History of the M.E. Church, Vol. IV - Media Sabda Org

enevolence and intelligence, and a voice of singular melody, which procured for him the title of
"the sweet singer of the South Carolina Conference." He was an instructive and, sometimes, a
powerful preacher; especially at camp-meetings, where the charm of his voice and the ardor of his
temperament gave him an extraordinary control of the largest congregations. He was singularly
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gifted and effective in prayer. "Prayer was his vital breath," says one of his intimate friends. His
deep piety impressed all who knew him. He had also "a rich fund of choice humor." He was greatly
successful as a presiding elder, by the prudence of his counsel, and the quickening influence of his
preaching and example over his vast district. In fine, William M. Kennedy was one of the most
effective founders of Methodism in the further south at this early and critical period.
One of the most memorable evangelists of the southern itinerancy, a man of real and rare genius,
appeared in the same year with Kennedy. James Russell was born in Mecklenburgh County, N. C.,
about 1786. Early left an orphan, poor and untrained, he had to learn to read after he joined the South
Carolina Conference in 1805. He had been refused license to exhort because of his ignorance, but
his surpassing natural powers at last bore him above all opposition. He carried his spelling-book with
him along his circuit, seeking assistance in its lessons even from the children of the families where
he lodged. If the state of society in the far south at this early time would allow such a fact to detract
from the ministerial character of ordinary men, it could not with him, for his extraordinary power
in the pulpit armed him with a supreme authority. He was capable of the highest natural oratory,
striking with awe or melting with pathos his crowded auditories. His self-culture advanced rapidly.
He became a good English scholar, and a man of refined taste, commanding the admiration of the
most intelligent as well as the most illiterate among his hearers, and "standing," says a bishop of his
Church, "prominent among such men as Hope Hull, George Dougharty, John Collinsworth, and
Lewis Myers. He was one of the. Fathers of the Southern Methodist Church, and famous in three
states as among the most eloquent and powerful preachers of his time. Of medium height, thin, his
face seamed with wrinkles, his lips compressed and colorless, and his brow overhung apparently
with care, (the latter years of his life having been unfortunate through pecuniary embarrassment,)
when he rose in the pulpit the enthusiasm of youth seemed to awake, and the flash of his eye and the
ring of his percussive voice, and the animation and ease of his manner, all told you that no ordinary
man was before you. In addition to a deep personal piety, he possessed the genius of the pulpit
orator. He could move a multitude of five thousand hearers at a camp-meeting with the ease of one
born to command, and with the momentum of a landslide." [8]
In person he was interesting; his form was perfectly symmetrical, his head well developed, his
eyes blue but keen, hair black, nose Roman, mouth finely chiseled, voice wonderfully musical. Hard
necessity compelled him to locate in 1815; he entered into business, and was overwhelmed by
misfortunes, under which he suffered till his death in 1825. His Christian character remained
unimpeached through all his troubles, and death was a liberation to him. "Before next Sabbath," he
exclaimed, "I shall be in paradise;" and his hope was not disappointed. President Olin, who heard
him with delight, says: "He was the prey of fatal disease; and a weight of misfortune, such as rarely
falls to the lot of mortals, had bowed down his spirit. Whenever I expressed what I always felt -- the
highest admiration of his original genius and irresistibly powerful preaching, I could perceive
sadness gathering upon the brow of the old Methodists as they exclaimed, 'Ah, poor Brother Russell!
he preaches well, very well, and it is long since I heard such a sermon before. But he is no longer
what he used to be. You should have heard him fifteen years ago.' It is certain that the preaching of