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

snow often beat upon him in his bed. Many of the settlements were recent, and in some of them the
gospel had never been preached before. The settlers thronged to hear the word, and a flame of divine
influence spread through the circuit, and hosts were gathered into the Church. In 1802 he was
appointed to Fletcher Circuit, another large field of labor, extending from Onion River, Vt., on the
south, fifteen or twenty miles beyond the Canada line, and including the settlements east of Lake
Champlain and west of the Green Mountains. Here he had to travel three hundred miles a month,
preach once, and often twice daily, besides attending classes and prayer-meetings. His colleague as
Henry Ryan, "a brave Irishman," he says, a man who labored as if the judgment thunders were to
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follow each sermon. The route of the circuit was in the form of the figure eight. The two preachers
usually met at the point of intersection, when Ryan, hastily saluting his young fellow-laborer, would
exclaim as he passed, "Drive on! drive on! brother, let us drive the devil out of the land!" -- a
significant though rough expression of the tireless energy which characterized the itinerant ministry
of that day. Here, likewise, were encountered all the privations and exposures of a recent country;
bad roads, long drives in wintry storms, and through forests bound in ice, and sleepless nights spent
in cabins through which the winds whistled and the rain dropped. More serious trials attended them
and their successors in this region; while many of the settlers were hungry for the word of life, and
welcomed them as the men who showed the way of salvation; others, perverted by their long
privation of religious influences, pursued them with relentless persecutions. In some places Hedding
was hooted and threatened in the streets; Dow was struck in the face; Abner Wood was
horsewhipped; and Elijah Sabin severely wounded on the head by the butt-end of a whip. Still they
prevailed; their persecutors were often marvelously awakened, multitudes received them joyfully,
and gladly shared the reproach of the cross, and now peaceful and prosperous Churches are spread
all over that region, the fruits of the toils and sufferings of Hedding and his co-laborers.
In 1803 he was sent to Bridgewater Circuit, N. H., which comprised thirteen towns, and required
one hundred miles travel per week, two sermons usually a day, and three on, the Sabbath. Here he
had no colleague, but bore the burden alone. A remarkable revival attended his labors, intense
interest spread throughout the circuit, hundreds were awakened, and it seemed that the whole
population were about to turn unto God by repentance. Excited, himself, by the general interest, and
unaided by a fellow-laborer, he exerted himself beyond his strength, and in the midst of his labors
was smitten down by disease from which he never entirely recovered. He was unable to turn himself
in bed, or lift food to his lips during six weeks, and more than four months passed before he could
walk across his chamber; he resumed, however, his work, and the remainder of the year went around
the circuit, preaching as he had strength, and gathering the fruits of his former labors. He formed
during this year many new societies, which are still thriving. In 1804 he was on Hanover Circuit, N.
H. The next year he was spent at the Lynn Conference, and was ordained elder by Bishop Asbury,
at a public service in a neighboring woods. From this Conference he was sent to Barre Circuit, Vt.,
with Dan Young. Here again he had a great field of trial and toil, preaching in twenty towns and
riding about three hundred miles every four weeks, with daily services. In 1806 he traveled the
Vershire Circuit, Vt. During this year his prudence was called into exercise and tested by a
remarkable occurrence. The disposition to emigrate to Ohio infected that whole section of the
country. It became a species of mania, and every official member of the circuit departed about the
same time, leaving it without a local preacher, trustee, steward, or leader. The Church, through the
whole series of towns comprised in the circuit, was thus suddenly left without a single officer, and
the vacant posts had to be as suddenly filled by new appointments. Hedding's wisdom was, however,