeal must stop, lest it run into unwarrantable and dangerous practices, is hard to be defined. That there is such a point, reason dictates. But who shall fix it? From what stand-point shall our view be taken? If we stand on one of the seven Roman hills, the point were religious zeal ends, cannot be mistaken. If a Priest, then, indeed, must his zeal be such as to enable him to make complete abnegation of self; while in his religious life, his emotional nature has full play. Who can read of St. Francis Xavier, and not conclude that the most extravagant deportment, of the most unbridled Methodist, is sobriety. But, for a


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Catholic layman his religious zeal is expected to end in the outward observance of rules and ceremonies. If we stand on one of Scotland's Grampian hills, religious zeal will be found to be a plant of cold Northern birth, having little life, little expansion. In Lutheran Germany, Calvinistic Switzerland, and the Greek Church of Russia, the point where religious fervor is expected to stop, is perfectly well defined. But it is not so, however in wide-awake England, nor nine o'clock America. In these two living countries, Christianity has assumed a variety of forms--the robe of Jesus is a very coat of Joseph. The right arm, Catholicism, is tipped off with lace and buttons, and the most dazzling paraphernalia; the left arm, Episcopalianism, vies with the right in gaudy demonstration; the body of the coat, Presbyterianism and Congregationalism, in the excellent fit of its simplicity, has not a wrinkle; while the many-colored tails of the garment, with a large sprinkling of black, is seen to fly up and down in true Methodistic style! In the midst of so much diversity, the question is, Where is the dividing point? Where the line between zeal and mad enthusiasm? Between fervor and fanaticism? And who shall draw it? Who can draw it, but the holy One, unto whom the worship is paid? Who shall regulate St. James, but the gentle Queen? The Tuilleries, but the mighty Emperor.

        It would seem that it should be settled. I. Does God require a zealous worship? And II. What is the scope of that zeal--the scope, as given by "the holy men of old?"


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        I. That God requires, and is well pleased with a zealous worship, is most apparent from Scriptural inferences and commands.

        (a) In the Old Testament, having read of Phinehas, who was praised for having "zeal for his God,"*

         * Numb. xxv: 13.


we hear David say, *

        *Lxix: 9.


"The zeal of thy house hath eaten me up;" while the author of the CXIX Psl. declares, "My zeal hath consumed me."*

        *Psl. cxix: 139.


        (b) In the New Testament, Paul says, in commendation of the Jews,*

        *Rom. x: 2.


"I bear record that they have zeal of God;" and of himself, he says, "Concerning zeal, persecuting the saints."*

        *Phil. iii: 6.


Luke attributes this same character to him after his conversion. "Paul," says the Doctor, "was zealous toward God."*

        *Act. xxii: 3.


        To the Corinthians it was said,**

         ** I Cor. xiv: 12.


"Forasmuch as ye are zealous of spiritual gifts, seek that ye may excel, to the edifying of the Church;" and obeying the injunction here given, in the Epistle which immediately followed, it is proclaimed of them, "And your zeal hath provoked very many."**

        **II Cor. ix: 2.


        Of all God's people it is said, "They are zealous of good works;"**

        **Titus ii: 14.


while Paul declares it to be good to be zealously affected in a good thing. Among the very last of the Divine commands,--of those given even after Jesus had sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, is the one, "Be zealous therefore."**

        **Rev. iii: 19.


        The Hebrew word Illustration[Word in Hebrew] "Qiniah," used by Moses,


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in speaking of Phinehas, as well as by David, and the author of the CXIX Psalm, to which reference has been made, and which King James' translators have rendered, "zeal," "zealous," is the same word used by Solomon, when he declares, "For*

         * Prov. vi: 34.


jealousy is the rage of a man; therefore he will not spare in the day of vengeance." Also, when he asks, "Who is able to stand before envy?"*

        *Prov. xxvii: 4.


Thus is it seen that the word is indicative of the strongest possible emotion.

        Also in the New Testament the Greek word, "Illustration [Word in Greek]" used by Paul, and even all the sacred writers of the New Testament, in their exhortation to Christian activity, and which Dr. Robinson reuders, "zeal, fervour, enthusiasm," is the precise word used by the Seventy in their translation of the Hebrew word, which we have seen Moses, and David, and Solomon use, in describing the deepest earnestness of the soul.

        What do all these facts prove, if not that the zeal required in God's word, is the most fervent and emotional in its nature?

        II. What is the scope of that zeal--the scope given by the "holy men of old?"

        (a) What scope did the Patriarchs give it? Were they cold, formal, dignified? Dignified with God! sacrilegious thought, that man should aspire to dignity in the presence of God, and not rather, broken and contrite, beat his breast, and with face covered, cry out, "God*

        * Luke xviii: 13.


be merciful to me a sinner." Let
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man use dignity with man, his equal, but let him not presume to approach God thus. A Pharisee once made the attempt, and the record is, "He went away not justified."*

         * Luke xviii.


        But to the Patriarchs--to Abraham and to Jacob. How did they approach God? Behold the former pleading for Sodom, the latter contending for a blessing--justification and growth in grace! How contentious their spirits! How warm their prayers! The fountains of their affections were broken up, and without restraint they gave vent to feelings unutterable. Abraham in the dust gave God no rest, and to bring temporal salvation only, to Sodom; but in these cold days, if a man plead thus earnestly, for salvation eternal, he is "ignorant and fanatical;" or in the words of our modern religious teachers, his conscience needs to be enlightened! Jacob, seizing with both hands the Lord's Angel, would not "let go" till morning dawn. Imprudent Jacob, didst thou not know there was no use making such a noise, and of losing a good night's rest!

        (b) What scope was given to religious zeal under the Mosaic dispensation?

        Many instances could be brought forward to show that the zeal of those ancient ones, was not of the subdued, methodical kind, but was warm and outgushing, as fresh from the deep springs of their heart. A cool realization of the fact, that Israel was delivered, and Egypt destroyed, with a dignified expression of joy, was not sufficient to express the joy of aged Miriam, and the glad daughters of Jacob,


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but with song and timbrel do they celebrate the grand event, in dance before the Lord. Why Miriam, I am astonished at you! you, more than three score years, clapping the hands, and moving the feet! How ridiculous!

        But what is the deliverance from Egypt, compared to deliverance from sin? Alas! that poor humanity should so stand still, that men, and women, too! will be guilty of defying "good taste," by giving expressions of joy with the eye, the hand, and the foot. Alas! that there is humanity in men!

        At the bringing up of the Ark to Jerusalem, who was so enthusiastic, who treated with such complete contempt, human ideas of propriety, as the mighty king David. And when we hear these modern still ones, these latter day Anchorites without the virtues of the ancient ones, ridicule the idea of men (they will allow it to silly women) weeping on account of their sins, we can but think of the daughter of apostate Saul ridiculing David, saying, "How*

         * II Sam. vi: 20.


glorious was the king of Israel, who uncovered himself to-day, in the eyes of the hand-maids of his servants, as one of the vain fellows, shamelessly uncovereth himself." With David, the A. M. E. Church, answers these despisers of her zeal and love to God, "It*

        *Ibid. 22.


was before the Lord who chose me before thy father, and before all his house, to appoint me ruler over the people of the Lord, over Israel; therefore will I play before the Lord, and I will yet be more vile than thus, and will be base in
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mine own sight: and of the maid servants which thou hast spoken of, of them shall I be had in honour."

        As Michal was doomed to barrenness the residue of her days, who, who I ask, and with solemnity shall say, that because these proud Churches, actuated by a similar spirit, have scorned the poor and sneered at their pious devotion--the warm outgushings of their pure love, that God hath not doomed them to barrenness--to empty pews, and more empty coffers.

        Nor will we stop to speak of Elijah running before the chariot of Ahab, or maddened with zeal destroying his messengers with the fire of heaven, nor of Elisha, nor Amos, nor Jeremiah, and the vast multitude, to enumerate which would weary the reader.

        We hasten on to inquire,

        (c) What scope has the most devout souls, given to Scriptural zeal under the Christian dispensation?

        And how shall I speak of the zeal of its Founder, the glorious Jesus, whipping, in the height of his fervor, the traffickers from the Temple? Could he not have gone there and quietly told them, that God's house was for prayer? Could he not have called them merchants, and not, the insulting epithet, thieves? And over all, could he not have persuaded them to leave, without resorting to the cords? We answer, No, for the Devil's works must oft be taken by storm, and not by siege.

        What, too, shall we say of his groaning in the spirit--of his weeping. Did he not know that it is unmanly to weep? Ah, methinks Jesus is very


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God. Peter, noisy fellow! broke the dread silence of Mt. Tabor, with the rapturous cry, *

         * Mat. xvii-4.


"Lord, it is good for us to be here;" as well as on another occasion, jumped into the sea! John, the bigot, left off washing his body, and fled, because Cerinthus happened to be at the bath! Poor little Zaccheus ran ahead, and climbed a tree! Barnabas sold his goods, and became poor, to administer to the wants of his poor brethren! Ignatius, the defiant martyr, had no idea that from his epistles, he would be credited with too much enthusiasm.

        Gibbon declared of the last century, *

        *Gib. His., chap. xvi.


"The sober discretion of the present age, will more readily censure than admire, but can more easily admire than imitate the fervour of the first Christians, who according to the lively expression of Sulpicious Severus, desired martyrdom with more eagerness, than his own contemporaries solicited a bishopric." He who hears, professed Christians, branding as indecent enthusiasm, every warm manifestation of Christian zeal, cannot but feel that, in the words of the infidel historian, there is more of truth than falsity.

        We have seen that God requires a zealous service, requires us to pray without ceasing; requires, whatever the hands has to do, to be done with all the might; as well have we seen the scope allowed this zeal in each of the three dispensations, the Patriarchal, the Mosaic, the Christian. The really pious, *

* Jas. v: 11.
"account them happy who endure." The tenacity of Abraham and Jacob, the enthusiasm of Miriam


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and David, the shout of Peter, the strong orthodoxy of John, the earnestness of Zaccheus, all, even all are gloried in by the devout, while the consuming zeal of Him who whipt the usurers, climaxes the whole.

        In a little book, published in Glasgow, Scotland, 1752, and written by the Rev. John Willison, in Chapter VII, Direc. VI, we find forty-nine examples of the manifestation of great zeal in Christians of every age and nation; we select a few examples for the purpose of showing that the spirit, which is now held forth as the reproach of Methodism, in other days, was accounted the glory of pious souls.

        "The great Mr. Knox, our reformer, when he lay a dying, was much in prayer, ever crying, 'Come Lord Jesus; sweet Jesus into thy hand I commend my spirit.' "

        "Mr. John Dod had a violent fever, that there was but little hope of his life; yet at length his physician coming to him said, 'Now I have hope of your recovery.' To whom Mr. Dod answered, 'You think to comfort me with this, but you make my heart sad. It is as if you should tell one, who had been weather-beaten at sea, and conceiving he was now arrived at the Haven where his soul longed to be, that he must go back again to be tossed with new winds and waves.' "

        "I knew not long ago an eminently godly man, G. M., that fell into extraordinary raptures sometime before his death, such as his bodily strength and spirit were not able to support under, though he had no sickness. Sometimes he was so swallowed


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up and overcome by the manifestation of God's love to his soul, that his words could not be well understood; his natural color, heat and strength would go off, that all about him would conclude him to be dying. Sometimes he would cry in abrupt expressions, 'O, angels help me to praise him! O, saints admire his love and wonder at him!' "

        "The Rev. Mr. Haliburton, that shining light in St. Andrew's, when dying, commended Christ and godliness with great earnestness to all that came to see him. To some present he said, 'O Sirs, I dread mightily that a rational sort of religion is coming in among us, I mean by it, a religion that consists in a bare attendance on outward duties and ordinances, without the power of godliness; and thence people shall fall into a way of serving God, which is mere Deism, having no relation to Christ Jesus, and the Spirit of God.' "

        "Mr. Jos. Allein, a most laborious minister, when afflicted said, 'O this vain, foolish, dirty world, I wonder how reasonable creatures can so dote upon it.' "

        We come now to treat of the zeal of the A. M. E. Church, for our veriest enemy can but say, "I bear them witness that they have a zeal."

        What scope has been given to religious zeal in the A. M. E. Church?

        (a). As to works. Let the Churches which adorn almost every city and town in the Republic, answer; even let the sum total of fifty years' labor, as given in Chapter IV, answer. Especially let answer the


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more than five score Deacons and Elders, ordained at our Southern Conferences in 1866-7; as well as the seventy-five thousand members gathered into the bosom of our Church within the last three years.

        (b) As to worship. Pleased with our zeal as to works, these traducers say, if we would express thus all our zeal, it would be grand, but then our worship!

        We object to this judgment,

        1st. It is requiring us to be more than men, in that they look for all good and no evil--evil by them considered, which would require us, would we meet their expectations or demands, to be as the confirmed angels. They forget that Jesus said, "It must needs be that offence come."*

         * Matt. xviii: 7.


And how true is it? Every man, every body of men, has more or less waste material on hand. The "perfect" man cursed his day; and the man, with a heart like unto God's, committed the most grievous sin. The mighty Paul was weak enough to quarrel about John Mark; in the Twelve there was Judas, and among a few score honest men and women, Ananias and Sapphira. Hence, when they propose to accept our good, and tell us we shall have no evil--evil by them esteemed, they make themselves more righteous than God. Which is the greater evil, we ask: To be extremely quiet and orderly in service, and even moderately learned, and have no love, no zeal; in short, be ecclesiastical paupers? Or, To be lively in service, even noisy, and moderately unlearned, with a heart
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so full of love, that it supplies its own wants, and gladly ministers to the wants of others? Let Christ be Judge. "Pure*

         * Jam. i: 27.


religion and undefiled before God, and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world."

        2nd. We object to their judgment, for the reason that we hold not ourselves responsible to them, as to the scope, whether of works or worship, we allow our zeal. We very much doubt the propriety of those who have proved conclusively, they have no zeal themselves, none to work, none to pray, of setting themselves up as our law-makers and judges. Until they manifest, at least a respectable amount of fervour, we say to them, "Physician*

        *Luke iv: 23.


heal yourself."

        But wherein is the manifestation of our zeal, so obnoxious to our brethren? It is in the public service, and at the private spiritual meetings--the class exercises, and the prayer meeting. In the service our preachers are too rude, and show a want of refinement to suit their distilled tastes!

        In answer to this charge, we reply, We object to making the pulpit a place wherein to display human culture or oratory, just as Paul objected to it. If men desire to show they are very learned, let them do it by defending the truth in well-written treatises; if to show they are eloquent, let them lay aside the priestly calling, and seek the Forum. It is the bane of our present mode of dispensing Christian truth, that ministers are given too great an opportunity to


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preach themselves--to magnify the clocutionist, and not the Spirit--Aristotle and Newton, but not Jesus. These sixty and seventy, and even an hundred minute discourses, unknown to the mighty preachers of old, to Peter, to Paul, to Clement, to the golden-tongued Chrysostom should be banished from the Church, and discourses of one-third the length, and three times the power, instituted. Only introduced as a bid to pagan taste and custom, it is high time to throw them to the moles and the bats. Declamations, dry and lengthy, may suit philosophy, but not Christianity -- morality, but not the gospel. Christ's most lengthy discourse, that of the Mount, can be read in less than thirty minutes, and read with effect.

        The rudeness then of the Methodist preacher, is the pöinted presentation of the truth--it is the natural rudeness of the unhewn Cross.

        Schaff thus describes primitive preaching:

        I. "The Preaching of the Gospel.--This appears in the first period mostly in the form of a missionary address to the unconverted; that is, a simple, living presentation of the main facts of the life of Jesus, with practical exhortation to repentance and conversion. Christ crucified and risen was the luminous centre, whence a sanctifying light was shed on all the relations of life. Gushing forth from a full heart, this preaching went to the heart; and springing from an inward life, it kindled life, a new, divine life, in the susceptible hearers. It was revival preaching in the present sense."


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        Mosheim thus speaks, Book I, Cen. I: "They (the sermons) were neither eloquent, nor long, but full of warmth and love." Same Book, of Cen. III., he says: "Yet two things deserve notice. First, The public discourses to the people underwent a change. For not to mention Origen, who was the first, so far as we know, that made long discourses in public, and in his discourses expounded the sacred volume, there were certain bishops, who had been educated in the school of the rhetoricians, framed their addresses and exhortations according to Grecian eloquence; and their example met the most ready approbation." Of preaching, in Cen. IV, he says: "The public discourses, especially among the Greeks, were formed according to the rules for civil eloquence, and were better adapted to call forth the admiration of the rude multitude who love display, than to amend the heart. And that no folly and no senseless custom might be omitted in their public assemblies, the people were allowed to applaud their orators, as had been practiced in the forums and theatres; nay, they were instructed both to applaud and clap the preachers."

        But even the rudeness of these preachers might be pardoned were they not so fearfully in earnest. But why object to earnestness in the presentation of Christian truth? At least the simple Methodist regards them as truths; he has not read enough to doubt his own immortality and accountability; he has not read enough to doubt the reality of heaven, the certainty of hell; and simple man, he


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preaches accordingly. The words of Charles Sumner burn when he speaks of the worth of a man, and what is the worth of a man compared to the worth of a soul? what is flesh to spirit? Wendell Phillips becomes enraptured, when speaking of the coming Republic; and what is the Republic, compared to that Kingdom that shall never end?

        The earnest preaching of the Methodist, like the Apostles, as described by Schaff, "gushes forth from a full heart, and springing from an inward life, it kindled life, a new, divine life in the susceptible hearers."

        As to the emotional demonstrations which our zeal assumes, in our prayer and class meetings, we have this to remark. The great mass of our people are unlearned, only a small proportion of whom ever enjoyed school privileges; and yet are they men whose hearts are as deep, whose affections as susceptible, and whose passions as moving as any of their kind. Thus unlearned, how can they express the crushing feelings of the soul?--the feelings that even well-taught tongues fail to express. The flood gate but half opened, how can the mighty tide escape? As men are learned, they can give expressions in many tongues, as they are unlearned, the less number; and if they be debased, they can scarcely lay claim to a mother tongue. When the lower nature predominates, even the animal, the lower language of signs and motions must be employed.

        Multitudes of our people, debased by life-long oppression,


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can scarcely claim a single tongue, with which to express the enrapturing thoughts of God reconciled and sins forgiven--the thoughts that held in bonds the tongue of him who sat at the feet of Gamaliel. And yet they must express it, for it is like fire shut up in the bones.

        But the language of signs and motions among African Methodists, is fast passing away. Their tongues are fast being cut loose, and the day is not far distant, when the crushing thoughts of heaven and of God, will find expressions in well-tutored strains.

        With patience we await the time, not willing to doom to silence, the generation that uses signs and motions--not willing to say with our revilers, "It is all wrong." We say to these Fathers and Mothers beloved, express all you possibly can with the tongue, but if the burden of your joy be too great, then speak with the streaming eye, and the clapping hand, for he is most eloquent, who expresses most fully the soul's great thoughts.


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CHAPTER X.
PROSCRIPTION.

        "Go ye therefore and teach all nations."--JESUS.

        HAVING freely delivered themselves of their thoughts, concerning our ignorance and fanaticism, they generally wind up with the charge of Proscription, meaning thereby that ours is an organization only for colored people, and from it, white persons are excluded. Their general argument is the fact, that our Church is called the African M. E. Church; and that its ministers and people (they say) are all colored.

        Let us put these charges in shape that we may get at them. They are

        I. In her law the A. M. E. Church recognizes colored men only, as members and ministers.

        II. That her practice is in strict keeping with her law.

        To both these charges we plead not guilty, and express readiness to enter upon trial; that our innocence may be established, henceforth and forever.

        I. In her law, the A. M. E. Church recognizes colored men only, as members and ministers.

        We would ask, and with respect, that these accusers


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place their finger upon the law that declares it.

        (a) The General Conference, a quadrennial Body, and composed of all the travelling preachers, of six consecutive years, is the law-making power. To which one of the twelve General Conferences, which have been held, can they point, as having among its enactments, declared a white Christian inaccessible to membership, be he a minister or member? Surely had such been the thought of our Church, during the course of this half century legislation, it would indeed have been crystalized into law. But more.

        (b) We have thirteen Annual Conferences--the Baltimore Conference, the Philadelphia, the New York, the New England, the Ohio, the Indiana, the Missouri, the Louisiana, the California, the South Carolina, the Virginia, the Georgia, and the Florida Conference. These all hold annual sessions, and aside from attending to their local affairs, prepare business for the General quadrennial Body. In the hundreds of sessions held by these Annual Conferences, to which one can they point, as having framed declaratory resolutions against white membership? To which one can they truthfully charge, with even presenting such resolutions for the consideration of the General Body? At the presentation of a resolution declaring our readiness to receive a white preacher, we do hear a member speaking in defence of the offered resolution say: "The very fact of deeming it necessary to vote upon it, was somewhat of a reflection." I scarcely need record that the resolution was carried unanimously.


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        (c) The right of Petition is held sacred by our organization. The moving thoughts of the people in communion with us, are laid at the feet of the law-making Body in the form of petitions. Where can the record be found, of a single Church asking for the enactment of a law to keep out the terrible white man? As no law has ever been ordained by the General Conference; no resolution ever offered by any of the Annual Conferences; no petition ever presented from our Churches, we demand that our accusers shall respect the truth.

        Ah! say they, the title, "African," that covers the whole ground, and makes any special enactment unnecessary.

        As well may you say that because the English Government is called the British Empire, it is only for Britons, and a Frenchman would not be allowed to reside at London; or the government of Alexander only for Russians, while no German would be allowed to tread its extensive soil. The truth is, these governments are for all who submit to their respective authority, and as a matter of fact, we find among their subjects, men of every race, and hue, and clime.

        As well might these cavillers say, that the German Churches in connexion with the M. E. Church, are only for those of German birth. What these Churches are to the M. E. Church, the A. M. E. Church is to the general Church. And who can truthfully say, that none but those of German birth, would be allowed to unite with these Churches? Is


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not the idea only, that the German language is spoken, and the doors stand open to all of every race, who understand that language, or see proper to unite with it. It is precisely thus with the African M. E. Church, where the Negro language is spoken. The Negro language! Anthony Trollope said he had none; but we assert that he has, this wily Englishman--this purchased slave to American prejudice, to the contrary notwithstanding. The Negro language! What is it, but the broad language of humanity! the language which says to men of every race, "All we are brethren." Whosoever can speak that language, for it is the Pauline tongue, to him the doors of the A. M. E. Church stand open, be he Jew, or Greek.

        African M. E. Church, what is the intended force of the title, African? Is it docrinal, or national? Be not surprised when we assert it to be primarily docrinal, and only national, secondarily.

        Allen in his day looked around upon the many organized Churches, and to a unit, they were defective, not in expressed forms of doctrine, but in the systematic ostracism of a whole race--practical defection. They professed to believe the doctrine taught by Paul that God made of one blood, all nations of men, to dwell on the face of the earth, but the fact was they gave it a stubborn denial. To vindicate that doctrine was a thought uppermost in the brain of Allen--the humanity of the Negro, was the goal to which he aspired. How could this truth best be taught, was the question with him. How best be


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taught? Why, thought his prolific brain, in the very way that others deny it. They denied it practically, he must assert it practically. He must organize a Church, having for its vitalizing power, the truth that God made all men, especailly him, over whom the contention was held; him, on whom the ban rested -- a Church, wherein the claims to humanity of this dispised class, would be practically recognized. The title, African, is but the finger-board, the index to this sublime truth; and means only, that men of African descent are to be found there, and found as men, not as slaves; as equals, not inferiors. The doctrine of the Negro's humanity is its primary signification.

        It does not mean, neither does it say that none others are admitted or found there; but it does say, and mean, that whoever else you may find, you will be sure to find that notable individual. But why this prominence? save for the simple reason, that other Churches would not receive him as a man, this one would, and God having given it a tongue to speak, it said so.

        And here we say, in view of the fact that many are making haste to blot out the hated objective, that it is generally thought to be ample time to remove an effect when the cause causes. When the American people and Churches -- when the Methodist Episcopal Church in particular, shall have learned, and the latter is fast learning, to speak the tongue peculiar to Paul and the Negro -- the language of man's humanity; then let the doctrinal (not national as some have asserted, and others argued) insignia,


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so long floated at our masthead be removed, let it be hauled down, as the victorious banner is hauled down, when the malice of war has ceased.

        II. That her practice is in strict keeping with her law.

        Having shown, and we trust satisfactorily, that there is no legal obstruction to the entrance of whites into our connexion, no more than a Frenchman going to reside in England, or a German in Russia -- no more than an American born Christian to enter one of the German Churches within the bosom of the M. E. Church, let us now inquire, What our Practice has been? in order that we may reply to the second charge.

        Have we ever received any white preachers, or lay members into our Church, within the fifty years we have been in existence? and that, to all its privileges and immunities? If we have, then indeed will fall the last charge brought against us by those who envy our prosperity.

        We beg first to say, that if we have not received any, we can certainly offer an excuse, as good, at least, as the one offered by the Fox in regard to those very sour grapes; and that excuse has generally been received as convincing. But have we?

        We answer, Yes, and not merely one, or two, but scores.

        (a) Itinerant Preachers.

        In the Baltimore Annual Conference minutes, for the year 1864, we read, "The following preamble and resolution was offered and passed:


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        "Whereas, in the providence of God, two organized Churches, with a membership respectively of eight hundred, and four hundred and seventy-five members, were added to the African M. E. Church by their petition, they having renounced all their former allegiance to the M. E. Church, South, in the cities of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va.

        Whereas, Both of the meeting-houses are large built structures, substantial and well built.

        And whereas, The Rev. A. W. Wayman, one of the elders of this Conference, who by virtue of his office, was authorized to do so, and the other by the Rev. Bishop Daniel A. Payne, were received last autumn, and the said Bishop so far recognized the reception by appointing the Rev. John M. Brown to the pastorate of the Bute Street Church, in Norfolk, and Rev. G. Greely, a white brother, to Portsmouth, Virginia. Therefore,

        Resolved, That the Annual Conference receive and incorporate these Churches into the regular work of the African M. E. Church."

        Signed by JOHN M. BROWN, D. W. MOORE.

        Likewise in the Minutes of the same Conference two years later, we find these words:

        "On motion of Bro. Herbert, Bro. Sisson, a white brother, was received, with the proviso, that he sustain his examination."

        Here then, are two instances within the bounds of one Conference, and within two years, where white men have been received; if we have not received more, we beg to enter the Fox's plea.


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        Yes, we have received all who offered themselves. Of course, in this free country we could not take them by the collar and drag them in, as they once dragged us out, but with open doors we stood, and with notes, as clear and as loud as the Alpine buglers, we said: "Whosoever will, let him come." *

        * Rev. xxii.


        Nor could we thrust knowledge into their thick heads, and have them speak "instanter," the holy speech of man's humanity. Thick of tongue, they were slow to learn it, and though these fifty years, they have heard it spoken, their days of infant lisping still remain. But above all they would not accept the Negro rule found there, nor could we make them, for that would be against the genius of our organization and our tongue; for "slavery," "oppression," "tyranny" are words not found in the Divine vernacular.

        Hence, we took all who came, and it was impossible for us to do more.

        (b) Lay members.

        These may be counted by the dozens all through the North and North-West, where Christian ideas in a large measure prevail. At the reception of Rev. J. F. Sisson, the white minister to whom reference has been made heretofore, by reference to the Minutes we find the following as some of the declarations made:

        "Bro. Hunter spoke of white persons being members of our Church, as at Buffalo and Chicago."

        "Bro. J. D. S. Hall also spoke of two or three


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white persons as having joined his Church." (Union Bethel, Washington, D. C.)

        And who that ever worshipped in Wylie Street, Pittsburgh, Pa., during the years of '58-'59, will ever forget the zealous, aye, the saintly John Robison. Of this white brother, truly it may be said of him, as of the ancient Levite, "that he had neither father, nor mother, nor sisters, nor brothers." It was the high privilege of the Author, to enter the baptismal waters with him, and both receive that purifying ordinance. He was true in life, and in death. During a long affliction, the brethren of his choice often visited him at the house of his parents, and his dying request was to be taken to the Church, in which he had so often rejoiced, and to be borne thence by his brethren beloved; but alas! alas! no sooner had his pure spirit been wafted to God, than all intercourse with the minister and brethren of his Church was forbidden; and he rests to-day among a people with whom he never worshipped. Peace to thy ashes, thou purest of men. With David, all thy brethren say: "thou wast*

         * II Sam. i: 23.


lovely and pleasant in thy life."

        But it is within the pales of the British M. E. Church, which was the Canada Conference of the A. M. E. Church, up to 1856, where the impartial genius of our Church may be seen.

        Having precisely the same doctrine and laws, its Bishop being one of our own, and its preachers more or less, ministers who have been connected with us,


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that Church is a fine proof, and is daily becoming more so, of what our Church would be, if it could, At least six per cent. of the membership of the B. M. E. Church are whites.


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CHAPTER XI.
THE A. M. E. PREACHER.

        "I am a man of peace, they are for war."--PSL. OF DEGREES.

        How shall I describe the above character? avoiding alike flattery on the one hand, and uncharitable criticism on the other. That he is worthy of notice, is apparent from the stir he has made in the world. For fifty years has he toiled, not deigning to reply to those who challenged him; while plying the trowel, he ever and anon repeated the words, "Why*

         * Neh. vi: 3.


should the work cease, while I come down?"

        But by the strength of his own brawny arm, with a good degree of the Lord's blessing, the work has advanced nobly--the walls of a complete organization are up, many temples are finished; and while the voice of thanksgiving is heard to re-echo through them -- while scores of Priests are at the altar, performing the Divine service, a single one, a few, would step aside and hold controversy with her foes.

        The African Methodist Preacher! Who is he? What the attainments of his head? What the qualities of his heart? What the animus of his spirit?

        A first look at the material of which the Methodist ministry is composed, will give us an idea as to what


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it is. The A. M. E. Church, like a Joseph beloved, has been given, as it were a many-colored coat, to protect it from the blasts, even a ministry of almost every orthodox view. Men who have been educated to the strictest Presbyterianism, the most independent Congregationalism, have met at the Methodist shrine, the men of Lutheran and Episcopalian culture, and these, having joined hands, with the convert from Catholicism, all have buried in a common grave, their heads, their hearts, have buried themselves; and Paul like, "know only Jesus, and him crucified."

        Few of them, however, can boast of a "sheepskin." They are as a whole, self-made men. But let it not be supposed that all are paupers, though they be not worth that sheepskin -- let not "Numskull," be written on the foreheads of all those whose heads have not dozed against some college wall; for a born fool was never thus made wise. And what are schools and colleges after all, but places of convenience. It were a question, if the human intellect, would not be stronger, possessing more of its native vigor and individuality, if the coming generations of youth, were to have father and mother for abecedarians, and then given to understand that they must study at home, and advance themselves. We say not, let schools and colleges be abolished, but we do lift up our voice against the opinion that would account every man an irredeemable ignoramus, if he have not graduated.

        At college the intellectual forces are developed;


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but the query we raise is, could not that development be done as well, and as effectually, if every fireside should be converted into a school room, and father be pedagogue, and mother be schoolmam. Admit then, replies one, that it could be done as well, then indeed would the two modes be balanced.

        Nay, nay, for not stopping to weigh the superior home training which the child would receive, a cloud would be dispersed, that is dwarfing thousands of intellects, as the shade dwarfs the flower -- the cloud --"Father aint able to send me to school, and I can't learn anything"--a cloud that millions follow with the same confidence that Israel followed the cloud of old; but it leads not to Cannan, but to Egypt.

        But there is one character, who has mother wit enough, and courage enough to believe that he can learn something outside the walls of a college, even the Methodist Preacher. He believes colleges are splendid things, and according to present arrangements, are to be placed in the same catalogue with fine houses, rich coaches, and dashing steeds, and are to be accepted, if offered--attained, if possible. But he believes, if a man cannot live in a fine brick, let him live in a frame, or a cabin, or anything rather than be out in the snow; if he cannot ride in a fine coach, let him ride in a wagon; if not behind steeds of Arab worth, let him ride behind the honest ox. So in regard to colleges, if you can go, he says, "Go, and with all your might." But as he would not have you live out doors, for want of a fine brick, nor walk for want of a splendid coach; so he would not


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want you to be a fool for want of a college. He believes there is sufficient native power in the soul, to advance step by step, if not frowned back by false maxims and opinions. Acting up to his impressions, he puts his book in his pocket, and as he goes round his circuit he reads, reads in the buggy, reads in the Railcar, reads at home, reads abroad. The moments which most men pass in idle gazing, he employs in reading. How well he has succeeded in a literary point, let the sketches and Articles of Part II, answer.

        What the qualities of his heart?

        His traducers say: He is terribly impure, a wretch who has continual occasion to repeat the LI Psalm.

        There is a saying going the rounds, in which the head of his offense is told, it is: That were a Baptist preacher to get drowned, throw a demijohn in the water, and it would float until it came quite over his body, and sink! if a Presbyterian, throw a pocket-book in the water, and it would float, till it came over the body, and sink! but if a Methodist preacher got drowned, throw a lady's garment in, and it would sink immediately, on coming over his dead body!

        We are quite as willing to take a hearty laugh at this clever remark as any, conceding that in the Methodist ministry there is as much impurity as any; but we do contend strenuously that there is no more, in proportion to numbers. The active ministry of our Church, will not fall short of five hundred itinerants, and yet, few indeed have been


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the cases where preachers have been expelled for the damning sin. Writing from memory, we can recall but a single instance, in which the Brother made an acknowledgment, and quietly withdrew. In the Conference, over which Bishop Payne has presided for twelve years, not a single instance of expulsion has occurred.

        Until the General Conference of 1864, the A. M. E. Church, was the only one of the Protestant Churches, that forbade second marriages, even for crime of proved fornication, and where a legal divorce had been obtained. So much for the sinking of the lady's garment.

        But let us take another view of the moral qualities of our Preachers.

        What class of ministers can compare with him in disinterested labor, and self-sacrifice? The Roman Priest, has the assurance that his wants will ever be supplied, not only while strength endures, but when it fails. The Episcopalian Rector, the Presbyterian Pastor, even all the ministers of churches, save the Methodist, have the moral pledge of the members, whom they serve through life, that they will not beforgotten in old age; neither their widows and or phans. Not only thus, the usual support allowed to these ministers is generally so liberal, that a portion can uniformly be laid by for days of cloud and rain.

        But how is it with the Methodist Preacher? To which, of the many congregations he has served, shall he turn in the winter of age, and find comfort? and as to support, not a mite can be pinched from


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it, for in the vast majority of cases, it is already too small, to give that easy living which a minister should have.

        But on our preacher goes in the discharge of his duty, looking not to the right, nor to the left, but committing his wife and his little ones, to the kind providence of God, he offers himself a sacrifice to the interests of the Master's kingdom.

        This general disinterestedness is exhibited by all the A. M. E. preachers, but there is a peculiar disinterestedness which a few exhibit, and still fewer appreciate.

        The disinterestedness of a man like Bishop Payne, is peculiar, and he will pardon me for putting him between two fires. The ability of Bishop Payne, and others whose names might be mentioned, are such, that they have but to say the word, and easy positions could be attained. In fact they are constantly accosted with the words, "Why do you stay with those ignorant Methodists? Come with us, and your company will be made more congenial to you." This whole class of noble Methodist preachers, have ever made but one answer to these importunities, the answer, "It is mean to let go your blind brother's hand."

        What the animus of the spirit of our Methodist preacher?

        He is a true American, possessing all that frankness, characteristic of his country. Of all nationalities, the American is the frankest. See the Methodist preacher, when you will, or where, and of whatever


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race he may be, he is the same, free-hearted, jovial soul. In the Church meeting, he is unreserved, handling the Word with a freedom, that shows that true friends have met; and in the social circle, none is more entertaining. Would you see a recess hour from school, dramatized? Visit a Methodist Preacher's social meeting.

        Noble man, may he long live.


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CHAPTER XII.
THE METHODIST BRETHREN.

        "For the people had a mind to work."--NEHEMIAH.

        IT were hard to find in any age of the Church, a more devoted company of Christian men. Poor as the early Christians, yet are they as liberal; and many a one of them, with the utmost fitness can be called Barnabas.

        Of what class in society come these Brethren, but the laboring? and does not history and experience stamp poverty upon all such? But few of these Brethren have attained to easy positions in life, comparatively few count their treasures by the thousands; and yet thus poor, and getting their little monies, too, at such an outlay of muscle and sweat, still have they nobly contributed to erect those religious Temples, which ornament the land.

        It costs something to be ranked among the Methodist Brethren. Membership may be held cheaply, in other branches of the Christian Church; but we proclaim it here, that no man can be a Brother in repute without great charity. He must be prepared to give largely of his substance. And why? The reason is plain,--the ambitious little body has set up housekeeping herself! Dissatisfied with the


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treatment at home, and being of age, she concluded to commence life herself; and the result is, that all the household fixtures must be got. Mother was displeased, and would give her nothing, not even a change; so she was compelled to buy everything from her own slim purse; compelled to keep up the wear and tear of independent life. Bishops and preachers are to be supported, with many missionaries; churches are to be built and rebuilt; a Book Concern is to be sustained; a Paper to be kept afloat; Book Steward, Editor, and Clerks have to be fed, with ten thousand other little expenses in the catalogue of housekeeping; and every cent must come from the one pocket, and the ready cash at that!

        It is true that Mother became somewhat reconciled, after two score and eight years had passed, and promised to help the aspiring daughter to bear her fast increasing expenses; for the little responsibilities, always attendant upon happy matches, had really increased so fact, that shoes and stockings were wanting to hide the toes, as well as dresses, and attirement for children, in general; but somehow, Mother failed to keep that very kind promise, and daughter, in the words of the poet Bell,

"Must paddle her own canoe."

        The Methodist Brethren are the very men to do it, of strong muscles, a strength not to be resisted, with a will that recognizes no impossibilities, they are just the men to work at the oar, and work they do! A drone cannot well stay among them. The


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result is that our house is getting fixed up quite snugly--our house, be it remembered, and no one's else; every nail we drive belongs to the firm; and though our house is not as fine as somebody else's house, yet is it ours, and we are getting it fixed up. One by one the children are hiding their toes, and the patched trowsers will soon be exchanged for whole ones. In fact we will be fixed up after a while in good style.

        Alexander Crummell, an Episopalian, thus speaks of the liberality of the Methodist Brethren: "In some cases they have been known to collect, that is, in Philadelphia and Baltimore, at one collection, over $1,000."*

         * "Future of Africa," p. 239.


        We stop not here to debate the principle of finance, which the Methodist Brethren have adopted, the principle that Paul ordained; for it is not exactly the principle which some people oppose, as the manner of executing that principle. Very many, within and without the pales of the A. M. E. Church, object to the "everlasting begging," which is done. We ask such objectors, and wherever found, not to take a one-side view, but to "walk around Zion," to view every side of the question.

        Let me hold up to their gaze this view of the matter.

        (a) The A. M. E. Church is perfectly independent of every other Church organization. She is her own master, responsible only to the great Head. This being true, she has no rich Presbytery or Diocese,


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or Association unto which she can appeal for help--appeal and be heard. Accounting to none, she can appeal to none. Not only has she no right to expect aid, other than in the general way of giving and receiving charities, but it would be dishonorable for her to send her Bishops, or any other of her officers, abroad to get their support. Receiving the blessings of their labor, she, and she alone, must bear the burden of their wants. It would neither be right, nor honorable for President Benson, howsoever poor his little Republic may be, to draw on Secretary McCullough, of the American Treasury, for his support.

        (b) The A. M. E. Church, then, must meet and pay her ordinary expenses, or resign her independency. Honor requires it, as well as the right. Here, then, thousands must be raised--thousands for ordinary expenses alone.

        (c) Look also at the extraordinary expenses devolving upon all the richer Societies of our connexion. Ours is a community of burdens, as well as of joys, we are but one family. The older, and larger, and stronger Brothers, feel under obligations to the younger and weaker Brothers; they feel that it devolves on them to take them by the hand and help them along. Actuated by this feeling, numerous, indeed, are the calls made upon the large churches, for the younger and helpless children. But what brother would be without a little sister, because at times he must help her cross the mud? or provide a pair of shoes to keep the snow out, and the heat in?


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        Tell us not that other colored Churches, do not have these incessant calls, they have no little sisters and brothers; or if they have, their white father has provided for them.

        These, then, are the requirements made upon us--requirements that honor and religion require us to meet and cash. How can this be done?

        Our objectors say, "We should not coax or plead." As well may they object to human nature!

        Shall not plead! A man's heart-strings are his purse-strings as well; loosen them, and the purse flies open; let them be stiff and cold, and the "Greenback," secure in his castle, will laugh at the cry of the widow. And how loosen the heart-strings, chilled by Arctic selfishness? Let burning words, like cannon-balls of white hotness, be hurled against them, let the balls fall thick and heavy, and soon they will melt and break. We apologize not for every incident which may occur, at every collection, for it is the high characteristic of man always to blunder a little! But to ask us not to lift collections, not a few, is to ask us to do one of two things, both of which every Methodist Brother abhors,--either to relinquish our independency, and come under some white organization as beggars, or to starve the little children and the weak, in the African M. E. family.

        We are sick of the stale talk of these collections driving away our people! They may drive away some, some who prefer vanity to piety, the shadow to the substance--but never a Methodist Brother


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will they drive away. He knows nothing else, but to divide his bread; nothing else but to help the weak and lead the blind.

        There is a work which these complaining brethren may do, more honorable to them, and of absolute benefit to the Church. Instead of railing out against these continued collections, let them go to work and devise a good, practicable plan, whereby the absolute demands of the Church will be met, and the Brethren, the bone and sinew of the Church, will accept it. But let them not ask us to leave the plan we have, until another and better is provided.

        The Methodist Brethren are not only liberal, but they are, what I scarcely need mention here, a zealous body. Of this we treated in full in Chapter IX, and only take occasion here to say, that their worship is marked by all the warmth of their hopeful natures. After one has visited a class meeting, or a prayer meeting, especially a Band of these Brethren, he will cease to wonder at the carnage of Fort Wagner and Miliken's Bend. What enthusiasm they have! what defiance! To see them worship, is to be convinced that they will fight.

        Hence, we throw in the remark here, that they should be educated. The fervour of their nature demands it. The cold-blooded, unenthusiastic Saxon may do without education, but not the Negro: he is too rushing, and demands a pilot, else he will smash things! Such are the Methodist Brethren, whose offering to the world is the A. M. E. Church. May their generations increase in the land.


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CHAPTER XIII.
THE METHODIST SISTERS.

        "This woman was full of good works, and alms-deeds, which she did."--LUKE.

        IF any one would really see the great work accomplished by the African M. E. Church, let him not look to the East, though it may be cheering, but rather let his eyes fall upon the better half of the Republic, even the West.

        At the Convention which organized the Church in Philadelphia, a membership of about five thousand was reported, a very respectable dowry to be sure; and one, too, that has not been unimproved, as the statistics of to-day show. But not so the West; there the African Methodist itinerant began on absolutely nothing. Nothing! did I say? Nay, verily; for he had a strong heart, and a stronger voice, with a faith in God that was uncompromising; he had a horse, a saddle-bag, a Bible, a hymn-book; he had a glorious field for work; and what more could he possibly need?

        Thus equipped, he penetrated the western wilds; and while the keen echo of the backwoodman's axe was heard felling the tall oaks, the voice of the Methodist preacher was heard proclaiming a free salvation.


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        To him Esaiah's prophecy has been fulfilled, the desert has become as the garden; the wilderness as the city; all West-Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Kansas, even all the mightly West wherever the foot of a son of Africa hath trod, blooms like the rose. Few indeed are the colored Churches in any of these States, but those of the A. M. E. connexion--few comparatively.

        And now, as looking upon these brilliant triumphs, the question arises, "At whose feet shall the tribute of kind remembrance be laid?"

        Shall we only remember Bishop Quinn, Noah Cannon, Charles Peters, Fayette Davis, Levin Gross, Philip Brodie, and that immortal band of African itinerants, who first ploughed the fertile West? Nay, nay, let not all the incense of our affection be consumed upon them, however glorious they may be. There is another band of pious souls, whose names, unknown to men, but known to Angels--a holy band, that should share the deep remembrance of our hearts--a band of faithful women!

        The Methodist Sisters! what were they? what are they?

        Let not the reader brand us, "Enthusiast," nor yet, "Flatterer," when we proclaim an honest conviction--not blind to the many faults of these women, yet are they as noble a band as ever graced the Church. Partaking very much of the spirit of their social state, yet are they as zealous as Martha of Lydia, as loving as Mary.

        Could our first preachers in the West give evidence,


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we well know what would be their tale; they would say, in true Methodist style, "I came to this sister's house, and I was hungry, and she fed me, dividing even the last loaf; my feet were cold, well nigh frosted, she administered to me; to keep me comfortable at night, she and husband forsook their only bed; and when morning came, the very best that their scanty lardery could afford, was given to me."

        This would be the simple tale that each and all would tell; nor would they stop here, but they would tell us how these Methodist Sisters aided them in their work, how they willingly arranged their domestic homes for the Church, how they informed the neighbors, and with Christian greetings received all who came to hear the Word expounded; nay, more, in familiar strains they would tell us how they labored to have the preacher decently clad, giving themselves, and then taking the lead, with kind words besought others to give; nor rested they till the patched trowsers, the thread-bare coat, the worn-out hat, the soleless boot were laid aside. Nor would these pioneer African itinerants cease till they had told, how she labored to build the little chapel, and have it snugly put in trim.

        Thus lived and acted the Methodist Sisters of other days, lived thus and acted on the banks of the Schuylkill, the Ohio, the Mississippi, the Missouri. Would that we knew their names, would that our Barbara Hecks were known, that we might unite with the coming generations to do them homage.


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But alas! they died, and their names have gone down to the grave with their bodies, gone up to heaven with their souls; and on the middle earth nought remains but their undeciphered footprints. We say, and from our hearts, Peace to the souls of the Unknown Dead of the Methodist Sisterhood.

        Though thus devoted to the Master's cause, she has not escaped a goodly amount of slander. Her kindness, like the widow of Sarepta--like the sisters of Lazarus, has been most sadly impugned; and many have been the whispers floating around. What shall we say of her kindness, giving rise, as it most undoubtedly has, to very much slander, both of preachers and people? What shall we say? Why state facts. When Richard Allen and the early Bishops of our Church, gave the preachers their appointments, they had no money to place in their hands to pay their expenses. It was for the Bishops to say, Go; it was for the itinerant to provide the means. Often they were sent hundreds of miles, and not one cent in pocket had they, but go they would. Trusting in God, they took up the march, and like Israel, as they advanced, obstacles gave way; many a stubborn river stood up in heaps, when their feet touched the waters. God made the people to be at peace with them. He raised them up friends. Many Lydias He provided to invite them home, and provide for them. Other Churches sent not forth the Evangelist, because they had not the visible means of supporting him; ours, trusting in God, sent forth the itinerant; and with manly heart he went; and for accepting the shelter which God provided,


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the same shelter He provided for the prophets and Apostles of old, the names of these modern Lydias, the names of Elijah and Paul are cast out as evil.

        So let it be, but not, henceforth and forever!

        What the Methodist Sisters have been in the past, they are now. They are the same zealous souls, zealous for God, His Church, His Servants.

        Full one-half the honor is justly due to her; for making the A. M. E. Church, under God, what it is. She taught not, yet it cannot be said she did not preach; she was no officer, yet it cannot be said she did not lead. A very Deborah was she, while many a preacher was to her as Barak.

        In labors, temporal and spiritual, she has proved the equal of her brethren, she has bought one-half the bricks in all our Churches, and offered,-well nigh, one-half the prayers. The poor itinerant knows the estimate of her, and, when calling to mind her unmeasured labors in his behalf, he cries out with King Lemuel, "Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies."

        Her zeal, like her kindness, has brought upon her the frowns of the supercilious; she is proclaimed to be, "too fast," "without modesty," and such like charges. These she heeds not, but stopping not to drink of the brook by the way, she pushes on in the good cause!

        Long may she live; we wish not that she may not become the intellectual peer of any, but we do wish that her kindness and zeal may never grow less.

THE END OF PART I.


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AN APOLOGY FOR AFRICAN METHODISM.
PART II.


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PART II.
CHAPTER I.
OUR PURPOSE.

        "In the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established."--JESUS.

        WE purpose in Part II to let the African M. E. Church speak for itself--speak by the lives of its members, as well by a few productions from their pen.

        Beginning with the chief officers, the superintending Bishops, let us gradually let ourselves down through the General officers, that is, those created by the General Conference, to wit: the Publisher, the Editor, the Corresponding and Recording Secretaries of the Parent Missionary Society, with the Treasurer of the same; then through the host of itinerant preachers, to those in local capacity, until we shall reach the broad and enduring basis of the membership, upon whom we may rest with perfect assurance.


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CHAPTER II.
WM. PAUL QUINN.
BISHOP.

        IT might seem strange for one to presume to write of another, and really know no more concerning him than the writer knows of Wm. Paul Quinn, the senior superintending Bishop of the African M. E. Church. Do you ask concerning his parents? the father that begat him? the mother that nestled him? The writer knows nought of them. Do you ask, At which of the twenty-four hours was it proclaimed that a man child was born into the world? He knows not. Do you ask even the year? He knows not: and would you be informed of the place, another must tell you. Sublime ignorance indeed! And yet the writer knows of Wm. Paul Quinn, all that is worth knowing of him, or any other man--he knows some little of the work he has done. What cares the world who begat us, or nestled us -- what cares it of the place, or the hour? Pontius the biographer of Cyprian the Bishop, refuses to inform us of his life previous to his conversion; and gives as a reason that what a man does before his conversion to Christ, is not worth knowing. Much more reasonable is our declaration, that for the man, Wm.


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Paul Quinn, the Church and the world care little; but for Brother Quinn and Bishop Quinn, the hearts of a full hundred thousand yearn.

        What can we tell the reader concerning our venerable Bishop? As a commencement, what would be better than to state that he was one of the glorious seven who made up at the beginning the whole strength of our itinerating forces; as well as to state that in the Philadelphia Conference he was the first African Methodist preacher to buy a saddle-bag, and to mount a horse!

        He traveled for a few years in the Eastern Conferences, but they were too circumscribed; and when he listened to the reports of the land that lay beyond the mountains, his soul became enamored with thoughts of conquest and victory. It was in 1840 that he invaded the land of the West, and no conqueror was ever so gloriously triumphant. The sum of his fruits were not a few individuals, nor yet Churches, but he lay whole Conferences at the feet of his King.

        We quote from the 'Semi-Centenary:' "While our Church was conquering territory in a foreign land, she was also strengthening her stakes, and enlarging her borders in the great West. This extension was promoted chiefly through the wisdom, endurance and activity of Elder Wm. Paul Quinn."

        In 1842 the Ohio Conference spake of him as follows: "We, the members of the Ohio Annual Conference, believe the Western Christian Mission, as devised by the General Conference, held in the city


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of Baltimore, in 1840, and prosecuted by Rev. Wm. Paul Quinn, in the States of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri, is the greatest Christian enterprize ever undertaken by the African M. E. Church since its rise and progress in our country. Its present wide spreading influence and future prospect of good to the present and rising generations in the Western States, entitle the Agent, Brother Quinn, who, with untiring zeal, prosecuted the mission to that honor and esteem by this Conference, which is due, and is paid to all men of great minds and enterprizing habits; and,

        "Therefore, be it Resolved, By this Ohio Annual Conference, that said Brother Quinn is entitled to and has the confidence and high regard of this body for that self-denial and truly devoted missionary spirit which he has manifested in this enterprize; and be it further.

        Resolved, That Brother Quinn is entitled, by the laws of Christian courtesy, to sit and counsel with the Bishops during this Conference."

        It was in Pittsburg, 1844, that the seventh General Conference was held, and it numbered sixty-eight--two bishops, thirty-nine traveling preachers, and twenty-seven local delegates. The demands of the work made it necessary to elect another Bishop, and, as if by inspiration, a large majority fixed their eyes on the great missionary, as the man most competent to fill the post. He was elected; and on Sabbath morning, May 19th, 1844, he was consecrated to that office, which he has held for nearly a quarter of a century; held it with signal honor to himself,


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satisfaction to his brethren, and glory to the Church.

        We conclude in the words of Bishop Payne: "Then he was the youngest of three, now he is verging upon seventy years -- the senior of four Bishops--still his erect, majestic form moves at the head of an energetic, enthusiastic host of itinerants; and may it move onward and upward till, at the bidding of the Great Prince of Peace, he shall ascend to his reward in Heaven."


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CHAPTER III.
DANIEL A. PAYNE, D. D.
BISHOP.

        IT were useless for us to attempt to bring Bishop Payne before the public in our humble Apology. "Ego a te debeo baptizari et tu venis ad me"? A writer of the first magnitude, years since, told "How a carpenter boy became a Bishop." But he is our Bishop, and we must honor our little book with an account of him; brief, indeed, to be sure, yet long enough to show what a dauntless will and pious heart may accomplish. That eccentric little State, South Carolina, gave him birth; and on Sunday, the 24th of February, 1811, between 12 and 1 o'clock, P. M., in the city of Charleston. 1811 et 1867. Let us see; he has lived fifty-six years! More than a half century! A good while, to be sure. But what has he done? Many men live that long,


                         And die and rot,
                         And are forgot!

        How is it with our Bishop? What has he seen and remembered in this great temple. Life is a temple; into which all men enter by the same door, but each takes his exit at his individual door. Some men--hosts


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of men we should say--enter life's temple, and, after idling away a score of years or more, turn about-face and depart at the same door they had entered--even the door of ignorance and sin. Other men there are, and nobler, who enter the door--even the door of ignorance--but when they depart, they depart the door, wisdom; they enter the door sinfulness, but depart the door holiness. These go not out the same door they enter, but rather an opposite one. They ransack the old temple from base to dome, go through every passage, visit ever chamber, and know much of its glories; and going hence, they can tell the wondering Angels the glories of the world. Of this class is our Bishop; entering the Temple on the first floor, for their is no entrance on any other, he has surveyed well all that was there, and leaving it behind, he commenced tö ascend the stairways to the second floor, and up and still up has he gone, till he has attained a lofty attitude--until he can gaze out, not one window alone, but many windows; even the Greek window, the Latin, the French, the Hebrew, windows that are closed to the multitude. But enough of the figurative. Bishop D. A. Payne, born of Methodist parents, at the early age of fifteen, joined that Church, and at eighteen was converted within its folds. A youth of promise, a benevolent society of colored men, called the "Minor's Moralist Society," sent him to school, where he learned to read, write and cipher. His knowledge of the natural sciences, and of the mathematical, as far as the six books of Euclid, was


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acquired in his native city, without any foreign aid beyond the text books. He had also made some progress in Latin, Greek and French in the same way. His theological training was at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania, in the General Seminary of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. He has been an educator of his race for thirty-eight years!

        Made Bishop in 1852, he has done a peculiar work for the A. M. E. Church; whilst his brethren were extending the building, he was polishing it off, in company with a few others.

        Let him "go hence" when he may, the monument Daniel A. Payne will leave, will not be the magnificent Bethel, Baltimore--will not be his general improvement of the A. M. E. ministry, but it will be Wilberforce University, of which he is the President. That, pre-eminently, is the legacy he will leave to the Church and people he loves so well. Upon it he has laid himself as the willing sacrifice. Of it he thinks by day and dreams by night; for it he writes, and talks, and works; for it he has crossed the sea.*

         * Bishop Payne is now in England, August, 1867.


Convinced of its supreme necessity, he makes even other interest subservient to it; hesitating not to declare the opinion that its success or failure is the success or failure of the A. M. E. Church.

        Let his life be long, and let the desire of his heart be given unto him.


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CHAPTER IV.
ALEXANDER W. WAYMAN.
BISHOP.

        "ALEXANDER W. WAYMAN was born in Caroline County, Md., September, A. D. 1821. His father, Francis, and mother, Matilda Wayman, were among the first members of the African M. E. Church in that part of the State, and remain members of the same Church till this day. His father being a farmer, he was put early to work on the farm, during the summer and autumn; but in the winter he had little to do. At night the boys would make large light wood fires, by which they would learn the alphabet. Each one would try to excel. Alexander was the most ambitious, and formed an idea that he must learn the fastest of any; and he succeeded. He soon commenced to read in Comly's Spelling Book, and to make letters in the sand. In 1855 he obtained a hope in Christ, and commenced to read the Scriptures. During the long winter night, he would read chapter after chapter for his father and mother. It has March 29th, 1837, that he joined the M. E. Church, and very soon began to assist in holding prayer meeting. In August, 1839, he felt impressed to do something in the vineyard of the


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Lord. Up to this time he had never read any books but the Bible and the speller, and these but imperfectly. He felt a great desire to become a scholar if possible. His father gave him permission to leave home, and seek his fortune elsewhere. He visited Baltimore City in May, 1840, while the General Conference of the A. M. E. Church was in session; and viewing some of the ablest members, and hearing them preach, he was encouraged to hope for something in the future. He remained in Baltimore a few weeks, then went to Philadelphia and united with the A. M. E. Church. In Philadelphia he was employed by a Quaker gentleman as coachman. Having great desires to be a scribe, and write compositions, he bought pen and paper, and commenced to write over whole sheets of it, and leave it on the table in his room. The gentleman with whom he labored, one day went into Alexander's apartment to look out into the garden, seeing the writing, he read it, and finding a great many errors in it, sent for Alexander to come up stairs. At his approach the gentleman said to him: "I was reading thy writing, and I am pleased to see the Christian spirit thou dost manifest. Sit down and let me give thee a lesson." He took the writing and showed him all the mistakes, and from that hour Alexander resolved to go to work and do the best he could to learn. In 1842 he was appointed by the late Bishop Brown to the Princeton Circuit, with Rev. H. C. Turner. Going with him to New Brunswick, N. J., he was requested to take charge of a small primary


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school. At this place there is a large college and a great many students, who took much delight in teaching him anything he wished to learn. Here he commenced the study of grammar and some other branches, and thus he has advanced on, step by step. In 1843 he was admitted on trial in the Philadelphia Conference, and appointed to the West Chester Circuit, Pa. He purchased Smith's English Grammar and Modern Geography, and a little book written by Bishop Emory, of the M. E. Church, called Emory's Questions. With these in his possession, he commenced his itinerant life, and by the close of the Conference year, he had the questions of Bishop Emory, with other studies, well digested. The next year he purchased Buck's Theological Dictionary and Clark's Commentary upon the New Testament, and commenced to read them. Clark's writing gave him much trouble, because he used so much dead language. In 1845 he was examined by the following committee, viz: Rev. N. C. W. Cannon, Eli N. Hall and Levin Lee, and admitted into full connection, as well as ordained a Deacon, and appointed to Wesley Church, Philadelphia. Being the first young man that was ever appointed to a station, he felt no little embarrassment in entering upon his field of labor. This year he began to read other works, such as Barnes's Notes on the Gospels. At the next Conference he was elected assistant secretary, and was appointed to Salem, N. J. This year he studied but little, his Circuit being large. In 1847 he was stationed at Trenton,


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N. J.; this being a small Station, he had considerable time. The school committee employed him to teach the public school here, and he had an opportunity to study more extensively arithmetic and other branches. At the General Conference, in 1848, he was elected assistant secretary, and has been elected every General Conference thereafter, down to 1864. In 1848 he was transferred to the Baltimore Conference, and appointed to Washington, D. C. There he remained five years; and while there he would attend all important cases tried in court, and attended at the Capitol to hear the statemen. There never was a Conference of any kind held in the city but what he would attend. It was by this means that he acquired some knowledge of the art of presiding over deliberate bodies. He spent six years in the city of Baltimore, Md., as pastor of the Churches. At the General Conference of 1860, he with two others were appointed to revise and publish the new edition of the Discipline. Each member of the committee was assigned a particular part of the work. When completed and published, there were several errors in the parts prepared by the others, of which the Conference complained. There was one simple error in his. He said to the Conference, inasmuch as the other part of the committee had studied at Gettysburg*

        * Bishop Payne studied at Gettysburg.


and Oberlin*

        * John M. Brown at Oberlin.


Colleges, and he had studied in the corn-field, and they had committed several errors, and he but one, he ought to be forgiven. At the General Conference of 1864, he was elected Bishop by a vote of 84 to 9."


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        This sketch of the Bishop, so extremely modest, and yet so well written, we hesitate not to reveal, is from his own pen. We read it over and over, and finally concluded in our own mind that it would be unwise to pull down the unassuming structure so well proportioned, and with all so pleasing, and run the risk of putting it up again, and as well. We can assure the reader that it is all true, aye, we feel like exclaiming with Balkis: "The half has not been told." As a preacher, the Bishop appears to advantage; of dignified mein, easy gestures, and a rolling voice. He is sure to make a favorable impression; while the subject matter of his discourse is so simple, that the most illiterate may fully comprehend them; the wisest also are generally edified.

        As a man of letters, he often surprises many of his friends. It was said of Stephen A. Douglas, that few men ever saw him read, and yet in debate he would make quotations from the most approved authors, and many of them. Such a declaration may be said in perfect truth of our Bishop. Possessing no books, or but few, and of the most social temperament, he is rarely known to study; and while on the whole, this tells against him, yet does he at times show a knowledge of facts, to obtain which no inconsiderable amount of reading must needs have been done. But when he reads, like Douglas, no one knows! As proof that he does read, it should be remarked that while an Elder in the Baltimore Conference, and a member of its literary society, he invariably produced the prize essay, and upon such


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themes as, "My School and School Master," and "Luther and the Reformation."

        Our Bishop is pre-eminently a man of the people, or as he jocularly expresses it: "I'm a Low churchman." At the General Conference in 1864, every body took it for granted that A. W. Wayman must be Bishop, and when the vote was taken, it was well nigh unanimous, standing 84 to 9.

        Though a strong man, there is one load which the Bishop inevitably throws off, and that is the load of trouble. He is always in a good humor. When not absorbed in business, no man relishes a joke better than he, and especially when he meets his brethren at Conference.

        Before he was elected Bishop, and while Conference would usually be in session, he would make a list of Appointments, and read it to the "boys" with all the gravity of a de facto Bishop. The list read over one day, would often be corrected the next, and the reason he would assign, would be that the Spirit told him to change it; and all this in the best of humor.

        Taking up a pen at my house one evening, while conversing of his proposed trip to Georgia, after writing a number of lines in phonography, which art he had some how learned, he wrote:

BALTIMORE, January 29th, 1967.

DEAR LITTLE BENJAMIN:--


                         "When this you see, remember me;
                         Should I be gone to eternity,
                         Go to my grave and drop a tear;
                         Say he is not dead, but's sleeping here.
                         Long as the breeze shall whisper by,
                         And I beneath the sod shall lie,
                         My friends that pass along may say,
                         He'll meet us in the rising day."


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        "There, says he, "let Bell beat that if he dare,"*

        * J. Madison Bell, the poet.


with a hearty laugh. He invariably gives all his brethren some jocose title. Wm. H. Hunter is "The Chaplain;" H. M. Turner is "Plutarch;" Wm. H. Waters, "Pap Waters;" and the writer, "Little Benjamin."

        As a Church governor, as might be expected, he leans to the side of mercy. Pastor of Big Bethel Church, Baltimore, for three years, and with a membership of fourteen hundred, he expelled not a single one. A brother, complaining of his leniency, said: "Church governor! you might know he is no Church governor, when he will be three years pastor of Bethel Church, and turn no one out." Such is Bishop A. W. Wayman. May his life be long, and his tribe increase.


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CHAPTER V.
JABEZ P. CAMPBELL, D. D.
BISHOP.

        "I was born in Slaughter-Neck, Sussex County, Delaware, February 5th, 1815. My father's name was Anthony, the son of Frances by Sydney Campbell; my mother's name is Catharine, the daughter of Phillip, by Rosanna, sometimes called Townsend, but more commonly called Young, being the names of two masters successively. Both of my grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary war. My father was converted at an early age, also my mother; both of whom were the children of pious parents. Before the organization of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, they became members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, where they remained in good standing until the organization of the A. M. E. Church. But as soon as an opportunity presented itself to them in the State of Delaware, where they lived, to become members of the A. M. E. Church, without delay they embraced that opportunity and joined under Bishop Allen. My father was for a number of years a regularly licensed preacher in the M. E. Church, and as such came into the A. M. E. Church, where he labored for about ten years, mostly


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in the itinerant service. I was born free, as were both of my parents. This was in consequence of the fact that Mr. Wesley's American missionaries, would not receive slave-holders into full membership in the Church; they required all who held slaves, and desired to become members of their Societies, to execute a deed of manumission to take effect at the expiration of a given term of years. By this means my grandfathers and grandmothers were liberated, prior to the birth of my father and mother; but this did not prevent me being brought into a certain condition of bondage for a time. My father was induced to give me as collateral security for debt to one of his creditors, he, being finally unable to pay the debt, subjected me to the danger of being taken for the debt. This could be and was very often done in accordance with the statutes of Delaware. I ran away on account of that liability, and came to the State of Pennsylvania. After my arrival in the latter State, I was sold for a term of years, the last two of which I bought from my master, after serving him four and a half years. At eighteen years of age I became my own master. The primary object which I had in view in making this purchase was an insatiable desire for a good education. This desire dates back to the times of my earliest recollections, which distinctly reach to the third year of my age. At eight years old I was hired out for wages, small at first, but increased with the increase of years; since which time I never lived at home with my parents a year nor half a year at a time, nor never


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cost them one dollar for food, raiment, education, nor anything else. God enabled me to provide for my parents and not my parents for me, from that time forward until now. My opportunities for receiving an education in early life were very limited. There was during the first ten years of my life no school for colored children where I lived, my father had learned imperfectly to read and write; my mother had learned to read. I listened to them reading with all my little soul, and felt, that if it were in my power I would give all the world to be able to read like them. When about ten years old, my father was induced by the thinking parents of some colored children to open a school during the three months of winter for the purpose of teaching the little he knew. Those parents thought, that that little would be better than none at all.

        My father opened his winter school, and I thank God for it, because I had a part of the advantages of it; for two or three winters I was both janitor and scholar. Within the period of two winters, I learned all that my father could teach; after that time, I became my own instructor, and so continued until I removed to Pennsylvania, and was bound out for a term of years in consideration of the sum of thirty dollars. The terms of the sale were that I should have two quarters night schooling. When I had age enough to enable me to do it, I earnestly contended for my two quarters' schooling, and was successful. I received that, and also an extra quarter through the kindness of my master, whom I succeeded


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in convincing that my father had made with him a bargain greatly to my disadvantage. After purchasing the balance of my time, as soon as possible, I bound myself out for an additional two years and six months to a barber, in order to have an opportunity to study. I was successful in this enterprise, for, during these two and a half years, I succeeded in the acquisition of an amount of scholastic training as to enable me to pursue my course alone. Having left school, I immediately commenced a course of self-instruction in the following order, viz: Reading, Spelling, Writing, Arithmetic, Geography, Grammar, History, Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Botany, Rhetoric, Moral Philosophy, Logic, Physiology, Ancient and Sacred Geography, Psychology, Metaphysics, the History of Philosophy, Biblical History, Introduction to the Study of the Holy Scriptures, Christian Theology under the several headings of the Evidences of Christianity, the Doctrines of Christianity, Morals of Christianity, Institutions of Christianity, and the Holy Scriptures by Course.

        Such was the course of study adopted and began by me forty-two years ago, and the same course is pursued by me at this day with little if any abatement in my zeal to become proficient in a few of them. I wanted a general knowledge of them all, and a particular knowledge of a few.

        I was converted at the age of ten years, and became a member of the African M. E. Church, under the pastoral labors of the Rev. James Towson, Elder


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of the Lewistown Circuit, Delaware. I continued more or less faithful to the Church until I came into Pennsylvania. Here, in the house of my master, I was placed under professed Universalist influence, for my master and his family were all members of the Universalist Church; but really it was infidel influence, for they were at heart and in practice Infidels--Skeptics--indeed Atheists. This proved a hindrance to me, because I studied the writings of Mr. Thomas Payne, Volney's Ruins of Empires, the Works of Hosea Ballou, and other Universalists and Infidel writers, until I became almost, if not quite, a semi-Universalist. But God had mercy upon me, because I did it ignorantly, through the cunning devices of the arch-enemy, and the subtleties of crafty men. After a long time I escaped from their hands, and became a member of Bethel Church, Philadelphia, which I joined immediately after I obtained my freedom, in the year 1833. There has been no period in the history of my life that I was not religiously inclined. Ever since I can recollect anything, I remember this, that I always respected the house of God, revered the people of God, and loved the ministers of the Lord of Hosts. I always desired to be among Christians, and to be one of them; and just as soon as they would admit me, I became a member of the Church -- a little boy of ten winters. It is not to be taken for granted that because I always had such a feeling for the Church and ministry, that my religion, therefore, was nothing more than what is called commonly natural religion --


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a something very different from revealed religion. I had natural religion largely developed in my nature, and I thank God that I am so constituted that in my nature I am conscientiously religious. But that was not all in my case. I was, at the age of ten years, a subject of revealed religion, as it is exhibited in evangelical repentance, faith amounting to trust in the Lord Jesus Christ for salvation, with peace and joy in the Holy Ghost; regenerating consisting of a renewal of the heart and life. In a word, in those days of my childhood, I was evidently and satisfactorily blessed with a theoretical, an experimental and a practical knowledge of the essential truths of Christianity. I lived, walked and was led by the Spirit and power of God. As soon as God was pleased to reveal himself in my youthful heart, I was moved by the Spirit of God to preach the Gospel to others; and so clear were my convictions upon that subject, that I had no more doubt of the truth that it was the Spirit of God, than I had that the Lord had savingly converted my soul. It was not so clear to me for a long time that this was the Spirit of God moving me, specially and only for the work of the ministry, for, in truth, I resisted the impression, with all the powers of my soul, for several years, and until I became thoroughly convinced that if I should continue to resist and refuse to obey the voice of the Spirit, I would certainly become a cast away from God. A tremendous conflict upon this subject was carried on in my soul for a period of not less than twelve years.


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        I had, perhaps, a thousand objections to becoming a preacher. I did not want to believe that the Spirit of God was moving me to preach, otherwise than what I could do as a layman in the Church; I did not want to think that it was my duty to become even a licensed local preacher, nor even an exhorter; I wanted and tried to persuade myself that this motion of the Spirit in me was only a blind zeal, without knowledge, for the cause of my God, and this zeal taking advantage of the strong and powerful love dwelling in me for the cause of my Lord and Master, was leading me astray; I did not want to become a Methodist preacher, because they were poor and despised, and always dependent upon the people for sustenance, which increased the derision against them; I did not wish to engage in this work, because I had not the advantages of a liberal education, for I was always opposed to an uneducated ministry, and every year's observation occasions me to be more and more opposed to an uneducated class of religious teachers. Teachers, indeed! What can such a class of men teach?

        But with all these, and a thousand more objections, I was finally constrained to yield to the Divine impression, and consent, in my judgment, to become a preacher of the Gospel. The following are the terms under which I surrendered myself to God: I believed that if it were, indeed, the will of God that I should preach the Gospel, and that I was really moved by the Holy Spirit, and not another spirit, God himself would put me into the ministry without


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any extraordinary effort on my part, beyond the simple following of the indications of His Providence. And more than this, I believed if the calling was from God, that he would not only providentially put me into the work, but He would also cause a sufficient number of "signs and wonders" to follow the preaching of the Word by me, as to enable me to be fully satisfied that the Lord had sent me into this work. Upon this view of the subject, I resolved, in my heart, that if the Lord should thus indicate to me his good will, I would, without any further hesitation, obey the teachings of the Spirit with all my heart, soul, mind and strength. When I had fully come to this conclusion, and formed this resolution, I had peace of mind such as I never experienced before. Within a few days after, I was very unexpectedly called upon on a Sabbath day to ascend the pulpit, and give an exhortation, following a very short discourse. I followed this indication of Providence. When I arose from the seat in the pulpit to speak, I distinctly heard, as it were, a voice within me saying: "This is your home; be thou faithful unto death, and thou shalt have a crown of life."

        I spoke tremblingly, under a deep sense of the great responsibility of the ministerial office. This first effort was received by the people with approbation; license was granted to me upon the first presentation of the subject, and I received it with a trembling hand. This first license was that of an exhorter, and given to me by Bishop Brown; but


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I never was confined strictly to the rules governing exhorters. The Bishop himself gave me preaching appointments in common with licensed preachers.

        In the winters of 1838 and 9, I was sent by Bishop Brown to serve the Frankford and Berks County Circuit, and a revival, such as I never before witnessed, broke out upon that Circuit, in which many souls were converted to God, and the Church everywhere upon the Circuit appeared to be revived; but more especially at Frankford. Exchanging a good comfortable home and city life, to which I had been previously accustomed for many years, for the life of an itinerant preacher, on a Circuit sixty miles in circumference, and making that change in my life in the dead of winter, was the occasion of my taking a most severe illness; but after recovery from that illness I set out again, nothing daunted. I went as a missionary into the New England States, and was stationed at Providence, R. I., in 1839; here I found the actual membership to consist only of eight males and four females -- in all, twelve members. There was a colored population of 1,700 souls; to this population there were five colored Churches -- two Methodist, two Baptist, and one Protestant Episcopal. Nothing daunted, but rather emboldened by previous success, and giving myself to prayers and fastings, with a strong faith in God, amounting to expectation, I boldly entered upon the work of a Methodist missionary preacher. At this date, 1839, there were only three small A. M. E. Societies or missionary congregations in all the New England States -- one at Boston, Mass., with about thirty-five members, one at Providence, R. I., with twelve members, and one at New Haven, Conn., with a membership of twenty-eight. This was the full strength of the forces of the A. M. E. Church in the New England States, in the year 1839.

        My labors as a missionary continued in New England from September 5th, 1839, to June, 1843; within the range of which time, I traveled over and labored in the greater portion of those States, and laid the foundation of the New England Conference, which was begun by Revs. M. Dutton and Noah C. Cannon; who first preached in Boston and Providence. During the four years of my labor in that section, there was almost a continual revival, in which many souls were added to the Church at several points, viz: Boston, Providence, Stonington, Worcester, and other places. June, 1843, I was appointed by Bishop Brown to the Albany Circuit, with the oversight of Hudson Circuit. At Albany I found the Church in a most distracted state, and unwilling to receive a preacher from the Conference. Here I labored three months, and received ninety-three cents for my services; my meals I ate in a cellar by candle-light, in the day time, on account of the darkness, and slept in a garret. This was done at the expense of the man who boarded me, with what I was able to assist myself. The Church failed to do her duty, yet I labored on, preached, prayed and fasted until God brought about a change. I found 117 names upon the books of the Church,


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but when I succeeded in ascertaining the true membership, I had forty-one. Having lived through the the first quarter of the year, I was quite successful in producing a change upon the minds of my people, so that I fared better the next quarter -- still better the third, and had all things as comfortable as heart could wish the fourth; a revival of religion took place, in which many souls were added to the Church.

        During the next five or six years, my labors, through many hard sufferings, trials and afflictions, were attended with the blessings of the Lord in the conversion of many souls, and the revival of the work of God among the members of the Churches in western New York.

        In 1850 I was appointed by Bishop Quinn to Buffalo Station, with the oversight of other charges in Western New York. Prior to my taking charge, the Church had been divided, and a large number of members had formed a Presbyterian Church, and those who remained were very much divided in their feelings and sentiments. But I was successful in gathering them together, and when I left them, in 1852, the Church was in a very healthful and prosperous condition. From Buffalo I was sent by the appointment of Bishop Nazrey, to New York City Station. Here I was the successor of Rev. L. Tilmon, who caused a tremendous schism in that Church, and divided the membership. This occurred in 1851 and '2. I found the Church in a most pitiable state, but God was with me, and in one year's time,


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I succeeded in bringing about a very great change for the improved interests of all concerned. The work of God was revived, and a better state of things has existed in that Church from that hour unto the present.

        In 1853 I was appointed by Bishop Nazrey to the charge of Flushing Circuit. Here I was successful in the work of revivals at all the points in this charge, but had the misfortune to lose my wife, who died at Weeksville, Brooklyn, April, 1854.

        From the New York District, I was transferred to the Philadelphia District, June, 1854. Here I was appointed, by Bishop Nazrey, to the charge of Union Church, Coates Street, Philadelphia, which charge I served with acceptance until June, 1856. Here a revival took place, such as never was known in that charge; a vast number of souls were converted, and many were added to the Church. I was, also, in connection with my appointment to the charge of this Church, appointed, by the Bishops in Banc, General Book Steward of the A. M. E. Church, and Editor of the Christian Recorder.

        In 1856, I was elected, by the General Conference, to the same offices to succeed Rev. Wm. T. Catto, General Book Steward; Rev. M. M. Clarke, Editor of the Christian Recorder, and, virtually, I was also elected General Book Agent, in the place of Rev. Wm. H. Jones.

        I served alone in these offices until June, 1858, at which time I resigned to take the pastoral work, and was appointed, by Bishops Quinn and Payne, to


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Union Church, Coates Street, Philadelphia, a second time, or, indeed, a third time, because I had been appointed to that charge in April, 1857, to serve the unexpired term of Rev. Charles Sawyer, who died that year.

        In this year, 1858, I was elected President of the Board of Trustees for the Book Concern, and by them appointed their Agent, to collect the outstanding debts of the "Concern," and bookseller. This appointment made me virtually just what I was before my resignation. The Rev. John Cornish was appointed to the charge of Bethel Church, in June, 1857. The following winter he proposed a special effort in his Church for the revival of the work of God. By direction, he said, of the Holy Ghost, he called upon me to conduct that revival meeting; I accepted the appointment, and the result was that I never witnessed such a revival meeting before nor since that time. Not less than 400 souls were converted, 300 of whom joined Bethel Church, Philadelphia, in 1858, between the months of January and May. In 1859 I was appointed, by Bishop Quinn, to the charge of the Wesley Church, Hurst Street, Philadelphia, which I served with acceptance for one year, and with good success; after that, I was appointed to the charge of Trenton, and the oversight of Princeton Circuits, both of which I served two years, from 1860 to 1861. In 1862 I was appointed to the Bethel Church, Philadelphia, by Bishop Nazrey, and re-appointed by him to the same charge in 1863; but in October of that year I resigned that


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charge, and was appointed, by Bishop Payne, to the charge of Waters' Chapel, Tessier Street Mission, and Ebenezer Church, Baltimore, Md. In 1864 I was appointed, by Bishop Payne, to the charge of Ebenezer Church, at the Baltimore Annual Conference, held in Washington City, D. C., for April, 1864; but in the month following, I was elected to the Episcopal office by the General Conference of the A. M. E. Church.

        From 1864 to the present time, (May, 1867,) I have been laboring as one of the Bishops of the Church, principally in the Indiana, Missouri, California and Louisiana Districts; the last two of which were organized into Conference by me in the year 1865.

        Since that time I have traveled, up to this time, from 1864 to 1867, 40,000 miles, preaching and laboring day and night for my people.

        But I must necessarily cease to write more at this time. I have several letters before me, one of which calls for my immediate presence in California; and contains a draft, payable in New York, for $69 in gold; others are calling for my presence at points South and West. It is past 2 o'clock, Saturday afternoon, and I have two sermons to prepare for tomorrow and the day following, one of which must be a Sacramental discourse.

        What I have written is only the running notes, from which it was my intention to have written a decent article.

        I would not send you these imperfectly arranged notes, but for two reasons; first, I do not want you


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to think I treat your forthcoming book with indifference, and yourself with contempt; second, as a representative man among my people, I would not like to be left out of that class of men in your book altogether.

        Such are the reasons I have to give you for sending you my fly-sheets; if you cannot make out of them what you want, send them back to me by return mail; if the time of your publication or going to press will admit, I will write out my intended article from them for you; don't fail to do this if the time will permit. But if not, I hope that you may be able to gather a few facts from these fly-sheets, which were never intended for your eyes to see."

        The foregoing sketch, as the reader sees, is from the Bishop's own head and hand, with a slight "cornering off" by the writer. Whilst writing it, he never intended that any eyes should see this first draughting, not even the eyes of the writer of the Apology. The pressure of business, however, compelled him to transmit it, and the author, valuing the substance more than the style, asked permission to publish, and received for a reply: "You are at liberty to dispose of my fly-sheets or notes in whatever way you may feel or judge to be most adapted to your particular purpose."

        The author could not possibly have given as correct a portrait of the Bishop had he possessed the skill of a professed artist; and as it is his wish to have every character to appear in his true light, he has not hesitated, as in the case of Bishop Wayman. to insert the original articles.


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        Few Americans can boast of as honorable an ancestry as Bishop Campbell. How would some of our Senators boast if they could write: "Both of my grandfathers were soldiers in the Revolutionary war!" They would insist that it should give them precedency to the White House.

        Of low stature, and close built, he gives evidence of having decended from a hardy stock; so, too, the fact that, for the last three years, he has traveled full forty thousand miles, show him to be capable of a soldier's endurance.

        Possessing muscles as well as brains, he is just the man for the Methodist itinerancy, and especially in days like these, when the spoil is to be gobbled up, and he is to get the most who is strongest and wisest.

        May the Church long be blessed with the labor of his hands, and heart, and head.


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CHAPTER VI.
GENERAL OFFICERS OF THE A. M. E. CHURCH.

        THE officers designated as above, are those who are elected by the General Conference, at each of the regular quadrennial sessions. They are the Corresponding and Recording Secretary of the Parent, Home and Foreign Missionary Society, with the Treasurer of the same the Publisher and the Editor of the Christian Recorder.

(A.)
THE CORRESPONDING SECRETARY.

        The gentleman elected in Philadelphia, in 1861, to fill this most important position, was the Rev. John M. Brown. He still performs its onerous duties, with his office, at No. 49 Holliday Street, Baltimore, Md. With talents of a high order, he is well qualified for the post. Having already served the Church for nearly a quarter of a century, lie is still in the most vigorous manhood and, from appearance, gives promise for another score years or more of work.

(B.)
THE RECORDING SECRETARY.

        He is the writer of the present Apology.


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(C.)
THE TREASURER.

        A man of means, and long identified with the interests of the Church, the General Conference elected in the person of James H. Davis, a layman of Baltimore who now holds the strings of the missionary purse. He had kept his own money so well until, from a poor apprentice boy he had arisen to a man who counts his money by the thousands, the Conference concluded that he would make an excellent one to keep the missionary money. Elected unanimously, he has uniformly given satisfaction to the members of the Society with whom he is called specially to act.

(D.)
THE PUBLISHER.

        Elisha Weaver, the gentleman who has twice been elected to this most arduous post, may be aptly characterized as the "man indefatigable "-- a very representative man of his Church -- the Church that never recognized the legitimacy of the word "fail" -- the Church that does the most work on the least capital of any Christian organization in the land. Leaving North Carolina, his birth State, after a month's travel, he brought up at Paoli, Indiana. Having attended the Quaker schools which bless that State, we find him, in 1846, teaching school under the auspices of his Quaker friends. In 1852 he


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obtained permission of Bishop Quinn and the Conference, which he bad joined some three years before, (1849) to go to Oberlin College, where he remained but a few months, less than a year, Bishop Payne having called him into active service.

         During the years of '57 and '58, he published, at Indianapolis, on behalf of the Literary Society of the Indiana and other Conferences, the "Repository of Religion and Literature," a monthly magazine, only beloved since its death.

        It was in the year 1859 that his brethren, of the Philadelphia Conference, who seem fully to appreciate his energy and business tact, elected him to the office of Publisher and Editor, which action was confirmed by the General Conference of 1860.

        We have spoken of this officer as the "man indefatigable," for without such qualities, success in the work assigned him would have been simply impossible.

        A perfect stranger as to what others may think of him, he stops not to enquire, but hastens on to the accomplishment of the purpose be has in view. A friend quaintly described him as the man whose first question is: "How do you do? and the second, Will you subscribe for the Recorder ?"

        And herein be succeeds when other men would fail. May he live long.

(E.)
THE EDITOR.

        Since the adjournment of the last General Conference,


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this most responsible post has been filled by two gentleman. The first was the Publisher, of whom notice has already been taken; but the double labors of Editor and Publisher was too much for him; consequently the Rev. James Lynch was appointed to the editorial chair. A young man of singular maturity, lie conducted the Christian Recorder for sixteen months in a manner that redounded not a little to the credit of the whole connexion.

        In June last (1867) he tendered his resignation to the Trustees of the Book Concern, which was reluctantly accepted, and the Publisher was once more seated in the editorial sanctum.

        To show what was thought of the Rev. Mr. Lynch, as an Editor within the Church, we insert the following, which was passed at a meeting of the Trustees, held June 13th,1867

        " WHEREAS, Rev. James Lynch, Editor of tile Christian Recorder, tendered his resignation, and we have reluctantly accepted it;

        Resolved, That we believe his course has been highly honorable to the Trustees of the Book Concern and Connexion, and also highly acceptable to the Trustees, Connexion and community.

        Resolved, That we tender him our thanks, and that he carry with him an assurance of our prayers."

        To show what was thought of him withoutour Church, we quote the following from the New York Christian Advocate, when noticing his resignation:

"It is fitting that we should say that Mr. Lynch has made the Recorder a really live paper, abounding
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in denominational information, and presented in a form attractive to his readers. His position, with regard to the question of affiliation with the M. E. Church, and the M. E. Church, South, has been one of great delicacy, but he has acted with marked prudence and shrewdness. He has proved a true and useful friend to the interests of the A. M. E. Church."

        The gentleman has since left the Connexion, and joined the M. E. Church.


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CHAPTER VII.
THE PHILADELPHIA DISTRICT.

        IT was within the bounds of this Conference that the African M. E. Church was organized, as we have seen, in Philadelphia City, April, 1816; hence, although, it is mentioned second in the Book of Discipline, we adjudge that its name should appear first. Its boundary embraces Philadelphia City, and all that part of Pennsylvania lying east of the Alleghany Mountains, and north of the Susquehanna River, including Wrightsville, south of said river; all of Delaware State; all of New Jersey, except Riceville and Rumsen."

        This Conference, as early as 1822, could boast of a membership of 4,000; at the session held in May, 1867, the number reported was 6,440 -- an increase of only 2,440. The population, to whom access was possible, cannot be less than 60,000, and yet, from this vast multitude, but 2,440 have been gathered in, and that, too, after forty-five years' work!

        It is true that other denominations have been at work, but their success has been no greater than our own, if we are to judge from the fact that St. Thomas (the zeal of whose past Rectors and Vestrymen has equalled that of the Watchmen, of any the other Christian bodies) has confirmed only 272 between the years 1834 and 1860.


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        It is a question of the most vital importance, Why this meagre returns to the Lord? Surely one party to the holy compact has been unfaithful. But the Lord is faithful.*

        * II Thess. iii: 3.


Wherein then consists the faithlessness of the several Churches, and especially the A. M. E. Church, whose first business it is to hunt up the poor. How comes it that, under the influence of the A. M. E. Church, the whole West has been brought as a tribute to the Lord; while Philadelphia, its birth place, has well nigh stood still? Can it not be accounted for on another than the general principle, that no prophet hath honor in his own country?

        We think it may be partially accounted for on the idea or fact that when crowds of poor people will congregate in large cities, they will become idle; and this is more true if there be a prejudice against them, as was the case here--a prejudice that debarred them from almost every employment; and who does not know that idleness is the mother of vice? There is no hope for a lazy man, or a lazy people; of necessity they degenerate in morals, for who can keep the mind still? Hence Paul Says: "If any work not, neither should he eat;"*

        *II Thess. iii: 12.


which we would paraphrase: "If any will not work, and thus fulfil the object of his creation, neither should he eat, that he may die, and cease to cumber the earth." Industry and virtue, idleness and vice, these God has joined together, and none can separate them.

        The Churches of Philadelphia want half the number


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of people, that they may get twice the number of souls.

        Let us glance at the reports made at the Conference held in Philadelphia, May, 1867:

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent Money $ 161 14
Pastor's Support 15 273 70
Sabbath Schools 887 11
Mission Fund 94 85
Bishop's Support 581 81
Super'd Preachers 65 02
Widows et Orphans 59 20
Two Cent Money 179 18
Centenary Money 82 83
$ 17 384 84
Value of Church Property 209 500 00

        

CHURCH STATISTICS.

Travelling Elders 25
Travelling Deacons 5
Travelling Licentiates 4
Local Elders 5
Local Deacons 24
Local Preachers 81
Exhorters 101
Members 5481
Probationers 959
Sabbath Schools. 91
Sabbath Schools Scholars 4197
Sabbath Schools Superintendents 96
Sabbath Schools Teachers 418
Volumes 14377
Churches 99

        The exhibit of the itinerant force of this Conference given, is below its reality. We failed to get the strongest preachers in this Conference. One would naturally look for the tall figure of Wm. Moore, but he is, non est. And where is R. P. Gibbs, as neat as


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Beau Brummell, and Jonathan Hamilton, and Theodore Gould? Non sunt, is the reply. Of the local preachers, we present the name of the strongest and the richest man in the District; while the laity, both the old school and new school, is well represented in the characters given.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)
REV. BENJAMIN LYNCH.
ELDER.

        The father of the late Editor of the Christian Recorder, as well as of Miss Jane Lynch, a teacher of no little merit, was born in Baltimore, where he long held communion with the Methodist Episcopal Church as a local preacher. An opportunity presented itself in which to exercise "his gifts and graces," he connected himself with the Baltimore Presbytery, who at once procured him a teacher in the person of the Rev. Mr. Galbreath. Removing from Baltimore, he went to Troy, N. Y., where he continued his studies under the Rev. Mr. Beamen, D. D. Joining the Presbytery there, at the completion of his studies, he received a call from the colored Presbyterian Church of that city, which he accepted, and in due time was regularly ordained and installed into the holy office. In this city, and at that Church, he labored a number of years, when he accepted a call to the colored Congregational Church of Portland, Maine.


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        It was in 1862 that he joined again the African M. E. Church at New York, and received, as his first appointment, Albany Station, at the Capital of the State.

        As a man, the Rev. Benjamin Lynch is characterized by energy; he knows no such word as fail. He remained but two years in Portland; and believing that a better field presented itself on Long Island, he lost no time, and came thither to act as a missionary. Completing that work by the organization of a Church, he handed it over to other hands, whilst he sought the outcast in the city of New York.

        And thus he moves, going where the fields appear whitest for the harvest, regardless of denominational harness. May the active old gentleman and preacher long live!

(B.)
J. W. STEVENSON.
DEACON.

        This well written sketch is from the pen of Rev. W. D. Johnson, a most promising young minister of our Church. He is mentioned elsewhere in our Apology.

        Rev. J. W. Stevenson was born in Baltimore, Md., August 15th, 1835. His parents, John and Ann Stevenson, removed to Trinidad, W. I., in 1812, taking John and five other small children. His father died in less than a year after landing on


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the island. His mother, becoming discontented, returned to the States a widow with seven children--one having been born on the ocean. John was bound out to J. P. Stanley, a stove dealer in Baltimore, and sent to work on his farm near the city. His stay in this situation was very short. He was sold four different times on account of his high spirit. When nineteen years of age, he succeeded in purchasing his time with the earnings of extra labor. Having gained the precious boon, he determined to seek a more Northern climate. He went to Philadelphia, and hired with a barber under the Girard House, where he remained one year. Afterwards he engaged as porter in the drug store of M. Henry Kollock, corner Ninth and Chestnut streets. Mr. Wm. Kearney and his brother, clerks in the store, observing the extraordinary talent which Mr. Stevenson exhibited, commenced to instruct him in medicine. In one year he had made such progress in compounding that he was made a clerk in the store. Mr. Kollock, desiring that he should become a physician for his people, sent him to Dr. Wilson, a colored physician practicing in the city, that he might receive the necessary instruction from an able doctor of his own race. it not being convenient for Dr. Wilson to take him at the time, by the influence of his friends, he was received by Prof. Woodward, with whom he remained five years engaged in his professional studies.

        While at the University, he became alarmed about the salvation of his soul. After six months of deepest


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conviction, God delivered him out of his wretched condition. He joined old Bethel A. M. E. Church, Sixth Street, where he was very active in the Sabbath School. Feeling the weight of souls heavy upon him, he was licensed to exhort in '58, by Rev. W. D. W. Schureman. The next year he was licensed to preach by Rev. Joshua Woodlin. He became the adopted son of Bishop Campbell, from whom he drank in the very essence of the doctrine and laws of Methodism. He was soon taken into the itinerancy by Bishop Nazrey, and sent to the Westchester Circuit, where he succeeded remarkably as pastor and physician. His next appointment was Freehold, N. J., where he was very popular in preaching and in the practice of medicine. He was one of the delegates from the General Conference of '64, to the General Conference of the Zion A. M. E. Church. In the same year he was ordained a Deacon, and sent to Oxford Circuit, where he has remained ever since.

        Lincoln University is at the head of this Circuit. His Church, of which many of the students are members and local preachers, being within a stone's throw of the buildings. He has been a regular student in the University two years; and is pursuing a thorough ministerial education under the patronage of Bishop Simpson and other friends in the M. E. Church. Dr. Stevenson is one of the most prominent students in the institution; his practice of medicine being very large among them, as well as in the neighborhood. Besides these things, the


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Doctor attends faithfully to the four points on his Circuit. He is like the "iron man," Bishop Campbell, in strength and rapidity of motion. He is one of the greatest revivalists in the connexion, and is likely to become the Spurgeon of the A. M. E. Church.

        The offering of the reverend gentleman to our Apology is the conclusion of a lecture delivered in Boston, Mass., Sept. 3d, 1866. His theme was

PHYSIOLOGY.

        "Not one man in a hundred dies a natural death, nearly all are murdered, not suddenly, but by slow degrees. By continual life-long violations of physical and organic laws--by violations more numerous than the hairs on our heads. Such as taking improper food; at improper times and improper quanties. Drinking unwholesome drinks--breathing impure air, often air impregnated with the very seeds of death. Are you not breaking an express law of nature, and therefore sinning? See how true it is that God has not only made the world useful, but also beautiful. He has not only made the sky, but he has given it the softest color of the prism. He has not only hung the stars there, but has made them sparkle gloriously all athwart that high blue dome. He not only condensed the vapor into clouds, but they brighten in gorgeous hues around the sun, or darken in grandeur beneath the storm. He has not only given the springs to run among the hills, but he sprinkles their water on


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high and abroad, until they throw an arc across the abyss, and glitter in the indescribable beauties of the rainbow; and the earth is clothed with greenness and flowers; the mountains lift their battlements, and ocean spreads out its majesty. Look abroad and see how beauty blends with usefulness in the multitude of created things! And what is there in man adapted to all this? What a tender and delicate organ is the eye--paralyze its delicate nerves--quench its light--seal up its eye lids, and all this enchantment, this field of glorious vision disappears. Is it not a duty then to nourish and preserve this portion of the human frame? Look at the hand, a little organ, but how curiously wrought--how manifold and necessary its functions! What an agent has it been for the wants and designs of man? The hand--what would the mind be without it? How has it moulded and made palpable the conceptions of the mind? Removed its obstacles, and gone before it to pioneer its progress. The hand--it wrought the statue of Memnon, and hung the brazen gates of Thebes! It fixed the mariner's trembling needle upon its axis, and first heaved back the tremendous bar of the printing-press. It opened the tubes for Galileo till world after world swept before his vision, and it reefed the high top-sail that rustled over Columbus in the morning breezes of the Bahamas. It poised the axe of the dauntless woodman as he opened the paths of civilization. It turned the magic leaves upon which Milton and Shakspeare inscribed their burning thoughts, and it


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held the sword and gun with which freedom hath fought her battles. It hath unlocked the handcuffs and fetters that bound four million human beings in slavery, and secured the pen that signed the declaration of their emancipation. Who would weaken the hand, then? Would you make it nerveless or useless? If so, would you not break a great physical law of the Creator's own ordaining. You perceive the importance of preserving the health of the body in all its organs. Then let knowledge increase -- let wisdom abound. Let the teacher go forth -- let the pupils be many. Yea, let all become students, and seek to familiarize themselves with their own wonderful nature.

(C.)
REV. PETER GARDNER.
ELDER.

        Men in appearance are very much like the physical earth. Many of our Western plains, level and green, charm the eye, but they have no bottom, or if bottom, it is all mud! A perfect picture of a class of men met every day; men of easy address, and faces not uncomely; men that swing the rattan, and can afford the mustache, but like the Western plains, they have but little solidity. Other men there are of homely physique, like the rugged gold lands of the Pacific, unprepossessing in appearance, and only desired for the gold that is secreted in them. Such a man is Peter Gardner -- not that we would proclaim to the world that he is homely, for men, generally, at the age of seventy-five, do not look half so well; but


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our point is, that in the gentleman named above, there is more of absolute worth, natural and acquired, than any one would suppose. Among the very oldest of our preachers -- for he is five years beyond the allotted three score and ten -- he still is equal to the physical demands of the itinerant life.

        Nor is there many among the young men that can boast of more extensive knowledge in the natural sciences. Bishop Campbell calls him the "chemist." Whilst he was a member of the M. E. Church, Bishop Emory ordained him Deacon, and Bishop Quinn, of the A. M. E. Church, ordained him Elder.

        The following is from his pen:

EDUCATION.

        The general term education, which signifies to be led out of ignorance into literature and science, is far too limited. Education not only implies a knowledge of letters and figures, but it includes a correct training of all parts of man's nature, the physical and moral, as well as the intellectual, so that it may yield its due tribute to satisfy the claims of the others; and it is by wisely training and blending the three together that the true man may be found. Cultivate the physical exclusively, and you are liable to become athletic, but savage; cultivate the moral powers only, and you are likely to become an enthusiast; cultivate the intellectual only, and you are almost sure to have a diseased brain; the physical organization is also liable to suffer. The philosophers and teachers of old paid particular attention


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to physical training. Their teaching was that, to have the highest culture, was to have a sound mind in a sound body.

        Education is a necessary element of success in life; in vain can a man hope to succeed without it. It consists not merely in the accumulation of facts, but in the use of them as well. Knowledge is said to be power, but it is only a means of power; the fact is that knowledge is powerless unless it is reduced to practice. Education may be regarded as reason borrowed at second hand. As the art of restoring health is dependent on the use of physics, so education should be considered in no other light than as the art of restoring to man his natural perfection; this was the end pursued by the youths that attended upon Pythagoras, Socrates and Plato. Their instructions were so many lectures upon the nature of man, his true end, the right use of his faculties, his relation and duties to his God, his duties to his fellowmen, and to himself, upon the necessity of temperance, justice, mercy, truth, and the folly of indulging our passion.

(D.)
REV. JAMES H. A. JOHNSON.
ELDER.

        Was born Dec. 1st, 1835. He received his first instruction from the lips of a mother of more than ordinary intelligence. When but a boy he passed


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under the eye of several pedagogues: first, an old gentleman named Solomon Anderson, then a Quaker, Francis Cochrane, till at last he brought up under the Rev. Wm. Watkins, who has been characterized as "the stern old gentleman who spared neither pains nor rod." From the Watkins' school he engaged as an employee at Kurtz's book store, where he enjoyed a splendid opportunity to gratify that love of books which was a ruling passion. Aside from having a ready access to the books, there was, in the store, a liberal-minded gentleman, Henry Grafton, Esq., who thought a negro might learn something after all; by him the boy "Jimmy" was greatly admired. Thinking it best that he should have a trade, his parents put him to learn "barbering," and during the six years he was thus employed, no inconsiderable part of the time was spent in the well-ordered school of Richard Watkins, the son of William. The years of manhood having come, young Johnson eagerly identified himself with every movement that gave promise of profit to himself, or benefit to his people. Among the founders of the celebrated Galbreath Lyceum, of Baltimore, he was elected its first President, and was, for years, its lecturer. This Lyceum wielded a vast amount of influence, and most deservingly, too, among the thousands of colored Baltimoreans; and during the dark days of slavery, it did more to preserve and improve a taste for the intellectual, than can possibly be reckoned. It was in the exercises of this Lyceum that James Johnson distinguished himself as a


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writer and as a debater, as well as displayed no mean executive obligations as its President. A regular contributor to the "Lyceum Observer," the monthly organ, "Jeems," (his cognomen,) was always read with pleasure; and when the "Baltimore Publishing Company" was organized he was elected to edit its weekly journal, "The Communicator." At the Conference held in Washington city in 1863, the Rev. Mr. Johnson was received into the regular itinerant work, and was immediately transferred to the missionary field of the South, assisting in the organization of the South Carolina Conference, from which he was sent to Edisto island. The labors of a few months in that Southern clime soon prostrated him, and during midsummer he returned home an invalid. Upon his recovering, he was appointed to one of the Virginia missions. He was transferred to the Philadelphia Conference, May, 1867.

        As a writer, he is thoughtful; as a preacher, he is earnest, and altogether he is a man to let the world know that he lives.

        He offers the following:

HUMANITY AND ITS GOOD EFFECTS.

        Political, religious, ethical and scientific subjects, when we think for them on such occasions as do not bind us to any particular class, come up to our minds in such order as makes it difficult to decide upon the class from which to make a selection.

        But as those pertaining to ethics are always useful and interesting, we will take for our present purpose


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as one amongst the most interesting of this class the adaptable subject: "Humanity and its Good Effects."

        This means a great deal, and can be made to mean no more even by saying true humanity. The qualified expression would only mean a proper evincement of humanity by every sentient creature, for humanity essentially implies all that is sincere--all the tender feelings of a man. It is the seraph of his nature shining through an honest heart--intermarried to "an upright disposition"--a disposition to conform to justice and correct moral priciples in all social transactions.

        First, As concerns all rational beings, ripe, warm, and heavenly, it springs from the soul as the Geyser from its source for the benefit of all around it. Then like the ivy clings unto the oak, it clings to the objects of its commisseration free from the practice of deception. Governed by right, in essence the "Golden Rule," and Christ its great example, it inflicts no injury, but bathes itself in beams of sacred light for the good of the whole world. Converging in the very "beauty of holiness" it glows when there is distress of body or of mind;--she expands and rises in proportion to seek for remedies and gives relief when misery stalks before her. Then she shows her worth--displays all her finest features as she puts forth every effort and resorts to every measure for the alleviation of the sufferings of mankind. She then goes to the lowest depth of every resource, and like heaven-blest Sumner struggles


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and sacrifices for the greatest good. She wears a prisoner's chains; lies in dark, damp dungeons; stands the stings of vilifying tongues; gathers up her angelic robes; spreads her golden pinions, and, through the most inclement seasons, goes, in spite of every opposition, to the places of the needy--caresses the poor mourner, feeds the hungry beggar, and warms the chilling habitation.

        Humanity is an angel of light. The Church is her dominion, and the pulpit is her throne. The sceptre which she holds for the good of all mankind, is the scroll that contains the laws of God, and is wielded in the purest love.

        Second, As relates to other living creatures she is even so efficient. Whilst fully susceptible to all the wants of man, she is also conscious of, and flexible to, the sensibility of the brute creation. She has no pleasure in torturing any member of the feathered tribe, or any creature that swims the seas, or any one that roams the land. She is opposed to cruelty, and devises various measures in endeavoring to prevent it. The creatures which subserve the purposes of man are made to experience better treatment than they receive from that inhumanity which makes so many thousands of them mourn.

        She plans for their protection, and labors for their comfort--improves the kennel, the fold and the stable--makes the yoke easier, and the burden lighter.

        Cruelty afflicts poor towser with hunger, overworks the gentle horse and severely goads the patient


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ox. It beats, and maims, and kills. Humanity beholds the sight, raises her hands in tenderness, and, with a bleeding heart, gives a piece of meat, allows a little rest, and speaks in persuasive tones. She makes the donkey know her crib, and love her cheering voice; makes the sheep, and the goat, and the cow all feel abounding joy. "Her ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace." Hence, the world grows brighter under her regime. Happiness springs up in every village, town and city--bursts from every heart, gleams in every eye, and burns on every lip. It makes music on the rivers and merriment in the fields; sweetens toil and softens care. Health and strength are gained by man and beast. They groan not so frequently, and move with greater facility. Their sports give evidence of their growth in these conditions, and their voices, sounding through the air, spread the declaration--man grows richer and the beast grows fatter. All things are benefitted in every respect by this world-controlling power--heavenborn Humanity. All injurious elements are dispelled, light given to every nation, and man raised nearer to his God. By the debasement of vice and the exaltation of virtue, whilst the beast breathes in pleasure on cruelty's decline, man is elevated to an altitude, from which his soul is made to swell with infinite delight by heaven's "never-withering flowers," and fields "dressed in living green."--Then, as Humanity was wedded to the Son of God, so let her be to every living creature for whom He bled and died.


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LOCAL MINISTRY.

REV. STEPHEN SMITH,
ELDER, PHILADELPHIA.

        Born at the very dawn of this wonderful century, the above named brother seems to have partaken largely of its go-ahead spirit. His parents lived in Dauphin County, Pa., and were poor, giving their son Stephen, as his legacy, a sound body, a well-balanced brain, and unconquerable will. Precious legacies, to be sure. Who would desire better?

        Raised by a lumber merchant, of Columbia, such was the business tact he manifested, that, at the death of his friend he came into possession of his business. Here he remained for years, conducting his affairs in such a way, as disarmed the prejudices of the community, and made the lumber yard of Smith & Co., the leading in that county. He has now retired from all business, and is said to posses a fortune of $300,000, constituting him the richest colored man in the A. M. E. Church, if not in the United States. Owning a beautiful mansion at Cape May, he has, for years, spent the hot months of summer at that delightful retreat.

        But it is the religious life of Stephen Smith that deserves especial attention. He presents the rare spectacle of a man becoming rich without pride, influential without using it to his self-aggrandizement. He is to be ranked almost among the organizers of our Church, having joined it when a young man, in less than two years after the Convention of April,


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1816. Nor has he ceased to be one of its firmest friends. With it, in its days of poverty and weakness, it is one of the joy-thoughts of his heart, that he has lived to see it become the leading colored organization in the land. And to know that he has helped to bring it about! It were hard to find a man, who, on the whole, has done more than he; it is true, he has not lavished his means upon it with a reckless liberality, nor do we know that such a course of action would have proved the best, either for him or the Church. The greatest possible blessing to be conferred by man on man, is to learn him to rely upon himself, to use his own limbs and faculties.

        If one thing more than another has contributed to make the A. M. E. Church what it is, it has been her uncompromising self-reliance. And would she accomplish her destiny to completion, let her not forget herself -- her own head, her own heart. Let not her young men, especially her young minister, learn to depend on other people's purses or brains to go through the world; let them despise crutches though they be golden. Nor should it be understood that Stephen Smith has locked up his money, and heard not the cry of his Church; to the trustees of Bethel Church, he loaned a number of thousands of dollars to complete that magnificent edifice; at Chester, Pa., he bought a Church building, and organized an A. M. E. society; while acting as City Missionary in Philadelphia, he purchased the ground, and built the handsome little structure, Zion's Mission, South Seventh street. Nor has he


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manifested a discreet liberality toward his own Church only. As early as 1841, he built a public hall in Philadelphia, for the accommodation of colored people, which the fearful riot of August, 1842, destroyed with fire.

        But the rich Elder is not only a prudent giver, but he is a worker. In addition to providing buildings, and organizing our Zion at Chester and South Seventh street, he also organized our Church at Wilmington, Del., Germantown and Norristown, N. J.

        Since the day that he first joined, though engaged in the most extensive business, yet would he find time to preach and to work. Few men have a more laborious record in the local capacity. He has been a delegate to every General Conference, excepting the first; he has acted as Teller in the election of every Bishop, since Allen. Licensed to preach in 1826, Bishop Brown ordained him Deacon in 1832, in Bethel, Baltimore; and Elder, in 1836, in Israel Church, Washington, D. C.

        Verging on his three-score and ten, for he was born in the year 1800, he still possesses a robust constitution, and active mind. Living in ease, as he can well afford, he still watches the career of the Church he has helped to organize and build.

        Early married, he lately celebrated his fiftieth marriage day at his beautiful mansion on Lombard street. The wife of his youth, though not possessing desired health, graced the occasion, and with many smiles, greeted those who came to wish, "Long life!"

        Without children, the curious are wondering what


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will be done with the $300,000. They may rest assured that one so prudent as Stephen Smith will not contradict a whole life by the writing of his name!

LAITY.

(A.)
ISAIAH C. WEARS.
LAYMAN, PHILADELPHIA.

        This sketch is from the pen of another layman in our Church, whose name will be remembered when mentioned; the name of P. T. Smith, Esq., late correspondent and assistant editor of the "Anglo-African?"

        "Isaiah C. Wears was born in Baltimore city, Md., in the year 1820. His parents, Samuel and Julia Wears, gave him three years' schooling -- from his sixth to his ninth year. At twelve years of age, he was apprenticed to the Rev. Joshua P. B. Eddy, Sr., at Columbia, Pa., with whom he remained until his twenty-first year, learning the barber trade.

        In the year 1835, Mr. Eddy removed his family to the city of Philadelphia, and Mr. Wears went also. At the age of seventeen, Mr. Wears received three months' half-day schooling, after which he became involved in literary pursuits. The first effort in that direction was the formation of the Garrisonian Institute. He next formed the Platonian Institute, led in its debates throughout its brief existence,


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which was only three years. That institution was superseded by the time-honored literary association "The Philadelphia Library Company." From 1845 to 1861, Mr. Wears led in the debates of this last-named institution.

        The organization now known as, "The Banneker Institute," which is now in a flourishing condition, and an honor to our people in the city of Philadelphia, received much encouragement from the tact, zeal and energy of Mr. Wears. From 1845 to 1861, he was engaged in public debates in most of the issues of the times. Among these may be mentioned the Colonization enterprise. This he opposed in whatever form it was presented. In the anti-slavery ranks he was foremost among those who took the side of the political actionists, as opposed to the exclusive moral suasionists; the former maintaining the anti-slavery character of the Constitution of the United States, the latter asserting it to be pro-slavery. Mr. Wears received a challenge from that eloquent orator, Charles Lennox Raymond, Esq., of Boston, Mass., to discuss this great Constitutional question. He accepted, and the discussion took place in the Masonic Hall, South Eleventh Street, below Pine, and after three nights he found himself master of the situation. Mr. Wears continued to participate in political discussions in organizations of white men, leading there as elsewhere, and discussing all the questions presented up to the close of the war of the Rebellion.

        The foregoing very briefly narrates a few incidents


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in the life of Mr. Wears as touching his connexion with literature and politics, but by far the most interesting fact remains to be mentioned, namely, his Church relationship and labors in that direction.

        During the year 1842, Mr. Wears embraced the religion of Christ, and connected himself with the Union A. M. E. Church, whose edifice stands in Coates Street, below Fifth Street. One year after he had joined Church, his restless mind discovered the anomalous relation which his Church held. He, though young, and almost alone, set himself to work, if not to rectify, at least to arouse others who might be more potential to remedy the glaring evil, and bring about a positive recognition of the Episcopacy in Philadelphia, which, up to that time, had not been fully asserted or acknowledged. It was simply a combination without either head or tail, calling itself a corporation, overshadowing us all, shutting out the light and heat of our glorious connexion from them. To speak against it was as though you were in the Papal Church, speaking against the Pope; to act directly and openly against it was to bring down upon your head a merciless ostracism, ensuring defeat.

        It was necessary therefore to mine and ountermine, and so by unperceived and irregular approaches, take a citadel walled in and defended by all the legal precautions which the Municipal and State authorities could afford. It was, however, taken and held, to the satisfaction of our people, and to the honor and interest of the entire Church.--About


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the year 1841, there appeared a religious sect called Annihilationists; they were nearly all disappointed Second Adventists, whose rallying and centre thought was that immortality does not belong to human nature, but is conferred upon the individual by his connection with Christ. Proverbial as they were--almost every member--as Bible students, the challenge which they threw out and published in the daily papers, was accepted, and white men discussed with them for four months, after which, they retired from the field; not so with Mr. Wears, for every week for nine months he met them, and the result was a split in their organization. Maimed, halt and blind, they may be seen in obscure places with scarcely "a local habitation or a name." They split on the question of annihilation.

        For eighteen consecutive years Mr. Wears has labored assiduously in the Sabbath School attached to his Church, moulding and shaping the youthful minds of the rising Church of the living God. He is ever ready to combat error in whatever form it presents itself, whether in politics, religion or science, and the ready, off-hand manner in which he lays hold of the different questions shows an extraordinary mind.

        It was, perhaps, in 1853 or 1854--the date is not essential--when a man came across the Atlantic ocean to preach infidelity to the American people; his name was Joseph Barker. Having thrown out a challenge to the Christian clergy, Dr. Joseph F. Berg, a clergyman of the German Reformed Church,


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accepted it, and a discussion took place in Philadelphia. From that time infidelity flourished. Meetings were held, and challenges were weekly thrown out to the clergy; newspapers teemed with their impiety, until Mr. Wears attacked their camp with his invincible logic and metaphysics, when the errors of infidelity gradually yielded to the truths of revealed religion, wielded, as they were, by a skilful reasoner. These infidels made a virtue of necessity, and though some were Atheists and others Deists, they made common cause, and met to discomfit the spread of truth. Large halls were rented by them, and they advertised to answer all questions relating to religion, and to satisfy the minds of anxious inquirers after truth. Mr. Barker--who is now a Methodist minister in England, having renounced infidelity,--used to speak often on the authenticity of the Bible. Upon this very topic Mr. Wears met him, and after repeated attacks of his battery of truth, skilfully handled, the camp of the enemy dispersed. Mr. Wears met Mr. Barker, in person, publicly, and put him to silence, and a short time afterward Mr. Barker took passage for Europe, whence he came, discomfited; not by Dr. Berg, not by any D. D., but by a man who, at that time, was not allowed to enter a city railway car, nor to wield a ballot for his own political weal. To say that Mr. Wears is a prodigy, is most true, but even that needs qualification to show in what his greatness consists: as a logician, he has few equals and no superiors in the higher ranks of society; as a meta-physician,


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he is equally high in the estimation of those who are competent to judge of such matters, and as a theologian, he ranks eminently high, though only a lay member of the Church. A room 10×12 will hold comfortably all who openly avow infidelity in Philadelphia, so greatly have they diminished since the days of Barker, when they counted their numbers by hundreds.

        Few persons could do justice to Mr. Wears in a biographical notice, however extended, much less to give it in brief space. Let those, therefore, who read these brief allusions, consider them merely as a faint endeavor to show untiring zeal, well-directed energy, properly applied intellect and mental stability in one who, though born among the lowly, identified among the despised, yet, whose genius, soars far above those in more favored circumstances."

(B.)
WILLIAM C. BANTON.
LAYMAN, PHILADELPHIA.

        The superintendent of the mailing department of our book concern, is the young gentleman named above. Born in Philadelphia, Pa., in 1843, he began to drink in the pure waters of wisdom, which flow so perpetually and so plentifully in that city, but a father's death called him away from the brook. Though he cannot claim the honor of graduating from the celebrated High School, yet is he a man of respectable English attainments.


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        Converted in his sixteenth year, he joined Bethel A. M. E. Church, where his ability and devotion to duty gradually brought him forward; until he was selected as the Chief Superintendent of that flourishing Sabbath School, numbering full 500 pupils. This tribute to talent will be better appreciated when it is remembered that in many of our Churches there is much active opposition to young men, and Bethel has it in common with others. It met William C. Banton at the door; one of the most influential of the old men said, "That it did not speak well for Bethel Church, if, with all her male members, they had to elect a boy superintendent."

        Nothing discouraged, the youthful Superintendent went to work. His teachers ably supported him, and admirable, indeed, has been the success. In numbers and in discipline the school is rapidly advancing. Let me whisper a word in the ear of the beloved fathers of our Zion, "Stop opposing young men; the Church you organized needs them; your ranks are getting fearfully depleted; call them up to take your places, and give them the dying blessing, 'Boys, be faithful!' "

        It was in 1865, that Bro. Banton entered the Book Concern as its Chief Clerk. He has become invaluable by reason of business tact and reliability. The brethren of the whole Connexion have learned to confide in him, to love him. He promises to do good work for the Church. May his life be prolonged and may his zeal never grow less. We clip the following from a late issue of the Recorder:


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        "W. C. Banton, Superintendent Bethel Sabbath School, is delegated to the State Sabbath School Convention soon to meet in this city. We understand the Convention will make no distinction on account of color."


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CHAPTER VIII.
THE BALTIMORE DISTRICT.

        THE boundary of this District, as defined by the last General Conference, and as found in the Discipline, is as follows: "Baltimore Conference shall include all the State of Maryland, District of Columbia, East Virginia, North and South Carolina, and all that part of Florida lying east of the Chattanooga river, also Georgia, and that part of the State of Pennsylvania lying east of the Alleghany mountains, and north of the Susquehanna river, except Wrightsville on the south. Harrisburg, north of the Susquehanna, remains in the Baltimore Conference."

        The colored population contained within these bounds, numbers full one million seven hundred thousand souls. Of course, such a boundary could be but temporary. Slavery had no sooner surrendered to Liberty at the Appomattox, and the missionaries allowed to pass the charred gates of the black and ruined city, than it was found necessary to apportion off four new Districts; the South Carolina District, organized May 15, 1865, the Virginia District, May 10, 1867, the Georgia District, May 30, 1867, and the Florida District, June 8, 1867.

        The Baltimore District, as now constituted, has little


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more than the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia, with a a colored population that will not fall short of two hundred thousand. The members of this District have long had the complacent thought that it stood as chief among its brethren, and they have baptised it the Banner Conference; but Bishop Wayman, in his jocular manner, avows that it has lost the Banner! and that, henceforth, his Conference, the Philadelphia, must take precedence!

        In soberness it can scarcely be gainsaid that Baltimore Conference is one of the leading, if not the leading District in the connexion; and especially is this true in regard to the two subjects, Missions and Education. Her claims to precedence in regard to the former was acknowledged at the General Conference of 1864, by constituting her the head and heart of the Missionary movement of the whole Church. Every active officer of the Parent Society was selected from among the members of this Conference.

        Nor has the Church had occasion to complain of the confidence reposed in this District in view of the rich harvest that has been reaped. Through the guidance of the officers elected in '64, not less than 75,000 members have been added to the roll of the A. M. E. Church. But it should not be presumed that this grand work has been done without help. Philadelphia gave nobly, both in men and money; little New York gave men, and 'littler' New England gave the widow's mite. The Districts of the West mainly put forth their strength in the Mississippi valley.


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        So, too, in regard to Education, Baltimore District has no occasion to blush at her past record. Her heart has been wedded to Wilberforce, and though it is afar off, she has given not only hundreds, but thousands, to make that undertaking a glorious success.

        At the meeting of the Conference immediately after the negotiation of Bishop Payne had been made public, the following resolution among others, was passed:

        1st. We highly approve of the action of Bishop Payne, in the purchase of Wilberforce University * * * and regard it as the most hopeful event in the history of the African M. E. Church.

        In the following year (1864) they say, "It is our imperative duty to make that property (Wilberforce) shine."

        In 1865, after the buildings had been destroyed by fire, they say,

        "Resolved, The Baltimore Annual Conference, sends greetings to the Trustees of Wilberforce, and bids them look up in this the hour of their trial, begging leave to tender the advice that they call a general meeting of the Board to assemble June 1st, 1865, and at once enter into ways and means whereby our beautiful house will rise Phoenix-like from the ashes, to a strength and beauty that will be perpetual."

        In 1866, they say, "Wilberforce still pleads like Rachel bereft of her children. Disconsolate doth she sit in dust and ashes, and in her sackcloth array, pleads for help. Shall she not have it?"


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        In 1867, they say, "We all felt sad when we learned that our cherished university had been laid in ashes, but now our hearts are gladdened to learn that the entire foundation is laid, and that one wing of the building is under cover."

        Nor were these all empty words, but at their utterance, monies were given by the hundreds. But enough.

        The reports made May, 1867, were as follows:

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Salary of ministers $5,559 35
Board of ministers 8,385 36
Fuel 1,123 20
Rent 1,541 35
Contingent 55 73
Bishop 689 23
Worn-out preachers 92 41
Widows et Orphans 83 72
Book Concern 118 40
Sabbath Schools 1,524 91
Church Mission Society 899 70
S. S. Mission Society 438 78
Deficiency 10 72
Centenary Money 193 80
S. S. Centenary 23 36
Wilberforce 135 76
Total $20,875 78
Value of Churches, Parsonages, &c $218,650 00

        

CHURCH STATISTICS.

Members 6,017
Travelling Elders 26
Travelling Deacons 4
Travelling Licentiates 4
Local preachers 119
Exhorters 71
Sabbath School Superintendents 72
Sabbath School Teachers 480
Sabbath School Scholars 5,534
Churches 59
Parsonages 6


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        The gentlemen whose sketches now follow, may be regarded as the leading members of the District, and we beg to introduce the reader to them, hoping he will find them not altogether unworthy of his company.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)
DANIEL W. MOORE.
ELDER.

        No sketch-book of African Methodist preachers, however brief or extended, would be complete without a notice of this sturdy old gentleman. Low of stature, with lips given to curl, a mind that is pointed, and heart most true, he is a man of absolute worth; and while Maryland has produced many colored men more intellectual, she has produced none about whom there is so little waste. Our globe has fruitful valleys, but, likewise, desert plains; it has waters rich as nectar, and as sweet, but likewise springs that fitly may be termed mara; with much that is useful, our globe has much of waste. It is thus with man; he, too, has much waste in him, but D. W. M. has as little as most men. Of good judgment, a conscience much like the "Touch Me Not," the old man's counsel is always just.

        In fact, his virtues are his faults. His virtue, of a true deference to law, leads him to disregard all palliating circumstance; his only question is, "What


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saith the law?" His virtue, of a true independence, leads him to treat with perfect contempt the world's opinions; he cares nothing for them, and never allows them to sway his action in the least. His virtue, of an abiding faith in the truth, impassioned and simple, leads him to disregard the least effort at reaching the heart, and stirring up the life. He would have made a superb Bishop of the Catholic hierarchy.

        We have spoken of what Nature has done for him; let us now see what he has done for himself. When a boy he learned to read in a way creditable to him, and at sixteen he was conducting the first Sabbath School he ever saw, in one of the Maryland counties. Coming to Baltimore in 1827, he attached himself to the Sabbath School of the Colored Presbyterian Church, where he taught for seven years, though holding membership in the African M. E. Church.

        It was in 1839, that he joined Ebenezer, where, as Superintendent of the Sabbath School, instructor of a large Bible Class of adults, mainly his teachers, as well as a day school, he spent his time most profitably till the year 1849; two years later, he joined the Baltimore Conference, where he has ever continued.

        Unpretentious as to what he knows, D. W. Moore may yet be classed among our best-read men. A lover of books, he always has them by him. As early as 1843, he wrote a letter to Editor Hogarth, "On the Education of the Ministry," which letter


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is published in Bishop Payne's book. He thus expressed himself in regard to that all-important subject, "Let the two resolutions adopted by the Annual Conference in Cincinnati, in 1838, be carried out to the very letter, by every Elder, Deacon and preacher throughout the Connexion; let none enter into the ministry before he or they understand the plan of redemption * * *for I am of the opinion it is mockery to send a person to teach, and know not what he teaches." He is well-read in the English branches, as well as in ancient history, sacred and profane. For a number of years previous to the Conference of April, 1866, he was a member of the Executive Board of the Missionary Society, and none was more valued for his business tact; enquiring as to its prosperity one day, and being told it was not as successful as was desirable, he exclaimed, "I'm glad I'm not in it, for they would lay all to my old fogyism."

(B.)
REV. JOHN J. HERBERT.
ELDER.

        We present not the name of this brother for what he knows, and yet he knows more than most men ever learn, to wit: that he knows but little. Bro. Herbert makes no pretensions as to knowledge, is desirous only to be recognized as one of the workers in the A. M. E. Church. Or, as he said at the Conference of May, 1866, in Israel Church, Washington,


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D. C.: "If the old men had not polished the marble, they would insist on having the credit of digging it out of the quarry."

        Though uneducated, yet has he a marvellous appreciation of wisdom. Since the Wilberforce enterterprize has been on foot, no member of the Baltimore Conference, no member of the A. M. E. Church, has labored more zealously in his sphere, nor given more liberally as to his means. On this latter score, the score of giving, we are not sure, but to him belongs the pre-eminent honor of giving the most money to that grand project. From his scanty purse, $200.00 in cash was his offering to the cause of education. Other men there are of ten times the wealth and education, but none has equaled the liberal donation of "Honest John," as Bishop Wayman characterizes him. Not only has he given, but his daughter was there as a student for a number of terms, and he is now on the eve of sending a son.

        As a testimony of respect for his deep interest, he has lately been elected one of its trustees, in company with Chief Justice Chase and Major. General Howard. Surely the lowly man is exalted, and the princes of the nation esteem not their robes. In after years the name of the beloved John J. Herbert will be remembered. He offers

"THE IGNORANCE OF OUR RACE."

        After a cold and dreary winter, while I was contemplating upon the cheerful nature of Spring, as well as its living aspect, I looked upon the oak, and


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saw how winter had bereft it. It reminded me of the ignorance of our race; how that the strong winds of the law had slammed to the school doors against them, and the deep snows of prejudice had so covered the way that they were lost, and like the oak, they stood bereft of all intellectual beauty. In the spring time, the tender buds, driven by the sap, will appear, and the oak will put on its beautiful green garment. So is it with our people. Spring time has come, and soon the green garment of intelligence will be put on. Thanks be to the Giver of all good gifts.

(C.)
SAVAGE L. HAMMOND.
ELDER.

        This sketch is from the pen of the Rev. E. W. Hammond. now a member of the Baltimore Conference, and son of the gentleman of whom it treats.

        Rev. S. L. Hammond was born in Accomac Co., Virginia, November 25th, 1814. He was not blessed with the advantages of an early education. The laws of the State did not allow, much less give any encouragement to schools designed for colored youth. When about 23 years of age, he came to Baltimore, when he bethought himself that something else was needed e'er he could be a man, even a knowledge of books. In 1835 he hired to a Mr. Rudenstine, a German; it was there that he was taught the letters of the alphabet, by the two daughters of his employer, to whom he paid six cents a week as


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tuition. He learned so rapidly that in the space of six weeks he could read. These two young ladies continued to teach him until he could read well and cipher. He then attended the Night school of the Rev. Mr. Livingston, Rector of the St. James' Episcopal Church, also, the school kept by the Rev. Messrs. Ward and Lorely, of the Presbyterian Church. Thus having a taste, his thirst for knowledge increased as he advanced in years, and he continued to go on laboring and studying. In fact all his leisure time was spent at his books, for he felt persuaded that God was preparing him for future usefulness. A new era now dawned upon him, he resolved to devote himself to the ministry. Having gone to Philadelphia, he was directed by divine Providence to form the acquaintance of Rev. D. A. Payne, who manifested a great deal of interest in his education. He directed him what books to study, and formed a class of young men to study Theology under Dr. Kurtz, of Gettysburg Seminary. He studied theology and Church history under him for some time. Rev. D. A. Payne having been stationed at Bethel Church, Baltimore, Md., he became a pupil under him where he studied English Grammer, Geography, Intellectual and Moral Philosophy, Natural Philosophy, Natural Theology, Moral Ethics, Logic--since that time, Greek and Latin Grammars under Dr. Roan, of Baltimore. He has occupied many positions of honor and trust, having been appointed delegate to three General Conferences, and for years acted as Chairman of the Committee


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on examining candidates for "Orders and Admission" into Conference; he was assistant Editor of the Repository, Chairman of the Revising Committee at the last General Conference, as well as Chairman of the Committee on Semi-Centenary.

        As a minister the Rev. Mr. Hammond is distinguished for his ability; he cannot fail to attract attention as a man of thought. His character as a Christian minister has won him many friends, both white and colored. He has also been very successful in his ministry--his charges being always visited with the outpouring of the Spirit.

        The following is from his pen:

"THE EDUCATION OF OUR MINISTRY."

        This great drawing out principle, on the wings of inspiration as it were, is rapidly spreading its benign influence from east to west, from north to south. The small leaven of knowledge first planted by our venerable fathers, has gradually spread, until its influence is felt by nearly all. The old men convinced that Education is one of the essential qualities of a christian Minister have advocated it, and the young men catching the inspiration, have fearlessly armed themselves with it, in order to battle against ignorance. It is clearly demonstrated to be essential because, as teachers of the people we must first give evidence of having been taught ourselves.

        God demands it, because as stewards of the household of faith, we are to give a strict account of our stewardship; our talents are to be improved; we are


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to show by our diligent and earnest application to study, that we are obeying the inspired injunction, "Study to show thyself an approved workman unto God." Like well trimmed lights we are to lead those who are in darkness. Another great argument is, That the man of God must be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto every good word and work.

        The honor and success of the Gospel depends much upon the education and piety of those who preach it. With those two great levers in our hands, the success of the Gospel is certain. The huge gates of ignorance must give way; God leading the army we will march onward; and lift up the Standard, to which thousands may flock, and receive the heaven imparted instruction which will make them wise unto salvation.

        Our prospects for the future are great, many of our young men have gone to Institutions of learning in order to prepare themselves for greater usefulness. Daily is the bulwarks of "Zion" becoming strengthened by the votaries of Education. "Multitudes are in the valley of decision." The strongholds of sin grow weaker. They quail before the onward march of equipped workmen. Thousands of banners, streaming high, invite men to feasts of rightly divided truth, while the huge monster Ignorance is struggling in the last agonies of death. Let our motto be Onward! our watchword, More light! and the powers of darkness must tremble before the Captains of the Lord's host.


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(D.)

REV. WM. H. HUNTER.
ELDER.

        Tall, broad-shouldered and erect, stands the once Chaplain of the 4th Maryland U. S. C. T. He was appointed by President Lincoln, Sept. 23, 1863, and when he is arrayed in army dress, he looks every whit a soldier. But not only has he the physique of a soldier, but he possesses in an eminent degree those qualities which enable one to lead and to command, without which there could be no soldiers, or no officers rather. He is a native of North Carolina, but brought to the nominally free States at an early age.

        A youth in his teens, and living in Newark, N. J., he had the reputation of being a "hard case" especially as a fighter. He was like the English, of whom it is said, that in dealing with enemies, "it is a word and a blow, but often the blow comes first."

        Thus was it with young Hunter; no youth in the neighborhood cared about coming in contact with him; his physical strength--his daring, made him to be dreaded. And yet withal there was a germ of manliness and honor about him, that compelled him to be respected as well as dreaded. His faithfulness to a friend was notorious: nothing could quench it; no fear of personal danger, or legal prosecution could restrain his right arm when lifted in defence of a friend.

        Possessing these traits, he was just the man to do,


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when once converted, as good service for the Lord as he was doing for the Devil. The servants, and especially the ambassadors of the Lord must have muscle, and courage, and faithfulness, as well as the servants of the Devil. Of all the Hebrew youth, upon whom the Lord looked, none was so fit, to stand before kings and the philosophers of Greece, as the muscular, the courageous, the faithful Saul. In fact, truth must be defended as well as error, and to defend it, the same powers are often needed, indeed they are the same traits of soul turned to a different and better account. It was the same tongue that consented to Stephen's death, that afterwards extolled the glories of the Cross.

        The Lord saw traits in William Hunter that He needed, as well as the Devil, and he enlisted them on His side. Once in the Church, it is not to be expected that he would long remain unknown, long be a private. The energy of his soul, and its native powers could not there be restrained, nor was it intended. The very occasion of his calling, was that he should be a leader in Israel; and true to himself, he very soon took the obligations of a minister; and the very traits that made him valuable to the Devil, made him equally valuable to the Church and the truth. He is the same muscular, courageous and faithful Wm. H. Hunter, ever ready to adorn the principle, "a word and a blow, but often the blow first." But he strikes not now the truth, but error: not God, but Satan.

        Where such energy is displayed, it should always


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be tempered by a well trained intellect. Paul must first sit at the feet of Gamaliel.

        Chaplain Hunter well understood the principle, and consequently he has let no occasion pass when it was possible for him to improve his mind. When itinerating the Pennington Circuit, he studied quite a year at Ashmun Institute, now Lincoln University. While serving the Church at Georgetown, D. C., he studied under Rev. J. G. Butler, D. D., of the English Lutheran Church; at the expiration of this year in Georgetown, the Literary Society of the Baltimore Conference, pleased with his deportment and his talents, sent him to Wilberforce, where he remained quite a number of terms, when he returned again to labor within its bounds.

        We have alluded to his appointment as Chaplain in the Army. It is to be said to the credit of the African M. E. Church, that it gave the first two of the colored Chaplains enrolled in the U. S. service, Rev. H. M. Turner and W. H. Hunter, both of whom acquitted themselves with satisfaction to the government, and with honor to their Church -- and both of whom have returned within her bosom, and are now doing valiant service.

        A young man yet, Bro. Hunter gives promise of years of usefulness to his Church and the cause of truth -- a man in whatever position he may be put, he will do his part. A natural leader his influence is yet more powerfully to be felt in shaping the destiny of his Church; may his muscles become stronger, his head wiser, and his heart humbler.


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(E.)

REV. JAS. A. HANDY.
ELDER.

        Few men can boast of a mind so evenly balanced, as the writer of the article, Progression. Born in Maryland, the mother of many eminent black men, but barren in the production of great white men, if we except the late H. Winter Davis and the living Judge Bond. Jas. A. Handy, by nature, is the peer of any, and gives promise to equal the most advanced in art. Reared up by an uncle, into whose hands he was committed on the death of his mother, he was debarred of even the commonest school advantages. In his own words, the horse and saw were his books, while the wood-wharf was his school-room. Sent to Sabbath school, with no higher motive than to keep him out of mischief, he there first tasted the sweets of school books; and to taste with him, was to indulge. Four months at a night school was the sum total of his school days; but to such minds the teacher and the school-room are desirable, but not necessary; they accept them if possible, but stop not to shed a tear at their absence; like the Christian, they press forward to the mark. Just here we sandwich in the query, Whether, after all, too much stress is not laid upon the school-room and the master? Joining a mental and moral improvement society, denominated the "Lewis G. Wells," the year 1844, brought to him brighter hopes. In the exercises


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of this society, he received a burning desire for his intellectual improvement. It was in the year 1853, that he made a public profession of love to Christ, and joined Bethel A. M. E. Church; three years later he was elected one of the trustees, and at the organization of the board, was elected its secretary. In 1859 he was chairman of a committee, appointed by his Church, to negotiate terms of agreement between Zion Chapel, Wesleyan Zion Chapel, and the A. M. E. Church, which resulted in the acquirement of Water's Chapel to our Connexion.

        He received the license of a local preacher in 1860; two years later he joined the itinerant ranks, receiving as his first appointment Union Bethel Church, Washington, D. C. After two years of successful ministration at this post, he was sent to Emanuel Church, Portsmouth, Va. -- a most important Station indeed, whence he was ordered further South to superintend the mission work in North Carolina, as well as to assist in the organization of the S. C. Conference.

        As a man, Bro. Handy is characterized by a frankness and decision, which at times assume even an air of rudeness. He is an earnest preacher, as well as thoughtful, and his ministrations are crowned with uniform success. He is, in the broadest sense, a progressive man; was first to introduce the order of the Sons of Temperance into Baltimore, also the I. O. of G. L., and D. of S. into the State of Maryland; and he receives the credit of ranking high in the nic fraternity. Last but not least, he was the


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Baltimore agent of the Underground Rail Road and Telegraph Company for the year 1858-9-60. Jas. A. Handy knows how to obey his superiors, respect his equals, and command his inferiors.

"PROGRESSION."

        That magic word, Onward! is interwoven with our very being. Onward is the world's watchword! On ward is the key-note of the Church! Onward her battle cry! The school boys say Onward to a higher place in class, school or college! The young man starting out in life, as he leaves the college, the factory or the shop, stepping into responsible manhood, says, Onward! and when he has reached the first, the tenth, the twentieth round or more in progress, he still says, Onward! The statesman, grappling with great questions of State policy, or intricate questions of international law, plants himself upon the rock of truth and right, with trumpet voice he proclaims to his country and the world, Onward! The wise philosophers, the men of science, the workers amongst iron, fire, steam and lightning, while they fill the earth with books, while they beautify the land with temples, colleges and schoolhouses; while they crowd the great deep with countless steam and sail ships of commerce; while they chain continent to continent with massive links of wire; while they compel the proud Atlantic to bear up the cable while Europe talks with America; these men of genius, as they stand upon the highest round of progress that the nineteenth century has developed,


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they still point Onward! Eventful is the day in which we live. Fortunate is he who lives today, and has the happy privilege of helping the world on ward. The waves of progress kiss the strand of every continent. These mighty developments in the onward march of the age tell us of the great changes that are taking place; men are determined, the people are in earnest; the nation means that right, not might, shall prevail. America will yet do justice to her sable children; while I write, the sound of clapping hands and the shouts of rejoicing thousands fall upon my listening ear. Manhood suffrage is conferred upon the black man of the District of Columbia by the United States Congress. This is progression; the chattel is a human being; though black, the negro is a man; the former slave is a voter. Glory to God. Onward is the motto of the American Congress; the passage of this bill is but a prelude to a sequel. Universal manhood suffrage is the ultimation of the great American rebellion. Coming events cast their shadow before them. They are wise who prepare to meet and perform their duties in the momentous unfoldings which are foreshadowed. In times like these, strange times, passingly strange times, when changes are so thorough, ramifying through the entire political and social system of the nation; when institutions as old as the country totter, tumble, fall; when prejudice (that hydra-headed monster of American origin) gives away; when five millions of individuals are transformed from chattels to men; when they are removed


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from the back ground to the fore ranks in the affairs of the nation. This is progress--progress in the right direction. But this progression brings with it responsibility. Are we prepared? Have we competent leaders? Remember that we have always been directed by others in all the affairs of life, (the A. M. E. Church being an honorable exception.) They have furnished the thoughts, while we have been passive instruments in their hands, acting as we were acted upon. We need a new set of leaders--men that believe in God and revere his holy word. The times demand, the onward movings of the age require that our leaders should be men that firmly rely and trust in God. In a word, we want Christian intellectuality to lead the moving millions onward. Men that will teach us to cast behind the dark days of ignorance, superstition, self-debasement, and all the concomitant evils of slavery; men that will teach us to raise up our heads, our hearts, our brains, our whole man to receive the great light which is bursting in upon us. The world is moving. We are determined to move with it.


                         Onward, onward, is our motto,
                         Let betide us good or ill;
                         Onward, onward, is our watch-word,
                         This shall be our motto still.

(F.)

REV. W. D. W. SCHUREMAN.
ELDER.

        The A. M. E. Church throughout its whole borders


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has no more popular a preacher than the reverend gentleman named above. Descended from a preacher, and among the very strongest in his day, he has inherited all his pulpit power, even with interest; and to-day, wherever it is known that "Bro. Schureman" is going to preach, there the people flock; not strangers who have never heard, but the people to whom he regularly ministers. There is such a power in his discourses, that his congregation are held spell-bound! What is that power? We have heard him, and during our earthly pilgrimage we have heard a great many preachers say less, and a few say more, but none of whom could draw the people--draw them and keep them. Where then is the secret power of this brother, whereby he is enabled to so preach that he is always new, always charming to the mass? We answer: It is in the eyes, the gestures, the symbolic preaching, the perfect knowledge of human nature. He is a perfect adept at breaking into the hearts of the people. His words come like heated balls, and knowing precisely where to strike and when, they go through, and the heart-city is taken by storm. We speak of his eyes; he looks right at you, and you are magnetized.

        He was born at the Capitol of the nation, April 29th, 1825. His parents were among those faithful few who, in the midst of much derision, organized the A. M. E. Church. His mother was a most godly woman; and, able to read herself, she acted as teacher to her children.


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        A peculiar history, indeed, would that be which gave the first thoughts of God, which children have, His being, His nature. Could such a history be truthfully given to the world, it might teach it a lesson. The first independent prayer of our childhood, and we remember it distinctly, was that God would save us as he saved Noah in the ark. But let us turn to Bro. Schureman, and his boyish thoughts of God. His mother had taught him that when men die, it was a visitation of the Lord; this left on his mind the impression that the Lord was a giant, going about killing people -- a great fighter. Thinking thus, he concluded that all those who died must have been cowards, and he felt like kicking their coffins; and he made up his mind when the Lord come to his house, he intended to fight him. In order to do battle, as he thought successfully, he kept piled up in the yard all the stones, pieces of bricks, broken glass, and such other missiles as he would pick up in the street; and his mother would often enquire of William what he was going to do. Understanding that the Lord came down, he would often look up to the sky, especially when he could see between clouds, and with a stone in his hand, he would shake his fist, and say: "Just you come down!"

        His father, in 1834, having charge of the Salem Circuit, N. J., Philadelphia Conference, took him thither that he might enjoy the advantages of a school, which he did, and so advanced in books that he has always appeared with no serious disadvantage.


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Returning to Washington, D. C., after an absence of five years, he came just in the height of a gracious outpouring of Divine grace, and among the happily converted, was William Schureman, then in his fourteenth year. It was in his twenty-second year that he entered the itinerant ranks in the Baltimore District; two years older, he was made Deacon by Bishop Quinn, and the following year, Elder.

        He has filled with the greatest acceptance the foremost station of the Philadelphia and Baltimore Conference; and to-day he may be regarded as the most popular preacher of any in either of them. In the prime of life, he gives promise of good service yet. May the eloquence of his tongue long be permitted to gather the multitude around the Cross.

(G.)

REV. W. B. DERRICK.
LICENTIATE.

        This young brother was born in Antigua, one of of the British West Indies. His father is a pilot among those numerous islands, and is of English blood. Brought up in the Episcopal Church, and early converted to God, he paid his devotions at its revered altar. At school to his sixteenth year, he had stored away a respectable amount of knowledge; but seeing many of his classmates leaving the schoolroom for the work-shop and the various avocations of life, he concluded that he must go, too. But


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father said, No; and endeavored to show him the necessity of more thoroughly educating his mind. It was all in vain, and seeing the boy so importunate, he gave away, consenting for him to leave school, (though he had fully intended sending him to college) and go to learn the trade of a blacksmith, which he preferred.

        The boy William spent two years and over at the anvil, when he became enamored with the sea, and concluded to exchange the shop for the deck, the anvil for the mast. Tossed like Jonah on the deep, he learned from the winds, the lesson he refused to learn from the evening zephyrs; from the storm what he refused to learn from the pleasant sunshine; for, since the day of his conversion, even in boyhood, he felt called upon to proclaim the Truth.

        Coming to the United States, he sought the shrine of the Church in which he was born, baptized, converted, and had paid his devotion, but, alas, American prejudice, in priestly habiliments, told him to stand back. Dismayed at this exhibition of partiality in the very house of God, he left it, and, in Norfolk, Va., sought a refuge where God could be worshipped in sincerity and truth -- he sought refuge in the A. M. E. Church, which has been for years as a city of refuge to negro Christians of manly hearts -- which has been as David in the cave of Adullam, unto whom the troubled of Israel might repair. In less than three years he was licensed to preach. The future of this young brother is in the hands of the Lord, unto whom we pray that he might


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be kept steady, believing that if the heart be the pilot, the force of the head will drive him a goodly distance in the right way.

        May he become one of the strong men in our future ministry.

LOCAL MINISTRY.

(A.)

REV. W. H. G. BROWN.
LOCAL ELDER, BALTIMORE.

        Full six feet in height, with light complexion and long flowing hair, the Rev. Wm. H. G. Brown may be seen any Sabbath afternoon occupying the right hand chair within the railing of Big Bethel altar, the very impersonation of clerical dignity.

        His father, steward of the ship Electra, made choice of a European lady passenger for a wife, from which union was born William Brown, March 25th, 1808, in the city of Philadelphia. His parents coming to Baltimore, he was early placed in the school of Daniel Coker, of blessed memory, whose assistant he finally became; but father was not satisfied that the boy William should teach; and taking him from his well earned position, had him learn how to make barrels -- whiskey barrels, perhaps. But, as is often the case, the boy thought different from the man -- the child from the parent, (Query: When will parents learn to let children select their


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own professions?) and William spent years to learn that which he was resolved to unlearn as soon as possible. Three years to learn, and as many, perhaps, to unlearn--six precious years thrown away!

        Embracing religion in 1825, under Rev. Moses Freeman, he bade adieu to his friends, and started, with his wife, to the West; for the ambitious youngster had thus early taken a better part. Stopping at Cincinnati, he remained there two years, and was there licensed to exhort; after visiting New Orleans, he retraced his steps back to Baltimore. After twelve years officiating as an Exhorter, he was granted preaching license, in 1840, by Bishop Brown. In 1850 he was ordained a Deacon, and in 1864 was ordained Elder.

        A man, allied to the generation past, he is still the equal of many, whose connexion is with the present and all its opportunities. Having read theology under the Rev. Mr. Kurtz and Elder D.A. Payne, the matter of his sermons is always better than their delivery would lead one to infer. Possessing a vein of self reliance, and withal a respectable amount of knowledge, he will always have people to appreciate his talents, and award him the credit of being intelligent.

        His love for the A. M. E. Connexion is true; tested as it was in the great Trustee rebellion of Big Bethel, Baltimore, in 1850, when even physical force was used in an effort to cut loose the good old ship from the Bethel harbor, but all in vain. He is, and has been for a number of years, the Secretary of the


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Official Board, as well as the Quarterly Conference of Bethel Church. We present the following as a sample of the man:

"THE A. M. E. CHURCH."

        Through the providence of God, the A. M. E. Church, I believe, was organized in 1816. The Rev. Richard Allen, Daniel Coker and Jos. Champion, were led to believe that in them was a manhood which they could and would develop if an opportunity were given. With this view, in spite of all opposition, they were induced to come before the world ard raise the banner with the inscription: "African M. E. Church." They started, and under the guidance of heaven; for God not only guided them, but gave them light and wisdom; and he will continue to be with the Church they organized.

        At the present day there is the strongest evidence of the ability of their successors to hold up that glorious banner, and lead it, under God, to final victory -- the banner raised by an Allen, a Coker, a Champion, and their faithful successors, viz: Morris Brown, E. Waters, Wm. Paul Quinn, Nazrey, Payne, Wayman and Campbell. Our ministers are becoming educated, and are going through the land unfurling that same banner, and in the midst of much opposition. Their cry is still, onward! and will be until all the States and the world shall become God's vineyard. I trust we shall soon have a burning and living ministry from Wilberforce, that can teach as


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Christ taught--that will themselves understand what they teach. I hope the Holy Spirit will continue to call young men, and Wilberforce continue to qualify them, until they shall go forth full of light and knoweledge. We want such men in these days of light and wisdom; we want them, for the Scriptures have truly said; "The priests' lips must keep wisdom."


                         Let the trumpet make a noise,
                         Let the priests cease not to call;
                         Bid the sad of heart rejoice,
                         For the Saviour died for all.

(B.)

REV. LLOYD BENSON.
LOCAL DEACON, FREDERICK, MD.

        The evils of slavery have been both positive and negative; positive in the ill it did, negative in the good it prevented.

        Had Lloyd Benson, the local Deacon of Frederick, Md., been born in Massachusetts, and not Maryland, he would have been a man of such intellectual calibre as would have blessed his Church and race. Born January 24th, 1818, in Montgomery County, Md., he was bound by all that chain of ills that held the slaves of that region. His mother was a good old Methodist, who only knew the Lord. A stranger she confessed herself, and amidst stripes and cruelties, she only had comfort in Him. She


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ever looked ahead to the rest that remained. Of course, such a mother would be the most anxious in regard to her children, and though Lloyd was sold away at the early age of two years, yet God so ordered it that his mother should attend him, and thus the first nine years of his eventful life was spent at his slave mother's side.

        From her he received that deep religious cast of mind--that controlling principle, which makes one say: "I will be religious, because it is right."

        As to the manner he learned to read, it is the same tale of sagacity, perseverance, and craft that slavery always teaches, and which the noblest of our slave brethren have ever told. Let me give it in his own words:

        "We had but little chance to learn; the little white boys that we played with would steal out into the woods, on the camp-meeting ground, and get in the preachers' tent, for they were built of plank, and stood from year to year; in these they would try to teach us, but they could not teach more than one or two Sabbaths till they would be found out, and the old persons would break it up. So we could get no learning; yet this did not discourage me, for, though a boy, learning was my object. A little white girl, coming into our family, learned me my A B C's, but it was not long till I bought a primer and learned myself." Commencing life thus, he has pursued the even tenor of his way, until he is respectably well-read, knowing more than any of his former master's children. As a preacher, he is deliberate in


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style, thoughtful in matter, giving evidence of a scope of reading beyond what might be expected; his sermons are uniformly more acceptable to those who believe that religion is not all emotional. A rare man is he for his time and place.

        Early falling in love with the A. M. E. Church, its Christian teachings, its manly position, he cast in his lot with it, and for years has been one of its strongest human stays in Frederick County; and rough, doubtless would have been the bed of the poor itinerant, had not this brother and his kind-hearted wife provided for them. As a member of society, none stands higher. The word of Lloyd Benson is his bond with all who know him.

(C.)

THOMAS E. GREEN.
LOCAL PREACHER, WASHINGTON, D. C.

        It is a good sign to be recommended by those who raised us from our boyhood -- those who looked into our boyish hearts before we had learned to shut the door -- looked and beheld what was there. Old man Jacob Gideon, received the boy Thomas from the Orphans' Court, a bound apprentice, and reared him to manhood; and if still living, doubtless, yet thinks that Thomas is the "honestest" man he ever saw. So, too, thinks Thomas of Mr. Gideon and his wife; in fact, the estimation is mutual between the parties. As a man of business, Thomas Green says


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he owes all to Mr. Gideon; as a Christian, he publicly proclaims Mrs. G-- to be his teacher. When the servant extols the goodness of the master, and the master the fidelity of the servant, both may be relied on as parties "in whom there is no guile."

        Thomas E. Green was born May 9th, 1818, and was early made an orphan. He was converted in his eighteenth year, and connected himself with the Asbury M. E. Church, where he remained some six years; when, to use his own words, "he fell in love with the A. M. E. Church," and casted in his lot with us.

        He is a model Methodist, aye, more, he is a fine type of the American Christian. There are various types of the Christian religion, different species of the same genus. The type of christianity, chiefly prevailing on the continent of Europe, like the country and the government, is great for forms, and ceremonies, and grades. The Deacon must not presume to approach the Priest; the Priest, the Bishop; the Bishop, the Pope; and so the thing goes, until the European type of religion is a thing of outward demonstration.

        The English type is not so stiff; it is a Hybrid -- like its own little island lying between Europe and America -- like its government, between pure Monarchy, and down right Democracy. Hence, while it has much of the European forms, it has not a little of the American life. It is a type -- a species destined to become extinct. It must either go back and


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become a beautiful skeleton, or come forward into an unceremonious life.

        The American type, unlike the European and the English, is like itself, purely American -- like its own boundless rivers, its own democratic institutions. An American Christian cares nothing about forms and rituals, he only values the substance; and those Churches of the Republic that insist on dazzling ceremonies and numerous grades, are anti-American. The moving idea of the great Republic is for the substance -- for the issues; and it cares but little for the means employed. An American Christian will say, and from his heart: "If the Devil will repent and do good, let him do it; and if he don't repent, let him do good any way, if he will."

        But really to bring out one trait in the character of Brother T. E. Green we have used a great many words; we only wanted to say, reader, that he is sanctified in his belief about the American type of religion. He is as free as the air, and the doors of his heart, like heaven, stand open day and night. He is no loiterer in the vineyard of the Lord. He accounts all his substance as belonging to God. In his measure, he accounts himself the Lord's banker, and he honors all the checks, which His poor presents. The glass of cool water is always on hand.

        A member of the little post, Pisgah Chapel, Washington, D. C., he may in truth be called its father, for he built it, and supports its pastor under his own roof free of expense.


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        The words of Paul apply most aptly to him: "Not slothful in business, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord." Upon an envelope which I received from him, the following was stamped:

        T. E. GREEN,
DEALER IN PAPER, RAGS, METALS, &C.,
No. 420 Eleventh Street,

WASHINGTON, D. C.


        Let his days be long, and his years not a few.

LAITY.

W. E. MATHEWS, ESQ.
LAYMAN.

        A man of vast experience, and uncommon "common sense" was Hugh Miller, the Scotch geologist. Born among the lower strata of society, by pure force, volcanic like, he burst through its incrustation, and, like the finest granite, graced the houses of princes.

        His advice to young men, poor young men, young men imbedded way down among the rocks of poverty, deserves to be written in the light. He says: "My advice to young working men, desirous of bettering their circumstances, and adding to the amount of their enjoyment, is a very simple one. Do not seek happiness in what is misnamed pleasure; seek it rather in what is termed study. Keep your conscience clear, your curiosity fresh, and embrace


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every opportunity of cultivating your mind. You will gain nothing by attending the Chartists meetings. The fellows who speak nonsense with fluency at these assemblies, and deem their nonsense eloquence, are totally unable to help either you or themselves; or if they do succeed in helping themselves, it will be at your expense. Leave them to harangue unheeded, and set yourselves to occupy your leisure hours in making yourselves wiser men......... But upper and lower classes there must be, so long as the world lasts; and there is only one way in which your jealousy of them can be well directed. Do not let them get ahead of you in intelligence."

        Thus might we continue to quote the whole of page one and two of the "Old Red Sandstone;" all of which is just as grandly pertinent as the lines we have given.

        Alas! that our dear friend Mathews has not made books more his study. A young man is he of the sublimest talents--a brain that is as fruitful as the clouds, a spirit as fretful as the Arab's steed, and a heart of singular fidelity, yet does he not fortify himself with acquired wisdom. Knowing his absolute worth--the native ability of the man--it is the one desire of his friends to see him go through college; not for the naked name, but for the grand substance. But eager for the fray, he hates to be caged.


                         Hearest thou my thoughts of thee my brother--
                         My own brother, even the child of my mother's womb;
                         Thou art as a ship, a big ship, and thy hull sinks deep;
                         Thou couldst defy the monsters in thy way--even the whale,


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                         In vain might he rub against thee, his coarse hide could be pierced;
                         A school could be driven before thee,
                         The shark would be frightened at thy approach;
                         The whole Carchari would flee,
                         But thou couldst overtake the prey;
                         His teeth would be broken in the fight--even the notched teeth,
                         And thou wouldst be mailed against the stroke of the fish with the sword;
                         Like a rover thou couldst plough the deep.
                         Weep! ye princes, for the ship goes not from the mooring;
                         She goes not hence to bring treasures, even treasures of gold, yea, fine gold;
                         Her sails are wrapt, her canvass will not kiss the breeze;
                         Tight are they to the masts and wrapped; with strong cords are they wrapped.
                         Will not the ship be dismantled if she goes not to sea?
                         Will her tall masts not be lowered if she plies only coastwise?
                         Aye, the mighty ship will be but a coaster;
                         Howl! ye starving ones, for the merchant ship goes not hence;
                         The bread has failed, the flour has leaped from the barrel; it rings,
                         And the big ship moves not;
                         Howl! ye hungry, for she rots at the dock;
                         Howl, for she brings no meat.
                         O, my brother, as the ship art thou,
                         Spread thy canvass ere it rots, and thy masts bind anew, even with iron;
                         Hang not by the coast, break thy mooring and split the sea;
                         Visit the distant shore, even Tarshish,
                         Spoil it of its treasures and its meat,
                         And bear them to thy own unhonored, starving race.

        Of the most versatile talents, there is scarcely any position our young friend could not fill with honor.

        Let him take in a good cargo of facts--religious, scientific and political--and what a merchant ship, laden with produce, would be to a famishing land, even so would he be to his race. When we read the words: "My schooling ending when I was about fifteen years of age," a sense of pain ran through my heart. From the generation with which Mr. Mathews is identified, is to come those who are to be the leaders of our people in a period the most eventful; because in it we will have power. Hitherto not


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much depended upon our action, because we had no absolute power, and as long as the vessel did not move, not much depended on the pilot; but the vessel once in motion--the swift motion which characterizes democracy, then must we look well to our pilots! If our pilots are to graduate, not only from school, but from books, at fifteen--and pilots the most promising--we tremble when we think of the "rubs and knocks" which the good old ship will be called upon to endure. If our young men could be persuaded to study, if they would take Miller's counsel: "Read good books, not forgetting the best of all; there is more true philosophy in the Bible, than in every work of every skeptic that ever wrote;" then indeed might we look with complacency upon the coming days.

        William E. Mathews, Jr., was born of Wm. E. and Maria Mathews, in Baltimore, the summer of 1843, July 17th. His father died in 1853. His mother, who still lives, is thus described by a friend: "She is a woman of fine intellect, well read in history, and perfect in grammar, if one can be perfect in that. Although not a professed Christian, her life is a striking example of practical Christianity."

        Under the training of such a mother, young Mathews soon learned to look upward, and with a temperament like his, he was not long in making that training manifest. Since his sixteenth year, he has been more or less identified with all the public movements in his birth city. Joining the Galbreath Lyceum of Baltimore, Md., in his 17th year, he


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thenceforward took a most active part in all of its proceedings. He was elected its President before his twentieth year.

        Brother Mathews was converted in Big Bethel, Baltimore, under the administration of Rev. John M. Brown, which Church he joined in 1859. Of advanced ideas in regard to Church economy, and of the most liberal sentiment, he has only to identify himself fully with his Church to make his influence felt.

        The agent of the Parent H. and F. Missionary Society, his energy is made manifest by those brilliant reports of monies collected which gladden the heart of the poor missionary. We conclude this sketch with the hope that he, in company with all the rising leaders of the race, may fully qualify themselves for the great work before them.

        The following is Mr. Mathews' offering:

AN ADDRESS DELIVERED IN BALTIMORE ON THE OCCASION
OF OUR SEMI-CENTENARY.

        Fifty years ago, over a blacksmith shop, in the city of Philadelphia, our fathers planted the standard of the African Methodist Episcopal Church. To-day we meet in this beautiful sanctuary*

        * Big Bethel, Baltimore.


for the purpose of dedicating that Banner anew to God, with the earnest prayer that He who was with us then, may yet protect us, and send the principles of our holy faith down to the oncoming host.


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        It was in the year 1703, June 14th, that John Wesley, the founder of Methodism, was born, in Lincolnshire, England. John was blessed with the the Christian example of a good mother. Susanna Wesley was a woman of superior intellect and piety. It was her custom to commence the duties of each day by calling her family, comprising thirteen children, around the family altar, and there, by singing and prayer, conducted solely by herself, dedicate their lives to God. It will not, therefore, be surprising to know that all her children, who attained to years of responsibility, became shining examples in the Church of God. When John was not yet seven years of age, the house in which his father lived, caught fire. It was midnight, and the entire household wrapped in slumber. The alarm was given, and all the inmates, except John, speedily escaped; he was sleeping in an apartment around which the flames had already wrapped their fiery tongue, and rendered escape impossible. It was a moment big with interest. The Rector (John's father) knelt on the cold ground, and, in the light of his burning home, committed the soul of his child to its Maker. When hope from every breast had departed, John suddenly appeared at the window of his chamber. A peasant, mounting the shoulders of another, rescued him at the very moment the roof fell in.

        John, after passing through a collegiate course at the Oxford University, and after a heart struggle of many years groping in the darkness and finding no light, seeking consolation and finding it in none of


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the established Churches, he, with his brother Charles, and fellow student George Whitfield, planted the seed of Methodism in England, which soon sprang into animated life, and which is now illuminating the world with the glory of its refulgence, and wrapping both hemispheres with its angelic folds!

        And it is well that the Wesleys were imbued with this spirit of planting a Church with new life and vigor, for just at this time (1730-40) the established Churches seemed to have been overclouded by a spiritual night. Everywhere temperance, Christian zeal and manly integrity were receding, and giving place to vice and licentiousness in their worst forms. "Indeed," says a popular writer, "there was, in fact, a profound infidelity undermining British Christianity." There was need, therefore, for just such men, and just such religious enthusiasm as the Wesleys and Whitfield excited. They saw the situation, and endeavored to prove themselves equal to it. The trio set out on their holy mission of carrying "glad tidings of great joy to all mankind." Their efforts, therefore, were not confined to Church edices, but to the mines of England they went, and there among the colliers, began that reformation which has proved one of the greatest triumphs of Methodism, and, among the common people in the public grounds, lanes and alleys, they went with their war-shout of


                         "Come ye sinners, poor and needy,
                         Weak and wounded, sick and sore."

        and thousands of people, who had been precluded by


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their poverty from attending the established Churches, for the first time listened to a free salvation.

        I will not detain you to relate the history of the introduction of Methodism into the United States. You already know how Barbara Heck and Philip Embury came over from Ireland, in 1760, and commenced the sowing of the seed in this new soil, which has yielded such an abundant harvest. A few years later new laborers arrived in the persons of Webb, Strawbridge and Asbury. Like a whirlwind this new faith spread, and gave


                         "Healing and sight!
                         Health to the sick in mind!
                         Light to the inley blind,
                         Offering to all mankind
                         The new found light!"

        Thus has the spirit of Methodism progressed, until today it stands a power of strength, not asking, but challenging the respect of all. Let us look at a few facts in the case.

        Methodism, in this country, commenced in the city of New York, with a small room, in a private house, for its sanctuary, and six persons for its congregation. To-day the Methodist Church possesses a membership of over one million of souls, exclusive of about six millions of congregational adherents, some ten thousand Church edifices, valued at twenty-seven millions of dollars. While her influence in the cause of education and moral training may be judged when it is known that thirteen thousand Sabbath schools are attached to her Churches, with one million bright-eyed children in attendance;


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besides Universities, Colleges, Seminaries and Academies to the aggregate number of two hundred and two, and valued at three million of dollars.

        As the little stream gushes from the mountain base, flows on into the river, broadens and deepens until it forms a bay, and finally empties itself into, and forms a part of the mighty ocean, so the Methodist Church, commencing poor and among the humble, feared on the one hand and despised on the other, she has rolled on, surmounting difficulties the most perplexing and stubborn, until now the Church, which a century ago was unknown, stands in the noon-tide of its glory; proud in the consciousness of having brought millions from darkness to the saving knowledge of the truth.

        But alas! American Methodism, like all other objects, no matter how bright and beautiful, has its lights and shades, and of this its dark side we will of necessity have to speak, as it was the abuse of Methodism which compelled our sires to withdraw from the men who permitted their prejudices to get the better of their Christian obligations.

        For this our fathers were compelled, in respect to their own manhood and Christian character, to withdraw from a people holding views so directly antagonistic with the spirit of godliness--and fifty years ago there sat in the city of Philadelphia as august an assembly, actuated by principles as pure and exalted as influenced our first Continental Congress. It was the Convention which formed the first Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church.


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        As may be easily imagined this bold act of Allen and his compeers to form a Church governed entirely by colored men, met with a great deal of resistance from those whites from whom they had withdrawn; but they soon won the respect of all candid persons. Look at it as you may, you will all be obliged to admit that it was an act which required no little amount of moral courage and determination, as it would need broad brain and able hands to steer safely our little barque which for the first time was to try the waves and battle the billows of an unexplored sea, as it was an experiment which was to test and settle forever the hither perplexed question: whether colored men were capable of grasping and mastering all points in Church policy and settling all the conflicting issues which so frequently arise in Church jurisprudence. We tried and we triumphed!


                         "For who that leans on his right arm
                         Was ever yet forsaken?
                         What righteous cause can suffer harm,
                         If He its part has taken?
                         Though wild and loud,
                         And dark the cloud
                         Behind its folds
                         His arm upholds
                         The calm sky of to-morrow."

        Battling as we have, the popular prejudices of the masses and being deprived by our independent and isolated position from that out side assistance and Christian help and sympathy which other Churches have enjoyed, we have yet succeeded, and to-day the A. M. E. Church to the student of history furnishes


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the strongest argument and most conclusive proof of the competency of the race for self-government.

        Let those who grumble, let all those who permit their prejudices to get the better of their judgment, study the facts as they exist and then dare say that the A. M. E. Church, is not progressive in spirit and catholic in tone.

        During the first ten years of our existence, we had but one Bishop, seventeen ordained preachers, two stations and seven thousand members. The entire amount of money expended throughout the entire connection was but $11,157 75. Then our houses of worship were often the lofts of work-shops, or if a Church rude and small, and like angels' visits, "few and far between."

        But to-day rejoicing in its strength and extending its branches like the green bay tree, our Church has progressed east, west, north and south, until our Banner shelters beneath its sample folds over two hundred thousand souls!

        And then at the end of the first ten years of our existence there was to be seen no trace of any effort whatever for educational improvement. Neither Sunday School nor Missionary Society had existence amongst us; but to-day how changed the scene! We have now seven Educational Associations connected with our Churches for assisting deserving males and females in securing a finished education. Sixty-six Missionary Societies to aid the glorious work of sending the Gospel to our brethren in the south -- one College, Wilberforce, and one Church organ, the


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"Christian Recorder" one of the ablest and most widely circulated papers published by colored men in the country. Our Church property which a few years ago could have been purchased for a few hundred dollars, is now valued at one million and a half of dollars! The Church which started with one Bishop and scarce enough ministers to form a corporal's guard, now has four Bishops, six hundred regularly ordained ministers, not including local preachers which will swell the number to at least one thousand, and the church which during its first decade's existence, expended only eleven thousand dollars -- now in one single year collects and expends one hundred thousand. Surely, "God has chosen the weak things of this world to put to nought the things which are mighty."

        A glorious future beckons us on to labor and to victory, the terrible clash of arms has been brought to a close. Freedom is triumphant, and a race long oppressed has been lifted from the thraldom of it chains, up to freedom and manhood.

        These four millions of people, must now be educated and christianized--for you must know that the barbarism of slavery possessed a tendency to heathenize and blot out all signs of manly integrity and Christian virtues, and who better than the A. M. E. Church, can perform this labor? Who more willing than ourselves to go among this woe-smitten and long injured class, and stooping, lift them up to manhood and to God?

        The future hangs thick with a most abundant


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harvest, a harvest of heads to educate, and of hearts to sanctify and bring as willing subjects to the foot of the Cross. Shall we prove equal to the task? This remains to be seen, but judging the future by the past we shall succeed. For it is one of the brightest pages in the history of our Church, that while the Army of the Union, were forcing their victorious passage through the southern land and striking down treason, the missionaries of our Church in the persons of Brown, Lynch, Cain, Handy, Stanford, Steward and others, were following in their wake and establishing the Church and the school house, in many instances in view of the enemies' works. And long before the rebellion had come to a close, these faithful pioneers of the Gospel, had already planted our Church in Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee. Indeed one of our Bishops (Bishop Wayman,) during the hottest of the conflict, was in the field marshalling his host for one purpose, while General Sherman drilled his men for another.

        Already has some seven Conferences been organized in this benighted portion of our land. The people are rapidly coming into our borders and seeking shelter under our protecting care -- indeed the entire South, which a few years ago was black with the darkness of its mental night and lost in the depths of its spiritual swamps, is now being radiated with the halo of freedom, Religion and Education.

        This then must be the mission of our Church,


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evangelizing, educating, uplifting these long neglected ones and making them fit heirs of a glorious immortality. But in order to fulfil this grand design and enable our Church to keep pace with the spirit of the age, we need to have a broader and more catholic spirit amongst us, and this reformative must commence in the pulpit. The fountain head must be pure, before the stream can possibly be. We need and must have an educated ministry, for depend upon it, the world will expect more of us in the future than it has hitherto. I would therefore insist that all of our educational establishments be encouraged and supported, for henceforth brain and culture as well as Christian zeal will be the standard by which the ministers of this Church will be measured.

        Again we must do away with some of the strange customs we have among us. One of which, is the lining out of hymns during the singing of them. This was very well in days when our people were ignorant, but now that we have entered the new dispensation of light and knowledge, it should be insisted upon that all of our members should procure hymn books and join in the anthems of praise.

        Then there is another strange custom against which I desire to raise my voice, and that is the dividing of the sexes in our houses of worship--compelling the wife to sit on this side and the husband on that. Why separate in the house of God any more than around the family altar? Do let us be consistent. Permit the wife and husband to come to Church


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with their little ones and sit together, and let us be done with that piece of barbarism of colonizing the children in the galleries and separating a family in a place which, above all others next to their homes, they should be together.

        Let us go forward then, in this broad spirit of Christian progression. Relying upon the strong arm and guiding-hand of the God of our fathers and invoking his blessings upon us, we will plant anew our Banner, and girding on our armor we will march forward to reap richer harvests. Then in the spirit of Christian heroism let us


                         "Take with solemn thankfulness
                         Our burdens up; nor ask them less,
                         But count it joy, that even we,
                         May suffer, serve and wait for thee--
                         Who's will be done!"

        Nor will we cease our efforts until around the world our flag shall go to the heights of the Rocky Mountains, until it covers the dark-browed children of the Isles of the sea, Cuba, Hayti and onward, crossing the Atlantic to the shores of Africa, we shall gather in to our embrace the millions of that benighted shore--then shall we receive the "well done!" of Heaven, and looking, we shall behold the morning-light throwing its beams upon our tempest-tossed Banner, upon which shall be inscribed in leters of living light -- VICTORY.


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CHAPTER IX.
THE NEW YORK DISTRICT.

        IT was in the year 1822, that the growth of the lately organized A. M. E. body made it desirable to set off a new conference, to be denominated the New York District. It has for its present boundary, "from the northern extremity of the Philadelphia District to the east of Long Island, and all the State of New York, Riceville and Rumsen, in New Jersey;" with an accessible colored population of about 55,000. The census of New York for 1860 was 49,005.

        The African M. E. Church hitherto has been wofully weak in New York, especially the city; and in the New England States. Flourishing elsewhere, in these quarters, it has seemed to droop. Where shall we find a reason for this lamentable truth? Of New England we will speak hereafter. We renew the query, Why has not the A. M. E. Church hitherto flourished in New York city? Why have the Zion Methodists, with their loose government, the Presbyterians and the Baptists, been allowed to outstrip us in the race for souls? It was a sad truth that previous to 1860, our strength there was weak; in New York city, the old Church on Second street was badly located and poorly constructed, while our interest in Bridge street, Brooklyn, was most uncertain.


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        We see a field under the management of one tenant, is most unprofitable indeed--it is one-half weeds, and the products it gives are not full and plump. We are led often to pronounce the soil bad. But the field changes hands--a new tenant comes, and behold the change! The weeds mostly disappear, and when harvest time comes, the ears of corn are full, the wheat is heavy. Thus was it with the New York District. Previous to 1860, it was weak, but during the years since, it has done marvels; and especially since Bishop Wayman has been flying through it like John's angel. No District has advanced more rapidly in material and moral worth. Fine Churches have been acquired, new ones have been built, old ones have been repaired and paid for, the Bishop is hopeful, the Preachers are encouraged, and the work goes bravely on. Other denominations have not longer to pity Bethel; and when Sullivan street shall have broken her cords, and Bridge street leaped into glorious day, then will the New York District stand forth the peer of any. The following most creditable reports, were made at the Conference of May, 1867:

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent Money $ 136 19
Ministers' Support 10,251 91
Sunday Schools 484 38
Missions 234 40
Two Cent Money 111 95
Bishops' Money 371 12
Superannuated Ministers 5 35
Widows et Orphans 30 30
Centenary 145 97
Education 3 30
Sum Total $ 11,774 87


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CHURCH STATISTICS.

Travelling Elders 14
Travelling Deacons 4
Travelling Licentiates 2
Members 2,272
Local Preachers 44
Exhorters 18
Churches 31
Parsonages 2
Sabbath Schools 27
Teachers 151
Scholars 1,177
Superintendents 29
Volumes in Library 5,603

        The value of the Church property in this District is estimated at $181,000.

        Let the reader learn somewhat of two of its preachers.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.

REV. JOSHUA WOODLIN.
ELDER.

        At the late Conference of the Baltimore District, May, 1867, this Elder visited it, and Bishop Wayman, ever and anon, introduced him to the people as the "big brother from New York." In height he is full six feet, and in breadth three, while the cloth to go round him, must be an Ell English and a half in length. He is brown complexioned, an oval face, with lips given to curl, a voice that is pleasant, but broken, and eyes that are quite prominent, and when he walks, unstable things tremble. He weighs


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more than fifteen score pounds. Surely one so large, from a Conference so small is enough. Nor is this all that makes this gentleman of more than usual worth, for he was born at Attleborough. Attleborough! says the reader, and where is that?

        Why, my good Sir, it is the little town that vied with Philadelphia and Baltimore, in giving existence and shape to the A. M. E. Church. Philadelphia with its thousands had five delegates at the Convention; Baltimore with equally as many had six; whilst little Attleborough with scarcely a hundred sent three! In this courageous little community, Joshua Woodlin was born, February 13, 1813: and we doubt not his parents were among the number, that commissioned those three to speak for them in the Convention; and when these delegates returned and told the news, that the grand project had been set on foot, his parents were among the first to step forward, to have their names placed on the roll, that was destined to have the names of an "innumerable company," inscribed upon it.

        Born at such a place, and of such parents, Joshua Woodlin is a strong Methodist of the Bethel school; e'er manhood was upon him, for he was converted in, 32 he stepped forward in that same small Church at Attleborough, and wrote his name as near to his fathers as possible, and to the present he has kept up the fight. The aged father Buleigh received him into Church, and bade him God speed. In it he has filled every post from the gravedigger and sexton, up to the position of Elder. He was for years


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a member of the Philadelphia Conference, and has filled with acceptance its chief appointments. Bishop Nazrey, now of the British M. E. Church, in the Dominion of Canada, made him a Deacon in 1855, and Bishop Quinn an Elder in 1858.

        Of respectable English attainments he long taught school, before he entered the ministry. A respectable preacher, a successful pastor, may he long live to bless the Church.

        We once heard him say in a Love-feast at a moment of rejoicing, "You mustn't be too nice serving the Lord."

(B.)

REV. WM. H. W. WINDER.

ELDER.

        Again are we under obligations to the good Quakers for what they have done for the above named gentleman; to them belongs the credit of placing him in the front ranks of the Methodist preachers of the Philadelphia Conference -- the front ranks intellectually.

        Born in Greenwich, N. J., April 4th, 1834, his pious mother was his abecedarian. From the year 1840 up to 1852, he could be found in school almost any day, especially in the winter season; but to Clarkson Shepherd, a Quaker, is he chiefly indebted for what he knows, as this gentleman taught him for six consecutive winters; in fact he it was who enabled


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him to stand a creditable examination, by Dr. Newkirk, in 1852, for the position of master of the public school, for the town of Greenwich; as well also to stand a more rigorous examination, in 1857, for the position of tutor of the Hope Well school; both of which positions he attained and filled, we doubt not, to the satisfaction of all concerned. Advanced beyond single equations in Algebra, together with a respectable amount of knowledge in all English branches, it is possible for Brother Winder, who is yet a young man, to attain to more than respectability in literature. May he do it.

        His ministerial career began in 1857, when he was licensed to exhort, by the Quarterly Conference of Greenwich Circuit; but he pressed still on, till, in 1865, he was elected by the Philadelphia Annual Conference to the position of Elder, and ordained by Bishop Wayman.

        Ranked among the young men composing the ministry of the A. M. E. Church, may it be his to cease not to study until the most daring shall fear to say that Methodism degrades mankind.

        The Rev. Mr. Winder's offering to our Apology is the following:

OUR DUTY AS A RACE.

        When we review the present state of affairs in our country, and behold the spirit that exists among a class of the whites, that are urged by a spirit of envy against us, we cannot fail to obey the demands of duty. We are aware of this spirit, hence duty


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demands more strongly that we crush it out. And how can this be done? Only by improving the opportunities we now have, and showing ourselves worthy of those in the future.

        The time is coming when we will be called upon to travel through society on our intellect, and if we are not prepared, then will they cast in our teeth their by-words of prejudice, and bind more strongly their malicious ideas. Then, to us, as a colored race, our fate is in our own hands; the question is, shall we or shall we not be men? Let us answer yes.

        As a Church, we have a name that has gone far and wide; is it to be disgraced? Are we to be behind our reputation? We answer no! We are rather to strengthen our reputation. We should, as ministers and representatives of our race, prove to them that we are engaged in a great work, and encourage our friends, and silence our enemies.

        We should encourage education by all means, for the advantages derived from it are greatly needed by us. Education is required in this period more than in any other since the world began, and he who wishes to make his mark upon the sand of time, must take advantage of the present opportunity. As the future of our race depends, in a great measure upon us, let us forward march.


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CHAPTER X.
THE OHIO DISTRICT.

        THE year 1830 witnessed the organization of this District into a Conference. "All the State of Pennsylvania west of the Alleghany Mountains, the State of Ohio and West Virginia, and East Kentucky," are the territories composing it. The geography of this District is varied; it has mountains, approaches to table land, and magnificent valleys; it has rivers and rivulets. Its eastern boundary in Pennsylvania and West Virginia is, the lofty Alleghany range as it sweeps from the North down through the Southern States of Virginia and North Carolina. Down the western slopes of these mountains, and flowing north-west are numerous rivers: the Big Sandy, the Guyandotte, the Kanawha, the Monongahela and the Alleghany; these two last, uniting at Pittsburg, form the Ohio, which receives as tributaries the Muskingum, the Hocking, the Sciota and the Miama. In eastern Kentucky this District is watered by the Licking and the Kentucky Rivers.

        Within the vast domains of the Republic there is no richer agricultural lands than is enjoyed by the brethren who inhabit this region. The rich loamy


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valleys of the aforementioned rivers are celebrated for their fertility. In 1860 Ohio had 12,665,587 acres of improved land, and ranked as the third State in the Union in this respect; that portion of Pennsylvania lying within the bounds of this District can be reckoned at 5,000,000 acres of improved land; while West Virginia and the eastern portion of Kentucky will count up at least 7,000,000 more -- making the whole amount of improved land within the Ohio District to be upwards of 20,000,000 acres. The products of Ohio industry alone, for the year ending June 1st, 1860, was $125,000,000. Of all this goodly land, the colored people partake in no small measure. The Ohio Methodists are generally farmers, full half of whom own the soil they plough. All that is to be expected of men of strong muscle and industrious habits are found among them, and not one of the thirteen Conferences can boast of a more virtuous membership; for they learn from the whistling birds and the murmuring brooks, and not from the vicious men of crowded cities. Within the bounds of this District there may be found not less than 300,000 Anglo-Africans. The strength of this Conference thirty years ago, (1836) as then reported, was 8 Pastors; 2 Stations; 6 Circuits; 16 Churches; and a membership of 1,507; but amidst such a people, and in such a field, its growth has been marvelous.

        Look at the reports of the Conference held in Lexington, Ky., April, 1867:


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CHURCH STATISTICS.

Members with Probationers 8,127
Sabbath Schools 76
Teachers of Sunday Schools 550
Scholars of Sunday Schools 4,854
Superintendents 83
Volumes 7,420
Traveling Elders 34
Traveling Deacons 10
Traveling Licentiates 15

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent $127 72
Salaries 7,603 90
Board 6,874 62
Rent 2,131 00
Traveling expenses of Ministers 1,498 00
Bishops' Salary 368 49
To make up Preachers' Allowance 18 45
Missions 425 57
Support of Sunday Schools 1,417 25
Book Concern 107 59
Widows and Orphans 68 01
Wornout Preachers 27 94
Wilberforce 115 88
Sum Total $18,784 88
Value of Church Property $189,065

        We have been enabled to present the brief sketches of those who may justly be considered the leaders of this Conference; and yet to one acquainted with the men, the meek features of Grafton Graham would naturally be expected, but he was in the thickest of of the fight in Eastern Kentucky, and we could not get at him; so, too, ought Robert Johnson to be among the crowd, but is not. Lewis Woodson is an intelligent man, and we endeavored to get a few facts from him, but while conceding that, "to write an 'Apology,' for a 'Defense' of African Methodism,


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was no trifling task," and "hence, aid from all competent sources should be sought," yet was it "out of his power to assist." But we present the reader with the sketches of the men who lead the grand Army of the Ohio.

        This Conference bids fair to become one of the very strongest. Having Wilberforce within its limits, it will doubtless be the first to catch the first glimpse of the day, which that Institution promises to bring in. Being the first of all the Districts to raise its voice on behalf of an educated ministry, it deserves this peculiar honor. But to the men.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)

JOHN A. WARREN,
ELDER,

        May truly be denominated the working Pastor. A splendid financier, he can get more money from any congregation for benevolent purposes than any man in his Conference; nor will be starve himself either. He is a good demonstration of the truth, that a Christian minister may so train his people that every demand, whether of grace or of debt, will find a ready echo in their breasts -- a good demonstration of the Scripture truth, that "the*

        * Isaiah, xxxii 8.


liberal soul shall be made fat;" as well as, "by*

        *Prov. xi: 25.


liberal things shall he stand."


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        Born in Baltimore, in 1815, at the early age of thirteen he joined the M. E. Church, and at once became an earnest laborer in the Sabbath school. It is said of him that on Saturday evening he would often repair to the Church, and prepare the wood for Sabbath that the school room might be comfortable.

        For two years he attended the day school taught by Mr. George R. McGill. As years grew upon him, he looked around for a wider sphere of action than was presented to him either in Baltimore or in the M. E. Church. He saw that they both tended to bondage -- political, ecclesiastical.

        Removing to Philadelphia, he joined the A M. E. Church with a view to the itinerant work. After many conflicts with foes within and without, he finally resolved to be obedient to the call, and, although engaged in a most lucrative employment, he gave up all for Christ, and started to Oxford, Ohio, where he could enjoy the advantages of the college there located. In a letter, speaking of this part of his life, he says: "I recited to the Rev. Mr. Clayball six months, when I foolishly got tired, and joined the Indiana Conference." This was in the year 1847; and then he began that successful ministerial career of which few can boast. As one of the leading members of the Ohio Conference, he has filled all the most important Stations, and with uniform acceptability. As a Church financier, Elder Warren has no superiors, and but few equals, as Chicago, Detroit, Pittsburg and Cleveland can attest. As a


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preacher, he is characterized by earnestness more than deep thought, for what is most remarkable in him, is the anomaly of passionately loving education and educated men, and yet careless to a fault in the improvement of his own mind. As an index to the estimate he lays upon intellectual worth, it is sufficient to state that his daughters are finely educated; he having provided for them a fine library of some 300 volumes, while his parlor is made happy with the music of both Piano and Melodeon.

        The following incident in his life, as well as in the life of another character who figures in this book, may not be uninteresting. During his ministry at Pittsburg, he found a youth of a score years, carnestly engaged in superintending the Sabbath school of that important charge. The good Elder became persuaded that the youth was needed in the Master's Vineyard, and at every interview insisted upon it, much to the embarrassment of the young Christian. The conclusion of much prayer to God on the part of both, was that local license was given to the cowardly young soldier; but yet the Elder could not get him to accept an appointment, some excuse was always offered and maintained with such disinterested tenacity that the Elder excused him. On a bright Sabbath afternoon, when Wylie Street was crowded, the Elder called up the young man to close, and just as the vast assemblage were on the eve of departing, the Elder desired the young man to move to his right till he made an announcement; when he said: "Friends, come out to-night, your young


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brother (naming the young man) will preach for us. Come out." When it is told that this was done without any notice to the youth, his feelings may be imagined.

        He offers the following:

"MY METHODIST PREACHER."

        (a.) On arriving in his Charge, he will receive his flock in a loving manner; and though his reception may be cool on their part, yet he will be cheerful; he may be informed of the deceitfulness of this one, and the low cunning of another, nevertheless he is equally courteous and kind to all. Nor should he denounce the doings of his predecessor, providing he stood fair at Conference. In my opinion nothing is so contemptible, as to see a brother minister chime in with the people in defaming the character of a former minister: and to cap the climax of meanness, is to receive him after with pretended love and extend to him the pulpit.

        (b.) While he will not be too formal and stiff with his Officiary, yet will he fill the chair with such becoming gravity, that he will command the respect of all.

        (c.) He will not preach too long, nor too loud; being satisfied that it is not only what he says, but how he says it, that reaches the heart of the people.

        (d.) He will look upon his members as his children, and will have no unnatural partiality toward any, respecting not the persons of the wealthy and


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influential. If he shew any preference it will be to office, to talent, or to virtue, but not merely to worldly circumstance.

        (e.) He will be sure to visit his classes, and especially the prayer meeting held in his charge. I do not say that he will be the leader of these meetings, nor do I say that he will sit there as one not interested, but he will be there to join his voice with theirs in praise and prayer.

        (f.) He will not fail to be found in Sabbath school, and he will make opportunity to devote a portion of each Sabbath to the benefit of the children, always having a kind word for them, and an encouraging one for the Teachers and Superintendent. In connexion with the school he will certainly have a class of young men; if the material be not found in his school, he will hunt it up, not resting till he has formed his class.

        (g.) He will encourage the love of music in his younger members, by sanctioning it in his Church.

        (h.) He will be forward to organize a literary society for his young men, fully cognizant of its moral tendency. If he does not become an active member he will be an honorary one; he will not only attend himself but his family likewise, if he have any. Should a member acquit himself with credit, let him be the first to take him by the hand and say, "Go on."

        (i.) He will never be unemployed, as there are always something for a Methodist preacher to do. He is the last man to eat the bread of idleness.


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        (j.) He will have taste, but will despise a fop; he will be cleanly, knowing that a lazy, dirty minister, has no in fluence among his own people, or with the community at large.

        (k.) His pastoral visits will be made in such a manner, as will have a good impression not only upon his members, but upon all the household. This is not done by appearing gloomy, walking slowly, and low speaking, but on the contrary he will be cheerful, having good manners and an easy address.

        (l.) He will by no means keep service up to a late hour, however interesting it may be, or whatever may be the opinion of his congregation; he is satisfied that if persons are truly convicted of sin, they will seek the Lord at home as well, and it is not necessary to keep them at the Church until eleven or twelve o'clock at night.

        (m.) He will certainly respect the feelings of his congregation in regard to money; should they be behind in his support, he will let the Stewards attend to their duty, never mentioning himself until it becomes absolutely necessary, then he will call his people together, and in a loving manner speak of his wants.

        (n.) He will understand the laws of his Church, and will remember that he that executes the law, should be the last to violate it.


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(B.)

JOHNSON P. UNDERWOOD.

ELDER.

        The Ohio Conference has few better equipped ministers than J. P. Underwood. Tall of stature, broad "shouldered," an open contenance, and steady eye, he is just the man to draw forth from passers-by the interrogatory, Who is he?

        Born at Mount Pleasant, Ohio, twenty-eighth September 1824, he is a true "Buckeye," possessing all that frankness, which is characteristic of his State and section. He too, in common with not a few of our ministers, especially those of the west, is indebted to the Quakers, for a training that was extended to both head and heart: feeling desirous to thank this noble people for what they have done for our race, we take pleasure in quoting from a letter which we received from him; he says. "I wish to mention Mr. James H. Gill, Dr. J. T. Updegraff, and Prof. G. K. Jenkins, if this should ever meet their sight, they will please accept my humble thanks for their many kind acts to me."

        It was in the year 1847, that Solomon H. Thompson was appointed to the Mount Pleasant circuit. That brother belongs to the generation of African preachers, whom the Lord called "to preach"--not to talk, not to lecture, no not even to teach dry truths, but called to preach red hot words--words


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that fell seething upon the naked soul. To that same generation belonged Caugh, and Robinson, and Africanus in the east, and "Sammy" Johnson, and Fayette Davis, and Abram Lewis, in the west, a generation of blessed memory, who, having done their work, are fast passing away; and a new school of African preachers is taking their place, a school with less fire, called not only to preach, but to baptize. We haste to exclaim, God grant that it may "finish its work" as fully and as successfully, as the school of the Fathers.

        Solomon Thompson in the Mount Pleasant Circuit was blessed with a revival, his hot harangues melted many an icy heart, and among them J. P. Underwood, when lo! the quiet Quaker became a noisy Methodist.

        In less than two years after his conversion, he was called upon to call others. In 1849, he was licensed to exhort by James Coleman; having occupied in turn all the grades which the Canon doth enjoin; he was ordained by Bishop Quinn, and received as his first charge Captina Circuit.

        As a man of letters, Bro. Underwood will compare most favorably with colored ministers generally. He often taught school, before entering the itinerant ranks, and since. He is to be ranked with the men who live in their day. Some men there are who live in the past, and some in the future, while still another class, live in the present; of this latter class is Bro. Underwood, not antiquated in his views, nor yet way ahead, he lives and moves in the glorious


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now. We quote the following thoughtful sentences from his pen. His theme was,

"STUDY OF DIVINE REVELATION."

        And was written for our Apology.

        "What deep and thorough conviction is produced in the mind, by a calm survey of the visible works of God--the animals, each species of which is adapted to its own peculiar habits of living, are all made subservient to some benevolent purpose; the water gently gliding along, seemingly without any propelling force, nourishes the most insignificant, as well as the greatest of all earthly beings; and upon its broad bosom floats the huge ship, that is the means by which the glad tidings of salvation are spread from pole to pole; the noble forest waving in the gentle breezes; the whole host of the feathered tribe, flying in the air, and singing their songs of praise to Nature's God, 'who first marked their throng with bright variety.' These are but the visible works of the Creator, and but a few of them; for 'who can number half His works?' "

        "And again, from the ignorance, superstition, and deceitfulness of the human heart, many have rejected the evidences on which the truth of Christianity rests; and multitudes of thoughtless mortals have been induced to disregard its authority, and have glided down the stream of licentious pleasure, sporting themselves and feeding vain fancies--cultivating their own self-deception, until they have landed in


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wretchedness and ruin. 'Be not deceived; God is not mocked: for whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he reap.' We must likewise remember that the harvest is generally greater than the seed.' "

(C.)

PHILIP TOLLIVER, JR.

DEACON.

        The Queen city of the West, Cincinnati, can boast of few men of more genius than the gentleman whose name heads this article. Having purchased his freedom with his gold, his father removed to Cincinnati, where he brought up his four children in a manner alike beneficial to them and creditable to him--giving to each as good training as the common schools of that city made possible. Philip earnestly applied himself to the studies allotted--the the highest being U. S. History, Algebra, and the Philosophies--Mental, Moral and Natural. More latterly he has given himself to the study of the dead languages--Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Of an active disposition, he was early associated with all the public measures which look toward the popular good. He is now President of the United Colored American Association--a most responsible body--a member of the Equal Rights League, the Library Association, and more than one of the Lyceums which grace that city. He has twice served the School Board as its Secretary. The ministerial


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life of Bro. Tolliver began in 1860, as local preacher; in 1863 he was ordained to the position of Deacon. On the death of the lamented Edward D. Davis, he was appointed to succeed him as Pastor of Allen Chapel, one of the most important stations within the bounds of the Ohio Conference. Here, where nurtured and where he spent the days of childhood and youth, no pastor was ever more highly esteemed than Philip Tolliver, Jr. From his pen we have the following article:

"AN EDUCATED MINISTRY."

        We are to inquire,

        1st. What he shall preach? Answer: The Truth of God. He shall set forth the law of his God plainly; and in order to do this, he must first understand clearly the character of God--His purity, justice and mercy.

        2d. He must clearly know His will as to man; he stands in the fore-front as the representative of those to whom he shall preach; he shall exemplify the argument set forth by himself, and the errors and superstitions that he wishes to dissipate in others, must first disappear in his own character, or his ministry will be of no effect.

        3d. He must labor in the strength of God, as it is clear that God alone, with all of our acquired ability, can give final success.

        4th. Let him also labor for the glory of God, that God may have all the praise for his endowment.


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        5th. All are qualified by the Spirit; not by might of genius, riches or learning. These are but useful ornaments; but the Spirit's power makes effectual the message of heaven.

        6th. Lastly, let him preach a pure Gospel, and the whole Gospel. Cursed is he who shall handle the word deceitfully.

        While he may listen at the base of the trembling mount wrapped in tempest and smoke, and hear the voice of Him who spake as never man spake, and declare in the solemnity of death, that by the law no flesh living can be justified; let him love to study the whole Gospel that proclaims, though a man sin he has an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. Who can or ought to be so well qualified to publish mercy as he who has been made to tremble at the strictness of God's moral law? Who shall be more earnest? Who should be better qualified? I say the best fitted instrument is the minister educated and ordained. May God send forth such, that when we all meet above, both ministers and flocks may hear the welcome, Well done. Amen.

(D.)

HENRY J. YOUNG.

ELDER.

        A native of Delaware, the little State that gave birth to Bishop Campbell and John M. Brown, he


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seems to partake of that same indomitable perseverance that characterizes the above named two. Indeed, it seems peculiar to Delaware, for we know not one of her sons who is passing through the world half asleep. They are all wide awake.

        Henry J. Young was born November 7th, 1819, and his parents, Daniel and Dianah Young, were both slaves. But they could not endure it, and setting their heads and hearts together, and forgetting not their hands, they went to work; and God blessed them, and prospered their labors so signally that they soon had treasured up sufficient to pay for themselves! Astounding fact -- to pay for themselves -- their bones, their flesh, their muscle -- to pay for the air they breathed, for the water they drank. To pay whom? Him who gave them life and being? Who calls the wind from its rest, and the waters from their secret channels? If so, well. But be astounded when it is told that the creature assumes to be the Creator -- man assumes to be God, and as God claims ownership in man, and demands to be paid for flesh and bones, for air and water. Daniel Young and his wife Dianah, must take of their hard earnings, and pay to some Delawarean for the privilege of breathing God's air, through God's lungs. Was ever robbery so heaven-defiant? Bro. Young, speaking of this event, says: "They labored hard until they were able to buy themselves from their inhuman oppressors, and thereby save their offsprings from all the cruelties of a slave life."

        Henry J. Young was converted to God in June,


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1830, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, in which he remained a most active member until 1840, when he connected himself with the A. M. E. Church. Having filled the various positions of a zealous member, he was ordained a local Deacon, in 1848, at the Conference held in Trenton, N. J.; the same year Bishop Quinn called him into the regular itinerant work, and sent him to the Lewistown Circuit. In 1850 he was ordained Elder at the Conference held in Philadelphia; since which time he has filled some of the most prominent Stations in all our borders.

        Inheriting his father's love of liberty, he early went to Canada, where he assisted much in making the B. M. E. Church what it is. He has since returned to the States, and in the southern work of the Ohio Conference, his influence and tact have been felt; to him as much as to any one man of that Conference is to be credited the triumphs which have crowned our work in Kentucky. His education is confined to the common English branches; but he is one of those men who, having a second class education, will make a first class man; or a third class education will make a second class man.

        As a preacher he is earnest; as a pastor he is laborious, having built, since he entered the work, seven Churches, and finished and improved some seven or eight more.

        A lover of liberty and of his race, may God continue to make him useful in his day. His contribution reads well:


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"ON INTELLECTUAL PHILOSOPHY."

        In examining the component parts of man, we find a material and immaterial man; or in other words, a visible and invisible man. The material man has growing out from his body members, which tend to perfect his organization, and physically qualify him to pursue the various avocations of life. The immaterial man, like the material, has its organs or members, which are necessary for the perfection of the intellectual man. The chief character of the intellectual man is denominated mind, which can think, understand, compare, retain propositions, and solve problems of the most intricate and difficult nature. The will, is the result of the conclusions of all the faculties of the mind, but the power to execute the will in any demonstrable manner, is truly intellectual.

        We have represented in the physical organization of man a house in which a master piece of machinery is placed. The executive powers of the mind put the great machine into operation. In comparing the intellect to a machine, we regard hearing as the lever, the power to retain the safety valve, and thought the propelling power, which constantly keeps the machine in full action. The mind is the repository, where the organs of the ears are disturbed by the vibrations of air, and the ear is informed of approaching danger. Through the agency of thought, these fearful apprehensions are conveyed to the mind, which immediately call a convention


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of all the susceptible faculties; which form the mind, and thought at once devises a plan for the protection and security of man. The same course is adopted when the sense of feeling is violated, or taste tampered with; smelling intruded upon, or sight arrested; complaint is made by the same agent, who never fails to perform the duty of giving information; and the intellect is always equally ready to dictate a measure to secure the interest of each faculty of the mind.

        Our desires, affections, reasons, appetites are given to us by the munificent God, who also gave us organs, muscles, nerves, ligaments and brain. The composition of our minds, like that of our bodies, is the work of a Divine hand. The ability to exercise both the body and mind were given with an intention and purpose. Thus appetite was intended to operate for the preservation of man's life; affection binds him to his fellow man in the sacred ties of social relations. Reason is to direct and control both appetite and affection. Reason is aided to execute this office by the power to approve or disapprove.

        The intellectual mind is an aspirant. It disdains to remain fastened to dull mortality, so, on fancy's golden pinions it soars aloft to the beautiful and luxuriant fields of immortality, and there ascends the ladder of imagination to sublimities' enviable peak; and there she sets soliloquizing amid the gentle breezes of divine inspiration, and becomes invigorated, and makes an effort to ascend the heights of Divine perfection; but, alas! she is fastened by the


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cords of mortality, and has to descend and remain for a season in the temple of clay.

        Man is mentally qualified for the highest state of intellectual development, and a demonstration of the fact is seen in the arts and sciences of the day. For an impressible proof of his powers, let the sceptical mind visit the world of arts, and then he will see the genius of man displayed in a thousand useful inventions. Hence the physical structure of man, the masterpiece piece of creation, is imitated by the sculptor and painter; the one takes his mallet and chisel, brings his miniature out of the bowels of the earth, and compares him with the most choice work of nature, and longs for power to breathe the breath of life into his ideal of man; while the other takes his pencils and canvass, and sits down to imitate his God. When he wants to paint a man, he dips his pencil in the day, and shades it with the night; and he copies so accurately the delineations of the face, and the work is so beautiful, that we think it compares very favorable with the work of nature.

        In the scientific world, man not only becomes master, but invents sciences, such as: Geography, Geology, Geometry and Trigonometry, together with very useful sciences of Botany, Chemistry, Astronomy, Physiology, &c., and makes them all subservient to his will. He calls the lightning from the clouds, and makes it carry his thoughts around the earth with astonishing velocity, or he steals the thunder-bolt, and charges his metallic battery upon the seat of disease, and laughs as the result of his skill is made the blessing of many.


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        The intellectual man controls the physical by the will which puts the mind into operation, and the mind has complete control of the body; so, by the mind, both will and action are controlled. Thus we have the action of the intellectual and physical man.

        When the mind and body unite in observing the moral code, which is the duty of life, they produce the moral man. While the intellect prepares the man for human association and society, the moral character fits him for the enjoyment of the society of the holy angels; it also prepares him for the enjoyment of the companionship of the redeemed of the Lord, and the association of just men made perfect through the blood of the Lamb.

        Since the physical man is dependent on the intellectual for the knowledge of the physical laws, and the moral man appeals to the register kept by the intellect for the knowledge of the moral code, then let us store our minds with useful information, and endeavor to inform ourselves in the laws, both moral and physical. Oh! then let us study the sciences and arts of the day. Then we will be better qualified to discharge the duties we owe to our God, family and ourselves.


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(E.)

JAMES A. SHORTER.

ELDER.

        Blunt as the light, and as honest, is Jas. Shorter, who, in 1864, came very near being crowned with the Episcopal crown. We will not say he was too honest, but he was too out-spoken -- too blunt. We were no member of that body, nor were we present until the election was over, but from what we heard, we are decidedly of the opinion that, had the Rev. Mr. Shorter not spoken so freely on the Green et Nazrey question, he would to-day have been reading out Appointments. So very certain were some of his friends of it, that they made the telegraph going Southward say, in effect, "Come on and see your -- ordained Bishop."

        When but a child, at the General Conference of 1844, in Pittsburg, we recollect hearing it said of the late Richard Robinson, who was then urged by the men of the East for Bishop, "If he hadn't a talked so much, he would have been elected."

        So you see, brethren, it does not do to talk too much, especially on the unpopular side. The maxim says: "A hint to the wise is sufficient."

        But Jas. Shorter was not made Bishop, and he is none the less a man for that; perchance Providence does not will, that appreciation for the integrity of the man should thrust him into a position which he is not backward to confess his want of literary ability


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to fill. But the echoes come to us over the Alleghany peaks, saying that it is the purpose of the West, especially his own District, to try it again in 1868. We are perfectly willing that Providence should decide it.

        James A. Shorter was born February 4th, 1817, in Washington City, D. C., and, although nominally free, the fetters pressed his limbs too tightly, for the love of liberty is the ruling passion of his soul. The little ten mile square, with its huddle of slave pens, whips and chains, could not contain him, and when but a youth, he bade it adieu, and started for the glorious West, where he could hear, not the clanking chain, but the rustling of the wind over the broad prairies -- could see, not the auction and pen, but the surging lakes, and the swift rolling rivers.

        He stopped at Galena, Ill., where he was converted in 1839, and joined the M. E. Church; coming East in July of the same year, he united with the Bethel A. M. E. Church in Philadelphia, then under the pastoral care of Bishop Morris Brown. Lot Fletcher was his leader, who was pleased with the outspoken zeal of the youngster.

        In the month of September, having married Miss Julia Steward, he returned with his bride to his birth city, Washington, D. C., and united with Israel Church, Rev. John Cornish, Elder. Many of the members of this Church lived in the lower part of the city, the distance of a full mile or more from the place of worship, and they resolved to have a place of worship at a more convenient distance.


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        Bro. Shorter, who had become distinguished for his usefulness, was elected one of the first Trustees; and, having made due preparation, they went to work; a lot was procured, the one on which the stately Union Bethel now stands, and a temporary structure was soon up. In this little frame they worshipped and rejoiced, grew strong in numbers and in faith, until now, in their fine brick, they divide equally the spoil of souls with old Israel. From this Church -- the Church which he had been instrumental in making -- the Church which he had served as Trustee, Steward, Leader, Exhorter and Local Preacher, he was recommended for the itinerant service in the Baltimore Conference, and was received April, 1846.

        Within the bounds of this District, he labored for eleven years, filling its most important Charges; but the thorns of oppression were too painful in his sides, and although measurably willing to endure them himself, he could not endure the thought of subjecting his children to the same torture; and he says: "On account of slavery and its concomitant evils, and with a view of educating my children, I took a transfer to the Ohio Conference, where I now remain." Of course he has helped to develop the Ohio Conference, and in it, to-day, none stands higher.

        What James Shorter lacks in education, he makes up in native ability, so far as that is possible; a leader in Israel, may the courage of his heart long be vouchsafed to the Church, to push through the


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counsels of more intelligent minds, and may the sunlight of his integrity never be eclipsed.

(F.)

BENJ. W. ARNETT.

LICENTIATE.

        Wrote the article, "Suggested at the tomb of Bishop Allen," from which we have quoted. He was born way up the Monongahela river, at Brownsville, Pa., March 6th, 1838, and is consequently a young man. He is most noted for an unflinching perseverance -- does a mountain lay across his pathway, he nerves himself for the task, and surmounts it; does a broad surging river flow before him, he coolly goes to work, bridges it, and passes over. He has had all kind of oppositions since he began to walk the life-path -- prejudice, poverty, ill-providence, all seemed to conspire against him; but as ever, they only tended to develop the latent talent of his soul. I speak of his talent, and yet it must be confessed that many men are born with far more than he; for really what he has accomplished, is not so much due to his talent as to his perseverance. He has a pound of talent, but five pounds of go-ahead-ativeness. Hence his success. His education commenced at the public schools, where he tells us he went one day, and stayed home two. In this way the boy-days were passed, and when they ended he was not much wiser than when they began. But


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the years creeping on him, his live nature woke up, and bade him to bestir himself, for manhood was coming. Obedient to her voice, he did awake; and, although, following the river for a livelihood, he did not forget his God and his books -- two towers into which if any run we will be safe. Whilst plying the Western waters between New Orleans, La., and St. Paul, Minn., an accident, by which he lost a leg, unfitted him for the river life, and returning to Brownsville, he began to teach school, in 1859. To some men, falling down is getting up. Whilst thus employed, he gave evidence of that public spirit which has since actuated him. When the Syracuse National Convention was called in 1864, he urged the people of his section to send delegates, which was done, himself being among the first chosen. At this Convention he made the acquaintance of all the leading colored men of the land, and coming hence, it was "with the determination to leave nothing undone that should tend to carry out the deliberations of that body." Since which time, he has acted most zealously with the "Equal Rights League;" being chosen its chief Secretary at the National Convention, called by it in the city of Washington, January, 1867. Engaged by the African Civilization Society, he went to Washington, D. C., and took charge of its largest school. While in this city, it was his privilege to witness many of the events which are now historical. Arriving there Dec. 24th, 1865, on the 29th he wrote a letter on the Vice-President's desk, in the Senate Chamber;


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on Jan. 2d, '65, he went to the President's Reception, and shook the hand of President Lincoln; and he was present when the Constitutional Amendment, abolishing slavery in the land, passed the House of Representatives.

        Converted under the ministry of the A. M. E. Church, he joined the same, and was licensed by the Quarterly Conference of Union Bethel, Washington, D. C., to preach. Of course the influence of such a man will be felt; youthful and energetic, he gives promise of extended usefulness to the Church. Having returned to the West, he has entered regularly into the itinerant work. May the hopes of his friends be more than realized. He contributes the following:

SUGGESTED AT THE TOMB OF BISHOP RICHARD ALLEN,
MARCH 6th, 1867.

        "Men will travel hundreds of miles, over freezing snow and scorching sand, to behold the place where a poet first breathed the air; they will journey to the tombs of mighty heroes. The Mahommedan thinks he must visit Mecca once during his life time, in order that he may receive the smiles of Allah! The ancient Jew went annually to the City of David. The patriotic American embraces every opportunity to visit the grave of Washington. The Freedman of the South raises his devotional window toward the tomb of Lincoln, and teaches his children to visit the sepulchre of the great Emancipator. The Christian,


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though not permitted to visit the place where Jesus is, yet may he visit the tomb where he once lay. In the same spirit I invite the communicant and friend of Bethel to come with me, and let us visit the sacred tomb of Richard Allen, the first Bishop of the A. M. E. Church. Though no costly pile of granite attracts the passing throng, no ostentatious statue of brass marks the place where sacred worth is enshrined; nor is there any finely written epitaph to speak of his fame, yet let us approach the sacred spot in reverential awe. There is the tomb! what gloriour reminiscences! what sweet recollections of the departed great! There is the mother church standing in unostentatious splender; and while I stand soliloquising about the past and the present, I look once more upon the temple, and wonder how many have gone from it to join the saints above. Imagination starts up and annihilates time and space, brings the holy bands before me in all the vividness of life; and whilst I look and contemplate, away ye Profane! ye souls, whose lives are folly and mirth, disturb me not in my reverie; and Ye who have no taste for the spiritual, away! and let me meditate upon the saint of the living God! We ask the pure in heart, and especially the ministers of Christ, to come and stand at the sacred tomb, and see if they cannot learn a lesson of incalculable benefit.

        Though the white slab of marble and few brick hide from mortal view all that remains of the Bishop, yet I feel to rejoice in the belief that his spirit has mounted above, and is now pleading for the preservation


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of the Church he organized -- our beloved Bethel.

LOCAL MINISTRY.

JOHN PECK.

LOCAL ELDER, PITTSBURG.

        Paul enumerates the heads of the primitive Church, in 1 Cor. 12-28, as follows, "And God hath set some in the Church, first Apostles, secondarily prophets, thirdly teachers, after that miracles, then gifts of healings, helps, governments, diversities of tongues."

        The commentators of every age, from Origen-down, have been puzzled to clearly define labor of each of these several orders. The order Illustration[Word in Greek], what was the scope of its action? The Greek language newly made subject to the divine Spirit, could only define things or offices, by their quality or work; or as Dr. Robinson more neatly expresses the idea, "The writers of the New Testament, further applied the Greek language, to subjects on which it had never been employed by native Greek writers. No native Greek had ever written on Jewish affairs, nor on Jewish theology and ritual. Hence the seventy in their translation, had often to employ Greek as the signs of things and ideas, which heretofore had only been expressed in Hebrew. In such a case, they could only select those Greek words, which most nearly corresponded to the Hebrew, leaving the different shade, or degree of signification to be gathered


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by the reader from the context." Accepting this fact, what better word than Illustration[Word in Greek] could possibly have been used, to denote the office and work of a local Methodist preacher? "Illustration[Word in Greek], aid, assistance, met, one who aids, or assists, a help," says the critical Lexicon of Bagster. Donnegan defines it, "the act of taking in exchange, a getting possession, the affording aid." And while Parkhurst, following Vitringa, confines this help, as given to the infirm and sick, as does also Dr. Robinson, yet does the learned Dr. Lighfoot conjecture, "that they were the Apostles' helpers; persons who accompanied them, baptized those who were converted by them; and were sent by them to such places as they could not attend to, being otherwise employed."

        Whatever may be the opinion of the learned as to the labor here designated, it is certain that it may with the very greatest propriety, be taken as a scriptural guarantee for the office and work of a local ministry, which is preeminently a helping ministry.

        But what has all this to do with the Rev. John Peck? whose name heads this article. That brother stands conspicuous among those constituting an order of ministry, found in the A. M. E. Church, even the local or helping ministry, whose lawfulness we have been defending; and upon scriptural grounds.

        Of Roman Catholic parents, his soul very early planned a revolt from the picture worship which it demanded, and on the 10th of Sept, 1815, the city of his soul surrendered, and the Conqueror entered, with his sword girded upon his thigh.


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        Though born in Maryland, he early removed to Virginia; but the free aspiration of his nature was too buoyant to be confined in either of those dungeons, and in the year 1821, he issued out the gate and came to Pennsylvania. Coming to Carlisle, he there joined the A. M. E. Church, then a mere circuit post; but the Brother dying, at whose house the meetings were held, the little band dissolved, and Brother Peck joined the M. E. Church, which had for its paster, the youthful Thomas Sargent. Here he remained but a short time, for at a Camp meeting given, the colored members were subjected to the most unchristian treatment, and the spirited John Peck was the last man in the world upon whom to attempt such treatment. The wrongs were no sooner inflicted, than he gathered around him, all his colored boarders, for he kept a tent, and the conclusion of the matter was, that, to a man they resolved to leave. Striking the tent all the colored people formed into a line, and as they marched from the ground, they sang the good old Methodist tune, "Farewell, we have a right up yonder."

        The little band, made strong by their awakened manhood, as one man resolved to hoist again the A. M. E. flag; they purchased a lot, and soon there was reared upon it a neat little brick Church. In this Church John Peck was first licensed to preach, by Rev. John Cornish.

        While in Carlisle, an incident worthy of record took place. About the year '34 or '35, there was a young man in attendance upon the Lutheran Academy


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my at Gettysburg. He had lately come from the South, and report gave him credit of being pious and wise.

        A student of theology, and regularly empowered, it so happened that he made his first public effort in that same little Church, although, not a member of the Methodist family. He seemed greatly desirous of becoming of the greatest possible use to his people; and opening his soul to Brother Peck, he was at once advised to cast in his lot with the A. M. E. Church, whose future career he pictured forth as if with the spirit of prophecy. "Who knows," said he to the young man, "but you may one day be a Bishop of that Church." That youth was none other, than our present Bishop, D. A. Payne.

        It was in 1836, that he removed to Pittsburg, where Rev. Wm. Paul Quinn was in charge. By the great fire of 1845, the Church on Front St. was destroyed, and the flock, weak and scattered, was destitute of a place of worship. The leading men were undecided as to the course to pursue, some advocated rebuilding, others, and among them John Peck, advised selling their lot, small and cramped up, and purchase a site more eligible. Wylie St. was suggested, but many of the members grew furious; the objections urged against it were the distance, the mud, and want of gas; but the party favoring it, led on by Brother Peck, were uncompromising. They saw the direction that the City must necessarily grow, and though the site proposed was a little far, yet they felt assured that the time was not distant, when the


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corner of Wylie and Elm, would be in the centre of the city. They carried their point, and the result is precisely what they had presumed on. No Church, among the many scores which decorate the Smoky City, has a site, more beautiful or central than this Church. Very much of the credit belongs to John Peck. But let me conclude this lengthy sketch of the Local Elder.

        None stands higher in the community than he; his word is sufficient endorsement with those who know him; in fact his endorsement is necessary to every project which comes before the people.

        A man of unblemished integrity, of more than usual culture, and judgment not to be despised, he dishonors not his Church and connexion.

LAITY.

(A.)

JOHN G. MITCHELL, A. M.

Professor of Greek and Mathematics, Wilberforce.

        I have this moment finished reading the very brief facts which the dear Professor sent me at my very urgent request, from which to write a brief sketch; and in the fullness of my heart, I feel like exclaiming: O, ye despisers of the negro, behold what this man hath done!

        Of Western birth, he longed for books! And why should any Westerner care for books? It is for him to read the books of nature--the field book,


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the barn book, and the books of the horse and cow. But why should he descend to man-made books; God had given him a library in the rich rolling prairies. Why should he want another? Yet are these Westerners ambitious. They accept the library God hath given, and still in addition demand those which man hath made. John G. Mitchell was as ambitious as any; with true Western instinct, he demanded a double library.

        But he was poor, and why should the poor aspire to seats filled by princes? Did he not know that they who wore soft raiment are in the court of kings? And how could he expect to get through college? Whence was he to get bread and raiment? God, in truth, gives bread and raiment, but men charge for the handling. However, young Mitchell had a pair of hands that never quaked before the plow or the cradle--hands that were eager for the fray--hands that assured him of victory. Confident in his hands, he went to work.

        He was wading through the deep current manfully, and the banks of the opposite shore heaved in view, and, like another Leander, he split the waves anew; but just then a sister, Margaret, laid hold on him, and, a loving nature like his, could not see that sister go down, and he nerved himself anew for the additional responsibility; and the hidden strength of his soul was equal to the work, for he bore Margaret safely through. And on he went, burdened with want and care, yet hopeful, when word came that his father was dead! and still more loads must


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he bear now, for how could he see mother and the little ones home, suffer want. "Having attended to duties painful and solemn, and having divided the scanty means obtained by teaching, I returned to Oberlin."

        Not long had he been seated till another messenger came with the word: "Nancy Ann is dying, haste home," and home he went; full of trouble, yet must he comfort; poor, yet must he enrich; weak, yet must he take more burdens. Nancy died, and his consequent burdens well nigh triumphed over him; so oppressed was he, that he could not return to his beloved Oberlin.

        But the fire in him was unquenchable; the strength unfailing; the genius not to be thwarted. "If I cannot study at Oberlin, I will study at Gallipolis," thought he, "locality has nothing to do with mental achievements. If I cannot triumph as pupil, I will triumph as master; I will be both teacher and pupil." Thus reasoned our hero, and while teaching school for bread at Gallipolis, he was keeping up with his class at Oberlin; and in '58 he returned to Oberlin to share with it the honors of graduation.

        But John G. Mitchell was not only a Westerner, and though, it would seem, ought only to desire the book of nature; he was not only poor, and it would seem ought not to aspire to heights of literary distinction, but more than all, he was a negro! And why should a negro desire to learn? Hated by all, and hated everywhere, and at all times, why should he trouble himself about knowledge? He could not


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use it; a man need not be able to read the Anabasis, to black boots--the Tityrus, to wait on the table; and these menial employments were about as much as young Mitchell could hope to do. And as to the effects of education, it only made him the more sensible of his wrongs, and increased his misery. Yet did John J. Mitchell and a host of colored Americans want the boon; there was a charm in it that drew them, and they ran after it, and attained the prize.

        O, ye despisers of the negro, ye biographers of your proud Anglo Saxon race, accept the challenge, and show a man of all your trive, who paid so great a price for an A. M.

        Professor Mitchell was born March 24th, 1827, and when a boy, for a brief period, attended the common schools of the State with all other children; but the foul air of slavery blew across the Ohio, and slammed to the school doors against all the colored boys and girls of the State. Four years were passed away, when a colored teacher was employed in Laurence County, to whom young Mitchell went for a year and a half. His parents moved to Indianapolis, where, in 1845, he embraced religion, and joined the A. M. E. Church. Of this event he says: "A radical change was wrought in me, I felt to marvel not at the saying: 'Ye must be born again.' The new birth with me was an intelligent realization."

        In Randolph Co., Ind., is located the Union Literary Institution, under Quaker patronage, and free


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from those unchristian prejudices which controlled the schools generally of that State; here he spent a year or more greatly to his intellectual advancement. He entered Oberlin in 1852, and graduated in 1858. As we scan over the colored Alumni of this celebrated college, of the six or eight gentleman that pass before our mind, not a third of them are orthodox Christians. What a comment on American churches.

(B.)

GEORGE BOYER VASHON, A. M.

Principal of Avery College, Alleghany, Penn.

        Who, that has ever lived in western Pennsylvania, has not heard of "Col" Vashon, the old high notioned barber of the St. Charles Hotel, Pittsburgh. A barber it is true, but only thus on account of the stupid prejudices of the past generation of Americans--so stupid indeed, that it could behold no merit beneath a black skin. The father of the Professor was a gentleman by instinct; he had served in the war of 1812, on board a man of war, and had been captured; and when the old man gazed upon the current of events, and beheld himself--he who had fought for the national honor, politically ostracised, together with his children, while the children of those who had fought to humiliate the country were preferred, he used to give vent to the deep indignation of his soul.

        George B. Vashon was born at Carlisle in 1824, and five years after his father came to Pittsburg.


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        Unlike Prof. Mitchell, whose sketch has just been given, George Vashon had the courageous aspirations of a hopeful father to push him forward. The Colonel thought no sacrifice was too great to make for "my son George" while at College. George had advanced sufficiently far in the English and Classics, in the schools of his native city, as to enable him to enter the Freshman Class of Oberlin in 1840, from which he graduated an A. B. in 1844. Returning to Pittsburg he began the study of law, under the Hon. Walter Forward, of virtuous memory. Three years were spent in the office of this able jurist, and though fortified with his commendation, he was refused admittance to the bar, on the ground that being a colored man, he was not a citizen. Leaving the city celebrated for its smoky walls, and it would seem, for smoky consciences as well, he repaired to New York city, where after a most critical examination, he was permitted to practice. A fine French scholar, and galled with the prejudices of his birthland, the Professor turned his eyes to another land, and in the month of March, 1848, he sailed for Portau-Prince, Hayti, where he remained as Professor in the "College Faustin" and other educational establishments, until the year 1850, when he returned again to the States. Whilst in Hayti his Alma Mater conferred on him the title A. M. He repaired to Syracuse, N. Y., where he practised law for three years, whence he was called to a Professorship in the New York Central College. Since 1864, he has been Principal of Avery College. On all hands Professor


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Vashon is recognized as a ripe scholar; especially is he a good linguist.

        Of uncertain theology during the years past, he has latterly given in his adhesion to Methodism.

        Of this gifted genius, we have but a single hope to express--may he become a right good Methodist.

        He contributes the following:

THE PROCLAMATION AND ITS PROMISE.

        By reason of President Lincoln's Proclamation, it is fitting that New Year's day should ever be regarded as a day to be marked with a white stone in our American annals; that its annual return should be greeted by gladsome assemblages, by all manifestations of rejoicing, by hearty interchanges of congratulation among men, and by fervent outpourings of thanks to Him who holds in His hands the destinies of nations. The 1st of January, 1863, may well stand as a rival, in national commemoration, of the 4th of July, 1776; for on that day came utterances from the Chief Magistrate of the Republic, which caused every patriotic heart to swell with rapture, as it opened from them, that the United States of America was destined to become a soil consecrated only to the tread of freemen: that the land of Hancock and of Washington, awaking from the demoniac spell which had forced it to be the oppressor of the lowly, was about to realize the idea which lay at the foundation of its national existence, and become, as in its earlier days, the pride and boast of each and all of its children.


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        For, in its origin, Americans had reason to be proud of their country,--greater reason than could be adduced by the denizens of any other nation that had ever figured in the history of the world. Miraculous interpositions of superior powers may be alleged to have heralded the advent of some of this earth's dominations. The sowing of a dragon's teeth may have been succeeded by a harvest of warriors. The thunder-peal and the meteor streaming through the air may have pointed out the site of future greatness. The fierce wolf may have forgotten her nature, and nurtured with maternal care the destined founder of an empire. But a greater glory was yet in reserve for the United States of America. Other nations, at the outset of their respective careers, may have been compelled like the infant Hercules, to battle with threatening dangers, and thus portend their success in more than mortal labors. It was reserved for our beloved land, to burst forth a Pallas at her very birth, armed at every point, and effulgent in every feature with the beams of the fully matured divinity.

        What was the occasion of this glory? What other, than that it spurned aside the assumed inequalities of human conditions which had characterized the monarchical and even the republican organizations of the earth hitherto,--organizations which, commencing with the king upon his throne, or the aristocratic noble in ducal state, descended through all the gradations of life, until they reached their lowest round in the beggar wallowing in the filthily-reeking


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sewer? What other, than that it professed to vitalize the sublime idea of human equality, which had until then only served to give a glow of originality to some philanthropical essay, or of fascinating interest to some highly colored romance? Nobly was the announcement made in the Declaration of Independence. "All men were created equal -- all men were equally endowed by their Creator with inalienable rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness." No wonder that an announcement so radical in its terms should have carried terror to the hearts of princes, and caused their knees to tremble, "Belshazzar-like," as they in fancy beheld the "Mene, Tekel, Upharsin," inscribed upon their palace walls. No wonder that the noble daring of the singers of that Declaration found fitting responses throughout a seven-years' war, in the dying cheer of the citizen soldier, or in the groan which even determined manhood could not suppress, as the march was traced with bloody footprints in the December snow.

        It makes one sad to feel, that the glorious emotions awakened by the reminïscences which cluster around the days of '76, are all checked by a consciousness of the many backslidings which less than a century has been called to witness. It makes one sad to turn away from the bright anticipations of an Adams, a LaFayette and a Herder, to trace our country downwards through Missouri compromises, Louisianian and Floridian acquisitions, Seminole and Mexican wars, Fugitive Slave Law concessions and


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Kansas outrages, until the fearful story terminates in a recital of rebellion which threatened for a time to annihilate the Union and blast all the hopes of philanthropy throughout the world. And it makes one sad to know, that all this fell dream of wrong doing and its fearful consequences came upon our beloved country, because the negro, despised after having been outraged, was excluded from participation in the rights accorded to 'all men' in that glorious Declaration of Independence.

        It is related in one of the sages of the old Norse mythology, that the goddess Friga, knowing that danger was threatening her son Baldur, took oath of all Nature that nothing should harm him; but that in obligating all the powers of earth under this oath, she overlooked one thing -- the humble mistletoe plant. This humble plant, Loki, the Genius of Evil, tore up and persuaded the blind god Hodur to throw at his brother in sport, and thus was the fatal Baldur slain. Will the despised and apparently powerless descendant of Africa prove a neglected mistletoe plant, potent for the destruction of our beloved Union? Such he once threatened to be; but thank God! the utterances of the 1st of January, 1863, gave a complete and satisfactory denial to every such menace. Thank God! that he whom the proclamation of President Lincoln found a bondman in the sugar-fields of Louisiana, has since proven himself an intrepid and devoted soldier of the Union, in that pseudo-chivalric foray of secession at Milliken's Bend, and in those twelve hopeless charges


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against the death-belching batteries of Port Hudson. Thank God! that he who aforetime was a serf on the cotton plantations of South Carolina, has since vied with his more favored brother of the North, in the effort to plant the banner of the glorious old Bay State upon the slippery parapets of Fort Wagner. And, in the cordial recognition by the Federal Government, and by the several State Governments, of the manhood and daring thus attested; his, the sole hope that the United States of America will successfully carry out the mission assigned to them by the God of Nations.

        The Union reconstructed, without a full and impartial recognition of the rights of all its children, black as well as white, might attain to such a position that our national eagle, from its pride of place, could cast its glance over the western continent, without beholding a spot of ground unguarded by the swoop of its mighty wings. Such an event, our armies and navies might attain to an importance that would enable them to hold the world in awe; our shipping whiten with its sails the most distant as well as the nearest seas; and our territory be studded with cities and villages, rich in all the adornments of science and art, and affording, in their busy marts, unceasing testimony to that prosperous trade which is "the calm health of nations." Science, too, might achieve her proudest triumphs among us. Our patient students, sitting in their lonely observatories, might by aid of unerring calculations indicate the being of some planet, which had till then,


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unnoticed amid the starry glories of remotest space; or, by means of their powerful glasses, might call into view other splendors upon the brilliantly embroidered mantle of the night. They might plunge into the recesses of the earth; and by a careful study of the phenomena presented by each successive formation, be enabled to trace out the laws of creation in their every development, or with powers like those which eastern legends ascribe to Solomon, they might be enabled to declare the treasure houses, wherein are heaped up the richest stores of gold and of silver, of diamonds and of sapphires. Nay, more. They might imitate nature so cunningly as to become, by their art, essentially creative, and in the wide sweep of their invention, give birth to instrumentalities, in comparison with which, the railroad, the steam engine and the electric telegraph, would seem the cumbrous machinery of a less civilized epoch.

        And yet, with all these glories, our country would still be a by-word and a hissing among the nations. But the Union reconstructed, with the former slave recognized as part and parcel of the political system, and invested with all the franchises of a government, towards whose preservation and aggrandizement he had rendered no inefficient aid, would, doubtless, under the providence of God, rank not only as a first-rate power, but among the most honored of the nations. And, to such a result the tide of events now tends. God grant, that to this result, it may attain!


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CHAPTER XI.
THE INDIANA DISTRICT.

        BISHOP PAYNE says: "While our Church was conquering territory in a foreign land, she was also strengthening her stakes, and enlarging her borders in the great West. This extension was promoted chiefly through the wisdom, endurance and activity of Elder Wm. Paul Quinn, his missionary labors culminating in the organization of the Indiana Annual Conference. For this purpose twenty-one ministers, itinerants and local, assembled at a place, in the midst of a settlement of colored farmers, called Blue River, on the 2d of October, 1840."

        The reader will perceive from the article which the Rev. A. McIntosh has contributed, and who has labored a quarter of a century within the borders of this District, that he seems not to regard the Blue River meeting, to which the Bishop alludes, as the regular "setting apart" of that District into a distinct Conference. We suppose to reconcile the matter, it is only necessary to consider, that the Bishop dates from the time the Conference began de facto, and Elder McIntosh from the time, de lege.

        "Indiana Conference," says the Discipline, "shall include the States of Indiana, Illinois, Minnesota,


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Michigan, Wisconsin and Iowa." These States form the great North-West of the Republic; of whose people Gen. Logan said, during the Rebellion, "They would hew a passage to the Gulf with their swords." Descending mainly from Emigrant stock, they are a hardy race; the very men to dig up its prairies, to navigate its lakes and rivers, to beat back the confirmed Savage, and to hunt out the wolf and the bear. The climate of this District is varied; Cairo, in the South, is almost as warm as its ancient namesake, while the winter breath of Lake Superior makes the coat of the bear most desirable.

        Of course the negro is there; he has a hankering after his white brother, ever saying with the Moabitess of old: "Whither thou goest, I will go." In 1860, these five States had a colored population of 28,389; disposed as follows: Illinois, 7,628; Indiana, 11,428; Iowa, 1,104; Michigan, 6,799; Minnesota, 259; Wisconsin, 1,171, ten per cent. can safely be added, and we have, as a present population, about 31,227. These people have come along with the country, and not a few of them count their dollars by the score thousand.

        The A. M. E. Church towers like a green bay tree throughout all this section. Few, indeed, are the congregations that have not her ministry. Coming to the people in their loneliness and poverty, they forget her not in the times of their prosperity.

        To this Conference belongs the honor of originating


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the idea of an "outside Congress"*

        * This "outside Congress," as it was called, consisted of the most eminent of the colored men in the land, who repaired to Washington, and remained there during the last half of the 39th Congress, looking after the interests of the colored people generally. The following action was taken on the memorial which the representatives presented:

        The motion was agreed to.

        Similar action was taken by the Missouri District, and with the same result.


of colored men at Washington, and the delegates sent under their auspices, were among the first that arrived at the Capitol. We would make special note of one feature of the statistical report for the year 1866--nine parsonages are reported at an aggregate value of $5,450. Good for Indiana! May she continue to teach the older Districts lessons of ministerial comfort and of self-respect.

        Let us see the real strength of this Conference, as manifested in the reports made in August, 1866:

        

CHURCH STATISTICS.

Members 3,841
Probationers 1,011
Local Preachers 87
Exhorters 60
Churches 64
School Houses 3
Parsonages 9
Sabbath Schools 56


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S. S. Scholars 3,299
S. S. Teachers 336
Superintendents 59
Volumes in Library 7,142
Traveling Elders 18
Traveling Deacons 4

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent $ 178 50
Ministers' Board 6,799 95
Ministers' Rent 1,186 60
Ministers' Fuel 747 25
Ministers' Traveling Expenses 1,291 50
Ministers' Salary 5,464 66
Sunday Schools 1,019 12
Missions 81 69
Book Concern 89 15
Worn-out Preachers 10 80
Windows et Orphans 45 60
Semi-Centenary 518 69
Bishop's Salary 599 20
Bishop's Traveling Expenses 241 80
Sum Total $18,274 51
Value of Church property $127,974

        We know the reader will miss the genial countenance of Frederick Myers, as well as our dear brother Trevan, Wm. C. Uncle Sam's mails somehow or other would not bring us the long looked for facts; whether they were given to him, we know not; we do know, however, that the old gentleman is generally very obliging.

        And not a single local preacher have we to offer from this, as well from others of the more distant Conferences. Where is our friend Dawson, of Chicago, and Beverley Cary, of Indianapolis? Two brethren who have long graced the Local capacity.

        And, although, within the borders of this Conference there may be found not a few laymen of


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great moral and financial worth -- men of business tact, yet so distant were they that we could not reach them.

        We offer the reader brief sketches of three of the leading itinerants. They are men of whom no people need blush -- ministers of whom no congregation need be ashamed. May they long be spared to lead on the African Methodist host of the great North-West.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)

ÆNIAS MCINTOSH.

ELDER.

        In Chapter XI the following sentences may be found: "Men who have been educated to the strictest Presbyterianism, the most independent Congregationalism, have met at the Methodist shrine the men of Lutheran and Episcopalian culture, and these having joined hands with the convert from Catholicism, have buried in a common grave their heads, their hearts -- have buried themselves, and like Paul, "know only Jesus, and him crucified." The above named gentleman is a convert from Catholicism, within whose folds he was numbered till past his eighteenth year.

        A Westerner by birth, he seems to love its boundless prairies and swift rolling rivers, for it was from these that he first learned lessons of liberty. Though


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brought to Braddock's Field University, located in Pennsylvania, he only remained nine months, whence he returned again to the West. Taking up his residence in Vincennes, Ind., he concluded to prepare himself for the medical profession, and entered upon his studies. "But a man's heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his step." Thus was it with the aspiring youth Ænias; he was devising how to heal the body, but the Lord directed him to heal the soul.

        In the revival of Rev. Geo. W. Johnson, during the winter of 1840, among the brightest of the converts, was the young Catholic and medical student, Ænias McIntosh; and none spake more boldly, nor walked more humbly than he.

        Called of the Lord, he lost no time, for in less than half a year after his conversion, he was licensed to exhort by Bishop Wm. Paul Quinn, then an Elder, and the great Pioneer of the West. Licensed to preach soon followed, and in the year 1841, he joined the Indiana Conference, and was appointed to Terre Haute Circuit. The estimate placed upon him by Bishop Brown and his brethren, may be seen in the fact that, after traveling one year, he was elected Deacon, though the law says, two; and the same leniency was shown in regard to Elders' orders.

        For a quarter of a century has he remained in this Conference, and to him belongs full one member's share of the honor in bringing it to that high position, which it holds among the dozen Conferences of the A. M. E. Church.


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        A member of four General Conferences, his wise counsel was always seen in helping to frame those laws, which have contributed to the happy working of the vast machinery; at the last General Conference, the writer well remembers him as the Chairman of the Committee on Sabbath Schools, and as such, he wrote that excellent constitution under which our Sabbath Schools are now generally working. By his Conference he was elected Associate Editor and Publisher of the Repository, also the Corresponding Editor of the Christian Recorder, as well as Secretary to the Conference Auxiliary Missionary Society. Quiet and reserved, even to the extreme, this brother, like northern Iceland, has a cold, icy surface, but a warm, genial heart; and those who know him familiarly, say that many a Geyser -- warm waters of love break through that cold surface.

        From whatever stand point we view him, he is to be numbered among the leading Captains of the A. M. E. host.

        Let the reader be sure and peruse his contribution:

"RECOLLECTIONS OF THE INDIANA ANNUAL CONFERENCE."

        "If our memory serves us right, this Conference was set apart, by action of the General Conference of 1848, which met in the city of Philadelphia, in May of that year. It might have been in 1844, at the General Conference held in Pittsburg, at which time the Rev. Wm. Paul Quinn was set apart, and ordained to the Episcopal Office. That there were several


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Annual Conferences held for the District of Indiana, prior to 1848, and two or three prior to 1844, there is no doubt, but whether they were not Mission Conferences, are questions for others to decide.

        The writer well remembers the eloquent speech made by Rev. Darius Stokes, when the "Committee on Boundaries" made their report to the General Conference of 1848, attaching the State of Missouri to the Indiana Conference, which makes the impression on his mind that the States of Indiana, Illinois and Missouri were all set off as a Conference proper, at one time.

        The bounds of this Conference have always been very extensive, and are still, embracing at the present writing, the States of Indiana, Illinois, Iowa, Michigan and Minnesota. This great expansion of boundary was always considered by the writer to be of doubtful propriety, for the reason that our people are found in greater numbers in cities and flourishing towns, and because of this, and the easy access to them, they have, as a general thing, been regularly supplied with preaching, while the rural districts have been proportionably neglected. But my intention was simply to write "recllections," and not opinions: hence to the point.

        The now venerable William Paul Quinn is emphatically and generally acknowledged as the "Father of African Methodism in the West." God, in his providence, having eminently endowed him with the necessary qualifications for the arduous and


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often dangerous task of planting the "standard of the Cross" in those then Western wilds. The writer has often heard him preach, when it was absolutely dangerous to be either in the house or out of it; when the greater portion of his audience were either "mobocrats." or "lewd fellows of the baser sort;" and when the "Amens" and "Hallelujahs" came louder from the children of the wicked one than from the children of light. The principal cause of all this persecution was the inveterate hatred toward the "Abolitionists; and it is passing strange, that in those days some colored people were found entertaining the same hatred for Abolitionists as their white fellow-citizens. It was a very common expression among some of the colored people to say: "I would go and hear this great Paul Quinn preach if I thought he would say nothing about abolition; it is something we colored folks have nothing to do with, and it only makes it worse for us to be stirring it up all the time." It is due the Bishop to say that he acted very judiciously with the whole subject, and the colored people were much indebted to his manner of procedure for the comparative peace they enjoyed. The idea of the Bishop being an Abolitionist, originated from his preaching so often from his favorite text, and which at times was so very appropriate, to wit: "I have surely seen the afflictions of my people, &c."*

        * Exodus iii: 7, 8.


This limited space would be too small to enumerate one-half the privations of those times. But they are past, and the Bishop still
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lives to receive the grateful thanks of the numerous sons and daughters of those very people who so bitterly opposed him.

        The first "Itinerant Preachers," of whom the writer has a distinct recollection, were the Rev. George W. Johnson, and the Rev. M. J. Wilkerson, who were looked upon in those days as "sons of thunder," and in fact they were, for the first named was more generally known as "Hollering Johnson" than by any other name; it however gave him no offence, and he did not care what they called him, so they kept him from being put in the Wabash River by the rowdies. If you did that, and would come to the "mourners' bench," which he was careful to always have "put out" every time he preached; with this, the dear young man was satisfied. Many souls in glory to-day, date their happiness to the faithful labors of this zealous expounder of the Word of God. Bro. W's talent was of a different kind; his reading was rather more extensive, and his acquaintance with human nature more accurate. He preached mostly by comparison, and would often make use of some circumstance in his slave life to illustrate the condition of the sinner. His hits in this respect were attended with happier results than could have otherwise been produced. Brother Johnson, we believe, is a Pennsylvanian by birth, and Brother Wilkerson, a Virginian. Their Circuits extended nearly two hundred miles, embracing in all that distance, only five appointments, hence they were constantly traveling.


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        Our next Itinerant acquaintance was the Rev. Daniel Winslow -- a North Carolinian by birth, and an Indianian by adoption -- a man full of eccentricities, and entirely original in everything; were he dead, we might fear that we would "never look upon his like again." But he still lives, is yet in the itinerancy, gently frosted by age, but possessing the same clarion voice, the same quick penetrating glance, using his "sledge-hammer" Gospel and quaint expressions as in the more palmy days of his ministry. Brother Winslow has been identified with the Indiana Conference since its first organization. He has "seen service," and has often been in "perils in the wilderness, in perils by robbers, in perils by water," and very often by "false brethren."

        The Indiana Conference was a success from its commencement. Presided over at first by that sainted man, the lamented Bishop Brown, his fatherly advice will long be remembered by the writer of these pages. He endeared himself to all with whom he became acquainted, and often has the writer seen the good old man's eyes fill with tears while assigning to each brother his field of labor, at the rise of the Conference. Many of our present "Western Brethren" never saw the venerable Bishop; they having come into Conference since his day. He was a man rather below the medium size, a little inclined to corpulency, quite bald, with a very retiring manner; modest almost to a fault, with a countenance beaming with love and good will to


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all. He dressed with remarkable ministerial taste, wearing the "shadd coat," straight breasted vest, and was the very picture of a "fine old-fashioned gentleman."

        Next follow as members of the Conference, according to our "recollections," the Rev. Willis R. Revels, Robert Johnson, (father of George) Robert Jones, Thomas Ailsworth, Shadrack Steward, Baker Brown, James Curtis, Allen E. Graham, J. B. Dunlap, David Smith, Turner W. Roberts, together with a large accession of local brethren, whose names cannot be given in regular order. This was a period of great religious prosperity with the Church; the number of ministers having greatly increased, the length of the Circuits were shortened, and this, of course, shortened the already small allowance of the preachers. At this period, there was only one Station in the bounds of the whole Conference, and the writer has the satisfaction to know that he was the first stationed Preacher in the Indiana Conference. In looking over my diary, I find I received for that year, as salary, $56.62½ cents. Now, in the same city, there are two charges, both ministers receiving their full allowance, with many costly presents thrown in. "What hath God wrought?"

        Next, according to our "recollections," follow the names of William Douglass, Byrd Parker, Hiram R. Revels, Aaron M. Parker, Robert M. Johnson, Israel Cole, Henry Trevan, and if we mistake not, our present General Book Steward, Rev. E. Weaver, and our worthy and talented Secretary of the Parent


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Home and Foreign Missionary Society, Rev. John M. Brown. Some of those heroes of the Cross have gone to their reward; many of them dying at their post, and falling sweetly asleep in Jesus; a few "fell by the way," and in sorrow we write it, while we think of their talent and former usefulness. Let the mantle of charity cover their shortcomings. The Discipline was administered very differently then to what it is now. There was very little difference in those days between "charges and complaints," and the brother who was so unfortunate as to be "complained" of, was almost sure to see the law applied as though he was guilty of a "charge." Those complaints were exceedingly annoying to the Bishop, and he used to remark that "he wished the Brethren would take something for their complaints before coming to Conference." Technicalities were not well understood. Brother D. once complained of Brother C. for "Maladministration," and an old Brother in the Conference whispered to another that he "thought Brother C. was the last man in the world who would have had anything to do with a female."

        The great desire with the Brethren of those days was to have a pure ministry, and "straight paths for your feet" was required of every Brother. The most rigid disciplinarian in the Conference was the Rev. B. P. Possessing a ready turn of mind, and being a ready debater, and holding his position with the utmost tenacity, he was always dreaded as an antagonist. The writer used to often admonish him


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for his relentless persecutions of his brethren. The most humane man of the Conference was the Rev. W. R. R.; and he used to often remark that, "for the life of him," he could not see any sense in always exposing the shortcomings of a brother.

        Delinquent members in these days used to be "set back" on trial, as a punishment for their misdeeds, and the Bishop sometimes would ask a young Brother, in Quarterly Conference, "how many he had set back," and if so, did he know where to find them.

        The years 1848-49 and '50 were the palmy years of the Indiana Conference; containing more "Traveling Preachers" those three years than at any other time, and a host were they in themselves. Their preaching had an unction and power rarely surpassed by the same number, and it was always a "soul refreshing shower" to hear them. The Bible and Discipline were their weapons, and the Holy Spirit their support, aided by the assurance that they were called of God to preach the Gospel.

        Our mind turns with feelings of pleasantness to those dear co-laborers, and the many incidents of those days; and the ties that bind me to them are almost indissoluble, and I close these "recollections" with a parting tear, and in the language of the poet, I can say:


                         "There comes a voice that wakes my soul,
                         It is the voice of years that are passed,
                         They roll before me with all their deeds."


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(B.)

ABRAHAM T. HALL.

ELDER.

        Indiana Conference can boast of no harder worker in its ranks than Abraham T. Hall a true representative of that daring race of Anglo Africans, who, weary with the East, sought their fortunes in the promising West. A Pennsylvanian by birth, having descended from old man John Hall, long and favorably known as local preacher on the Lewistown Circuit, he early became convinced that if he would have anything, or be anything, he must fall into the ranks of those whose cry was, Westward, ho!

        It was in 1841 that he took up the march, halting first at Erie, Pa., as though considering whether he would stop upon the bounds of his birth State. In Erie he remained three years, joining what he calls "a pro-slavery M. E. Church," and for the express purpose, he says, "of getting the colored members out of it;" which he succeeded in doing Feb. 15th, 1844. The reason assigned for such a course was that "there was no white brother in that Church who would take a class of negroes. Having elected Brother Hall as the Leader, though he was scarcely of age, the colored Methodists of Erie, met at the house of Alexander Simms, and organized themselves into a Union Band, for the purpose of prayer and mutual edification. The Lord blessed them, and in the following winter, twenty-one souls professed conversion, and joined their number.


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        Beholding his brethren thus consolidated, he now felt free to take up his Westward jaunt. Arriving at Chicago, the summer of 1845, he lost no time in seeking the acquaintance of those who knew Jesus; but five were found, and in the month of October, these five banded themselves together in the house of John Day, for the holy purpose of praise and prayer.

        Chicago, at this period had already attracted the attention of the country, and the shadow of her future greatness had already been seen; men of every grade and purpose were attracted thither, and among them came Madison Patterson, a local preacher of the A. M. E. Church, who at once joined the little company of five, and invited the brethren to his house.

        The spring and summer of 1847 brought crowds of emigrants to the rising metropolis, and among the number was the proverbial Methodist preacher, horse, saddle-bags, and all; Philip Ward was his name, and he came thither as the appointed Missionary of the Indiana Conference. As Barnabas sought Paul, even so Ward sought Hall, and after mutual conference, the little band was duly organized, and became a part and parcel of the A. M. E. Church.

        From that little company, Quinn Chapel has arisen--the Chapel that ranks foremost of all the Western Stations--the Chapel whose value is counted by the score thousands, and whose first Leader, Steward, Trustee, Prayer-Meeting Leader, was Abraham T. Hall.


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        Of course a man so zealous for God, and withal with such ability must preach, and the initiatory steps were soon taken by him, receiving exhorting license in November, 1848. In this sphere he acted till September, 1850, when he received license to preach, went to Conference, was received, and ordained local Deacon by Bishop Quinn.

        Returning from the General Conference of 1852, in New York City, to which he went as a local delegate, he was made Chairman of the Building Committee, under Rev. John A. Warren, and the successful erection of that beautiful structure in no small degree is owing to his judgment and energy.

        It was in 1856 that he joined the Indiana Conference, and received his first appointment from Bishop Payne, who likewise ordained him Elder.

        Such is Rev. A. T. Hall, a man full of energy, a dear lover of his race, and a Methodist in whom there is no guile.

(C.)

WHITTEN S. LANKFORD.

ELDER.

        This gentleman is allied to the first generation, begotten of that hardy race of pioneers who sought their fortunes amid the wild prairies of the West. He is a true Indianian--Hoosier, if you will, being born in that State, Jan. 1st, 1835.

        As such, he partakes of all those characteristics which belong to the Western men. It is said that


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Vallandigham, during the dark war days, had a pet scheme for a North-Western Confederacy; and who doubts that he received his first impression for such a project, not so much from a desire to help the South, not so much from a hatred to the government of the Union, but rather from the strongly drawn distinction between the East and the West. A generation of Wisconsin, of Iowa, of Kansas and Nebraska men, is no more like a generation of New England or New York men, than a Spaniard is like a Portuguese, an Englishman is like a Scotchman. The man of the East is reserved, built close, like his own huddled home; the man of the West is open and free, like his own boundless prairies. The man of the East is short, his soil is worked out, and he don't grow; the man of the West is tall, indicative of his own virgin land; a tied purse has the man of the East, for he gets his money from men; a purse that is open has the man of the West, for he gets his money from God. A man of kid gloves, of broadcloth and shining Genin hats, is he of the East; while he of the West is a man of shirt-sleeves, of "stogey" boots, and slouch hats; the Eastern man lives by figures, the Western man by hope.

        Where such diversities exist, the only hope for the perpetuity of the Union is to bind them with the iron bandages of the Railroad, and by the Telegraph as well.

        In all that characterizes the West, Whitten Lankford is a true representative. Free as the winds that sweep over the plains, as cheerful as the laughing


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Mississippi, as honest as a Western harvest, he lives to adorn his portion of the A. M. E. Church. With the most respectable attainments, he is equally at home in the school-room or the pulpit.

        May the Indiana Conference long be blest with such leaders.

        His contribution is:

"HOW SHALL OUR STANDARD OF PIETY BE RAISED?"

        "All acknowledge in words the importance of individuals raising the standard in their own hearts, but in all this there is a certain indefiniteness of object. A mere vague belief that we might be better, and ought to be better, does not give us any standard at which to aim, and the general standard of preaching, and constant and unvarying confessions in prayer, both in the Church and in the prayer meetings, show that just about the same shortcomings and failures are expected from day to day, and year to year. In the case of a child, you would have little to expect, as the result of a mere exhortation: "You ought to be a better child, more obedient, more decile, more kind; you must have a higher standard of life as a child." But if he is told, "You must be perfectly obedient to the letter and spirit of your parents' commands; You must live in entire harmony with your brothers and sisters; You must always have perfect lessons at school; You must always speak the truth," then he sees something definite and attainable; he has a fixed Standard, and can know how near he has come to it. He has an object and a motive.


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        Our christian course is upward. Suppose we are ascending a mountain; peak after peak rises before us. We see them in apparently interminable succession, but the goal is above us. We may set out and toil, on, on, on, painfully, and may be making progress onward.

        But we are conscious of progress. There is another experience. The ascent is seldom up and up in a direct line, but from one point to another; and if in going up we fix our eye upon some point, and aim at that, it is an encouragement when that point is reached. Then, turning to look back on all the way we have come, we again mark out another spot still above us, and aim at that until we reach it.

        Thus we go from strength to strength. Applying this to our Christian life, let us first believe that we can reach a higher standard, then aim to reach it, and instead of vaguely, indefinitely reaching upward, aim at points of progress: Directly overcoming any known sin. Performing some known but neglected duty. Faith in prayer. The full assurance of hope. Perfect love which casteth out fear. Subduing the will. Full harmony of our own will, with the will of God. Attaining to the "peace" of God, which passeth all understanding. Sanctification, or holiness of heart and life. Whatsoever we believe to be attainable, let it be made the direct object of aim and effort; and by these steps we may reach a higher standard of Christian life. But there must be the full belief that it may be attained, and earnestness in striving to attain it.


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        How was it with conversion? We believed it possible, desirable; we labored, prayed, read, inquired, sought, rested not until the blessing came. So if there be other points of attainment beyond conversion, there should be the like definiteness of aim, the like earnestness, steadfastness of purpose, reading, striving, prayer. When this truth shall be fully apprehended and acted upon by the Church, then we may look for a higher standard of Christian character. Then shall the prejudices of caste, and all distinctions on account of race or color, disappear before the glorious light of Christianity, as the dew before the morning sun.


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CHAPTER XII.
NEW ENGLAND DISTRICT.

        BROTHER JONATHAN is a gentleman of the very largest proportions. With his head reclining upon the granite of New England, and his feet dipped in the Mexican Gulf, he hugs close to his sides the Alleghany and Rocky mountain ridges. "His head reclining upon the granite of New England,"--why not invert it, and say, "He washes his face in the Gulf, and his feet are kept warm by the shaggy mane of the British lion." That would never do, for the simple reason, we must then suppose that his brains, which are usually found in men's heads, must be in the South, and you know that New England is the brains of the country. Is not Boston as Athens? Dr. Holmes as Plato! and Emerson as Socrates? It would be heteroclitic, to place the brains of Brother Jonathan in the South. The people of the Republic can reiterate the old maxim, "Light comes from the East;" which means with us, from New England. How comes it that Hon. Jos. C. G. Kennedy, in his "Preliminary Report on the Eighth Census," has not given the country a table of School Statistics? He has given 41 tables in all, with statistics, from City Passenger Railroads and


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Musical instruments, up to Rail-roads and Newspapers, and yet has left it blind, in regard to the number of schools and colleges; and how, they are distributed. Had such a table been given, we doubt not that New England's claim to headship would have been recognized. In table 37, we may get a glimpse at the intellectual character of these States. They are six in number, with a population in 1860, of 1,754,717, yet do they publish at stated periods during each quarter, mostly dailies and weeklies. 226 Political journals, 72 Literary, and 41 Miscellaneous: of which journals, the aggregate publication annually, is 140,970,644 copies. The colored people residing in the states of Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine, which compose the New England District, and who number 24,711, partake of the general intelligence of the people, to a commendable degree. As a whole they are the most intelligent portion of their people in the land, or they ought to be.

        As we intimated in Chapter IX, the A. M. E. Church makes but slow progress among the colored New Englanders--the the whole District not having as many members, as some individual Churches of other sections. Why is it so?

        (a.) The liberal sentiment of that section of the Republic, did not loudly demand separate Church organizations. That which gave rise to them at the beginning, did not there exist--to wit: hatred to the Negro. Not having injured the Negro to any great extent,


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they did not hate him to any great extent. Had the Methodists of 1816 received Richard Allen, as kindly as the white Christians of New England receive colored people, he would have had no occasion to break away from them, and organize separate Churches; nor would he have done so. The colored people of this District; already in the white Churches, enjoying their every Christian privilege, have hesitated to leave; and it is only on the broad ground which dictates to people oppressed, the wisdom of acting as a unit, that they could be expected to withdraw from their white, and unite with their black brethren.

        (b.) Methodism at its very dawn, accepted as its portion the poor: it aspired not to minister to the noble. In England it was content with the colliers of Kingswood; in America with the laboring classes, even the slaves. It has ever maintained this distinguishing feature, and whenever a Methodist preacher is seen to look with longing eyes toward the rich, he has lost the spirit of his organization, and should the organization ever fail to minister to the poor, its mission is ended,and deserves to be, for why should distinct organizations be multiplied or even continued, if they are all mutually unmindful of the lowly. Had the Church of England fed the poor--administered to their spiritual necessities, John Wesley would never have sent out his preachers. This has been the peculiar mission of the A. M. E. Church. The poorest of the poor has been her portion. She said with the Psalmist, "Lord, my heart is not haughty, nor mine eyes lofty; neither do I exercise


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myself in great matters, or in things too high for me."*

        * Psl. CXXXI: I.


        Not only did she not look toward the whites, for she knew they were fed, or if not fed, she knew they would not accept food from black hands, but she meddled not with the more comfortable class of colored people, who were already in Church communion; she recognized her mission to be to the "publicans and sinners," and to them she went--to the ignorant, the degraded, the vicious--to those who were ostracised religiously and socially. Methodism took upon herself to do the work only, which other organizations refused to do; else would there have been no necessity for her existence. Hence, when Noah C. Cannon and Jabez P. Campbell introduced the A. M. E. Church into New England, they introduced it to that portion of New England who were without the pales of any christian organization, and who required to be hunted up in the alleys and byways. Of course these were the more ignorant ones, for with education, we are at liberty to presume a certain degree of comfort--with morality--even Church membership. The sturdy Methodist meddled not with the educated, but presuming they were cared for, passed on. But the intelligent people of New England were in the majority, and consequently the Methodists were in the minority. To commence at the very bottom, and bring degraded humanity up to the respectable point, is slow work. The Methodist Episcopal


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Church, has been a full hundred years in making their name respectable among the whites; the A. M. E. Church has been fifty years among the colored; neither have perfectly succeeded, but the assurance is, both will be triumphant. Thus it is, that African Methodism has grown slow in New England: and we predict e'er the time comes, that it would flourish there as elsewhere, all the Episcopal Methodists of the land, will be united in one invincible phalanx.

        Bishop Campbell says, "At this date, 1839, there were only three small A. M. E. Churches, or missionary congregations in all the New England States: one at Boston, Mass., with about 35 members, one at Providence, R. I., with 12 members, and one at New Haven, Conn, with a membership of 28."

        The present strength of the Conference [1867] may be learned from the following table of statistics:

        

CHURCH STATISTICS.

Members 891
Probationers 310
Local Preachers 22
Exhorters 6
Sabbath Schools 9
S. S. Scholars 423
S. S. Teachers 68
S. S. Superintendents 12
Number of Volumes 3,597

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent $ 18,00
Salary of Ministers 1,742 61
Rent of Ministers 407 40
Board of Ministers 1 641 22
Travelling Expenses 97 84


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Fuel 87 94
Missions 97 36
Sunday Schools 283 34
Bishop's Salary 124 20
Bishop's Travelling Expenses 21 18
Two-Cent Money 35 38
Widows et Orphans 19 50
Sum Total $ 4,716 03
Number of Churches 10
Estimated Value of Property $53,500 00

        Among the recognized leaders of this Conference, we might name the Revs. Joseph P. Shreeve, J. H. W. Burley, and Lewis S. Lewis. Under their auspices, especially the latter, who has seen long service, this Conference has exerted an influence fully equal to its strength. We now introduce the reader to

FRANCIS J. PECK.

ELDER.

        He is the son of Nathaniel Peck, of Baltimore, whose kindness led him, in the old slave days, to see multitudes of his people to the Depot, and give assurance that they were free, and not Runaways, and thus get them a ticket to pass from out the black domains of American slavery. With the Railroad Company, the word of "Uncle Nat" was his bond, such was the integrity of the man.

        Francis was born in the year '34, and when but a lad of eight summers, was led to Bethel Sabbath school, where he first learned his alphabet. Such was his aptness, that he soon learned to read, and was admitted to the Bible class, taught by Bishop


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Payne, then Elder of the Church. He says of this, "And the instruction which the Bishop gave, I remember to this day." From the Sabbath school he was soon transplanted to the Church, for is it not the nursery? Is it not the place whence the little springs, which are to grow into fruitful trees, are found? Blessed Sabbath school, let all the people of the Lord close hands round about it, to ward off the chilly winds, to beat back the intruding foe.

        Young Peck, nurtured, as we have said, in the Sabbath school, gave his heart to God when but seventeen years of age, and at once became a teacher in it. Thus employed, two years and more passed by, when, such was his integrity, his brethren concluded that God designed him for a broader field of usefulness; and anxious to work for the Lord, he drew not back, though he felt "he had none of those necessary qualifications which a young man should have who begins to preach."

        Seven years were spent in filling several unimportant posts in the Christian ministry, but he longed for ability to occupy a broader field of action. In 1863, meeting with his old teacher, Bishop Payne, he unbosomed himself to him, whom he regarded as his father in the Gospel. The result was that he repaired to Wilberforce, and spent a few months in being put upon the right track.

        He labored for three years in the New York Conference, when, in May, 1867, he was transferred to the New England Conference, and was appointed to Providence, R. I.


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        As a preacher he is thoughtful, and as he loves books, he gives promise of more extended usefulness in the days that are to come. In a letter received, he says: "I have long been impressed that African Methodism was essential, and that a Church governed by colored men, untrammelled by white association, was the only means by which we could prove our manhood and elevate our people; feeling I do no injustice by saying I believe her to be the power under God doing this great work, for she is the only colored Church in this country that educates her own ministry, that governs herself, builds her own houses of worship, pays for them herself, and is recognized by law as the rightful owner."

        May he show himself worthy of his day and opportunities.


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CHAPTER XIII.
THE MISSOURI DISTRICT.

        THE A. M. E. Church kept pace with the Republic in stretching out its boundary. Did the Government pull up its stakes to-day, we pulled up ours on the morrow following, and both were found sinking them together. Our preachers were among the earliest settlers of the Western territories.

        The boundaries of this District are thus defined: "Missouri Conference shall include all the States of Kentucky, except East Kentucky, Missouri, West Tennessee and Kansas." The boundaries of some of our Districts are like those of some of our States, most unnatural indeed. This is especially true of the Missouri District. Why it should leap the Mississippi, and take in a small part of Kentucky and Tennessee, it is hard to tell. But it should be borne in mind that the boundaries of all our Districts were made at the behest of convenience, and not of nature. One of the ablest of the Committees at the General Conference, of 1868, ought to be the Committee on Boundary.

        The Missouri District lies in the very centre of the great Mississippi Valley; as we have intimated, it is divided by that mighty river. By looking on the


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map, it will be seen to be watered most abundantly. Through Kansas flows the Arkansas river, with numerous tributaries while the branches or forks, as the Western people call them, which go to make up the Kansas river, are numerous indeed. Through Missouri flows the heavy part of the great Missouri river, as it comes rolling down from Northern Dacota; also many tributaries. A land so well watered can but be rich for agricultural purposes, while the ready outlet which they afford, give assurance that it will be cultivated. As early as 1820, Missouri had 10,222 slaves, and 347 free colored persons; but Kansas was yet the hunting-ground of the savage. After a score of years had passed, we find the free colored population of Missouri to be 1,574, while Kansas yet remained as the home of the Indian, for in the census of 1840, not a white inhabitant is given. At the last census (1860) the free colored population of the Missouri Conference District may be set down at about 13,000 -- as follows: Missouri, 3,572; Kansas, 625, one half Kentucky, say 5,000; one half Tennessee, say 3,000. The slave population of the same District, and at the same time, was about a quarter of a million; but these were forbidden to give their strength to our "abolition," "or free negro" Church. The principal occupation of the 13,000 free colored persons was boating, occupying the several positions of Stewards, a most responsible office, Waiters, Cooks, Firemen, Deck-Hands, &c. As a whole, they partook much of the spirit of their section -- extravagant with their monies, and often


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reckless in their deportment. We have known instances where parties have made from $75 to $100 every month, with no expense to themselves, and yet have saved nothing after years of labor. Of course there are honorable exceptions to this rule; but of the natural extravagance of the West, they have all partaken in a lamentable degree. It was thus the Methodist preachers found them, and would you behold their triumphs, visit one of the annual sessions of this District; hear its preachers, see them do business, see how the people entertain them, and over all, hear their reports, and we feel assured that you will exclaim: "See what the Lord hath wrought!" Men of reckless habits and daring wills have been reclaimed; fine Churches have been erected; and much of the monies heretofore spent at the bar-room and gaming table, now go towards building up the Messiah's kingdom.

        But would it not be well for this people to consider the subject of changing employment? Would not the cultivation of their own rich soil give greater comfort, greater riches, greater stability, than "following the river?" Men adjust their habits and thoughts to their pursuits or occupation; a reliable occupation will tend to make a reliable man, and vice versa. What is more reliable than the laws of nature? What is more unreliable that Western steamboating?

        The land is good; we beseech the Methodists of the Missouri District to possess it. Build up a strong agricultural community; invest your monies in lands,


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which the moths cannot eat, nor rusts can corrupt; erect houses and barns; yoke up the thick necked oxen; bridle the horse, that your sons may adjust their lives to the regularity of the seasons, your daughters adjust their tastes to the green fields and singing birds.

        But look at the statistics presented at the Conference held in St. Louis, August, 1866:

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent Money $ 153 65
Salary of Ministers 2,766 65
Board of Ministers 3,703 65
Fuel of Ministers 237 00
Rent of Ministers 723 75
Traveling of Ministers 1,632 15
Missionary Money 190 30
Bishops' Money 371 35
Bishops' Traveling Expenses 148 53
Two-Cent Money 34 00
Widows et Orphans 29 10
Sabbath Schools 127 75
Semi-Centenary 252 00
Sum Total $10,351 88
Value of Churches &c $79,925 00

        

CHURCH STATISTICS.

Members 4,790
Probationers 945
Local Preachers 119
Exhorters 63
Number of Churches 22
Number of School Houses 3
Parsonages 1
Number of Sabbath Schools 17
Number of Sabbath Schools Scholars 19 42
Number of Sabbath Schools Teachers 126
Number of Sabbath Schools Superintendents 19
Volumes in Library 2,538
S. S. Missionary Money 1350
Traveling Elders 11
Traveling Deacons 4


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        This Conference has quite a number of able men in its itinerant ranks; the names of B. L. Brooks, Richard Bridges and J. M. Wilkerson are a tower of strength in all the Western land; not forgetting our friend Dove, of whom Bishop Wayman says: "Take the wings of a dove, and fly away."

        It would doubtless have given our readers not a little pleasure to have heard concerning them, especially our young friend Wilkerson, whose graphic description of the sack of Lawrence, we recollect hearing in Philadelphia, in 1864. His escape from the Rebels, who were after "that nigger preacher," was most interesting to hear. But we could not get the desired facts. We offer our readers brief sketches of the two brothers, Hiram and Willis Revels, who stand like Boaz and Jachin, in the African Methodist temple, together with a production from each. With such supports as these, the building stands secure.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)

WILLIS R. REVELS. M. D.

ELDER.

        Few men can present the same undeviating course, the same pressing forward, as Dr. Revels. Called early to the ministry, for he began to preach at seventeen, what should we expect the son of two poor people to know, and the boy Willis knew as


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little as any. But there was a mysterious power within him, which urged him--a deep conviction that he must be somebody; and on he went over the numberless obstacles which ever stand in the way of a poverty-striken, aspiring youth, until to-day, he stands a good way up the mountain. Beginning the life of a missionary under the auspices of the M. E. Church, he made it a point, in whatever city or town he was called upon to remain, to seek out a teacher, and the promise here as elsewhere is, "They that seek shall find." But his aspirations for knowledge went beyond the theological only; he wanted to know somewhat of the medical. Having meditated emigrating to Liberia, W. A., he entered into arrangements with the Colonization Society, through whose instrumentality he received a very thorough course of training in the medical science, receiving license to practice, from the faculty of New Orleans, La. As a proof of his medical skill, it is enough to know that during the late war he was commissioned as Assistant Surgeon and placed in charge of the 28th U. S. C. T. He served as post Surgeon at Indianapolis, where during the latter half of the war, he examined no less than 3,772 men, for the service. Dr. Revels is likewise the author of quite a number of medical Papers which appeared in the Repository. To-day, whether as Doctor or Preacher, Willis R. Revels stands high in every community he goes, and among men of all colors. He is calculated to grace the pulpit of any denomination, to do credit to the office of most physicians. He has contributed the following thoughtful article:


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"THE EXISTENCE OF A TRIUNE GOD."

        "The evidences which God has given of his own existence are so numerous that Atheism is nothing but wilful and deliberate absurdity. No man in the exercise of the rational powers can honestly be an Atheist. In his foolish heart he may say, "No God," yet will his understanding force him to admit the truth he vainly strives to deny. When human reason carefully (and prayerfully) examines creation, it is entirely satisfied that it is not the work of chance, that it is not self created, that it is not eternal. It argues negatively that creation came not by chance, for it gives indisputable evidence of wisdom and design; it cannot be self-created, for no creature can be the author of its own existence; and it cannot be eternal, for it is nothing but an effect of an antecedent cause. It argues affirmatively that all creation is the work of an incomprehensible spirit, possessed of all possible perfection, and consequently entitled to all possible praise.

        God is a spirit, an indiversable unit, without any material subsistence, or any devisable or component parts. He is self-existent, because he can derive nothing from creatures. He is infinite, because he cannot be bounded by either time or space. He is eternal, because antecedent to all time. Reason says he is infinite in wisdom, because he knows with perfect and absolute certainty, the end from the beginning, and directs all creation and providence, with that perfect harmony which characterizes all their movements;


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and he has given such an infinite variety to all the works of his hands, that so far as man's knowledge goes, there are no two creatures or two things in creation exactly and perfectly alike. Reason says that he must be omnipotent, because no less power could bring existence out of nonentity. No finite power could arrange and establish the earth, the sun, the moon, and all the spheres in their respective orbits, and give them fixed laws, to which they are perfectly subject, and by which all their movements are regulated. Reason says that God-head exists in a plurality of divine persons, subsisting in a oneness of essence; because the whole animal and vegetable kingdoms teach the rational and intelligible doctrine of plurality in unity. Reason and intellect finds only one essence--one human nature, which is common to them all, and each individual person possesses the whole of that nature or essence; for it is an indivisable unit. Among all the varieties of the irrational and inferior creatures, in all the vegetable kingdom, reason finds the mysterious fact of plurality in unity. Many animals, and only one nature, which nature is essential and common to them all. Many vegetables having a nature which is a unit, and essentially the same in all. Every beast of the earth has a body, and a spirit which actuates that body, and is a living exemplification of the mysterious and the yet rational doctrine of plurality in unity. Whoever denies this divinely established doctrine, and regards it as irrational, denies his own existence, and regards


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himself as being nothing but a name. Incredible absurdity! every man knows, or ought to know, that in himself there are three distinct component parts, and yet he is but one man. He has a material and visible body; he has an immaterial and invisible spirit, which actuates that body; and he has an immortal soul, which makes him rational, intelligent and accountable; and which makes him essentially distinct from, and eternally exalted above all the irrational creatures. This self-evident plurality in unity, which God gave to his creature, man, was no doubt designed to teach him that there is no absurdity in the mysterious doctrine of plurality of spiritual and divine persons subsisting in the unity of the Divine essence. Apart from this rational and scriptural doctrine of the Trinity, there is no salvation for any fallen creature. Without this doctrine, the whole plan of redemption, revealed in the Bible, is utterly incredible, and all creation and divine revelation is nothing but a most stupendous and absolute absurdity--a mere farce; and in reality there is nothing in existence but ideas and impressions, as Hume, Berkeley and other infidels have vainly contended. But with this doctrine, which is so clearly and harmoniously set forth in both creation and divine revelation, all is most rational. To all this indisputable data, reason adds the social nature which God has given to man, in the exercise of which his chief happiness consists, and then infers that there must not only be a plurality of persons in the Divine existence, but a social nature which is


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common to all the persons of the Godhead; and in the exercise of which social nature, the infinite felicity of the Godhead consists. If men do not resist their own convictions, they cannot be Atheists. When man looks at himself, he feels conscious that he is not the author of his own existence; his understanding and reason teach him that he is nothing but an effect, which some adequate cause must have produced. He knows that every effect must have a cause, and every effect which manifests wisdom and design, must have a wise, intelligent and designing cause, and therefore viewing himself as a rational and intelligent effect, he is forced to conclude that the author of his being must be possessed of all possible perfection. His conscience, which always refers him to his final accountability, tells him that he is accountable to some tribunal higher than any that is upon the earth, arraigns him before the Divine throne, strips him of his Atheistical garb, and holds him in the most fearful and agonizing trepidation, in view of the irrevocable sentence which his Atheism has brought upon him. He can be no longer an Atheist, but throughout all eternity will be made to realize that there is a God who taketh vengeance."

HIRAM R. REVELS.

        The African M. E. Church can boast of but few men who equal in culture, the Reverend gentlemen whose name graces the following article. Whilst


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yet a boy among the pines of his native state, North Carolina, he saw the necessity of educating himself; and when the opportunity was presented, he marched manfully through the prescribed studies, of both the the colored schools of Fayetteville, embracing Spelling, the School Dictionary, the Reader, with Geography, Arithmetic, Grammar, and Writing.

        Converted to God on the eve of leaving the Fayetteville schools, he felt moved to "preach Christ." But the sovereign state of North Carolina said, "No Negro shall be allowed to preach." God, versus, North Carolina. Whom should young Hiram obey? To a mind like his, and with the example of Peter before him, he soon answered, and by action. Bidding adieu to the scenes of his youth, he took up his jaunt for the North, where was his brother, Dr. Willis Revels. Arriving in Indians, and finding his means well nigh exhausted, he opened school in Terre Haute, Ind. In this capacity he labored till 1840, when the call for laborers in the Lord's vineyard waxed louder and louder, till he was in a sense compelled to obey.

        Upon joining the Indiana Conference he relinquished the proud thought of his youth--that one day he would be a graduate; but in relinquishing the name, he still contended for the substance; and while performing the labors of an itinerant, in his first charge he was permitted to attend the Quaker Seminary in Union County, Ind. At that Seminary, and another in Illinois he studied Natural Philosophy, Chemistry, Rhetoric, Logic, and Intellectual


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Philosophy, and in after years holding connexion with the Old School Presbytery, while serving the Madison St. Congregation, Baltimore, Md., the Dead languages were taught him privately by some Presbyterian divines. Bro. Revels has filled not a few of the finest stations in the West, in connexion with the A. M. E. Church, and everywhere to the uniform satisfaction of the people. Of easy manners and an impressive heart, with a mind stored with the most wholesome truths, Hiram R. Revels is altogether such a man of whom any church or people may be proud. As indicative of the man, it is related of him that while teaching a "Girls' School," in the city of P ----isted by his amiable lady Mrs. Phebe Revels, a fine disciplinarian, that so thoroughly had the little bright eyes got to understand his disposition, that the only way he controlled them was to threaten them with the words, "Now daughter, I will tell Pheby."

        We quote the following from an article on the all absorbing theme:

"EDUCATION."

        "The mind is that part of man's being which thinks, understands, wills, judges or reasons, and these are some of its faculties. One of the best methods of developing these powers is to go through a regular course of disciplinary study, or in other words to study the Mathematics, of which Arithmetic, Geometry, Algebra and Trigonometry are branches. When the mind has once been smoothed and polished by


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the chisel of Mathematics, its powers will always be active and capable of investigating subjects not only of a practical, but also of a speculative nature.

        The education of the mind, in the sense in which we have been considering it, is not the result of additions made to it, but the bringing out of those latent powers which have always been its undeveloped properties, by a disciplinary course of study, which prepares it to enrich itself with knowledge gathered from innumerable sources. But those who have neither the time nor means to educate themselves to this extent, will find that being well instructed in Spelling, Reading, Grammar, Geography and Arithmetic, and, if possible, in the Physical Sciences, Natural Philosophy and Chemistry, they have not only acquired a valuable fund of highly useful information, but that thereby their minds are greatly improved and strengthened, and that they are the better qualified to discharge the duties of life."


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CHAPTER XIV.
THE CALIFORNIA DISTRICT.

        LEUTZE's picture "Westward the Star of Empire wends its way," on the walls of the new East Wing of the Capitol, is a grand production. One looks with awe at those mountain heights shining in the sun, as well as at the stern features of those pioneers. It is a production of the purest symbolical truth--the men, the women, the babes; the sluggish ox, the weary dog, and the irrepressible negro, all making just such a caravan as may be seen every spring, on the overland route to the Pacific. With what a strange magnetism have people ever been drawn toward the West! The human course from east to west, has ever been as regular and as certain as the course of the world, on which it moves; and the grandest empire of the world is yet to spring up in this western world. In a map published by Abram Bradley, of the District of Columbia, the year is not stated, the boundaries of the Republic are quite different to what they are now. On that map, our country is made to join Russian America, north of Queen Charlotte's Island and at latitude 54°, while Mexico extended as far north as 42°: our south-western boundaries were the Arkansas, the Red and the Sabine


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rivers. But Great Britain pressed down upon us from the north, and we were compelled to come to latitude 49°. Pressed by Great Britain, we in turn pressed down upon Mexico, and as a result of the war of 1847, we became in possession of all that vast tract of country, of which California forms a part. We need not rehearse here the settling of our Pacific acquisition, how grand cities arose up in a decade, how all that land, which twenty years ago was a wilderness, has been made to abound in all the blessings of our modern civilization. The negro aided in this great work; his muscle helped to break into the mountain store-houses, and rob them of their treasure. While the ratio of white emigration between the years 1850 and 1860, was 294,34, that of the free colored people, was 324,74. In 1860, the free colored population of California, was 4,086. How, and when the A. M. E. Church was taken to that land, we are told in the following piece of history which we received from the lips of the old pioneer himself, Bro. Charles Stewart. Of its truthfulness the reader may rest assured.

THE PLANTING OF THE A. M. E. CHURCH IN CALIFORNIA.

        I left New York, Dec, 1, 1851, on board the steamship "Brother Jonathan," commanded by Capt. Miller. I arrived on the Isthmus, at the town of Crucis, Dec, 18, 1851. Here I remained until the 14th of January, in the new year 1852, when I went to Panama, whence I sailed for California, Jan, 17, on the steamer Republic, Capt. Hudson. We arrived safe


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and sound in San Francisco bay on the 11th of February. On board the vessel was Edward Gomaz, a West Indiaman, whose acquaintance I had made at St. Thomas, W. I., He was a religious man and kept a boarding house in San Francisco, No. 10 Virginia St. His wife was a New York lady, formerly Miss Mary Jeffries, and was a member of Zion Church; and likewise a former acquaintance of mine. Having disembarked on the 12th in company with my son Alfred Stuart, we at once repaired to the house of my good friend and brother, Gomaz. Scarcely had we been seated, until he remarked to his wife, "Well Mary, Brother Stewart has come, and we will have preaching, for I know he will not play gambler." What occasioned the remark was that we met on the way to his house, a former Reverend, S-1 S-r-i-g-o on his way to a gambling house, kept by Harper and West. This poor man was licensed and ordained by the venerable Christopher Rush, and when in New York, none gave promise of greater faithfulness, but going to California, the gambling tide bore him irresistibly on in its bosom, and none attended the Monte table more regularly.

        The Sabbath following my arrival, at a prayer meeting held in the house of Brother Gomaz, I made the acquantance of four young brethren, who had come from Washington city: James Wilkerson, Henry Butler, James Barton and Henry Lewis. These four young Brethren, I found to be as pure salt, in an affected place. After prayer they invited me to their ranche, or room; also, we made an


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agreement, to attend a religious meeting, early that evening, at the house of a Baptist sister named Mason, who had come over the plains from Cincinnati. At the time appointed we repaired thither, and found about a dozen there assembled, who were addressed by a christian brother, named Brown, from Washington city. After he had concluded, we had a season of prayer.

        On Tuesday, Feb, 16, I met these four brethren again at their ranche, at 12 o'clock, and after a season of prayer, in which the Lord powerfully blessed us, we communed together for two hours, concerning the spiritual condition around us. In our prayers, we had entreated the Lord to show us what to do, and before parting, we concluded, that on the next day, three of us would go out and seek a place wherein worship could be held. We heard of an Englishman--a carpenter, who had a vacant house, that might be made to suit; we visited him, and engaged to take the place at a rent of $45.00 per month. Having paid him a month's rent in advance, we engaged him to make us a small pulpit, and sixteen benches, for which we paid him, $100.00. On the 22d of February, 1852, the Rev. George Taylor of Boston, Mass., dedicated it for us, and administered to us, the Sacrament. At night one of Mr. Taylor's colleagues preached for us. Everything appeared very favorable, and I rejoiced exceedingly at the kind mercies of God. On the following Thursday evening, we held a prayer-meeting, which was attended by a goodly number of persons.


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        On the 1st of March there arrived from England, a colored preacher, Joseph Thompson by name. He had been ordained by the Wesleyan Methodists. He found his way to the boarding house of Brother Gomaz, where I soon made his acquantance. After repeated conversation, he entered heartily into the work, and became our preacher. It was not long before certain parties, J-n C-h, H-y C-h, and J-n L-s, H-y W-s, called on the Rev. Mr. Thompson, and expressed themselves as desirous not only to join the Church, but likewise to have their local preaching license renewed. The course of all these men, during their stay in California had been anything else but commendable; this, Bro. Thompson had learned, and consequently he informed them that he would see about it. The next day he called to see me, and I advised him not to have anything to do with them. They however met him at his lodging, and by over persuasion, succeeded in getting him to receive them as local preachers in good standing. When he came and informed me what he had done, "I told him plainly that it was wrong, and the result would be disastrous to all the Church: that the men were not such as they should be, and I feared that our work would come to nought." The following Sabbath, two of these men occupied the pulpit, J-n L-s at 3 o'clock, and H-y W-s at 7½. After two months had elapsed, the Rev. John J. Moore arrived from Philadelphia, and was invited to preach on the following Sabbath, which he kindly consented to do; and on Monday, March, 22d, 1852,


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he started for Sacramento on the Steamer Antelope.

        But to return: the Rev. Mr. Thompson not only took these men in, but made one of them, J-n L-s, treasurer, who, it was found, when the rent was to be paid, had taken the money, $45,00, and given it to Rev. J. J. Moore, to carry him to Sacramento. When the landlord appeared for his money, the treasury being empty, Bro Thompson informed him that he would pay him in two days. At the time specified, the money was not forthcoming, and the landlord demanded the keys of the building. Bro. Thompson called upon the Treasurer, and all four of these Brethren, when they informed him that they had no money, and if the landlord had the key, let him keep it.

        On the 9th of April Bro. Thompson called upon me, and seemed to be distressed, even unto tears. I enquired the occasion of his grief, when he informed me what these men had done: I told him I was not surprised. When he asked what course to pursue, I informed him that I thought he had better repent; however, said I, you come, and we will devise together; in the meantime, let us seek counsel of God. He left, and I immediately went to God, and poured out my soul like water before him; arising, I felt persuaded that God had heard, and would answer. I went to a lawyer named Alridge, from New Orleans, and who boarded at the house where I labored -- the Verness House, and I engaged him to draw up an Act of Incorporation, for an African


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M. E. Church, and such other papers as he deemed necessary. At the appointed time Brother Thompson was on hand, and I directed him where to go to see this Lawyer, corner of Kearney and Clay Sts., when I assured him he would receive some papers, and such information as Lawyer Kearney would give. He went and received the papers, which the Lawyer ordered him to take to the Mayor, for the seal of the city, and his signature, which he did. Aside from freely signing his papers, the Mayor told him that when he was ready to build, he would give him $100.00. He advised him to carry his papers to the Capital, [Sacramento] and receive the state seal, as well as Gov. Calhoun's signature. After this meeting with the Mayor, Bro. Thompson returned and informed me of his success, and spoke of going to Sacramento.

        I heartily agreed with him, and my heart greatly rejoiced at the promised success. I told him that he should not lack for means to carry him to Sacramento. After consultation, it was agreed that he should leave for the Capitol, Saturday, April 29th, for which jaunt, I gave him ten dollars to pay his way there. Upon his arrival in Sacramento, he stopped at the house of a preacher, Rev. Barney Fletcher, formerly of Orleans, to whom, and other brethren, he told his mission, with which they heartily sympathized. On Sabbath he preached for them, and at the evening service they gave him a collection which amounted to $50.00. On Monday, he waited on Gov. Calhoun, who graciously received him, heard


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his story, signed his papers, and gave him $100.00 in gold. Thus equipped, he was ready for work; the kind Governor directed him to go to Adams Express Office, to which he immediately repaired, and they too, gave him $100.00. Thence he went to the Townsend Banking House, from whom he received another $100.00, as well as referred him to their House in San Francisco. When Bro. Thompson returned home he brought $450.00, at which my heart greatly rejoiced. In San Francisco, the same success attended his efforts, the Townsend Banking House gave another $100.00, as well as the Adams Express Company. Mr. Argenti, an officer in the government mint, gave $200.00. Lawyer Alridge gave $50.00: while numbers of other gentlemen contributed building material, sufficient indeed to put up our house. The Lord was wonderfully on our side. Having leased a lot from the Presbyterian Church, on Stockton St., we engaged a workman, to whom we promised to pay $900.00. He finished the Church in good time, and on the 8th of August, 1852, our house was dedicated to the Lord, by the Rev. George Taylor, who, as we have seen, dedicated our other little place.

        The Church completed, I resolved immediately to return to the States, and on the 14th of August, 1852, I left for home on board the Steamship Oregon. Between the towns of Crucis and Panama, I met the Rev. T. M. D. Ward, who had arrived from New York, in the Steamship Ohio. The Ship in which I came, took him to San Francisco; his, bore me away


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to New York. May the presence of the Lord ever abide with that Church.

THE ORGANIZATION OF THE PACIFIC WORK INTO A DISTRICT.

        This Annual Conference was organized in the Union Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church, at San Francisco, California, April 6th, 1865.

        Members present: Jabez Pitt Campbell, Bishop; Rev. Thomas M. D. Ward, Missionary Elder in charge of the work of missions upon the Pacific coast.

TRAVELING PREACHERS.

        
Peter R. Green, Peter Kelingworth,
Edward Tappan James C. Hamilton,
James H. Hubbard, John T. Jenifer,
Chas. Wesley Boardley.

LOCAL PREACHERS.

        
Barney Fletcher, J. B. Sanderson.

        This Conference was opened with singing, prayer and reading a portion of Scripture by the presiding Bishop. Rev. J. B. Sanderson was appointed Secretary, and Rev. J. H. Hubbard, Assistant Secretary.

EPISCOPAL ADDRESS.

        "Reverend and Dear Brethren:--With me it is a subject of thanksgiving and praise to God that, after years spent in prayer and deep anxiety upon your behalf, I have lived to meet you for the purpose of organizing


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and holding an Annual Conference with you under the doctrines, discipline and government of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States of America. This I do in accordance with an ordinance of the General Conference, passed at its last session, held in Philadelphia, May, 1864. Heretofore, the work upon the Pacific Coast has been, for the period of about twelve years, a missionary field of labor; and for the most part of that time, placed under the missionary superintendence of Rev. T. M. D. Ward.

        From this time and forever, this new Conference will be added to the number of regularly organized Conferences, under the name and title of the California District. For several years, in the Annual and General Conferences, I have been an advocate for Episcopal visitation, and the organization of an Annual Conference upon this coast. I have frequently offered my services to raise means toward defraying the expenses of one of the Bishops to make the journey. I have even gone so far as to offer the sum of at least fifty dollars out of my own private funds, if need be, for that purpose, with not the most distant thought that it would ever fall to my lot to be that Bishop who would come to this country and organize the first Conference in it. But, in the providence of God, so it is.

        At present, myself and Elder Ward are the only legal members of the Conference. But after due examination, all the preachers who have been four full


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years traveling preachers or active missionaries, and all local preachers who have been regularly licensed preachers in our connexion, both classes of whose moral, religious and official character stands fair, and who stand a fair examination in their literary attainments, as per Discipline, these parties I shall, upon the recommendation of the Elder who has had them in charge, and who has had them employed in the work of missions during the time specified, these I say, I shall rule in as legitimate bona fide members of the new Conference. That they have been four full years regularly licensed preachers, and that they have traveled that length of time, they must prove by their preachers' licenses and their certificates of appointments. The brethren having complied with these previous arrangements, they will be admitted as full members of the Conference; having the right to enjoy all the privileges of the same, made and provided. Those brethren who have not thus been authorized, and who may desire to become members or itinerant preachers on probation, may be received afterwards as per Discipline. May God Almighty be pleased to add his most special blessing upon our labors in this new organization, is the most fervent prayer of your chief pastor and brother in Christ."

        After the Episcopal address was closed, the brethren named above were admitted to membership upon the recommendation of Rev. T. M. D. Ward, Elder in charge, after due examination as per Discipline.


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        The following named brethren, after due examination, were ordained Deacons into the traveling connexion, Thursday, April 13th, 1865: Peter R. Green, James H. Hubbard, John T. Jenifer.

        

STATISTICS AT ORGANIZATION.

Members 350
Missionary Elder 1
Deacons Traveling 3
Preachers Traveling 4
Preachers, Local 2
Churches 10
Value of Church Property, as given at Convention of 1863, $29,600.

        We sent the Rev. T. M. D. Ward one of our circulars, and in reply he sent us the following letter:

San Francisco, Dec. 15th, 1866.

        My Dear Brother in the Lord:--You wish to know where I was first educated. If you have ever been in Centre County, Pa., you have seen a little valley called after the founder of the Keystone State. To the West of this vale is the Alleghany Mountains, bathed in the golden glories of the setting sun; on the North is the Tussey Mountain; on the South is Nitney Mountain.

        When the winds sweep over those pine-clad mountains, and the forked lightnings leap from mountain cave to valley deep, when the thunder-drums mingle their terrific sounds with the voice of the storm, from these I learned the lessons of God's power--the vengeance and wrath of His ire. My soul was


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humbled when I heard God's thunder-horn summoning his armies to battle.

        The walls of those stately mountains, the sunlit and star-paved sky, and the grass-clad earth were my Alma Mater--my books were the sweeping river, the opening rose-bud, the babbling brooklet, the brilliant apple blooms, the thunder-riven oak, the russet peach, the flaming stars, the sparkling limpid spring, and the soft whispering zephyr.

        The warbling of nature's feathered harpers often reminded me of the music which is heard in the city of God--the New Jerusalem. The frost bloom of winter, and the June bud of summer, all reminded me of the mutability of life. Thus, in passing through life, I have found a gem of thought from this mind and the other book.

        The only positions I have filled have been a plough, and a Methodist Preacher. Twenty-four years I have been an officer in the army of the A. M. E. Church--such I hope to be until my feet shall touch the other shore--the Eden-land where, with crown and harp, and robe and palm, I hope to spend a sun-bright day, a cloudless noon, and ever opening morn.

Of the Laity, we present the name of
J. MADISON BELL.

POET.

        A nation without Poets may fitly be compared to a palace without the necessary adornment.


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A structure with foundations and beams, and floors and ceiling, and windows and doors, may be denominated a house, but men will be slow to call such a structure a palace. It is thus with a people. There may be laborers, mechanics, artizans, scholars, and men of profession, but the beau ideal of a nation is that there must be poets. The royalty of any people is seen in its ability to produce, not only craftsmen, nor yet statesmen, no, not even scholars, but poets. Homer has brought more renown to the Greeks, Virgil to the Latins, than all their statesmen, and orators, and warriors combined. Dante is the representative man of mediÆvel Italy, Shakspeare and Milton of modern Britain. The Anglo-Africans of the great Republic have given proof of their absolute worth, by quarrying out the rocks upon which the government stood for years, even Cotton and Tobacco; they have given proof of their dignity by producing, in Law, John Langston; in Medicine, Alexander Augusta; in Literature, G. B. Vashon; in Politics, Frederick Douglass; in Divinity, D. A. Payne; in Painting, Thomas Duncanson; in Statuary, Edmonia Lewis; and rising still higher to the lofty realm where the Muses dwell, the Anglo-Africans have proved their royalty by producing these children of the Muses: Phillis Wheatly, Frances Watkins, Fanny M. Jackson and J. Madison Bell.

        J. Madison Bell was born in Gallipolis, in '27, of humble parents, where he spent almost the first score years of his life without the least show of literary advantages.


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Going to Cincinnati in '43, he apprenticed himself for three years to his brother, to learn the art of plastering, the nearest approach to statuary and poetry which American prejudice would allow. This employment he followed in the summers, while the winters were devoted to the closest study.

        Here it was that the Muses visited him, and he penned a few verses, creditable alike to his age and advantages. Though doomed to live by "the sweat of his brow," in the severest sense, still did the Muses continue to visit him -- the Muses to whom the hut is as the palace; the bond as the free; the white as the black.


                         My name is Genius,
                         For none I care:
                         I mind my business,
                         And none I fear.


                         Whom do I visit
                         But those I please,
                         In palace or hut,
                         I'm at my ease.


                         The rich can't bribe me,
                         The poor can't pay;
                         That I charge a fee
                         Can the world say?


                         I go to all climes,
                         The hot and cold;
                         I have no spare times
                         My arms to fold.


                         I go to all hues,
                         The black and white;
                         Each must have his dues,
                         Quoth, Isn't that right?


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                         My name is Genius,
                         For none I care:
                         I mind my business,
                         And none I fear.

        Though his poetical effusions attracted considerable attention in Canada, whither he had moved in '54, yet was it in California that his sweet strains charmed the wild spirits of that land. Like Homer of old, wandering from city to city, he everywhere read with the greatest applause. Returning East, the same brilliant career awaited him, and whereever he has read, before the general assemblage of the public hall, or the refined audiences of the college chapels, the highest laudations have been bestowed.

        His Poems, mainly occasional, touch the heart while it is yet warm and susceptible, and delivered with a rich voice, gentle at times, and sweet as the murmuring rill, and at times like melting thunders, he carries his audience as by storm. J. Madison Bell blushes not at the Christian appellation of "Brother." Not only a member of the A. M. E. Church, he is a worker in it. While at San Francisco, he was for years Superintendent of the Sabbath school, as well as Leader of one of the classes, under that mighty preacher, T. M. D. Ward.

        We cannot end this sketch better than by giving one of the many notices he has received from the Press.

"PUBLIC READINGS BY A COLORED POET.

        Mr. J. Madison Bell, the colored poet whose penpictures


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of the war have found their way into some of the Eastern journals friendly to the intellectual development and progress of the colored man, gave readings at Allen Chapel, on Sixth Street, last evening, to a large audience of our colored citizens, and, for two hours, held his hearers spell-bound with the beauty and power of his imagery.

        Mr. Bell is a tall, powerfully built man, with a large well-shaped head, good countenance, and fine, resonant voice, over which he has acquired perfect command. He is easy and graceful in manner, and expresses feeling with his vocal organs, more than by the extrinsic means of gesticulation. Judging by his color, it is probable that his African blood predominates, and in listening to his verse, it is apparent that the rich imagery of the Orient finds a natural expression.

        He read half a dozen or more poems celebrating events in the war wherein the blacks distinguished themselves by deeds of valor and patriotism, and most graphically portrayed their devotion to liberty and its defenders from peril to the last of the national struggle.

        The fight at Milliken's Bend, in 1863, (which the writer happened to witness) was accurately described, and aside from its faithfulness to the history of the affairs, was a vivid and thrilling picture of the desperate character of the struggles between the rebel soldiery and the blacks, wherever the chances of war brought them into combat.

        Perhaps no better idea of the excellence of this


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colored poet can be conveyed than to express the opinion that he will rank as a poet with Duncanson as an artist, and that notwithstanding the disadvantages under which he has labored in the earlier stages of his career, his productions bear the impress of genius, which will eventually develope into something more lasting than the tones of his voice."


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CHAPTER XV.
THE SOUTH CAROLINA DISTRICT.

        OUR first fruits of the great Rebellion was the above named District. Here had we planted in the early days of our organization, but the ruthless oppressor came and bade us begone, that he would cultivate the field himself. Of our early efforts in this direction, Bishop Payne says:*

        * Page 21. Semi-Centenary.


"At that time (1816) there were thousands in Charleston, S. C., holding the same sentiment. But the representatives of this latter city were not present in person, because the difficulties in the mode of traveling, with many legal obstacles, prevented them. They were, however, known to be present in sympathy, desire, and purpose. We say that Morris Brown, Henry Drayton, Charles Carr, Amos Cruchshanks, Marcus Brown, Smart Simpson, Harry Bull, John B. Mathews, James Eden, London Turpin, and Aleck Harleston, all the city of Charleston, would have been there if they could." But the inability of these parties to be present at the Convention, and assist in the organization of the new Church, as well as help define its position and shape its economy,
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prevented them not from after joining it; and with their strong wills, assist in pushing out its boundaries. Of the following year (1817) it is recorded in the "Retrospection," that "Morris Brown, at the head of about 1,000 souls, resigned from the M. E. Church in South Carolina, and united with the connection--now 1822, the number had swelled to 3,000, including Charleston and the Circuit immediately surrounding it." But the tree, which had thus sprung up like the gourd of Jonah, like it was doomed to be soon smitten. Though goodly to look upon, and promising goodlier fruit, yet must the axe be laid at the root of it, and in 1832, "the civil authorities of the State, maddened by the incipient efforts of the heroic but luckless Denmark Vesey to overthrow the infernal system, ordered their organization to be suppressed." Thus withered the fair flower of African Methodism in the South; but its withering was not unto death, for while its delicate colors were destroyed, its form broken, yet way down in the peduncle of the heart, the seeds remained, ready to germinate at the first opening of spring. The winter was long, full thirty years, the snows were deep, the blasts were biting, yet it lived, and when spring came in her chariot of war, it, first of all the flowers, was seen to bloom, with colors deepened by the night; form more compact, and strength a thousand fold increased.

        On the 15th of May, 1865, the South Carolina District was organized, and commenced its first session in Zion Church, Charleston, S. C.; the religious services


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were conducted by Bishop D. A. Payne. Would that we could lay before our readers the words delivered on that occasion! Thirty years before, to the very month, he had been driven out a penniless refugee, now he returned free, head and heart--the Bishop of a connexion, whose votaries were numbered by the score thousands.

        James A. Handy and James Lynch were the Secretaries of the new Conference. The organizing force of the District were D. A. Payne, Bishop; Jas. Lynch, R. H. Cain, Jas. A. Handy, Geo. A. Rue, A. L. Standford, Elders; Jas. H. A. Johnson, T. G. Steward, Preachers.

        A letter of welcome was received by the Conference from Rev. T. W. Lewis, of the M. E. Church, North; signed by Messrs. Weston, Holloway, Sasportas, Mills and other influential citizens of Charleston.

        The following Disciplinary questions of this first Conference were asked and answered:

        What has been collected for contingent expenses? Ans. $48.48.

        What for support of Pastors? Wm. Bently has received $150.00.

        What for Sunday schools? $16.00.

        What Preachers are admitted on trial? Ans. Chas. L. Bradwell, Wm. Bently, Jas. Hill, Gloucester Taylor, R. M. Taylor, Cornelius Murphy, Wm. Steward, R. Vanderhorst, John Graham.

        Who have been elected and ordained Deacons and Elders this year? Ans. Deacons: Wm. Bently, Jas. Hill, Wm. Steward, R. Vanderhorst, John


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Graham. Elders: Jas. H. A. Johnson, T. G. Steward.

        Where are the Preachers stationed this year? Ans. Savannah, A. L. Stanford; Charleston, R. H. Cain; Wilmington, Jas. A. Handy; Raleigh, Geo. W. Brodie; Beaufort River Mission, T. G. Steward; Hilton Head, J. H. A. Johnson; Edisto Island, C. L. Bradwell; Ogeeche River Mission, to be supplied; Charleston Mission, to be supplied; Georgetown Mission, to be supplied; Goldsboro' Mission, to be supplied.*

        * It is our thought that at this Conference, Geo. A. Rue was sent to Newbern, N. C., but the Minutes do not say so; it is silent concerning his appointment.


        Where and when shall our next Conference be held? At Savannah, Ga., second Saturday in May, 1866.

        The seeds opened at this organizing Conference fell not only in Charleston, but were blown far and wide, and everywhere was the soil found to be good. Nine Southern Preachers, strong men in every sense, had given in their adhesion to our cause. It was a masterly movement to receive them -- to place our hands, not only within the warm grasp of their extended hands, but also upon their heads, and permit them to do by law, what they had been doing for years without law. And it is natural, after all, for these negro preachers and people to come to us; whatever others may say to the contrary. Blood is always more potent than money; other denominations had the money, we had the blood, and


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the contest could not long remain uncertain. The fires of oppression have melted down the Anglo-Africans into one--it has burnt up their wrath and jealousies, and whenever they see each other's face, they see the countenance of a brother. How often are some of our refined and aspiring colored ladies and gentlemen, made nervous in the cars and other public places by the approach of their black brothers, not by any means as well clad or refined as they. The secret is that when one colored man sees another colored man, he at once concludes that they are friends and acquaintances, and he makes straight toward him. We would digress sufficiently long from our subject to say to these refined folks, Do not be ashamed of your black brother, he knows you, and you cannot get away from him. You and he were in the fires together, and if you would forget him, he will not forget you. Shall Shadrick forget Abednego. Sit over in the seat, and make room for him, for he relies on your friendship!

        According to adjournment, the second session of the South Carolina Conference met in St. Andrew's Chapel, Savannah, Ga., May 14th; 1866, and continued in session till May 23d. The religious services were conducted by Bishop D. A. Payne. There were on the roll

        Elders -- R. H. Cain, Jas. A. Handy, A. L. Stanford, G. W. Brodie, T. G. Steward, H. M. Turner, C. H. Pearce.

        Deacons -- Richard Vanderhorst, John Graham.

        Preachers -- Chas. L. Bradwell, Gloucester Taylor.


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        Local Deacons -- Jas. Hill, Wm. Steward.

        Local Preachers -- R. M. Taylor, Cornelius Murphy.

        The sessions of this Conference will doubtless never be forgotten by those whose privilege it was to be present. The Bishop spoke of it in the most glowing terms. The progress we had made during the previous year, the large accession of members and preachers, the number presented by the Elders for the itinerant service, the number to be ordained, all gave assurance that African Methodism was victorious -- that the prayer, and the work, and the blood of our poverty-stricken missionaries had accomplished more than treasures of fine gold. Thirty-eight preachers were admitted on trial; while forty-six were elected and ordained to the positions of Deacons and Elders. A membership of 22,338 was reported.

        This Conference adjourned on the 23d, to meet in Wilmington, N. C., the last Saturday in March, 1867.

        At the Wilmington session, Bishop A. W. Wayman was the presiding officer; the secretaries were Geo. W. Brodie and T. G. Steward. At this Conference the most signal victories continued to be reported, as the following answers to the Disciplinary questions show. We give these answers in lieu of regular statistical reports, which it was impossible to make out, owing to the newness of the work.

        (a) What for the support of Pastors? $13,355.55.

        (b) What for Missions? $941.76.


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        (c) What for support of Bishops? $197.00.

        4th. What Preachers are admitted on trial? Ans. The number, Itinerant, 46; Local, 30.

        5th. Who remain on trial? The number, 18.

        6th. Who are admitted into full connexion? The number, 15.

        7th. Who are Deacons? The number, Itinerant, 13; Local, 15.

        8th. Who have been elected and ordained Deacons and Elders this year? Ans. Itinerant Deacons, the number, 42; Local Deacons, 39.

        Itinerant Elders, the number, 17; Local Elders, 2.

        15th. Who have died this year? Ans. Geo. A. Rue, Isaac Gilliard.

        16th. What numbers are in Society? Ans. 50,- 441.

        18th. Where and when shall our next Conference be held? Ans. Columbia, S. C.

        To show the animus of this Conference, we make the following quotation from among their numerous deliverances.

        In regard to Education, they say: "Your Committee also think the time has come when we should begin to lay the foundation for an educated ministry, even among our Southern brethren; therefore we would recommend that a committee of five be appointed to devise a plan, and select a place for the erection of a suitable institution, either in Georgia, North or South Carolina, where our young ministers can study at least the elements of Divinity, who are unable to avail themselves of the benefit of


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Wilberforce University; and that said committee report at the next South Carolina Conference."

        In regard to the A. M. E. Church, they say:

        "Resolved, Being firmly resolved that the African M. E. Church has been and is an instrument in the hand of God to lift our race up from degradation, we intend to use every means legitimate, honorable, and in our judgment pleasing to our Divine Master, to extend her principles, and to build up her interests; to unite our race into one great African Methodist family. To this work we have consecrated our best energies, and from this work we do not intend to go into the "plains of Ono" to reason with any who oppose the work about which we are engaged.."

        In regard to the Country they say: "Whereas, since the last session of our Annual Conference, the Congress of the United States has enfranchised our race in the States known as the ten rebel States; and, whereas, this enfranchisement is an acknowledged declaration of our incorporate relation to the nation, removing every barrier to our moral, religious and political elevation.

        Resolved, That we do hereby tender our profoundest gratitude to the said Congress for this noble act, which places us in just legislation, in the front rank of any national government in the world.

        Resolved, That for this and other measures enacted by said Congress, that we renew our allegiance to the United States, and pledge to its protection our lives, our fortunes, and our sacred honor."


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        Measures were also adopted at this Conference looking toward the establishment of a weekly journal.

        In the Conferences of which we have just been reading, the States of North and South Carolina, Georgia and Florida, were represented with a colored population of more than 1,272,217. Fifty thousand of them had banded themselves together, and the vehicle was already felt to be too large. If there were sufficient territory for four State governments, with a white population not greatly above that of the colored, it certainly could not be expected that Conference only would be organized, and made to meet the wants of so many Methodists. Convenience demanded that other Districts should be organized, as well as economy; and, as a commencement, at the Wilmington session, in May, 1867, it was decided that Georgia and Florida be set off to themselves. The General Conference of 1868 will doubtless ratify that decision, and order that each of the Southern States constitute a District. The territory is sufficiently large, while the population is abundant. With such an arrangement, the whole South could be worked up to advantage.

        The South, the glorious South, though she has "lien among the pots, yet shall she be as the wings of the dove, covered with silver, and her feathers with yellow gold." Here is to be the heart of our Church, that is to throw through the whole body the vitalizing blood. New England, New York, and even Baltimore with those of the West, will be the border


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Conferences, the extreme members of the ecclesiastical body. With such a manly heart as this, with such maternal bowels, what is it that we may not accomplish under the Divine lead? Who is it that is to evangelize the negroes of the greater and lesser Antilles, if it be not us? Who that is to connect Africa and America with a stream of Missionaries, if not the A. M. E. Church? "Awake up my glory; awake psaltry and harp." Let the A. M. E. Church gird itself, for the time of battle draweth nigh. Too long hath Satan been loose, devouring our brethren on the islands, our fathers on the far off continent. Awake! ye Methodist itinerants, awake! spirit of Allen and Coker in the hearts of the brethren, and spirit of Quinn, fall not to sleep till Ethiopia shall stretch out her hands unto God, and the world rejoice in a redeemed humanity.

        We present brief sketches of three of the leading members of this District. It would have been a matter of interest to the reader, and pride to ourselves, had we succeeded in getting sketches of more of the Southern preachers who have identified themselves with us, and who help in no mean measure to make the A. M. E. Church what it is. We know that the reader would like to hear of B. H. Williams, and John Graham, and Richard Vanderhorst, but our Apology is wonderfully deficient here, as in other matters. It is even deficient in regard to the preachers who went there as missionaries. To write of African Methodism in South Carolina, and not mention R. H. Cain, is most unpardonable. But what


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were we to do? The brother was so busy building Churches, and buying them; so busy getting a Home for the living Old Folks, and a Grave yard for the dead ones; so busy out-generaling some folks who possessed a heavy purse with the strings open, that he had no time to have his name put on paper. And why should he desire to have it put on paper, when it is being engraved upon the marble of men's souls? And where is Theophilus G. Steward, with a spirit bigger than his body? He is there, consequently he is not here, for he is not ubiquitous. They are both doing a great work.

        Of the laity, we present Maj. Delaney: one such is enough. We invite special attention to his article.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)

GEORGE W. BRODIE.

ELDER.

        This gentleman has the peculiar honor of a regular Methodist succession -- a succession about which there need be no controversy, coming as he does from the strictest Methodist family in the West.

        Bishop Payne, in his late work, speaks of his father after this manner: "Philip Brodie died in Cincinnati, Ohio, on the 9th of March, 1829. He was the first Pastor of the Church in that city. He was a Virginian by birth, but brought up in East Tennessee. He was early converted in the M. E. Church, wherein he lived an upright man for many


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years, but finally left it for a more useful field of labor in the A. M. E. Church. He was very successful in winning souls to Christ, but his career as an Itinerant was as short as it was brilliant, covering only four years, from 1824 to 1828, when he was compelled by disease to retire from the field into the bosom of his family, from whence he took his flight to a better and brighter world." Coming from such a sire, so good in heart, and strong in head, we are not surprised as we scan over the eventful life of George W. Brodie.

        A naturalized British subject, yet is he a native-born American citizen; a barber, shaving the faces and combing the hair of common laborers, yet is he a clerk in a bank; a civilian, yet an ecclesiastic; a land agent, yet aspiring to the jurists' gown. With an educational training not to be despised, an eloquent tongue, a susceptible heart, and manners the most insinuating, God doubtless intends him to be useful in his day. But misfortune has hung over his pathway like a cloud. Misfortune did I say? aye, but the misfortune of Jonah was his salvation. Bro. Brodie is now preaching in the South, having been appointed to superintend the Western District of North Carolina. Those best acquainted with the man and his life, say he is but doing now what he ought to have done before he shipped for Tarshish. A man of undoubted ability, his success as a regular Itincrant is yet to be seen.


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(B.)

ALEXANDER T. CARR.

ELDER.

        This reverend gentleman is a Southerner, and to the manor born. South Carolina is his birth State, where he first saw the light, when the years of our century were few. He is the first dispassionate South Carolinian we ever saw. Quiet and gentle in the evening of his life, he reminds one of an evening sunbeam.

        Though born and reared a slave, he bears few marks of that ignoble State--nature seemed to make him proof against its influence. Whilst the theory of Slave races and Free races is to be abominated, for the reason that it makes community of that which God's fiat proclaims individual, the theory that one man will be enslaved, whilst another -- his brother perchance -- will not wear the yoke, is most true. A writer, speaking of Perry Douglass, brother of Frederick, says of him: "Who like Frederick was a slave, but unlike him, never succeeded in breaking his own fetters."

        The spirit of the Rev. Mr. Carr was restless under the yoke, and when he considered the possibilities of wife and children being sold from him, he banished joy from his heart, till they all should be free. But his very fidelity had made him valuable, and when "old master" was approached with the subject of allowing him to purchase himself and family, he


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grew furious, and could not think of such a thing. The waters of his wrath subsided, only to be stirred up again by Alexander's pertinacity. It was the case of the widow and the unjust Judge acted over again. The matter of his freedom, with the price, was finally submitted to the arbitration of mutual friends, and the result was that liberty was awarded him, but at a "great sum." The shining gold paid down, and the Carr family was free. Elastic in spirit, he soon straightened himself for the duties of a free life; and few, indeed, are the men who performed them so well. The whole household gave indications of plenty and comfort. God had blessed him, had rewarded the industry of his hands, had answered the prayers of his heart, and his whole life was consecrated to Him with renewed vigor. For years he was a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and after the division of 1844, his fortune was cast with the Church South. Such was his integrity, even while a young man, he was made Leader of one of the most influential classes, much to the chagrin of some of the fathers.

        When the war come, it found him conducting a livery stable in Georgetown, S. C., and his horses and carriages were regarded as the finest in the place. Here he continued till the great draught made on him by the Confederate authorities, completely prostrated him; and when the war closed, the only fortune that remained to him was an indomitable will, and an unspotted character -- two treasures more precious than rubies


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        The South Carolina District was organized May, 1865; the following May, 1866, having settled in the meantime his secular affairs, the Rev. A. T. Carr, cast in his lot as a regular itinerant, and was at once ordained an Elder. At the Conference of 1865, he was made Superintendent of a very important District in his native State.

        The adhesion of such a man to our standard in the South was a matter of the highest consideration, for it is with such that very much of our success has been achieved. When such men as A. T. Carr, the two Bradwells, R. Vanderhorst, and scores of others rallied to the standard, the cause of African Methodism was made secure in South Carolina and the South generally.

        Rev. A. T. C. is a respectable English scholar. He reads fluently, writes readily, and does both with more accuracy than is usual for men of his advantages. An earnest preacher, a hard working pastor, he is destined yet to leave his footprints upon African Methodist history.

(C.)

REV. WM. H. BROWN

        Spent fifteen years in the bosom of the M. E. Church, but feeling called upon to preach Christ, he was compelled to sever his connection with that body, and come among his brethren -- come to a Church upon whose doors are engraved the invitation: "Come and go with us" -- an invitation extending


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to peoples of every clime and race; and an invitation, too, that has been accepted by the proud Saxon and the tamed Savage, as well as the man in ebony.

        Joining the A. M. E. Church in 1861, he at once began work in his Master's vineyard. Within six months after joining, he was made exhorter, and within a year, preacher. In June, 1862, his voice could have been heard way down on the Eastern Shore, preaching Christ, and that, too, under the most adverse circumstances. In 1866, he joined the Baltimore Annual Conference, and was immediately transferred to South Carolina District, receiving as his first charge, Columbia, the Capital of the Palmetto State.

        A man that takes a great many things for granted, he will generally succeed. "A great many things for granted," what does he mean, says one?

        It is a question with some men, whether they can succeed, whether they know anything, and a thousand other things about which some men doubt, but Bro. Brown takes them all for granted. And who shall blame him for believing that he can do as much as any other man under similar circumstances. Self-confidence is the back-bone of every successful man, and the only demand the world can make upon him is that he have it in modesty.

        Successful in his ministration, Bro. Brown gives promise of becoming one of the strong pillars in the Southern part of the Church. He contributes the following:


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COLUMBIA, SOUTH CAROLINA.

        A Description of the City after Sherman's Army Passed Through it, on the 17th of February, 1865.

        The ancient Capital building of the State, a venerable structure, that for seventy years had echoed with the eloquence and wisdom of the most famous statesmen, was laid in ashes; six temples of the most High God shared the same fate. Eleven banking establishments, the schools of learning, the shop of art, and trade of invention and manufacture, were all buried together in one common ruin. Eighty-four squares out of one hundred and twenty-four, which the city contained, were destroyed.

        The Capital was the first building that was bombarded; for one mile from this building, in a straight direction, can be seen standing chimneys which have nothing to adorn them but a heap of ashes and bricks, and then turning Eastward, for two squares, you see nothing but a heap of ruins: also the same in looking Westward. The house that was used as a guard-house, the place where the flesh of hundreds of poor, despised Africans was laid bare by the lash; and at a time, too, when all civilized people should have been sitting in the sacred Temple worshiping God, was the time when the lash was laid on more severe -- that is now lying in ashes, with nothing to mark its history but the pillars that supported the structure.

        The Court House, a large and magnificent edifice, where human flesh was put upon the block for sale,


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is now a heap of ruins, and cannot be rebuilt. The cause is this, the men who carried on that inhuman traffic, are now worse off than those whom they stood up there for sale. Many of those who lived in fine houses, had servants to wait upon them, could ride in fine coaches, are now poverty-stricken. Some who have Northern friends have commenced building, and the colored mechanics are now reaping the harvest.

MAJ. M. R. DELANY.

U. S. A.

        There are two classes of individuals in our "Apology." The class whose names and productions honor it, and the class who are honored by it.

        To the first of these belong Maj. Martin Robinson Delany. Mr. D., American born, yet is he known to three continents. From the hut he hath arisen to the palace, and from the society of the humble, to the companionship of princes. In the exchange of the rough garb of a Westerner for the honored habiliments of the field, Scripture hath been inverted -- the plough-share hath been beaten into the sword.

        It would be presumption in us to offer to sketch a life so successful -- a life that has been written by the ablest pens in the land. It is sufficient for us to offer this article from his thoughtful brain, and at the same time state that he is an honored member of the African M. E. Church.


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THE NEGRO IN HOLY WRIT. THE SIMILITUDE OF DIVINE ATTRIBUTES.

        In contributing a line to the "Apology," the writer improves the occasion of presenting a subject, novel in all its bearing, one which he has long contemplated discussing at length, but which will be merely introduced here for the purpose of setting the black mind to thinking in a direction original and unexplored by others. He has been prompted by two motives to do so. The first, because of the character of the work; secondly, because he has the honor of presenting it to a learned young clergyman -- the author of the "Apology," whom the writer has known from his earliest childhood, frequently taught in Sabbath school; known him through his school-boy days; when he embraced religion; when a student of the Western Theological Seminary of Alleghany City; and now the honored Pastor of the Cathedral of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, who bids fair to become one of the revered Doctors of Divinity, if not Bishops of the Church he so faithfully serves as an exemplary minister of Christ.

        The progress and attitude of man or races, temporally and spiritually, to our minds, are remarkably portrayed by the Scriptures of Divine Truth, Prophetically and Apostolically, that is, in the Old and New Testaments. And was there a question of the negro's claims to an inheritance as a child of God, we throw out the declaration -- fully appreciating the extent of the assumption, and the contingencies


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of criticism it is subject to -- that he can prove, by Holy Writ, greater claims as heirs testate than any other race. This is a position assumed on the presumption of the old doctrines and notions of the negro's inferiority. In competing with a superior enemy in means and armament, we should make forced marches to reach a point before him, and use our heaviest arms of defense if we desire to check his approach, and repel his attack.

        What claim has the negro to a likeness of the Creator? For an answer, consult the 6th Chapter of Zachariah, vision of the Brazen Mountains: In the first chariot were red horses, in the second, black horses; in the third, white horses; in the fourth, grizzled and bay horses.

        What are these, my Lord?

        These are the four spirits of the heavens, which go forth from standing before the Lord of all the earth.

        The black horses which are therein go forth into the North country, and the white go forth after them; and the grizzled go forth toward the South country.

        And the bay went forth, and sought to go that they might walk to and fro through the earth.

        Behold, those that go toward the North country have quieted my spirit in the North.

        Here we have the origin of the races and progress of civilization, in the exact order in which they were propagated -- the Shemitic, Hamitic, and Japhethitic, with the peculiar mixed races which have since


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"come forth" as the offspring of the three original; known as the Malay in the Old, and colored or Mixed Bloods, in the New World.

        Again, Revelations, Chapter 6th, vision of the opening of the six seals:

        And I beheld, and lo, a black horse; and he that sat on him had a pair of balances in his hand.

        The black in the first representation quiets the spirit of the Lord; in the second, brings justice as an offering. Here are the two essential attributes of God -- Peace and Justice. It is the only purpose of his Advent, proclaimed on the coming of Christ: On earth peace and good will (justice) to man.

        But as though there should be no doubt as to the true character of the Negro -- Matthew, Chapter 27th; Mark 15th, and Luke 23rd -- John being Silent -- when the Plan of Salvation was laid for the Redemption of Man, and the Son of God, was chosen for its completion, he failing to bear the weight of the Emblem, Simon of Syrene, or Simon Niger (black) a Negro was chosen, who, seizing the Cross, the Emblem of Redemption, shouldered, bearing it, following his Lord and Master up the Hill of Calvary, upon which he was crucified; and thus was completed the incomprehensible Plan of Salvation. Were ever facts more emphatically pronounced, than the claims of the black race, not only to an inheritance of the Kingdom of Grace, but a similitude and likeness of God himself? First Christ, and next the Negro, bore the Cross of Calvary. And no picture of Salvation is complete, except a halo of Light ascending


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a Hill, followed by a comely, sturdy Negro, bearing upon his brawny shoulder, the Cross of Redemption and eternal Life.

        The writer alone is responsible for these views; and should the learned author of the Apology hesitate to insert them in his work, he may find a justification in waiving it, by the consideration, that it is full time, that the "lion was painting his own pictures;" and instead of lying on his back, struggling in the throes of death, with the knee of a superior man upon his chest, cutting his throat; he should at least, if not be on top, come up to the surface, on a level with the man, there to enter the struggle with a fair and equal contest.

        This is but a faint presentation as an introduction, of a cherished subject, yet to be fully set forth.

        Christ and the Negro! How wonderful! The inscrutable providence of God willed it thus. The Plan of Salvation not completed without the Negro's aid!


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CHAPTER XVI.
THE LOUISIANA DISTRICT.

        THE Committee on Boundary, with M. F. Sluby as chairman, recommended in the General Conference of 1864, "that there be set apart a Conference in the State of Louisiana, to be known as the Louisiana Conference, embracing the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas, and all that part of Florida lying west of the Chattanooga River," which is really territory and people sufficient to found an Empire. More than 361,640 square miles! More than 1,519,727 colored people! Such a boundary was for the moment. At the time of ordaining it, much the larger part was subject to Confederate sway. But as the war has thrown it all open to us, there is now need of dividing it up into many districts, 200,000 souls ought to be the maximum allowed to any single Conference.

        Previous to the war, we had planted our standard in New Orleans, the metropolis of the Southwest. Bishop Quinn, years ago, sent the youthful John M. Brown there, with orders to unfurl it. Sent, did we say. No; Methodist Bishops never send, they only appoint, and you must go -- go if you have the means, go if you have it not. It was thus in the case of J. M. Brown. The Bishop appointed him to


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New Orleans, but he must go; and go he did, for he got aboard of one of the steamers, and being a barber, shaved his way to his post of labor, and of persecution; for more than once had his dear Lulee to carry him bread whilst confined in the "calaboose." But the word he preached, grew--it was not bound, nor could be; and very shortly the historic St. James' Chapel, lifted up its head. Of the labors of this brother in that field, we read in a letter dated New Orleans, July 13, 1867, "In this Mission we have another victory. In the 3rd Principality of New Orleans is the second and last point in our Mission. At this place we have a fine congregation--ten years ago we had a very large one. The congregation had been gathered thirteen or fourteen years ago, under the pastoral charge of the Rev. John M. Brown, who erected a fine Church edifice for the use of that congregation." The bombardment of Fort Sumpter found our preachers there, they receiving their appointments from the Missouri Conference, with which that distant post was connected. But they did not long remain after the din of battle, for the Church was closed. Thus cast down by the violence of war, we were not destroyed; we said with the prophet, "Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy; when I fall, I shall arise."*

        * Mic. vii: 8.


St. James was our Fort Sumpter, and we intended to retake it, and make it the Metropolitan Church of African Methodism in the Southwest. To this end was this District organized; and so big was New Orleans and Louisiana in the minds of
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the Committee, that despising rhetoric they say, "We recommend that there be set apart a Conference in the State of Louisiana............... embracing the States of Louisiana, Mississippi, Arkansas, Alabama, Texas," &c.

        The General Conference adjourned May 26, 1864, and in the Episcopal division of the work, California and the Southwest were given in charge of J. P. Campbell, one of the newly elected Bishops. He gave California precedence, and immediately set about the necessary preparations to visit that distant field, which had long been imploring the presence of its chief shepherd. In this decision, we beg to express the opinion that he erred. The demands of the South were immediate, those of California were not; the stakes at the South were immense, those at California much less; the South was uncertain, California was certain; the South could have been reached in three days, California not less than a month; the South could have been reached for $25 currency, California could not be reached for less than $100 in gold; the first amount could have been raised in a single Sabbath, the second required many. But it was with the good Bishop as he said at the organization of the California Conference: "I have been an advocate for Episcopal visitation, and the organization of an Annual Conference upon this coast. I have frequently offered my services to raise means toward defraying the expenses of one of the Bishops to make the journey. I have even gone so far as to offer the sum of at least fifty dollars out of


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my own private funds, if need be, for that purpose." Who wonders then, that he made haste to visit a people who had never seen nor heard their Bishop--made haste to set in order ecclesiastical affairs, which all must acknowledge had been neglected too long.

        The Louisiana District was organized into a Conference November 1st, 1865, and in St. James' Chapel, New Orleans. The Bishop, J. P. Campbell, officiated at the opening services. The hymn sung was:


                         "Jesus, united by thy grace."

        The Psalm read was:

        "O, give thanks unto the Lord, for he is good; for his mercy endureth forever."

        John Turner was elected Secretary; after which, the Bishop arose, and solemnly said: "In the name and on behalf of the General Conference of the A. M. E. Church, I do now declare the Louisiana Conference duly organized in accordance with the decree of said General Conference; in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen."

        After a most interesting session of two days, this Conference was concluded by the Bishop making the following appointments:

  • St. James' Chapel, New Orleans, John Turner.
  • Vicksburg Station, Miss., T. W. Stringer.
  • Natchez, Miss., J. W. C. Penington, D. D.
  • Helena Mission, Ark., L. F. Carter.
  • Baton Rouge, La., H. Reedy.
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  • Baton Rouge Mission, Peter Robinson.
  • Mobile, Ala., Chas. Burch.
  • Little Rock Mission, C. C. Doughty.
  • Red River, Ark., Hannibal Augustus.
  • Covington Mission, La., Joseph Lloyd.
  • Thibadeauville Mission, La., Jas. Reese.
  • Galveston, Texas, Henry W. Jackson.

        It was decided to hold the next annual session in the same Church and City, to begin the first Thursday in October, 1866. Hopefully did the Itinerants depart to travel roads known to be rocky, and to lead over rugged mountains, and across mad rolling rivers.

        The second session met at the appointed time and place, and was manned as follows:

        Presiding Bishop--J. P. Campbell.

        Itinerant Elders--Chas. Burch, John Turner, H. Reedy, T. W. Stringer, L. F. Carter, H. W. Jackson, C. C. Doughty, J. W. C. Penington, D. D., M. M. Clark.

        Itinerant Deacons--Jas. Reese, Johnson Reed, Peter Robinson, Hannibal Augustus, Joseph Lloyd, David Brown.

        Local Deacons--York Collier, G. E. Gordon, Salem Campbell, Alexander Davis, Abram Blackwell, J. M. Alexander.

        Local Preachers--Jas. H. Harper, Wm. P. Forrest, Geo. H. Jackson, J. A. Norager.

        John Turner was re-elected Secretary.

        Let us see what answers were given to the Disciplinary questions, commencing at

        Ques. 5th. Who remain on trial? Ans. The number was 8.


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        6th. Who are admitted into full connexion? Ans. The number was 1.

        7th. Who are the Deacons? Ans. The number was, Itinerant Deacons, 13; Local Deacons, 14.

        8th. Who have been elected and ordained Elders and Deacons this year? Ans. The number was 15.

        The answers to the remaining Disciplinary questions we are enabled to give in regular statistical form.

        

CHURCH STATISTICS.

Members 8,186
Probationers 1,427
Local Preachers 113
Exhorters 109
Churches 11
Parsonages 1
Sunday Schools 16
S. S. Teachers 85
S. S. Scholars 1,129
Volumes in Libraries 2,184

        

FINANCIAL STATISTICS.

Contingent Money $ 264 00
Minister's Salary 1,480 15
Minister's Board 3,954 35
Minister's Fuel 130 25
Minister's Rent 456 50
Minister's Traveling Expenses 991 50
Bishop's Money 245 00
Bishop's Traveling 116 30
Two-Cent Money 47 90
Widows et Orphans 12 50
Sup't. Bishops et Preachers 4 00
Missionary Money 340 20
Semi-Centenary 300 00
Support of S. S. 189 35
Sum Total $8,452 00
Estimated Value of Church Property $51,400 00


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        The mind of this Conference, as expressed in the several reports, is all that could be desired, and we dovetail in the remark, that some of these reports are models of Church papers, especially those from the pen of M. M. Clark.

        On Temperance, they say:

        Resolved, That by precept and example we will discontinue the use of spirituous liquors and tobacco among our ministers, preachers and members."

        On Missions, they say:

        "Therefore we recommend that it shall be the duty of each minister having charge, to organize missionary societies.

        On Sabbath Schools, they say:

        "We further recommend that it shall be the duty of each minister having a charge, to visit the Sabbath Schools under his superintendence as often as possible."

        After a session of nine days, and having transacted business the most important, this Conference adjourned Nov. 12th, to meet in Helena, Ark., November, 1867. As we have been writing this paper, and have had occasion to inscribe Orleans, Red River, Mobile, Baton Rouge, Helena -- names that smell of blood -- in the fulness of our heart, we are led to cry out: What hath not the Lord done! We present the reader with the sketches of the two leading minds of the Conference. It would have done his soul good could we have told him somewhat of old man Jacob Norager, the French twang, of whose sweet voice we


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remember well in 1860; as well as other of those faithful ones who, in the midst of much persecution, witnessed a good confession. And where is our friend Birch, with his Irish twang; he is an improvement on Davy Crockett, for he will always look twice before he leaps! Non est, is the word.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)

REV. M. M. CLARK.

ELDER.

        Among the preachers of the African M. E. Church, none stands higher for learning and dignified mein, than the reverend gentleman whose name is at the head of this sketch. Of the finest taste and culture, easy manners and modest adornment, he is most acceptable to persons of every grade of society. Convincing in his arguments, stirring in his appeals, he is a model of pulpit oratory. As a man of literature, he stands in the foremost ranks of our educated divines. The Greek and Latin classics were taught him at the High School, corner of 7th and Chestnut Streets, Philadelphia, Pa., as well as by Prof. Jones, of Jefferson College, Canonsburg, Pa. He studied the French and Spanish under Prof. Brunard, while Prof. Sacius and the learned Albert Barnes instructed him in Hebrew and Chaldaic. Divinity he studied at Oberlin under Profs. Finney, Cole and Morgan; while a fair amount of medical knowledge was imparted


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parted to him in Dublin, Ireland, by Drs. Nut and Stringer; in America by Dr. Revels. We speak of him being in Dublin. This famous city he visited while in attendance upon the meeting of the Evangelical Alliance, to which reverend body he was delegated by Israel A. M. E. Church, Washington, D. C. While absent, he took occasion to visit the chief cities of the United Kingdom. Nor has this active divine visited the United Kingdom only, but he was a resident of the Republic of Liberia, W. A., for more than a year, during which time he acted as principal of the Monrovia High School. Since his return to his native land, he has filled the pulpit of many of the most important charges with uniform success. In addition to the pastoral duties of St. Louis, he was made President of the Board of Education. He it was who was selected, in company with a few others, to represent his Church at the General Conference of the M. E. Church, in 1864, at Philadelphia; as well as the General Conference of the M. E. Church, South, in 1866, at New Orleans; in both which capacities he acquitted himself to the credit of his Church and his race. He is the author of quite a number of well written articles, which have appeared from time to time in the various literary channels of our Church.

        The following was written for our "Apology:" Brother Tanner:--

        As your book is designed to convey to the present and future generation some thoughts of the men of


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this age, I know not what better thought I can convey to them than to recommend to all to whom your book shall come, to read the Holy Scriptures, in which is their eternal life. In commending them to the study of the Scriptures, we would recommend also the mode of studying them:

        1st. The types, and sacrifices, and prophecies, all of which point with a significant finger to the one central object as the only true antitype of them all -- the Lord of Glory.

        2d. The New Testament we would recommend to the faithful study of all as a faithful testimony, that in Him was accomplished all that the types, the sacrifices and prophecies did signify.

        3d. We recommend next to this high tower of Scriptural intelligence, a sound, moral and intellectual education. These things commend themselves to all men, and they have in all ages past, and will in all ages to come, control the moral and intellectual world. Let these traits centre in and control the life of any individual or people, there will be controlling power; there will be good law-makers, good rulers, good citizens, and a tower of strength and power in every department of society.

        4th. We would likewise recommend to all men, the prudent and honest acquisition of the soil of the earth. Material wealth is power. This united with a high and well balanced intelligence, is nothing more nor less than the capital of the nations of the earth. And that nation that possesses the largest share of a high moral intelligence, controlling


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and utilizing the greatest amount of material wealth, is the greatest nation and people on earth -- all being sanctified by Scriptural knowledge and intelligence."

(B.)

REV. JOHN TURNER.

ELDER.

        Our Elder is of light complexion, for his mother was a Saxon, hair inclined to curl, smooth skin, even features, and eye that is soft, easy voice, and manners the most kind. He first saw the light among the mountains of Frederick County, Md., and in the year 1826, the 10th of March. Whilst a poor boy of half score years, he was taken to the far West, where he has ever since remained. As a man of letters, he presents nothing remarkable; having received a foundation at the District Schools of Edgar County, Illinois, he has not failed to build on it, until now he can boast of respectable attainments, at least. During the years '57 and '58, Prof. Inglis taught him theology, in St. Louis. His religious career began in 1842, when he made a public profession of religion, and joined the M. E. Church. With this Church he remained till the year 1848, when he heard of the A. M. E. Church, and "believing it to be the Church for all the colored Methodists of this country," he made haste and cast his fortune in with it. Three years after, he was licensed to preach, and in September of the same year, 1851, he joined the


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itinerant ranks. Being "tried" for two years, he was made Deacon, and twelve years after, was clothed with the full powers of a Christian Elder. His ministerial career counts up to fifteen years; during which time, no man in the West has been more faithful to the Church. Universally acceptable as a pastor, he has done his full share in moulding the minds of our Western Zion; and throughout its extensive borders, none stands higher in the estimation of saint and sinner. He was one of the three selected by the Bishops to represent our Church before the General Conference of the M. E. Church, South, which met at New Orleans, in May, '65; and, although his course, as well as the course of the whole committee, has given rise to no little controversy, on account of the supposed affiliation of the A. M. E. Church with traitors, yet has it tended to extend our borders, and greatly increase our numbers. To charge the A. M. E. Church with proving false to the negro's best interest, by affiliating with rebels, is to charge the defenders of Thermopyloe with cowardice; and none know it better than those who make the charge.


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CHAPTER XVII.
THE VIRGINIA DISTRICT.

        IT must have been a happy hour to Bishop Wayman when the morning came to organize a Conference of the A. M. E. Church in Virginia -- that Virginia which had so long proclaimed upon her statute books that God should not call a negro to preach upon her territory -- and to organize it in Richmond! The city which he often declared, and before the negroes had been mustered into the army, too, could not be taken till colored troops would assist; and he would then say, with a glow of joy: "I am going down there to preach from this text: 'I come to seek my Brethren.' " And true to his prophecy, colored troops assisted in the taking, and first entered its ruined precincts, while he has often preached from his oft-quoted text. By a vote of the Baltimore Annual Conference, at its session of 1867, it was deemed expedient to organize a new District in Virginia, and rely upon the good judgment of the General Conference of 1868, to ratify the action. The 10th of May was selected as the time, Richmond the place, and "Third Street" the Church. All things happened as ordered, and the New District was brought into being by the following force of brethren:


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        Presiding Bishop -- A. W. Wayman.

        Elders -- George T. Watkins. J. R. V. Thomas, J. D. S. Hall.

        Deacons-- R. H. Parker, Peter Shepherd, Matthew Marshall, George Williams, John H. Offer, J. J. Hill.

        Licentiates--Aaron Pindell, Jacklin Strange.

        Visiting Brethren -- John M. Brown, Cor. Sec. of Missions; Wm. H. Hunter, R. Hall, W. D. Harris, Baltimore Conference; Wm. H. Brown, South Carolina Conference.

        J. R. V. Thomas and Wm. H. Hunter were elected the Secretaries.

        The material with which this District begun, as well as what it accomplished, may best be seen in the answers given to some of the Disciplinary questions:

        Ques. 4th. What preachers are admitted on trial? Was answered as to number, 7.

        Ques. 5th. Who remain on trial? The number, 2.

        Ques. 6th. Who are admitted into full connexion? The number, 2.

        Ques. 8th. Who have been elected and ordained Deacons and Elders this year? Deacons, 9; Elders, 5.

        Ques. 18th. Where and when shall our next Conference be held? Third Street, Richmond, April, 1868.

        During the sessions of this Conference, numerous indeed were the good things said and done. On the first day of its sittings, John M. Brown offered the following pertinent resolutions:


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        "Resolved, That a Committee be appointed to draw up an address to our brethren in Virginia, congratulating them upon their recent success, and upon the advanced position in which they have been placed by the recent acts of Congress, and by the impartiality shown by the selection of the Grand Jury of the United States Circuit Court of Virginia.

        Resolved, That the same Committee be authorized to write an address to all colored Methodists of Virginia, defining our positions, and stating the points of agreement and disagreement, and urging all to unite in one common fold."

        Of course such resolutions passed unanimously.

        The most notable events of the second day was a visit from the members of the Grand Jury, who were severally introduced to Conference; and an address of Bishop Wayman, to the young men who had just been received into the itinerant ranks. It is said of it, "The whole Conference felt the force of his remarks, and all seemed to enter upon a fresh consecration to the work of Methodist itinerants, with all the trials, anxieties, and dispositions of a life so self-sacrificing."

        On the third day, two letters were read from Baltimore, Md.: The first came from "The Good Samaritan Sabbath School, No. 1," under the superintendency of Mary Morrison, a sister heretofore mentioned, and of the most evangelical spirit; it contained $7 for the Mission cause. Letter No. 2 came from "The Juvenile Sons and Daughters of Allen," and was signed by Mary A. Jackson; it contained $5


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for the same laudable purpose. These sums, small though they were, were indicative of the unity of our connexion, and were so received by our new made friends. Wm. D. Harris made also his report on this day; during the previous year he had acted as Presiding Elder of the Richmond district. He reported ten preaching places, 1041 members, an increase of 376 during the year. Nine Local preachers, five Exhorters, nine Sunday Schools, 607 S. S. scholars, thirty-seven teachers.

        On the fourth day, Conference statistical reports were made, showing that the District began with 5,450 members, 4,000 Sabbath School scholars, twenty Local Preachers, and property to the amount of $75,000. Ministers of the two branches of the Methodist Church were introduced to Conference, and at the conclusion of the morning session, Rev. Dr. Mead, of the Church South, pronounced the benediction. During the afternoon session of the fourth day, the Petit Jury of the United States Circuit Court entered the Conference room. The members of it were introduced by Col. Marsh. Speaking of the address which the Colonel made, the Conference reporter says: "His words were the words of a Christian gentleman." Bishop Waymann replied on behalf of the Conference; among other remarks, were these, "So it is, Virginia leads, and to-day we see a mixed jury, composed of men of my race, and of Anglo-Saxons--Virginia, ever renowned for illustrious deeds, will be no less so for this."

        The concluding exercises of the fourth day, was


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the Sabbath School anniversary; nearly six hundred children were present. A writer says, "They looked well -- nicely clad." The principal address was made by the Rev. Joseph Mitchell, of the M. E. Church. It is said that it was received with a hearty response from more than a thousand voices.

        On the eve of the adjournment, the following resolutions were passed:

        Resolved, That Conference return their thanks to the officers and members of the 3d St. A. M. E. Church for kindness shown to the Conference during their stay in Richmond, which has rendered its sessions so pleasant, and the same is also returned to the community generally, who have contributed to aid and encourage us in the glorious work in which we are engaged.

        Resolved, That we return our thanks to Judge Underwood, who so kindly sent to each member of the Conference a ticket to attend his court during the trial of Jefferson Davis.

        Resolved, That we return our thanks to the President and officers of Richmond, Fredericksburg and Potomac R. R., for giving to each of the members who came over their road, free return passes.

        Resolved, That Conference adjourn to meet in Richmond in April, 1868.

        Father Parker preaches in this District, (R. H. Parker we mean,) than whom we never knew a man of mightier natural abilities; and from whose untaught tongue more true eloquence flows, than the parishioners of Old Trinity ever heard. Wiser


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men, if they reach the heart at all, it is only through the intellect, and that door is mostly frozen up, or has a rusty lock, but the old man reaches it by every imaginable avenue, and coming to the heart-door, he batters it all to pieces.

        The ministers we offer are the leaders of the Conference, and preside over its two chief Churches. With such men to lead, Virginia District cannot be far behind any of her sister Conferences.

ACTIVE MINISTRY.

(A.)

REV. J. R. V. THOMAS.

ELDER.

        Well proportioned in breadth and height, a pure black, with the most beautiful teeth, and hair that shows how really comely the hair of the Negro is when cultivated, brilliant eyes, nose that is aquiline, and skin that is as smooth as a child's, is the Rev. J. R. V. Thomas. His father was a West-Indian by birth and residence. He came to Baltimore about the year 1800, as Steward of a trading vessel. His mother, a slave of Eastern Shore, and had descended from a Methodist preacher, whom Freeborn Garrison had licensed. Fifteen children were vouchsafed to this pair, of whom Jeremiah is the youngest, and is, what the Astrologers, with a host of other folks, regard with awe, "a seventh son." Attaining their freedom, the family removed to Philadelphia;


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where his mother, a most godly woman, made every sacrifice, that her children might receive the advantages flowing from the many schools of that city. Jeremiah attended the school on Sixth near Lombard, and was taught by a Mr. Bird; here he learned the elementary branches of our tongue, with the histories of the United States and England; also the science of music, of which latter he is an adept. Though he attended this school for nine years, and acquired what would undoubtedly pass for a good common school education, yet did he not stop when leaving, and especially since he has entered the ministry. Few ministers are more studious than he, delving as he does in a wide range of literature. For years he had as preceptor in theology, our well-read Bishop, J. P. Campbell. Joining the ministry in 1856, he was long attached to the New York Conference. In 1863, Bishop Payne transferred him to the Baltimore District, placing him in Israel Church, to succeed the Rev. H. M. Turner. While in this charge he was made Elder; getting wonderfully sick however during his examination!

        A heart has he with its doors always open, and table set; a mind well stored by much reading, a voice like to the thunders, that makes sinners tremble in preaching--that makes his opponents feel curious in debate. May his heart long beat, may his mind's store never be less, and may his voice never die.


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(B.)

REV. GEO. T. WATKINS.

ELDER.

        It has been said of old Edward Beecher, that he gave more brains to the world in the persons of his children and grand-children, than any man of his generation. The same may be said, in truth, of the sire of the Watkins family, which, for intellectual force, stands first among the Anglo-African families of the Republic. The Woodson family, of the West, may equal it in intelligence, but not in that rare gift, which, for a better expression, may be denominated "good common sense." So, too, with the highly educated Jones family of Oberlin -- three sons out of four having graduated with credit from Oberlin. The Shadd family of the Canadas, the Jordans of Baltimore, the Cooks of Washington, and other notable families might be named, but in the possession of natural abilities, and the cultivation of them -- in the possession of those distinguished powers which make a mark and leave it, the Watkins family -- Geo. T., John L., and that sweet child of the Muses, Frances Ellen, is the most notable of all.

        The subject of this sketch was born in Baltimore, Md. His father, Rev. Wm. Watkins was the only school teacher which the colored people of that city had during the dark old days. George was taken into school when only six summers had been whiled


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away, and there, beneath the keen eye of the old gentleman, he was kept for more than a dozen years. It was said of him, when in his sixteenth year, by a master Grammarian, "George Watkins cannot be excelled in his knowledge of grammar and geography." Amidst so much ignorance, and where educated colored men were so rare, any other employment than that of teaching would argue the gravest direlection of duty on the part of one who had enjoyed the rich opportunities of young Watkins; but faithful to duty, we find him for fourteen years earnestly engaged in directing "young ideas how to shoot."

        The following is the advertisement as it appeared in the Repository; from it we may see somewhat of the men and the school:

BETHEL CHURCH ACADEMY, Saratoga Street. Rev. GEO. T. WATKINS and JOHN L. WATKINS, Principals. This Academy, located in the Basement of Bethel Church, is now open for the reception of pupils, Male and Female. The course of instruction will be comprehensive, embracing the different departments of an English Education, Mathematics, Vocal Music, the various styles of Drawing and Painting; also, the Greek and Latin Languages. Persons wishing their children correctly and thoroughly taught, or adults having made proficiency in any of the branches named, and desiring to perfect themselves in the same, would do well to apply at the above academy. Earnest attention will be paid, not only to mental and moral, but also to the physical improvement of those placed in this Institution. Hours of Tuition.--from 9 to 2 o'clock. [UNK] The Terms which are reasonable, made known on application to either of the Principals. BALTIMORE, Feb. 1st, 1862.

        The ministerial life of Geo. T. Watkins began in 1856, when he received license as a local preacher. Bishop Payne ordained him Deacon in 1860, and Elder in 1864; at which latter date he entered regularly into the itinerant work, receiving as his first appointment, Union Bethel Station, Washington,


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D. C. Well read, and of a cool temperament, Bro. Watkins may be ranked among the first of African Methodist preachers, For months he acted as "Supply to the Madison Street, Presbyterian Church," but born of Methodist parents, and nurtured in its bosom, no inducement could get him to change his Church relationship. As pastor of St. John's Chapel, and Superintendent of Missions in Eastern Virginia, he is at this date (Jan. 1867,) doing good service in the Redeemer's vineyard. The following article is from his pen:--

"THE LAW OF AGITATION."

        Agitation is the life-blood of all Reform movements. It not only lays the foundation, but it builds the superstructure. I mean by Agitation not a mere spasmodic ebullition of passion, a temporary excitement which evaporates with the occasion that produced it, but a grand, ever-active, ever-living principle, which is incorporated in the law of our being, a principle by the breath of Divinity, and, therefore, indestructible. The whole universe is subject to this law.


                         "It warms the sun, refreshes in the breeze,
                         Glows in the stars, and blossoms in the trees;
                         Lives through all life, extends through all extent,
                         Spreads undivided, operates unspent."

        God, the all-wise, all-powerful Jehovah, is the great Agitator. The heavens, which declare His glory, and the firmament which showeth forth His handiwork, are, in the broadest sense of the term,


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Agitators. Every blade of grass, every ray of sunlight, performs its duty as an Agitator. Yonder tiny bird, warbling forth the praises of its Maker, bids the Atheist cease his wicked and senseless rhodomontade, and bow in humble adoration before Him who fills the earth with His goodness, and illumes the heavens with His glory. The murmuring little river, the storm-maddened ocean, the infuriated avalanche, all act their part in the grand drama of Agitation. Tempests purify the atmosphere from noxious exhalations. So, in the moral world, Agitation is a renovator, cleansing it from the destructive malaria which arises from the cesspool of ignorance and iniquity. Agitation is life; stagnation is death -- moral, spiritual, physical death.

        I have adverted to Agitation as a grand principle incorporated in the law of our being. This principle may be, and often is, perverted. It may not be amiss to remark here that men do not always agitate in behalf of the right. Agitation may be made the "abomination of desolation," as well as the modus-operandi by which the moral and religious horizon may be gilded and girdled with imperishable glory. The late slaveholders' rebellion furnishes abundant attestation of the fact, that Satan, the arch-enemy of God and man, is also an Agitator -- a faithful, determined Agitator. The Agitation of Jeff. Davis, Stephens, and their cradle-plundering confreres for slavery, doubtless, made the flames of hell burn more brightly than ever. The prayers of Stonewall Jackson were as refreshing to


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Beelzebub as a draught of ice-water would be to the importunate and unfortunate Dives. But it is a consoling reflection that God superintended the Agitation which lately convulsed the nation, and he has made it conduce to his own glory, and, consequently, the good of humanity. The more I retrospect the past, and contemplate the present, the more am I convinced of the imperious necessity of a thorough, persistent, determined, heaven-directed Agitation. Light and darkness, heaven and hell, are irreconcilable antagonisms that moral chemistry cannot commingle. There is no affinity between liberty and slavery; neitheir President nor people can cause their affiliation, for God hath put them asunder. Constitutions, compacts, compromises, courts, conventions and conferences cannot change the essential character of things. When truth and error meet each other, their belligerent proclivities are at once developed. There must be war between them in the very nature of things; for God hath decreed it, and his decrees are irrevocable. This great truth rushes down upon us with the gathered momentum of all the ages. It cannot be obliterated from the pages of history. History is our impartial instructor. Men and women, in obedience to the dictum of their perverted mental and moral organism, may affect to ignore the plain and possible utterances of common sense, but they cannot extinguish the light of historic facts. History has a voice which rhetoric cannot silence, nor philosophy successfully controvert. She tells us that in all ages of the world,


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right has had to grapple with wrong, truth with error, justice with injustice. She tells us that all Reformers have been Agitators. She points us to Luther and Melancthon! They could not, they would not be silenced, for they were doing God's work. They could not accomplish the object of their missions by simply dreaming of the success of the Reformation. They met the superstitious hordes with the sword of Truth, and the helmet of Righteousness. They fought, in the great conflict of the ages, with desperate energy, and with a zeal commensurate with the importance of the work which devolved upon them. At length, victory perched upon the standard of the Right. Ignorance and superstition retreated from before them. Paens of thanksgiving from the disenthralled made the welkin loudly ring. So has it ever been. So will it ever be. Every man has something to do while passing from time to eternity. He cannot lose his individuality. His duty cannot be performed by proxy. He must do all in his power to establish righteousness and abolish iniquity. The tragic solemnities of the present hour call upon each one of us to dash forth, in the name of God, in the broad highway of human duty and human responsibility, and labor earnestly and unitedly for the Right. "To your tents, O, Israel!" Awake! Awake! Arise! or be forever fallen.


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CHAPTER XVIII.
THE GEORGIA DISTRICT.

        BY the organization of this District, the South Carolina Conference lost the fairest portion of her territory. The Georgia District! What is it now? What is it likely to become? It is seldom, indeed, that the things of the future can be answered with more precision than those of the present; and yet such is the case here. The present statistics cannot be given for two reasons; the first, that they were given in with the South Carolina District statistics, at its late session in Wilmington, and the statistics then were given mostly as a whole, and it is impossible to discriminate; the second, that H. M. Turner, who is pre-eminently the father of this new District, is and has been so much engaged in collecting the spoils, that he has not taken time to count it, for who counts the spoil till the battle is over! and the battle in the South--the peaceful battle of denominations, still rages. On the authority of Bishop Wayman, we state that the A. M. E. Church has "swept the State." The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has turned the eyes of her colored membership towards us. And they have all come; not especially upon the advice of that Church, for


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her service to us has been more of a negative character than a positive--she dissuaded them from placing themselves again under any white organization. Her language to them was: "If you will not remain with us, do not go to any other white organization, for we will be as good friends to you as any. If you will go, go to your Brethren of the A. M. E. Church." Thus prepared, when they heard the trumpet voice of Turner in the Southeast, and Turner again in the Southwest, they were ready to unite with the organization they represented.

        Thus it is with the Georgia District now; the spoils are piled up! we know not the munitions of war we have captured; but we doubt not their efficiency; coming as they do from the Church South, not a gun will be spiked, not an artillery wheel broken.

        Not so uncertain is our future in Georgia. It requires no prophet to tell that Georgia is destined to be the Conference District of our whole Church. Georgia, doubtless, has now the largest colored population of any one of the States. It is true that before the war Virginia had the largest, but within the last six years, thousands of colored people have left Virginia, owing to the fierceness of the war, as well as her close proximity to the North. Not so Georgia; her people not only remained home, but they were saved the destruction common to war. The colored population of 1860 was 465,698. With this immense population, and to use the Bishop's figure, having made a "clean sweep," who can


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doubt the certain glory of the coming days. There African Methodism is to flourish like the Bay tree of David; there will mighty preachers arise, and the most able divines; there, too, will schools of the highest grade of learning be erected, and we have an inkling that from it will depart the first of our missionaries to the Carribean Islands, and to Africa.

        The organization of the District was ordered for May 30th, 1867, at which time some forty preachers were present; yet the Secretary coolly tells us "that not more than half of the members are present, times being so hard, many could not get here." Owing to the absence of the Bishop, H. M. Turner was elected Chairman pro tem., and T. G. Stewart was made the regular Secretary. Speaking of this first day's proceedings, a correspondent says: "It not being a regular Conference, only a few committees were appointed. They were principally engaged in examining and admitting young preachers." Before adjourning, the Chairman read a telegram from Bishop Wayman, stating that he would be present on the morrow.

        The second day of Conference, Friday, May 31st, Bishop Wayman was present. W. J. Gains conducted the religious services. Of the incidents of this second day, we note the arrival of R. P. Gibbs, late of Philadelphia Conference. In concluding the business of the previous day, seventeen preachers were admitted into the itinerancy. During the discussion of the subject of ordination, it is said that "W. J. Gains made an able speech against the


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measure. He said they had enough of incompetent ordained ministers now, and he protested against so much liberality longer." On the eve of the adjournment, the Bishop read out forty appointments in Georgia, and eight in Alabama.

        We spoke of unspiked guns captured, and how true! and they are of the heaviest calibre. C. L. Bradwell and W. J. Gains are men of whom any organization might be proud, and we doubt not that among the scores of Southern preachers which we have received, quite a number will be found to equal them.

        We offer a sketch of H. M. Turner, together with a quotation from a sermon which he preached on the death of a Baptist clergyman. As a man of genius and strength, H. M. T. has few equals in or out of the A. M. E. Church.

HENRY MC NEALE TURNER

        Is a South Carolinian, which readily accounts for all the nervousness, three-fourths of the fire, one-half the eccentricity, and one-quarter the fatuity, found in him. He was born at Newberry C. H. in the year 1833. A dream which he had in his 12th year, of multitudes of people coming to him, to be taught, made him conclude that some day God would enable him to be, and to do something, great. That boyish dream has been as a guiding star to his whole life. Licensed to preach in his twentieth year by Dr. Boyd, of the South Carolina Conference of the M. E. Church,


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South, he surprised the people at the amount of knowledge displayed in preaching his first discourse, for but a few thought he could read; and it is said that when they heard him quote history, ecclesiastical and profane, some of the white people declared him to be a white man galvanized. Ever after, crowds both of white and colored people waited on his preaching as he traversed most of the South. Going to New Orleans in 1857, he first learned the existence of the African M. E. Church, through Dr. W. R. Revels, (elsewhere noticed,) and he at once gave in his adhesion to it; joining the Missouri Conference, Bishop Payne transferred him to the Baltimore Conference, where he labored for a number of years, receiving as his last appointment in that District, Israel station, Washington, D.C. In this charge, beneath the literal shadow of the Capitol, he labored with eminent success; it being no rare sight to behold Senators and Representatives among his auditors. Appointed by the martyred President to the Chaplaincy of the 1st Reg. U. S. C. T., and the first too of all the colored Chaplains, he resigned his pastoral relations with his Church, and followed that noble Regiment to the Front, where he remained until the war was over. As a further appreciation of the man, when mustered out of the Volunteer service, he was recommissioned by President Johnson a Chaplain in the Regular Army, and ordered to Atlanta, Ga. Finding there Shermanized officers, as he calls them, that is, officers partaking of the ignoble prejudice of that General; as well as beholding the


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sad spiritual condition of his people; and over all, having a burning desire for the spread of his Church in that region, these all led him to resign, and enter untrammeled into the Master's work, where he is to-day doing valiant service for his King. As a scholar, the late Chaplain has not the beautiful symmetry of the Collegiate, but in many things, he has more than his height and strength. Rev. Dr. Rowan, principal of Trinity College, Baltimore, carried him as far as Livy in Latin and Xenophon in Greek, including the reading of the Vulgate and Beza, with the Septuagint and Greek Testament. A Jewish Rabbi carried him through the Chrestomathy and the Five books of Moses. He has been honored with a "wood cut" in Harper's Weekly, as well as Fowler's Phrenological Journal, with an extended notice accompanying each. H. M. Turner, christened by his brethren with the "sobriquet" "Plutarch," is a remarkable man; and though at times the paraphernalia of the kitchen seems to be in the parlor, and visa versa, there is always enough of him, to demand the respect of the most learned and the admiration of the mass. More earnest than polite, a man who thinks for himself, speaks as he feels, and who fears only God, his memory will not cease with his life--a man who may truly say with Themistocles, "Tis true I never learned how to tune a harp, or play upon a lute, but I know how to raise a small and inconsiderable city to glory and greatness." He offers the following:


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The conclusion of a funeral sermon preached on the death of the Rev. Milton Tilinghast, Pastor 1st Baptist Church, Macon, Ga., by Rev. H. M. Turner:

        "Turf of the earth, fall lightly on that man of God, and after thou hast fallen, rest in protracted suspense. O Grave, dost thou dare to boast, dost thou gape thy gloomy mouth exultantly? and chilly Vault, darest thou to boast of the dear won trophy? O Grave, let me inform thee to-day, thou art receiving thy own destruction. That man whose mangled frame bears the marks of death's stroke, is one of God's children, a jewel of Heaven, a star that no cloud can shade; he is one of the glittering gems, which Jesus bought by his heart's blood, to adorn with a resplendent lustre, his royal diadem. He is not dead but sleepeth. There is no power beneath that, which rolls from God's eternal throne, can kill him. He is clothed with the indestructible elements of rejuvenance. The earth has simply opened her bosom, to give him a bed of repose, till the first blast of heaven's trump, shall announce his name, and welcome his acquittal at God's decisive bar. The recording cherubim wrote his epitaph in letters of gold, the same evening he bid his wife farewell; not on stone, not on iron, nor brass, but on the bas-relief of the eternal heights. While I with impure lips presume to preach his funeral, I think I feel the zephyr of an angel's wing. Surely this Church to-day, is thronged with teeming myriads. O! for ears not clogged with mortality, nor paralyzed with sin, that I might hear the whispers of our celestial guests, though they are invisible.


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        "Grave, dost thou imagine thy cold fetters can bind such a one forever? dost thou pride the vain idea, that thou hast him now, and will keep him? Why, if thou wert not eyeless, thou couldst see the angels of heaven standing over thy gloomy cavern, watching every particle of his dust, and noting the process of its decomposition, with an accuracy that would give a blush to thy vanity, and force an acknowledgement, alarming alike to thyself and all others, that contain the mortal remains of God's redeemed children. The Graves of righteous Abel, Seth and Enoch answer from the other side of the flood, and vauntingly exclaim, O thou proud man, thou hast come down at last, hast thou? Yes, and here thou shalt remain forever, for nearly five thousand years, thou hast been in my clutches, and five thousand more will bring no nearer thy day of releasal. But from Calvary's smoking brow, the eternal God responds, 'O Grave I will be thy plague, O Death I will be thy destruction.' From thy bosom ere long, the hand of Omnipotence will lift to eternal life, that putrifiying carcass, while the notes of that silent organ, fanned by the breath of God, will chime into reviviscent harmony, with Gabriel--timbrel for its base, and louder swell the enphonious strains, of that kingdom, prepared for the faithful, from the foundation of the world. Glorious resurrection, a theme too rich for imagination's scope; too grand, for the portrayal of human language.

        Let it suffice, "that he shall rise again." Philosophy may intrude a thousand queries, unanswerable


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by human skill, seeming impossibilities may rear their defiant heads, and say, "It can't be done." But our Maker, all honor to his name, says, "He shall rise again."

        "Therefore you members of his Church, you sheep of his pasture, 'Loose him and let him go,' untie that cord of affection, unfold that binding napkin of a thousand sympathies; have you forgotten the last words that quivered upon his lips, as he stood between life and death, with one eye gazing upon his glorious reward, and the other viewing the agonies of his heart-rended wife, 'O my dear, do not grieve after me, I am crossing Jordon in peace.'' Why, could David say more? Did Paul say more? Would any one desire more? No, the burning seraphs of heaven, if covet they can, covet the dying testimony of your triumphant pastor.


                         "With a harp of angel melody, and a palm branch in his hand,
                         This saint 'mid circling spirits round the golden throne shall stand,
                         And his song shall be enduring as heaven's eternal day,
                         And his victor crown of amaranth, shall never fade away."


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CHAPTER XIX.
THE FLORIDA DISTRICT.

        WE feel confident that no portion of our Church can complain of the two junior Bishops not itinerating in the broadest Methodist sense. One of them writes that he has traveled 40,000 miles within the last three years; the other, Bishop Wayman, we feel assured, has been as constantly on the go. In less than four months, he held four Conferences, and organized three new Districts! The latter were Virginia, May 10th, 1867; Georgia, May 30th, and Florida, June 8th.

        The Florida District was organized in Tallahasse, the Capital of the State, at the date above mentioned. The Bishop delivered a most feeling address; he spoke of the dark way the Lord had led us, yet we traveled on, relying on the promise: "Thou shalt hold thy peace, and I will fight thy battle." And had he not fought our battle? Many aged members were seen to shed tears. A brother present writes: "The appearance of the Bishop in our midst filled the hearts of the people with gratitude to God for having spared them to see a Bishop of their own race. This indeed created great joy, but when they


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saw the Conference open, and their own brethren transacting business, they were astonished above measure, and the expression burst forth from the hearts of the gray-haired fathers and mothers: 'Thank God, we have lived to see the day for which we long have prayed.' "

        Two years ago we had but 125 members, and 2 local preachers in all the State, when C. H. Pearce, late of the British M. E. Church, D. of C., was called to that field. This brother has labored most assiduously, and our complete success there is owing, under God, to his tact and ability. At the Baltimore Conference of April, 1864, Goram Greely, a white brother, was appointed to this field, but he was unsuccessful, at least as an African Methodist, and no official report of his mission work ever reached Conference.

        To the question, What was done at the Florida Conference? we reply:

        B. W. Quinn was elected acting Secretary.

        20 preachers were admitted on trial.

        17 Deacons and 5 Elders were ordained.

        45 appointments were made.

        5,240 members reported.

        2,500 Sabbath school children.

        3 Parsonages, worth $3,000.

        Church property to the value of $17,884.

        The boundaries of this District, with that of Virginia and Georgia as well, have yet to be defined. The only law for their organization, was the great law of necessity. In the mission work of the South, it was now or never. The people had to be gathered in at


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once. To delay a twelve month, was to circumscribe our borders--was to drive away scores of thousands of our brethren. On this score Theophilus Steward writes from Charleston, in the month of June, 1867: "We have nearly passed through our period of gathering in;" and he adds with the greatest truth, "We must now build up and elevate our Church to a higher sphere of thought, and a more refined devotion. Cast out bad men, and cut off dead men; check rash men, and offer encouragement to those who will work, and the speed of our upward course may be nearly doubled." Penetrating thoughts are these, and most fitly spoken! Let them be pondered.

        We doubt not that the coming General Conference will ratify the work done, and give to the energetic Bishop the good cheer. It could have been wished that the same success had been met in the great Southwest. How comes it that we have not organized more than the single District of Louisiana in that section? Why have we not to-day a Texas, a Mississippi, and an Arkansas District? We feel sure that Bishop Campbell is fully able to tell the why. It should be remembered that he was only made Bishop in '64, when the work on the Atlantic coast had already advanced to no inconsiderable degree. Before the General Conference met, and at the Baltimore Conference of April, 1864, 839 members were reported from South Carolina. It should also be remembered that not only had the Atlantic coast the advantage above noticed, but it had what was still more, the constant care of a


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Bishop, and many Elders. Previous to 1864, the Mississippi Valley, South of Cairo, was almost forsaken -- we mean since the war began. Bishop Nazrey was confined theoretically to the East -- the Ohio Conference was his Western boundary; Bishop Payne was chained to the Baltimore Conference, and Wilberforce University; and to expect the aged Bishop Quinn, who once was glorious in a charge on the works of Satan, to make a dash down the Mississippi, was too much. And the glorious field lay there with none to go and gather in its rich fruits. Coming to the episcopacy in 1864, Bishop Campbell found his hands and his head full; the far distant California had to be attended to, and he gave it precedence, and hastened away. On his return he went straight to the South, and has labored with the greatest assiduity and success.

        Of the Florida Conference, we would have been pleased to give a sketch of C. H. Pearce, the moving spirit in that field, but we have it not. All that we have written concerning this Conference, is his work; accept that, good reader, as his offering to the A. M. E. Church, and to our Apology.


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CHAPTER XX.
THE RISING MINISTRY OF THE A. M. E. CHURCH.

        WE have seen the rise and growth of the African M. E. Church. A question of vital importance is, Has her strength increased with her body? A giant must needs possess more strength than a child -- a tower must be constructed of thicker walls than a dwelling -- the Generals of our army must possess more brains than Captains of companies. Has the ministry of the A. M. E. Church in the past, and especially, will it in the future, keep pace with her growth and influence? As the flood rises, and the channel deepens, will the pilots be able to hold the ship steady? Clark in his sketches, tells us that this very thought weighed heavily on the mind of Bishop Allen. Bishop Campbell when an Elder, wrote an article, "The forthcoming ministry of the A. M. E. Church," which he concluded with the following prayer, on behalf of our rising ministry, "The Lord God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many more as you are, and bless you as he has promised you." That prayer of the present Bishop, has been the prayer of the whole Church, since its organization. As our untutored


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Bishops viewed the land as it lay before them, and beheld the whited tents, they prayed that able men might be raised up to lead them. As our Elders and Deacons felt the responsibilities of their stations, pressing them to the earth, they prayed, Lord, send help. And the prayer of Bishop, Elder and Deacon received a hearty response from every member. Thus has the whole Church prayed; and as the time to which they looked with mingled joy and fear, have come, let us see whether their petitions have been answered. To the question, Has God given to the A. M. E. Church, pastors, according to his own heart, to feed it with knowledge and understanding? We refer to the sketches heretofore given, with the accompanying articles: as well as answer with an emphatic, Yes. God has given to the A. M. E. Church, pastors suited to the work required of them. Say not, that they were uncultivated and rough, for they had rough work to do. Polished instruments are useless in a quarry. To the question, will he continue to vouchsafe such ministers? Faith answers, Yes. But what are the present prospects? We offer, in answer, the following sketches of a number of our young preachers, who are at school. They are, those only, attending Lincoln University; we say nothing of the half dozen studying at Wilberforce. Of these sketches, we claim not to be the author. The young Brethren, mutually agreed to prepare sketches of each other. Of course, few if any young men have histories in which the public is interested. History is but a detail


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of action, between man and man. Most young men have no histories, for the simple reason, that their time of action has not come, they have not yet stepped on the stage.

        The reader will agree with me, that these young Brethren have wasted no material; they are real economists, and like the workmen in our mints, have gathered up the very dust of the gold, and brought forth an additional coin. "Young men for strength," saith the good Book, hence they get not weary.

        A word in their behalf. If they have pictured each other in words too glowing, ascribe it all to that stage of a man's life, when it is impossible for him to discern a cloud overhead, or a mountain in his way. As writers they all give evidence of a talent, not to be despised. To them, we say with the Oratorio of Joseph.

        "All the land doth lay before you."

        Of them we say with the Bishop's prayer.

        "The Lord God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many more as you are, and bless you as he has promised you."

(A.)

JAMES CORNELIUS WATERS.

BY E. W. HAMMOND.

        James C. Waters was born in the city of Baltimore, Sept. 17th, 1841. His father died June


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14th, 1849, leaving his mother a widow with two small children. Thus thrown upon the world, he was compelled to battle against the varied difficulties which beset his pathway; but these trials only drilled his youthful mind to combat the vicissitudes of after life. When about eight years of age, he attended for a few months a common school, but adverse circumstances overtaking the widowed mother, his tuition failed to be paid. At a very early age, he exhibited a taste for study, every leisure moment he could spend in solitude, laying the foundation of that education by which it is hoped he may yet make his mark in the world.

        In the year 1859, he became a member of the M. E. Church, being then in his 18th year. From his early youth he was attached to the Sabbath school. He was elected President of the "Young Men's Christian Association," which position he held with honor until the dissolution of the association.

        In 1860 he became a member of the Lone Star Lyceum, and contributed much to the fame of that Society by his ability as a debater, and a writer. He has contributed largely to the press, and his articles show considerable thought, notwithstanding his limited education. He is now engaged in compiling a work which he begun while a boy. In 1865 he strongly advocated the call for a State Convention of colored men, which assembled in Baltimore, Dec. 27th, '65. He took an active part in its proceedings; after which he was elected Corresponding Secretary of the Maryland State Equal


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Rights League, which was formed at the close of the Convention. He has filled many offices of honor in the different organizations with which he has been connected. Having previously joined the A. M. E. Church, in July, 1866, he entered the ministry, and in October of the same year he was admitted to Lincoln University, in order to prepare himself for more extended usefulness as an ambassador of Christ. He is engaged in the studies of the Theological class, giving promise of excelling many of his fellow students. Subjoined is an article from his pen:

"A SKETCH OF THE RISE AND PROGRESS OF CHRISTIANITY."

        "Christianity may be briefly said to consist in believing that Jesus Christ is the only begotten Son of God, and the Saviour of the world. That there is in man a faculty that teaches him that there is a God, there can be no doubt, for when we look retrospectively at the world's history, we discover that in all ages men have had some object of worship, hence we find that Egypt, Carthage and Rome had a countless number of gods: the single city of Athens having at one time not less than thirty thousand. Innumerable temples, altars and statues were raised to them. Nor to the known gods only did they erect altars, for their extreme superstitions culminated in erecting an altar "To the unknown God." Men must have something to worship, and whether we look at the ancient Roman, as he bowed to Apollo, the Carthaginian, as he sacrificed his


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children to Saturn, the South Sea Islander, as he worshipped the sun, or the Indian, as he pays homage to the Great Spirit, we are impressed with the conviction that God has deeply stamped his image upon the minds of his rational creatures. Through the ages of the Mosaic dispensation, the many types and symbols were emblematical of the great antitype, Jesus Christ. The long list of prophets penetrating the dark future, and gazing seven hundred years in the distance, foretold the coming Messiah. Isaiah spoke of him as a child already born, when he said, "unto us a child is born; unto us a son is given," and from him to the last prophet, Malachi, extends one unbroken link of prophecy in regard to him. At the expiration of four thousand years, at a period when the Roman armies had carried the Roman religion into every country, insomuch that it had almost become the religion of the known world -- when this mighty empire was in the meridian of its greatness, when the arts and sciences had reached their acme in the heathen world, then it was that Christianity broke forth from the East like the sun, and chased away the dark clouds of ignorance and superstition which pervaded the entire world.

        In the obscure village of Bethlehem was born Him of whom Moses and the prophets did write -- Jesus the Son of God, frail humanity blended with the Godhead. At the expiration of thirty years, He commenced his ministry. He sent forth his Apostles, and though they were unlearned publicans and fishermen, yet the Gospel spread rapidly in the first


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century through Judea, Samaria, Persia and Syria. Though it met with bitter opposition, yet the Church advanced. In the city of Antioch the followers of Jesus where first called Christians. In the seventh century the great beast Popery, raised his head, and beclouded the true light by the grim visage of his face. The eleventh century witnessed the sanguinary Crusades, when thousands were butchered; Mahommedan temples, altars and cities destroyed, and their country laid waste. In the thirteenth century that infamous organization known as the Inquisition was instituted, before which the defenders of the Cross of Christ underwent a mock trial, preparatory to the torturing of the rack. Many of the victims, having a horse attached to each leg and each arm, were pulled to pieces; many were burnt at the stake, while others were thrown to wild beasts. With the dawn of the sixteenth century, came the brilliant light of the Reformation. On the 10th day of December, 1520, Martin Luther publicly withdrew from the Romish Church, and determined, at all hazard, that he would protest against the power assumed by the Pontiff. Thus began the great Reformation. Near the middle of this century sprang up Calvinism; also, the great massacre of St. Bartholomew occurred. The eighteenth century gave birth to the Presbyterian Church. In the twenty-ninth year of the eighteenth century, Methodism was founded by John and Charles Wesley. They were called Methodists in derision of their skillful method in defending their doctrines. In 1735 John and


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Charles Wesley embarked for America, landing on the shores of Georgia, where they planted the Cross among the Indians. They were followed by Whitfield, whose efforts to spread Methodism were eminently successful. He earnestly labored with tongue and pen, and had the proud satisfaction of seeing his labors crowned with success. The Methodist Church has grown rapidly; at the expiration of one hundred years, they number more than one million communicants in the United States alone, while there are many thousands scattered over every country in Europe. In 1816, Richard Allen, driven forth from the sanctuary of his white brethren, organized the African M. E. Church, which has been peculiarly favored of God, numbering now over 100,000 souls. Thus have we but imperfectly sketched the Rise and Progress of Christianity, and can but conclude that the stone cut out of the mountain without hands, is destined to roll until it fills the whole earth -- until the kingdoms of this world shall totter and fall, and be buried in the vortex of oblivion, but the kingdom of our God and his Church shall endure forever."

(B.)

WM. D. JOHNSON.

BY E. D. HAMMOND.

        Wm. D., son of George H. and Elizabeth Johnson, was born in Calvert county, Md., March 19th, 1842. When he was about 6 years of age, his parents


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removed to Baltimore, where they united with Bethel A. M. E. Church. William attended the Sabbath school of this Church: he also attended the day school of Rev. H. H. Webb. He was considered a good boy until about 17 years of age, when he became associated with the sporting young men of the city, and notwithstanding the entreaties of his parents, he became quite unruly. During the great revival at Bethel Church under Rev. John M. Brown, in the year 1861, he visited the meeting, and it was there that the preaching of the Word had a powerful effect upon his mind. In a moment the past rushed before him; he saw himself lost and undone, without God--in the power of Satan: he began earnestly to cry, "Lord, save, or I perish." At length God smiled graciously upon him, and bade him go in peace. Shortly after he embraced religion, he evinced a deep and abiding love for souls, and a willingness to spend and be spent for their salvation. He resolved to consecrate himself entirely to God. He was licensed to exhort by Rev. A. W. Wayman, (now Bishop) in the year 1862. In the same year, earnestly desiring to prepare himself for the work of the ministry, through the interest of A. B. Cross, of Baltimore, he gained admission to Ashmun Institute, (now Lincoln University) under the patronage of Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, of N. Y., where he has continued until the present time. He was licensed to preach in 1863, by Rev. A. Till. His standing as a scholar is most creditable, and he is highly esteemed by the Faculty as a young man


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of rare mental abilities. As a preacher, Mr. Johnson is deep and metaphysical; his discourses are characterized by sound Theology, and profound reasoning. He has obtained considerable celebrity as a lecturer and poet; he has also occupied many positions of honor, being now President of Garnet Literary Association, of Lincoln University, which position he holds with much honor and credit. He is now engaged in the regular studies of the Freshman class, viz; History, Physical Geography, English Composition, Latin, Greek, Mathematics, etc. Mr. Johnson contributes the following:

AN ADDRESS, DELIVERED AT THE COMMENCEMENT OF LINCOLN UNIVERSITY JUNE, 27th, 1866.

        Mr. President, friends and fellow students: Our Institution has passed through her period of experiment. At times she has been shaken to her foundations, and her enemies have prayed that she might fall. Her supporters, true friends of our race, relied upon God. They believed that this College would be a lever to assist in raising the once mighty, but palsied hand of Ethiopia, which she sighs to stretch out to the Eternal One.

        A young colored man who felt, "woe is unto me if I preach not the Gospel," and who also felt very much the need of an education, was seen regularly to approach a large stone, near the present situation of this building, where he prayed that God would help him. He became the private student of Rev. Dr. Dickey -- Ashmun Institute was planned,


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and that stone so often washed by the tears of the earnest seeker, became the first in its foundation. He was its first student, its first graduate, its first missionary to Africa. How many young men have followed his steps? How many are now oppressed with groanings which cannot be uttered, for the same reasons that once bowed him down? How many are now pursuing the same course? Sirs, the labors of the past year have made this Institution like a high and shining sun, whose light diverging in ten thousand directions, cheers the dark minds of millions just liberated from slavery. It is the grand centre of attraction to our young men, aspiring to usefulness and honor. She has closed ten sessions, with an average of the same number of students to represent her; but how different is it today? Her walls are crowded -- she is expanding her wings to make room for her famishing children. Yes, an Institution that has kept but a doubtful pace with ten years, has suddenly cast away the robe of obscurity and become a University. To-day the prayer of Van Rennselaer is more than answered. Here ten souls have been born to God in a single day. Our friends are standing in the high places of the nation -- the exigencies of the war have filled our halls with those who had not the hardihood to expect such blessings -- and our new and imposing buildings, are rearing their spires toward heaven under a new and revered appellation. Yes, the name is changed. In the history of the world-wide efforts to elevate our race, there does not appear two more


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illustrious names, than those adopted by our Institution. As African Americans, we shall regard them as the strong and beautiful pillars, which shall support the fallen energies of a people emancipated by their efforts. As students of the University, we shall remember them alike. Ashmun, thy self-denial--thy extended labors beneath the tropical sun of our fatherland--the sacrifice of thy life upon the desolated altars of poor Africa, will never be forgotten. Thou hast touched a chord in the heart of our people that will vibrate forever. The garland placed over the College door by Van Rennselaer, in perpetuation of thy memory, shall not be trampled in the dust nor marred; but while the brightness of Lincoln's name shall adorn the outward tabernacle, thine shall be cherished in the sanctum sanctorum of our hearts.

        But what shall we say of Lincoln? A hardy but honest son of the West emerged from obscurity, and by the flickering light of Providence, hewed his way through the dark passes of political life, and standing at the head of the ages, preached deliverance to the enslaved. He struck for the liberties of a persecuted and despised people, whom all feared and but few pitied. He redeemed them with his blood. O how the heart struggles to measure its outbursting gratitude! The effort is vain--It is like a drop in the ocean--It is swallowed up in the emotions of the great. The prairies still droop over his hallowed tomb--The nations still weep at hearing his name--Senates still cherish the drapery that enshrouded


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their halls in gloom--Marble is fashioned to his likeness, and his greatness is written upon the eternal rocks. But O, Lincoln, our martyr, what can we do! Poor, despised and disfranchised, we still drag the chain. Yet we hope, because thy friends, thy true friends are struggling with us in the holy cause for which thou didst die. But Ah! What gratitude stirs my breast! My muse, whither hast thou fled! Martyred Lincoln!


                         When nations hush the muffled sob of wo,
                         When our last tear through ages vast shall flow,
                         When Senates loose their drapings worn for thee,
                         Thou martyred champion of the noble free.
                         Here on this consecrated spot shall rise,
                         Shall lift thy hallowed memory to the skies--
                         A monument of intellectual blaze,
                         Shall gild thy labors through unnumbered days,
                         And by its light shall Afric's children blest,
                         Thy goodness read. Rest, Lincoln, Rest.

(C.)

WILLIAM FISHER DICKERSON.

BY J. C. WATERS.

        Was born January 15th, 1844, in the town of Woodbury, Gloucester County, New Jersey. When about eighteen years of age, he went to New York City, where he was reared amid all the vices of that modern Sodom. But having thrown around him those influences that emanate from genuine piety, his feet were saved from the paths of vice, from those follies that form so often the rocks upon which many young men have split. In the


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month of July, 1863, he attached himself to the A. M. E. Church, Sullivan Street, New York, and soon became one of the leading young men in that Church. Possessing fine musical ability, he became leader of the choir attached to it; which position he filled with credit until April, 1866, when he entered Lincoln University to complete his studies for the ministry. November 24th, 1866, he was licensed a local preacher by Rev. H. J. Rhodes of the A. M. E. Church. He is a young man of no ordinary mental ability, and will, no doubt, become a useful man in the vineyard of the Lord, and be instrumental in the hand of God in demolishing the kingdom of the wicked one, and assisting in rearing upon the ruins thereof the kingdom of our Lord and Master. May heaven protect him, and may he make his mark in the world's history as a chosen vessel to bear glad tidings to many sin-sick souls. He is highly appreciated among his fellow students for his intelligence and gentlemanly deportment. May he steer his bark clear of many rocks that line the coast of life, and at last glide into the haven above, where he will cast the anchor of his soul in the ever peaceful waters of heaven's broad bay.

(D.)

EDWARD S. W. HAMMOND.

BY W. D. JOHNSON.

        Edward S. W. Hammond, the only son of Rev. S. L. and Hannah Hammond, was born in the city


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of Baltimore, Md., February 14th, 1842. Both his parents have for many years been connected with the A. M. E. Church. At the age of six years he was sent to the day school taught by Mrs. Henson; afterwards attended the schools of Rev. Geo. T. and R. R. Watkins and H. H. Webb, in Baltimore. He was regarded as a bright, but rude boy. At the age of seventeen he went to sea with Capt. Perry, U. S. N. While at sea he received many remarkable warnings from God, but they were unheeded. He returned in 1860, and was paid off in Boston, Mass. Being very unsettled in mind, he shipped immediately, as an able seaman, on a vessel bound for Vera Cruz. On this voyage he experienced many hardships. The vessel was wrecked--all the crew rescued and carried to New Orleans, where he was imprisoned on account of his color and freedom. His release having been effected, he returned home, where he became associated with wild company. A conscience made tender by the pious instructions of devoted parents, raised the warning voice; but he sought to drown it by a deeper plunge into folly. Unmoved by the tears of a loving mother and sister--by a father's grief, he again left home and proceeded as far as New York, where, like the prodigal, he came to himself. Being deeply convicted of sin, he began to attend Church, and becoming an earnest seeker of salvation, it pleased God to remove the heart of stone, and give the heart of flesh. He soon began to feel a deep concern for his fellow sinners--determined to enter the


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ministry, and with his mind thus fixed, he returned again to his father's house, where his parents received him with ecstacies of joy. He united with Big Bethel Church, Baltimore, where he met Mr. Wm. D. Johnson, who was spending the College vacation of '64, from whom he gained the required information, and was admitted to Lincoln University in the fall of the same year; where he has remained to the present, under the patronage of Hon. Wm. E. Dodge, of New York. Mr. Hammond was licensed to preach Dec. 17th, 1864, by Rev. J. W. Stevenson. He is gifted with a vigorous mind, and will make a fine scholar. He is engaged in the regular studies of the Freshman class, viz: Universal History, Physical Geography, English Composition, Latin, Greek and Mathematics. Subjoined is a specimen of his composition:

AFRICAN METHODISM; WHAT IT HAS DONE FOR THE ELEVATION OF OUR RACE.


                         What hast thou done, O, Methodism,
                         For our enslaved, disfranchised race?
                         No mortal pen was e'er inspired,
                         Or e'er will be, with truth enough,
                         To picture to the eager mind
                         Thy sacrifices, groans and tears;
                         Thy rich and faithful works of love.
                         How was it with thy pioneers,
                         Ascending to the highest cliffs,
                         And raising high the blood-stained flag
                         Of Christ on Calvary, they preached
                         That all men were created free
                         And equal by His holy hand;
                         Or in the lowest valleys prayed:
                         "Let Afric stretch her hands to thee,
                         And let the princes wished for, come."


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                         Like ancient knights, thy heaven-taught sons
                         Clad in habiliments of steel,
                         The armor of the living God,
                         Their breast plates marked with righteousness,
                         And helmets, swords, and shields enstamped
                         With confidence in "Zion's King,"
                         They fought 'gainst human slavery;
                         Led forth by Allen, Coker, Brown,
                         Quinn, Nazrey, Waters, Payne, the crown,
                         Preceded by the great I Am;
                         With courage then, they onward marched,
                         Entered the domicil of sin,
                         Where men were kept. and taught to oppose
                         The RIGHT. Behold the two-edged sword
                         Thrust deep into their conscience seared.
                         The eternal irate God calls loud,
                         Swift angels fly to execute
                         His will--the death or life of man;
                         I am the Lord; the power is mine,
                         To new create, and to destroy.


                         They still marched on, and as each year
                         Rolled round, her membership increased
                         From tens to thousands; yet the wheels
                         Of Zion clogged by those who would
                         An Educated Ministry oppose.
                         But just at this auspicious hour,
                         The noble Payne with banner high,
                         Inscribed this motto, LIGHT AND TRUTH;
                         Followed by others who obeyed
                         The Apostle's great command to all,
                         Study to show thyself approved.


                         And by their efforts, Hercules-like,
                         The two-leaved gates of ignorance
                         Gave way, and let the victors in.
                         And since that hour, our glorious Church
                         Has onward marched with those who came
                         From Oberlin's ancestral halls,
                         And Alleghany's templed walls;
                         Then Wilberforce sends forth her light,
                         And Ashmun, too, defends the right;
                         "Old Maryland" sends to the field
                         Self-taught, self-educated men;
                         WAYMAN AND CAMPBELL, with their all,
                         Were ready at the triumpet's call.


                         The sons of BETHEL great have gone,
                         From East to West, from North to South,


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                         To tell the story of the Cross,
                         Or teach our brethren long denied,
                         Of heaven's great boon--intelligence.
                         On many a desecrated spot
                         By slavery, there now is seen
                         A temple to the eternal King
                         Of Glory, and in place of sin,
                         Their banners bright emblazoned now,
                         GOOD WILL TO EVERY SOUL OF MAN.


                         Does this degrade the negro? No;
                         Assertion false. If we may judge
                         The future by the past, our own
                         Great Bethel shall indeed outshine,
                         Outrun, outlive the cruel wrath
                         Of all her foes. Then shine on, thou
                         Star of heaven, they magnitude
                         Will be the first.


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CHAPTER XXI.
INFLUENTIAL WOMEN IN COMMUNION WITH THE A. M. E.
CHURCH.

(A.)

MRS. SUSAN PAUL VASHON.

        This sketch is from the pen of one of our members.

        THIS lady, wife of Professor G. B. Vashon, is a native of Boston, Mass., where she received her education, principally in the Smith School, then under the management of her maternal uncle, Mr. Thomas Paul. She also attended, for several terms, a Ladies' Seminary at Somerville, Mass., presided over by an excellent instructress, Mrs. Lucy O'Meara. Mrs. Vashon's maiden name was Smith. Left motherless at an early age, she passed her childhood beneath the watchful care of her maternal grandmother, her aunt, the late Miss Susan Paul, and the male relations already mentioned. Her father having and settled in Pittsburg, Pa., she went thither, and was appointed a teacher in the school of which her future husband became, shortly afterwards, the Principal. They were married in 1859.


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        Mrs. Vashon has written considerably both in prose and verse; but latterly her pen has been suffered to lie idle; for, like the mother of the Gracchi, she now finds her jewels, the engrossing objects of her care, in the partner of her choice, and in the children with which God has blessed their wedded life. The subjoined article, however, may serve to illustrate her power as a writer, at the same time that it exhibits her in the character of an affectionate Christian wife and mother:

TO MY BELOVED HUSBAND ON HIS BIRTH-DAY.


                         Hail to the bright, auspicious morn!
                         That yearly comes with smiling ray
                         To usher in the gladsome day
                         On which, beloved one, thou wast born.


                         Sure on that day some seraph bright,
                         Leaving the regions of the blest,
                         Flew toward the hymenial nest,
                         And hovering on wings of light,


                         Upon thy infant head did shower
                         Rare sunshine for thy coming years --
                         A future bright, undimmed with tears --
                         Of mental gifts a noble dower.


                         For each and all whom God has made
                         A heart with kindly feelings warm,
                         A ready grasp, an open palm,
                         "For man is man whate'er the grade."


                         All these are thine, and more, I know,
                         Than my imperfect Muse can sing;
                         But let the offering which I bring
                         In these fond lines my worship show.


                         Me, the beloved one of thy heart,
                         Thou didst create thy happy wife,
                         A portion of thy soul and life,--
                         Of thee and thine a loving part.


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                         Oh happy union! mystic, sweet!
                         True emblem of that life above,
                         Whose source and motive power is love,
                         Wherein life, soul, and being meet.


                         I, thy dear wife, of whom was born
                         Our baby girl, our darling boys,
                         Would gladly wreathe of mutual joys
                         A garland for thy natal morn.


                         Fain would I sing of blissful hours,
                         Of seasons sweet I've passed with thee;
                         But Time, alas! rude tasker he,
                         Bids me not stay in Memory's bowers.


                         But dearest! I will wish for thee
                         A future all unclouded fair;
                         Undimmed by suffering or care
                         I'll trust thy lamp of life may be.


                         Long years may joy thy steps attend,
                         And when for thee the grave doth yawn,
                         May its bleak night precede the dawn,
                         Whose day of bliss shall never end.

(B.)

MISS MARY A. PROUT

        Was born at a place in Maryland called South River, February 14th, 1801, and though long since married to the Lord, has never been married to man.

        We notice her not for any literary merit, though she can read and write with proficiency, but rather for her high social standing, her deep piety, and earnest labor for the Church. Converted in her girlhood days, in Baltimore City, whither her parents had moved, she connected herself with Big Bethel, when the total membership consisted of but nine souls. She has often swept the cobwebs from


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the ceiling of the old Church, and to her numerous visitors, she still shows the stick of the broom she employed. Since her spiritual natal day, she has not ceased to work for God and the Church. One year after her conversion, she was made leader of a female prayer-meeting. During the early days of Bethel, when it was poor and in debt, she was constantly devising ways and means of relieving it; now leading off in a festival; now an excursion; and now perambulating the streets with a subscription book. At one fair given in behalf of Ebenezer, and in which she led, $800.00 was cleared; and at another, $500.

        She is now laboring earnestly to get up a Widows' Home; she says in regard to it: "I am now trying to raise a Widows' Home, for aged and infirm old women, and I do not know but it will be my last work, if, indeed, I am spared to see it accomplished."*

        * The Widows' Home has been achieved, and has been opened with the best of prospects.


A woman of the deepest religious experience, she walks "the high places of Israel," as she is wont to say. May her sun set in light.

(C.)

MISS SALLIE LOUISE DAFFIN.

        There is no commoner remark made in regard to folks, who Simeon-like, are small of stature, than that "precious goods are put up in small packages."


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If one would visit the U. S. Senate, and behold the men who occupy its honored seats, he would almost be led to doubt the truth of that little apothegm, for not a few of them stand full six feet. Indeed, Garret Davis of Kentucky, is about the smallest man seen on the floor. But we do not propose to allow the American Senate, where small men hitherto have sat, to make void our arguments; giants have only been, and are, the exception, and not the rule, and old school-master always taught us to stick to the rule. "Precious goods are always put up in small packages," most true indeed in regard to our little heroine, whose height is only about four and a half feet; and weight perhaps a hundred. She don't weigh more than Bishop Payne!

        Born in Philadelphia, Penn, she was placed in school when but a child of six, and kept there until she reached her year eleventh; when she was called away from books to learn the art of dress-making; here eight years were spent. But "Sallie" somehow thought she was not exactly in her own place. Different thoughts filled her mind, than studying how to make the dresses suit, of the gay coquettes of the city of brotherly love and sisterly, too. Her thoughts were upon books and work, not the work of the needle, but of the brain and heart; she thought even of going as missionary to dear old Fatherland, Africa. Feeling thus, she entered that model of Quaker munificence, "The Institute for Colored Youth," at the round age of twenty. Two years after entering she received the diploma, as well


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as the first mathematical prize offered to the female pupils. But before this tribute to her genius had been paid, she had carried off the prize awarded by the Literary Association of Bethel A. M. E. Church, for an essay entitled, "Temptation, and the Tempter;" and in the year 1860, she received the second prize offered by the same Association. Emerging from school with torch in hand, she did not subdue the flame as many do, but she prepared to carry it long, and keep it bright. The opening up of the great mission work of the South, found her teaching at Wilmington, Del., and though the greatest inducements were offered her, to them all she gave a decided, "No," and torch in hand, she started for the gloomy South, made doubly gloomy by the smoke of incessant battle.

        Employed by the American Missionary Association, she was first sent to Norfolk, Va., where she remained teaching and working, in the School-room, and in the Hospital, during the whole of McClellan's inglorious campaign, when he left three score thousand men sleeping in the marshes of the Peninsula.

        She speaks of her experiences among the Freedman, and the sick and wounded soldiers and sailors, not only in Virginia, but in North Carolina, whither she had been ordered, as "intensely interesting."

        Returning home in 1865, she spent but a few days; for she longed to be engaged again in the good work of love and light. She is now a teacher at Freedman's Village, near Washington, D. C.

        A member of the A. M. E. Church, she stands


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foremost among its intelligent, hardworking, and pious members: partaking of its obloquy, she shares the honor of helping it do a work that angels would covet. She is a fine prose writer, and now and then pays a golden denarius as a tribute to the Muses.

        Read her hastily prepared Impressions:

"IMPRESSIONS OF A TEACHER IN THE SOUTH."

        "The terrible and sanguinary conflict through which our country has so recently passed, has culminated in the birth of a nation from the womb of slavery, oppression and ignorance, into a world of light and liberty.

        Scarcely is it possible for the minds of those who have never been South, to form any adequate conception of the magnanimity and importance of the work that is being done among the Freedmen, both educationally and morally, and in many parts, of the great revolutionization of ideas and sentiments that is perceptible among the dominant race.

        While in certain localities, the former masters continue to evince a hatred to the freed negroes and Yankees of the intensest sort, yet the susceptibility of the former to grasp and retain knowledge -- their propensity to labor quite as industriously under the new regime as under the overseer's lash -- their commendable discrimination between right and wrong, are all bearing their influence to roll back the tide of prejudice that has so long predominated.


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        The poor whites of the South form a pitiable example of pride and poverty; but even they are beginning to arise from their lethargic state. While it is true from force of habit and circumstance, their movements may for a time be tardy, yet by the concentrated forces of religion, education, and Yankee enterprize, they will be made to feel their incompetency to cope with the great flood that is steadily flowing in their midst, and consequently an emulatory spirit will be infused into them. Thus, they will gradually become enlightened from the base ideas of other days, and light and truth flow through purer channels -- channels made pure and transparent by the regenerating influence of the grace of God.

        When the American Missionary Association of New York, and kindred organizations review the great work they have already accomplished, and are still accomplishing, how rejoiced must feel their hearts, that they live in this day when they can contribute so extensively in the upbuilding of Christ's kingdom, by the elevation of millions of mankind!

        May they all receive their reward from Him, who will recompense to every man according as his works shall be!

        Of the large number of teachers who have been engaged in this work, many of them are among the best in the country. A few mistakes have been made, but these form the minority. As yet, there have been but comparatively few colored teachers in the field; but a sense of justice demands that mention


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be made of Miss Blanche V. Harris, of Ohio, and Miss Edmonie G. Highgate, of Syracuse, N. Y., who figured conspicuously in the campaign of 1864, in Norfolk, Va. These ladies possessed not only a refined education, but were eminent in piety, and indicated by willing sacrifices, their interest in the cause of their race.

        It is an unjust idea that any half educated person is fit to teach the negro of the South. There is needed the best educated -- the man or the woman of unexceptionable morals and Christian philanthropy -- those who are willing to sacrifice their love of pleasure upon humanity's altar, and who bear upon their brows the sacred inscription, "Holiness to the Lord."

        Such are a few of our impressions, and but very few. The remainder must be left to be distributed at a more convenient season, while we continue in the work assigned, trusting that this, our life-work, shall be blessed of God, in the elevation of our benighted race, and their being prepared to enter upon their duties as men on this mundane sphere."

(D.)

MRS. ELIZABETH BRISCOE.

        Mrs. Toy, of Baltimore city, was the mother of eleven children, and what is really remarkable, they were all girls. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of all, and first saw the light, March, 27, 1827. Attaining to girlhood, she was a constant attendent upon St. James' Episcopal Church;


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in close proximity was Bethel Church, of which Bishop Waters was pastor. During the year 1841, a real Methodist revival broke out, and its effects, were like unto Sampson's foxes. In company with some giddy companions, Lizzy Toy, went down to the Methodist meeting, for the purpose of having some "fun." They "hollar'd" so, and their singing! all kinds of metres combined! while their prayers, so quaint and irregular, made it all together a place where one could spend a huge hour! But Lizzy had scarcely taken her seat than the deepest consideration seized her. "Here I am," thought she, "if I knew better how to serve God. I do not do it; and these people are serving him; it is true it is not exactly my way, yet are they serving him. The one talent, which they have received they return, even with a little usury to God; while I return neither talent, nor usury. Yea more, I have come to ridicule them, in their humble offering."

        Thus reasoned Lizzy Toy, while the cheek grew palled, the nerves weak, and the spirit oppressed. That same evening, the evening of March, 29, 1841, witnessed Lizzy Toy, a Methodist of the most uncompromising kind.

        Marrying Augustus Briscoe, a gentleman of Catholic tendency, she accompanied him to the West, Pittsburg, Pa., where she at once attached herself to Old Front St., A. M. E. Church, under Father Collins. The old man taking her by the hand said, "Child, we are all on probation, all on probation till we get to Heaven, may you stand." It was in


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1845, that she joined the Sabbath school in the newly built Wylie St., with John Peck for Superintendent. In this school she spent more than a score years consecutively. The writer remembers her during ten years' connexion with the school, as scholar, and teacher and Superintendent; and what does he remember, but that she was always present, always prepared, and always smiling. From positive knowledge, the writer ventures the assertion, that in the last three years of his connexion with the school as its Superintendent, Mrs. E. T. Briscoe was not absent from her post a dozen times; and it should be remembered, that that school has two sessions, in winter and summer. Such a fact outweighs every word of praise that could possibly be said in her behalf.

        A woman of the highest social standing, in the most easy circumstance in life, and like unto Hannah before she went up to Shiloh, she lives only to instruct the young, reclaim the erring, comfort the distressed, and relieve the needy. Though a member of more than one Beneficial Society, she uniformly refuses to accept office, firmly persuaded that her position in life is to work.

        Returning to Baltimore in 1865, she once again entered the Sabbath school, where as Female Superintendent, the writer finds her, a true co-laborer in the Lord's Vineyard.


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(E.)

MISS S. A. SLAUGHTER.

AN APPEAL.

        This Appeal is from the pen of Miss S. A. Slaughter, of Detroit, Mich. A young Christian lady of whom Wm. Webb says, "I wish the A. M. E. Church was blessed with hundreds like her."

        "The subject of the education of our race presents so vast a field for thought, that in attempting to say anything in reference to it, I am at first setting out, lost amid the mazes of avenues open for an entrance to the vast area. That we are a people seeking to rise above what we have been, our enemies can and do affirmatively witness; that we are a people worthy of a promotion, our genius and talent when permitted a development have fully testified. That we are a people who will swell the already teeming list of eminent men of earth, is left to us to decide. We are decidedly one of the strong nations for whom the world was made; being placed here by the Divine Creator among the first, and still after having outlived many tribes and nations, are a very prominent member of the earth's population to-day. Had we been created for any other object than progress and distinction, spiritually and temporally, we should long since have been an extinct race. But like our great precedent the Jewish nation, under the galling bondage of the yoke of Egyptian slavery, we have increased and grown to a fearful strength in the sight of our enemies. And although our fountain


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head in this country was a small beginning, yet like the great Mississippi we have spread our tributary branches in every direction. And now we must educate; we must educate or we must perish. This has been and is still the motto of the great nation whom we are following and imitating in all its virtues and vices. But while they have had centuries of improvement in the art and sciences, we have been lagging in the rear, with only the force of imitation for our instructor; while ever and anon, here and there, a bright meteor, a genius from among our ranks, would burst forth upon the astonished gaze of the world, to convince it of the smouldering fires of intellect, that lay concealed beneath our dark covering; waiting only for the reviving breath of freedom to fan them to living, burning flames. Must I say that this great work must begin at once, and that too in our home circles? We leave too much of this labor to be performed by the already overburdened teachers, who are given to us as a slight assistance on the toilsome, upward journey.

        I appeal to you, Mothers, who are entrusted with the precious care of your infants; that you do for them that which is calculated to assist them in their progress in after years, and which every mother though uninitiated in higher arts, yet fully comprehends. Many may say they are unacquainted with the laws of nature, and cannot do what they otherwise would. Then study them, chain your minds to reflection; let not age nor slight incumberances deter you; and so rear your offspring, that healthy


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bodies, will give vigorous, active brain; and the mind being the organ of that brain, will consequently bring forth abundantly to gratify your every longing desire.

        I appeal to you, Fathers, who are expected to lead right, in the great struggle for light and knowledge; lead your little ones if it be but by gradual steps to the hill of science; and if you find yourselves unable to ascend, inspire them by your vigilant desire, to persevere until the summit is attained, and success is ours. And though you may not be able to accomplish as many or as mighty acts as your models, you will at least possess the satisfaction gained as is said by Lady Byron's maid, who, "by her teaching, learned to spell."

        I appeal to you young men, to leave the vitiating influences of the bar and billiard-room; detest the vices of the nation you follow and imitate; love and cling with a tenacious grasp to their virtues; keep your hearts with all diligence, for out of them are the issues of live; and by your industry manual and mental, show to the world, that although as a nation of slaves, we were servile, docile and unresisting, that now as freemen, we are ambitious, persevering, industrious and honorable.

        And lastly to you, young ladies, who in a degree hold the reins of power, who can guide by your gentleness, the turbulent promptings of the sterner sex: who by your gentle firmness can be incited to manly deeds of nobleness, or to rash and unprincipled acts of violence, sway the sceptre of your kingdom,


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as sovereigns of wisdom and prudence; seeking, obtaining, and using a Divine strength for the labor; for as Mr. Longfellow tells us,


                         "Lives of great men all remind us,
                         We can make our lives sublime;
                         And departing leave behind us,
                         Footprints on the sands of time."

(F.)

MISS MARY STILL.

        A fine sample of the Methodist Sisters is the above named lady; full of energy is she, with a heart that yearns over her race--not the rich and affluent of them, not the proud and popular, but over the lowly, the degraded, the helpless. Though socially the equal of the foremost in the land, yet she disregards all, and for years has lived only to bring up her race and her Church to her own high level; not by standing a great way off, and looking with pitiable contempt upon them; not by crying alound, Come up to my level; but having learned the magic art of coming down, she takes the lowliest by the hand; and says: My brother, my sister, good cheer.

        We know she will be surprised when she sees what we have done in regard to her letter, for she had not the most distant thought of our publishing it, but there is so much of Mary Still in it, that we cannot forgo the temptation to publish it in toto.

        We requested her to write some facts about herself, when, lo! she has forgotten herself, and wrote most of the Church and people that lie nearest her heart.


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        Brother Tanner--Dear Sir:--You inform me that you are preparing a work entitled: "An Apology for African Methodism." The evidences in our favor are so clear and convincing in their character, as to make an apology unnecessary. Still I think it time that some of our number should hurl back the slander which men, in the heat of popularity, have seen fit to throw at an organization that has struggled long and hard to gain an independent position. The fathers in the early history of the Methodist Church seen to it that the African race in the United States had the Gospel preached to them. The Word was received, ran, and was glorified. Hence arise those virtues and graces that are essential to a religious and civilized life. You request me to give you some facts contained in the history of my life, as you wish to give me a passing notice in your book. I am truly obliged to you for the respect that you are about to confer upon me, but, believe me sir, I do not think there is anything in my history worth setting before an intelligent public. If there is, it is God's amazing love to my soul. But useless as it is, as you have requested, I will proceed to give you such facts as may occur to my mind.

        I was born and reared in the State of New Jersey; and at a time, too, when the advantages for education for those of my race were very poor. From a child I was extremely sensitive to our oppressed and proscribed condition. This kindled within my heart an earnest and increasing desire to be useful whenever


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or wherever opportunity would allow. There was a time while I resided in my native State that the white people and colored all worshipped together. But prejudice being strong in those days, it prevented many of the colored people from attending on the means of grace. The older inhabitants among the colored people felt but too keenly its demoralizing effects, and resolved upon a separation. So, after much perplexity and long deliberation, the brethren and sisters were called together to consider what would be the best course to pursue to promote their moral, social and religious interest. So, without a foot of land to call their own, or a stick of timber for building, or without money in their pockets, they started under the old Methodist flag in an enterprise that has resulted gloriously and nobly to their present and future happiness. About the time that they began to think of acting more for themselves, Brother Robert Evans was converted at camp-meeting. He was then called to preach the unsearcheable riches of Christ to a dying world. The zeal that he always manifested for the present and future welfare, lives in the memory of thousands to-day of those who used to attend his preaching. His travels were principally in that State. It is due to his memory to say that many houses that were used for revelry, became houses of prayer and praise.

        From my own native hills and plains, I removed to Philadelphia, where I availed myself of the advantage of a school that was then kept by a lady of considerable merit. While I was with her, I applied


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myself with much diligence to my studies, and thereby added a considerable to my stock of knowledge. About twenty years of my life, I have been keeping school.

        In 1864, I left Philadelphia for Beaufort, S. C. There I saw the horrid effects of American slavery. I labored there near two years; at the end of which time, I removed to Florida. I am now engaged in teaching among the freedmen.

(G.)

MRS. BISHOP WAYMAN.

        Mrs. Harriet E. A. Wayman was born in Baltimore, December 11th, 1827. Her father Mons. John De Grouchy, was a Frenchman, and it is said was a relative of the great Marshall, whose name he bore. Harriet was raised up in her father's house, receiving the kindest treatment. At the age of five she was sent to the school of the Rev. Wm. Leavington, Rector of St. James' P. E. Church. Here she learned the rudiments of an English education. As years grew upon her, and she exhibited a taste and skill for needle work, she was placed under Madame Cloud, to learn the Grecian and Crape work, which, after a time, she was enabled to execute with charming excellence. She learned tambo and embroidery from the skilful fingers of Madame De Grouchy. For years she held communion with the Episcopal Church, but upon her marriage with the Bishop, she concluded to become, not only his


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wife, but one of the sheep of his fold; joining the Bethel A. M. E. Church, May 5th, 1865.

        A woman is she of more than ordinary talents and attainments, most lively in temperament, and inclined to be gay. But since her marriage with the Bishop, much of her liveliness has been suppressed. To the Methodist fathers and mothers of '76, she is still however thought to be very gay; but to them she can say, what a zealous Presbyterian said, who hated Romanism and Episcopalianism with intense hatred, and who upon a Sabbath was railing out against them. Upon being accosted by a lady Episcopalian friend with the words: O Mr. A--, I do wish you would not let out such furious remarks against my Church; replied: My Dear Mrs. B--, you speak of what I let out, but you do not know how much I keep in."

        Her residence is on Baltimore Street, and is fitted up in the most elegant style, as her handsome income well affords her to do. She takes a most lively interest in the Church of the Bishop, always ready to lend a hand to further its interest. At a fair lately given in Philadelphia, on behalf of the Christian Recorder, she went thither, and became one of its most successful table-holders.

(H.)

MISS ESTHER ARMSTRONG.

        The fourth daughter of the Rev. John P. Armstrong, this lady was early imbued with the deepest religious sentiments. Her father held communion


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with the M. E. Church, and Esther, whilst a babe, was baptized by the Rev. Matthew Sourin, Presiding Elder of a District in which the town of Pharsalia lay. But weary with oppression, and shuddering at the idea of rearing up his children -- especially his girls -- in the midst of Maryland slavery, he determined to seek a more liberal and purer community, and in 1836, the Armstrong family removed to Philadelphia. Here Esther profited by the good circumstances that surrounded her; she was early entered at the Lombard Street Grammar School, where she remained in regular attendance for seven years, and received all that store of information that has enabled her to be of such vast service to the Church and Sabbath school. We speak of the Sabbath school, for here it is that she has done such eminent service for her Master. Entering the Bethel A. M. E. School when but a few summers had passed over her head, she has remained there for twenty-five years; twenty of which has been actively employed. She was eight years a scholar, five years teacher of Bible class, directress of Infant Department six years, and is now the Assistant Superintendent of Adult Department. In 1858, March 28th; she made a profession of Christ, and united with the Church, April 10th.

        As a vocalist, Philadelphia has few to equal her as a soprano singer; joining the musical association of Bethel Church, in 1850, she was soon made its leader, and for years the sweet melody of her singing thrilled the souls of those who heard. Such was


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her record that in 1865, she was invited to the position of leading soprano in the Protestant Episcopal Church of the Crucifixion, where her voice may be heard and felt on any Lord's day morning.

        She lives by the sweet talent God has given her, and which she has so perfectly cultivated. A member of the Church's choir below, may she hold her position in the Church's choir above.

(I.)

MRS. ANNETTA JORDAN.

        On the corner of Liberty and Clay Streets, in the city of Baltimore, Md., there stood an old fashioned brick house, with its antique dormer windows; it was the home of the Toy family, of whom came the subject of this sketch. Consequent upon the loss of a kind father, Annetta, a child of ten summers, was placed in a family of Quakers, where she remained for years, learning much of heart, and head, and hand.

        To express her gratitude to this Bailey family, her own words are, "If I have anything to boast of under God, they must receive the credit."

        It was in the month of August, 1835, a camp meeting was held in Jamison's Woods, some ten miles from Baltimore. Crowds visited it, of every age, condition, and state of mind, young, old, rich, poor, the gay and the thoughtful. And there beneath the shades of aspiring oaks, and humble foliage,


                         "In the darkling woods,
                         Amid the cool and silence they knelt down,
                         And offered to the Mightiest, solemn thanks
                         And supplication."


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        Among the attendant young Misses, none were more beautiful, none seemed bent on enjoying themselves more than Miss Toy; but in the height of her joy, an arrow of truth reached her heart, as well as the hearts of many others of the circle of young Misses, with whom she associated; and not a few of them returned home, with affections set on Him, who is fairer than all his brethren. Whatever may be said of the evils attending Camp meeting, it cannot be denied, but much good likewise has been accomplished; and it is gratuitous to say that the evil over-balances the good -- it is begging the question to argue, that even the good accomplished, would be done under other, and better circumstances. Let these Christian feasts of tabernacles, be placed under proper restriction, like everything else with which man has to do, for the wretch pollutes whatever he touches,--let the grounds be procured, let booths be erected, and the strong fence and gate, then from our hearts we say, let the woods annually be visited and be made to echo with the Creator's praise.

        With the conversion of Miss Toy began that active christian career which happily continues to this day. Among the converts of young ladies an Association, "The Daughters of Sharon," was organized at once, having for its objects, works of charity, and advancement in the christian life. Miss Toy was selected as its first President, although but seventeen, which Presidency after a score and more of years have elapsed, she still retains.


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        After eight years of rare conjugal bliss, with George Wells, who had early sought her heart and hand, and was accepted, and who is reported to have been a "truly devoted christian," he died, leaving however his widow in comfortable circumstances.

        The most prominent man in Bethel Church, at this time, and for years after, was Rev. John Jordan, a local preacher. He was a man of fine executive ability, a splendid financier as his fortune attests, and a natural leader. By a sad stroke of Providence he was left a widower, with no less than five children. It was for him to exercise his judgment, in selecting a wife for himself, as well as a mother for his children; two qualities rarely blended together. His choice fell upon the widow Wells, to whom he was married by Elder D. A. Payne, now Bishop, in 1846, and the wisdom of that choice is seen in the happy manner in which she played the double role of wife and mother.

        In accepting the hand of the Rev. Mr. Jordan, heavy with responsibility as it was, she sought counsel and strength of God; promising on her part, if the Lord would bless her to bring up those five children, as well as her own little Josephine, to honorable manhood and virtuous womanhood, and over all, to see them brought to Christ, she would devote all her time to works of charity. Her covenant was like unto Jacob's: "If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father in peace, then


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shall the Lord be my God." Jacob returned in peace,--the hopes of that mother were realized.

        And would the reader know, especially if he be the head of a family, the means God employed in fulfilling the desire of that mother's heart, let me whisper: "It was the all-controlling influence of the family altar."

        Nor are we to suppose that the weighty responsibility of bringing up those children consumed all her zeal. Every charitable project among the female members found a hearty support at her hand.

        In 1836, a Bible was to be presented to the Barbers' Association by the ladies of her Church, and she was chosen to make the address. In 1837, and after, she took a most active part in the Friday afternoon prayer-meeting, as well as in the "Sisters' Band." In 1847, she was one of the first to second the endeavors of her pastor, D. A. Payne, in organizing the "Mothers' Association." The Dorcas Society, drawn together the following year, for the purpose of making garments for the poor, also received much attention, and she was elected its first President; suffered to lie dormant for awhile, it was revived during the administration of Rev. John M. Brown, and still lives to bless the poor. Lately re-elected its President, Mrs. Jordan has instilled into it new life, so that it might not be amiss to state that during the present winter, (1866-7) upwards of 500 families have been relieved, and 30 cords of wood distributed.

        To conclude: In society none stands higher than


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she; her home is a pattern of neatness, without extravagance; of comfort, without the gaudy display of the income of $25,000.

        Possessing a religion characterized by work, her name is blessed by the poor. The writer knows of no finer example of Solomon's (Prov. xxxi,) "Virtuous woman" than she.

(J.)

MISS JEMINA WOODSON.

        This article is contributed by Miss Jemina Woodson, of Pittsburg, a lady of the finest culture. For years she attended A very College, and left it with signal honor to herself and the school. A member of Wylie Street, she labors faithfully in its S. S. school.

MUSIC.

        Music is any combination of sounds producing concord. It is the harmonious blending of instruments or the melody of one or many voices. The Creator appears to have designed that there should be some general way of denoting joy, hence many animals, as well as mankind, are capable of expressing by song their happiness. There is music in the spontaneous warbling of the morning songsters, or the low gushing melody of the nightingale, which sooths the spirit, and diffuses a feeling of tranquility and peace over the listener. Even the works of inanimate nature seem designed to diffuse a joyous spirit. The dense forest, echoing back the murmur of the rushing waters; exhilerating air and sweet scented flowers of a summer morning; the sublimity of the towering mountain, or the roaring cataract, all tend to inspire a spirit of poetry and song.


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        The earliest histories mention music as forming the principal part of the entertainments of their age. But the means of producing it in ancient times were very few and simple, generally consisting of wind or stringed instruments, so that they could have no conception of the sublime and soul-stirring effects produced by many instruments of the present time.

        There are probably few means that will aid more effectually in the elevation of the mind and the improvement of taste, than music. It harmonizes with all the social virtues, and exerts a most happy influence when the mind is depressed by perplexing thoughts; often producing a serenity so delightfully calm and peaceful that the realities of life are almost forgotten.

        To be deprived of this great source of pleasure, would produce a blank in our existence, which would be difficult to supply. How often in the social circle do intervals in conversation occur which may, by the introduction of music, be filled in a manner better suited to the tastes of all parties than in any other way. Hence we may consider it as one of the greatest blessings conferred by a kind Providence on his creatures, and very worthy the attention of the highest and noblest of mankind. Indeed, it may be said to resemble a clear summer morning, which paints all nature in brighter colors, and diffuses a cheerful joyous influence over the spirit of every one.

THE END