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

the year, and was returned to the city of Boston, where he labored two years, and in 1824 was
elevated to the episcopacy. The remainder of his life will come under our attention elsewhere. The
whole nation became his field. He stood firmly at his post in days of strife and peril, and aided in
conducting the Church through exigencies which made the stoutest hearts tremble. From the time
he commenced proclaiming the truth in the wilds of New Hampshire and Canada, he never wavered
in the hope that God designed Methodism for enduring and universal triumphs.
Bishop Hedding, as remembered by most of the Church, was tall, stout, and dignified in person;
his locks white with age, his face remarkable for its benign and intelligent expression, and his "tout
ensemble" most venerable and impressive. His manners were marked by perfect simplicity and ease.
In the pulpit he was always perspicuous, lucid, and instructive. His discourses were precisely
arranged, delivered moderately, in a style of extreme plainness, and frequently with passages
affecting pathos. He was distinguished for his accuracy in the doctrines and discipline of Methodism,
the exact discrimination of his judgment, the extraordinary tenacity of his memory, the permanence
of his friendships, and his invariable prudence.
The ecclesiastical year 1799-1800 included thirteen months, and had been attended with gratifying
prosperity. Beauchamp and Snelling had spread the doctrines of Methodism through most of the
towns of Cape Cod. Rhode Island, so tardy in the new movement, had received a strong impulse
under the unremitted labors of Canfield, Hall, and Bishop. Instead of one circuit it now reported two;
a new one had been formed, called Rhode Island. Considerable impression had been made on
Connecticut, especially on the New London Circuit. The tireless Lawrence McCoombs, combating
opposition on all hands, had succeeded in fortifying the yet feeble societies throughout that large
circuit, and in planting several new ones. Ostrander had reaped some increase on Tolland Circuit.
While in some places in Massachusetts a declension had occurred, in others extensive revivals had
prevailed: Nantucket made its first returns of members, amounting to sixty-five; Daniel Brumley had
witnessed the victories of the truth on Pittsfield Circuit; hundreds felt its power, and more than one
hundred and eighty were received into the Church. Chesterfield, hitherto the solitary circuit of New
Hampshire, had also enjoyed the time of refreshing under the labors of John Nichols. The hardy
laborers in the field of Maine -- Merritt, Soule, Brodhead, Heath, Finnegan, and others -- had passed
through severe struggles, but with their usual success. Their leader, Joshua Taylor, had been
drummed out of Castine with tin kettles, and their cause had been attacked with not a little pugnacity
from the pulpit and the press by their Calvinistic brethren. Some agitation was excited by a pamphlet
entitled, "A brief Statement and Examination of the Sentiments of the Wesleyan Methodists, by
Jonathan Ward, A. M." Taylor, however, published a timely reply in a pamphlet of seventy-six
pages, which was written in a style perspicuous and lucid, in a temper bland and devout, and with
a decisive logic. Ward, though manifestly foiled, returned to the attack under cover of a "Vindication
of himself;" but a "Reply" from Taylor put an end to the controversy, and turned the advantage
greatly to the persecuted Church.
In Vermont the fields were white unto the harvest, and the reapers thrust in the sickle and gathered
a plenteous crop; hundreds, if not thousands, were converted, and nearly five hundred were gathered
into the societies. The eccentric Lorenzo Dow had labored a short time with success on Essex
Circuit, which extended through the northern part of the state into Canada. Seized by a sudden
impression that it was his duty to cross the Atlantic and warn the Papists of Ireland, he erected a bush