WESLEY AND AMERICAN METHODISM.
SO far as we are able positively to determine Methodism in America
originated with immigrants from Ireland. To Barbara Heck must be given
the honor of delivering the first Methodist exhortation, which aroused
Philip Embury to return from his backslidings to God and give himself to
the work of the ministry of Methodism. Blessed be the name of Barbara
Heck! An angel would rejoice to share her honors! Who can estimate the
value of that earnest personal appeal to that card-playing company?
Soon a cry reached the ear of England's "flying evangelist" that a fire
had been kindled in America, where thirty years before he had sought in
vain to plant a Gospel the power of which he did not feel. Thomas Ball,
of Charleston, speaks of the sheep in the wilderness needing a shepherd.
"They have strayed," he says, "from England into the wild woods here,
and they are running wild after the world. They are drinking their wine
in bowls, and are jumping and dancing, and serving the devil in groves
and under the green trees. And are not these lost sheep? And will none
of the preachers come here? Where is Bromfield? Where is John Pawson?
Where is Nicholas Manners? Are they living, and will they not come?"
This was the cry in and from the wilderness. A call for assistance came
also from Philip Embury.
Wesley's Conference met in 1769 in Leeds. Mr. Wesley put the question:
"We have a pressing call from our brethren in New York, who have built a
preaching house, to come over and help them. Who is willing to go?" When
was ever such a question asked, or call made, and Methodist preachers
not ready to respond, "Here I am, send me"? An answer came from Richard
Boardman and Joseph Pilmore, who were willing to face the perils of sea
and land to "save the wandering souls of men." The Conference took a
collection of twenty pounds to pay their passage, and fifty pounds
toward paying the debt on the "preaching house," as an expression of
their love for the American brethren. Before these godly men had reached
our shores Captain Webb, late from England, and barracks master at
Albany, had heard of the work in New York, and, being a local preacher
among the Wesleyans, joined Embury and his company and preached to the
people in his military regimentals, full of faith and power--preached
with a zeal which attracted hundreds to the Methodist faith.
On the arrival of Boardman and Pilmore--men of God--the work prospered.
Boardman preached in New York, extending his labors as far east as
Boston. Pilmore went to Philadelphia, but extended his labors south as
far as Charleston, S. C. The ministry of these holy men was greatly
blessed to the people, and new societies were formed as the work
extended.
Two years later Wesley made another call, and a response came from
Francis Asbury and Richard Wright. And never did Providence seem to
overrule in a more manifest manner than in the selection of Mr. Asbury.
But for him it does not seem that one vestige of Methodism would have
survived the War of the Revolution. He navigated the Methodist ship
through that fearful storm with consummate skill. It is true that he was
arrested and fined twenty-five dollars for preaching, but he held his
place. He was obliged to seek shelter in the hospitable home of Hon.
Thomas White, of Delaware, where he remained, partly concealed, for
nearly two years. The military authorities then discovered that he was a
friend and not a foe to American independence, and he was thereafter
allowed to exercise his ministry without annoyance. No peril could deter
him from his purpose. "In passing through the Indian country, west of
the mountains," he is said to have "often encamped in the wilderness,
where no one ventured to sleep except under the protection of a
trustworthy sentinel." He possessed the zeal, industry, and patience of
an apostle. He may truly be said to be the father of American Methodism.
He lived in the affections of a grateful people and walked in the
constant light of perfect love.
On his coming to America he found only 14 itinerant ministers, with a
few local preachers, and 371 members. At his death there were nearly 700
itinerants, 2,000 local preachers, and 214,000 members. When unable to
preach but little he filled his carriage with Bibles and Testaments, and
scattered them as he went, saying, "Whatever I have been doing
heretofore, now I know I am sowing good seed."
DR. THOMAS COKE.
This is a name that must ever stand high in the annals of American
Methodism. Born in Wales in 1747, a graduate of Oxford University, and
settled over South Petherton Parish, Somersetshire, he became acquainted
with the Methodists, and, imbibing their spirit, his ministry became
truly spiritual and faithful--so much so that it excited so much
opposition that he was dismissed from his curacy. He naturally sought
counsel of Wesley. Mr. Wesley says, August 18, 1776: "I went to Kingston
with Mr. Brown. Here I found a clergyman, Dr. Coke, late a gentleman
and commoner of Jesus College, Oxford, who came twenty miles on purpose
to see me. I had much conversation with him, and a union then began
which I trust shall never end." Dr. Coke was of great service to Mr.
Wesley in many ways, preaching in London and in other parts of England
and Ireland, and under Mr. Wesley's direction he held the Irish
Conference in 1782.
In 1784 Dr. Coke was ordained by Mr. Wesley as general superintendent
and sent to America, with Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vassey, to
establish a Methodist Church, and to ordain Francis Asbury to the same
office of superintendent that they might conjointly take charge of the
American work. They arrived in America in 1784, and, having conferred
with Mr. Asbury and other ministers, a general convention of ministers
was called, to meet on Christmas, for the purpose of organizing the
Church.
They assembled in Baltimore, and decided to organize an independent
Church to be called the "Methodist Episcopal Church." They elected Dr.
Coke and Francis Asbury bishops instead of general superintendents. And
so, on that Christmas Day, 1784, the Methodist Episcopal Church became a
fact for all coming time.
Dr. Coke has the honor of being the first Protestant bishop in America,
with the exception of some visitors who had been sent here by the
Moravians.
Dr. Coke very soon returned to England. He designed, at first, to make
America his home; but such were the urgent necessities of the work in
England, especially after the death of Wesley, that the General
Conference permitted him to remain there, but not to exercise his
episcopal functions outside of America. He resided for many years in
England. He established missions in the West India Islands. He presided
for many years in the Irish Conference, and frequently in England. He
made several visits to the United States, the last being in 1804. On
that occasion he went as far east as Boston, spending a full week in
Providence, R. I. An incident illustrating his humility and undying love
for the Church of his choice occurred on his visit to Providence. A
gentleman in New York had requested James Burrill, Esq., a lawyer and a
highly respectable citizen of Providence, to receive Dr. Coke with the
honors due an English bishop, though he was not an English bishop. Rev.
Thomas Lyell accompanied Dr. Coke from Newport to Providence. A crowd
had assembled on the wharf to see and welcome a bishop. Arrangements had
been made for Dr. Coke's entertainment at the palatial residence of John
Enos Clark, Esq., a wealthy citizen of Providence, and Mr. Clark's
carriage was in waiting. As Dr. Coke landed he inquired of Messrs. Clark
and Burrell if there were any Methodists in the town. They knew of none.
Mr. Shubal Cady, the class leader, being present, came forward and said,
"There is a small class." He then asked, "Where do the Methodist
preachers stop when they come to town?" He was informed that they
stopped with Mr. Benjamin Turpin, a Quaker gentleman. Dr. Coke then
expressed a desire to stop there, if convenient. Mr. Turpin, being
present, assured him that he would be pleased to entertain him, though
his accommodations were greatly inferior to those of Mr. Clark. Mr.
Clark's carriage conveyed the bishop to the residence of Mr. Turpin,
where he remained during his stay in Providence.
Dr. Coke was invited to preach in the churches. But before he consented
he inquired where the Methodist ministers preached when they came to
town. Being told that they preached in an old Town House, he refused all
other invitations until he had first preached where they did. He knew
that Methodism was weak and despised in Providence, and he was
determined that the Methodists should receive the benefit first of
whatever influence his position gave him. With him it was Methodism
first, then a world-wide fraternity with all the family of God.
The missionary spirit dominated Dr. Coke. "He was himself a missionary
society." In all his journeys he paid his own expenses. At the age of
nearly seventy he proposed to the Wesleyan Conference to go personally
to the East Indies and establish a mission. The Conference objected on
account of expense. He offered to bear the entire expense himself, to
the amount of thirty thousand dollars, and the Conference finally
consented. He selected six men to accompany him, and sailed for the
Indies. A few days before they expected to land Dr. Coke was found dead
one morning in his stateroom. The mission was established, though Dr.
Coke was with the glorified. He was buried in the Indian Ocean, where,
in after years, Dr. Judson, the great Baptist missionary, rested from
his labors.
It has been said, "No man in Methodism, except Wesley, did more for the
extension of the work through the world than Dr. Coke." Mr. Asbury says,
"He was a minister of Christ, in zeal, in labor, and in services, the
greatest man of the last century."
Bishop Asbury continued his labors with marvelous success until March,
1816, when, in great weakness, he preached his last sermon, Sunday,
March 24. Hoping to attend the General Conference, which met in
Baltimore, May 1, he succeeded in reaching Spottsylvania, and there, on
the afternoon of the following Sunday, he fell asleep in Jesus. Dr.
Coke died three years before Mr. Asbury. These were great, good, and
honored men.
Methodism spread from its first introduction. Robert Strawbridge,
accompanied by Robert Williams and John King, was the first to enter
Maryland. Captain Webb was the first to introduce Methodism into
Pennsylvania. Freeborn Garrettson, assisted by William Black, was the
first to enter New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. Boardman, Jesse Lee, and
Freeborn Garrettson were the first to enter New England, including
Massachusetts, Maine, Rhode Island, and Connecticut. Francis Clark, a
local preacher, was the first to enter Kentucky, in 1782. The first
Conference preachers were James Haw and Benjamin Ogden. We do not know
who first entered Indiana. Lorenzo Dow was the first to carry Methodism
into Alabama, in 1803 or 1804. Jesse Lee was the first to enter Florida,
then Spanish, in 1807; he crossed the St. Mary's River in a small boat,
knelt down in the woods, and implored God to claim the territory for
himself. In 1823 J. N. Gallen was appointed to St. Augustine. E. W.
Bowman was the first to enter Louisiana, in 1805, where the people were
said to know "nothing of God or religion." Joseph Pilmore was first to
enter South Carolina, in 1773; in 1785, Asbury, not to speak of Wesley,
in 1736. In 1769 Robert Williams, a local preacher, was first to enter
Virginia and preach his first sermon at Norfolk. Joseph Tillard was the
first Methodist preacher to enter Illinois; he formed the first class.
Nathan Bangs preached the first Methodist sermon in Detroit, Mich., and
William Mitchell organized the first class. Beverly Allen preached first
in Georgia, in 1785. In 1835 L. Stevens entered Iowa. In 1849 William
Roberts and J. H. Wilber, on their way to Oregon, spent some time in San
Francisco, and in 1849 Isaac Owen and William Taylor were sent as
missionaries to California. Wisconsin first heard the Gospel from John
Clark.
We have thus given the dates of the introduction of Methodism into the
several States, and the names of the preachers so far as we are able to
ascertain. There may be some mistakes in these dates and names, but they
are substantially correct.
But this work was not prosecuted without fearful persecution. Not all
suffered equally. Freeborn Garrettson, in a letter to Mr. Wesley, says:
"Once I was imprisoned, twice beaten, left on the highway speechless and
senseless (I must have gone to the world of spirits had not God sent a
good samaritan that took me to a friend's house); once shot at; guns and
pistols presented to my breast; once delivered from an armed mob, in the
dead of night, on the highway by a flash of lightning; surrounded
frequently by mobs; stoned frequently. I have had to escape for my life
at the dead of night. O, shall I ever forget the divine Hand which has
supported me?" Of his sufferings and labors in Nova Scotia he writes: "I
have traveled mountains and valleys frequently on foot, with my knapsack
on my back, guided by Indian paths in the wilderness when it was not
expedient to take a horse; and I had often to wade through morasses,
half a leg deep in mud and water, frequently satisfying my hunger with a
piece of bread and pork from my knapsack, quenching my thirst from a
brook, and resting my weary limbs on the leaves of the trees. Thanks be
to God! He compensated me for all my trials, for many precious souls
were awakened and converted to God." These holy men cared not how they
lived, what trials they endured, what hardships they suffered, so that
souls were won to Christ. These were but few of their sufferings.
One has said: "They braved the rigors of severe winters, and the perils
of flood and forest; they slumbered on hardest pillows and housed in
lowliest hovels. But in their work they were joyous; in their trials
they were patient; in their homes they were contented; in their
journeyings the woods echoed their songs; in their pulpits they had
power with man; in their persecutions they prayed for their enemies; in
their old age they testify they have not followed 'cunningly devised
fables;' in their death hour they are borne up on their shields, 'where
the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.' And in
their final home, 'These are they who came up out of great tribulation,
and have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the
Lamb; thenceforth they are before the throne.'" We are now reaping the
fruit of their toil and enjoying the rich heritage they have bequeathed
to us.