VOLUME 1 — BOOK I — CHAPTER VI
WESLEY'S AMERICAN MISSIONARIES

Captain Webb Recruiting the American Itinerancy — Charles Wesley Opposes him — Webb Appeals to the Conference — Thomas Rankin and George Shadford — Rankin's Early Life — Methodism in the British Army — Whitefield — Rankin's Conversion — He becomes a Preacher — His Success — His Appointment to America — George Shadford's Early Life — His Conversion — His Usefulness — He joins Wesley's Itinerancy — Hears Captain Webb's Appeal at Leeds, and Departs for America — Wesley's Letter to him — Scenes of the Voyage — Arrival at Philadelphia — Rankin's Invocation — Rankin and Asbury in New York — Rankin in John Street Church — Shadford in New Jersey

The veteran Captain Webb having labored about six years, the principal founder of Methodism from New York to Baltimore, returned again to England in 1772 to appeal to Wesley and his Conference for more missionaries. Wesley this year wrote to a friend in Ireland, "Captain Webb is now in Dublin: invite him to Limerick. He is a man of fire, and the power of God constantly attends his word." It was in the same year also that Wesley heard him with "admiration" in the Old Foundry, London. "He was all life and fire." He was the right man to appeal to British Methodism for America, for he could tell his own story about it, and his military ardor gave a singular inspiration to his words. He made vast calculations for American Methodism, and the timid Charles Wesley gazed at him with surprise, pronouncing him fanatical; but it was next to impossible to exaggerate the moral and social prospects of the new world. He demanded two of the ablest men of the British Conference, Christopher Hopper and Joseph Benson. Charles Wesley opposed the claim; but the zealous captain was not to be altogether defeated. He went to the Conference, which began on August 4, 1772, at Leeds, a city which was thus again to be distinguished in the missionary annuls of the denomination. He there addressed the preachers with an eloquence that kindled the assembly into enthusiasm. George Shadford heard him, and says, "I went to the Leeds Conference, where I first saw Captain Webb. When he warmly exhorted preachers to go to America I felt my spirit stirred within me to go; more especially when I understood that many hundreds of precious souls were perishing through lack of knowledge, scattered up and down in various parts of the country, and had none to warn them of their danger. When I considered that we had in England many men of grace and gifts far superior to mine, but few seemed to offer themselves willingly, I saw my call the more clearly. Accordingly Mr. Rankin and I offered ourselves to go the spring following." [1]

Thomas Rankin was one of the commanding men of the Wesleyan ministry. Wesley appointed him at once General Assistant or Superintendent of the American Societies, for he was not only Asbury's senior in the itinerancy, but was an experienced disciplinarian; and Wesley judged him competent to manage the difficulties which had arisen under the administration of Asbury, as represented in the correspondence of the latter. Asbury had probably asked to be relieved by such a successor, and welcomed him with sincere gratification. Rankin, at the instance of Wesley, has left us records of his life, [2] which reveal an interesting character. He was a clear-headed and honest-hearted Scotchman; trained in his infancy to strict religious habits; with domestic catechetical instruction by his father, which was accompanied, however, with lessons in music and dancing that tended, he says, to "obliterate the good impressions that from time to time had affected my mind." "But," he adds, "I bless God that I was mercifully preserved from open wickedness. I do not know that ever I swore an oath in my life; indeed, I felt an entire abhorrence of this vice, and I also detested it in others."

When about seventeen years old the death of his upright father deepened much his interest in religion.

One of the most extraordinary episodes in the history of British Methodism was its outbreak in 1745, under the labors of John Haime, in the army in Flanders; achieving, in camps and on battlefields, the moral miracles which it had effected among the miners of Cornwall, Kingswood, and Newcastle, and raising up Societies and preachers, some of whom afterward became eminent in the itinerant ministry. [3] The converted troops, returning to England, laid in several places the foundations of Churches. They formed a Society in Dunbar, Scotland, and there Thomas Rankin first learned the peculiar doctrines of the denomination. Methodist itinerants soon reached the town; he revolted at their urgent preaching, but could not escape the convictions of the truths he learned from them. Whitefield, flying over the realm, came across his path at Edinburgh. "I heard him," he writes, "with wonder and surprise, and had such a discovery of the plan of salvation as I had never known before. I remembered more of that sermon than of all the sermons I ever had heard. From this time I was truly convinced of the necessity of a change of heart. I now sought the knowledge of salvation with my whole heart. I most sincerely desired to devote my soul and body to the glory of God; when I was, all on a sudden, left in darkness. I began to examine myself; if I had given way to any known sin or neglected any known duty. So far as I had light to discern, I knew not that I had done anything to cause the amazing change I now experienced. What to do, or where to go, I could not tell. I thought, 'The way of duty is the way of safety, and here will I hold.' Whether from pride or prudence I cannot say, but I remained silent, and my sufferings were not small. The Lord knew that it was not a little that would break a headstrong will and bow a high, proud spirit, and therefore I had cup after cup given me to drink, in order to embitter everything that had opposed or might oppose my salvation by grace alone. I mingled my food with weeping, and my complaints with groans that could not be uttered. 'I bless thee for the most severe, and let this stand the foremost, that my heart has bled.' "

Whitefield again meets him; the "word is precious to him," but his anxiety deepens. "It then was suggested to me," he continues, " 'probably you are not one of the elect, and you may seek and seek in vain.' I tasted no pleasant food; my sleep departed from me, and my flesh wasted from my bones; till at last I sunk into despair. One morning, after breakfast, I arose and went into the garden, and sat down in a retired place, to mourn over my sad condition. I began to wrestle with God in an agony of prayer. I called out, 'Lord, I have wrestled long, and have not yet prevailed: O let me now prevail!' The whole passage of Jacob's wrestling with the angel came into my mind; and I called out aloud, 'I will not let thee go, unless thou bless me!' In a moment the cloud burst, and tears of love flowed from my eyes, when these words were applied to my soul many times over, 'And he blessed him there.' They came with the Holy Ghost, and with much assurance; and my whole soul was overwhelmed in the presence of God. I could declare that the Son of man still had power on earth to forgive sins, and that he had pardoned my sins, even mine. How many times before, under the most painful distress of mind, I had wished I had never been born! But now I could bless God that I ever had a being, and fully believed that I should live with God while eternal ages roll. Soon after, I was sent for by a lady, who, observing that I had been in tears, inquired what was the matter. I told her they were not tears of sorrow, they were tears of joy; and then related to her what the Lord had done for my soul. She burst into tears herself; and told me she had been seeking that great blessing for years, but had not found it. She was so deeply affected with what I told her, and by the power that attended the word, that it was some time before she could inform me of the business she wished to consult me upon. I have reason to believe it was made an eternal blessing to her soul."

Such was the usual, it may almost be said the uniform, spiritual history of Methodist Preachers, and it is the true explanation of their extraordinary ministerial history.

He was now living in Edinburgh; there were no Methodists there, but some of John Haime's dragoons were in garrison at Musselborough, six miles distant; they had formed a Society among the townsmen, and Rankin went thither, for he had in fine become a Methodist. He heard Wesley, and Alexander Mather of notable memory; his heart cleaved to the latter, "I never saw," he says, "any one before that appeared so dead to all below, and so much alive to God, as also so deeply engaged in his work. I embraced every opportunity of is company and conversation. I was with him at Musselborough, and stood before him when he preached out of doors, and he leaned on my shoulders, which I thought a very great honor, although I did not admire the appearance of some who were preparing to throw dirt at him. I had not learned then what it was to go through showers of dirt, stones, and rotten eggs, which I experienced several years afterward." Another notable itinerant of that day induced him to exhort in public. Soon after, he records remarkable exercises of mind, inward conflicts, alternations of joy and sorrow, "I had such a discovery of the dreadful state of all the human race, (who were without God, and without hope in the world,) that my knees smote together, and every joint trembled, while these words sounded in my ears, 'Whom shall I send? whom shall I send?' My heart replied, 'Lord, if I can be of any use, to pluck one of these from the jaws of ruin, here I am, send me.' At that moment I felt such love for the souls of my fellow-creatures as I never had done since I knew the pardoning love of God." "Such," he adds, were my feelings that I thought I could lay down my life if I might but be instrumental in saving one soul from everlasting ruin."

It was not long before he was laboring as a local preacher. Wesley called him into the itinerancy in 1761 and sent him to the Sussex Circuit. Remarkable success attended His preaching all around it. A Curate of the stablishment was one of his converts, and became "a burning and a shining light, in connection with Mr. Wesley, till called to his eternal reward." The next year he spent, with John Nelson, on Devonshire Circuit; he could not have been placed under better training. It was soon evident that he had become one of the most indefatigable and most successful of Wesley's itinerants. "Revivals" attended his preaching almost everywhere; he governed skillfully his societies; he worked day and night, and encountered opposition with good Scotch courage and adroitness. Wesley had tried him thoroughly through about ten years when Captain Webb appeared to claim him for America. "I had made it," writes Rankin, "matter of much prayer, and it appeared to me that the way was opening for me to go. When the work in America came before the Conference, Mr. Wesley determined to appoint me superintendent of the whole, and I chose my much-esteemed friend and brother Shadford to accompany me. I had proved his uprightness, piety, and usefulness in several circuits where he had labored with me, and I knew I could depend upon him. It was settled that we should sail in the spring, and in the mean time, that I should labor in the York Circuit. I went accordingly, and remained in those parts from the Conference till about the latter end of March. During the time I spent in this Circuit, I considered deeply and with much prayer the importance of the work which lay before me. It had dwelt upon my mind, more or less, for some years; and the nearer the period arrived, the greater it appeared to me. The thoughts of leaving Mr. Wesley, as well as my brethren, whose counsel and advice were always at hand, and ready on every trying occasion, was no small exercise to my mind. I was about to bid adieu to my relatives, and to one whom I loved as my own soul, and who afterward was my partner in life for nineteen years; but the consideration of the work of God swallowed up every other concern. I rode to Birmingham to receive my last instructions from Mr. Wesley. The interview was pleasing and affecting, as well as instructive; I hope to remember it to my latest breath."

George Shadford is one of the most interesting characters in the autobiographical sketches of Wesley's old Arminian Magazine. [4] He tells his story with an honest directness, an Augustinian contrition and frankness, and, withal, a naivete and dramatic effectiveness which render it irresistibly entertaining. It presents in some respects quite a contrast with that of Rankin. Like the latter, he had a somewhat strict early religious training, but was ebullient with the spirits of healthful childhood, and, having a conscience more tender but less strong than that of Rankin, he was continually indulging in pranks of childish mischief; and as continually repenting of them as guilty and perilous to his soul. He had sufficient points of both similarity and contrast with Rankin to account for the fond partiality which led the latter to prefer him as his companion in the mission to America. He was altogether a lovable and admirable man. "When I was very young," he says, "I was uncommonly afraid of death. At about eight or nine years of age, being very ill of a sore throat, and likely to die, I was awfully afraid of another world; for I felt my heart very wicked, and my conscience smote me for many things that I had done amiss. As I grew up I was very prone to speak bad words, and often to perform wicked actions; to break the Sabbath, and, being fond of play, took every opportunity on Sunday to steal away from my father. In the forenoon, indeed, he always made me go to church with him; and when dinner was over, he made me and my sister read a chapter or two in the Bible, and charged me not to play in the afternoon; but, notwithstanding all he said, if any person came in to talk with him, I took that opportunity to steal away, and he saw me not till evening, when he called me to an account. My mother insisted on my saying my prayers every night and morning, at least; and sent me to be catechized by the minister every Sunday. At fourteen years of age my parents sent me to the bishop to be confirmed, and at sixteen they desired me to prepare to receive the blessed sacrament. For about a month before it I retired from all vain company, prayed, and read alone, while the Spirit of God set home what I read to my heart. I wept much in secret, was ashamed of my past life, and thought I would never spend my time on Sundays as I had done. When I approached the table of the Lord it appeared so awful to me that I was likely to fall down as if I were going to the judgment-seat of Christ. However, very soon my heart was melted like wax before the fire. I broke off from all my companions, and retired to read on the Lord's day; sometimes into my chamber, at other times into the field; but very frequently into the churchyard, near which my father lived. I have spent among the graves two or three hours at a time, sometimes reading, and sometimes praying, until my mind seemed transported in tasting the powers of the world to come; so that 'I verily believe, had I been acquainted with the Methodists at that time, I should have soon found remission of sins, and peace with God. But I had not a single companion that feared God. Nay, I believe at that time the whole town was covered with darkness, and sat in the shadow of death. Having none to guide or direct me, the devil soon persuaded me to take more liberty, and suggested that I had repented and reformed enough; that there was no need to be always so precise; that there were no young people in the town who did as I did. I gave way to this fatal device of Satan, and, by little and little, lost all my good desires and resolutions, and soon became weak as in times past. I was fond of wrestling, running, leaping, football, dancing, and such like sports; and I gloried in them because I could excel most in the town and parish. At the age of twenty I was so active that I seemed a compound of life and fire, and had such a flow of animal spirits that I was never in my element but when employed in such kind of sports."

A new Militia Act placed four of his fellow-youth in the army. One of them was "much afraid to go." Shadford liked soldiering, and went in his stead for seven guineas. His father was "almost distracted" with grief; but the tenderhearted boy, finding afterward his parent in pecuniary distress, gave him all the money he had received. He was tossed about the country in the army, tempted by the vices of his comrades, but escaping most of them, and repenting with tears when overcome. "I well remember one day," he writes, "when being exceedingly provoked by one of my comrades, I swore at him two bitter oaths, by the name of God; a practice I had not been guilty of. Immediately I was, as it were, stabbed to the heart by a sword. I was sensible I had grievously sinned against God, and stopped directly. I believe I never swore another oath afterward."

At Gainsborough he went with a sergeant to hear a Methodist preach in a hall. He was exceedingly entertained and surprised at the services, and deeply smitten in his conscience by the discourse. "I was tried, cast, and condemned," he adds. "I then made a vow to Almighty God, that if he would spare me until that time twelvemonth, (at which time I should be at liberty from the militia, and intended to return home,) I would then serve him. So I resolved to venture another year in the old way, damned or saved. O what a mercy that I am not in hell! that God did not take me at my word and cut me off immediately!" "In Kent," he says, "the Lord arrested me again with strong convictions, so that I was obliged to leave my comrades at noonday, and, running up into my chamber, I threw myself upon my knees and wept bitterly. I thought, 'sin, cursed sin, will be my ruin!' I was ready to tear the very hair from my head, thinking I must perish at last, and that my sins would sink me lower than the grave." "Wherever I traveled I found the Methodists were spoken against by wicked and ungodly persons of every denomination; and the more I looked into the Bible the more I was convinced that they were the people of God."

On his release from the militia service he returned home, musing much about this "sect everywhere spoken against." Of course he was a favorite among his early associates; they welcomed him with delight, and got up a dance to express their joy. "Though I was not fond of this," he says, "yet to oblige them I complied, much against my conscience. We danced until break of day, and as I was walking from the tavern to my father's house (about a hundred yards) a thought came to my mind, 'What have I been doing this night? serving the devil.' I considered what it had cost me; and upon the whole, I thought, 'The ways of the devil are more expensive than the ways of the Lord. It will cost a man more to damn his soul than to save it.' I had not walked many steps further before something spoke to my heart, 'Remember thy promise.' Immediately it came strongly into my mind, 'It is now a year ago since that promise was made. "If thou wilt spare me until I get home, I will serve thee." ' Then that passage of Solomon came to my mind, 'When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that thou vowest.' I thought, 'I will. I will serve the devil no more. But then it was suggested to my soul, 'Stay another year, until thou art married and settled in the world, and then thou mayest be religious.' That was directly followed with, 'If I do, God will surely cut me off and send my soul to hell, after so solemn a vow made.' From that time I never danced more, but immediately began to seek happiness in God."

A Methodist farmer moved into the neighborhood, and opened his house for preaching. Shadford could not stay away. "I was now determined," he says, "to seek God, and therefore I went constantly to church and sacrament, and to hear the Methodist preachers, to pray, and read the Scriptures. I thought, 'I will be good. I am determined to be good.' I read at night different prayers. Sometimes I prayed for humility or meekness, at other times for faith, patience, or chastity; whatever I thought I wanted most. I was thus employed, when the family were in bed, for hours together. And many times while reading the tears ran from my eyes, so that I could read no further; and when I found my heart softened and could open it to Almighty God, there seemed a secret pleasure in repentance itself; with a hope springing up that God would save me. While I was thus employed in seeking the Lord, drawn by the Spirit of God, I esteemed it more than my necessary food."

"But," he adds, "the Lord did not suffer me to take conviction for conversion. After those pleasant drawings, I had sorrow and deep distress. My sins pressed me sore, and the hand of the Lord was very heavy upon me. Thus I continued until Sunday, May 5, 1762, coming out of church, the farmer that received the preachers told me a stranger was to preach at his house. I went to hear him, and was pleased and much affected. He gave notice that he would preach again in the evening. In the mean time I persuaded as many neighbors as I could to go. We had a full house, and several were greatly affected while he published his crucified Master. Toward the latter part of the sermon I trembled, I shook, I wept. I thought, 'I cannot stand it; I shall fall down amid all this people.' O how gladly would I have been alone to weep! for I was tempted with shame. I stood guilty and condemned, like the publican in the temple. I cried out, (so that others heard,) being pierced to the heart with the sword of the Spirit, 'God be merciful to me a sinner.' No sooner had I expressed these words, but by the eye of faith (not with my bodily eyes) I saw Christ my Advocate, at the right hand of God, making intercession for me. I believed he loved me, and gave himself for me. In an instant the Lord filled my soul with divine love, as quick as lightning. Immediately my eyes flowed with tears, and my heart with love. Tears of joy and sorrow ran down my cheeks. O what sweet distress was this! I seemed as if I could weep my life away in tears of love. I sat down in a chair, for I could stand no longer, and these words ran through my mind twenty times over: 'Marvelous are thy works, and that my soul knoweth right well.' As I walked home along the streets I seemed to be in paradise. When I read my Bible, it seemed an entirely new book. When I meditated on God and Christ, angels or spirits; when I considered good or bad men, any or all the creatures that surrounded me; everything appeared new, and stood in a new relation to me. I was in Christ a new creature; old things were done away, and all things then became new. I lay down at night in peace with a thankful heart, because the Lord hath redeemed me, and given me peace with God and all mankind. But no sooner had I peace within than the devil and wicked men began to roar without, and pour forth floods of lies and scandal in order to drown the young child. And no marvel, for the devil had lost one of the main pillars of his kingdom in that parish; and therefore he did not leave a stone unturned, that he might cast odium upon the work of God in that place. But none of these things moved me, for I was happy in my God, clothed, with the sun, and the moon under my feet; raised up, and made to sit in heavenly, holy, happy places in Christ Jesus. In a fort night after I joined the Society."

Thus had George Shadford become a Methodist, and now his filial heart turned toward his aged parents. He proposed to them family worship, and after his first prayer "they all wept over one another." He continued the domestic devotions for half a year. "My father," he writes, "at length began to be in deep distress. I have listened and heard him in private crying for mercy, like David out of the horrible pit and mire and clay, 'O Lord, deliver my soul!' I began to reprove, and warn others wherever I went. My father was sometimes afraid if I reproved the customers who came to our shop it would give offense, and we should lose all our business. Upon which I said, 'Father, let us trust God for once with all our concerns, and let us do this in the way of our duty, from a right principle, and if he deceives us we will never trust him more; for none that ever trusted the Lord were confounded.' In less than a twelvemonth, instead of losing, we had more business than ever we had before. The Society increased from twelve to forty members in a short time, for the Lord gave me several of my companions in sin to walk with me in the ways of holiness."

He was soon exhorting friends, neighbors, enemies, and whosoever came in his way to "flee from the wrath to come." After one of his exhortations he returned home and found his father reading in the Psalms of David. "I saw," he says, "the tears running down his cheeks; yet there appeared a joy in his countenance. I said, 'Pray, father, what now? What now? What is the matter?' He instantly answered, 'I have found Christ; I have found Christ at last. Upward of sixty years I have lived without him in the world in sin and ignorance. I have been all the day idle and entered not into his vineyard till the eleventh hour. O how merciful was he to spare me, and hire me at last! he hath set my soul at liberty. O praise the Lord! Praise the Lord, O my soul; and all that is within me, bless his holy name!' I left him rejoicing in God his Saviour, and retired to praise God for answering my prayers." His mother was quickly added to the list of his converts, then his sister; four of his family were converted in less than a year, and the little Society of the town grew vigorous by his humble labors.

Shadford became a Local Preacher. Wesley met him and summoned him into the itinerant field. In 1768 he was sent into Cornwall, the next year to Kent, and the next to Norwich. In 1772 he heard Webb's appeal for America in the Leeds Conference, and his "spirit was stirred within him to go." He was appointed to Wiltshire circuit till the ensuing spring, when he was to embark with Rankin. As the time drew near Wesley sent him a characteristic letter, for he loved the young itinerant as a son. "Dear George," he wrote, "the time has arrived for you to embark for America. You must go down to Bristol, where you will meet with Thomas Rankin, Captain Webb, and his wife. I let you loose, George, on the great continent of America. Publish your message in the open face of the sun, and do all the good you can. I am, dear George, yours affectionately." When he reached the wharf where the ship lay he was reminded of a dream which he had six years before, and in which a written message seemed sent him from heaven, requiring him "to go and preach the Gospel in a foreign land." "I thought I was conveyed to the place where the ship lay, in which I was to embark in an instant. The wharf and ship appeared as plain to me as if I were awake. I replied, 'Lord, I am willing to go in thy name, but I am afraid a people of different nations and languages will not understand me.' An answer to this was given: 'Fear not, for I am with thee.' I awoke, awfully impressed with the presence of God, and was really full of divine love; and a relish of it remained upon my spirit for many days. I could not tell what this meant, and revolved these things in my mind for a long time. But when I came to Peel, and saw the ship and wharf; then all came fresh to my mind." He now looked upon the ship and the whole scene before him as the realization of his vision, and took courage for his mission.

Captain Webb and his wife were on the deck, and had made all necessary provisions for the little band. On Good Friday, April 9, 1773, accompanied by Joseph Yearbry (another preacher) and other passengers, they set sail. Both the missionaries and Webb kept up daily prayers, and preached often on the voyage with much effect. "The Lord was in the midst of us," writes Rankin, "and attended our meetings with power from on high." Webb especially seemed to enjoy with zest these devotions, for he could not fail to feel that his errand had been successful. Rankin's Journal repeatedly records that "Captain Webb exhorted, and was attended with the divine blessing; the word seemed to lay hold on some hearts, and they began to show it by their tears." On the 18th they had a special day. Prayers were read by Rankin, an exhortation delivered by Webb, a sermon from the quarter-deck by Shadford; the evening was spent in exhortation, singing, and prayer. "We were led out," says Rankin, "in earnest prayer for our friends and Christian brethren in England, as also that God would open a great and an effectual door for the spreading of his Gospel among those to whom his mercy and providence were now sending us. Indeed, we felt the gracious influence of the divine presence so among us that we could scarce conclude. The Lord did indeed open the windows of heaven, and the skies poured down righteousness."

On the 1st of June they came to anchor in the Delaware, "opposite Chester, about sixteen miles south of Philadelphia," after a passage of seven and a half weeks. On the 3d they were cordially received by Asbury and the Methodists of the city; "and now," wrote Rankin, "as I am by the providence of God called to labor for a season on this continent, do thou, O Holy One of Israel, stand by thy weak and ignorant servant! Show thyself glorious in power and in divine majesty. Let thine arm be made bare, and stretched out to save, so that wonders and signs may be done in the name of thy holy child Jesus."

Asbury had been anxiously expecting them; "they have arrived," he writes, "to my great comfort." Rankin preached that night on an appropriate text, "I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it." Asbury wrote, after the discourse, "He will not be admired as a Preacher; but as a disciplinarian he will fill his place." He probably changed his opinion of Rankin's preaching, for on hearing him again he writes that he "dispensed the truth with power. It reached the hearts of many, and they appeared to be much quickened." Watters, the first native itinerant, says he "was not only a man of grace, but of strong and quick parts." [5] On Saturday, 12th, accompanied by Asbury, they reached New York city, and were met by many Methodists on the dock where they landed. The next day Rankin was present to hear Asbury preach at seven o'clock in the morning, at John Street, on a text appropriate as a salutatory welcome, Ruth ii, 4, "Behold, Boaz came from Bethlehem, and said unto the reapers, The Lord be with you. And they answered him, The Lord bless thee." "During the service," says Rankin, anxious if not depressed, "I was led to reflect on the motives which induced me to leave my native land, and Christian friends and brethren, and cross the Atlantic Ocean, to a land and people unknown. I could appeal to God with the utmost sincerity of heart; I had only one thing in view, his glory, the salvation of souls, connected with my own. In a moment the cloud broke and the power of God rested upon my soul, and all gloom fled away, as morning shades before the rising sun. I had then faith to believe that I should see his glory as I had seen it in the sanctuary." Rankin preached in the evening and afterward met the Society. "The Lord," he says, "was in the midst, as a flame of fire among dry stubble. Great was our rejoicing in the God of our salvation. Blessed be God, sorrow may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning! This has indeed been a day of the Son of man both to my own soul and the souls of many others. The praise, O Lord, will I ascribe unto thee!" He thus successfully began his career in the new world. Captain Webb passed up the Hudson, and Asbury went forth over his old New York circuit exclaiming "Glory to God! he blesses me with the graces and comforts of his spirit in my soul!"

Shadford had hastened from Philadelphia to New Jersey. He "labored there," he says, "with success for a month, adding thirty-five to the society, many of whom were much comforted with the presence of the Lord."

By the middle of July the scattered itinerants were gathering at Philadelphia; an important event was about to occur there, the first American Methodist Conference.

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ENDNOTES

1 Meth. Mag., London, 1816, p. 645.

2 Wesley induced his most useful preachers to write autobiographies for his Arminian Magazine. Rankin's is given in 1779. He afterward enlarged it. See Jackson's "Lives of Early Methodist Preachers," vol. iii. London, 1838.

3 See Hist. of the Rel. Movement, etc., i, 229.

4 See his biography in Jackson, vol. iii.

5 Watters' Life, p. 35.

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