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

life. "The people gathered around me," he says, in speaking of his leave-taking in a neighborhood,
which was an example of most of them; "some talked, others shouted, I wept. I mounted my horse,
and rode away. While passing through a dense forest I said to myself; 'These are great and glorious
days!' I was thankful that I had left father, mother, and all the world, to preach the gospel to perishing
sinners. Coming to a little cabin standing in the barrens, I tarried all night there, preached next
morning, and in the afternoon rode to the Rev. Noah Lasley's, the place where I began to form a
circuit. I had been gone three weeks, and had formed a full four-weeks' circuit. Not having one
resting day in the whole plan, I sat down, wrote out my plan, and, having reviewed and corrected it
several times, felt well satisfied. I compared myself to a man settled in a wilderness, who had built
his cabin, surveyed his land, and was preparing to clear his farm. I laid aside my books and papers,
and, like Isaac, walked into the woods to meditate. I thought I was one of the happiest mortals that
breathed vital air."
At the close of the year he says: "I received but little money, not quite thirty dollars, for my whole
year's labor. The women made me cotton clothes, and I wore them quite contentedly. This was the
best year of all my life. I performed ten entire rounds on that circuit, and closed my year with a
protracted meeting on a delightful eminence. The windows of heaven were opened, and God poured
out such a blessing that there was not room to contain it. The congregation was so large that we held
prayer-meetings in many places under the shade-trees. The work went on with increasing rapidity
till the middle of the next week, when I gave them my valedictory. I had never seen such a meeting
before, and never expect to again. I mounted my horse, and, riding away, left them shouting and
praising God, and have never seen them since. Rev. Thomas Wilkinson came on in the place of the
presiding elder, and took the supervision of this meeting. He preached like an apostle, often falling
on his knees. Wilkinson and Garrett were two of the greatest and best men I ever knew. They were
among the early pioneers of the West. What these men did and suffered for Methodism in the West
will never be known till the books are opened at the last day." He had taken three hundred members
into the Church on his new circuit. I have given these abundant citations because they illustrate a
curious problem, forming the only account, so far as I know, of the manner in which a new circuit
was formed by the early itinerants of Methodism.
We are tempted to linger over his interesting pages, but must hasten. He went to the conference
of 1808, and gives us a glance at that session, so little known, but so momentous for the moral
welfare of the valley of the Mississippi. " It was held," he says, "in the house of Benjamin Coleman,
near Cynthiana, Kentucky. Next morning I repaired to the Conference room, which was about
eighteen feet square, and upstairs. I was dressed like a backwoodsman. My manners and costume
were answerable to the description given of 'Rhoderick Du,' of Scotland, by Walter Scott. I hesitated.
At length I ascended the stairs, and entered the Conference room. There, for the first time, I saw the
venerable Asbury, seated on a chair, elevated by a small platform. He was writing, his head white
as a sheet. Several of the preachers said, 'Come in, come in, Brother Young.' The bishop raised his
head, lifted his spectacles, and asked who I was. McKendree told him my name. He fixed his eye
upon me as if he would look me through. McKendree saw I was embarrassed, and told me kindly
to take a seat. Business went on, and I sat as a silent spectator. I thought they were the most
interesting group of men I had ever seen. McKendree appeared the master-spirit of the Conference.
Burke, very neatly dressed, was secretary. His auburn head, keen black eye, showed clearly he was
no ordinary man. I still remember most of the members' names: Thomas Wilkinson, John Watson,