History Of Methodist Reform, Volume I - Media Sabda Org

METHODIST REFORM
Edward J. Drinkhouse, M.D., D.D.
Volume I
CHAPTER 27
Asbury and Coke reciprocally — Coke sailed for England May 27, 1787; his interview with
Wesley at the Irish Conference; what a tale he had to tell of the Conference of 1787; his authority
set aside; name dropped from the minutes, and Coke degraded; how the venerable man grieved over
it; the Shadford letter, and the controversy about it; Pompey and Caesar — Coke's return to America,
1789 — O'Kelly and Vasey; other incidents — Asbury's reprint of the Minutes; the changes made
in them; how and by whom; rationale of the proceedings; title of Bishop; historical preface false to
facts — Asbury's new "succession"; himself an apostle — Hero preachers of the time.
Immediately after the adjournment of the Conference of 1787, Coke and Asbury retired to the
restful home at Perry Hall. They talked over the proceedings. Coke, more than ever impressed with
the reserved power and masterful skill of Asbury, received the emollient advances which his former
compeer, but now superior in office, felt that he could well afford to bestow upon him with gracious
condescension. In the present situation there was nothing else for him to do but to make the best of
it. In his Journal for 1787, he writes, "Mr. Asbury, who is assuredly a great man of God, has treated
me with much respect." Asbury had a high appreciation of Coke's abilities and sought cooperation
with him, so that after each strain of their personal relations in Coke's attempts to recover his lost
crown, either through Wesley or by means of his own contrivance, friendly correspondence was
resumed after Coke had made amends that satisfied Asbury for the time. Specially will this be found
true in the years that succeeded 1791, when they parted in apparent irreconcilable mood. They spent
but a few days at Perry Hall, then on to Cokesbury College, of which Asbury says, "Drew a deed for
the conveyance of the property of the college, and settled our temporal matters there." On to Elkton,
to Wilmington, to Philadelphia, Coke doing the preaching "with great energy and acceptance." On
to Elizabethtown, N. J., and thence to New York. Here they parted, Asbury going to Long Island. He
had an abhorrence of city life: "I am now out of the city, and have time to reflect; my soul turns to
its rest, and to its labor for souls, in which I can live more by rule." Coke, finding no ship in New
York homeward bound, returned to Philadelphia, where he found one bound for Dublin, Ireland, and
after a leave-taking and a final sermon, he boarded her May 27, 1787. Of his parting with Coke,
Asbury makes no mention whatever.
Drew, Coke's biographer, tells that he arrived in the bay of Dublin, June 25, a speedy voyage in
those days. On reaching Dublin he found the Irish Conference in session, Wesley himself presiding.
It was a joyful meeting with his old friends, and he narrated to them his experiences while absent.
In his private interviews with Wesley what a tale he must have had to tell. To the Conference he gave
his exoteric experience, but to Wesley his esoteric. He had recovered himself, but what a
disappointment were his revelations to Wesley — his authority set at defiance by his American
preachers who had promised to obey him, and his son in the gospel, Asbury, never lifting either
voice or hand to arrest the insubordination. It was a new experience, and he was much grieved and
not a little indignant. How is it known? He wrote a letter of remonstrance and censure to Asbury,
chiding him upon his want of fidelity. Asbury never suffered that letter to see the light, and if they