SHORT TOUR WITH BISHOP ASBURY, 1803.
Bishops Asbury and Whatcoat visited my circuit on the 18th of July.
Bishop Whatcoat preached in Bristol, and Bishop Asbury in Burlington;
after which I rode with the bishops to Philadelphia, in company with
Thomas F. Sargent and Oliver Beale. Bishop Asbury said he wished me to
travel with him, so I left all, for in that day the bishop said “go, and
he goeth; come, and he cometh.” I heard the bishop, George Roberts, and
T. F. Sargent preach before I left Philadelphia. The bishops moved on in
advance of me, and I overtook them at Soudersburg. Here Bishop Asbury
preached from Psalm li, 9-12, on “a clean heart and a right spirit.”
Bishop Whatcoat exhorted after him.
Bishop Whatcoat had designed to go the western route, but he became so
feeble that Asbury was obliged to proceed without him.
We went first to Columbia, then to Little York, then to Hollow Pence’s, a
little distance from York. The bishop preached in every place. At Brother
Pence’s, Brother Wilson Lee met us. After the bishop’s sermon he exhorted
with great effect, and there was a shaking among the dry bones. From
thence we had his company for some days. He was the presiding elder,
and when the bishop entered a district the elder generally accompanied
him. Next we went to Carlisle, to quarterly meeting. On Saturday Bishop
Asbury preached at eleven, from Col. iii, 12, 13; at night Wilson Lee,
from Joshua iii, 5, “Sanctify yourselves, for to-morrow the Lord will do
wonders among you.” This was indeed a preparation sermon for the wonders
of the morrow.
On Sunday morning we had a prayer-meeting at sunrise. It was a joyful
season. At eight o’clock James Smith preached from Acts xiii, 26; at
eleven, Bishop Asbury preached with life and power from 2 Cor. iv, 2,
“But have renounced the hidden things of dishonesty,” etc. At four,
Wilson Lee preached from 2 Cor. x, 3-9, on the weapons of our warfare.
Brother Fidler preached in the evening. We had four sermons, besides
a prayer-meeting at sunrise. That was a great day in Carlisle; crowds
attended to hear the word.
The next day we went to David Snyder’s, where the bishop preached from
2 Tim. iv, 7, 8, “I have fought a good fight.” Wilson Lee exhorted. I
wrote, “Glory to God, this was a comfortable season.” In the afternoon we
went to Shippensburgh, where the bishop preached in the evening from 1
Peter iii, 15, 16, on the “reason of the hope” within you. I wrote thus:
“It is remarkable to see what labors our father in the Gospel undergoes.
I think there is not a traveling preacher in the connection that goes
through more fatigue. His extreme toil and labor eclipses the most
zealous among us.”
On Wednesday Brother Lee left us, and I went on with the bishop over the
mountains and rocks till we reached Bedford County, Pennsylvania. We then
went over the Dry Ridge and the Alleghany Hills singing the praises of
the Most High. We stopped in Berlin, Somerset County, on the top of the
mountains. I preached in German, and the bishop exhorted.
Here, on the top of the Alleghany Mountains, I parted with the bishop,
on the 5th of August, having been with him fourteen days, and heard him
preach eight times. He always loved the Germans, and as I could preach
in that language, and few at that time could, he said to me, “Henry,
you had better return and preach to the Germans, and I will pursue my
journey alone.” He did not send me back to Bristol, but to Dauphin, there
being more Germans on that circuit. The bishop gave me his blessing, and
with tears I bade him adieu, and he turned his face westward and I went
eastward. Years after I crossed the Alleghanies several times with the
bishop; I did something more than go to the top and look over at the
mighty West.
The bishop, when I parted with him, was feeble in body, but in a blessed
state of mind, as will be seen by an entry in his journal the next
Tuesday after we separated. He says: “Although much afflicted, I felt
wholly given up to do or suffer the will of God; to be sick or well,
and to live or die, at any time and in any place—the fields, the woods,
the house, or the wilderness: glory be to God for such resignation! I
have but little to leave except a journey of five thousand miles a year,
the care of more than a hundred thousand souls, and the arrangement of
about four hundred preachers yearly, to which I may add the murmurs and
discontent of ministers and people. Who wants this legacy? Those who do
are welcome to it for me!” Many might covet the honor, but few the toils
and the sacrifices. The office of bishop was no sinecure in those days.
At the time frequent changes in the ministry were made by the bishops
during the interval of conference, but they did not always appear in the
Minutes. Most of the preachers were single men, and could move without
much trouble. My name in the Minutes that year does not stand connected
with Bristol Circuit, but Dauphin. Thus: “Dauphin, Jacob Gruber, Henry
Boehm.”
On Sunday, August 7, I went to a quarterly meeting held at Fort Littleton
by Wilson Lee, presiding elder of Baltimore district. There was an
excellent love-feast at nine o’clock, at which Brother Lee presided. It
was the only time I was in a love-feast with that heavenly-minded man.
Brother Lee was very ill, and urged me to preach. In the name and fear
of my Lord I undertook it. My text was 1 Peter iii, 12: “For the eyes of
the Lord are over the righteous,” etc. I was blessed with great liberty.
God’s power was felt in the sanctuary; the house echoed with songs of
joy and shouts of triumph all through the sermon, but the Lord gave me
strength to keep my voice above the rest. There was not only a shout of
the king in the camp, but the power of God so rested upon the people
that many of them fell both speechless and helpless. It reminded me of
the exhibitions of power I had seen in the Peninsula. Four souls were
converted during this meeting.
On Tuesday, the 9th, we came to Shippensburgh. Here Brother Lee and I
bade each other farewell. The refreshing seasons we had together I have
not forgotten, and his image for over half a century has been before me.
I had heard him preach in Philadelphia, in 1797, at St. George’s, when
he was stationed there. He was a tall, slender man, had a musical voice,
and his delivery was very agreeable. He was one of the great men of
Methodism, and a great favorite of Mr. Asbury.
Bishop Asbury saw him but once after this, and that was on the 27th
of April, 1804, on his return from the south. He says: “We came to
Georgetown, and I visited Wilson Lee, ill with a bleeding of the lungs.”
Mr. Lee lingered till autumn, and on the 4th of October he died at Walter
Worthington’s, in Anne Arundel County, Maryland, in the forty-third year
of his age.