VOLUME 1 — BOOK I — CHAPTER V
WESLEY'S AMERICAN MISSIONARIES, CONTINUED

America appears in Wesley's Minutes — Appeal for more Preachers — More sent — Early Life of Francis Asbury — Methodism in Staffordshire — Asbury becomes a Methodist — His Character — He embarks for America — Richard Wright, his Companion — Their Arrival in Philadelphia — Number of Methodists in America — St. George's Chapel — The First Philadelphia Methodists — Bohemia Manor — Asbury in New Jersey — Peter Van Pelt — Staten Island — Methodism there — Israel Disosway Asbury enters New York — He contends for the Itinerancy — He extemporizes a Circuit — In Philadelphia — The Itinerancy in Operation — Asbury's Preaching and Spirit — Wesley appoints him "Assistant" or Superintendent — His Labors in Maryland — In Baltimore — A Quarterly Conference — Asbury forms Classes in Baltimore — First Methodist Chapel there — Asbury's Baltimore Circuit — Quarterly Conference

The name of "America" appears, in 1770, for the first time in Wesley's list of appointments. Four preachers are recorded as composing the little Corps of its Methodist evangelists: Joseph Pilmoor, Richard Boardman, Robert Williams, and John King. In the Minutes of the next year America appears for the first time in the list of returns of members of Society. It reports three hundred and sixteen. Captain Webb was still abroad laboring in the middle colonies, and was appealing to Wesley for more preachers. Pilmoor and Boardman also wrote to him, calling for recruits. Their reports of success, with the returns of more than three hundred members in their infant Churches, could not be resisted by Wesley; and though British Methodism was now in an anxious crisis, the disjunction of its Calvinistic and Arminian parties, and the Conference of was agitated by that controversy and by the presence and remonstrance of Shirley, one of the Calvinistic leaders — the origin of the great Arminian contest of the last century, and of Fletcher's memorable "Checks," — yet Wesley turned from the gathering storm and pointed the Conference again to the brightening light in the Western sky. "Our brethren in America call aloud for help," he said to the assembled body; "who are willing to go over and help them?" Five responded, and two were appointed. They were all that could be spared from the urgent work at home, supplied as yet by but about a hundred and twenty effective itinerants.

One of them was a young man who is henceforth to occupy so prominent a place in our narrative, and in the recording of whose history the Church has been so dilatory, that we may well attempt solicitously to trace the scanty details of his extraordinary life which yet remain. He was the only son of an intelligent peasant of the Parish of Handsworth, Staffordshire, who was "remarkable for honesty and industry," "having all things needful to enjoy," and who "might have been wealthy had be been as saving as he was laborious;" but, contented with rural tranquillity and simplicity, he was "farmer and gardener to the two richest families of the parish." [1] The death of an only daughter, a "darling child," produced such an impression upon the heart of the mother of the family as to lead her to a religious life and to a passionate love of books, the best reliefs to the maternal grief which clung to her through a long life. She "strongly urged" her husband "to family reading and prayer." She trained her only remaining child with religious care. He never "dared an oath or hazarded a lie." His youthful associates were addicted to the usual vices of their age, but he "often retired from their society uneasy and melancholy." His intelligent parents could appreciate the value of education and early sent him to school. He could read the Bible when but seven years of age, and "greatly delighted in its historical parts." "My schoolmaster," he says, "was a great churl, and used to beat me cruelly; this drove me to prayer, and it appeared to me that God was near to me. My father having but the one son greatly desired to keep me at school, he cared not how long; but in this design he was disappointed; for my master, by his severity, had filled me with such horrible dread, that with me anything was preferable to going to school. I lived some time in one of the wealthiest and most ungodly families we had in the parish. Here I became vain, but not openly wicked. Some months after this I returned home, and made my choice, when about thirteen years and a half old, to learn a branch of business at which I wrought about six years and a half; during this time I enjoyed great liberty, and in the family was treated more like a son or an equal than an apprentice. God sent a pious man, not a Methodist, into our neighborhood, and my mother invited him to our house. By his conversation and prayers I was awakened before I was fourteen years of age. I began to pray morning and evening, being drawn by the cords of love as with the bands of a man."

He resorted to West Bromwich Church, about five miles from Birmingham, on the highway to Liverpool, where he heard Talbot, Hawes, Bagnall, Venn, and others, notable "Calvinistic Methodists" of that day, friends of Whitefield and the Countess of Huntingdon. The Earl of Dartmouth's residence was in the vicinity, and was the asylum of the preachers, who sometimes held meetings in the hall of the Methodistic nobleman. The youthful inquirer read the Calvinistic Methodist books of the time, especially the sermons of Whitefield. He asked his mother "who and what were the Methodists?" for the Arminian or Wesleyan Methodists had made an extraordinary stir in Staffordshire and were "everywhere spoken against." In no part of the United Kingdom had they encountered severer conflicts. It was there, as we have seen, that Charles Wesley could distinguish, by their marks of violence the homes of Methodists as he rode through its villages; that the mob planted a flag and kept it flying several days in defiance of the authorities, that Methodist men and women had to flee with their children to escape death; that the rabble, dividing into several companies, marched from village to village, placing the whole region in a state little short of civil war." Relics of ruined furniture are still kept in Methodist families of the county as sacred mementos of those days of the fiery trial of their fathers. Wednesbury, not far from the home of the good farmer of Handsworth, and where his young son was first to meet with Wesleyans, was especially the scene of such outrages. The mob reigned for nearly a week in that town; houses of Methodists were broken into, furniture destroyed and thrown out the windows, and portable property carried away by the rioters, who passed with burdens of it unchecked along the streets; Methodist men were knocked down before their houses Methodist women maltreated in a way which Wesley says he dare not describe. Wesley himself had been insulted, beaten with bludgeons, and led by an uncontrollable mob through the streets during much of a rainy night, hardly expecting to survive till morning; the "noise on every side being," he says, "like the roaring of the sea." The devout youth of Handsworth had heard of this persecuted people; some of them had knocked at the cottage door of his mother in his early childhood, had been welcomed there, and the neighbors been invited in to hear them sing, pray, and "exhort." To his inquiries about them now she replied with a "favorable account," and directed him to a person who could take him to Wednesbury to hear them. He went, and was surprised at everything he saw; they met, not in a church, "but it as better;" "the people were so devout, men and women kneeling down, saying Amen." He was delighted with their singing. Accustomed, in his parish church, to prelections rather than preaching, he was surprised to hear sermons without a sermon book, "wonderful" prayers without a prayer book. "It is certainly," he wrote, "a strange way, but the best way. The preacher talked about confidence, assurance, etc., of which all my flights and hopes fell short. I had no deep convictions, nor had I committed any deep known sins. At one sermon, some time after, my companion was powerfully wrought on; I was exceedingly grieved that I could not weep like him; yet I knew myself to be in a state of unbelief. On a certain time when we were praying in my father's barn I believe the Lord pardoned my sins and justified my soul. After this, we met for reading and prayer, and had large and good meetings, and were much persecuted, until the persons at whose houses we held them were afraid, and they were discontinued. I then held meetings frequently at my father's house, exhorting the people there, as also at Sutton Coldfield, and several souls professed to find peace through my labors. I met in Class a while at Bromwich-Heath, and met in Band at Wednesbury. I had preached some months before I publicly appeared in the Methodist meeting-houses, when my labors became more public and extensive; some were amazed, not knowing how I had exercised elsewhere. Behold me now a Local Preacher, the humble and willing servant of any and of every preacher that called on me by night or by day; being ready, with hasty steps, to go far and wide to do good, visiting Derbyshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Worcestershire, and indeed almost every place within my reach for the sake of precious souls; preaching, generally, three four and five times week, and at the same time pursuing my calling. I think, when I was between twenty one and twenty two years of age I gave myself up to God and his work after acting as a Local Preacher nearly five years."

He was only about seventeen years old when he began to hold public meetings, not eighteen when he began to preach, and about twenty one when he started out as an itinerant, supplying the place of an absent traveling preacher, though not yet received by the Annual Conference.

When appointed by Wesley to America he was a young man, about twenty six years of age. He had been in the traveling ministry only about five years, and but four years on the catalogue of regular appointments, but had seen hard service on the Bedford, Colchester and Wiltshire circuits. He was studious somewhat introspective, with a thoughtfulness which was tinged at times with melancholy. His was one of those minds which can find rest only in labor; designed for great work, and therefore endowed with a restless instinct for it. He was an incessant preacher, of singular practical directness; was ever in motion on foot or on horseback over his long circuits; a rigorous disciplinarian, disposed to do everything by method; a man of few words and those always to the point; of quick and marvelous insight into character; of a sobriety, not to say severity of temperament, which might have been repulsive had it not been softened by a profound religious humility, for his soul, ever aspiring to the highest virtue, was ever complaining within itself over its shortcomings. His mind had eminently a military cast. He never lost his self-possession, and could therefore seldom be surprised. He seemed not to know fear, and never yielded to discouragement in a course sanctioned by his faith or conscience. He could plan sagaciously, seldom pausing to consider theories of wisdom or policy, but as seldom failing in practical prudence. The rigor which his disciplinary predilections imposed upon others was so exemplified by himself, that his associates or subordinates, instead of revolting from it, accepted it as a challenge of heroic emulation. Discerning men could not come into his presence without perceiving that his soul was essentially heroic, and that nothing committed to his agency could fail, if it depended upon conscientiousness, prudence, courage, labor, and persistence. "Who," says one who knew him intimately, "who of us could be in his company without feeling impressed with a reverential awe and profound respect? It was al most impossible to approach him without feeling the strong influence of his spirit and presence. There was something in this remarkable fact almost inexplicable and indescribable. Was it owing to the strength and elevation of his spirit, the sublime conceptions of his mind, the dignity and majesty of his soul, or the sacred profession with which he was clothed, as an ambassador of God, invested with divine authority? But so it was; it appeared as though the very atmosphere in which he moved gave unusual sensations of diffidence and humble restraint to the boldest confidence of man." Withal his appearance was in his favor. In his most familiar portrait he has the war-worn aspect of a military veteran, but in earlier life his frame was robust, his countenance full, fresh, and expressive of generous if not refined feelings. He was somewhat attentive to his apparel, and always maintained an easy dignity of manner which commanded the respect if not the affection of his associates. The appeals from the American Methodists had reached him in his rural circuits, for he had never left his ministerial work to attend the Annual Conference. Two mouths before the session of 1771 his mind had been impressed with the thought that America was his destined field of labor. He saw in new world a befitting sphere for his apostolic aspirations.

These great qualities, made manifest in his subsequent career, were inherent in the man, and Wesley could not fail to perceive them. He not only accepted him for America, but, notwithstanding his youth, appointed him, at the ensuing conference, at the head of the American ministerial itinerancy.

Receiving his appointment, he returned from the conference at Bristol to take leave of his friends. "I went home," he writes, "to acquaint my parents with my great undertaking which I opened in as gentle a manner as possible. Though it was grievous to flesh and blood they consented to let me go. My mother is one of the tenderest parents in the world, but I believe she was blessed in the present instance with Divine assistance to part with me. I visited most of my friends in Satffordshire, Warwickshire, and Gloucestershire, and felt much life and power among them. Several of our meetings Were indeed held in the spirit and life of God. Many of my friends were struck with wonder when they heard of my going, but none opened their months against it, hoping it was of God. Some wished that their situation would allow them to go with me." He arrived at last at Bristol to embark, but without a penny for his expenses. "Yet," he writes, "the Lord soon opened the hearts of friends, who supplied me with clothes and ten pounds: thus I found, by experience, that he will provide for those who trust in him." The ship sailed on the 4th of September. He had but two blankets for his bed, and slept with them on the hard boards during the voyage. "I want," he writes, "faith, courage, patience, meekness, love. When others suffer so much for their temporal interests, surely I may suffer a little for the glory of God and the good of souls. I feel my spirit bound to the new world, and my heart united to the people, though unknown; and have great cause to believe that I am not running before I am sent. The more troubles I meet with, the more convinced I am that I am doing the will of God." When eight days out he wrote, "Whither am I going? To the new world. What to do? To gain honor? No, if I know my own heart. To get money? No; I am going to live to God, and to bring others so to do. If God does not acknowledge me in America I will soon return to England. I know my views are upright now: may they never be otherwise."

He preached frequently on the voyage, and spent his leisure time "in prayer, retirement, and reading." "My spirit," he wrote, "mourns and thirsts after entire devotion." Such was Francis Asbury.

His companion, Richard Wright, had traveled but one year in England when he set out on his voyage to America. We know but little of His history, scarcely more indeed than that he accompanied Asbury; that he spent most of his time, while here, in Maryland and Virginia, and a part of it, in the spring of 1772 in New York city; that in the early part of 1773 he was again in Virginia, laboring in Norfolk; and that in 1774 he returned to England, where, after three years spent in the itinerancy, he ceased to travel, and totally disappeared from the published records of the denomination. [3]

After a voyage of more than fifty days they reached Philadelphia, "and," says Asbury, "were brought in the evening to a large church, where we met with a considerable congregation. Mr. Pilmoor preached. The people looked on us with pleasure, hardly knowing how to show their love sufficiently, bidding us welcome with fervent affection, and receiving us as angels of God. O that we may always walk worthy of the vocation wherewith we are called! When I came near the American shore my very heart melted within me to think from whence I came, whither I was going, and what I was going about. But I felt my mind opened to the people, and my tongue loosed to speak. I feel that God is here, and find plenty of all we need." On the third of November he writes, "I find my mind drawn heavenward. The Lord hath helped me by his power, and my soul is in a paradise. May God keep me as the apple of his eye till all the storms of life are past." On the fourth of November he says, "We held a watchnight. It began at eight o'clock. Mr. Pilmoor preached, and the people attended with great seriousness. Very few left the solemn place till the conclusion. Toward the end a plain man spoke, who came out of the country, and his words went with great power to the souls of the people, so that we may say, 'Who hath despised the day of small things?' Not the Lord our God; then why should self-important man?" The next day he writes, "My own mind is fixed on God; he hath helped me. Glory be to him that liveth and abideth forever." On the sixth he writes, "I preached at Philadelphia my last sermon, before I set out for New York, on Rom. viii, 32 'He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him freely give us all things?' This also was a night of power to my own and many other souls." Thus devoutly did he begin his great American mission.

There were now probably about six hundred Methodists in the colonies, [4] and at least ten preachers, including Embury, Webb, Williams, King, and Owen, besides Wesley's missionaries. The "large church" in which Asbury heard Pilmoor preach on the evening of his arrival was St. George's, still standing, and revered as the "Old Cathedral" of Methodism in Philadelphia. It had been built by a German Reformed Society, but its projectors failed, and sold it in 1770 to Miles Pennington, one of the first members of the first class, of seven persons, formed in the city by Captain Webb in 1768. It was probably at the instance of Webb that Pennington obtained it, for the veteran soldier knew the value of fortified fields. He gave liberally from his own funds toward it. The same year it was conveyed to the captain and others as trustees of the Methodist Society. For a long time it was unfinished and unfurnished, only half floored with rough boards, its pulpit a rude square box on the north side. "In process of time," says a Methodist chronicler, "it was floored from end to end, and more comely seats were put in it, with a new pulpit, like a tall tub on a post, which was the fashion of the times, but one of the worst fashions that ever was for a pulpit. It was too high, it held but one person, and scarcely had room in it to allow any action of the speaker. This second pulpit stood in the right place in the center of the east end of the church. The house was not plastered till Dr. Coke came to America, and the Methodists were organized into a Church. There was no church in the connection that Mr. Asbury labored as much for as St. George's. It was for nearly fifty years the largest place of worship that the Methodists had in America. It was their cathedral." [5] Such was the first of that series of Methodist chapels in Philadelphia, which has ever since grown more rapidly than the chapel provisions of any other denomination in the city, orthodox or heterodox, and amounts in our day to seventy-two places of worship, more than one sixth of all the city churches. [6]

The new missionaries found warm hearts in the shell of St. George's Chapel. There was James Emerson, the first Class Leader of the city; Miles Pennington, who had ventured, under the inspiration of Webb, to assume the whole responsibility of the purchase of the edifice; Robert Fitzgerald, and John Hood, the friend of Dr. Wrangle, the Swedish friend of Methodism; these four, with some of their wives constituted the first class of seven. Hood was now Emerson's successor as leader, and afterward became a Local Preacher. His faithful associate, Lambert Wilmer, the other friend of Wrangle, had joined the class soon after its organization, and was at hand to welcome the missionaries. His wife became a female Class Leader of St. George's, and their house was the endeared asylum of the itinerants for many years. The friendship of Wilmer and Hood lasted, as we have seen, to the end, and they sleep together in one grave. "John Hood continued a member of St. George's, acting as a Local Preacher, Class Leader, and clerk: he was in his day one of the 'sweet singers of Israel.' When he stood up to sing in St. George's, his pleasing countenance seemed to have heaven daguerreotyped upon it, and his sweet voice was in harmony with his face. He was one of the best of Christians, beloved by all that knew him." 7 "Heaven," was the last word uttered by his dying lips. He fell asleep, probably the oldest Methodist in the new world. [8]

Having refreshed themselves among these fervent brethren, the missionaries took their departure for new fields; Asbury to the North, Wright to the South. The latter spent the winter mostly on Bohemia Manor in Maryland. Whitefield had preached there often. "The chief families — the Bayards and Bouchells — were mostly his disciples. There is a room in a certain house where he slept, prayed, and studied; that is still called Whitefield's room. The Wesleyans now began to cultivate this field. Solomon Hersey, who lived below the present Bohemia Mills, at what was then called Sluyter's Mill, was the first available friend to Methodism. He had the preaching at his house for a number of years; and though the first Methodist preaching on the Eastern Shore of Maryland was in Kent county, yet the evidence in the case leads us to believe that the first Society on this shore was formed at Hersey's in 1772. This Society is still represented at the Manor Chapel. The old Log Chapel which was called Bethesda, and fell in to decay an age ago, was built between 1780 and 1790. The Methodists had another appointment at Thompson's schoolhouse, where a Society was raised up, at a later date, and a chapel called Bethel (at Back Creek) was erected subsequent to 1790. These two appointments were established on what was called Bohemia Manor, as early as 1771. While Wright was laboring on Bohemia Manor, his attachments became so strong to the people that it was feared he would settle there. He had the art of pleasing, and it is likely that overtures were made to him by some of the principal men, in view of having constant instead of occasional preaching." [9]

On Wednesday, November 1, Asbury started from Philadelphia on his route through New Jersey for New York. He preached in the Courthouse at Burlington to a large throng, "his heart being much opened."

Passing on, he was saluted by Peter Van Pelt, who had heard him in Philadelphia, and now became his life-long friend. He resided on Staten Island, and constrained Asbury to spend a few days at his hospitable mansion. The early Methodist itinerants, devoting all to what they deemed God's work, expected him to take care of them in all things. Asbury, as we have seen, arrived in Bristol to embark for America "without a penny" in his pocket, but the providential provision for his voyage came with its necessity. He accepted the invitation to Staten Island as also providential, and was not disappointed, for important consequences were to follow it. "I believe," he wrote at the time, "God hath sent us to this country. All I seek is to be more spiritual, and given up entirely to Him whom I love." his frame of mind was compatible with his new work. "On the Lord's day, in the morning, November 11," he adds, "I preached again to a large company of people, with some enlargement of mind, at the house of my worthy friend Mr. Van Pelt; in the afternoon to a still larger congregation; and was invited in the evening to the house of Justice Wright, where I had a large company to hear me. Still evidence grows upon me, and I trust I am in the order of God, and that there will be a willing people here. My soul has been much affected with them. My heart and mouth are open; only I am still sensible of my deep insufficiency, and that mostly with regard to holiness. It is true, God has given me some gifts; but what are they to holiness? It is for holiness my spirit mourns. I wish to walk constantly before God without reproof."

This was probably the first Methodist preaching on the beautiful island, and opened the way for it to become one of the garden spots of the denomination, with its six Methodist Churches of our day, though it is only fourteen miles in length, with but from two to four in breadth. Peter Van Pelt and Justice Wright continued to be steadfast friends of the infant cause, and their houses were long favorite homes of Asbury and his fellow-laborers. Benjamin Van Pelt, the brother of Peter, became a useful Local Preacher, and one of the founders of Methodism in Tennessee, then the furthest West. [10]

Asbury often returned to the island. At one of his early visits a new and memorable name appears in his Journal, that of Israel Disosway. "Surely," wrote the evangelist, "God sent me to these people at first, and I trust he will continue to bless them and pour out his Spirit upon them, and receive them at last to himself." His prayer has since been answered in hundreds if not thousands of instances. He now preached at the houses of Van Pelt, Wright, and Disosway. There were already about half a dozen preaching places on the island. Israel Disosway became its first Class Leader. Its first quarterly meeting was held in his barn, and the timbers of its first Methodist church were cut from his trees." He removed to New York, and lived long a pillar in Embury's Society, at John Street and his name represented by his descendants, is still familiar and honored in the Methodism of the metropolis.

Asbury arrived in the city on the 12th of November. "Now," he wrote as he entered it, "Now I must apply myself to my old work — to watch, and fight, and pray. Lord, help." Boardman, "a worthy, loving man," welcomed him. He opened his commission the next day with a characteristic sermon on the text, "I am determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him crucified." He was in the pulpit again the following day, and wrote at its conclusion, "My heart is truly enlarged, and I know that the life and power of religion is here." The Sabbath was a joyful occasion to him; he had been heartily received, and his spirit was kindled with the fervor of his zeal. "Lord, help me against the mighty," he wrote. "I feel a regard for the people, and I think the Americans are more ready to receive the word than the English; and to see the poor Negroes so affected is pleasing; to see their sable countenances in our solemn assemblies, and to hear them sing with cheerful melody their Redeemer's praise, affected me much, and made me ready to say, 'Of a truth I perceive God is no respecter of persons.' "

He could not be content, however, with stationary labors. He had always, since the commencement of his ministry, been an itinerant, and he must always continue such. Boardman and Pilmoor, as we have seen, confined themselves mostly to the cities of Philadelphia and New York, for the occasional exceptions, already noticed, took place mostly after Asbury's arrival, and at his instance. In about a week after reaching New York Asbury writes: "I have not yet the thing which I seek — a circulation of preachers. I am fixed to the Methodist plan; I am willing to suffer, yea, to die, sooner than betray so good a cause by any means. It will be a hard matter to stand against all opposition, as an iron pillar strong, and steadfast as a wall of brass; but through Christ strengthening me I can do all things." Supremely important was this disposition. Wesley had rightly estimated his man when he commissioned Asbury for the Western world. For however expedient modifications of the itinerancy might become, in the maturity of the denomination, it was now, as we have seen, the great necessity of the country and the special work of Methodism in it. But there was already spreading among the young Societies a disposition to localize their few pastors. Many of the oldest itinerants, during the remainder of the century, favored this tendency, and ceased to travel. [12] Asbury, speaking of Wright, said, "I fear after all he will settle on Bohemia." Pilmoor and Boardman were also inclined to settle in Philadelphia and New York. Strawbridge, though his name appears in the Minutes of 1773 and 1775, was subsequently settled over the Sam's Creek and Bush Forest congregations; and Asbury himself had "a call" to an Episcopal church in Maryland. The Church and the nation owe the maintenance of the itinerancy, with its incalculable blessings, chiefly to the invincible energy of Francis Asbury.

On the 22d he writes: "At present I am dissatisfied. I judge we are to be shut up in the cities this winter. My brethren seem unwilling to leave the cities, but I think I shall show them the way. I am in trouble, and more trouble is at hand, for I am determined to make a stand against all partiality. I have nothing to seek but the glory of God; nothing to fear but his displeasure. I am come over with an upright intention, and through the grace of God I will make it appear; and I am determined that no man shall bias me with soft words and fair speeches; nor will I ever fear (the Lord helping me) the face of man, or know any man after the flesh if I beg my bread from door to door; but whomsoever I please or displease I will be faithful to God, to the people, and to my own soul."

It was soon seen that he was not to be shaken in his purpose. There must be a winter campaign, and henceforth, while he lived, no cantonments [lodgings assigned to troops, Oxford Dict. — DVM] , no winter-quarters. In a short time he had formed an extemporary circuit in the country around the city including Westchester County and Staten Island. He hastened continually from his headquarters in the metropolis to many of the neighboring towns and villages, to West Farms, New Rochelle, where he was entertained by Deveau; to Mamaroneck, Rye, East Chester, and many other places; Preaching in courthouses, private houses, occasionally in Churches, sometimes in the open air. He continued thus to travel till the latter part of March, 1772, when he again passed over the scenes of Webb's labors in New Jersey, preaching almost daily till he arrived in Philadelphia, where he was refreshed to meet Webb and Boardman. The latter, as Superintendent, sketched a plan of labor for some ensuing months. Boardman, himself, was to go eastward on his visit to Boston, Pilmoor to Virginia, Wright to New York, and Asbury was to stay three months in and about Philadelphia. He was immediately abroad, preaching in Chester, Wilmington New Castle, and reached Bohemia Manor, the late field of Wright. Returning to Philadelphia, he wrote, "I hope that before long about seven preachers of us will spread over seven or eight hundred miles." He was quickly traveling southward in New Jersey; back again to the city; then northward in New Jersey, and again to the city. He thus formed the Philadelphia Circuit, which reached to Trenton, N. J. The itinerancy was at last fairly initiated. Boardman returned to him from the East with reports of New England; Pilmoor, on his way to Virginia, wrote him a letter from Maryland "replete with accounts of his preaching abroad, and in the Church, to large congregations, and the like."

In July, 1772, Boardman renewed his Plan of Appointments, taking charge himself of Philadelphia, with excursions to Delaware and Maryland; sending Asbury again to New York; Wright to Maryland, to assist Strawbridge, King, and Williams; and Pilmoor to Virginia. Such are the sparse details we can glean of the early itinerancy; limited almost to meager names and dates and yet signifying much. Asbury was evidently giving propulsion to the work. In his unintermitted excursions he was waking up preachers, societies, and the population generally. He preached mostly in private houses, sometimes in courthouses, less frequently in churches sometimes in the woods, at others in prisons, especially where there were culprits condemned to death; and that was a day of much hanging. Sometimes he mounted a wagon at the gallows, impressing with awe the hardened multitude. At Burlington, N. J, he writes "I preached under the jail wall, and for the benefit of the prisoner attended him to the place of execution. When he came forth he roared like a bull in a net. He looked on every side, and shrieked for help, but all in vain. O how awful! Die he must — I fear unprepared. I prayed with him and for him. I saw him tied up; and then, stepping on a wagon, I spoke a word in season, and warned the people to flee from the wrath to come, and improve the day of their gracious visitation, no more grieving the Spirit of God, lest a day should come in which they may cry, and God may refuse to hear them."

He frequently availed himself of such opportunities, sometimes with better results. Attending an execution at Chester, he says, John King went with me. We found the prisoners penitent, and two of the four obtained peace with God, and seemed very thankful. I preached with liberty to a great number of people under the jail wall. John King preached at the gallows to a vast multitude; after which I prayed with them." Again, at Burlington, he says he attended the execution of a murderer, and declared to a great number of people under the jail wall, "He healeth the broken in heart." "The poor criminal appeared penitent, behaved with great solidity, and expressed a desire to leave the world. I then returned to Philadelphia and gave an exhortation that night." He was immediately back again at Burlington, "and spent three days laboring among them. Many seemed much stirred up to seek the kingdom of God." Thus was he "instant in season and out of season." His sermons were now, frequently, two or three a day; yet he exclaims, "How is my soul troubled that I am not more devoted! O my God, my soul groans and longs for this!" "My way is to go straight forward!" "Hitherto the Lord hath helped me!" "I want to breathe after the Lord in every breath." "I preached with life, and long to be as an everlasting flame of fire!" "My soul was lively, and my heart filled with holy thoughts of God! I felt a strong and pure desire to pray and mourn and long for God!" Such are the ejaculations that almost continually break from his ardent soul in these unceasing labors. His remarkable subsequent career, the "giants of those days" who rose up in all parts of the itinerant field, the great outspread of Methodism over the continent, have much of their explanation in these early indications of the great man who had thus suddenly appeared in the arena. I have therefore deemed it proper to introduce him to the reader as completely as the paucity of the contemporary records will admit. It was impossible that he should not be quickly recognized by the multiplying Societies as their providential leader. A historian of Methodism says: "The consequence of thus extending his labors into the country towns and villages was the giving a new and more vigorous impulse to religious zeal, and of calling the attention of multitudes to the Gospel message who otherwise might never have heard it.

This example of Asbury had its effect upon the other Preachers, and in the latter part of the year some of them visited the provinces of Delaware and Maryland, and preached on the Western and Eastern Shore of Maryland. Two private members of the Society raised up by Strawbridge, were the first Methodists who visited Kent County, on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. They came to one John Randal's, conversed and prayed with the family, and left behind them some salutary impressions. This created a desire for Methodist preaching; and shortly after Strawbridge himself paid them a visit, and preached to them the Gospel of Christ. He was followed by Robert Williams; and in December following, Asbury went into Kent County. Through the persevering labors of Asbury, and others associated with him, a gracious work was commenced on this peninsula, which has resulted in great good to the souls of thousands." [13]

It was under the impulse of Asbury's example that Robert Williams now went to Virginia and preached on the steps of the Norfolk Court House, and that Pilmoor went preaching southward as far as Savannah.

In the autumn of 1772 Asbury was again laboring in and all around New York. He there received a letter from Wesley appointing him "Assistant" or Superintendent of the American Societies, though he was yet but about twenty-seven years of age. He thus took charge of all the churches and the appointments of the Preachers, subject to the authority of Wesley.

He now turned southward, scattering the good seed as he went, and inspiriting the Societies and Preachers. He preached almost daily, sometimes as early as five o'clock in the morning. At Princeton he met Boardman, reduced from an "Assistant" to a "Helper" [14] but writes Asbury, "we both agreed in judgment about the affairs of the Society, and were comforted together." He passes on rapidly through Philadelphia and Delaware, and in Maryland finds the cause spreading in all directions. He reaches the house of Henry Watters, "whose brother is an exhorter, and now gone with Mr. Williams to Virginia. The Lord hath done great things for these people, notwithstanding the weakness of the instruments, and some little irregularities. Men who neither feared God nor regarded man-swearers, liars, cock-fighters, card-players, horse-racers, drunkards, etc. — are now so changed as to become new men; and they are filled with the praises of God. Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us; but unto thy name be all the glory!"

Young Watters we shall soon meet, and find him sustaining worthily his distinction as the first native Methodist itinerant of America. Asbury preached at the house of "friend Gatch," another name which was to become conspicuous in the early history of the Church. We trace him further to the home of Richard Owen, the first native Local Preacher, "where the Lord enabled" him "to preach with much feeling to a great number of people;" to "friend Durbin's," another primitive ministerial name; to the Sam's Creek "Log Meeting-house" of Strawbridge. He entered Baltimore and preached there, but was soon away again, hastening from town to town.

In December, having "gone round that part of his circuit which lay on the Western Shore, he crossed, in company with John King, the Susquehanna, to visit that part of it which lay on the Peninsula, between Chester River and Wilmington. His circuit, which lay in six counties, would be considered quite large at this day." [16] At last, recrossing the Susquehanna River, he "came to his Quarterly Conference at J. Presbury's, in Christmas week, 1772." There had been no Annual Conference yet in America, and this was the first Quarterly Conference of which we have any account. Asbury says, "Many people attended and several friends came miles. I preached from Acts xx, 28: 'Take heed therefore unto yourselves.' We afterward proceeded to our temporal business, and considered the following propositions: 1. What are our collections? We found them sufficient to defray our expenses. 2. How are the Preachers stationed? Brother Strawbridge and Brother Owen in Frederick county. Brother King, Brother Webster, and Isaac Rollins, on the other side of the bay, and myself in Baltimore. 3. Shall we be strict in our Society meetings, and not admit strangers? Agreed. 4. Shall we drop preaching in the day-time through the week? Not agreed to. 5. Will the people be contented without our administering the sacrament? John King was neuter; Brother Strawbridge pleaded much for the ordinances; and so did the people, who appeared to be much biased by him. I told them I would not agree to it at that time, and insisted on our abiding by our rules. But Mr. Boardman had given them their way at the Quarterly Meeting, held here before, and I was obliged to connive at [disregard, tacitly consent to, Oxford. Dict. — DVM] some things for the sake of peace. 6. Shall we make collections weekly, to pay the preachers' board and expenses? This was not agreed to. We then inquired into the moral characters of the Preachers and Exhorters. Only one Exhorter was found any way doubtful, and we have great hopes of him. Brother Strawbridge received œ8 quarterage; Brother King and myself œ6 each. Great love subsisted among us in this meeting, and we parted in peace."

Some new names appear in this brief record; for by this time ten or twelve native Local Preachers and Exhorters had been licensed in Maryland, such as Richard Owen, William Watters, Richard Webster, Nathaniel Perigau, Isaac Rollins, Hezekiah Bonham, Nicholas Watters; Sater Stephenson, J. Presbury, Phillip Gatch, and, probably, Aquila Standford and Abraham Rollins. [16]

Asbury began the new year, at Baltimore, as his headquarters. On January 3d he writes: "I rode to Baltimore, and had a large congregation at the house of Captain Patten, at the Point. Many of the principal people were there and the Lord enabled me to speak with power. At night I preached in town. The house was well filled, and we have a comfortable hope the work of the Lord will revive in this place. Bless the Lord, O ye saints! Holiness is the element of my soul. My earnest prayer is that nothing contrary to holiness may live in me." Still later he writes: "Many country people came to hear the word of God at the Point; some came twelve miles before those of the town had left their houses; perhaps before some of them had left their beds. I found some life and power in preaching, both at the Point and in Baltimore." He proceeded immediately to secure the foundations of Methodism in the city, for hitherto the Methodists there had met together only as "Societies," without "Classes." A local authority says: "The happiest event which could have occurred to Methodism in Baltimore, as well as to the cause of religion generally, was the arrival of Asbury in the fall of when he preached for the first time, in the morning at the Point, and in town at three o'clock in the afternoon, and at six o'clock in the evening. Down to this period there had been no disposition shown, on the part of the people, to open their houses for Methodist preaching, or to extend to the Preachers those hospitalities which are now so characteristic of Baltimore. It is true those Preachers who had preceded Asbury were allowed the freedom of the place, but it was only to preach in the market-house, or at the corners of the streets, and to take lodgings at an inn, or retire to the country, which was their usual practice. But it was far otherwise in 1772: the good seed which had been sown by Strawbridge, Williams, and others, in the surrounding country, had been productive; while that scattered by King, Pilmoor, and Boardman was beginning to spring up in Baltimore, so that Asbury found a people prepared to his hands. Captain Patten, a friendly Irishman on the Point, was the first to offer his house for preaching, and soon after William Moore, in town, at the southeast corner of Water and South streets, and also Mrs. Triplett, pious lady of the German Reformed Church, opened her three-story brick dwelling, [at the —DVM] corner of Baltimore Street and Triplett's Alley. These were filled with attentive hearers, that on the Point taking the lead. In a short time the place was found insufficient to accommodate the people who were anxious to receive the bread of life. A sail-loft, at the corner of Mills and Block streets, was provided free of charge, and was soon filled to overflowing, many coming from the country a distance of six miles, before some of the people of the town had risen from their beds. Something like a permanent arrangement being made for perpetuating Methodism in Baltimore, Asbury set about in good earnest to regulate the Societies by settling, as he says, classes, and thereby giving to Methodism that form and consistency which it had in England and no man knew better how to do this than he did. He had received a good training under the eye of Wesley, heartily sympathized with him in all his views in raising up a spiritual people, nor was he inferior to him in zeal, activity, and perseverance. Hitherto the Methodists in Baltimore had no responsible head, but met together for prayer and mutual instruction without reference to numbers or time; having no one in particular to lead their devotions, and to give advice or reproof when needed. Asbury wanted order and certainty; and he knew full well that nothing could secure these but Methodist rule. Hence on the 3d of January, 1773, he says, after meeting the Society, 'I settled a class of men,' and on the following evening, after preaching with comfort, 'I formed a class of women.' He found it difficult at first to procure a suitable leader for the men, but not so for the women, and being partial to the Wesleyan plan in England, he appointed one of their own number over them as leader. The formation of these two classes, and the addition of others soon after, together with the difficulty of finding room for those who were willing to hear the word of God preached, made it necessary to provide other than mere private accommodation; and, accordingly, in November following, Asbury, assisted by Jesse Hollingsworth, George Wells, Richard Moale, George Robinson, and John Woodward, purchased the lot, sixty feet on Strawberry Alley, and seventy-five feet on Fleet Street, for a house of worship, where the church now stands — the only original edifice of the kind, of religious denomination, in Baltimore. The following year William Moore and Philip Rogers [17] took up two lots, and erected a church in Lovely Lane; Moore collecting œ100 to assist in paying for it. Which of these two churches was first finished is not quite certain; tradition says the latter. The one in Strawberry Alley was commenced in November, 1773; that in Lovely Lane the 18th of April, 1774. Asbury, speaking of the latter, remarks, "This day the foundation of our house in Baltimore was laid. Who could have expected that two men, one among the chief of sinners, would ever have thus engaged in so great an undertaking for the cause of the blessed Jesus? This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes. He hath moved them to this acceptable undertaking; and he will surely complete it, and raise up a people to serve him in this place!" Captain Webb, in writing to Asbury, then in New York, said that the church in Lovely Lane was so far finished by the middle of October that he preached in it. [18]

The first Methodist chapel in Baltimore, that of Strawberry Alley, was on Fell's Point, where the hospitable Irishman, Captain Patten, had been the first citizen to open his house for the preaching of Asbury; thereby adding another instance to the extraordinary services of his countrymen in the early history of the denomination. It was built of brick, forty-one feet and six inches in length and thirty feet in width, with a foundation of twenty inches. Its original entrance was at the south side, on Fleet Street; the gallery was at the north side, opposite the main entrance, and was for the use of the colored people. The pulpit was in the old style, tub fashion, and very high; while over the Preacher's head hung, suspended by a cord, the inevitable sounding-board. Back of the pulpit there was a semicircle of blue ground, on which was emblazoned in large gilt letters the motto, "Thou, God, seest me." It was built mainly through the untiring efforts of Asbury, who laid the foundation-stone, and was the first to offer the Gospel to the people from its pulpit. In 1801, when the Milk Street Church was built, the Strawberry Alley Church was given to the colored people, for their exclusive use and benefit. [19]

Such was the beginning of that series of Methodist chapels in Baltimore, which has since increased so rapidly, that, in our day, they are more than double the number of those of any other communion, Protestant or Papal, in the city, and nearly a third of all its churches, though it has a larger supply of such edifices, in proportion to its population, than any other city on the continent.

Asbury continued, says the historian of Methodism, his itinerant labors "very extensively through the country, devoting all his time and attention to the work of the ministry. Nor did he labor in vain. Many sinners were brought to the knowledge of the truth, and new Societies were established in various places." [20]

His circuit, projecting from Baltimore, extended about two hundred miles; he traveled over it every three weeks: [21] it comprised about twenty-four appointments. He moved among them continually, assisted by King, Strawbridge, Owen, and other preachers and exhorters. On March 29, he writes, "I rode twenty miles to Susquehanna, and just got in, almost spent, time enough to preach at three o'clock. Hitherto the Lord hath helped me. Praised forever be his dear and blessed name! Tuesday 30. Our quarterly meeting began. After I had preached we proceeded to business; and in our little Conference the following queries were propounded, namely: 1. Are there no disorderly persons in our classes? It was thought not. 2. Does not dram-drinking too much prevail among our people? 3. Do none contract debts without due care to pay them? We found that this evil is much avoided among our people. 4. Are the band-meetings kept up? 5. Is there nothing immoral in any of our preachers? 6. What preachers travel now? and where are they stationed? It was then urged that none must break our rules, under the penalty of being excluded from our connection. All was settled in the most amicable manner." Besides Strawbridge and Owen, King, Webster, Rollins, and "the whole body of exhorters and official members were present." Methodism had now taken deep root in Maryland, and quarterly meetings were becoming jubilatic occasions, attended by great crowds and extraordinary religious interest. The highways were thronged with carriages, and the proverbial hospitality of the Province was lavished upon the numerous attendants. Strawbridge and Asbury preached on this occasion, the former "a good and useful sermon," says Asbury, on Joel ii, 1, "Let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep between the porch and the altar." "Many people were present at the love-feast, among whom were some strangers. All were deeply serious, and the power of God was present indeed." Owen preached a "very alarming sermon," and Strawbridge followed him with "a moving exhortation." "The whole ended in great peace," adds Asbury, "and we all went in the strength of the Lord to our several appointments."

He soon after departed to the North as far as New York, preaching along the whole route. He had received letters which occasioned him no little anxiety. The good men who were associated with him in the itinerancy had their infirmities; they were hardly competent to estimate his greatness of soul and the magnitude of his plans; and they demurred at his extreme, his almost military discipline. Wright had shown no little dissatisfaction. Pilmoor had written to him in severest terms. "Trouble is at hand," writes Asbury, "but I cannot fear while my heart is upright with God. I seek nothing but him, and fear nothing but his displeasure." He had corresponded with Wesley respecting the state of the Societies and the necessity of more thorough discipline and increased laborers. It was obvious that a new administration, uncompromised by any American antecedents, had become expedient. Asbury urged Wesley to come over himself, but he could not. He determined, however, to send a man of rigorous disciplinary habits as assistant or superintendent. Asbury was to be relieved of that responsibility, but only temporarily. He was destined soon to attain a supreme and permanent authority, which should enable him to fashion the whole American denomination according to his own gigantic views.

Meanwhile Captain Webb had gone to England to appeal again to Wesley for help, and was now returning on the ocean with his recruits.

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ENDNOTES

1 Asbury's Journals, vol. n, p. 157 Ed. of 1852

2 Ezekiel Cooper, Asbury's Funeral Sermon, p. 25.

3 Sandford's "Wesley's Missionaries to America," p. 25 New York, 1844.

4 Bangs, i, p. 69.

5 Lednum, p. 47.

6 Christ. Adv. and Journal, Dec. 10, 1863. "The largest increase during the half century has been achieved by the Methodists, the Episcopalians and Presbyterians being next in order. The number of churches in our city now is about eightfold greater than it was in 1811, while our population is scarcely six times as large; which, considering the fact that churches now are, as a general thing, much more spacious, is proof that, relatively, our church accommodations at least have largely increased." — Philadelphia Daily Press.

7 Lednum, p. 42.

8 Ibid. He died in 1829, in his eightieth year.

9 Lednum, p.73.

10 Rev. Wm. Burke, a Western pioneer itinerant, says, "He had considerable talents, and was very useful in that new country. Several Societies were formed by his ministry, and one of the first Methodist chapels in this country was Van Pelt's Meeting-house. He was one of the Fathers of Methodism in East Tennessee, where he settled between 1780 and 1790. He was a close and constant friend of Bishop Asbury. He will be long remembered by the people of the French Broad country.''

11 Gabriel P. Disosway, in Lednum, p. 421.

12 "I find," writes Asbury, "that preachers have their friends in the cities, and care not to leave them." — Journal's, anno 1772.

13 Bangs, i, 71.

14 Wesley's ordinary Circuit Preachers in England were called his "Helpers," the Superintendents of Circuits were called his "Assistants."

15 Lednum, p. 85.

16 Lednum, p. 86.

17 Both converted by Asbury's ministry.

18 Rev. Dr. Hamilton, in Meth. Quart. Rev., 1856, p. 440.

19 Letter of Rev. Dr. Hamilton to the author.

20 Bangs, i, 77.

21 Rev. Dr. Coggeshall's MS. Life of Asbury.

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