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The History of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America:
Comprising Its Organization, Subsequent Development and Present Status:
Electronic Edition.

Phillips, C. H. (Charles Henry), 1858-1951.

Funding from the Library of Congress/Ameritech National Digital Library Competition supported the electronic publication of this title.

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Academic Affairs Library, UNC-CH
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill,
2000.

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Source Description:
(title page) The History of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America: Comprising Its Organization, Subsequent Development and Present Status
C. H. Phillips, A.M., M.D., D.D., LL.D.
Third Edition
2 v. in 1: 623 p., ill.
Jackson, Tennessee
Publishing House C.M.E. Church
1925
Call Number 287.8 P558A (Divinity School Library, Duke University)

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Library of Congress Subject Headings, 21st edition, 1998

Languages Used:

LC Subject Headings:

Revision History:

        

        

THE HISTORY
OF THE
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church
IN AMERICA:

COMPRISING
ITS ORGANIZATION, SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT
AND PRESENT STATUS.

BOOK ONE

BY

C. H. Phillips, A.M., M.D., D.D., LL.D.,
A Bishop of The Church.

THIRD EDITION

JACKSON, TENN.:
PUBLISHING HOUSE C. M. E. CHURCH.
H. P. PORTER, AGENT.
1925.

Page verso

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year 1898,
By C. H. PHILLIPS,
In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.

Page 3

        

Dedication.

TO MY BELOVED, SAINTED MOTHER,
WHO GAVE ME MY FIRST LESSONS IN SPIRITUAL THINGS:
TO THE HUNDREDS OF YOUNG MEN AND WOMEN
WHO ARE IN OUR SCHOOLS IN PURSUIT OF AN EDUCATION; AND
TO THE ENTIRE CHURCH IN PARTICULAR, AND
TO THE READING PUBLIC IN GENERAL,

THIS BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

BY THE AUTHOR.

Page 4

        REV. C. H. PHILLIPS, D.D.

Page 5

PREFACE.

        THERE is generally a universal desire felt in the votaries of any institution or organization to know something of its rise, progress, and subsequent position; and no less is the desire to learn of the prominent characters that have largely been instrumental in making these results possible. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church is now in its twenty-eighth year as an organization, and it is not too early for some one to attempt to write its history. For some time the Church has been indebted to Rev. F. M. Hamilton for his "Plain Account of the C. M. E. Church," a pamphlet of 136 pages. This has been our only published record, and has met a long-felt want. When we began this work it was not our intention to write a history, but rather to write up some matter which we purposed to include in a book to be known as "Our Twenty-Fifth Mile-Stone." This work was to be a compilation of the cuts and communications that appeared in the Quarto Centennial Number of the Christian Index, May 11, 1895. But as we wrote the work grew upon us, and finally we decided to discard the idea of producing "Our Twenty-Fifth Mile-Stone" and write "The History of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church" instead. It was not without some misgivings that we pursued this undertaking. We had no books containing any considerable amount of information in regard to our Church to which we could refer. Indeed, no such books exist. But fortunately for us, we came into the possession of some old copies of the Christian Index, the official organ of the Church. From 1870 to 1878, the paper then being published monthly, we obtained almost every copy. The bishops wrote more in those days than now, and from their communications and those of other prominent writers we were reliably informed of all the important doings and movements in the Church. Since 1878, the year we began our ministerial career, we have been identified with and fully cognizant of almost every move the Church has made. These qualifications should

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in some degree evidence the fitness of the author for assuming the responsibility of writing a history of the Church. It has not been our purpose to write biographies of the preachers, but mention has been made of some of those who have been prominent in the Church and in previous General Conferences. The author will be more than amply repaid for the labor he has expended in writing this history if a generous constituency will give it an impartial consideration; if it to them, in any appreciable degree, represents the purposes for which it was designed; and if it receives a circulation that will place it in many homes throughout the land. In conclusion we desire to reiterate that our subject has been to give the Church a plain, practical history of its doings and movements from the General Conference of December, 1870, down to the present time. How far we have accomplished these ends must be determined by those who will carefully peruse these pages.

C. H. P.

Jackson, Tenn., April, 1898.

Page 7

BIOGRAPHY OF THE AUTHOR.

BY J. W. SMITH, D.D.,
Editor Star of Zion, Official Paper of the A. M. E. Zion Church.

        IT affords me extreme pleasure to introduce to the public generally one of the brightest ministerial stars in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America--Rev. C. H. Phillips, D.D. He was born in Milledgeville, Ga., January 17, 1858. His parents had twelve children, of whom he was the tenth. The two youngest died before they had reached ten years, leaving him the youngest of the family, a place which he has filled for more than a quarter of a century. His mother was named Nancy and his father George Washington. They were both converted when young, and thus were able to throw around their children a holy influence which shaped their lives for good and for fields of usefulness when they had reached manhood and womanhood. His father has been a gospel minister for more than fifty years. In June of 1890 his dear mother, at the age of seventy, laid down the cross, took up the crown, and went home. Of the ten children that grew up to mature age, four were boys, and all are now ministers of the gospel save the oldest brother, John, who died about six or seven years ago between the age of fifty and sixty, after having traveled about twenty-two years as an itinerant minister and member of the Georgia Conference.

        At the age of seventeen young Phillips was happily converted, and joined Trinity C. M. E. Church, in which he had been reared, the Rev. Frank Ford, who has since died, and who during his lifetime was one of the leaders of the Georgia Conference, being his pastor. With his conversion began the unfolding of those avenues which have led him to his present position and status.

        December 16, 1880, he was married, by Rev. J. Braden, D.D., President of Central Tennessee College, to Miss Lucy Ellis Tappan (a daughter of a prominent Baptist minister in Nashville), a graduate of Fisk University. Cultivated in mind and heart,

Page 8

and influenced by the Holy Spirit, she has ever been his helpmeet, and has done much to make the favorable impression he now enjoys.

        Educationally Dr. Phillips is a ripe scholar. When a boy he always had a love for books, and received an elementary education at home while working on his father's farm. He would go to school after the crop was laid by during the summer and after the farm produce was gathered in the fall. Along this line he continued his education, making progress in the science of farming as well as in books. Having an insatiable thirst for a deeper education, whereby he might be the better prepared for the Christian ministry, to which honored position he felt a divine call immediately after his conversion, his father, after the holidays of 1875, sent him to Atlanta University, Atlanta, Ga., where he joined the Junior Preparatory Class, and continued in this institution until he had completed his Sophomore year in college.

        In September, 1878, while Principal of the city schools of Barnesville, Ga., he was licensed to preach by Rev. R. T. White, the presiding elder at that time of the Barnesville District and still the acknowledged leader of the Georgia Conference. Thus was carried into consummation the impression made on him just after his conversion.

        Two months after he had been licensed to preach he went to Nashville, Tenn., and entered Central Tennessee College, where be could study theology with his classical studies. He progressed rapidly. He never lost a year nor was he ever turned back. He read Latin and Greek with an ease that delighted his professors and astonished his classmates. On entering this college he found that he was behind his class (Junior Classical) in mathematics and ahead in the languages; therefore in mathematics he formed a class of one, and had to "wade through" this science all alone. Loomis' ten books in geometry, spherical trigonometry, surveying, analytical geometry, and differential and integral calculus, he studied alone, and he never received a mark below ninety, marking on a scale of one hundred as perfect. By this time he had caught up with his class in mathematics, and with them took up their last study in that science, a work on philosophy, by D. Olmstead, LL.D. He easily led his class in the languages, and in the absence of the

Page 9

professor would often hear his class recite in "Horace" and in "Odyssey."

        In May, 1880, he graduated as Bachelor of Arts from Central Tennessee College. In this same school he received his theological training, and graduated from there in medicine in 1882. During the years of 1884 and 1885 he was Principal of Lane Institute, then known as the Jackson High School. He gave form to this school by grading the classes, creating its curriculum, and publishing its first catalogue. At the meeting of the Board of Trustees in May, 1885, he, by a motion made by himself and seconded by Rev. W. T. Thomas, of Alabama, had the name changed from Jackson High School to Lane Institute. Since that time the school has been named Lane College. In this year 1885 his alma mater conferred upon him the degree of Master of Arts. In June, 1890, Philander Smith College, of Little Rock, Ark., and Wiley-University, of Marshall, Tex., almost at the same time (he being ignorant of the intentions of these two schools, which are among the best of the great M. E. Church), conferred upon him the degree of "Doctor of Divinity." Thus step by step, by assiduous study, which will accomplish almost anything, this promising young divine has climbed from the lowest to his present heights in the intellectual ladder.

        He joined the West Tennessee Conference at Trenton in 1879. During his college days he served the Pilot Knob Circuit with great success. This was his first itinerant work. Here he held his first revival, which resulted in thirty-five accessions to the church. He made a splendid report at this Conference, and was ordained a deacon by Bishop L. H. Holsey.

        In December, 1885, his Conference met at Memphis, and Bishop Lane appointed him to the pastorate of Collins Chapel, the leading appointment in Tennessee. At this Conference he was elected a delegate to the General Conference which met in 1886 at Augusta, Ga. He was not only the youngest man ever appointed to Collins Chapel up to that time, but also the youngest ever elected by his Conference a delegate to any preceding General Conference. His rising prominence in his denomination was evidenced by the fact that the bishops unanimously nominated, and his General Conference then in session at Augusta confirmed him as a proper person to go as a

Page 10

fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the great M. E. Church, South, which was in session in Richmond, Va. Bishop Holsey was the first delegate ever sent to this body, and Rev. Phillips was not only the second, but the first ever selected from the rank and file of his Church. His speech before that Conference was most favorably commented upon by the press of the country.

        When he had rounded out two successful years at Collins Chapel, adding one hundred and forty persons to the church, finishing up its front, a part of which at that time was exposed, running up the brick work of the tower to its present height, and making round reports each year at the Conference, he was at Jackson, Tenn., in December, 1887, transferred to the Virginia Conference and stationed at Washington, D. C., as pastor of Israel Metropolitan C. M. E. Church. Here he entered upon a career that gave him a national reputation. Washington opened new fields and new facilities and opportunities for further development. He found the church embarrassed by a debt of $13,400, upon which the members were paying seven per cent. interest. The interest alone amounted to over $900 a year, yet he was able to keep it down and reduce the principal. The winter of 1889, just after the holidays, he began a revival which resulted in one hundred and five additions to the church. Some of the present trustees and stewards of Israel Church were converted in that revival.

        Dr. Phillips has traveled extensively. In the spring of 1889 the Sabbath-School Union of the District of Columbia elected delegates to attend the first World's Sabbath-School Convention, which convened in London in July, 1889. He was not present at any of the Union meetings in Washington, but in his absence was one of the three delegates elected, Rev. W. H. Brooks and Rev. George Moore being the others. June 19, 1889, they sailed, having in their company Rev. A. Walters, who has since been elected to the bishopric of the A. M. E. Zion Church. He spent two months abroad, traveling through France, England, Ireland, and Scotland, visiting such cities as Liverpool, London, Manchester, Paris, Edinburgh, and Glasgow. He preached in several of these cities and lectured upon some phase of the negro problem. Returning to America, he met his Conference at Lynchburg, Va., in October, 1889, and was elected

Page 11

the second time as a delegate to the General Conference of his Church, which met in Little Rock in 1890.

        In 1891 he was one of the delegates to the Ecumenical Conference, which met in Washington, D. C., in October; was the only representative of his Church on the program; and his able speech before that learned body elicited a most favorable comment. The Washington Evening Star said: "One of the most earnest and eloquent addresses of the day was the one on 'The Legal Prohibition of the Saloon,' by Rev. C. H. Phillips, D.D., of this city, a well-known preacher of the C. M. E. Church. When he left the platform he was presented with a handsome bunch of flowers from the W. C. T. U., and Bishop Wayman remarked that he had carried off the palm." The Washington Post said: "The speaker in his tribute to water indulged in a flight of florid rhetoric that captured the audience. Dr. C. H. Phillips was heartily applauded as he stepped down from the platform, and this demonstration was renewed as he received a bouquet of flowers, and Bishop Wayman remarked that he had carried off the palm."

        Immediately after the adjournment of this great Conference, his church in Washington (Israel Metropolitan) gave him a farewell reception, at which Frederick Douglass, the lamented Dr. Price, Dr. I. B. Scott, of Texas, his classmate, now editor of the Southwestern Christian Advocate, Hon. John C. Dancy, and Dr. J. C. Waters made addresses. Nearly all the city pastors of color and the writer were present. He was pastor of this aristocratic church four years, being the only pastor of his Church who served there that length of time. He reduced the debt from $13,400 to $10,000, and the rate of interest from seven to six per cent., and added two hundred members to the church.

        His Conference meeting in Petersburg, Va., October, 1891, transferred him to the Kentucky Conference, and stationed him at Center Street Church, Louisville, Ky. The first year he added sixty converts to the church, repaired and made it inside the most beautiful church in the city; increased the congregation considerably; raised in one collection $650, the largest ever known in the history of that church; and at the close of two years left the church in a much better condition than he found it. His ability as a preacher was quickly recognized,

Page 12

for the Louisville Courier-Journal and Louisville Commercial occasionally reported his sermons. The daily Commercial, after publishing his sermon on the necessity of establishing a refuge for colored girls, and also publishing his biography, closed with these words: "Dr. Phillips' sermons are attracting large congregations. Higher honors are waiting for him in his Church, and it is generally conceded that he will yet reach the goal."

        At the Kentucky Conference, which met at Paducah September 27, 1893, he was the third time elected delegate to the General Conference, which met in May, 1894, at Memphis, Tenn.

        At the Paducah Conference Bishop Beebe appointed him presiding elder of the Mt. Sterling District, which he improved financially and spiritually. He was a-visitor to the General Conference of the A. M. E. Zion Church, which met at Pittsburg, Pa., and made a rousing speech, which was loudly cheered. The Doctor is a popular man, and has a host of popular friends in Zion Church. He attended the Parliament of Religion in Chicago during the World's Fair, and he and Bishop Holsey were members of the Advisory Council. At the brilliant reception held in Chicago in the A. M. E. Zion Church he grandly represented the C. M. E. Church on the program.

        In 1894, at his General Conference, he was elected editor of the Christian Index, after having come within three votes of being elected to the episcopal office.

        In 1896 he represented his Church before the General Conference of the M. E. Church, which met at Cleveland, Ohio. His address received favorable comment from the religious and secular press.

        In October of 1896 he was one of the invited speakers at the centennial celebration of the A. M. E. Zion Church, held in New York City. He spoke on "The Relation of the C. M. E. Church to the A. M. E. Zion Church."

        At his Conference in October, 1897, he was elected for the fourth time a delegate to the General Conference of his Church.

        As a man Dr. Phillips is modest, genial, dignified, sincere, liberal, and broad in his sympathies. These qualities are daily winning for him friends. As a preacher he is a splendid organizer,

Page 13

a shrewd financier, a successful revivalist, a bustling pastor, and a people-gatherer. As a speaker, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, he is impressive, forceful, thoughtful, suggestive, occasionally humorous, intensely earnest, his sermons and speeches often being graced by choice flowers of rhetoric and burning with fervid eloquence.

        This is an honest write-up of my friend, who in the fulness of his intellectual powers is strong, loyal, and influential in the grand denomination in which he is a pillar, an adornment, and a support. May his influence and his possibilities continue to shine with increasing luster as the days roll by!

Charlotte, N. C.

Page 15

CONTENTS.

Page 21

ILLUSTRATIONS.

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HISTORY OF THE COLORED M. E. CHURCH.

CHAPTER I.

        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South--Important Question Asked and Answered--Religious Oversight of the Slaves before the War--Some White Preachers who Labored for their Spiritual Good-- M. E. Church, South, Takes Initiatory Steps Looking toward the Organization of Its Colored Contingent into a Separate Church.

        WHEN the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met in April, 1866, in the city of New Orleans, this important question was asked by that body: "What shall be done to promote the religious interests of the colored people?" It was indispensably necessary that such a query should be raised. The war had just ended, and amid the changes of fortune and the vicissitudes of time the relation of slave to master had undergone a radical change.

        When the war came on, the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had 207,000 colored communicants. Their spiritual wants were administered to by faithful and earnest ministers of the Southern Methodist Church. Georgia and South Carolina alone had as many as sixty ministers who served as missionaries to the slaves.

        Bishop James Osgood Andrew, ninth bishop of the

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Methodist Episcopal Church and second bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, having become connected with slavery by reason of a colored girl in his possession bequeathed him by a lady, also by reason of a boy belonging to his daughter, and other legal slaves of his whom he secured to his second wife, actually became unacceptable to many Northern Conferences, and precipitated the occasion, if not the cause, of the great split in Methodism in 1844. That General Conference declared that "it is the sense of this body that Bishop Andrew desist from the exercise of his office so long as this impediment remains." Upon that resolution the North voted in the affirmative, and the South in the negative. The inevitable separation of this Church came; and in 1846, at the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, J. O. Andrew, who had been the ninth bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, became the second bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Bishop Joshua Soule being the first. While Bishop Andrew owned slaves, and thus indirectly, if not directly, gave a tacit assent to the perpetuation of the "peculiar institution" of slavery, which John Wesley declared to be "the sum of all villainies," yet he was a man of warm and tender heart, and frequently rose to sublime heights of eloquence when pleading for the religious instruction of the slave. The services of Dr. Lovick Pierce and James E. Evans; of Bishops George Pierce, John C. Keener, and Rolland N. McTyeire

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shall never be forgotten. They labored assiduously for the Christian civilization of our race. In 1807 John Early, afterwards a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was first sent to labor among the slaves of Thomas Jefferson, in Bedford County, Virginia; while Bishop William Capers' monument erected over his grave bears the inscription: "Founder of the Missions to the Slaves." These men simply followed in the wake of unselfish pioneers who had preceded them.

        Thus the religious nature of the slave was developed; thousands took on the civilization by which they were environed, and thousands more cast their lot with the Methodists. It was not unnatural that the Southern Methodist Church should, after the war, have shown a disposition to do what was best for her colored contingent. Gradually this contingent was either going into the African Methodist Episcopal Church and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church or into the Methodist Episcopal Church. Such were the persecution, misrepresentation, ridicule, and stratagems brought to bear against the Church, South, and especially its colored communicants, that many were toled away; for, out of the 207,000 on the roll before the Civil War, only 78,000 were found at its close. To save this remnant was the supreme thought of the leaders of the Church, South. To organize them into an ecclesiastical body occurred to them as the only feasible thing to be done. Consequently when the General Conference in 1866

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asked, "What shall be done to promote the religious interests of the colored people?" that same body wisely resolved that "when two or more Annual Conferences shall be formed, let our bishops advise and assist them in organizing a separate General Conference jurisdiction for themselves, if they so desire and the bishops deem it expedient, in accordance with the doctrine and discipline of our Church, and bearing the same relation to the General Conference as the Annual Conferences bear to each other." It was found at the General Conference of the Church, South, which met in Memphis in 1870, that five Annual Conferences had been organized, whereupon the bishops, in their message, inserted these words: "It is our purpose, unless you otherwise order, to call a General Conference to be holden next winter for the purpose of organizing them into an entirely separate Church, thus enabling them to become their own guides and governors."

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CHAPTER II.

        The First General Conference--Bishop Paine, Senior Bishop of the M. E. Church, South, Presiding--Revs. Green, Watson, Taylor, and Others Present--Forming Committees-- Eight Conferences Represented, viz.: Memphis, Kentucky, Arkansas, Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Texas--Remarks on W. H. Miles, R. H. Vanderhorst, L. H. Holsey, Isaac Lane, I. H. Anderson, and R. T. Thirgood.

        THE time appointed by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Memphis in 1870, for holding the first General Conference of its colored members was December 15, 1870. Rev. A. L. P. Green, D.D., of Nashville, Tenn.; Rev. Samuel Watson, D.D., of Memphis; and Rev. Thomas Taylor, D.D., of Jackson, Tenn., were present, with others, to assist in the organization, having been appointed by the Southern Methodist General Conference at its session in Memphis. Bishop Paine, of the same Church, presided. After opening the Conference with divine service, he made a few impressive and appropriate remarks. Rev. James A. Heard, pastor of the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, of Jackson, acted as Secretary pro tem. Upon the request of Bishop Paine, Dr. Green read the action of the General Conferences of 1866 and 1870 of his Church, so far as it related to the organization of our Church. This done, our fathers then proceeded to found a Church against which "the gates of hell should never prevail."

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        In May, 1870, we had five Annual Conferences; but at the organization of the General Conference in December, these had increased to eight. The list of delegates from the several Annual Conferences was called and those present answered to their names. These were the Conferences and persons who represented them:

        MEMPHIS CONFERENCE.--Clerical: Isaac Lane, John W. Lane, T. N. Stewart, Benjamin Bullard, Job Crouch, Silas Phillips, and Beverly Ford. Reserves: J. Merriwether, S. B. Stinson, and, C. Henning. Lay Delegates: Augustus Bostic, Little John Scurlock, Berry Hill, Charles McTyeire, Samuel Craighead, Moses Harding, and R. Shields. Reserves: John Tuggle, R. Goodloe, and Isaac Blair.

        MISSISSIPPI CONFERENCE.--Clerical: R. Polk and Frank Funchess. Reserves: John Dorsey and Frank Ambrose. Lay Delegates: M. Mitchell and Nat. Harris. Reserves: P. Barnes and William Jones.

        ALABAMA CONFERENCE.--Clerical: Anderson Jackson, Moses Pringle, Ezekiel Reynolds, Robert Thirgood, and A. Hawkins. Lay Delegate: J. Brockman.

        GEORGIA CONFERENCE.--Clerical: Richard H. Vanderhorst, Isaac H. Anderson, Edward West, and Lucius H. Holsey. Lay Delegates: Solomon Garrett, F. Ford, Green Saltmarsh, and William Chesnut.

        KENTUCKY CONFERENCE.--Clerical: Barnett S. Newton, R. Marshall, and W. P. Churchill.

Page 29

Reserve: W. H. Miles. Lay Delegates: James Graves and William Watson.

        ARKANSAS CONFERENCE.--Clerical: R. Samuels and Solon Graham. Reserve: Boston Welborn. Lay Delegate: Isaac Simpson.

        SOUTH CAROLINA CONFERENCE.--Clerical: R. Valentine and Richard Moses.

        TEXAS CONFERENCE.--Clerical: William Taylor.

        A majority of all the delegates elected being present, the Conference effected a permanent organization, with James A. Heard, Secretary, and L. J. Scurlock, Assistant Secretary. The rules of order as contained in the "Manual of Discipline" of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, were adopted for the government of the Conference; the bar was fixed on an imaginary line across the room from the side of the window nearest the pulpit; and the hours of meeting and adjournment were fixed at 9 A.M. and 12:30 P.M. Thus cautiously, systematically, and prayerfully the framers of our Church institution proceeded in the great work which devolved upon them.

        By motion, the Committees on Organization, Episcopacy, Discipline, Books and Periodicals, Itinerancy, and Boundaries were composed of one member from each Annual Conference. They were as follows:

        ORGANIZATION.--Memphis Conference, Benjamin Bullard; Kentucky Conference, Barnett S. Newton; Mississippi Conference, Frank Ambrose; Alabama Conference, Anderson Jackson; Arkansas Conference, Richard Samuels; Georgia Conference, Isaac

Page 30

H. Anderson; South Carolina Conference, Richard Moses.

        Episcopacy.--Memphis Conference, Augustus Bostic; Kentucky Conference, R. Marshall; Mississippi Conference, William Jones; Alabama Conference, E. Reynolds; Arkansas Conference, Richard Samuels; Georgia Conference, R. H. Vanderhorst; South Carolina Conference, Richard Valentine.

        THE DISCIPLINE.--Memphis Conference, J. W. Lane; Kentucky Conference, B. S. Newton; Mississippi Conference, Nat. Harris; Alabama Conference, R. T. Thirgood; Arkansas Conference, Isaac Simpson; Georgia Conference, L. H. Holsey; South Carolina Conference, Richard Moses.

        BOOKS AND PERIODICALS.--Memphis Conference, Isaac Lane; Kentucky Conference, James Graves; Mississippi Conference, F. Ambrose; Alabama Conference, A. G. Hawkins; Georgia Conference, R. H. Vanderhorst; South Carolina Conference, R. Valentine; Arkansas Conference, J. Simpson.

        ITINERANCY.--Memphis Conference,--Isaac Lane; Kentucky Conference, W. Watson; Mississippi Conference, F. Funchess; Alabama Conference, A. Jackson; Georgia Conference, Edward West; Arkansas Conference, R. Samuels.

        BOUNDARIES.--Memphis Conference, T. N. Stewart; Kentucky Conference, B. Ball; Arkansas Conference, J. Simpson; Mississippi Conference, F. Ambrose; Georgia Conference, G. D. Flannagan; South Carolina Conference, R. Valentine; Alabama Conference, Robert T. Thirgood.

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        SUNDAY SCHOOLS.--T. N. Stewart, L. H. Holsey, W. P. Churchill.

        FINANCE.--P. Bell, L. J. Scurlock, Silas Phillips.

        PUBLIC WORSHIP.--Isaac Lane, Jordan Merriwether, Charles Lea, Job Crouch.

        The men that composed this General Conference and formed these committees were the pioneers of our Methodism. The work they accomplished has stood the test of more than twenty-five years. It was clear, simple, and permanent. The moral temper of the Conference was in striking contrast to political conventions, where inordinate ambition, self-aggrandizement, and unholy rivalry mar the proceedings and too often thwart the plans of patriotic men looking to the best interests of the people. Truth, and an unselfish love for the general welfare of the Church, illuminated their thoughts and seemed to direct their way to wise conclusions. Dr. Samuel Watson, who attended the meeting of this body from start to finish, and who, before its close, was requested to edit the Christian Index, made these complimentary and terse remarks about the Conference:

        It was a most interesting occasion. Delegates from eight Annual Conferences were in attendance. They came from South Carolina to Texas, on the south and west, and Kentucky, on the north. I have never seen a more harmonious Conference of any kind. There was a good degree of intelligence among its members. A distinguished judge, who attended the Conference daily, said it would compare favorably with the Tennessee Legislature.


        Such views of the character and ability of the men

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that were with the Church in its formation are not overdrawn.

        Some who were prominent in that Conference, and helped to give tone and dignity to it, as well as shape the destiny of the newborn Church, have largely shaped its policy ever since. In no one General Conference has the Church found so much bishop timber and so many men possessing such admirable elements of leadership as those that constituted our first General Conference. William Henry Miles, a reserve delegate from the Kentucky Conference, and Richard H. Vanderhorst, a regular delegate from the Georgia Conference, were, on December 21, the fifth day of the session, elected the first bishops of our Church; but they were not all the bishop timber in this Conference. There was a young man from Sparta, Ga., about the age of twenty-nine or thirty, who, unconscious to himself, exhibited to others possibilities and a life of great usefulness to his Church. Allusion is here made of Lucius H. Holsey. Quick of apprehension, apt in instruction, brilliant, brainy, gifted, and endowed by nature with an intellect destined to expand and develop, this body saw in him a future bishop, and at a subsequent General Conference he was elected and consecrated to the episcopal office. Isaac Lane, L. H. Holsey's senior by five or six years, also a leader in 1870, was afterwards elected a bishop. Time has verified the wisdom of the body that elected them. Mention should be made also of Isaac H. Anderson, who has maintained his hold upon the Church

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ever since its organization. He has been a member of every General Conference, except the one of 1874, and has just rounded out eight years as Book Agent and manager of the Christian Index.

        Of the preachers who composed our first General Conference, I. H. Anderson, now of the North Mississippi Conference, and R. T. Thirgood, of the North Alabama Conference, are the only ones, Bishops Holsey and Lane excepted, who are in the itinerant service of the Church. Not ten of the clerical delegates are living, not eight of the laymen, who saw the old Colored Methodist Episcopal ship launched, with flag and pennant streaming wide, a quarter of a century ago. They have passed over to that bourne from whence there can be no returning.


                         What is life? A transient bubble,
                         Like the ignis fatuus' gleam--
                         Full of crosses, full of trouble,
                         Passing like a fevered dream.

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CHAPTER III.

        First General Conference--Report of the Committee on Church Organization--The New Church Named.

        THE report of no committee was looked forward to with more eagerness, solicitude, and interest than the Committee on Church Organization. I. H. Anderson, the Chairman, in submitting his report, gratefully acknowledged the obligations of his brethren to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, for what they had done for them; believing, however, that the time had come when, for the glory of God and the best interest of both races, they should have a distinct and independent organization, provision for the same having been made, as we have already seen. This report was preceded by a touching and forcible address by Bishop Paine upon the present and future relations of the Church, South, to the Church about to be organized. He urged upon the Conference the sine qua non of a pure ministry and the great importance of a spiritual membership. There was absolutely no difficulty in giving a name to the new Church institution. The eight members of that committee, representing eight Annual Conferences, were of one mind, soul, and spirit. Their knowledge of early Methodism enabled them to select a name that would be closely related to the one by which the followers of John Wesley were first known in this country. This was the report of the committee:

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        Whereas the Methodist Episcopal Church in America was the name first given to the Methodist Church in the United States; and

        Whereas we are a part of that same Church, never having seceded or separated from the Church; but in the division of the Church by the General Conference in 1844 we naturally belonged to the South, and have been in that division ever since; and now, as we belong to the colored race, we simply prefix the word "colored" to the name, and for ourselves adopt the name, as we are in fact a part of the original Church, as old as any in America; therefore be it

        Resolved, 1. That our name be the "Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America."

        2. That while we thus claim for ourselves an antiquity running as far back as any branch of the Methodist family on this side of the Atlantic Ocean, and while we claim for ourselves all that we concede to others of ecclesiastical and civil rights, we shall ever hold in grateful remembrance what the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, has done for us; we shall ever cherish the kindliest feelings toward the bishops and General Conference for giving to us all that they enjoy of religious privileges, the ordination of our deacons and elders; and at this Conference our bishops will be ordained by them to the highest office known in our Church. No other church organization has thus been established in the land. We most sincerely pray, earnestly desire, and confidently believe that there will ever be the kindliest feelings cherished toward the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and that we may ever receive their warmest sympathy and support.

        3. That we request the bishops to organize our General Conference on the basis of the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in its entire doctrine, discipline, and economy, making only such verbal alterations and changes as may be necessary to conform it to our name and the peculiarities of our condition.


        Along the lines mentioned in this chapter the

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Church was established and named, and at no time since has there been a general desire to change its name or modify or alter the basis upon which it was founded. While there has been no great desire to change the name, there has been a desire to see the phrase, "in America," dropped; and this can, and doubtless will, be done in the future, without any injury to the name of the Church.

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        THE PUBLISHING HOUSE, JACKSON, TENN.

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CHAPTER IV.

        First General Conference--A Publishing House Founded-- An Official Organ Created.

        MEASURES looking forward to the creation of a Publishing House were adopted at the third day's session, or December 19, 1870. I. H. Anderson moved that the Publishing House be located in Memphis, Tenn. The motion was first laid on the table, but afterwards taken therefrom and adopted. From the very beginning it became apparent to these framers of the Church that a Publishing House, where the literature of the Church should be created and deposited, was an indispensable necessity. L. H. Holsey, a young man of promise and ability, after showing the need of a Publishing House, offered the following, which was adopted:

        Resolved, 1. That we have a Book Agent.

        2. That we empower the associate editor to act as Book Agent.

        3. That we require the Book Agent and Editor, with the assistance of the preachers and presiding elders, to get as many members and other friends as possible to subscribe five dollars or more for the future establishment of said Publishing House.

        4. That said subscriptions or donations shall be forwarded to the Publishing Committee, who shall constitute the managers of said fund for said purpose under the supervision of Dr. Samuel Watson.


        Thus were our publishing interests founded, which

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have undergone some change at each recurring General Conference.

        For two years before the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church had assumed tangible form, a paper known as the Christian Index had been published in its interest by Samuel Watson, D.D., of the Church, South. This Conference resolved that it should continue to be published, with Dr. Watson as editor, and that the office of Assistant Editor should be created. A cash system was adopted, and it was resolved that each preacher should procure ten subscribers for the paper, and that in no case should a paper be sent unless the cash accompanied the subscription. No General Conference since has been able to make any improvement on this cash system.

        The Publishing Committee was to be composed of the Presiding Elder of the Memphis District, the stationed preacher at Collins Chapel, and Augustus Bostic, a prominent layman of the same church. It was further decided that, at the General Conference which was to meet in Augusta, Ga., the first Wednesday in July, 1874, the Publishing Committee should make a full statement of all moneys received and expended during the quadrennium.

        Our readers can clearly see that the legislation of this first General Conference reflects credit upon the men of that day. Their work has been permanent; their record is written on high. They have bequeathed to us a glorious history, a history that shall shine with increasing luster as the years roll by.

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CHAPTER V.

        First General Conference Concluded--Report of Committee on Episcopacy--The Election of two Bishops Recommended --B. S. Newton and L. H. Holsey Appointed Tellers --Divine Guidance Sought in the Election--W. H. Miles and R. H. Vanderhorst Chosen Bishops--L. J. Scurlock Elected Book Agent--Fixing Salaries of the Bishops --Conferences Bounded--Bishops Consecrated by Bishops Paine and McTyeire, Assisted by Elders West, Bullard, Stewart, and Churchill--Petition from Winchester, Ky. --Closing Remarks on the First General Conference.

        THE Committee on Episcopacy, of which Augustus Bostic was Chairman, on December 21, 1870, recommended the election and consecration of two men to the episcopal office. The report was adopted; but before the election the Conference sought Divine guidance and aid in the selection of the men who were to be the first bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. Our forefathers did not resort to wire-pulling, political jugglery, and hypocritical demagogy in order to elect the men; neither did they indulge in misrepresentations to blight the possibilities of any man; they relied upon the guidance of the Holy Spirit. Like the apostles, when they were filling the place of Judas, who, by transgression, fell, they prayed: "Lord, thou knowest the hearts of all men: show which two men among us thou hast chosen, that they may take the lead of our ministry and this Church which under thy providence has just been

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founded." After such a season of prayer and devotion to God, it was not likely that they should err in their selection.

        L. H. Holsey, of Georgia, and B. S. Newton, of Kentucky, were appointed tellers. The balloting began, and ended with the following result:

        First ballot (votes cast, 40; necessary to a choice, 21)--W. H. Miles, 27; R. H. Vanderhorst, 16; Job Crouch, 12; W. P. Churchill, 9; T. N. Stewart, 8; B. S. Newton, 2; R. Marshall, 2.

        William H. Miles, of Kentucky, having received a majority of votes cast, was declared, by Bishop McTyeire, duly elected Bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America.

        Second ballot (votes cast, 40; necessary to a choice, 21)--R. H. Vanderhorst, 20; Job Crouch, 15; W. P. Stewart, 7; W. P. Churchill, 3. No election.

        Third ballot (votes cast, 40; necessary to a choice, 21)--R. H. Vanderhorst, 26; Job Crouch, 12; W. P. Churchill, 2.

        Richard H. Vanderhorst having received a majority of all votes cast, Bishop McTyeire declared him duly elected.

        The election of bishops over, the Conference, on the third ballot, elected L. J. Scurlock Book Agent, L. H. Holsey running him closely.

        Consequently W. H. Miles and R. H. Vanderhorst became our first Bishops, and L. J. Scurlock our first Book Agent.

        It is a little interesting to see how the Committee

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on Episcopacy fixed the salaries of the bishops. Bishop Miles was to receive a salary of $1,000 per year, and Bishop Vanderhorst, $700 per year. Each Annual Conference was to pay the bill of traveling expenses that should be submitted by the bishop as having been incurred by him in the discharge of the business or duties of the Conference visited--in other words, they were to receive the salaries already stated and their traveling expenses.

        We have seen that eight Conferences were represented at the opening of the General Conference; but before its close the Virginia and Tennessee Conferences were formed, making ten in all. The Committee on Boundaries fixed the territory of these Conferences as described below:

        To raise the $1,700 which had been appropriated for the bishops' salaries, the following assessments were made:

        As small as these assessments were, they were not all collected, and the result was the bishops were not paid in full. They did not fail to travel, however; for they labored unceasingly to spread the Church and add souls to her number.

        On the night of the same day of their election, in the First Methodist Episcopal Church, South, they were consecrated to their high office by Bishops Paine and McTyeire. Edward West and Benjamin Bullard presented W. H. Miles, and T. N. Stewart and W. P. Churchill presented R. H. Vanderhorst, and assisted the bishops in the ordination exercises. Those who were present and are still living will not forget the solemnity of the occasion. Bishop Paine resigned the chair to Bishop Miles as soon as the ordination was over, and he, after presiding for awhile, resigned in favor of Bishop Vanderhorst. Thus was the machinery

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turned over to our bishops, and by them it has been manned ever since.

        Before concluding this write-up of the first General Conference, we desire to show our readers how the hearts and minds of the people were turned toward Jackson, Tenn., when representatives from all parts of the country had gathered there to form the new Church. Among the petitions that were presented none were more important, none indicated more clearly the trend in which legislation should be directed, none looked forward with more favorable apprehension, showing more palpably the interest that was coeval with the followers of this Church, than the petition that was presented by W. H. Miles, from Winchester, Ky. It was dated November 25, 1870, and read thus:

To the Colored General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South:

        "Grace to you and peace from God our Father, and the Lord Jesus Christ."

        We thank our God, through Jesus Christ, for you all, that our Church is widening its sphere of usefulness, and is gathering into its fold true and penitent believers; for we desire nothing so much as the spreading of the gospel of Christ. May your deliberations be guided by wisdom from on high; and, in your instituting a new order of things in our Church, our daily prayer shall be: "May the Lord direct you." If it be the will of God, our desire is that colored bishops be appointed or elected to take charge of and preside over the colored Church. It is our desire that our organization be known under the name of the "Methodist Episcopal Church"--not that we wish to sever our connection with the "Methodist Episcopal Church, South;" not that we want to unite with the "Methodist Episcopal

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Church, North;" but as our Savior called us to come unto him, let us imitate his goodness and purity, and in name avoid all stumbling-blocks, and, looking heavenward, move on triumphantly to the prize of the high calling in Christ Jesus. Some of the churches in Central Kentucky have engendered some bitterness of feeling on this account; and this slight change would produce harmony and unity of action that would render us invincible against the hosts of this world, and perhaps would be the means of saving many a wearied and lost soul.

        We trust that you will listen to our prayers, and accept this graciously from your brethren in Christ at Allen's Chapel, main cross street, Winchester, Ky.

        Signed by the Church through us as its officers: John Allen, Thomas Webb, Richard Trotter, Harrison Martin, Jacob Carey, Stewards; James Austin, Class Leader; Edward Massie, George Gardner, Sheet Irvin, Trustees; Reuben Taylor, Pastor Dry Fork Station; Moses Hall, Pastor Owingsville Station; Stephen Brown, Pastor Mount Sterling Station; and Richard Wells, Pastor Red River Circuit.


        These petitioners were earnest; they plainly saw that if the colored contingent of the Church, South, were to have a future, then they must assume a new relation to that Church.

        Our first General Conference was the most important one yet held. It had conditions, and not theories, to confront. It had to shape and outline the policy of the new organization; define its relation to the Church that gave it birth; resolve to abstain, as a Church, from participation in politics, and know nothing among men, save Christ, and him crucified. Having no Discipline of its own, the Conference adopted the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, taking out and putting in such things as would be for the highest interest of the Church. It

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also decided to patronize the Sunday school literature of the Church, South, both in books and periodicals.

        Legal and constitutional in organization, legitimately descended from the very father of Methodism, clear and spotless in its record, firm and unwavering in the doctrines and principles of Methodism, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church entered upon its career clear as the sun, bright as the moon, and terrible as an army with banners.

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CHAPTER VI.

        The Church Organized--The Work Begun in Earnest--Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst Holding District Conferences --Isaac Lane, Presiding Elder Jackson District--Letter of E. B. Martin to H. H. Hammel--Some Faithful Preachers --First Episcopal Plan of Visitation--Dr. Watson's Editorial --Bishop Vanderhorst and the Georgia Conference-- Some Personal Reminiscences--Estranged Relation Between C. M. E. and A. M. E. Churches--The Cause--Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst Memorialize A. M. E. General Conference--Their Letter--Bishop Vanderhorst Dies --Remarks Concerning Him--Bishop Miles Calls an Extra Session of the General Conference--L. J. Scurlock Resigns the Assistant Editorship of the Index--E. B. Martin Succeeds Him--Letter from Wyatt Low--Letter from Bishop Miles--Chapter Concluded.

        THE Church organized, bishops elected, and the line of policy outlined, the ministers of the new Church began at once to spread and extend its borders. Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst traveled extensively, building up circuits, missions, and stations, and taking back members who had been toled into other denominations by misrepresentation of the relation of our Church to the Church, South.

        In the summer of 1871, Bishop Miles held District Conferences in Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, and other States; and Bishop Vanderhorst was engaged in the same kind of work in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida. Faithful men in all parts of the Church were laboring for her expansion.

        This year we find Isaac Lane presiding elder of the

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Jackson District, and E. B. Martin at Palona, Miss. Writing to H. H. Hammel, of Nashville, Tenn., the latter says:

        I have a great deal to do; I have not had any money since April; I have eight places to preach at on this circuit. I am in the wilderness; I never hear a car whistle, only when I ride twelve or thirteen miles to the little station where the post office is. But I am the servant of God; and if the Lord says stay here, I will stay and do the best I can. I believe God blesses my labors, for the Church here was nearly all gone to the Baptists. I called them, and they came back to the fold again. I had a great meeting and baptizing the first Sunday in the month. God takes care of me. I say sometimes, like good old David: "The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want."


        The above letter was dated Palona, June 17, 1871.

        E. B. Martin was afterwards pastor of Collins Chapel, Book Agent, editor of the Christian Index, and pastor at Louisville, Ky., where he finally deserted the Church; and after becoming for a few years the pastor of a congregation which he drew out from Center Street Church, he connected himself with the Baptist denomination.

        In the various Conferences were to be found zealous men who considered no sacrifice too great for them to make for the good of the cause which they represented. L. H. Holsey, I. H. Anderson, and Edward West, in Georgia; B. S. Newton, R. Marshall, W. P. Churchill, and J. W. Bell, in Kentucky; J. A. Beebe, a coming young man in North Carolina--all these were fruitful in labors.

        The District Conferences held by the two bishops were interesting and usually well attended. Several

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Conferences were organized, and the degree of enthusiasm was such that the young daughter of Methodism was fast making her place among other Christian bodies.

        The first plan of episcopal visitation appeared in the Christian Index of July, 1871. Here it is:

        In making out the above plan, the bishops evidently intended to accompany each other, for Dr. Watson, the editor of the Index, made this explanation:

        Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst will visit and hold these Conferences together, wherever practicable. This was the ancient style of Bishops Coke and Asbury. Thus our bishops will have an opportunity to get acquainted with the churches, and the churches with them.


        Bishop Vanderhorst held the Georgia Conference, which met in December, in Milledgeville. The writer was only thirteen years old, but he remembers that the Bishop preached a great sermon from 2 Pet. i. 10: "Wherefore the rather, brethren, give diligence to make your calling and election sure: for if ye do these things, ye shall never fall." We do not remember the outlines--it is enough, young as we were--to remember the text--but we do recollect that his sermon

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was eloquent, powerful, and pathetic, and made a great impression upon the people. The intonation of his voice, his graceful gestures, his beautiful cadences, his anxious look, his elegant diction, and his native eloquence marked him an orator of the purest type. He was a tall, erect, dignified black man. Dr. Watson, when describing the two bishops at one time, said: "Bishop Miles is bright, but Bishop Vanderhorst, as a Kentucky brother said in the General Conference, is black enough for any of us." These men of God, undaunted by persecution--for this they did not escape--pressed forward in protecting the rights and defending Colored Methodism from the attacks of her enemies.

        In these days there arose an estranged relation between the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, by reason of the former Church occupying property belonging to the latter, to which, by the action of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, it was justly entitled. In the ante-bellum days the colored Methodists of the South held their membership in the Methodist Episcopal Church, South; nor was said membership held by choice, but by necessity; they could not do otherwise. They were not allowed to form organizations among themselves, as they had done in the North. Hence when the African Methodist Episcopal Church made the attempt to gather them together, that Church was driven out as an Ishmael; but when the war had knocked off the shackles from the slaves, "Bethel" again came upon the scene and gathered

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many under her banner. This was not all; churches that belonged to the Colored Methodist Episcopal Connection, which had been turned over to it by the Church, South, the African Methodist Episcopal Church held for its own use, and many were never recovered. The General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church met in Nashville, Tenn., in May, 1872, and to this body Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst addressed a memorial letter. It was dated Memphis, Tenn., May 1, 1872. This memorial is in point here, as it will show that our Church had ample reasons for complaint. The letter is published in full:

To Your Honorable Body, Hoping God's Blessing May Attend You, and That You May Have a Pleasant Session--Greeting:

        DEAR BRETHREN AND SIRS: This being the first session of your General Conference since we have effected our separate organization, we desire to live in peace with all men, and especially with Christians. So we concluded to drop your honorable body a few lines, asking you to take some steps to settle the difficulty that now exists between our Churches with regard to our church property which your congregations are now occupying without any legal right by the decision of the General Conference at Memphis, Tenn., in 1870. We assure you that we wish to live in peace with your Church, and do not wish to go to law for our churches. If it pleases your honorable body to appoint a committee to meet us, rest assured that your committee will be met with due respect on our part. We believe these little questions in law are injurious to our race, and we think that something should be done on both sides to stop the contention and bring peace between us. Some of your ministers in the past have been very hostile to us, forbidding us to preach in our own churches that were occupied by your congregations, for which we are very sorry. We only ask that which is ours under the law of the land,

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and we assure you that if we have any of your houses of worship we are ready and willing to give them up; and we ask your honorable body to turn over to us all of our church property throughout the South without the trouble of lawsuits. We await your answer.

W. H. MILES,
R. H. VANDERHORST,

Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America.


        This letter might appear a little caustic and pungent, but these blemishes and pert utterances disappear when we consider the style of the writer. Bishop Miles, who doubtless wrote the letter, was a plain, positive man. He always wrote or spoke what he thought, never seeking to confuse or mislead by so doing. The letter breathed the spirit of Christ; it only asked to be treated after the manner of the golden rule: "Whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them."

        This memorial letter was perhaps the last official paper to which Bishop Vanderhorst ever signed his name. He left Memphis in May, 1872, and died in July of the same year. Bishop Vanderhorst was really a worn-out preacher when elected to the episcopal office. He was fifty-seven years old at the time of his election, and was of frail constitution. His episcopal career, though short, was brilliant, useful, and successful. His death necessarily increased the labors and responsibilities of Bishop Miles.

        The General Conference at Jackson, Tenn., adjourned to meet in Augusta, Ga., in August, 1874; but the death of one bishop, the rapid growth of the Church, and its flattering possibilities necessitated a

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called session; consequently Bishop Miles called an extra session of the General Conference to meet in Augusta, Ga., March 19, 1873. Not only was the election of more bishops necessary, but there were other matters of importance that needed attention. L. J. Scurlock, who had been elected Book Agent and assistant editor of the Index, left his post for a more lucrative field and became a member of the Mississippi Legislature. E. B. Martin, pastor of Collins Chapel, having been appointed to act in his stead, was actually in training for the editorship of the Index, a position which, in the Index of February, 1873, Dr. Watson declared he could fill no longer than the ensuing General Conference.

        Notwithstanding some irregularities, impediments, and drawbacks, the work progressed steadily onward. Wyatt Low, an earnest preacher in Georgia, writing to the Index in November, 1872, says:

        The Merriwether Circuit is doing well. I have received over a hundred members this year. I have baptized one hundred and ten. I will soon have four new churches on my circuit. Elder J. T. Phillips*

        *J. T. Phillips was the brother of the author. He died in peace, July, 1892.


will dedicate a church the third Sunday in November, and we hope to have Bishop Miles preach a dedication sermon of a church near West Point after the Conference. I feel that God has blessed my circuit this year.


        While missions, circuits, and stations were being increased with a healthy membership, Bishop Miles was holding Conference after Conference, getting them in readiness for the fast approaching General

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Conference. The East Texas Conference met at Marshall, November 6, 1872. Bishop Miles, writing of that session, says:

        Rev. Daniels, presiding elder of the district, had made an arrangement with the officers of the Methodist Episcopal Church to hold the Conference sessions in their church. After religious services, several women came in, claiming to be members of that Church, and ordered us out. One very old lady, bending over a long staff, said: "My God, brethren; I am a radical all over! Go away from here, you conservatives!" I felt sorry for the old lady, to think that politics had so deranged an old woman who was nearly in the grave. I withdrew the Conference from their church in good order. I told the brethren not to say anything; and we then marched up to the Public Square, and halted in front of the courthouse, where the Cumberland Presbyterians offered us the use of their church. We did well after that, and had a good time. We bought a lot on which to build a church. The East Texas Conference is doing well. They had an increase of 1,620 members, and ten preachers were admitted on trial.


        What is true of this Conference was true of all the rest: they were constantly growing. Thus Bishop Miles, an indefatigable servant of the Church, with far more responsibility than any other one man in the Connection, performed his duties faithfully until the General Conference at Augusta elected three other men to share with him the responsibilities of the episcopal office.

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CHAPTER VII.

        The General Conference of 1873--J. W. Bell Elected Secretary --Some Visitors from the M. E. Church, South-- Bishop Miles' Memorable Message--Its Reception--Referred to the Various Committees--J. A. Beebe, L. H. Holsey, and Isaac Lane Elected Bishops--Their Consecration --Memorial Services to Bishop Vanderhorst-- Some Legislative Work--The Educational and Missionary Work of the Church--Some Important Reports--The General Missionary Board Appointed--The Annual Conferences Assessed for the Support of the Bishops--A Committee Eulogizes the Life, Labors, and Character of Bishop Vanderhorst--E. B. Martin Makes a Report on Publishing Interests--Afterwards Elected Editor and Book Agent--Conference Adjourns.

        IT is noticeable that very little writing was done through the Index by delegates respecting the election of bishops and measures that were to be discussed and perhaps adopted by the General Conference of 1873. So quiet were they that the editor had occasion to remark:

        We would like to hear of the movements of the Bishop. He may not have time to write much, but there are others who can take the time; and if they do so, we can keep the readers of the paper posted in regard to Church in matters. Wake up, brethren! Let us hear from you about measures to be adopted by the General Conference.


        In the February number of the Christian Index Dr. Watson urged the delegates to make the selection of bishops a matter of special prayer to God; that much depended upon the men who were to be chosen

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for the standard bearers of the cross of Christ; that men sound in body and mind should be chosen; and then the Church would enter upon a new era of prosperity.

        Accordingly the second General Conference of the Church met in Augusta, Ga., in Trinity Church, Wednesday, March 19, 1873, at 10 A.M. Bishop Miles, the only bishop of the Church, conducted the devotional exercises, and J. W. Bell, of Kentucky, was elected temporary, and afterwards permanent, Secretary.

        Since the first General Conference, Bishop Miles reported having organized the Northwest Texas, Louisiana, Missouri and Kansas, and North Carolina Conferences. Their delegates were seated and a quorum was announced.

        Among the visitors from the Church, South, were Bishop George F. Pierce; Dr. Abby, of the Mississippi Conference; Rev. J. E. Evans, Rev. C. W. Key, Rev. Thomas Seals, and Dr. Hicks, of the North Georgia Conference; and Several others.

        Much interest centered in the Bishop's message, as it was to be the first message delivered to the new organization. Below is the full text of that memorable document:

        REVEREND AND DEAR BRETHREN: The present session of your body has been made necessary by the rapid growth of the Church, the increasing demands of the work, and by the lamented death of my beloved colleague, Bishop Richard H. Vanderhorst. He was a good man, and commanded the respect and confidence of the whites as well as the people of his own race. He died in peace. I trust you will order a suitable memorial of his character and services. Since

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the sad event to which I have referred, the sole oversight of our rapidly-expanding Communion has devolved upon me. The work is too great for me, and the Church must suffer unless the vacancy be filled. The interest at stake is too vast and precious to be periled by waiting for the regular quadrennial session. To strengthen the episcopacy is at present an urgent demand. It is not three years since we were set up as a separate and independent ecclesiastical body. Then we had no certain statistics as to the number of preachers or members embraced in our jurisdiction. Eight Annual Conferences were represented in the General Conference assembled at Jackson in 1870. As reported to you on yesterday, I have organized four more-- viz., the Northwest Texas, the Missouri and Kansas, the Louisiana, and the North Carolina Conferences. Two other Conferences were made in regular session, and their delegates are here to take their seats with you in this meeting. Now I report to you 14 Annual Conferences, 635 traveling preachers, 583 local preachers, and a membership of 67,888. In view of the opposition from certain quarters, these results are very inspiring. Let us thank God, and take courage.

        The territory embraced in our Conferences is very large. One or two men in the episcopacy can only make transient visits to the chief points. A more thorough personal oversight is necessary to an intelligent and effective administration. As the result of my observations upon the State and necessity of the work, I recommend the election and ordination of at least three bishops.

        It is eminently proper that I remind you officially of the Christian kindness and consideration of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, toward us as a people. Under the authority of their General Conference, their bishops assisted in our organization by presiding at our first session, ordaining our bishops, publishing our Disciplines, and helping to redeem in spirit and to the transfer of church property. The brethren of the Church, South, have shown us great favor; and their debtors we are for sympathy and encouragement, for brotherly counsel and material aid, and for the transfer, under all the forms and securities of law, of an amount of property which, left to

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ourselves, we would not have realized in a generation. Let our brotherly love toward them abound, and let us vindicate their confidence in us by fidelity to our work and active consecration to the mission whereunto we are called.

        Our publishing interests demand your careful examination. Without specific advice, I suggest that they ought to be permanently located, judiciously manned, and some plan devised for the more liberal patronage of the Christian Index and the Discipline. These things are important, not only for the sake of financial results, but for the advancement of our people in intelligence and in Christian morals, for the right training of the young, and to put to silence the reproach of our enemies. We must become a reading people if we would acquire influence, overcome opposition, and maintain ourselves respectably among the Churches of the land. Next to the maintenance of sound doctrine and godly discipline (and it will be tributary to these), the most vital point is the education of our people, and especially the improvement of our ministry. With regard to the latter, I suggest, as the best we can now do, to urge great caution in licensing men to preach by the Quarterly Conferences and to enforce in the Annual Conferences the requirements of the course of study, holding all persons steadily to the rule. As to the general subject, my conclusion, after much thought, is to recommend the appointment of a committee, with instructions to take counsel and elaborate a scheme of education, to be submitted to the General Conference at its regular session a year hence.

        My judgment, brethren, is that you should not at this time enter upon the work of general legislation. This session was made necessary by the death of Bishop Vanderhorst, the increase in the number of Conferences, and the growing demand for episcopal service. Let us attend to these things, make such preliminary arrangements for the other interests to which I have called your attention as you judge best, and then adjourn to resume our active ministerial labors in our several fields of labor.

        As an ecclesiastical organization, our growth has not only been rapid, but healthy, and seems to contain all the elements of permanence and broader development. Let us hold fast whereunto we have attained. Let no man take

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our crown. With the same singleness of purpose, the same freedom from all entangling alliances with outside questions, let us do the work of evangelists, and make full proof of our ministry by preaching a pure gospel and building up the Church in faith and holiness.

        May the great Head of the Church guide you in the selection of the chief pastors of the flock, and also to such plans as shall bring glory to Him through the moral and spiritual improvement of all our people.

March 20, 1873.

W. H. MILES.


        The address of the Bishop, which sent a thrill of joy through the hearts of all the delegates and visitors; was referred to the respective standing committees which had already been appointed.

        The Committee on Episcopacy reported that they had examined the character and administration of Bishop Miles, and also the labors of Bishop Vanderhorst up to the time of his death, and found both blameless in their lives and official administrations. Upon the recommendation of the committee, their characters were passed unanimously. The committee further recommended the election of three additional bishops, and the Conference concurred.

        On Saturday morning, March 23, 1873, after a few pertinent remarks by Bishop Miles and a fervent prayer by Bishop Pierce, who prayed for the guidance of the Spirit in the solemn matter before the delegates, the balloting proceeded. Votes cast, 41; necessary to a choice, 22.

        On the first ballot Joseph A. Beebe, of North Carolina, and L. H. Holsey, of Georgia, each received 39 votes, and Isaac Lane, of Tennessee, received 13, being third next highest. A number of complimentary

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votes were cast for W. P. Churchill, I. H. Anderson, R. T. White, and others.

        J. A. Beebe and L. H. Holsey were declared elected Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church by Bishop Miles.

        On the second ballot Isaac Lane received 27 votes, and W. P. Churchill, 13.

        Bishop Miles announced that Isaac Lane, having received a majority of all votes cast, was duly elected bishop.

        Congratulations by the people and speeches by the bishops-elect over, the Conference, on motion of I. H. Anderson, elected Bishop Pierce to preach the ordination sermon on the Sabbath, March 24, at 3 o'clock, and Bishop Miles to preach the memorial sermon of Bishop Vanderhorst at 8 P.M. Rev. B. S. Newton, Rev. Job Crouch, Rev. Stokes Steele, and Rev. William Taylor assisted in the ordination of the newly elected bishops.

        This Conference displayed a disposition to remove the Book Concern from Memphis to Nashville, the question being discussed pro and con. Finally it was continued at Memphis. The assessment of twenty-five cents per member was changed to ten cents, for the support of the Book Concern, and the presiding elders were to see that the same was collected. An editor was elected, who was to have charge of the Book Concern, as well as edit the Christian Index. Some wanted to elect a general traveling agent to travel in the interest of the Index and the Book Concern, and see to the judicious distribution of the literature of the Church throughout the territory embraced

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in its organization. A wiser plan was reached, however, when the Conference ultimately decided to have the bishops act as agents for the circulation of the Index and literature of the Church. Special agents for publications in the Church have rarely ever proven successful.

        To this General Conference is due the credit of beginning the educational and missionary work of the Church. The substance of the report on education was: The bishops were instructed to take measures looking to the establishment of an institution of learning; to unite on the subject of education to the extent of their opportunities; to receive donations and contributions for the benefit of the cause, and acknowledge the same in the Index; that all preachers give it their strict attention, and lecture on the subject occasionally; and that the bishops bring the matter before the several Annual Conferences for their consideration.

        The report of the Committee on Missions was no less interesting. They adopted Chapter 10 of the Discipline of that day, after saying twenty-five percent, instead of forty per cent, of missionary moneys raised shall be paid into the treasury of the General Missionary Board. The officers elected were: B. E. Ford, of Mississippi, President; I. H. Anderson, of Georgia, Vice President; and E. B. Martin, of Tennessee, Secretary. R. T. White, of Georgia; A. Bostic of Tennessee; and S. Bobo, of Mississippi, were elected a Board of Managers.

        The Conference voted an annual assessment of five dollars on each Annual Conference for the support of

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the widow of Bishop Vanderhorst during her lifetime.

        The Church was sadly in need of a well-regulated financial plan, but it was necessary for the new organization to become experienced in financiering before such a plan could be inaugurated. To raise money for the support of the bishops, the General Conference made an assessment directly upon the Annual Conferences rather than upon individuals. Each Conference was assessed as follows:

        These assessments were never paid, and so the bishops experienced many hardships; yet their zeal for the Church abated not, neither did they cease their labors.

        On the last day of the Conference, E. S. West, R. J. Brown, J. A. Beebe, R. T. White, and Emanuel Asbury, as a Committee on Eulogy, reported a preamble and resolutions eulogizing the life, character, labors, and achievements of the late Bishop Vanderhorst,

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and recommended the erection of a suitable monument to his memory.

        Dr. Watson, of the Church, South, who had edited the Index from its creation until the assembling of the General Conference, having given notice that he could in no sense longer hold the position, was, by the members of the Conference, tendered a unanimous rising vote of thanks for his pious labors and valuable assistance in their behalf.

        E. B. Martin, the Acting Agent, by reason of L. J. Scurlock's desertion, made a report of the paper and book interests. From January, 1872, to March 1, 1873, $983 had been expended on the paper; $936.25 had been received; books on hand were valued at $290.80; cash, about $60 or $70; while $1,630.90 was the total amount paid out during the fifteen months.

        There were several new men in this body who were not in the General Conference of 1870. Among these were R. T. White, who has attended every quadrennial session of the Church from that time; R. J. Brown, who has long since died in peace; J. A. Beebe, who in the same Conference was elected a bishop; J. W. Bell; E. B. Martin, and others.

        The last legislative act of the Conference was the almost unanimous election of E. B. Martin to the Book Agency and editorship of the Christian Index. This done, the proceedings of the second General Conference passed into history.

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CHAPTER VIII.

        Fraternal Letter from the Bishops of the A. M. E. Church-- Editorial Comment by E. B. Martin--Death of Senior Bishop William Paul Quinn, of the A. M. E. Church.

        The General Conference at Augusta, Ga., continuing in session only seven days, adjourned before the following fraternal letter from the bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church reached Augusta. At their request, it appeared in the Index, April 1, 1873:

PHILADELPHIA, March 26, 1873.

To the Members of the General Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now in Session in Augusta, Ga.

        DEAR BRETHREN: The members of the Board of Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in session at their episcopal rooms in the city of Washington, D. C., on behalf of the said Church, send you their Christian greetings. They take this method of expressing to you their deep interest in your success in the new organization effected under the generous auspices of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. We confess that we would have been more than pleased if, in the providence of God, you could have seen your way clear to have united with us instead of increasing the number of independent organizations of Methodists by one. This, we believe, you would have done had you previously known and entirely understood the history of the rise and progress, with the designs, intentions, and manifest utility, of our Church, as you will, we trust, hereafter know and understand them. Whatever the result or consequence of such acquaintance may be, we trust that the day is not far distant when you will be thus acquainted with us and when all colored Methodists shall become one great, united family. Indeed, is it not desirable that the whole Methodist family should become one, under

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one united system of doctrine, discipline, and government in the United States of America? We believe you will say with us that such a condition of Church fellowship is most desirable. If the will of the Lord be so, we hope and pray for it. Until then we shall rejoice in the success which God may give to you. May it be your lot, dear brethren, to help increase the membership of the Church of Christ, and thus spread abroad a knowledge of his kingdom upon the earth. We shall rejoice in your educational enterprises, in your financial strength among our dear people throughout this land. We thank God for the apparent peace and prosperity which thus far have attended your Church. May continued success attend your true and faithful ministrations in the Lord.

        We could not close our communication without alluding to the fact that you, like we, have been called to mourn the loss of one of the members of your Episcopal Board, the Reverend Bishop Vanderhorst. In this loss we can sympathize with you, as you may with us in the loss of our senior bishop,*

        *The bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church refer here to the death of Bishop William Paul Quinn, senior bishop of that Church, which occurred at Richmond, Ind. Feb. 21, 1873.


who left this world in great peace, leaving behind him a most satisfactory testimony of his having gone to that rest which remains for the people of God.

        We are your brethren in Christ.

        Signed, on behalf of the Board of Bishops,

JABEZ PITT CAMPBELL,
T. M. D. WARD,

Bishops.


        After closing the above document, they touched upon the letter which Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst had addressed to their General Conference with regard to adjusting property disputes between their members and ours. Concerning this they said:

        Touching the question of property, we are willing to act strictly according to the principle of equity and right,

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and earnestly hope that all disputes regarding the same may be amicably adjusted.


        E. B. Martin, editor of the Christian Index at that time, among other things, writes as follows concerning that fraternal letter:

        We are very much gratified at the spirit and the subject-matter of the letter. We regret it did not come in time to be presented to and acted upon by the General Conference. Let us respect and love each other as brethren beloved, laboring for the same glorious end. The causes that led us to be in separate bodies were in existence before most of us were brought upon the stage of action. We have nothing to do with the dead past, but with the present and future of our beloved Methodism. Whatever we can do without compromising our self-respect to bring about the best state of Christian fellowship we will most cheerfully do. Our brethren of the African Church may learn a lesson from the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Their bishops appointed one of their number, with another distinguished minister, to attend the General Conference of the latter Church, which met in Memphis, May, 1870. Although they were received most cordially and treated with the utmost kindness and hospitality, yet officially they could not be received, because they were not sent by their General Conference. When the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church was held in Brooklyn, May, 1872, they appointed fraternal messengers*

        *The Methodist Episcopal Church, South, in refusing to recognize the accredited fraternal messengers from the Methodist Episcopal Church, must have done so because it was customary or lawful for such appointments to be made by their General Conference. The fact that they were so cordially received in 1874, at Louisville, having been appointed by their General Conference at Brooklyn, fully justifies the statement. The General Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church has delegated the power of appointing fraternal messengers to the bishops; and, so far as we know, other Methodist bodies have done the same.


to attend the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met in Louisville, May, 1874. They will doubtless be received with
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pleasure. We contend, therefore, that the document which came to us from the African Methodist Episcopal bishops should have sprung from their General Conference. The Methodist Episcopal Church sent delegates; we say to our African brethren: "Go thou and do likewise."


        This fraternal message from the bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, breathing, as it did, a spirit of union of all colored Methodists, was the first of its kind to reach our Church; hence it is recorded, that it may find a place in the early history of our Methodism.

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        MORNING CHAPEL, FORT WORTH, TEX.

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CHAPTER IX.

        The Bishops Holding Annual Conferences--Their Field Not an Easy One--Some Epithets by which the Church was Called--Some Early Persecutions--Letters from the Bishops--Chapter Concluded with an Interesting Letter from R. T. White, of the Georgia Conference.

        ACCORDING to the episcopal plan of 1873, Bishop Miles held the Missouri and Kansas, Tennessee, North Mississippi, and Kentucky Conferences; Bishop Beebe, the Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia Conferences; Bishop Holsey, the Florida, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Alabama Conferences; and Bishop Lane, the Northwest Texas, East Texas, and Louisiana Conferences. As far as possible, the three new bishops held the District Conferences belonging to their districts. J. A. Beebe, who was a presiding elder in the North Carolina Conference at the time of his election to the office of Bishop; L. H. Holsey, who was a pastor at Augusta, Ga.; and Isaac Lane, in charge at Jackson, Tenn., wound up the affairs of their charges before entering upon the duties of the episcopal office.

        No easy field lay before these consecrated men. The Church was in its infancy; it was maliciously misrepresented, wantonly maligned, and frequently calumniated by stronger religious denominations. The relation of our Church to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was the prolific cause of most of the misrepresentations that were heaped upon us. The Church was called a "Rebel Church," "Democratic

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Church," and "the old Slavery Church." These were powerful weapons used against us, for the reason that our people were naturally credulous, especially concerning anything that might be said about those who had kept their forefathers in slavery for more than two centuries. Some were odiously inclined to the Church, South; others refused social relations with those who in any way affiliated with that Church. Thus the credulity of the ignorant was played upon with ease, and they joined in the rabble cry: "Demolish the new Church!"--the "Democratic Church."

        The persecutions of those times have undergone such changes, and we are so far removed from the environments and conditions of those days, that it is best for the present historian to let the men of that age tell us of those persecutions. Bishop Miles, writing to the Index in January, 1873, says:

        I have traveled over a large portion of our work, and have seen a great deal of the world. I find our work is doing well. Men and means are what is wanted to do a great work for Christ. We still have the political influence of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church to contend with. I wonder if they will never get tired of telling falsehoods on our Church. Through it all we have a right to thank the great Head of the Church that, notwithstanding all they say and do, we are yet on the gaining ground.

        The Missouri and Kansas Conference met in first session near Santa Fé, Mo. The church having been burned just before the Conference, we held the session in the woods, and had a very pleasant time.


        The letter of Bishop Holsey, which appeared in the Index of June 12, 1873, is in point here:

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        I have just arrived home from a tour to Florida. I went by way of Savannah; stopped there over night, and preached two sermons in old Andrew Chapel to a small congregation. The pastor, M. B. King, seems to be hopeful of a better time. Sisters Susan Deas and Susan Carrier have stood the storm of persecution from their African friends like true heroines of the Cross; and they are still, to a great degree, "the staff and stay" of the Church. When will this spirit of persecution die?


        Concerning the Church work at Tallahassee, Fla., the Bishop wrote:

        The Church here has had many hard and sore trials; and after being "in the furnace of affliction," she comes forth purer than she was before, and is destined to distinguish herself in a glorious career.


        On his return from Florida, he remained over in Thomasville, Ga., on the Sabbath, and preached twice, to the delight of the people. Of the church there he wrote:

        The church in this place has been burned by our enemies, but a new one has been erected on the smoky ruins. The present building is in debt, and has only a few members; but these are faithful and true. Their African brethren are still waging an unholy war of persecution and slander against the innocent few because they choose to worship God according to the dictates of an unfettered conscience. What a crime to divide Churches, and then burn the building! Is not this the frightful spirit of the beast? Answer, ye church burners, if ye will; if not, ye shall do it in the day of judgment.


        The Bishop concludes his letter jocosely:

        I left Thomasville and came to Macon, Ga., where I met my beloved colleague, Bishop Beebe, who was in fine health and high spirits. After twenty-four hours spent at the home of R. J. Brown, I bade them adieu. The "iron horse" soon brought me home, where I found my family sick with mumps and measles. Two of my children had been near

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death's door, and a "new" member of the family had also arrived two weeks before I did.


        Bishop Lane, in October, 1873, left Jackson to visit or hold what was then called the Northwest Texas Conference, which met at Waxahachie. Arriving a little ahead of the preachers, he visited the African Methodist Episcopal Church of that town. The impression of his visit he afterwards wrote to the Index. Speaking of the African Methodist Episcopal brethren, he said:

        I was pained to meet with some opposition from them. The minds of the people were prejudiced against us by reason of certain rumors put in circulation by some of our opposers. It would not be amiss to say that they charged us with being a "Democratic" Church, which every one who is acquainted with our organization and its operations knows is not true. They also charged us with being under the control of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which everybody knows is not true. The Church, South, controls its organization, and we control ours. At the same time, we are pleased to say (which is nothing but what truth and justice require) that the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, is very kind to us, and always greets us in Christian love and fellowship.


        Bishop Beebe, in a letter to the Index, dated March 25, 1874, says:

        Our work in North Carolina is progressing, not withstanding the strong opposition by the Zion Church, which has monopolized the largest portion of the members of our Church because of the continued slander and unreasonable accusations brought against us. Time has shown that we are not a political Church. Our aim is the glory of God and the salvation of the souls of men. The peaceable manner of our Church has won for us the confidence of the majority of the most intelligent people of our State.


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        Much more might be written respecting the early struggles of our Church, but enough has been recorded to give those of this age, and those who are yet to come upon the scene of action, a fair knowledge of the forces against which this youngest daughter of Methodism had to contend in order to obtain her present position of influence and prestige.

        We conclude this chapter with the interesting article of R. T. White, a prominent preacher in the Georgia Conference. It appeared first in the quartocentennial number of the Christian Index, which celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Church on May 11, 1895. It is as follows:

        The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America was ushered into the world under the most unfavorable circumstances, and at a period the most critical ever known in the annals of Church history. The political struggle of the country had just terminated, leaving the colored man what has been called a free man. Over this blessed bone the colored people went wild with enthusiasm. In the midst of universal rejoicing and gladness, thought was given the Church as to how best to arrange for our people. Among the leaders of the race some cried one thing and some another. Propositions coming in from the North and also from the South, the leaders of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church accepted the offer made them by the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which resulted in what is known as the the independent Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, a Church the very type and image of the one organized and set up by Christ himself; not noted for wealth or culture, but a Church noted for piety, integrity, and truth. The object of her organization was never more or less than the education of the race and the salvation of precious souls. The very existence of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church is a demonstration of the fact that, though her elder sisters are

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doing a great work, they could not do all of the good work in the world that God wanted done. Her existence is truly providential. She is the creature of heaven. Pure in motive and fair in every feature, her work was given her of God, and must be done. Men and devils may hinder, but cannot stop her in her onward march. At the time of her eventful birth many Herods of every cast and color stood in the way inquiring of the wise men concerning the time and place of this newborn Church. Herod and his household were not a little troubled. They started out with vile forces to hinder, by all possible criticism and misrepresentation, to destroy, the life of this newborn sister of the Methodist family.

        If it be wise to estimate a thing by its actual cost, then truly the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church is one of peerless, priceless value, especially to those of her men who sacrificed their time, talent, money, and blood for the perpetuation, of the Church they loved. She is dear to all her ministers and members, both old and young. She becomes doubly dear to the old heroes of the Cross as they are called upon to count the links in the long chain of their suffering for her existence and recognition among the Christian thinkers of the world. There are old men who bled that she might live, and gave to her character, dignity, and reputation in the world. They know her better and love her more than others who have to suffer for her less.

        We have an army of young men in the Church of whom she is proud. They have a noble work before them, a work they can never be too well prepared to do. They are styled the hope of the Church. The old men are praying: "Forsake me not when I am old, turn me not empty away when my strength faileth." The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, like Christ, her author, is the good thing that came out of Nazareth. Her mission, like his, is among the poor, the sick, and the needy. Like him, the vile of earth sought to exterminate her from the world; like him, she had at first but few to sympathize with her or follow her; like him, they cried: "Away with her! She is not fit to live." Her enemies thought she was dead; but, like Christ, her Captain, it has been more than three days since she arose from the dead; and, behold, she is alive forever more, and has the keys to the mystery of the cross, as much so as any of her sisters.


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CHAPTER X.

        The Church Spreading--Educational Enterprise Projected --E. B. Martin Resigns His Office, and J. W. Bell is Appointed --Meeting of the Publishing Committee in Jackson --Book Concern and Index Moved to Louisville--J. W. Bell Removed, and Alexander Austin Appointed Editor in His Stead--Index in New Dress--Letter from Bishops Miles and Lane--Austin Removed--W. P. Churchill Appointed --Circular Letter from the Bishops--General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

        NOTWITHSTANDING the obstructions that presented themselves here and there, the work of the Church was pushed forward with great energy and success. The bishops traveled extensively throughout their episcopal fields, and wrote frequently to the paper for the encouragement of the Church. We have shown that the General Conference at Augusta, Ga., while not taking initiatory steps toward founding and equipping an institution of learning, did pass commendatory resolutions, having for their ultimatum such worthy results. The bishops were empowered, as well as requested, to prepare the people for an advance movement along educational lines. Bishop Miles, in the Index of June, 1873, suggested that his colleagues and other leaders should select some school sites, with the inducements that the people of such places would offer, and present the same to the General Conference of 1874; the best offer to be accepted by that body. W. H. Miles, as senior bishop, led the way by proposing to found a Church school in Louisville, Ky. At the behest and earnest solicitation of

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the Kentucky Conference, he took the necessary steps to establish a school in which young men were to be educated for the ministry. He purchased, in the city of Louisville, valuable grounds for the sum of $8,500, and, in September, 1873, issued a circular letter calling for $50,000 with which to complete his plans. As this was the first public appeal made by one of our leaders for the cause of education, its closing paragraphs must be of interest to our readers. After making known his wants, he adds:

        I address this circular letter to all our friends, both white and colored. I confidently ask Southern white people to help us. We look to them as our friends. We beg that, in view of our wants, of the conservative character of our Church, of the deep interest which all good people must feel in our success, and of the glory of God and the prosperity of his Church, you will help us. We ask the patriot to assist us; we ask the rich to assist us; we call upon all good Christians to assist us. The agents appointed by me are: J. W. Bell, pastor Center Street Church, Louisville, Ky.; W. P. Churchill, pastor Hopkinsville Station, Hopkinsville, Ky.; R. E. Marshall, presiding elder Hopkinsville District; Alexander Austin, pastor at Winchester, Ky. These brethren I most heartily commend and indorse as worthy of your entire confidence, and I assure you that whatever you may give will be most faithfully applied to this great charity.


        In the above movement we have the beginning of our educational enterprises. As to how this Louisville project finally terminated will be related hereafter.

        It is a little interesting to note how frequently the offices of Book Agent and editor of the Index, which two offices one man filled, changed hands. E. B. Martin, who was elected in March, 1873, resigned in

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September of the same year, holding the office just a little over five months.

        When the Book Committee, of which Bishop Miles was Chairman, met in Jackson, Tenn., September 10, 1873, a careful examination was made of all matters pertaining to the Book Concern and the Christian Index. Bishops Holsey and Lane; H. H. Hammel, of the Tennessee Conference; W. P. Churchill, of Kentucky; Moses Pringle, of Mississippi; and R. T. Thirgood, of Alabama, were among those present. The committee held several sessions and discussed the feasibility of moving the Book Concern to Louisville. Some favored its remaining in Memphis; others favored its removal. Finally that and other questions were referred to the bishops, as a special committee, for adjustment. After due consideration, Bishops Miles, Holsey, and Lane made this report:

        Whereas the bishops have been appointed by the Book Committee as a special committee to look into matters respecting its prosperity and success; and whereas we, the aforesaid committee, have had the matter under careful consideration; and whereas the rent in the city of Memphis is very high; and whereas we have failed to succeed in the aforesaid city; and whereas the Book Concern can be better sustained in the city of Louisville; therefore be it

         Resolved by this committee now in session, That the paper and Book Concern be removed to the city of Louisville, Ky.; and that J. W. Bell, of Kentucky, be employed as Book Agent and editor.


        Thus the Book Concern was moved and a new Book Agent and editor was appointed. E. B. Martin, in his last editorial in the Index, said:

        I did not resign because I did not like to work, but because I had too much for any man to do and attend to the

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business as it ought to have been attended to. I thought, therefore, that I had better resign and let the committee put some one else in my place. I hope we will all be better satisfied in the future.


        Relieved of the responsibilities of Book Agent and editor, Martin devoted himself entirely to the pastorate of Collins Chapel, one of the most flourishing congregations in the new Connection.

        Bishop Miles was appointed to superintend the removal of the Book Concern to Louisville, and was made its Business Manager. The Index, which was issued monthly, did not appear in October, as some time was taken up in its removal and permanent location in its new home. In November, 1873, with J. W. Bell as editor and Book Agent, Bishop Miles as Business Manager, and Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane and W. P. Churchill as Publishing Committee, the Index made its appearance from 103 Fifth Street, Louisville, Ky. In that issue Bishop Miles remarks:

        The Book Committee met in Jackson, Tenn., September 10. Brother Martin said he was called to preach, and not to edit a paper. J. W. Bell, of Kentucky, was appointed to fill his place. The committee insisted upon removing the office to Louisville. I told them I would do what I could for it. I was asked to rent and fit up a house for an office and book repository. I have accordingly rented a good stand at 103 Fifth Street, this city, and shall keep all kinds of books for sale.


        J. W. Bell, after one month's trial as Book Agent and editor, discovered that the duties were too onerous, and urged the Business Manager and the Publishing Committee to divorce the Book Agency from the editorship, and, at his suggestion, this was done.

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In the December number of the Index he writes editorially:

        In consequence of having so large a charge as Center Street Church, the agency of the Book Concern and the editorial management of the Christian Index, and not being able to give satisfaction to these departments, I complained to the Business Manager; and after hearing my complaints, he agreed to relieve me of the agency of the Book Concern, and has appointed W. P. Churchill Book Agent. All persons ordering books will hereafter address W. P. Churchill; all communications for the Christian Index should be addressed to J. W. Bell, Louisville, Ky.


        The editorial career of J. W. Bell was brief. Some misunderstanding arose between him and Bishop Miles, and, after two or three months' service, he was removed from the editorship of the paper and the pastorate of Center Street Church. Alexander Austin was appointed his successor, both as editor and pastor.

        In January, 1874, Editor Austin issued his first number. He acknowledged the kindness of Bishop Miles and made a graceful bow to the readers of the Christian Index. The paper appeared in a new dress, and apparently was doing well. Bishop Miles, in this number, says:

        Our subscriptions to the Index have been greatly increased, and our book department is doing well for the times. We have stock in the house valued at nearly $4,000, with $2,500 insurance in two good companies. We have been to Cincinnati and bought new type and fixtures from the Cincinnati Type Foundry for the enlargement of our paper. This first issue of the new year is from our own office and from our own type. We are now prepared to do all manner of job printing.


        This was an excellent showing for in institution that had been in existence just three years. The

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publishing department took on new life, and for a time seemed to be in a prosperous condition. Many writers contributed to the columns of the Index; and such literature as was kept on hand found a ready market throughout the Church, whose motto was: "The world for Christ." It could not be supposed that a Church of its age could move along absolutely without some friction. Quite a number of patrons complained of sending in orders for books and other literature which were never filled, while subscribers found fault with the irregular way the official organ came to their addresses. These irregularities produced a little disturbance here and there, and occasioned those most deeply concerned considerable annoyance. In the meantime the Business Manager found it indispensably necessary to make appeal after appeal in the paper to the preachers to send in the ten-cent assessment for the support of the Book Concern. At one time he wrote:

        The General Conference at Augusta adopted a wise plan by assessing our preachers and members ten cents a year. What a light tax! It could and would be collected if our presiding elders and preachers managed right. If the preachers will only work for these publishing interests and the people do their duty, we will build up a book repository in a few years that will astonish the world.


        All the bishops were interested in the Book Concern. Writing of the Northwest Texas Conference, Bishop Lane, in January, 1874, says:

        Our book repository and the Christian Index were duly considered by the Conference, which seemed to be interested in both. A good many books were sold, and three subscribers obtained for the Index.


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        It would seem, however, that the Book Concern was passing, so far as its management was concerned, through a migratory, transitory stage. Alexander Austin, who was appointed editor in January, 1874, was removed by the bishops at their episcopal meeting in May of the same year. He served only six months, and was succeeded by W. P. Churchill, who was already the Book Agent of the Church. In his first editorial, which appeared in the Index of July, 1874, Churchill says:

        Having been appointed by the Board of Bishops to edit the Christian Index in the place of A. Austin, who was removed, I assume the arduous and responsible duties with reluctance. We will endeavor to the best of our ability to present the paper to you improved, and earnestly request every one to be our steadfast supporter.


        Bishop Miles, the Business Manager, resigned at the May meeting of the bishops, and W. P. Churchill was not only by them made editor, but also Business Manager until the General Conference, which met in August, 1874.

        The Book Concern and its management did not consume all the attention of the bishops or absorb all the interest of the preachers. In all parts of the rapidly expanding Church the subject of education was being agitated as never before. Conferences and individuals were responding liberally to the appeals of Bishop Miles, and moneys were flowing into the coffers of the school fund. The Tennessee Annual Conference appointed trustees to confer with those appointed from the Kentucky Conference, whose object was to establish, as we have seen, a school in

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Louisville. The bishops, too, were united, and in May, 1874, addressed a letter to the ministers and members of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. This was the first letter of its kind to emanate from our bishops as a Board, and for that reason it is published in full:

LOUISVILLE, KY., May 7, 1874.

        DEAR BROTHERS AND SISTERS: We, the College of Bishops of your Church, having been honored and called to this high position by you, think it proper to address you by means of this circular letter. We have met in our episcopal meeting, and, hearing from the whole work, feel encouraged to go forward in the good and glorious cause of our blessed Lord. Many have been our difficulties, as you are aware; but--thanks be to God!--the Church is gaining ground. The interest in Sabbath schools is greatly increased. We recommend holy living, family prayer, and promptness to duty. We think it advisable to attend morning preaching as far as possible and to abstain from the use of all intoxicating liquors. Educate yourselves and children; pay your preachers better, and give them a Church in which to study and improve themselves; for the Church, in our judgment, is suffering for a better informed ministry. We call the attention of all to the effort that the Kentucky and Tennessee Conferences are making for the erection of an institution of learning for the training of our ministry. We believe that it would be best for the whole Connection to center on that one institution for the education of our ministers. We pledge our fidelity to the Church in all her institutions.

        Yours for the spreading of the gospel of Christ,

W. H. MILES,
JOSEPH H. BEEBE,
L. H. HOLSEY,
ISAAC LANE.


        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met in Louisville, Ky.,

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May 1, 1874, and adjourned on the 26th of that month, was visited by our bishops. They received a most cordial welcome, and were given a collection of $251 to assist in their educational enterprise. The interview between the College of Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and ours was of a most pleasant nature. The work and enterprises of the Church were fully explained by our bishops; while the report, which was read by Bishop Pierce before his General Conference, recited the organization, growth, and possibilities of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. He encouraged his people to sympathize with, and extend aid to, the new Church which they had assisted in founding just four years before.

        In every sense of the word, this first quadrennium of our Church, which ended in August, 1874, was an epoch-making period in its history. Four years' experience had unquestionably demonstrated that the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had pursued the only practicable course and had properly met all the exigencies of the situation by "setting up," not "off," the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America.

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CHAPTER XI.

        The Third General Conference--Able Message of the Bishops-- Conference Well Attended--Important Changes in the Discipline--Publishing Committee--Bishops' Educational Paper--Central University the Name of the School Founded--Missions--Salary of the Bishops Fixed and the Conferences Assessed--Conferences Bounded-- Statistics--Committee's Report on Fraternal Greetings-- Composition of the Committee--Its Powers--Some who Preached during the Conference--Adjournment.

        THE third General Conference was held in Louisville, Ky., in August, 1874. Bishop Miles conducted the devotional exercises, assisted by E. S. West, of Georgia, and Reuben Polk, of Mississippi. The Conference opened on the 5th, but there was no quorum present; the next day however, they were duly organized. E. B. Martin was made Secretary, and the various committees were appointed.

        The bishops' message was looked forward to with great interest, as it was to be the first quadrennial address to be delivered before such a distinguished gathering. The document was able and was read by Bishop Holsey. It was as follows:

        DEAR AND BELOVED BRETHREN: We, the bishops of the Church, deem it necessary and proper within itself to submit to your godly judgment and serious consideration this our first quadrennial address. Since our last session many have been the changes and difficulties through which we have had to pass as ministers of the pure word of life; and, amid the diversified and ever-changing aspect of the world, the Church and ministry have maintained their integrity, and "continueth to hold fast the form of sound words,"

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and, under God, have preserved their purity and unity. The Church has greatly extended her borders, and more fully intrenched herself behind the ramparts of a pure and unadulterated gospel. The many difficulties with which we have been environed are gradually declining, and are destined at an early day to become extinct. All things have worked together for good to us as a Church; and we believe that we are on the approach of final triumph and permanent success, everything seeming to indicate and foreshadow a bright and glorious future for us. Harmony and peace have generally prevailed throughout the length and bounds of our rapidly-expanding Communion. Our preachers and members have become more sober-minded and steadfast in regard to Church name and Church organization, as well as more satisfied that the Church is properly and rightly founded upon the true gospel principles contained in Wesleyan Methodism.

        The General Conference at a called session laid off the boundary for the North Mississippi and Florida Conferences, and since that time these have met in regular session and elected delegates to this session of the General Conference.

        There are many and weighty demands of the Connection to meet at this time, to which we now direct your attention.

REVISION OF THE DISCIPLINE.

        Although it is a usage of Methodism to overhaul the Discipline quadrennially to meet the constant and ever-growing demands of the times, yet in this case and at this period we would suggest that you make as few changes as possible. Our present rules and laws have in most instances worked well to the spreading of evangelical piety and sound Christian principles among us. These thoughts are the more to be heeded when we consider the uncertainties and difficulties that usually attend the removal of the old and the circumscription of new and unknown landmarks. Time, patience, and forethought are all necessary to meet the present crisis; yet economy of time is not to be wholly disregarded, and will perhaps serve to check careless and superfluous legislation, remembering that the different

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flocks must suffer from a long absence of their pastors.

THE BOOK CONCERN.

        The Book Concern requires your most serious and undivided attention. It needs to be readjusted and the machinery put in running order. It is a long-cherished institution and now a necessary concomitant of the Church, and we cannot afford to do without it. It is the grand arm of the Church to scatter the seeds of holiness and gospel truth over these lands. We trust that it will be placed upon the most sure basis for permanent success. It is a tender and delicate enterprise, and should be propelled with "a wise heart and a judging head." Already it has been a success, and has accomplished much for the cause of Christ and the good of souls. If rightly manned in the future, it will not only add to our spiritual and numerical strength, but will give a dividend of money to be disbursed by the wisdom of the General Conference. The last General Conference placed it in the hands of a committee and located it in the city of Memphis, Tenn., with powers, as the committee thought, to attend to all matters respecting its perpetuity and prosperity. Perceiving that the Concern was not well managed, the committee found cause to meet and look into its management, and, after a thorough investigation of the entire Concern, became convinced that its removal was absolutely and indispensably requisite. Accordingly, in the month of September last it was removed to the city of Louisville, Ky., where it has remained until the present time. We are glad to say to you that since that time it has been a success, and has greatly, if not entirely, regained the once unwavering confidence of the Church and people, and is paying its way and making some dividends. We suggest that it be continued in its present locality.

THE CHRISTIAN INDEX.

        The Christian Index, our official organ, is in a thriving condition. Under its present management it is published monthly. It is too small, however, for the increasing demands of the Church, and needs revision and enlargement. If not enlarged, it should be published oftener than once a month. Our people are coming to be a reading element

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of general society, and perhaps a more frequent visit of the paper to their homes and firesides would give it a circulation and an appreciation unprecedented in its history. These are matters to be considered by you, and we do not wish to forestall the judgment of the Conference.

SABBATH SCHOOLS.

        The Sabbath-school cause is a matter of first importance and magnitude. It is the nursery from whence the ranks of the Church and ministry are to be supplied; and, therefore, the subject claims the greatest care and the most thorough examination. We think that the law in regard to Sunday schools should be somewhat more stringent and specific if possible. Our present law, in this particular no doubt, is good enough, but scarcely plain enough, especially in regard to the election of superintendent. While the Quarterly Conference is a board of managers, and, of course, has the full power to elect the superintendent and attend to other matters of the Sunday school, yet the rule might be adapted to suit the intellectual status of our people.

SUNDAY SCHOOL PAPER.

        We also recommend the establishment of a Sunday school paper, to be called the Sunday School Index, to be published monthly, with a lesson for each Sabbath in the year, the same to be sold cheaply, to meet the wants of our schools, pupils, and people. This, in our judgment, is necessary, especially at this time; for there are many "so-called," but unsound, "doctrines" of Christianity afloat upon the tide of education and civilization, and it is the imperative duty of the Church to provide wholesome food and unadulterated Christian literature for her children and those that learn at her altars and in her courts.

MISSIONS.

         The missionary operations of the Church are important items, and come up for your review and inspection. We need money and other means to extend the kingdom of the Redeemer and to expose the desolate places throughout the country to the benign influences of the gospel of Christ. Something has been done in this direction, and something

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more may be and must be done in this particular before we can expect much from this part of our labor in the vineyard of our Lord. The great command is to "go into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature." Nothing is more distinctive of a living, vital, and active Christianity than a healthy and successful missionary plan. The death of the missionary spirit in the Church is the prediction of the early death of the Church itself. It is intimately and inseparably connected with the interest of the Church at large, and is so inherent in and congenial to the gospel and Church of Christ that the destruction of the former would be the fatal, inevitable extinction of the latter. These are the appointed means and instruments employed by the great Head of the Church to make known his will to man. Whatever, therefore, impedes the one obstructs the other; and as a natural consequence the cause suffers, languishes, and dies. Hence the importance of the missionary work and the duty of the Church are apparent to all thinking minds.

DEATH OF BISHOP VANDERHORST.

        Since your organization into a separate ecclesiastical body, one of your chief pastors has been called from labor to reward. We refer to Bishop R. H. Vanderhorst. Your Annual Conferences, having been advised of it, unanimously called a General Conference, which met in Augusta, Ga., March, 1873; and at that time and place three bishops were elected and ordained.

NO MORE BISHOPS NECESSARY.

        We, therefore, recommend the election of no more bishops at this session. We believe the present corps of bishops can do all the episcopal work that is strictly necessary for the next four years, should their lives and health be prolonged. While the field is large and our labors hard, and while at the same time could the field be better worked and more thoroughly cultivated it would yield a larger increase to the given outlay of means, yet there are many other points to be settled before the election and consecration of another bishop or bishops could be deemed the step of wisdom. In our judgment, it is better to have too little episcopal visitation than too much. If this office in

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the Church becomes depreciated and is looked upon with listless indifference by the Church and people, the General Conference, the only legislative body in the Church, becomes paralyzed, and there would be no means of carrying the will of that body into execution; consequently there could be no connection between making laws and their observance. Let the episcopacy remain what it has been and what it is at present--high, elevated, pure, sacred, devoted to God--then we may safely look to it as a power for good in the Church.

EDUCATION.

        The subject of education and ministerial training claims your best attention and deepest consideration. It is eminently "the question" of the session. You are aware of its vast and momentous importance at the present juncture. It enters deeply and minutely into all the operations and relations of the Church and ministry; and the cause of Christ is suffering for a better informed, more enlightened, and intelligent pastorship. Nothing can be substituted for it, nothing can be taken in exchange or put in its place to answer the universal call of the Church; not that education is all in all, but it is one of those mighty and potent means employed by God to make known his will and the revelation of his word to the benighted sons of a degraded and apostate race. As a means, we cannot look upon it as of small moment and of little avail. When the cry comes up to the Annual Conference, "Send us a good preacher," it is generally understood that they mean an "educated" minister, one that "rightly divides the word of truth." There seems to be a sort of universal and spontaneous consent and willingness among the people to contribute to this great and grand cause, and we believe that we can procure the necessary means to accomplish the end in view. We may not expect to do a great deal at present in educating the masses of our people, but we can educate our young preachers that may come into the ministry from time to time. An institution of learning under our control and manned by a good, competent faculty, and well equipped, would act as a stimulus to the whole Church. It would bring into concerted action the energy and patronage of the people, and in a

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short time we might have a good and respectable school for the young preacher and teacher. The last General Conference appointed the bishops a committee to draw up and mature, as far as they might see proper, a plan of education to be submitted to this session. Accordingly, we have prepared a paper on the subject, and in due time it will be submitted for your examination and readjustment. We think it far better to have only one such school at present; and let the whole Church center upon that, and thus make it a permanent success before another such enterprise is undertaken. Who does not see that one good school is better than many maimed and broken-down ones?

        We trust that wisdom, moderation, and sanctified knowledge will guide you and the Spirit of the Lord direct you in all your undertakings in the work of the Lord.

W. H. MILES,
J. A. BEEBE,
L. H. HOLSEY,
ISAAC LANE.


        The Conference was well attended and was composed of many new leaders. From Georgia we find such names as E. B. Oliver, J. T. Phillips, Frank Ford, and William Payne; also R. T. White, E. S. West, and R. J. Brown, who were members of the General Conference of 1873. Among the most prominent laymen were H. H. Hammel and A. Bostic, of Tennessee.

        Many new changes were proposed, but very few met the concurrence of the Conference. Among the most important changes in the Discipline we may mention the change of the time of meeting of the General Conference from "July or August" to "April or May;" the requiring of the Church Record to be examined and inspected by the Quarterly Conference; and the nomination of the Sunday school superintendent by the pastor, to be confirmed or rejected by the Quarterly Conference.

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        The Conference indorsed the removal of the Book Concern to Louisville, and voted that it should remain there. An effort was made to reduce the ten-cent assessment to five cents, but it was decided that ten cents was low enough, and that remained the assessment per member for the next quadrennium. The Publishing Committee was composed of the four bishops, with H. H. Hammel and D.D. Taylor added, while W. P. Churchill was unanimously elected Book Agent and editor of the Christian Index.

        The paper of the bishops on education, which had been prepared by order of the General Conference of 1873, was read, and its sentiments adopted. It proposed the establishment of a school to be named "Central University," and that Bishop Miles should become its agent; that preachers in charge of churches should raise collections during the year for its maintenance; and that the field in which the agent should operate be "as wide as the world."

        In regard to missions, the Conference did little else than to elect a Board of Managers, consisting of B. E. Ford, President; J. W. Bell, Vice President; E. B. Martin, Secretary; and W. P. Churchill, Treasurer. The associates of the officers were H. H. Hammel, Frank Ford, and R. T. Thirgood.

        The Committee on Episcopacy developed the fact that the bishops had not received their salaries, but had been abundant in labors. The salaries of the bishops were fixed at $1,000 each and traveling expenses, and the Conferences were assessed the following amounts:

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        The Book Committee was to meet once a year and publish through the Index its condition and that of the publishing department.

        The boundaries of the Conferences, which generally undergo some change at each recurring General Conference, exhibit in some degree the growth of the denomination. At this Conference the boundaries were fixed as follows:

        At this Conference the statistics showed 4 bishops, 15 Annual Conferences, 607 traveling preachers, 518 local preachers, 74,769 members, 535 Sunday schools, 1,102 teachers, and 49,955 scholars; the Christian Index had a circulation of 1,550, and the Book Concern was making some money.

        On the eve of adjourning, the Committee on Fraternal Greetings reported, and their sentiments became the sentiments of the General Conference. Frank Ford and R. T. White, both of Georgia, submitted this report:

        We, your committee, to whom this important matter was referred, ask the appointment of a committe by this Conference, consisting of the bishops of our Church, with others, to treat with other branches of like faith on the subject of union. We have had this important and interesting subject under serious consideration, and we now affirm that a union in the effort to save souls is most desirable. We need a union of hand, head, heart, and means to spread the gospel of the Son of God--a union in the great and grand effort, through Christ, to Christianize the world. If the different families of Methodism could be united, we would break down the opposition of sin and the devil, and be able to send the tidings of salvation to thousands of souls now in darkness, who are debarred the liberty of the

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benefits of Bible truth. We recommend that the committee labor to effect such a union as the Bible authorizes.


        The bishops, with Frank Ford and R. E. Marshall, constituted the committee, and were invested with authority to negotiate with any committee that might be appointed by any branch of Colored Methodists in the interval of the meetings of the General Conference, and at the same time empowered and instructed to consider any proposition that might be made respecting union. Thus the Church, by its highest legislative court, as early as 1874, put itself upon record as favoring organic union; the only proviso being, "As the Bible authorizes."

        Among those who preached during the Conference we find the names of the bishops, and Rev. B. E. Ford, Rev. J. T. Phillips, Rev. J. P. Anderson, Rev. J. W. Lane, Rev. R. T. White, Rev. E. B. Martin, Rev. Frank Ford, Rev. W. M. Payne, Rev. H. Armstead, and others.

        Nashville, Tenn., was fixed as the meeting place of the next General Conference, and the Louisville General Conference was no more.

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CHAPTER XII.

        The Bishops Working for the School at Louisville--R. T. Thirgood Writes a Short Letter--Bishop Miles Visits Boston, Mass.--Dr. Price Indorses His Work in Zion's Herald--A New Conference Organized--Bishops Miles and Holsey Visit Round Lake (N. Y.) Camp Meeting-- Their Letters--How They Were Benefited--Bishop Miles on Organic Union--Israel Church, at Washington, D. C., Withdraws from the A. M. E. Connection--The Cause-- E. B. Martin Expelled--The A. M. E. Zion General Conference --Sentiments of W. P. Churchill on Organic Union--The Louisville and Sardis School Enterprises-- An Appeal from Bishop Miles--The School Projects Fail --The Causes--East Texas Conference--Some Prominent Men in the Conferences--Letters from E. W. Moseley, D. K. Sherman, and Bishop Holsey--General Conference of 1878 to meet in Jackson, Tenn.--Church Seven Years Old.

        FROM the Louisville General Conference the bishops and delegates went forth to their respective fields of labor like giants refreshed with new wine. The bishops gave great stimulus to the various enterprises of the Church in all the Conferences held by them in the fall of 1874 and winter of 1875. Bishop Miles, as Educational Agent, was considerably encouraged and greatly assisted by his colleagues. The Annual Conferences indorsed the action of the General Conference in regard to the Central University, and contributed generously for its permanent establishment.

        R. T. Thirgood, one of the leaders in Alabama, in January, 1875, says:

        Whereas Bishop Miles was appointed by the General Conference to labor for the Central University, I thank God for the steps taken in this direction. We, as elders and

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preachers, should bring the subject before our congregations and people, for we need an educated ministry in the world and in our Church.


        In October, 1875, Bishop Miles visited the New England States in the interest of his school. Stopping over in Washington, D. C., he received a donation at Hillsdale and East Washington Missions. Arriving in Boston, Mass. he called upon Dr. Price, who at that time was editor of Zion's Herald, one of the best papers of the Methodist Episcopal Church. This genial editor informed him that the bishops of his Church were holding their episcopal meeting in the city. Bishop Miles called upon them. They indorsed his work and gave him an invitation to dine with them. Their treatment was so cordial that he afterwards remarked:

        These Christian gentlemen are in every way worthy of the confidence and esteem of the Colored Methodists of the country.


        His appeals did not realize the results anticipated, though he was well recommended by men who stood high in Church and State. He secured, however, some aid. Zion's Herald spoke thus of the Bishop and his visit to Boston:

        Bishop W. H. Miles, of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, is in the city in the interest of an educational institution of his Church, which they propose to locate in Louisville, Ky. Three or four thousand dollars have already been raised, and eight thousand dollars subscribed for an endowment. They desire to raise fifty thousand dollars. Education is their great want. They have no institution of learning in the Church. Bishop Miles is a man of large presence, intelligent, devout, of excellent judgment, and a sound and earnest preacher. He represents an interest of

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the highest importance, and deserves the countenance and aid of all Christians.


        Not along educational lines only, but in the general work of the Church, the attention of the Bishop was directed. In March, 1875, at the invitation of persons interested in our Church, he visited Washington with a view of organizing a Conference. In November of the same year he was called there again, and, in the home of Mrs. Watson, 461 New Jersey avenue, a few brethren met him and talked over the question of organization. The new Conference was afterwards organized in the room of J. M. Mitchell. Those present were J. M. Mitchell, W. H. Young, and J. H. Cain. After some consideration the last-named persons were ordained deacons by the bishop. W. H. Young was then appointed to East Washington Mission, and J. H. Cain to Hillsdale, a church which the Bishop had dedicated just a week prior to the time of the organization of what was then known as the Maryland, District of Columbia, and Virginia Conference. This Conference was recognized at the General Conference of 1878.

        In July, 1875, Bishops Miles and Holsey, by request, attended the great Round Lake Camp Meeting, at Round Lake, N. Y. Both preached, to the delight of thousands. Of Bishop Miles the New York Christian Advocate said:

        At 10 o'clock we assembled at the stand to hear Bishop Miles, of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. The people who heard him enjoyed his discourse very much. Rev. T. H. Pearne, of Ohio, preached in the evening, followed by Bishop Miles with one of his magnificent

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exhortations. The congregation in the Washington Street Tabernacle was addressed by Bishop Holsey. We had the pleasure of hearing the Bishop deliver a very eloquent sermon.


        Zion's Herald said:

        Bishops Miles and Holsey are abundant in service, and their sermons and exhortations are highly appreciated.


        The impression which the Northerners made upon these two faithful servants of the Church long lingered with them. Bishop Holsey afterwards said:

        I must confess that I was perfectly astonished at the warm feeling and Christian love with which we met. The impression had been made on my mind that these Northern white brethren would scorn us and would not receive us into their houses, and accordingly I expected to meet with such treatment; but far from it. We were kindly, cordially, and warmly received and entertained during the meeting. We were not treated as an inferior race of beings, neither were we known by the color of the skin or the peculiarities of the hair, but as brethren in the Lord. These good brethren did everything to make us happy. The grounds are beautiful indeed, and well arranged for the camp meeting. It would seem that nature has fitted the place designedly for Methodists to have the camp meeting. The grounds are situated in the heart of a populous and beautiful country, a few miles from the celebrated Saratoga Springs, whose waters are for the healing of the nations. They have splendid tents and cottages, while the grounds are beautifully adorned. In the rear of the grounds is the beautiful Round Lake, from which the place takes its name. Bishop Miles and I enjoyed the occasion greatly, to our spiritual and Christian edification, and while I write the hallowed influences of that meeting are inspiring my heart and life with new zeal and new energies for the future work of the ministry in the gospel of the blessed God. I think I shall never forget this Round Lake camp meeting. How often did I repeat that Psalm, "Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!"


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        Bishop Miles was no less impressed than Bishop Holsey. Their visit among men of letters and culture and broad-mindedness had strengthened them in goodness, broadened their views, and deepened their love for Methodism in general, and Colored Episcopal Methodism in particular.

        We have before now shown the disposition of our leaders in regard to uniting with other Methodist bodies. No one can mistake their position or charge them with indifference. Bishop Miles, on his return from Round Lake, again broaches the question of union. He says:

        I am free to confess that if all the Colored Methodist churches in the United States were united it would be better for all; and I, for one, am willing to do all I can without compromising principle to bring about a better feeling.


        After referring to the fraternal letter which he and Bishop Vanderhorst addressed to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which met at Nashville, Tenn., in May, 1872, and after receiving, as he intimates, "the cold hand of contempt," he says:

        I have not much to hope for from that Church, yet we will wait and hope that by another General Conference they will learn to love more and hate less. Is there not some way by which the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and the colored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church can effect a union that will be satisfactory to all? If so, let the leading men of each Church begin to agitate the question. It may seem strange to many that I speak as I do; but it is in good faith, as I am satisfied that it would be to the glory of God to unite the people of God and put an end to the controversy that has existed among us.


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        In 1876, Israel Church, Washington, D. C., which for half a century had been under the fostering care of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, connected itself with us, after assuming, as it did, an independent relation of any church, with J. M. Mitchell as pastor for three or four years.

        As to how the property should be deeded was the question that gave rise to the estranged relation between that Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Connection. The latter insisted on having the church and property deeded to them, while the former was determined to hold the same in their possession. The trouble grew and grew until finally Israel withdrew. It was along this line that our Methodism was planted in Washington, where we now have four flourishing congregations. J. W. Bell, of Kentucky, became the first pastor of Israel Church after its connection with us. Since then it has been served by C. W. Fitzhugh, W. T. Thomas, G. W. Usher, R. S. Williams, C. H. Phillips, S. B. Wallace, and H. S. Doyle. R. E. Hart is its present pastor.

        In the year 1876 we find E. B. Martin, of Tennessee, preaching with effect and power in Center Street Church, Louisville, Ky., having been transferred in the fall of 1875. In 1877 he had some family troubles, which precipitated his downfall. Bishop Miles expelled him from the Church and ministry; and though he appealed to the General Conference of 1878, that body indorsed the ruling of the Bishop, and this ended the career of E. B. Martin with our Church.

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        ISRAEL METROPOLITAN CHURCH, WASHINGTON, D. C.

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        The General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church met this year (1876) in Louisville, Ky.; that of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Atlanta, Ga. That there were some who expected the Zions to take some steps looking toward uniting with our Church may be inferred from an editorial which appeared in the Christian Index in May of that year. The editor said:

        Our last General Conference, inspired and prompted by the Spirit of God, expressed its desire for organic union with all Colored Methodists, and appointed a committee and invested it with absolute power to effect fraternal or organic union. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church will hold its General Conference in Louisville, Ky., and we doubt not that some proposition will be presented or some plan adopted that will tend to bring about organic union. There already exist the most cordial feelings between these two Churches. The members are closely connected in the bonds of Christian love, and we can see no reason why a union of Church, as well as a union of hearts, should not be speedily consummated.


        In June, when the Conference was in session, Editor Churchill again wrote:

        This Church and our Church are on the most fraternal terms, and it is thought by many that a union of the two will be effected, if not at this session, at least at an early date.


        It is clear to the careful observer that our Church in those days was on the aggressive side; and if no organic union was effected, the blame lies somewhere else, and not on us.

        We return again to our educational enterprises. In connection with the project at Louisville, Bishop Miles commenced another, at Sardis, Miss. He traveled

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much and raised considerable moneys for these schools. In July, 1876, he found it necessary to write:

        I have received a letter from Mr. Butler, in which he says he expects me to take possession of the Louisville property by September 10. The whole debt will be due on January 1. Will not the whites, North and South, help us to raise five thousand dollars? I hold a large number of notes, amounting to thousands of dollars, for the school, which are now due. Promises have been made to pay them long ago, but they are yet unpaid. Now, if I fail to raise the money, the Church will be sued, and the property, perhaps, sold to pay for itself. I now give warning that, if payments are not paid on notes due by December 1 next, I will be compelled to put every unpaid note that is due in the hands of an officer for collection. This will be against my will, but I am forced to do so to save the school property.


        It is unnecessary to narrate further the history of these enterprises. It is sad to record that, after all his appeals and efforts to raise money, after all the assistance given by his colleagues and others, after all the moneys raised and paid on the property, all was lost. The Central University, at Louisville, and the High School, at Sardis, both failed, and Bishop Miles ever afterwards left the educational work of the Church to the leadership of others. The conducting of both enterprises at one time and the failure of a large number of persons to pay the subscriptions upon which he relied implicitly were the direct causes of these failures. These misfortunes, however, did not destroy the determination of the Church to establish schools. The continued agitation of the subject of education had so aroused the people that they were

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willing to say, like Nehemiah: "We are doing a great work, so that we cannot come down." Trying again, our leaders succeeded, as we shall see hereafter.

        In December, 1876, the East Texas Conference met in Dallas. Among its prominent men we see such persons as M. F. Jamison, R. A. Hagler, F. M. McPherson, and E. W. Moseley, a recent transfer from the North Mississippi Conference. It was at this Conference that M. F. Jamison was ordained an elder and made presiding elder of the Dallas District, and E. W. Moseley was appointed to Sherman Station. These two men afterwards made a reputation as wide as the Church. The Tennessee Conference had among her number of noble men such persons as J. H. Ridley, J. K. Daniel, J. W. Lane, Job Crouch, Charles Lee, and others. The North Mississippi Conference met at Sardis, January 3, 1877. Here we see I. H. Anderson, who had been transferred from the Georgia Conference; S. Bobo, B. E. Ford, and Moses Wright--four, perhaps, of its most prominent men. When the Conference asked, "Who remain on trial?" among those we find the name of Elias Cottrell, who had in him possibilities of which the Conference did not dream. Seventeen years after this he became a bishop in his Church. The Kentucky Conference was proud of her J. W. Bell, W. P. Churchill, David Ratcliff, R. E. Marshall, and Dr. Koger. The Georgia Conference referred with pleasure to R. T. White, R. J. Brown, J. T. Phillips, William Payne, Frank Ford, A. J. Stinson, E. S. West, M. B. King, Henry Armstead, E. B. Oliver,

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and S. E. Poer. Every Conference had strong men who, in their day, did no little to extend the borders of the Church.

        The year 1877 finds the Connection in a prosperous condition and rapidly expanding. E. W. Moseley, writing from Sherman, Texas, in February, 1877, says:

        The East Texas Conference consists of about 120 ministers and delegates. Our work is growing rapidly in this State. I am a young member of this Conference, having been transferred from the North Mississippi Conference one year ago. I am told that in 1871 there were but 700 members in the Conference, and now the reports show 8,000. Our Church has some as intelligent people in it as can be found in the South. All we need to perpetuate it is a pure and intelligent ministry.


        D. K. Sherman, writing from Montpelier, Ky., in January, 1877, says:

        I came here in September last to preach the funeral of Mr. Bradshaw's child. There was not a member of our Church in this neighborhood. I held a protracted meeting for two weeks and had ten conversions. I can now report sixteen members.


        In all parts of the Church revivals were being held, and its growth, both in the societies and the Conferences, was healthy and steady. Of the Georgia Conference, Bishop Holsey said that its session held in December, 1876, was harmonious and pleasant; that nine members were admitted and one readmitted; that a large number were located and the body concentrated in effective preachers. The demand for well-equipped ministers was greater than the supply.

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After holding the North Carolina Conference, the Bishop had occasion to say:

        What we need in that State are men that are able to maintain their ground. The African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church has the preëminence, and we have been severely slandered and persecuted. I had many calls for able men, but did not have them to send. Who will go? Whom shall I send? Let the preachers with small families say: "Here am I, send me."


        In the fall of 1877 the various Conferences elected delegates to the General Conference, which adjourned to meet in Nashville, Tenn., but for good reasons the place of meeting was changed to Jackson, Tenn. The closing of this year marked seven years' existence of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

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CHAPTER XIII.

        The Fourth General Conference--Some Distinguished Visitors --Work of the Conference--Its Close--Meeting of the Book Committee--Some Important Matters Adjusted --Death of John Lane--Tribute from Bishop Miles' Daughter--Deaths of Crouch, Samuel, and Ridley--Remarks about Fitzhugh, J. K. Daniel, Collins, and A. J. Stinson--Struggles of the Book Committee--Letter from Bishop Miles--The Bishops in Annual Meeting--Fraternal Delegates Appointed to the Various Methodist Bodies--Bishop Holsey Goes to Europe--Fitzhugh Joins the African Methodist Episcopal Church--Thomas Appointed Editor--Educational Matters--Letter from D. L. Jackson--Lane College--Its Early History--First Catalogue --First Graduates.

        WE now come to the fourth General Conference, which met in Jackson, Tenn., August 7, 1878. The Georgia Conference, being represented by R. T. White, E. S. West, Frank Ford, E. B. Oliver, and A. J. Stinson, made but one change in its delegation of 1874: A. J. Stinson was substituted for J. T. Phillips. The Kentucky Conference sent a new delegation in the persons of T. Cowan, W. H. Chase, and H. A. StewarD.D. A. Walker, who was a lay delegate, has attended every General Conference since as a clerical delegate. Others who had had experience in preceding General Conferences were D. L. Jackson, G. I. Jackson, and R. T. Thirgood, of Alabama; I. H. Anderson, of Mississippi; and J. W. Bell, a delegate from the Washington Mission Conference, which had been organized by Bishop Miles since 1874. The

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session was a pleasant and satisfactory one. The yellow fever raging in Memphis and other cities in West Tennessee occasioned the legislators no little inconvenience and hastened the Conference to a rapid termination.

        There were no men in this Conference who were more conspicuous than J. K. Daniel, John W. Lane, John H. Ridley, and C. W. Fitzhugh, representatives from the Tennessee Conference. They took an active part in all legislative movements, and reflected, as much so as others, credit upon the Conference that elected them. Ridley was appointed Educational Commissioner (as the successor of Bishop Miles), also President of the General Missionary Board; Fitzhugh was made editor of the Christian Index; and John W. Lane was elected Book Agent and a member of the Book Committee, H. A. Steward and D. A. Walker being the other two members.

        The General Conference changed the method of collecting the bishops' salaries. Instead of assessing the Conferences, as had been the custom, each member was assessed ten cents, and no preacher was to be held blameless who should fail to raise the amount assessed his work. The collection of these funds was therefore made a question in the examination of characters in the Annual Conferences, and the success of this plan proved its superiority over the old system.

        Another important change was the reducing of the ten-cent assessment for the Book Concern to five cents per member, while Israel Church, at, Washington, was made the Metropolitan Church of the Connection.

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        The Conference was visited by S. W. Moore, D.D., and Hon. Milton Brown, fraternal delegates from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Dr. Moore's address was able and well received. Among other things he said:

        Your Church is the youngest child of the Methodist family. You are eight years old as a separate Church. Your history is short, but honorable. None of the older children have any cause to be ashamed of your start in life. Only be true to yourselves and our common Head, and all the older Methodisms will be proud of you; they will welcome your representatives in the Ecumenical Conference to be held in September, 1881, in London, England, in which all the Methodisms are to be represented by picked men from each to consult about the common work and interest of all. Without presuming to dictate, I venture to express the hope that your General Conference will take such action on that subject as shall secure your delegates a place and a hearing in that expected council.


        Bishop Miles was very felicitous in his reply. Touching the organization of our Church, he said:

        We believe our separation from the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was satisfactory to all concerned. It was not on account of prejudice. The kindest feeling has prevailed between us, and I pray God there may be no strife between us in the future.


        These were the first delegates the Church, South, had sent to one of our General Conferences. Our Church appointed no fraternal delegate to the General Conference of this Church until Bishop Holsey was delegated in 1882, their General Conference meeting at Nashville, Tenn., in May of that year. C. H. Phillips bore fraternal greetings in 1886; E. W. Moseley, in 1890; and Bishop Lane, in 1894.

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        Among other things accomplished were the levying of a tax of ten cents per member to assist in paying the great debt of Israel Metropolitan Church, in Washington, D. C., and appointing Bishop Lane agent for the same. The statistics showed more than 100,000 members, which was an increase of over 40,000 since the organization of the Church eight years previously.

        It was clear to the Conference that the financial status of the Christian Index and Book Concern was far from being satisfactory or healthy. The Book Committee and managers of the paper--Bishop Miles being publisher--having been appointed, as we have already seen, were authorized to investigate and make some disposition of all debts which had been incurred by the late management. The publishing interests were continued at Louisville.

        Washington, D. C., was selected for the next place of holding the General Conference, and the Conference of 1878 was at an end.

        About the first of September, 1878, soon after the adjournment of the General Conference, the Book Committee met in Louisville and carefully investigated the condition of the Book Concern and Christian Index. They found the house in debt to the amount of several hundred dollars, with everything mortgaged for the same. The five-cent assessment was slowly collected--so slowly that, in November of the same year, the committee informed the Church through the official organ that

        We find it will be impossible for us to run longer, so we

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have decided to close the Book Concern, sell the stock on hand, and pay what debts we can. This, however, will not cover all our indebtedness; therefore we are compelled to make a plea to the brethren to raise the five-cent assessment. Bishop Miles will have the paper published regularly every month. Please send in the money and help us.


        It is seen that the Book Concern was having a sad experience and sore trials. The trouble was only temporary; for soon, though in debt, the Book Concern was again doing business.

        On September 18, 1878, John W. Lane died, of yellow fever, in Brownsville, Tenn. His death sent a shock throughout the Church. He had attended every General Conference since 1870, and was one of the most prominent characters the Connection had produced. In October, 1878, Mrs. Susie Miles Payne, daughter of Bishop Miles, paid a tribute to his memory in the Christian Index. Writing from Louisville, Ky., she says:

        Brother J. W. Lane was here two weeks before he died. After being in our city a few days, he heard that the yellow fever was in his city, and said he must go home. My parents were very sorry for him. Father told him to stay and send for his family, but he said he would go home and suffer with his people. On his arrival home, he wrote that he thought times were better, but that he himself was nearly worn out. Only a few days after this we heard that he was dead. I hope that he will never be forgotten. He was a good, Christian man. When he came among us, he came not with enticing words of man's wisdom, but announcing as his purpose the preaching of Christ, and him crucified. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints."


        The people of West Tennessee who knew him best,

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and consequently loved him most, revere his memory to this day.

        But Lane was not the only eminent preacher that the Tennessee Conference had lost by death. There were Crouch and Samuels, who had preceded him into eternal rest. In eleven or twelve months after the death of Lane occurred the death of J. H. Ridley. He died, of yellow fever, in August, 1879, being at that time pastor of Collins Chapel, in Memphis, Tenn. Ridley was a young man of great promise. His character, talents, gifts, and graces soon brought him to the front. He was licensed to preach in 1874 by Charles Lee, at that time presiding elder of the Jackson District. Joining the Tennessee Conference in the fall of the same year, he was appointed to a circuit in the Jackson District. The next year he was stationed at Clarksville, where he remained three years. Such was the brightness of his intellect, the goodness of his heart, the strong force of his character, and the deep impression of God's call to him to enter the ministry, that success everywhere attended his labors. After serving two appointments, he was sent to Collins Chapel, where he conducted a revival that was blessed with more than a hundred additions to his Church, and where he afterwards died. He was distinguished for his perseverance, honored for his honesty of purpose, and loved by all for his magnanimity. The members of Collins Chapel and other friends erected, soon after his death, a monument over his grave as a befitting token of the esteem in which he was held by citizens without regard to denomination.

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Thus ever and anon Death was claiming leading men of the Church as his own lawful prey.

        The year 1880 finds C. W. Fitzhugh in the pastorate of Israel Church, in Washington, D. C., as well as editor of the Christian Index, having been transferred from the Tennessee Conference. The People's Advocate,*

        *The People's Advocate has since suspended publication.


an influential paper of Washington, after describing an eloquent sermon preached by Fitzhugh, closed the spicy editorial with these words:

        The lecture room was crowded with eager listeners to hear the sermon, which was able and instructive. Rev. Fitzhugh is building up a strong congregation, and is making for himself an enviable reputation as a speaker of no mean ability.


        C. H. Collins, whose brilliant career was brief, was doing well at Augusta, Ga.; A. J. Stinson had more than two hundred additions to his pastorate at Milledgeville, Ga.; and J. K. Daniel was meeting with great spiritual and financial success at Memphis, Tenn. On the circuits, missions, and small stations our preachers were preaching the Word of Truth, which the Lord prospered by not letting it return unto him void.

        In the midst of the struggles of the Book Committee to free the Church from debts, Bishop Miles made himself personally responsible for the same and labored earnestly to pay them. Writing to the paper in July, 1880, he has this to say:

        There is an old debt of one hundred and seventy dollars that is liable to be sued for at any time. Mr. Dougherty

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        COLLINS CHAPEL, MEMPHIS, TENN.

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says if I will make myself personally responsible for the debt, he will take my note and wait on me a few months for the money. This debt is the Riley mortgage. Now, if the preachers will rally for the Index and increase its circulation, I will pay that debt, as I have paid others, and save the Church from the cost and scandal of a lawsuit. I think I will be able to report at the next General Conference that the Christian Index and the Book Concern are entirely clear of the debts they owed at the last session of that body.


        This expectation, however, was not realized; for the debts were not paid by the General Conference of 1882, but continued to harass for some time afterwards, when they were finally settled.

        In April, 1880, the bishops held their episcopal meeting at Jackson, Tenn., and appointed fraternal messengers to the General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. M. F. Jamison, of the East Texas Conference, and J. W. Bell, of the Kentucky Conference, were sent to the General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Church, respectively; I. H. Anderson and E. Cottrell were sent to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. In addition to this, delegates were selected to the first Ecumenical Conference, which met in London in September, 1881, Bishop Holsey heading the delegation. This was one of the greatest gatherings known to Methodism. It was a family reunion in which every branch of Methodism was represented. Bishop Holsey, the only delegate of our Church who went abroad,

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reflected great credit upon the Church and himself. His address was able and much commented upon by all who heard it. The Conference closing, the Bishop traveled to Paris, France, and other cities, and, on his return to America, wrote articles concerning his trip abroad for the Christian Index and other papers, and delivered lectures in different parts of the country.

        In the summer of 1881 trouble arose between C. W. Fitzhugh and Israel Church, at Washington, of which he was pastor, in connection with his editorial work on the paper. It resulted in his withdrawal from that church and the Connection. In regard to this matter, Bishop Miles, in the June number of the Index, says:

        Rev. C. W. Fitzhugh has joined the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and is no longer a member of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. The public is hereby notified to send nothing more to him for publication in the Christian Index. All matter must hereafter be sent to my address, Louisville, Ky.


        W. T. Thomas, of the Alabama Conference, was appointed to the pastorate of Israel Church, also editor of the Christian Index; and he held these positions until the meeting of the General Conference in 1882.

        The Church was not allowing the subject of education to sleep. In June, 1881, D. L. Jackson, a leader in the Alabama Conference, expresses himself plainly in the Index:

        We appeal to the bishops for a Connectional high school or college to be erected at the earliest possible period. If each Annual Conference will raise the amount to be assessed,

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we shall surely accomplish our ends. The Alabama and Tennessee Conferences should unite in building this school; and if the project is properly conducted, it will soon be upon foot.


        The Tennessee Conference began a school enterprise in 1878. When the Conference met in the fall, a committee, consisting of Rev. C. H. Lee, Rev. J. H. Ridley, Rev. Sandy Rivers, Rev. Berry Smith, and Rev. J. K. Daniel, was appointed to solicit means to purchase a school site. Bishop Lane assisted in this commendable undertaking, and, largely through his influence, four acres of ground were purchased in East Jackson, Tenn.; and, again, the educational work of the Church was begun. From the beginning, Bishop Lane has been the President of the Board of Trustees; has fathered the project; and traveled through the North, as well as throughout the South, raising money for its benefit. It has had a steady and healthy growth.

        This school was first known as the Jackson High School. In May, 1885, by motion of the author of this book, the trustees changed the name to Lane Institute. This was a move in the right direction. It was a fitting honor to the man who was to devote his life work to its permanent establishment and maintenance.

        In 1882 the school was opened with a few scholars, with Miss Jennie Lane as president. Since then the presidents have been Prof. J. H. Harper, Dr. C. H. Phillips, Prof. T. J. Austin, Prof. E. W. Bailey, Prof. E. W. Denton, and Dr. T. F. Sanders. The school

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was first taught in a two-story frame building, which stands to-day as a reminder of the humble beginning of this proud institution of learning. Under the leadership of Bishop Lane, a handsome brick building, three stories high, has been erected, and stands a monument to his zeal, an honor to our Methodism, and a blessing to mankind.

        The main building of Lane College, the name by which the school is now known, was dedicated October 23, 1895, by Bishop R. S. Williams. The Christian Index, in a report of the dedication in its issue of November 2, says:

        Early in the day crowds from neighboring towns and cities began to assemble. At 1 o'clock P.M., Bishop Lane said the hour for divine services had arrived. Bishop Williams was appropriately introduced, and preached an able sermon from Isa. xxvi. 1. At the close of the sermon Bishop Lane called upon Dr. Phillips for an address, who was followed by Mr. Payne, Superintendent of the Public Schools of Jackson. The addresses over, Bishop Cottrell led in a fervent prayer, and then a collection of one hundred dollars in cash was raised. Bishop Lane then presented the building to Bishop Williams for dedication; the latter gave the Book of Discipline to Bishop Cottrell, who did the reading, and the main building of Lane College was duly dedicated to God and to the cause of Christian education. All the speakers showered merited encomiums upon the head of Bishop Lane, who modestly bore it all, thanking God for what he had been able to accomplish for the Church and race. The day marked a new era in our educational movement. It is the first brick building that our Church has built and dedicated to God and humanity for educational purposes. The 23d inst. was a great day, and that building will stand as a monument to its founder.


        The first catalogue, as prepared by the writer, appeared

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in 1885-86; since then it has been revised to meet changing conditions. In 1887 we had the first five graduates, and every year since that time Lane College has sent forth young men and women to lift up the race intellectually, morally, and otherwise.

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CHAPTER XIV.

        Meeting of the Fifth General Conference--Some New Delegates Elected--Death of G. W. Usher--Fraternal Messenger from the M. E. Church, South--His Address-- Replies--Bishop Hillery's Address--Legislation of the General Conference--General Officers Elected--Index Removed to Louisville--Other Distinguished Visitors-- Bishop Holsey's Visit to the General Conference of the M. E. Church, South, as Fraternal Delegate--Our Educational Enterprises--New Church Congregation Organized at Washington, D. C.--Bishop Miles' Appeal in Its Behalf--Pastors of Miles Memorial Church--Centennial of Methodism Celebrated in Baltimore, Md.--Our Representatives --A Word about R. S. Williams--Looking toward the Next General Conference--It Meets, and is the Sixth General Conference--Some Legislative Enactments --Fraternal Delegate to the General Conference of the M. E. Church, South--General Officers and Book Committee Elected--Bishop Miles' Protest--Silver Watch Presented to Bishop Miles--His Reply--The Temperance Question--Chapter Concluded.

        WHEN the fifth General Conference met in Washington, D. C., May 4, 1882, the Connection was then twelve years old. It was noticeable that there were more young men in this than in any preceding General Conference. A new leadership was coming to the front; the old was gradually receding. The Alabama Conference still adhered to R. T. Thirgood; the Georgia conference, to R. T. White; the North Mississippi Conference, to I. H. Anderson and B. E. Ford; and the Tennessee Conference, to J. K. Daniel. Among the younger element we notice such men

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as E. W. Moseley, M. F. Jamison, Elias Cottrell, D. A. Amos, Henry Bullock, A. J. Stinson, D. L. Jackson and G. I. Jackson (brothers), W. T. Thomas, W. H. Daniels, H. A. Steward, D. A. Walker, G. W. Usher, and others. These men have been more or less prominent in the Church ever since, save Usher, who died a few years afterwards, loved by the Church. The meeting of this Conference in the capital of the nation did much to strengthen our Methodism in that city and give prestige to the entire Connection.

        Dr. S. K. Cox, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was the fraternal messenger from that Church. His address breathed a fraternal spirit, and was responded to by Bishop Miles.

        In the midst of the session Miss Louisa M. Holsey, daughter of Bishop Holsey, died at her home in Augusta, Ga., and the Bishop was called to the funeral services. The Conference appointed a committee to draft suitable resolutions on her life and death. A. J. Stinson, E. W. Moseley, and M. F. Jamison, who constituted the committee, furnished the facts that Miss Holsey died May 2, in her nineteenth year; that she was one of the brightest intellects of the Atlanta University; and that her loss would be irreparable to the Bishop and his family. The preamble and resolutions were spread upon the General Conference Journal and a copy sent to the family.

        On the sixth day of the session Bishop Hillery, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, delivered a fraternal message in the name of his Church, to which J. W. Bell replied.

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        Many resolutions were offered, but few of them met the concurrence of the Conference. Resolutions to change disciplinary question No. 20 to No. 1 in our Book of Discipline, in regard to Annual Conference proceedings; resolutions looking to the abolition of District Conferences; and resolutions providing for the creation of "stewardesses" were all promptly refused. When G. W. Usher offered his resolution providing for stewardesses it produced laughter. There was absolutely no sentiment favoring such a resolution, for it was tabled without opposition. The motion was timely, but was twelve years ahead of time. There was no attempt to pass such a motion at the General Conference of 1886; a desperate effort was made in 1890, but failed; finally, at the General Conference of 1894, a resolution creating "stewardesses" was passed with but little or no opposition against it. Usher did not live to see that which he said would be, but his name will long be associated with a movement that has given the women of our Church a larger sphere of usefulness.

        Bishop Holsey was sent as a fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, then in session at Nashville, Tenn. He was instructed by our General Conference to ask for assistance to help in building up our educational projects, and any conclusions reached by him and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, would meet the indorsement of our Church. His address before that body was well received, and out of his visit came the

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Payne Institute and a promise to aid in our educational work generally.

        There was no change in the financial system. Bishop Miles was so well pleased with it that he said no Church had a better plan.

        The Conference elected W. T. Thomas editor of the Christian Index; Elias Cottrell, Book Agent; and Bishop Lane, W. M. Payne, and N. B. Smith a Board of Managers for the Christian Index.

        Among other things accomplished were the continuance of the ten-cent assessment for the liquidation of the debt of Israel Church; the limiting of the presiding elder's district to eighteen appointments; and the organization of the Missouri and Kansas Conference, embracing the States of Kansas and Missouri. The official organ was voted to be removed from Louisville, Ky., to Jackson, Tenn.; every traveling and local preacher was obligated by the law to subscribe for the Index; and the Annual Conference boundaries were ordered to be printed in our Book of Discipline.

        Among the representative men of other denominations who visited the Conference we might mention Bishops T. M. D. Ward, D.D., H. M. Turner, D.D., LL.D., A. W. Wayman, D.D., and J. A. Shorter, D.D., and Drs. C. S. Smith and D. P. Seaton, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; Revs. Daniels, Bell, and Hamer, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; Revs. Given and Buel, of the Baptist Church; and Rev. E. W. S. Peck, of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

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        On the tenth day of the session Rev. Frank J. Peck and Rev. Levi J. Coppin, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, delivered excellent fraternal addresses, which were responded to by E. W. Moseley and E. Cottrell.

        The Committee on Episcopacy reported $13,184.83 as having been paid the bishops during the quadrennium. Dividing this amount by four, it will be seen that each bishop received less than $1,100 per year as salary; yet it was more than they had received at any time since their election to the episcopal office. In their message to the General Conference they said:

        The ten-cent assessment for the support and traveling expenses of the bishops has proved a wise arrangement, and has worked well in most of the Conferences, in consequence of which the bishops have had better support since the adoption of that measure than in former years, though all of their salaries have never been paid.


        The financial embarrassment of these faithful servants was great, still they devoted their energies and consecrated their time and talents to the Church and to the cause of their common Master.

        The statistics reported were as follows: Bishops, 4; preachers, 1,729; members, 125,000; Sunday schools, 1,457; Sunday school teachers, 3,773; Sunday school scholars, 42,254. The increase in the membership during the quadrennium was, 18,967.

        After a session lasting eighteen days, the General Conference adjourned to meet in Augusta, Ga., in May, 1886.

        Perhaps no movement received greater impetus at the hands of our Church leaders in the General Conference

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at Washington than did our contemplated educational enterprises. Bishop Holsey's visit to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, had seemingly so stirred that Church that they decided to do something in a tangible way to assist us in establishing schools where young men can prepare for the ministry and young women can fit themselves as teachers. Their General Conference authorized its bishops to appoint a Commissioner of Education, together with three trustees, who should work in harmony with such a number from our Church in any worthy move to found a school or schools for our denomination. Accordingly, on August 29, 1882, at the call of Bishop Pierce, all of our bishops, with distinguished men from the Church, South, met in the First Methodist Church of Atlanta, Ga., and discussed things educational. A board of trustees was formed; the school at Jackson, Tenn., already in an embryonic state, was to receive aid; and a school was located at Augusta, Ga. This school was afterwards named Payne Institute, in honor of Dr. Uriah Payne, who endowed it with $25,000. It has had nearly one hundred graduates; with the endowment the property is valued at $46,000; and G. W. Walker, D.D., has been its honored, faithful, and scholarly president from its establishment even up to this time.

        The three Texas Conferences have located, at a cost of $2,000, comprising one hundred acres of land, a school at Tyler, known as the Texas College. The General Conference of 1894, which met at Memphis,

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recognized this school by allowing these Conferences to retain out of the general funds that amount proportioned for educational purposes. This school has no endowment and has to depend upon the moneys raised by the preachers of Texas and the moneys procured from Children's Day exercises and personal contributions to support it. The school has a bright future. It began its first session in January, 1895, under Prof. S. A. Coffin, who, with his wife, Mrs. Bessie Coffin, as matron, served faithfully as principal. They have now under course of completion a commodious dormitory and school building for students.

        Haygood Seminary represents the thrift and sacrifice of the two Arkansas Conferences. It is located in Washington, Ark. More than any other one man, Henry Bullock, president of the Board of Trustees, has been its prime mover and has labored earnestly for its success. Prof. Pinckney and Misses Josephine Beebe and Ida M. Lane have served as principals. At present Prof. G. L. Tyus, a graduate of Payne Institute, is giving entire satisfaction in the position once occupied by his worthy predecessors. The property is valued at $5,000.

        Homer Seminary, located at Homer, La., is under the fostering care of the Louisiana Conference. Miss Mattie Clark, of North Carolina, was principal until the session of this Conference, at Shreveport, in December, 1895, when M. E. Robinson, a graduate of Lane College, was elected, Miss Clark being retained as his assistant.

        These schools are destined to do much in the way of

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preparing preachers for their work; teachers for the schoolroom; and men and women for the duties of an intelligent citizenship.

        In September, 1883, a new congregation was organized in Washington, D. C., by F. M. Hamilton, at that time presiding elder of the Washington District. For reasons which they considered just and legitimate, about sixty-nine persons received letters of withdrawal from Israel Metropolitan Church. John H. Brooks, C. E. Hilary, Turner Jenkins, Jonas Blanham, and others, the leaders of the movement, desired, with this number as a nucleus, to form a new Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. Accordingly, on Third street, between L street and New York avenue, a lot was purchased, on which there was a hall, and in this hall they worshiped until a large and imposing brick structure was erected. The lot, being in a prominent part of Washington, cost $3,000. One-sixth of this amount was paid in cash, and the remainder was to be paid in three notes of two and three years' time, bearing interest at six per cent. In April, 1884, Bishop Miles makes this appeal in the Index:

        Our first note, for eight hundred and thirty-three dollars, will be due in June, 1884. As the time is near at hand when I shall be called on to pay this note, I appeal to our presiding elders and preachers to go to work at once and raise half of the ten-cent assessment and forward to my address by the middle of June. I have a part of the money on hand. This is the centennial year of Methodism in America. Let us make Miles Chapel our centennial Church by raising five cents per member in all our congregations by June 15.


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        W. F. Simons, a local preacher, first served this organization as pastor, which from the outset was known as Miles Chapel. The General Conference of 1894, in recognition of the services and faithful labors of Bishop Miles, named it Miles Memorial Tabernacle. Its first regular pastor was G. L. Davis, of Tennessee. It has since been served, as pastor, by H. W. Madison, of Alabama; J. W. Luckett, of Kentucky; J. C. Martin, of Tennessee; G. C. Taylor and J. W. Harris, both of Georgia.

        The year 1884 was one of interest to Methodists everywhere in general, and to American Methodists in particular. In Lovely Lane Chapel, in Baltimore, Md., where the first General Conference was held when American Methodism was put into organized form, centenary exercises were held. The various branches of Methodism sent representatives. It was a great gathering, and represented "one hundred years of marching and a hundred years of song." The bishops, in their episcopal meeting held in June of this year, appointed Bishops J. A. Beebe and L. H. Holsey, and Revs. G. W. Usher, F. M. Hamilton, J. K. Daniel, E. W. Moseley, A. J. Stinson, J. W. Bell, and J. H. Bell as delegates to represent our Church. It is enough to say that their papers and addresses reflected credit upon themselves and the Church. Other noted gatherings of the year were the General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Philadelphia; the African Methodist Episcopal Church, at Baltimore; and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, at New York.

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        MILES MEMORIAL TABERNACLE, WASHINGTON, D. C.

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        In the fall of 1884 a young preacher by the name of Robert S. Williams comes into prominence by reason of his appointment to Israel Church, at Washington. He was transferred from the East Texas Conference, having served three years at Longview, where his unselfish labors and the success following them promised for him a bright future. Other remarks will be made of him as our history proceeds.

        In 1885 the attention of the leaders was directed to the forthcoming General Conference, which was to meet in May, 1886. Contemplated changes in the Book of Discipline were freely discussed, and delegates were elected at the fall Conferences.

        The General Conference met in Augusta, Ga., May 5, 1886, to which there had been elected one hundred and five delegates. There were forty-six clerical delegates and twenty-four lay delegates present, and these came from sixteen Annual Conferences. It was the sixth session, and in the main was composed of the ablest men of the Connection. F. M. Hamilton was made Secretary, and A. H. Jones, of Texas, who has since died, was his assistant. The bishops were all present.

        Their address covered every phase of church work along which it would be necessary for the General Conference to legislate. They declared that

        The financial system of the Church is one of peculiar, as well as grave, importance. It demands the wisdom, the tact, the coolest and most considerate judgment of the Conference.


        It is only fair to say that no question was more deliberately considered or wisely adjusted than our

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financial system. A plan was created for raising money that far excelled all its predecessors and considerably increased the revenue of the Church. More than any other person, Bishop Holsey was the constructer of the plan after which our financial systems since then have been similitudes. Under it every minister and member was assessed twenty cents per year, which was divided as follows: For bishops, eight cents; missions, three cents; education, three cents; publishing interests, three cents; Israel Church and Miles Chapel, three cents. This system worked well and filled a long-felt want.

        The salaries and traveling expenses of the bishops were fixed at $1,600, the same being paid them yearly.

        During the session of the Conference a memorial watch which had been given to Bishop Miles by the various Annual Conferences was duly presented to him by the writer, and accepted in a beautiful speech.

        The following letter was offered by Bishop Miles:

        Whereas the General Conference which was held in Louisville, Ky., in August, 1874, did appoint the bishops and three other members a committee on fraternal and organic union with other Methodist Churches; and whereas I have been accused of defeating the union of our Church with other Methodist Churches; and whereas I do not wish to hinder the union of this Church with other Methodist Churches, I do hereby respectfully resign the appointment and decline further service on said committee, either for fraternal or organic union.


        The General Conference relieved him, and now no such committee exists among us.

        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal

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Church, South, being in session at Richmond, Va., C. H. Phillips was nominated by the bishops and confirmed by the General Conference as a fraternal delegate to that body.

        The Conference, on the whole, was a very conservative body. There were many speeches and debates, but few changes were made in the Book of Discipline. "Children's Day" was instituted, each Annual Conference being allowed to designate the day; dancing was prohibited, and a clause to that effect was put in the Discipline; and the Publishing House was continued at Jackson.

        Upon ballot, F. M. Hamilton was elected Book Agent and editor of the Christian Index; and I. H. Anderson, C. H. Phillips, E. W. Moseley, E. Cottrell, N. B. Smith W. M. Payne, and T. J. Austin were made the Book Committee.

        Perhaps no question invited more discussion than the eligibility of H. Reid, a clerical delegate from the East Texas Conference, and A. C. Smith, a clerical delegate from what was then called the Tennessee and Alabama Conference, to seats in the General Conference. Bishop Miles insisted that, as these men had married divorced women, they were improper persons to legislate for the Church, and that their credentials should accordingly be rejected. The General Conference differed from this position and seated the delegates, whereupon Bishop Miles entered the following protest upon the Journal:

AUGUSTA, GA., May 19, 1886.

        Whereas H. Reid has married a woman that has been

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divorced from her husband; and whereas my conviction is that he has rendered himself unfit for the ministry and unfit to serve as a delegate to legislate for this Church; and whereas I believe that the decision of this General Conference in admitting said Reid is damaging to the morals of our Church; and whereas I believe it to be the duty of this General Conference to raise high the standard of morality among our people, I hereby protest against such decision as will allow a preacher to marry another man's wife and recognize him as a suitable man to legislate for the Church of God.

Respectfully,

W. H. MILES,

One of the Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

        This Conference passed a law that every preacher in charge should bring his Church Register to the fourth Quarterly Conference for inspection; that every traveling preacher should subscribe for the Index; and that no person should be licensed to preach until he had first become a subscriber to the official organ of his Church.

        Frank Ford, of the Georgia Conference; R. E. Marshall and David Ratcliff, of the Kentucky Conference; and B. Ford and G. W. Wright, of the Mississippi Conference, all ex-members of the General Conference, having died during the quadrennium, were eulogized for their sterling qualities, the lives they led, their usefulness to the Church, and their triumphant and peaceful end.

        The Conference declared itself in no uncertain sound against intemperance. This was its declaration:

        Whereas drunkenness and all intemperance are condemned in the Word of God, which also says, "No drunkard shall inherit the kingdom of heaven;" and whereas the

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use of intoxicating liquors is destructive of good society and damaging in its nature to the Church of God; and whereas the Church has greatly suffered from its use by its members,

        Resolved, 1. That this General Conference heartily indorses the great temperance movement now being agitated so strongly in all parts of the country.

        2. That all the ministers of our Church are hereby instructed to condemn the practice and use of intoxicating liquors as a beverage.

        3. That we, the ministers of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, will do all in our power to promote and foster the cause of temperance in all our charges and districts.


        Thus the Church, through its supreme representatives, expressed itself; and its adherence to these principles with unalterable constancy forms a notable chapter in its history.

        In presenting the silver watch to Bishop Miles, to which reference has already been made, the writer made the following remarks:

        DEAR AND HONORED BISHOP: It is a source of great pleasure for me to have the honor to present to you this watch as a memorial from all the Annual Conferences, save the East Texas, Missouri and Kansas, North Carolina, Tennessee, and Alabama Conferences. These are left out not because of any depreciation of you and your invaluable work, but rather on account of their negligence and stupidity. You need no eulogistic comment from me. No poet is needed to sing your worth, no historian is needed to narrate your deeds, nor graphic writer required to delineate the service you have rendered our Church; but in order to show what has prompted the Conferences to act, it will be necessary to review the past.

        In the dark days of our Church, when persecution was high, slander prevalent, the Church disorganized, the men inexperienced and not well informed, you became a beacon light, and, like a shooting meteor, left your track behind

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you. By you the Church was organized and defended, her cause promulgated, and her interests watched as with an eagle's eye. From place to place you traveled, leading on our glorious cause, until you have reflected yourself upon the current of ages as the mountain mirrors itself in the gentle stream that flows at its base.

        As our senior bishop, we love you, we honor your name, and as long as the human heart shall beat, your name will live in the memory of Colored Methodists. In view of your labors, in view of the high esteem in which you are held by all these Annual Conferences, we give you this watch as a token of our respect and as an insignia of honor and merit. No sculptured marble may ever rise to perpetuate your memory, nor graven image bear record to your deeds, yet your name will live on and on. Your sons will carry on the work which you have begun; your sons will perpetuate your memory; your sons yet unborn will record your labors indelibly upon the pages of history.

        As long as the heavens shall feed the stars, as long as the rivers shall run into the seas, as long as the shade shall traverse the hollows of the mountains, so long will there be some one to lisp the name of Bishop W. H. Miles. When the sun of your life, rolling on in glorious pomp, will set to rise no more, it is hoped that the "Sun of Righteousness" will light up your soul with visions of glory in a more happy and congenial clime.

        I now take great pleasure in presenting this watch. Accept it, Bishop, as from your brethren. Let it remind you always of our love, and in the evening of your life may it be a source of pleasure to you to know that you are so kindly remembered and loved by your brethren. In the name of this General Conference, in the name of the Church which it represents, I again say accept it with the best wishes of your constituents and admirers of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. The Lord bless you, Bishop, and give you a long life to serve the Church which you now so ably represent.


        Bishop Miles made the following reply:

        I accept this watch as a token of your respect. I thank you for it. I am no speech maker, so I hardly know what

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to say. I have the watch; that is certain; and you can't get it. You said, through Dr. Phillips, that you present this watch as a "memorial of your love," etc. He has made a great big speech. I don't know how to reply to such an address. I have never been favorable to receiving presents. Many of you have desired to make me presents from time to time, but I have always objected to it. I want your sympathy, your good feelings, if they come from a pure heart.

        I feel a little proud of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church and of the respect you have shown me. I need not tell you that I will not betray my trust to you. I have always tried to do what I thought was right, and labor for the upbuilding of this Church. I have never seen the day that I could thank you for electing me a bishop. I never desired it. I have never sought an office in the Church, but I have come along thus far. Experience has taught me that I have somewhat shaped the destiny of our Church, and now I believe, if we will only live right, we will be sure to prosper.

        Dr. Phillips, I thank you for your eloquent address, also for the watch.


        Bishop Miles thought well of the gift made him by the General Conference, and up to the time of his death, of which mention shall be made later, he delighted in speaking of the watch and in showing it to his friends.

        In concluding this chapter it may be necessary to say that there was no disposition on the part of the General Conference to elect another bishop. In their message the bishops declared that they thought the present corps of bishops could do all the work that was necessary to be done, and from this conclusion there were no divergent views among the delegates.

        The General Conference, after a twenty-two days' session, adjourned to meet in 1890, at Little Rock, Ark.

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CHAPTER XV.

        Important Event in 1886--A Large Congregation Received from the A. M. E. Church--Samuel B. Wallace the Leader --General Conferences of Three Great Methodist Bodies Meet in 1888--They Elect Bishops--First World's Sunday School Convention--Some Discussions in the Church-- Meeting of the Seventh General Conference in Little Rock, Ark.--Remarks on the Same--Some Important Legislation--General Officers Elected--Delegates to the Second Ecumenical Conference Chosen--Bishop Holsey's Petition for a Supernumerary Relation Rejected--Dr. J. C. Hartsell, Fraternal Delegate from the M. E. Church, and Dr. M. G. Alexander, from the A. M. E. Church, Make Addresses--Replies--E. W. Moseley, Fraternal Delegate to the General Conference of the M. E. Church, South-- Greetings from Bishop Hood, of the A. M. E. Zion Church--Bishop Beebe Replies--Greetings from the M. E. Church, South--Bishop Miles' Failing Health--Work of His Colleagues--Second Ecumenical Conference Meets at Washington, D. C.--General Conferences of Other Methodist Bodies--Elias Cottrell, R. T. Brown, and R. S. Williams, Fraternal Delegates--The Church Prosperous.

        ONE of the most important events of the year 1886 was the coming over to our Connection of a large and influential congregation at Columbia, S. C. For years it had been loyal to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, but, on account of some irreconcilable differences, a chasm was created which could not be bridged, resulting finally in the Church's withdrawal from that denomination. This congregation, consisting of some 600 or 700 members and a following of more than 1,500, at once gave prestige and character

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to the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in the State of South Carolina. That congregation, now known as Sydney Park Church, stands at the head of our Methodism in the old Palmetto State. One of the most conspicuous leaders of this Church was one Samuel B. Wallace. He lent his influence in leading the congregation into our Connection, and was soon afterwards licensed to preach. Such were his gifts and talents that he rapidly forged his way to the front, and in a short time was generally regarded as one of the foremost men of the Church. His career was brilliant, but short, as death ended his labors almost suddenly in July, 1895. More extended remarks concerning him will be made a little later.

        In the year 1887, other than the holding of successful revivals in all parts of the Church, there were no special happenings.

        In 1888 the General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church met in various parts of the country. The first convened in May, at New York, N. Y.; the second, in the same month, at Indianapolis, Ind.; and the third, at Newberne, N. C. Each of these Conferences elected men to the episcopal office. Drs. Gaines, Arnett, and Tanner were elected bishops by the African Methodist Episcopal denomination, and Drs. Petty and Harris were elected by the African Methodist Episcopal Zion body.

        The first World's Sunday School Convention met in July, 1889, in London, England. Delegates from

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all parts of the country were elected, and the writer, being a pastor at Washington at that time, was one of three delegates elected--Rev. Walter H. Brooks and Rev. George Moore being the other two--to represent the Sunday schools of the District in that great cosmopolitan gathering. The proceedings of that convention gave inspiration and encouragement to Sunday schools throughout the world.

        This year the question of the election of another bishop in our Church was considerably discussed. The failing health of Bishop Miles, the admitted physical weakness of Bishop Holsey, and the rapid spread of the Church necessitating increased labors were some of the reasons urged for increasing the episcopal bench. This agitation was not confined to a single Conference, but to the Connection at large. In the meantime preparations for the second Ecumenical Conference to be held in Washington in the fall of 1891 were going on in all branches of Methodist bodies.

        In May, 1890, the seventh General Conference of the Church met at Little Rock, Ark. All the bishops were alive and presided alternately.

        Senior Bishop Miles looked the picture of health, but his external appearance was in no respect a true index of his internal feelings and condition, for he was far from being a sound man. He referred frequently to the fainting spells to which he had become subject, and more than once told the Conference that in all probability this would be the last General Conference that he would be permitted

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to attend. This belief was well founded, for he survived this Conference only two years.

        The message of the bishops was an able paper, and reviewed the several departments of the Church in a comprehensive manner. They recommended the election and consecration of a bishop to assist in episcopal labors, and advised conservatism in the revision of the Discipline.

        The Conference was composed of some able men, many of whom had been members of previous General Conferences. The sessions lasted from May 7 to May 22, during which time some very important legislative enactments were accomplished.

        There was no bishop elected, as had been anticipated. Some contention arose among the delegates, both as to the man that should be chosen and the advisability of an election at all. Finally, in the interest of peace and harmony, the bishops revoked the recommendation, and the election of a bishop was deferred by the General Conference.

        One of the most important things accomplished in this General Conference was the creation of a Church Extension Society. A constitution for the management of this new creature was drafted by H. Bullock and D. A. Walker; and M. F. Jamison, the father of the society, was, by nomination of the bishops and confirmation of the General Conference, made its Secretary.

        There was no radical change in the financial plan that had wrought well during the quadrennium. The general twenty-cent assessment remained, and was

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divided in the following order: For bishops, eight cents; general missions, five cents; education, four cents; publishing interests, three cents. The only difference between this plan and the plan of 1886 was the dropping of the three-cent assessment for Israel Church and Miles Chapel; one cent of which was added to the old assessment for education, making it four cents, and the adding of the remaining two cents to the old assessment for general missions, making it five cents. Thus the new plan was launched, the operation of which was without friction, and the success of which even eclipsed all previous systems.

        Among other things accomplished were the creating of the office of Commissioner of Education, with Elias Cottrell as Commissioner; the election of Isaac H. Anderson as Book Agent; and the election of F. M. Hamilton as editor of the Christian Index.

        As the second Ecumenical Conference was to meet in 1891, the Conference elected C. H. Phillips, J. T. Shackelford, and J. W. Luckett a Committee on Correspondence, and Bishop L. H. Holsey, C. H. Phillips, J. T. Shackelford, J. C. Waters, E. W. Moseley, S. B. Wallace, R. S. Williams, and A. J. Stinson, delegates. Provision was made for bearing the expenses of the delegates, and all matters pertaining thereto were properly adjusted.

        Bishop Holsey, out of his feeble condition, petitioned the Conference on this wise:

        DEAR FATHERS AND BRETHREN: I ask to be placed on or in a supernumerary relation, because of bad health. I can do some work, and expect to do it, but my physician thinks that a rest from public speaking will give me relief.


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        LANE COLLEGE, JACKSON, TENN.

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        The General Conference was in great sympathy with Bishop Holsey, but such was its love for him and such had been his invaluable services to the Church that it threw a gloom over all the delegates to even think of being bereft of the services of its brilliant, influential, oratorical leader. Consequently the petition was rejected, the other bishops promising to lighten his episcopal labors as much as possible.

        Dr. J. C. Hartsell, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, and Dr. M. G. Alexander, of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, were present as fraternal delegates from their respective Churches. They delivered able addresses. C. H. Phillips, on behalf of the Conference, replied to the former, and Elias Cottrell replied to the latter.

        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, being in session at St. Louis, Mo., E. W. Moseley was sent as a fraternal messenger to that body. His speech was warmly received.

        Among the telegrams received during the session of the Conference was one from Cambridge, Mass., dated May, 12, 1890. It was as follows:

To the General Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, in care of Bishop J. A. Beebe:

        The New England Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church sends fraternal greetings. May God bless your deliberations and prosper your work.

J. W. HOOD,

Bishop.


        Bishop Beebe, on behalf of the Conference, sent an appropriate reply to Bishop Hood. A suitable reply was also sent to the General Conference of the Methodist

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Episcopal Church, South, which sent this greeting:

ST. LOUIS, MO., May 15, 1890.

To the General Conference of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America:

        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, sends greetings. (1 Thess. iv. 1.)


        When the Conference adjourned it proved to have been one of the most important sessions that had been held in the Connection.

        The year 1891 finds Bishop Miles in poor health. So feeble was he that he found it impossible to hold many of his District Conferences in the summer, or his Annual Conferences in the fall. The three other bishops gave such attention to his episcopal district as their time would allow.

        One of the most important events of this year was the meeting of the second Ecumenical Conference in Washington, D. C., in October. It was a great gathering and represented world-wide Methodism. Bishops of episcopal bodies and presidents of non-episcopal bodies presided alternately. The delegates from our Church, chosen at the last General Conference, were present, one of whom, C. H. Phillips, represented the Church on the programme by delivering an address, entitled "The Legal Prohibition of the Saloon." The enthusiasm which the Conference imparted and the information obtained through the able addresses delivered and the creditable papers read were simply invaluable.

        In 1892 there were many important gatherings. The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal

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Church met in Omaha, Neb.; the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church assembled in Philadelphia, Pa.; and the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church convened in Pittsburg, Pa. In the two latter bodies the question of organic union was discussed at great length, and committees from both Conferences were appointed to meet and make arrangements for uniting. Upon the adjournment of these bodies it appeared from the surface that union was just in the distance; that plans necessary to lead up to such a desired realization had been consummated; and that a confederation of these two largest denominations of negro Methodists was no longer to be a forlorn hope. Many of the Annual Conferences on both sides voted for union, and everything seemed to be progressing finely. Suddenly some complications arose; organic union was declared impracticable, if not impossible; and at this writing there appears to be no possibility of these bodies ever uniting.

        R. T. Brown was our fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; R. S. Williams, fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church; and Elias Cottrell, fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The addresses of these delegates were well received, and our Methodisms were brought more closely together by reason of their visits to Philadelphia, Pittsburg, and Omaha. At the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion

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Church, at Pittsburg, I. C. Clinton and Alexander Walters were elected and consecrated to the office of Bishop; at the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, at Philadelphia, B. F. Lee, M. B. Salters, and J. A. Handy were elected and consecrated to the office of Bishop; at the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, at Omaha, there were no elections of men to the episcopal office.

        In the midst of these convocations and the great interest connected with them, our preachers were busily engaged in revivals, our schools were graduating young men and women, and the whole Church appeared to be full of hope and spiritual vigor.

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CHAPTER XVI.

THE LAST SCENE.

        Bishop Miles' Sickness--His Death--His Burial.

        BEFORE now reference has been made to the declining health of Bishop Miles, but the year 1892 finds him unable to even leave his home to engage in episcopal labors. The writer, who was stationed in Louisville at that time, was permitted to see much of him and witness the end as it gradually came. During the year he attended divine services whenever his condition would allow him to do so.

        In September the Kentucky Conference met in Louisville, and Bishop Miles' presence was a great inspiration to the preachers among whom he had lived before and since his election to the episcopal office. Two of his colleagues--Bishop Beebe, who presided, and Bishop Lane, a welcome visitor--were present. They were in the best of humor and contributed much to the life and success of the Conference.

        This was the last Conference Bishop Miles ever attended, and before it he made his last speech. When he arose to speak, it was evident to the members of the Conference that he no longer possessed the great physical strength which he enjoyed in former years. Nervous, tremulous, and weak, holding to a chair in front of him, stood the senior bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. What Asbury had

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been to American Methodism, Bishop Miles had been to our Connection. So there he stood, the cynosure of all eyes. Every eye was bedimmed with tears as he spoke slowly and pathetically. The Journal of the Conference records the following as a part of his address:

        Brethren, I am glad to meet you all. I have been thinking I would not be able to meet you in this session of the Conference. I am feeble and not able to make a speech. I am very glad God did not take me to heaven last night, for I wanted to see you all once more. Brethren, I am not afraid to die. I have no more fears about dying than of going to my home, but I am not in a hurry about it. I want to stay here just as long as it pleases my Father for me to stay; and if it is left to me, I will stay at least twenty years longer. Nevertheless, I am ready to go whenever he calls me. I want you to have a good time here. I am responsible for the Conference meeting at this place, for I wanted to see you all once more. Call to see me before you leave the city.


        This was the last time that this Conference ever saw his familiar form or heard his eloquent voice. He never again appeared before a public gathering. In less than three weeks after the adjournment of the Conference he breathed his last. His consolations were great. He talked cheerfully to the writer, always insisting that he was ready to die. At one time he would say, "I am not afraid of death;" at another, "I am waiting for the summons." When he was first confined to his room, it was our pleasure to see him once each week; as he grew weaker, we saw him every other day; and during the last week of his illness, we visited him every day. Possessing a genial nature, the Bishop was accustomed to calling his

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preaching brethren, "boys." With a kindly smile upon his face, displaced by an occasional frown caused by the pain which he suffered, he said to us one day: "Tell the 'boys' I do not die a coward; I am ready for the monster, Death; I have made preparations against this day." Nearing the close of his life, his attending physician said to him, in our presence: "Bishop, you cannot live; you are going to die." He replied: "I am looking to Jesus, the Great Physician, who never loses a case." He exhibited no excitement; he was perfectly composed and cheerfully resigned to the will of God. Having lost all hope of recovering, and desiring more to be with Christ than to remain in bodily suffering and mental anxiety superinduced thereby, he would frequently say: "Come, Lord Jesus, and come quickly." A day before his death, seeing that he was growing weaker and that he would soon pass into a comatose state, we said to him: "Bishop, tell us how you feel now. Are you still trusting? Is it well with your soul?" "Yes," said he, "I am still trusting. I have been serving the Lord too long for him to desert me now in these my last hours, and at a time when I need him most." These remarks were made late Saturday night, November 12. On Sunday, the 13th, after the morning service, we again called to see him; but he was unconscious and recognized no one. His testimony had been given, and, like a field of ripened grain waiting to be reaped and garnered, he lay waiting for the grim reaper, Death, and for the angels to bear him away on their snowy wings to his immortal home. On Monday,

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November 14, about 6:45 A.M., "our father" entered the paradise of God, where he shall be holier and wiser and happier forever.

        Bishop Miles was buried on Thursday, November 17, at 4 o'clock P.M. On this day his remains lay in state at Center Street Church from 8 A.M. until 2 P.M., when the funeral services began. Hundreds viewed the remains of the first senior bishop. White and black looked upon the prostrate form of him who had been the great apostle of Colored Methodism. The Methodist Ministerial Union and representatives from the Baptist Ministerial Union turned out in a body to do honor to one of Louisville's most popular citizens.

        At the hour of 2 o'clock, Bishop Holsey, of Georgia, followed by all the ministers of the city, walking in front of the corpse, began to read: "I am the resurrection and the life," etc. The ritualistic services were conducted by Bishop Holsey, after which he lined, with much feeling, that old, familiar song:


                         Servant of God, well done!
                         Rest from thy loved employ.
                         The battle fought, the vict'ry won,
                         Enter thy Master's joy.

        Prayer was then offered by Rev. H. C. Settles, D.D., pastor of the Walnut Street Methodist Episcopal Church, South, who afterwards read, with much emotion, Psalm xxiii.

        Bishop Miles had selected several songs which he desired sung at his funeral, one of which, the following, was lined by Bishop Holsey and sung with much freedom and pathos by the vast congregation:

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                         And let this feeble body fail,
                         And let it droop and die;
                         My soul shall quit the mournful vale
                         And soar to worlds on high.
While he was very fond of this entire hymn, the Bishop was especially delighted with, and frequently sung, this verse:


                         I suffer out my threescore years,
                         Till my Deliv'rer come
                         And wipe away his servant's tears
                         And take his exile home.

        Bishop Holsey, who preached the funeral sermon, was so overcome with grief that he did not speak longer than fifteen or twenty minutes. His text was taken from Psalm xxxvii. 37: "Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright: for the end of that man is peace." He spoke tenderly of the strong character of his deceased colleague, his love of virtue, his worth to the Church, his firmness of purpose, and his strong adherence to right. He referred eloquently to the happy relation that existed for years between himself and the dead bishop; how kind and fatherly he had been to him; how he had appointed him, in 1871, to Trinity Church, in Augusta, Ga., when he had hitherto been serving poor appointments; and how intimate had been their association since that time. He spoke in this vein for several minutes, and, after expressing deep sympathy for the family, he sat down, his own eyes and those of his hearers being clouded with tears.

        With reverence, Elias Cottrell, Commissioner of Education at that time, lined the hymn,

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                         Jesus, the name high over all,
and the congregation sung with much feeling.

        C. H. Phillips, Bishop Miles' pastor, who had prepared a special sermon on his life and death, spoke about thirty minutes, founding his remarks on the words: "There is a prince and a great man fallen this day in Israel." (2 Sam. iii. 38.)

        Elias Cottrell, speaking next, said he had been ordained a deacon and elder by Bishop Miles, and would always love his name and revere his memory.

        When the choir had sung,


                         In thy cleft, O Rock of Ages,
                         Hide thou me,
Jehu Holiday, pastor of Twelfth Street African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, and who has since been elected a bishop in his Church, said:

        I have known Bishop Miles for years, and I always admired him. He was a truthful and very reliable man; you always knew where to find him. When he said, "Yes," he meant it; and when he said, "No," there was no need to try to change him. He was a firm man. May God bless the family.


        Dr. Settles said:

        I have known Bishop Miles for twenty-five years. I knew him before he was made a bishop, and I have known of his life and labors since.


        He also spoke of the Bishop's relation to his family, all of whom he hoped would meet the deceased in heaven.

        Rev. Mr. Gaddy, pastor of Green Street Baptist Church, made the last address. He said he regarded the Bishop as a good man; that he had done much for

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        THE HAYGOOD MEMORIAL HALL, PAINE INSTITUTE, AUGUSTA, GA.

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the race and his Church; and that now, resting from his labors, his works would live after him.

        Resolutions from the Methodist Ministerial Union and the Louisville Colored Cemetery Association, both speaking of the commendable qualities which the Bishop possessed, as well as expressing sympathy for the family, were read.

        The Louisville Colored Cemetery Association, in the establishment of which Bishop Miles was foremost, and of which he became the first president, offered the following resolutions:

        Whereas it has pleased an Almighty Providence to remove from our midst our friend and associate, Bishop W. H. Miles, therefore be it

        Resolved, That we have lost a faithful president and member of the Directory Board, and an untiring worker, whose efforts were unlimited to advance the success of the association.

        Resolved, further, That we tender our sympathy to the bereaved family in this their affliction, and that these resolutions be spread upon the minutes of the Louisville Cemetery Association.


        On behalf of the association, the resolutions were signed by A. J. Bibb, Allen Johnson, Detroit Stewart, Samuel Curry, and H. C. Weeden.

        The services at the church ending, Bishop Holsey dismissed the congregation, and the remains were borne to the Louisville Cemetery, where the Bishop had purchased a lot for himself and family. As the long and imposing procession headed for the graveyard, it was sad to see, occupying an important place therein, the horse and buggy once used by the Bishop. The harness and bridle were beautifully draped in

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mourning, as was also the buggy. James Clark, who had nursed the Bishop through his illness, drove the horse just behind the hearse.

        The floral offerings were many and costly. Center Street Church gave a wheel with a broken spoke, with the words, inscribed in purple, "Our Hero;" a Bible, made of chrysanthemums, and given by the pastor and official board of the church, had upon it the word, "Victory;" a star in a crescent, given by the Pastor's Relief Club of the church, was a beautiful design; William Watson, the undertaker, gave two palms tied with a white scarf, with the words, "Father and Friend at Rest;" an anchor, sheaf of wheat, and other designs were given by admiring friends.

        The casket was large and handsome, inside of which, dressed in a black robe (at his own request) tied with a black cord and tassel, with hands folded gracefully across his breast, lay the first bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

        Among the ministers who came to the city to attend the funeral were Elias Cottrell, of Memphis, Tenn.; D. A. Walker, H. A. Steward, M. I. Warfield, and H. H. Johnson, from cities in Kentucky; and John Brown, a layman, of Carlisle, Ky.

        The active pallbearers were: Rev. M. I. Warfield, Rev. H. A. Steward, Rev. S. H. Green, Rev. A. Grundy; and Napoleon Bonapart, Detroit Stewart, Moseley Bradley, Felix Johnson, and John Crawley, laymen. The honorary pallbearers were: Rev. Jehu Holiday, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion

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Church; Rev. W. N. McCoomer, of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Rev. W. P. Churchill, of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church; and Samuel Curry, C. H. Dickens, and A. J. Bibbs, laymen.

        At the grave, Rev. C. H. Phillips read the burial ceremony. The body was then lowered into the grave; the cavity was filled; the sorrowing crowd dispersed; and there, on the top of a beautiful hill overlooking the city, the beloved, honored, heroic, and sainted dead was left to sleep undisturbed until the mighty flat of Jehovah shall bid him arise.


                         No bitter tears for thee be shed,
                         Blessing of being seen, and gone;
                         With flowers alone we strew thy bed,
                         O blest departed one.


                         Thou wert so like a form of light
                         That Heaven benignly called thee hence,
                         E'er yet the world would breathe one blight
                         O'er thy sweet innocence;
                         And thou, that brighter home to bless,
                         Art passed with all thy loveliness.

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CHAPTER XVII.

        Movements of the Church in 1893--The Agitation of More Bishops after the Death of Bishop Miles--Remarks About R. S. Williams and Elias Cottrell--Some Able Men Mentioned--Meeting of the General Conference in Memphis, Tenn.--Lay Delegates--Some New Clerical Delegates --Bishops' Message--The Election of R. S. Williams and Elias Cottrell to the Episcopal Office--The Church No Lover of Politics--Some Measures Defeated--Financial Plan--The Contingent Fund--Memorial Services in Honor of Bishop Miles--Fraternal Delegates from the M. E. Church, South, and the A. M. E. Church--Bishop Lane a Fraternal Delegate to the M. E. Church, South-- An Opinion of the Bishops--Some Measures Passed-- Bishop Holsey Granted a Respite--Williams and Cottrell Ordained--Book Agent and Editor Elected--Some Last Acts of the Conference--Church Extension Society Abolished.

        THERE were no very important movements in the Church in 1893, other than the discussions that were going on through the official organ on questions that were expected to engage the attention of the General Conference of 1894. The death of Bishop Miles and the spread of the Connection led a conservative element to believe that two additional bishops were necessary to assist in the episcopal labors of the Church; at the same time there were others who insisted upon the election of three. Quite a number of names were mentioned in connection with the office, but the three most frequently named were Robert S. Williams, Elias Cottrell, and a third man whose name it is not necessary to mention. Williams, having rounded

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out four years of great success at Columbia, S. C., is serving most acceptably at Augusta, Ga.; while Cottrell is faithfully discharging the duties of Commissioner of Education. At this time there were within the bounds of our Connection a number of able men, many of whom, though young, by reason of their zeal and the favorable results attending their efforts, were stamping themselves upon the very heart of the Church. Samuel B. Wallace, at Israel Church, in Washington, had earned the reputation of an earnest, eloquent expounder of the Truth; R. E. Hart had shaken Sydney Park Church in a great revival; Robert T. Brown, who had completed classical, theological, and medical courses at Central Tennessee College, was making an excellent record as a presiding elder; and R. A. Carter, one of the graduates of Payne Institute, and one of the most active and promising young men of the Georgia Conference, was doing a commendable work at Barnesville. Mention might be made of N. F. Haygood, the revivalist, and G. C. Taylor, the devout preacher, both of Georgia, who were doing much to build up the cause of Christ. In all the Conferences were able men who were doing much to save souls and expand our Methodism. In the fall of this year delegates were elected to the General Conference by the Annual Conferences.

        Accordingly the eighth session of the General Conference met in Memphis, Tenn., Wednesday, May 2, 1894. It was the largest and most representative meeting the Church had held. Seemingly the Conferences

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had endeavored to select their best material from among both the clerical and the lay members. The number of the latter was determined by the number of clerical delegates chosen by each Conference, the laymen being equal in election, if not in attendance. In this body were many delegates who had been members of previous General Conferences, and two or three who had attended every session from the first. Among the old delegates much interest gathered about R. T. White, of the Georgia Conference, and Isaac H. Anderson, of the Mississippi Conference; the latter was in the General Conference of 1870, when William H. Miles and Richard Vanderhorst were elected our first Bishops. S. B. Wallace, R. A. Carter, G. C. Taylor, S. E. Ervin, and N. F. Haygood were among the new members. G. W. Steward, of the Alabama Conference, who had been a member of the two previous General Conferences, was a legislator of some experience and ability; the same was true of G. I. Jackson, from the same State; of R. T. Brown, A. K. Hawkins, and B. Smith, from other Conferences. In fact, the new and the old delegates blended admirably to give the Conference variety and enthusiasm, which was often produced by a divergence of views on subjects that were under discussion.

        The message of the bishops was a clear statement of the condition of the Church--what was necessary to be done in order to keep it abreast of the times, and what should be the trend of legislation. Respecting the election of bishops, they said:

        The death of Bishop Miles, with the growth of our Colored

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Methodism and with the increase and demand of more abundant episcopal oversight, makes it necessary that at least one more man be elected and consecrated to the bishopric. The state of society, the moral quality of the age, and the conditions that now confront us make a crisis in our history. Great interests affecting the well-being and destiny of the Church hinge upon your action in this case. In no case should you encumber the Church so as to make it top-heavy with bishops. We trust that wisdom, moderation, and sound judgment in the number and character of any who may be exalted to this high place in the Church may direct you.


        Great interest centered in the election of bishops by reason of the support that some candidates received and the opposition encountered by others. The debates in favor of increasing the episcopacy were interesting and able. Some favored the election of two bishops; others favored the election of three. The former advocates prevailed, and two bishops were chosen on May 9. It had been previously arranged that the initiatory steps to the election should begin at 10:30 A.M. Upon roll call, it was found that one hundred and eleven delegates were present and ready to cast their ballots. Let us revert to the General Conference Journal for a description of the election:

        B. Smith lined hymn 495:


                         Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear
                         My voice ascending high;
                         To thee will I direct my prayer,
                         To thee lift up mine eye.

        The Conference and congregation (the church was crowded with colored and white people) joined in singing the above hymn.

        B. Smith led in prayer.

        R. T. White led in singing,


                         Nearer, my God, to thee.

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        L. M. Martin led in singing,


                         Down at the cross, where my Saviour died.

        Then, by special request, J. W. Luckett led in singing,


                         It is better further on.

        F. R. Rodgers and W. T. Breeding were appointed tellers to assist the secretaries in counting the votes.

        By request, the secretary called the report the second time, and only one hundred and eleven (111) brethren answered to their names.

        The chairman stated that it required fifty-six votes to elect.

        The first ballot was cast, with the following result: R. S. Williams, 73; C. H. Phillips, 49; E. Cottrell, 32; H. Bullock, 13; I. S. Pearson, 2; O. T. Womack, 7; W. F. Simons, 2; J. C. Waters, 1; D. W. Featherston, 1; R. E. Hart, 1; G. I. Jackson, 9; F. M. Hamilton, 2; I. H. Anderson, 10; R. T. Brown, 11; R. T. White, 1; H. W. Madison, 2; A. K. Hawkins, 5; M. F. Jamison, 2.

        R. S. Williams having received the highest number of votes (73) cast, was by the chairman declared elected a Bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America.

        Before another ballot was taken, R. S. Williams was called forward and asked to make a few remarks, which he did, thanking the brethren for the confidence they had in him and the honor conferred upon him. He assured them that they should always find in him only such principles as belong to a Christian.

        Second ballot--E. Cottrell, 53; C. H. Phillips, 51; R. T. Brown, 2; S. B. Wallace, 1; H. W. Madison, 1; M. F. Jamison, 1; R. E. Hart, 1; H. Bullock, 1. No election.

        Third ballot--E. Cottrell, 56; C. H. Phillips, 53; R. T. Brown, 1; J. W. Luckett, 1.

        E. Cottrell having received the required number of votes, was by the chairman declared elected a Bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America.

        E. Cottrell was called forward and asked to say a few words. He thanked the brethren for the confidence reposed in him. He said he had not aspired to the office,

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        TRINITY CHURCH, AUGUSTA, GA.

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and did not feel competent for the position; but by their vote they had said he was competent. This the future would tell. He assured the Conference that he would do his best, and hoped that none would ever have cause to regret the honor they had thus conferred upon him.

        C. H. Phillips, after expressing his loyalty to the Church and congratulating the bishops-elect, moved that the election be made unanimous. Carried.

        F. M. Hamilton suggested that, as the election of bishops had passed off so quietly and pleasantly, he thought it would be well to unite in singing,


                         Praise God, from whom all blessings flow;
whereupon the Conference joined in singing the above hymn.

        R. T. White said he thought that as such a good day's work had already been done, and that on account of rejoicing nothing more could be done, it would be a good idea to adjourn; he therefore moved to adjourn until tomorrow at 9 o'clock A.M. Carried.

        The Committee on Public Worship made the announcements for evening services, and the Conference adjourned.

        Benediction by Bishop Lane.


        There had been no election of bishops since 1873; hence the interest which this election awakened, both in the General Conference and the Church at large, can be imagined better than described.

        The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, as an organization, has never taken any part in the political questions of the day, but has rather shown a disposition to separate herself from every question that was political in tendency. We instance this by referring to a resolution offered in this General Conference to create a Committee on the State of the Country. The opposition to this committee was strong and surprising, its creation being agreed to by only a small majority.

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        Efforts to establish an Appellate Court and a District Episcopacy failed; but the office of "stewardess" was created, which opened a new door of usefulness to our women.

        The financial plan was revised, the general assessment being raised from twenty-five cents to thirty-five cents, five cents of which is called the Annual Conference contingent fund. The thirty-five cents is divided as follows: For bishops, ten cents; general missions, five cents; education, ten cents; publishing interests, five cents; Annual Conference contingent fund, five cents. This plan has worked well, but not without some friction. The Annual Conference contingent fund has been differently interpreted in several Conferences, and the money used in accordance with those interpretations. It was originally designed that moneys accruing from this five-cent assessment should go directly to widows, orphans, and superannuated preachers. When this item was up for passage in the General Conference, not a few of the delegates insisted that it was a local matter belonging to the Annual Conferences, a question over which the General Conference had no jurisdiction. The money had been used for so many different purposes that the General Conference of 1898 had to so hedge this contingent fund about that it could be capable of but one meaning.

        On May 16, beginning at 8 o'clock P.M., memorial services were held by the General Conference in honor of the late William H. Miles. The congregation was large and representative, and the programme previously arranged was well executed.

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        Dr. J. C. Waters submitted the following preamble and resolutions as the sentiments of the committee appointed to eulogize the Bishop:

        Bishop William Henry Miles was born in Lebanon, Marion County, Ky., December 26, 1828, and died in Louisville, Ky., November 14, 1892; aged 63 years, 10 months, and 18 days.

        After years of faithful service in the ministry, he was chosen first bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, December 21, 1870, and for twenty-two years exemplified, by a life of devoted service, the wisdom of the choice. His last illness was long and painful, but was borne with Christian resignation. When told that he could not live, he said, "I am willing and ready to die;" and when in the grasp of the last monster, his intense interest in the Church was manifested by the frequent exclamation: "My Church, my Church! What will become of my Church when I am gone?"

        Bishop Miles was an ardent lover of Methodism--its polity, dogmas, and history--and inflexibly held its Discipline as the paramount law; an unflinching defender of the right and an uncompromising foe to the wrong. He labored earnestly to extend the borders of the Church, and patiently endured the obloquy of those who shamefully misrepresented the character of the Church, as well as his aims and purposes.

        But he is gone. The last enemy, who strikes down the rich man in his mansion and the poor man in his hovel, dealt the fatal blow, and the first bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church fell, to rise no more till the morning of the general resurrection, when the dead in Christ shall burst the portals of the tomb. Therefore be it

        Resolved, 1. That, while bowing in humble submission to the will of God, we deplore the death of Bishop Miles as an immeasurable loss to the Church of his choice and the cause of Christ.

        2. That to the earnestness of Bishop Miles, in spite of bitter and fierce opposition, is due to-day the widespread territory now occupied by the Colored Methodist Episcopal

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Church, which is daily widening as the result of his heroic labors and indomitable courage.

        3. That his unswerving integrity, exhibited as an overseer of the Church, in the administration of the law, and in the exercise of all his official functions, commands our highest respect and emulation, and shall prove an heirloom ever sacred in the archives of the episcopacy of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

        4. That we will ever revere the name and memory of Bishop Miles for his inflexible character. Like the everlasting hills, he stood for the right, undaunted by clamor and unmoved by calumny.

        5. That Bishop Miles wrote his name high on the temple of human fame as an apostle of moral purity and as a practical advocate of a high standard of ethical philosophy in pulpit and pew, as well as in the sanctuary of the home and fireside, for which he should never be forgotten.

        6. That we pray God to give to Kentucky another loyal citizen, to the itinerancy another faithful preacher, to the Church another model bishop, to the world another good man, like W. H. Miles.

        7. That these resolutions be spread upon the General Conference Journal and a copy be furnished to the press, and that an engrossed copy, printed on satin, be presented to the family of the late bishop.

        8. That the General Conference appoint a suitable person to compile and publish the autobiographical history of Bishop Miles, the proceeds to be applied to the benefit of the family.

Respectfully,

J. C. WATERS,
B. SMITH,
H. A. STEWART,
O. T. WOMACK,
C. H. PHILLIPS.


        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, being in session at the same time, in Memphis, sent Bishop W. W. Duncan to bear fraternal greetings to our body. His address breathed a fraternal spirit, and met a warm and able response in

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the speech of S. B. Wallace on behalf of the General Conference. Bishop Lane was our fraternal delegate to that body, and his speech was heard with gladness. Rev. W. T. A. Thompson, the fraternal delegate from the African Methodist Episcopal Church, made a happy address and most favorably impressed the Conference.

        The eligibility of W. A. Jackson as a delegate from the Ohio Mission Conference, a Conference which had been organized during the quadrennium, occasioned a long discussion. Finally the matter was referred to the College of Bishops, whose opinion will not only prove interesting, but instructive as well. Here is their opinion:

Opinion of the College of Bishops on the eligibility of the
delegate from the Ohio Mission Conference:

        1. The delegate is ineligible because the organization of the Conference from which he came was unauthorized.

        2. The delegate was not a member of the Conference four years at the time of the session in which he was elected.

L. H. HOLSEY,

Secretary of the College of Bishops.


        This opinion of the bishops renewed the question of eligibility, many favoring it and many dissenting therefrom. At length the bishops were sustained, and subsequent developments have proved the wisdom of their course. There were absolutely too few appointments in Ohio and the possibility of extension too precarious to have justified the recognition of a Mission Conference. Whatever work we now have in the State of Ohio is attached to the Kentucky Conference.

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        Ample arrangements were made for celebrating, in 1895, the twenty-fifth anniversary of the Church; the Publishing House was again located at Jackson, Tenn., the amount of $500 was authorized to be paid to the widow of Bishop W. H. Miles in quarterly installments; Texas College, at Tyler, was recognized as one of the Connectional schools; and all moneys raised on Children's Day and for "education by assessment" in Texas were allowed to be retained for this school.

        Near the close of the session, Bishop Holsey, who had been in poor health for some time, asked to be relieved of episcopal work for two years, so that he might, at the advice of his physician, go to New Mexico to recuperate. The Conference granted the respite, but his financial condition was such that he never took the premeditated journey.

        The election of Robert Simeon Williams and Elias Cottrell to the episcopal office on Wednesday, May 9, and their subsequent ordination on Sunday morning, May 13, made them full-fledged bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. The General Conference Journal makes this record of the ordination services, which were held in the Auditorium, on Main street, at 11 o'clock A.M., the building being selected to accommodate the great crowds that were expected and did attend:

        1. Anthem, "O Praise the Lord, All Ye People," by the choir.

        2. Hymn 305, "I Want a Principle Within."

        3. Prayer by Bishop Lane.

        4. Scripture lesson (first lesson, Ps. xci.; second lesson, John vi.), read by Bishop Beebe.

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        5. Hymn, "Life's Railway to Heaven," led by Bishop Holsey.

        6. Sermon by Bishop Beebe; text, Gen. i. 1-3.

        7. Prayer by F. M. Hamilton.

        After a few preliminaries, Rev. Robert Simeon Williams and Rev. Elias Cottrell were ordained Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church in America. Bishop Beebe was assisted in the ordination by Bishops Holsey and Lane, and Elders N. T. Patterson, B. Smith, and P. A. Sample.


        Besides the election of bishops, there were but two other elections held. An editor of the Christian Index and a Book Agent were chosen in the order here mentioned. One ballot was cast for the election of an editor, and C. H. Phillips was elected. Twelve ballots were cast for Book Agent, and Isaac H. Anderson, present incumbent, was reëlected.

        Among the last acts of the General Conference were the indorsement of the "Holsey Hymn Book" and "Manual of Discipline," by Bishop Holsey. "A Handbook on the Government of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church," by F. M. Hamilton; and the keeping in force and operation Free-will Offering Day on the second Sunday in August of each year.

        The bishops recommended the abolition of the Church Extension Society on the ground that it had not "come up to our hope and expectation," and the General Conference concurred. Thus this society, which had been only four years on trial, was suspended; but it will arise again in new form, its objectionable features will be eliminated, and it will yet answer the high purposes for which it was originally intended.

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CHAPTER XVIII.

        Opening of the Year 1895--The Church Celebrates Its Twenty-fifth Anniversary--Resolution on the Celebration Adopted by the General Conference of 1894--The Celebration --"Despise Not the Day of Small Things"--The Effect of the Celebration--Death of Samuel B. Wallace-- Funeral Services--Bishop Williams Officiates--Other Ministers Present--His Body Interred--His Birth--His Rapid Rise in the Ministry--General Remarks Concerning His Useful Career--General Conferences of Several Methodist Churches--Hart, Lane, and Phillips, Fraternal Delegates--Three Methodist Bodies Elect Bishops--The A. M. E. Zion Connection a Hundred Years Old--Bishop Holsey Resumes Work--Revivals--Lane College--A Publishing House Purchased--Looking Forward to the General Conference of 1898--Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane.

        The year 1895 was full of interest to the Church. The General Conference which met in Memphis, Tenn., in 1894, resolved to celebrate, in May, 1895, the twenty-fifth, or quarto-centennial, anniversary of the Church. The special committee which had been appointed on the celebration submitted the following report, which was unanimously adopted:

        We, your committee on the quarto-centennial celebration, beg leave to make the following report:

        1. We recommend that the second Sunday in May, 1895, be set apart as Quarto-centennial Day, on which to celebrate the quarto-centennial of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, and that the Book Agent be requested to bring out a programme for the occasion.

        2. We recommend that all money raised on that day be given to the Miles Tabernacle, at Washington, D. C.

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        SYDNEY PARK CHURCH, COLUMBIA, S.C.

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        3. We recommend that Miles Tabernacle, at Washington, D. C., be known hereafter as Miles Memorial Church, in memory of Bishop William H. Miles, who was so much interested in affairs concerning this church that he purchased the ground, and, through his negotiations, secured a loan of seven thousand dollars, pledging himself to see that one thousand dollars per annum would be paid for four successive years; which promise has never been carried out, owing to the deficiency of funds in the hands of the General Missionary Board. As he has done so much for the Church, and as he has fallen a victim to death, be it the sense of this General Conference that the said Miles Memorial Church be assisted, and that it be finished by the Connection and held in memory of his heroic deeds and stand as a monument to his name.

        4. We recommend that all money raised on the said Quarto-centennial Day be forwarded at once to the Book Agent; and that the presiding bishop, Book Agent, and pastor in charge of Miles Memorial Church constitute a committee who shall pay said money on the debt of the church.


        In accordance with these sentiments, our silver anniversary was duly celebrated. It was an occasion of general rejoicing. Appropriate exercises were held throughout the Connection; a thanksgiving offering of several thousand dollars was raised for Miles Memorial Chapel; the general funds were larger than ever before; the circulation of the Christian Index, the Church's only official organ, was greatly increased; the main building of Lane College, an imposing three story brick, was duly dedicated; and many souls were added to our Zion. These were befitting results to mark our twenty-fifth milestone. Indeed, a new era seemed to have dawned upon us. Interesting exercises were held in all our congregations; the rise, development and progress of the Church, also the life,

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labors, and death of Bishops Miles and Vanderhorst, were suggestive themes. The Christian Index celebrated the anniversary by issuing the largest number in all its history. Ordinarily the Index was a seven-column paper, but this issue was doubled and contained fifty-six columns, with eight pages. It was the greatest issue that ever appeared from our Publishing House. It contained cuts of a number of our leading men and much valuable information connected with the Church that was not found elsewhere. Never before had such an array of writers upon so many different phases of our Methodism been brought together in a single issue. All the contributors intelligently discussed the subjects assigned them, and many subscribers preserved this quarto-centennial number of the Index as a souvenir.

        It was well for the Church to measure the distance over which she had come, retrospect the depth out of which she had arisen, note the progress she had made, anticipate her prospects, and move up and on in the work of man-uplifting and soul-saving. There is much wisdom and philosophy in the old sentence: "Despise not the day of small things." Five hundred years ago, King John, the Frenchman, took it into his head to found a library, and began with ten volumes; but he knew what he was doing, for that library--the Royal Library, of Paris--is now one of the most magnificent in the world, and contains more than 700,000 volumes. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church had a small beginning, a beginning which she does not despise; and as the early trials and

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sneers and ridicule through which she passed were recounted in speech, song, sermon, and essay, many had occasion to rejoice in the checkered path along which an unerring Providence had directed the trend of our Zion.

        It was pleasing to observe in this celebration the great advancement the Church had made in intelligence and piety. No Church can fulfill her mission in the world or secure the approbation and blessing of God, except in so far as she promotes vital piety-- holiness of heart and life among mankind. Wealth, education, power, zeal, and eloquence cannot make up for the lack of this. That there had been an increase of piety in the Church was palpably admissible; that the Church was more aroused over the cause of education than had been manifested before in all her history was evident to the careful observer.

        Respecting this celebration, we wrote the following lines, which appeared in the quarto-centennial number of the Index:


                         Twenty-five years ago,
                         Without pomp, pride, or show,
                         Set sail our bark;
                         In Jackson, Tennessee,
                         Eighteen and seventy,
                         Our mother* came to see
                         What course we'd mark.

        *Representatives of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, who were present to assist in the organization of our Church. Find particulars in the first four or five chapters.



                         Well do I remember
                         'Twas in bleak December--

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                         No need for tears;
                         When our fathers founded
                         A Church so well grounded
                         That it has just rounded
                         Twenty-five years.


                         O Lord, to thee we raise
                         Our hearts in joy and praise
                         This natal day.
                         Long may our Zion bright
                         Shine forth with divine light;
                         "Protect us by thy might"
                         This happy May.


                         When life's journey is run
                         And all our work is done,
                         Great God, our King;
                         O, may we live with thee
                         Through all eternity,
                         Thy face and glory see,
                         While angels sing!

        Stimulated under the inspiration of these anniversary exercises throughout our Communion, the Church has been quickened to greater activity, and begins the half century of her existence with renewed hope and vigor.

        In June, 1895, the Church was greatly shocked at the death of Samuel B. Wallace, which occurred at Washington, D. C., where he was pastor of Israel Metropolitan Church. He died on the 29th of that month. Heart trouble was said to have been the cause of his death. Not since the death of our two first bishops had a death been so universally deplored.

        The funeral services took place on Monday, July 1, Bishop R. S. Williams preaching the sermon. He was assisted by Rev. Mr. Mitchell, of the Episcopal

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        JACKSON CHAPEL, ANNISTON, ALA.

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Church; Rev. Walter H. Brooks, of the Nineteenth Street Baptist Church; Rev. A. Jenefer, of the Metropolitan African Methodist Episcopal Church; Rev. F. Grimke, of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church; Rev. J. C. Martin, of the Miles Memorial Colored Methodist Episcopal Church; and other ministers of Washington. Israel Church was crowded with its own members and those of other churches, who mourned the departed dead. The remains were placed in the vault of Harmony Cemetery, where they remained until July 8, when they were interred, in the presence of a large number of friends. Bishop Williams conducted a short service at the grave, F. M. Hamilton and the writer offered short prayers, and J. C. Martin pronounced the benediction.

        Dr. Wallace was born in Columbia, S. C., in 1857; was married to Miss Margaret A. Butler in 1877, five children blessing the union, two of whom are dead. No man that ever came to, or that was born in, the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church rose as rapidly as he did. After preaching a year in his own State, he was transferred to the Kentucky Conference and stationed at Center Street Church, in Louisville. During his pastorate in this city he graduated with honors from the Louisville National Medical College. Such were his qualities of head and heart, such his fitness for the duties and responsibilities of an itinerant preacher, and such the high order of his ability and the symmetrical and vigorous training of his mind, that his services became at once in great demand. When he had rounded out three years in

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Louisville, he was transferred to the Virginia Conference and placed in charge of Israel Church, at Washington. The strong feature whereby he won success was, like that of many others, his capacity for hard work. Dr. Wallace was an able, eloquent preacher, and a hard, earnest worker. With these consummate powers was united a spotless character which no calumny can sully. His bearing and address were characterized by simplicity and modesty, and the operation of his faculties was marked by accuracy and precision. As a debater, he was clear in statement and close in his reasoning. Of wit, humor, and sarcasm, some of the weapons of a debater, he possessed the last two to a remarkable degree. By reading and studying he came into the possession of a good vocabulary of words, by reason of which he was always able to express himself in choice, elegant language. His power, both as a preacher and debater, consisted in the plainness of his propositions; the clearness of his logic; the ornament of his language; and the earnestness and energy of his manner. Carrying himself with decorum, he was respectful to others, and those who knew him best loved him most. In conversation he was interesting and really charming. There was a hearty frankness, a simplicity in his manner, an unselfish intimacy in his social relation with men that at once made him attractive. His elevated sentiments inspired esteem, and his address was so easy and polite that it was not at all difficult for one to know him. But in the glory of a career flushed with new hope and brilliant possibilities, death ended his course.

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        He served the Church in three appointments, and was in his fourth year at Israel Church when he died. The subject of his last sermon was: "I Will Follow Jesus." Thus, after a brief illness--an illness which, in its brevity, was like unto his distinguished career-- he passed into his rest.

        The year 1896 was full of interest to the Church; and, this was so not only because of what was happening within its own territory, but because of the doings of other Methodist bodies also. Among us large revivals were held; the general funds, in the sum total, excelled those raised in 1895; and our educational institutions received larger appropriations. The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church met this year, in Cleveland, O., and C. H. Phillips was sent as a fraternal delegate to that body; R. E. Hart was sent as a fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, which met at Wilmington, N. C.; and C. W. Lane was our representative at the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. Hart and Lane made excellent addresses, and the general impression which the speeches made brought our Churches into closer fraternal relations.

        The General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church elected two bishops, Dr. McCabe and Dr. Cranston. They discussed at great length the advisability of electing a colored man to episcopal office. When the balloting began, it became apparent that the sentiment favoring the election of a negro bishop had grown considerably since E. W. S. Hammond

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made his great speech on the same subject at the General Conference held in Cincinnati in 1880. On the first ballot, J. W. E. Bowen, D.D., received 175 votes, which were more than any other episcopal possibility obtained. We believe that every white delegate who voted for Dr. Bowen--and he received three times as many white votes as he did those of his own race, as they were not there to get--would have rejoiced at his election. Our visit to this Conference-- the opportunity which it afforded us to come in touch with its leaders, to learn their sentiments, know their feelings, and see their disposition to be fair and recognize the claims of its colored contingent--impressed upon us the conviction that the Methodist Episcopal Church will, at no distant day, elect a negro bishop, with all the powers, prerogatives, and responsibilities of a general superintendent.

        At the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, in Wilmington, N. C., Dr. Derrick, Dr. Embry,*

        *Bishop Embry died at Philadelphia, Pa., August 11, 1897, living only a year and two months after his election to the episcopal office. On March 23, 1898, Bishop Armstrong died at Galveston, Texas.


and Dr. Armstrong were elected and consecrated bishops; and Dr. G. W. Clinton, Dr. Holiday, and Dr. Smalls were elected to the same office by the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, in session at Mobile, Ala.

        In October, 1896, the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church celebrated, in New York City, its one

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hundredth anniversary. The writer, who was an invited speaker, with no delegated authority, attended, and, at the request of the Programme Committee, made an address on "The Relation of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church." The celebration was a great success. Prominent men and women of both races and of nearly all denominations were on the programme for essays and addresses, and from October 1 to October 12 the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church was the cynosure of the religious world.

        In the fall of 1896, Bishop Holsey, who had been granted a two-years' respite by the General Conference of 1894, resumed his labors, as his health had seemingly improved. He held the Tennessee Conference, the North Alabama Conference, and the Alabama Conference, where his sermons and lectures reminded one of his old-time vigor.

        The beginning of 1897 was marked by gracious revivals in many parts of the Church. One of the most important that we know of was conducted at St. Paul Church, in Savannah, Ga., by W. A. Dinkins, the pastor. In this meeting one hundred and forty were converted and joined our Church. Dinkins, writing to the Index in May, says:

        Our revival was inspired by God. Many nights the altar would be crowded with from one hundred to one hundred and fifty anxious mourners; some nights we had from fifteen to twenty conversions. All night we would stay in the church, and for five successive nights my wife, others, and myself did not pull off our clothes. Some of the mourners would fall in a trance and stay in the church,

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twenty-four hours and longer without speaking. Our congregation numbered from seven hundred to one thousand every night during the meeting.


        During the winter Bishop Lane announced through the columns of the Christian Index that the debt on the main building of Lane College, which he had been laboring to liquidate, had been paid off, and that he had now turned over to the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church school property valued at $30,000.

        Another significant move during the present year was in the month of January, when suitable property was secured from I. H. Anderson, the Book Agent, for a Publishing House. Bishop Lane and Bishop Cottrell; H. Bullock, of the Arkansas Conference; R. T. Brown, of the Alabama Conference; and C. H. Phillips, of the Kentucky Conference, acting under the authority of the Publishing Committee, made a payment on the property; and the Connection has, at last, a place and house that it can call home.

        At this writing the mind of the Church is looking forward to the General Conference which meets in May, 1898, at Columbia, S. C. Considerable discussion is going on through the official organ on some of the questions that will likely come up for adjustment. The advisability of electing an additional bishop; the resurrection of the Church Extension Society; the necessity of putting the Woman's Missionary Society upon a better basis; the desire to alter or amend the present financial plan, reconciling its inconsistencies and perfecting its imperfections--these and other questions are being discussed in a calm, dispassionate

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        OUR MISSION CHURCH, HOT SPRINGS, ARK.

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manner. At the last meeting of the various Annual Conferences, clerical delegates were elected--one to every fourteen members, in full connection, of the Annual Conference. Upon the clerical delegates as a basis, lay delegates were elected, being equal in number to the former.

        This General Conference will doubtless celebrate, in a befitting manner, the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane. These faithful servants of the Church will have rounded out a quarter of a century in the episcopal office, and are worthy of whatever honors and tokens of esteem the General Conference may lavish upon them.

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CHAPTER XIX.

        Pen Sketches of Bishops Miles, Vanderhorst, Beebe, Holsey, Lane, Williams, and Cottrell.

        IN writing this book, much has been said, here and there, in regard to the life and labors of our bishops. It is only necessary, therefore, for us to be a little more complete in delineation and more minute in detail. We begin, of course, with our first bishop,

WILLIAM H. MILES.

        He was born in Springfield, Washington County, Ky., December 26, 1828. Being a slave, he was owned by Mrs. Mary Miles, who, dying in Lebanon, Ky., in 1854, left in her will a clause setting him free. This will was contested and he was not given his freedom until a compromise was made in 1864. As a slave, the Lebanon Standard says of him:

        He was distinguished for his fidelity, integrity, and intelligence --qualities which were so highly appreciated that, while other negro men were hired for $100 per year, he readily commanded $200, and sometimes as much as $250.


        That high integrity of character for which he was distinguished when a slave exhibited itself throughout his subsequent career.

        On December 24, 1859, he was married to Frances Ellen Arnold, at Lebanon, Ky., by Rev. Mr. Clemans, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. This proved to have been an old-time Isaac and Rebecca

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marriage. They lived together nearly thirty years. Eight children was the result of this union, four of whom are dead, and four, at this writing, survive him.

        In August, 1855, he joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, on probation, under the pastorate of Rev. J. A. Woods, at the old camp ground at "Pleasant Round." On October 30, 1855, out on Maxwell's farm, about three miles from Lebanon, he professed a hope in Christ. Rev. I. H. Emberson, of the Church, South, baptized him by pouring, and afterwards received him into the Church as a full-fledged member. Five years before his death, and thirty-two years after his conversion, he wrote the following concerning the time when he gave up all and accepted Christ:

        If ever I was happy, it was that night in the old Methodist church in Lebanon. Since that time I have had my bitter trials and my sweet experiences, my ups and my downs; but, thank the Great Head of the Church, I am still pulling for the shore and expect to make the landing after awhile, when my work is done.


        A short time after his conversion he felt a call to the Christian ministry, and accordingly applied for license in 1856, which was not granted. However, in August, 1857, license was granted him by Rev. A. H. Redford, then presiding elder of the Lebanon District, Methodist Episcopal Church, South. His superior gifts, deep piety, and future possibilities at once impressed all those who heard him preach. Further moved, by his eminent qualifications and the results that crowned his ministry, the members petitioned the Quarterly Conference of the Church,

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South, to recommend him for deacon's orders. This was done, and in October, 1859, at Bardstown, Ky., where Rev. David Morton was pastor, and where the Annual Conference met, he was ordained deacon by Bishop Andrew.

        His field of labor prior to the close of the war was confined principally to Washington and Marion Counties, Ky. In 1865 he went to Ohio with a view of settling, but, finding no place that suited his fancy, he returned to Kentucky, stopping for a short time in Louisville. At length he removed to Lebanon, and, after a short stay, he returned, in 1867, to Louisville, where he spent the remaining days of his life.

        There has been considerable comment over the fact that Bishop Miles was once a member of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church. That future generations may thoroughly understand the circumstances surrounding this fact, it will be necessary to state the reason that led up to his connection with that Church. When he went to Ohio, in 1865, at the advice of Rev. J. A. Woods, presiding elder of the Lebanon District, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, he obtained his letter and also that of his wife; for he was informed that the Church, South, would not much longer care for its colored members. It was perfectly natural that, under the circumstances, he would join some negro Church. He preferred the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Connection to the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and accordingly he became a member of Center Street Church, at Louisville, Ky. Joining the Annual Conference of the

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        BISHOP W. H. MILES.

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African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which was organized during the summer of 1865, he was given work. In 1867 he was appointed to the pastorate of Center Street Church, where, in 1868, he conducted a revival meeting that resulted in one hundred and twenty-eight conversions, seventy-eight of whom he baptized by pouring. In the same year he was a delegate to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which met in Washington, D. C., in May. It was largely through his influence that Elder Logan was at this Conference made general superintendent, and placed over the Kentucky Conference. At the session of the Annual Conference, Bishop Logan appointed Miles a missionary to travel at large and organize Churches; but as no provision was made for his support, and as he had a desire to return to his "first love"--the Church, South--he wrote out his resignation and sent it to Bishop Logan. Having refused the appointment, he attended the preachers' meeting of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met in Louisville, Ky., at the corner of Fifth and Walnut streets, and they received him back into the Church of which he had originally been a member. Let it be remembered that all these things had happened before our Church had assumed organic form.

        Upon his return to the "mother Church," Miles was appointed by Rev. Thomas Taylor to organize work in the State of Kentucky. By fall he had worked up a small Conference, which held its first session at Hopkinsville. Bishop McTyeire, who presided

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over this Conference, appointed him to the Lexington Station and the Lexington District. Here he encountered strong opposition. When in Lexington one time a mob was organized to kill him, but a friend informed him of the danger, and he left the city. Referring to his work in this District, many years afterwards, he said:

        I had success, but I had a hard time financially, and generally walked over my district. I have often sat by the roadside, pulled off my shoes, and opened the blisters on my feet and turned out the bruised blood; but I was determined to succeed, and at this writing I feel that I want to thank God that I was allowed to suffer for the cause of our beloved Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.


        The second session of the Kentucky Conference met in Winchester, and was presided over by Bishop Kavanaugh.

        The third session of the Kentucky Conference was held in Center Street Church, in Louisville, in October, 1870. At this Conference the election of delegates to the first General Conference, which had been called to meet at Jackson, Tenn., in December, 1870, resulted in the choice of R. E. Marshall and W. P. Churchill. William H. Miles was elected a reserve delegate. Bishop Payne, who presided, appointed him Sunday School Agent and general missionary for the State, a position which he held up to the time of the meeting of the General Conference. Not being a regular member of the latter body, he was quiet during the session.

        As Bishop McKendree was elected to the episcopal office by preaching a great sermon before the General

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Conference, so did the sermon of W. H. Miles before the General Conference of 1870, more than any other influence, elect him to the episcopacy of our Church. His sermon evidenced his metaphysical turn of mind, his powers for construction and organization, his great reasoning faculties, his uncommon judgment, and his fitness for the highest office the Church could bestow.

        For nearly twenty-two years Bishop Miles went in and out before the people as the great "organizer" and "father" of our Methodism. In his preaching he looked for present results, as well as for future rewards. He knew that faith came by hearing; and hearing, by the word of God. At one time, near the close of his life, he remarked:

        I have seen some fruits of my labors. Many have been converted; some have become ministers of the gospel, and others have died, leaving behind a living testimony that I was instrumental in their salvation.


        Bishop Miles traveled extensively, organized Conferences, extended the work, and built up the Church. He loved Methodism not because of the splendor of its ecclesiasticism, not because of its attractive ritualism, but because of its aggressive power, its diffusive spirit, its adaptation to meet the wants of the masses, and its grand scriptural character. He loved its policy, its doctrines, its simple theology, and its standard of practical piety. He believed in the itinerant system, and always made his appointments without prejudice or revenge. Who ever heard of him appointing one of his ministers to a field of labor through malice? His appointments were made in the fear of God and

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for what he believed to be the best interest of his Church.

        In his social relations with the people, he was always generous, kind-hearted, and agreeable. Being a charming conversationalist, his company was always sought, and few tired of his happy sayings and brilliant anecdotes. He had the capacity for being genial without levity, and dignified without austerity. Sublime virtues were embodied in his character and exemplified in his conduct.

        We should be false to our own nature if we did not indulge in spontaneous effusions of gratitude and admiration for this lamented leader of our Methodism. True to himself, he was never false to others. He gave his time and the palmiest days of his manhood to the Church of his choice, and, quitting this mournful vale, soared away to worlds on high, where God wiped away the tears from his "servant's eyes and took his exile home."

RICHARD H. VANDERHORST.

        We have already spoken of his election to the episcopal office. His father's name was Charles, and his mother's name was Diana. They had five sons-- Richard, Joseph, Charles, Henry, and Benjamin, Richard being the eldest. Georgetown, S. C., was the place of his birth, and December 15, 1813, the month and year of the same. Two maids, Betsey and Judith Wragg, owned him. They were devout members of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. Young Richard served as a body servant until he was seventeen

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years old. His work was light, for on the Sabbath his task was to carry the hymn book and Bible belonging to his mistress to church, take a low seat by her side, and, at the conclusion of the services, carry the books back home. These religious influences were good for him, and went far toward shaping his future career. Though the institution of slavery was in full blast, he was nevertheless treated with great kindness by his owners. At the request of his parents, he was put to learn the carpenter's trade, and, as an apprentice under Sampson Dunmore, a colored man of high standing in the community, he became very well versed in the carpentry business. Such were the religious influences by which he was surrounded that he cared little for worldly amusements; he was "never found on the dancing floor or in the barroom," and was strictly "a temperance man from his boyhood to his grave." One of the best evidences of his good training and the godly example of pious parents was his sound conversion. At the age of twenty he sought the Lord, received pardon of his sins, and at once joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, at Georgetown.

        In 1834 or 1835, when he was about twenty-two years old, Vanderhorst changed his place of residence from Georgetown to Charleston, S. C., where he was made, by the pastor of Trinity Methodist Episcopal Church, South, a member of the class of D. Nesbitt, a devout old class leader of that Church. He was not in this class long before his upright walk and Christian deportment won for him the esteem and

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confidence of the entire class. He was subsequently made assistant leader. Some two or three years after this, for convenience, he removed his membership from Trinity Church to Bethel Church, where he continued to lead a class until 1840. While exercising his rare gifts in the capacity of a class leader, he exhibited the zeal, usefulness, and oratorical powers for which he afterwards became famous. Satisfied himself that he was called to the Christian ministry, and the people being convinced that his Christian life and eminent qualifications were reasons why he should occupy a higher sphere in the Church, application was made to the pastor for license for him to preach, so far as the laws of the State and the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, would at that time allow. It is scarcely necessary to say that these were in "the old slave times," when the negro was only permitted to enjoy certain restricted rights and privileges.

        A writer, who knew Vanderhorst long and well, says he was, "from the beginning of his work to the close of his life, noted for a free heart." The "Watchman's Banner" and "Aid Society," two institutions that were distinguished for their works of charity, and that existed for years in Charleston and other parts of South Carolina, were largely the result of his organizing genius. After the war he became a member of our Church at its organization, and, as we have seen, was elected to the episcopal office at the first General Conference.

        In the fall of 1871, when we were but a boy,

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the Georgia Conference met in Milledgeville, our old home, and over this Conference Bishop Vanderhorst presided. He was a tall, erect, dignified man. Preaching at 11 o'clock on the Sabbath, he delivered an excellent sermon. He was a great preacher, and all who ever heard him called him the "old man eloquent." We have in our possession, in his own handwriting, the synopsis of a sermon which he preached some years before his death. The text is found in 2 Thess. iii. 1: "Finally, brethren, pray for us, that the word of the Lord may have free course, and be glorified, even as it is with you." In order that our readers may form some idea of his power of analysis and the homiletic arrangement he made of this text, we give below his synopsis of it in full:

        1. St. Paul frequently insists upon duty, and urges the churches to give attention to its performance.

        2. In his instructions to Timothy, in reference to the discharge of the public functions of his ministry, he urged the same. He mentions, first of all, that prayers, supplications, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men.

        3. It is upon the supposition that these feelings existed among the Thessalonians that the apostle invites them to engage in this duty referred to in the text.

        4. He had prayed for them; he now beseeches them to reciprocate the important service, not so much for his own individual benefit as for the promotion of that cause which they regard with interest.

        5. He here confines the subject of intercession to the work in which he was engaged, to the great execution of which he was devoting all the energies of his mind.


        It will be seen from the above that Bishop Vanderhorst was a good thinker. Of course he discussed

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the above propositions at great length, and no doubt preached an able sermon. He was an orator to the manner born, and swayed thousands by his native eloquence.

        Vanderhorst did not have the rare acumen or the executive ability of Miles; but as a preacher, he was second to none; and, in the future he will be revered and always regarded as the "great preaching bishop" of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church.

JOSEPH A. BEEBE.

        The early life and character of J. A. Beebe before the war would, of themselves, make a history worthy of the attention of the most erudite; but we prefer only to give an outline of one of the most remarkable men that our Church has produced. He was born in Fayetteville, N. C., June 25, 1832. He came of African parents, and, like Vanderhorst, is a pure, full-blooded Negro. His grandfather, Adam Counsel, who was born in the seventeenth century, and who lived to be one hundred and fifteen years old, was a preacher of great power. Such was his popularity that he was often called to preach for the white people. Edward Carven, father of young Beebe, was also a preacher, being one of the first Methodist preachers in Fayetteville, and died, loved by all who knew him, at the age of seventy-eight. Beebe's mother was a devout Christian. She was for many years a member of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and died in peace at the age of ninety-three. It would seem that the members of this family were blessed with long life.

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        BISHOP J. A. BEEBE.

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His grandmother, Pheba, died when she was one hundred and one years old.

        Two or three of the older members of this family were converted under the ministry of Henry Evans, who preached with such effect and power in Fayetteville and elsewhere that he was almost universally regarded as one of the most eloquent preachers in ante-bellum days, and one of the most remarkable of the race from the days of "Black Harry," servant of Asbury, to the dawn of freedom.

        "Joseph," as he was familiarly called, was one of seventeen children, and the fourth preacher of his father's family. His three other preacher brothers were faithful to their Churches. When about seventeen or eighteen years of age, he was bound out to learn the shoemaker's trade. He served his apprenticeship, learned the trade thoroughly, and followed it until he entered the itinerancy many years afterwards. One of the most important events that ever occurred in his history was his conversion, in Fayetteville, in the year 1849. His call to the Christian ministry and his licensing for the same followed in 1851.

        On December 30, 1858, Beebe was married to Miss Cornelia Bookrum, with whom he has lived happily during all these years.

        Just after the war the African Methodist Episcopal Church and the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, both of which had been in existence in the North for years, came to the South and rivaled each other in gathering in colored Methodists into their

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respective Churches. The leaders of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church making their appearance in Beebe's town, he joined them; and in 1865, the year in which he joined the itinerant ranks, he was ordained a deacon by Bishop J. J. Clinton, of that Church. Bishop Clinton sent him to Edenton, N. C., where he served the people successfully for three years, one thousand persons being saved under his ministry. In November, 1866, he was ordained an elder by Bishop Clinton. Bishop J. J. Moore, colleague of Bishop Clinton, in 1868, appointed him to Washington, N. C., where he has resided ever since.

        Shortly after the organization of our Church, Beebe resigned his connection with the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church and, in 1871, under Bishop Miles, came back to the people with whom he had originally been connected. At the Annual Conference, Bishop Miles made him presiding elder of the Washington District, and from this position, in March, 1873, being a delegate to the General Conference, he was, as we have seen, elected and consecrated to the episcopal office. He has rounded out twenty-five years in this important position, is now the senior bishop of the Church, and is everywhere loved and honored.

        Bishop Beebe is a strong, forcible preacher, and has few equals as an impromptu platform speaker. May he live long to grace and dignify the Church of which he is an able representative.

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LUCIUS H. HOLSEY.

        Lucius H. Holsey makes the fourth bishop of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. Born in slavery, he was denied the privilege of attending school; but such were his natural endowments and insatiable thirst for knowledge, that he, despite his environments, forged his way to the front and became one of the most remarkable men of the race. He was born near the city of Columbus, Ga., July 3, 1842. He is of "mixed blood;" his father, James Holsey, was his master, but his mother was a woman of pure African descent. His father dying when he was seven years old, he became the property of his cousin, T. L. Wynn, of Hancock County, Ga. Young Holsey was not permitted to know much of the love and tender solicitude of a mother; for after he was seven years old, three or four years excepted, he never again lived with her who had pressed him to her bosom and dandled him upon her knee. Mr. Wynn dying in 1857, Col. R. M. Johnson, who resided in the same county, purchased Holsey, and with him he remained until freedom.

        After emancipation he conducted a farm for about three years, near Sparta, Ga., and proved himself a successful tiller of the ground. During these years he did some hard studying, taking private lessons under Bishop Pierce, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. The latter, during his lifetime, frequently referred to Holsey as his student. From a youth he felt a call to the Christian ministry, and his great native energy of mind and intense application

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to a wide range of study all conspired to actuate him to qualify himself for the work to which he felt called.

        In 1868 he was licensed to preach, and served the Hancock Circuit for about two years. Bishop Pierce, in 1869, assigned him to Savannah (Ga.) Station, where he did a good work, against strong and seemingly formidable opposition.

        It has already been shown how he was a delegate to the first General Conference, and his services to that body. In 1871 Bishop Miles appointed him to Trinity Church, at Augusta, Ga., where he served the people with great acceptability for about two years. This charge was not only the most prominent in Georgia, but one of the best in our whole Communion. His spiritual success in this pastorate evidenced the genuineness of his call to the ministry. From this charge he was, at the General Conference which met in Augusta, Ga., in March, 1873, elected to the episcopal office.

        Bishop Holsey, at the time of his election, was without doubt the youngest man ever elected to the Methodist episcopacy. He was not quite thirty-one years old when he assumed the responsibilities of his high position. More, no man ever won the office within so short a time from the beginning of his ministerial career. Licensed to preach in 1868, he was a bishop in 1873. Thus in five years he reached the heights which many, after years of labor and experience, "die without the sight." His marked ability, his clear, discriminating judgment, and his legal cast of mind brought him rapidly into prominence.

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        BISHOP L. H. HOLSEY., D.D.

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        As a preacher, it does not overestimate his great preaching qualifications to say that, in our opinion, Bishop Holsey is one of the finest preachers of the race. He possesses a rich vocabulary of words, and, whether in the pulpit or on the platform, they flow as naturally as the water flows from a spring. He carries judgment to his hearers not merely by his imaginative powers, but by the force of his impressive reasoning.

        In 1881 he was a delegate to the first Ecumenical Conference, which met in London, England.

        The General Conference which met at Washington, D. C., in 1882, sent him as a fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, which met at Nashville, Tenn.

        Bishop Holsey is one of the prime founders of Payne Institute. He traveled extensively for that school last fall, met a large number of the Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and succeeded in raising over $8,000. This money will be used to defray the expenses that are being incurred in building Haygood Memorial Hall. If this building is to represent the interest of Southern Methodists for the education of teachers and preachers for the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church and the race, then it must stand also for the labors and zeal of Bishop Holsey. When the history of Haygood Memorial Hall is written, he will occupy a place as one of its pioneers and founders.

        The Bishop has often referred to the time of his conversion under the pastorate of W. H. Parks, a

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member of the North Georgia Conference of the Church, South. It goes without saying that his conversion occurred during the existence of the "peculiar institution of slavery." He was subsequently baptized and received as a full member in the Church by H. H. Parks, uncle of Rev. W. H. Parks.

        For twenty-five years he has gone in and out before the Church blameless in life and administration as a bishop. Though not robust in health, it is hoped that many more years may be his to enjoy for the glory of God and the development of our Methodism.

ISAAC LANE.

        In point of election, Isaac Lane is the fifth bishop of the Church. Born in slavery and deprived of the advantages of an education, he applied himself to books and made such advancement by reason of his aptitude and studiousness, as to become one of the foremost leaders of the Church. In his boyhood days he had to secrete himself and get what he could out of his books when there was no one of the other race observing his actions.

        Bishop Lane was born in Jackson, Madison County, Tenn., March 3, 1834, and was therefore sixty-four years old in March of this year. He was converted on September 11, 1854, and joined the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, on October 21 of the same year. He received license to exhort in the fall of 1856, and as the law forbade the licensing of Negroes to preach, he held exhorter's license until 1865, when he was regularly licensed by W. H. Lee to preach the

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        BISHOP ISAAC LANE.

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gospel of the Son of God. In 1866 he was ordained a deacon by Bishop Paine, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and was ordained an elder in 1867. As Conferences were being organized about this time, looking forward to the organization of the Church, he was, in 1867, appointed presiding elder of the Jackson District, which he served with marked success for four years successively. Prior to this he had preached in and about Jackson for years.

        We have told of Lane being a delegate to the first General Conference, and his prominence in that body; of his being a delegate to the called session in March, 1873, and his election to the episcopacy in this General Conference. Since his election to this office, twenty-five years ago, he has been abundant in labors and fruitful in results. More than any other man among us, he has been our educational leader. Under disadvantages that would have dismayed most persons, he has built up an institution of learning at Jackson, Tenn., that must stand as a monument to his memory. Because of his calm disposition and deep piety, he has generally been called the "lamb" among his colleagues. The most conspicuous element in his character is his fervent sanctity; and while he makes no pretense of possessing this virtue, it shines the more by reason of his prominent humility.

        On May 11, 1895, his wife, Frances, after having lived with him more than forty years, died in peace. Twelve children were the result of this union, four of whom are dead. He has since married Mrs. Mary Smith, an estimable woman, of Texas.

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        Bishop Lane is not only interested in the cause of education, is not only remarkable for the life of usefulness which he leads, but he is noted for great strength of power and force as a preacher. He cares not for rhetorical sentences, polished figures, and studied proprieties; he rather aims to declare the eternal counsel of God in plain, simple language. An intense fervor, an elevated piety, and a rich imagery are palpably exhibited in his discourses. He is a close reasoner, and his sermons always bear ample evidence of the thought and study which he puts into them.

        The history of such a man, living and acting in this eventful era of the Church, cannot fail to possess an absorbing interest to every member of our beloved Connection.

ROBERT S. WILLIAMS.

        Just a few years before the disastrous Civil War had devastated our country--a war that paralyzed our commerce from ocean to ocean, but ultimately brought in its wake freedom to four millions of slaves --was born Robert S. Williams, the sixth bishop of the Church. He was a boy of some seven or eight summers when the spirit of human liberty and the newborn shouts of freedom were filling the breasts of a once enslaved people.

        The subject of this sketch was born, October 27, 1858, in Caddo Parish, La. During his boyhood days he attended such schools as his communities afforded. By the benignity of Providence, he took

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        BISHOP R. S. WILLIAMS, D.D.

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early to divine things; he was converted and united with the Church in 1876. He joined the Louisiana Conference in November, 1881, but was transferred at once to the East Texas Conference, his first appointment being Longview. He remained with these people three years, and great success attended his labors.

        The year 1884 being the centennial of Methodism in this country, Bishop [then Elder] Williams, on a Sabbath in April of that year, celebrated the event. Of the sermon which he preached at 3:30 P.M. M. F. Jamison, a well-known divine of his Conference, who was present, writes, in the Christian Worker of March, 1884, as follows:

        Rev. R. S. Williams preached a blessed sermon. He was only forty minutes delivering the discourse. His hearers were filled with the life of the Son of God; they shouted, they cried, they wept for joy. He had for his text Isa. lxii. 1. . . . He is a live man, full of Methodist fire--the fire of the Holy Spirit. I never met a young man more burdened with a deep desire to save the souls of the people.


        While at Longview, Williams acted as one of the editors of the Christian Worker, doing some good editorial work for that paper, which was being published in the interest of our Methodism in the State of Texas in general, and the East Texas Conference in particular.

        At the fall Conference of 1884 he was transferred to the Virginia Conference and stationed at Israel Metropolitan Church, at Washington, D. C. It was here that he gave promise of that destined high career for which he was fitted by wisdom, by virtue, and by discretion. His high moral ideas

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inspired confidence in all those who came in touch with him. Finding the Church considerably in debt and at a low ebb spiritually, he had to resort to Herculean efforts to bring things to their normal condition. He conducted a revival which resulted in more than a hundred conversions and won the esteem of the people. Nor was his financial success any less brilliant. He raised a large sum of money to remodel the interior of the church, making it, at that time, one of the most attractive in the city. He served this Church three years, and was then transferred to the South Carolina Conference and stationed at Sydney Park Church, at Columbia. Here he conducted large revivals, had large collections, and built a large, commodious church building, which was afterwards burned down, but was rebuilt by R. E. Hart, his successor. In the fall of 1891 he was transferred to the Georgia Conference and put in charge of Trinity Church, at Augusta. A beautiful frame church here stands to mark his faithfulness as a pastor, and many converts look up to him as their "spiritual father." When he was elected to the episcopal office from this church, in May, 1894, he was serving his third year among the people of old Trinity.

        He was married, October 21, 1891, to Miss Willie Nichols, an estimable young woman, of Washington, D. C., and a teacher in the public schools of that city. Four children have been the result of that union, two of whom are dead. He is happy in his home, and enjoys the social side of life.

        His education was received at Wiley University, in

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Marshall, Texas, and at Howard University, in Washington, D. C. He was ordained a deacon in 1881 by Bishop Lane, and was ordained an elder by Bishop Beebe in 1883.

        He was a member of the General Conferences of 1890 and 1894; and, in 1892, was our fraternal delegate to the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, which met at Pittsburg, Pa., where his address received the utmost attention and met a very hearty reception from his hearers.

        Bishop Williams is winding up his fourth year in the episcopal office, and has everywhere impressed the Church that no mistake was made when the General Conference elevated him to the position which he now holds. As a preacher, he is logical and forcible. He excels, however, as a manuscript preacher. His finest sermons are always delivered from manuscript. In all his discourses the intellectual and moral force are admirably blended.

        The Bishop is in the zenith of his usefulness, and gives great promise, both for a long life and an illustrious career in the office which he dignifies by natural and acquired attainments and by a life of moral consistency.

ELIAS COTTRELL.


                         The heights by great men reached and kept,
                         Were not attained by sudden flight;
                         But they, while their companions slept,
                         Were toiling upward in the night.

        These lines of poetry, as we shall see, find in the life and career of Bishop Cottrell a complete verification.

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        Elias Cottrell was born in Marshall County, Miss., January 31, 1853. His father, Daniel, and mother, Ann, were not members of the Church, and therefore, on the whole, could not give him such religious instruction as he required. They believed, however, in a holy life and in the proper training of children. Thus inclined, it is not surprising that they should teach young Cottrell the Lord's prayer and how to read the Holy Bible. His father, after the din of war and the clash of bayonets had died away, gave this son and his other children their first training in the rudiments of education. When a boy, in the Sunday school, on the farm, and under the shade of the trees, he read and meditated upon God's word. Frequently he committed forty and fifty verses to memory and recited them on the Sabbath in the Sunday school. Thus he was early familiarizing himself with that Book which was to be his main study through life. Such was his advancement in literary studies that, in 1873, at the age of twenty, he was teaching a private school.

        In August, 1874, Cottrell professed a hope in Christ, and in August, 1875, he connected himself with the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. In November, 1875, he was licensed to preach by Beverly Ford, a remarkably fine preacher for his day. In January, 1876, he became a member of the traveling connection, on trial, in the North Mississippi Conference, and was appointed to the Olive Branch Circuit. He remained three years on this work, God blessing his labors with more than three hundred conversions.

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        BISHOP ELIAS COTTRELL, D.D.

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Bishop Miles ordained him a deacon at Sardis, Miss., in January, 1877, and an elder at Verona, Miss., in December, 1878.

        In 1878 our General Conference met at Jackson, Tenn., and Cottrell, out of a desire to see some of the leading men of the Church and hear them speak, visited this body. Through the influence, of I. H. Anderson, he was invited to preach, and his sermon was said to have been the best delivered during the General Conference. The writer, then a young man of twenty, and principal of the city school at Barnesville, Ga., was much interested in the report of that sermon as related to him by R. T. White, who was a delegate to the Conference. That sermon marked young Cottrell a great preacher for one of his age, and presaged the brilliant future that dawned upon him.

        In December, 1878, he was transferred from the North Mississippi Conference to the Tennessee Conference, and stationed at Capers Chapel, at Nashville. He served this people two years, with great success. During his pastorate here he attended Central Tennessee College, where he devoted his time principally to theological studies, and soon convinced his classmates that he was a close student of the Word of Truth.

        On January 1, 1880, he was married to Miss Catherine Davis, an excellent young woman, of Nashville, who has proved to be his helpmeet and worthy companion. One child has been the result of this union --a promising young woman she is--who is now attending Central Tennessee College.

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        In November, 1880, he was transferred back to the North Mississippi Conference and appointed to the Lamar Mission. This appointment gave ample evidence of his endurance, love, and loyalty to the itinerant system. The charge being too small to give him support for his family, he farmed and otherwise labored until the year ended. The Lord gave him success in his church work. In all the charges he has served he was blessed with large revivals. During the years 1882-83 he was pastor of the Byhalia Circuit; and, in 1884, he preached at Verona.

        In 1885 he was transferred to the West Tennessee Conference and appointed to Jackson Station. Afterwards he was made presiding elder of the Brownsville District; and served as pastor of Collins Chapel (Memphis) and our Church at Dyersburg. He was a member of the General Conferences of 1882, 1886, 1890, and 1894; and was Book Agent from 1882 to 1886, having been elected at the General Conference at Washington, D. C. The General Conference of 1890 elected him Commissioner of Education; and from this position he was, in 1894, as we have seen, elected to the episcopal office. In 1892 he was fraternal messenger to the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, which met at Omaha, Neb. His address before that body reflected credit upon himself and the Church which he represented.

        Bishop Cottrell is an attractive preacher, a man whom the masses delight to hear. He preaches with great power and freedom, his sermons giving to the

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people everywhere satisfactory evidence of his call to the gospel ministry. Besides being an uncommon preacher, he is also an excellent platform speaker, and often delivers lectures throughout the country. Though only four years in the episcopal office, he is popular among the people, and exhibits rare executive ability. The Bishop is now in the flush of his strength, and many years of usefulness seem to open before him.

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CHAPTER XX.

OUR LITERATURE.

        PROBABLY at no time in the history of the world was a revival force more necessary than at the time when Methodism was born. Spiritual life in the Church of England had died, and her clergy had grown indifferent; natural religion was popularized with ideas of the savage, and Christianity was said to be fictitious. Like the boasted fixedness of Rome, always remaining the same, and by its spontaneous appearance, it molded the ways of many branches of the Church, renewed the doctrine of the witness of the Spirit, showed how a full and fresh experience could be obtained, created the evangelical party of the established Church, and saved the non-Episcopal societies of England, as well as improved those in America. With the gradual unfolding of its institutions it became a firm believer in, and a consistent promoter and popular advocate of, the higher education.

        That Methodism has had an honorable record in authorship and literary production is an admitted fact. Her literature, like the gospel, has become the common heritage of mankind. Mr. Wesley began to scatter books and tracts from the foundry as early as 1739. His own publications in sixteen years amounted to one hundred and eighty-one, and treated a variety of subjects in a manner fully up to the advance of his day. Many of these passed through

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twenty editions, and were sold at such low prices that even the poorest persons could purchase them.

        The multiplicity of various publications necessitated a press and salesroom, and from these have come not only the modern "Book Concern," a term peculiar to Methodist houses of publications and sales, but also the tract houses of the Protestant world.

        Methodist literature kept pace with Methodism itself, and, indeed, was one of its most potential agencies or forces in removing impediments; in silencing numerous misrepresentations; in spreading scriptural holiness throughout the land; and in preparing the way for the prosperity which she enjoys and for the influence which she is to exert in assisting Christianity to subdue and control the earth. The phenomenal extension of Methodism throughout the world; its providential and logical system of gradual development; and its crystallization into a religious movement --a movement which, by reason of its permanency and success, has challenged alike its enemies and its friends--is due to the genius of its missionary spirit and to the character and dissemination of its literature.

        Methodist schools produce scholars and men of wide information; scholars and men of wide information create a literature; and a wholesome literature tends to enlighten, uplift, civilize, Christianize, and indoctrinate the people. Under the stern spiritual and educational influence of Methodist literature, many a reckless man has turned from the error of his way, and many a Christian has been trained to reach out after

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the possibilities of a higher, personal, Christian experience. Whatever may be said with regard to the lack of learning among her preachers, Methodism has always had her scholars, and no denomination has done more to lift the veil of ignorance from the masses or assisted more worthy young men in their efforts to obtain a liberal education.

        Each branch of Methodism has ever labored to produce a literature peculiar to its wants and exigencies. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, now in its twenty-eighth year as an organized body, has had little time to produce a varied literature. It takes time for a new Church organization to produce able men, and it requires years for these able men to create reading matter worthy of being printed. A fair number of them have composed pamphlets; a few have written books. Bishop Holsey, at the request of the General Conference, compiled, with great care and skill, our only pulpit hymn book, known as the "Holsey Hymn Book;" "Holsey's Manual of Discipline" is also the product of his brain. His last work, a book of "Sermons and Addresses," is perhaps the crowning gem of his literary productions. The first edition, consisting of three thousand volumes, has just been issued by a publishing house in Atlanta, Ga. This book will doubtless have an extensive circulation throughout the Church. The "Autobiography of Bishop Miles" is in manuscript form, and the Church hopes that, at no distant day, it will be put into print. "Discipline of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church," by the

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General Conference; "Plain Account of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church," by F. M. Hamilton; and "Handbook on Church Government of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church," by the same author, are among our valuable productions. Other publications are "Pastor's Memorandum Book" and "Church Register," by I. H. Anderson; and "Quarterly Conference Register," by R. T. Brown. "The Doctrines of Christ and His Church," by R. T. Brown, is one of our best publications, and stands well in the general market. Some years ago Bishop Williams published a number of excellent sermons in pamphlet form, and these had a wide and extensive sale. Among others who have written pamphlets on various subjects are the late S. B. Wallace, H. S. Doyle, R. A. Carter, M. F. Jamison, Mrs. Lucy Ellis Tappan Phillips, J. N. Clay, A. N. Stephens, V. Lynk, and others whose names we do not now recollect. The direction of Mr. Wesley to those of his day is applicable now to every leader in our Zion: "See that every house is supplied with books."

        Of periodicals, we have had many. They could not breast the journalistic seas many years, but, while they were sailing, they were veritable lighthouses in their territories. Among the newspaper enterprises that flourished at different times and places in the State of Texas, away back in the eighties, were the following: Christian Advocate, M. F. Jamison and F. M. McPherson, publishers; Colored Methodist, A. H. Jones and John I. Turner, editors; and Christian Worker, C. F. Moore and R. S. Williams, editors.

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The Western Index, with W. B. West as editor, was published in 1897, at Dallas, Texas. It was first issued as a semimonthly, then as a monthly, afterwards as a daily, and now, we believe, as a monthly. The Christian Sun, of Washington, N. C., with J. W. Roberts as editor, made its début during the summer of 1897, and is yet breasting journalistic seas. The Mississippi Christian Index began its career in the early part of 1896, but suspended in the fall of 1897, during the prevalence of yellow fever at Jackson, Miss., where it was being published. We cannot say that it has resumed publication. On September 15, 1896, appeared the first number of the Gospel Trumpet, with Bishop Holsey as editor, and R. A. Carter as managing editor. The paper is published in Atlanta, Ga., is issued monthly, and its editors write fearlessly. The Louisiana Index is a new paper enterprise just launched at Crowley, with J. C. W. Smith as editor. Last, but by no means least, is the Christian Index, the only official organ of the Church. It is one of the oldest negro journals published south of Mason and Dixon's line.

        In November, 1868, two years before our Church was organized, what was known as the Memphis Colored Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, met in Memphis, with Bishop Paine, of the Church, South, presiding. During the session of the Conference, Dr. T. N. Stewart, (one of the leaders of the Church at that time, but who has since died), as chairman of "a committee on a paper," presented the following, which was unanimously adopted:

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        Your committee on the propriety of having a Conference newspaper, to be devoted to the use and benefit--physically, morally, intellectually, and religiously--of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church, South, beg leave to report the following:

        In view of the great importance of a more general knowledge of the nature and character of our labors to promote the present and future temporal and spiritual welfare of the colored people of this country; believing that a properly conducted periodical circulated among our people will be calculated to accomplish this end; and wishing to use all proper means to set ourselves right before the entire people, to enlighten one another and put down vice and ignorance, and to spread the Church and gospel truth; therefore be it

        Resolved, 1. That we, in connection with the Kentucky Colored Conference and all the Conferences to be hereafter organized on the same principles, will make a concerted effort to establish said organ.

        2. That we recommend either Memphis, Tenn., or Jackson, Tenn., as a proper location for said paper.

        3. That all laudable measures be brought into requisition, and that contributions be solicited from every source to establish the same.


        There can be no doubt that this effort of the Memphis Conference led up to the founding of the Christian Index. It is evident that the paper was on its mission before the organization of the Church in 1870. Dr. Samuel Watson, a reputable minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, published the Index for, and in the interest of, that remnant of the colored worshipers of his Church that did not connect themselves with other Methodist bodies after the war. When the Conventional General Conference met in 1870, he was unanimously elected (or, we should say, urged) to continue as editor, which he did

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up to the time of the called session of the General Conference of 1873, when E. B. Martin was elected editor and Book Agent. The paper was then published once every month, in Memphis. In connection with his editorial work, Martin was pastor of Collins Chapel; but he soon discovered that the work was greater than he could successfully manage. In consequence of these conditions, he resigned the position of editor and Book Agent, And J. W. Bell, of Kentucky, succeeded him. After some two or three months, a misunderstanding arose between Bell and Bishop Miles, and the former vacated the editorial chair. Alexander Austin succeeded Bell and served six months, when W. P. Churchill, who was acting as business manager, was appointed editor. He served till the meeting of the General Conference of 1874, when he was reëlected, and filled the position till the General Conference met at Jackson, Tenn., in 1878. C. W. Fitzhugh was elected by this Conference, and wielded the pen until the summer of 1881, when he left the Church. W. T. Thomas, by appointment, filled out this unexpired term, and, at the General Conference of I882, was elected to the position, and held it until the General Conference of I886. This body elected F. M. Hamilton, and reëlected him in 1890; but he resigned in 1892, and I. H. Anderson, who was Book Agent, became editor also. He appointed R. T. Brown assistant editor, who did considerable writing for the paper. At the meeting of the Book Committee, in January, 1893, M. F. Jamison was appointed editor, and discharged the duties of

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that office, in connection with his duties as Church Extension Secretary, until the meeting of the General Conference, at Memphis, Tenn., in May, 1894. During the session of this body, C. H. Phillips was elected. His term expires in May, 1898. The General Conference of 1874, which met in Louisville, Ky., removed the Index and Publishing Department from Memphis, Tenn., to, Louisville. In 1882 the same supreme power ordered it removed to Jackson, Tenn., where it still remains.

        The ardor with which our literary men and women read and study, and the earnest efforts of our bishops which they put forth to foster educational institutions where our young people can prepare themselves for the duties of life, are hopeful signs that our Church will increase the number of its authors and literary productions as the years go by.

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CHAPTER XXI.

OUR FUTURE AND THE NINTH GENERAL CONFERENCE.

        PATRICK HENRY was of the opinion that the future could best be determined by the results and experiences of the past. Such a belief is not without some foundation. Successes of the past should inspire to greater endeavor in the future; failures of the past and their causes can be averted by a change of policy and methods and by the inauguration of new ideas and plans.

        Everything considered, our past has been glorious. The forces and agencies that have been utilized in the development of our Zion will now be used to greater advantage. We have better material with which to work than we ever had before. The demand for an educated ministry is being satisfied as rapidly as possible; and our schools, by reason of being better equipped, are doing a work to-day that they could not do before. With our institutions of learning preparing young men for the ministry; with our itinerant ranks being yearly increased with proficient, qualified men; and with our mission funds augmented, by which it is possible to strengthen our stakes and extend our borders, our Church should achieve greater things for Christ and the race.

        Unfortunately, the growth of our Connection can not be determined by the statistics which it presents.

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Our bishops, in a recent letter to the Christian Index, say:

        Although our statistics do not keep pace or show an increase commensurate with the actual summary of the work done, it is a fact, nevertheless, that no quadrennial term since our organization has ever made the showing in round results comparing with the general reports of the Church at present. Our members throughout the Connection have been loyal, aggressive, and sacrificing in their support of the general, as well as the local, interests of the Church. We are to-day more fully established in the large cities and centers of society. As a peculiar branch of American Methodism, God has honored us with a call to do a special work such as no other Church has ever done or can do.


        The Ninth General Conference, referred to in Chapter XVIII., accordingly met in Columbia, S. C., on May 4, 1898. The Conference opened with the usual formalities, all the Bishops taking part in the devotional exercises. After the organization of the Conference, a quorum being present, Bishop Holsey read the message. This able document of our chief pastors was listened to with marked attention; perfect silence prevailed during its reading. From the very beginning of the session there was a disposition on the part of the delegates to be restless and impatient. And this was so because of the opinions that existed among the delegates on general matters, and because of the smallpox scare. Not a few of the delegates favored election of an additional bishop; and not a few of them were opposed to an increase on the bench. As might be expected from such conditions, the General Conference was divided into two opposing factions--a no-bishop faction and a bishop faction. These forces were well-nigh equally divided. The uncertainty of the situation generated nervousness

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and expectancy on both sides. The nerves of the delegates were strung to their highest tension, and a vote only could relieve the situation. But this spirit of restlessness was abetted by reason of the existence of smallpox in the city. Some of the delegates returned home the day after their arrival in Columbia. Fearing the possibility of taking the loathsome disease, they thought it wise to avoid the probability by leaving the infected regions.

        In many respects this General Conference was extraordinary and unprecedented. And this is so because of its short duration, because of its lack of legislation, and because of the general excitement which prevailed.

        There can be no doubt that the bishop question and the smallpox conspired to shorten the session and decrease interest in general legislation. Respecting the election of another bishop, the Bishops in their message said:

        As money is scarce and wages are low and great poverty is prevalent among our people, it is our earnest wish and sincere request that you elect no bishop or bishops at this session of the General Conference. We do not need them, and if we did, it would be wisdom to do without them for the present, and let the money that would be required for their expenses and support go to the missionary and extension work of the Church. We have more bishops, according to membership and number of Annual Conferences, than any other Methodist Church in the world. Since the present bench of bishops can do all the episcopal work of the Church with ease and convenience, it would be unwisdom, if not suicidal, to put others in the field to absorb the finances that should go to offer important departments of the connection, especially that of the missionary branch. We need money, and not bishops.


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        A large number of the delegates shared this view of the Bishops, and a large number did not. The Committee on Episcopacy, which is composed of one delegate from each Annual Conference, met and organized with R. T. Brown as Chairman and A. K. Hawkins as Secretary. Twenty-two Annual Conferences were represented on this committee, and two were not at all represented. The majority of the Episcopal Committee reported favorably to the Conference the election of another bishop. The following twelve Conferences made the majority report: Alabama, North Alabama, North Mississippi, Kentucky, Kansas and Missouri, Indian Mission, North Carolina, West Tennessee, New Orleans, Virginia, Arkansas, and Florida. The Conferences forming the minority were: West Texas, East Texas, Texas Mission, Georgia, South Georgia, Little Rock, Tennessee, Louisiana, South Mississippi, and South Carolina. The Conferences unrepresented were Illinois and Missouri, and New Jersey.

        On Friday night, May 6, the majority and minority reports were submitted to the Conference; and, after a yea and nay vote had been taken, F. M. Hamilton, Secretary of the General Conference, said that fifty-eight delegates voted to adopt the minority report, which opposed the election of a bishop, and fifty-six voted against its adoption, thus favoring an election. It will be seen, therefore, that the General Conference lacked but little of being equally divided on this question. Under such conditions it was natural for the lines to be closely drawn and for the anxiety of the delegates to run high. It was pleasing

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to observe that no delegate lost his self-control or made statements that would mar or disturb the tranquility of the General Conference. The bishop element gracefully accepted the results of the situation.

        On Saturday night, May 7, the Conference proceeded to elect the Editor of the Christian Index and the Book Agent in the order mentioned.

        On the first ballot C. H. Phillips received 56 votes; R. A. Carter, 33; R. T. Brown, 10; scattering, 3. Phillips, having received a majority of all votes cast, was declared by the presiding bishop duly reëlected Editor of the Christian Index for the quadrennium ending May, 1902. By motion of R. A. Carter, the election was made unanimous.

        The election of a Book Agent being next in order, the first ballot was taken without any result. On this ballot H. Bullock, E. W. Moseley, G. I. Jackson, R. J. Johnson, O. T. Womack, and J. A. Hatcher received scattering votes. There was no election. On the second ballot the vote narrowed down to Bullock, Moseley, and Jackson; but there was no election. At this stage of procedure there was a disposition on the part of the delegates to adjourn; but prudence had its right of way, and it was decided to have at least one more ballot. The third ballot was accordingly taken, when H. Bullock was elected Book Agent, and duly declared so by the President of the Conference. By motion of E. W. Moseley, the election of Bullock was made unanimous.

        When the Conference opened on Monday, May 9, it was soon found that a quorum had been broken, and that nothing was in order but adjournment.

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After a session lasting from Wednesday, May 4, to Monday, May 9, the Ninth General Conference, short, extraordinary, and unprecedented, was numbered among its predecessors.

        Among the things accomplished were the passing of all the Bishops' characters without a dissenting voice, the providing for a committee of five and one bishop to locate the place where the next General Conference shall meet, and the reducing of the salary of the widow of Bishop Miles from $500 to $200 per year. Little else was done. The recommendations of the Bishops respecting the creation of Missionary, Epworth League, and Educational Departments were referred to the General Board and the Bishops for such consideration and disposition as, in their judgment, may subserve the best interests of the Church. There were no changes in the book of discipline, no legislation in this direction. Many resolutions looking forward to changes in the law were proposed, but were never reported back to the Conference.

        No new usage or any serious change in Methodist polity or doctrine is likely to find any place among us; we shall follow in the old landmarks, believing, as we do, that the simplicity of the system of Methodism will bear the test of generations yet to come. Our future is bright, our possibilities are limitless; and, utilizing the opportunities at our hands to work for humanity, our success as we march onward should gladden the hearts of multiplied thousands.

FINIS.

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BOOK TWO

        

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        BISHOP C. H. PHILLIPS, D.D.

        

        

Page 251

THE HISTORY
OF THE
Colored Methodist Episcopal Church
IN AMERICA:

COMPRISING
ITS ORGANIZATION, SUBSEQUENT DEVELOPMENT,
AND PRESENT STATUS.

BOOK TWO

BY

C. H. PHILLIPS, A.M., M.D., D.D., LL.D.,

A Bishop of The Church

FIRST EDITION

JACKSON, TENN.:
PUBLISHING HOUSE C. M. E. CHURCH.
H. P. PORTER, AGENT.
1925.

Page 252

COPYRIGHT, 1925, BY
C. H. PHILLIPS

Page 253

CONTENTS.

  • CHAPTER XXII.
    Enlargement of this History--Some General Statements-- History Brought Down to Date from 1898 and 1900 to May, 1925 . . . . . 261

  • CHAPTER XXIII.
    Discussions on the Bishop Question--Opinions of Carter, Cobb, B. Smith, A. L. Scott--Papers Spring Up in the Church--Attitude of the Gospel Trumpet--Correspondents Wage a War on the Trumpet--Bishops Meet in January, 1898, in Augusta--They Criticise Editorial Management of the Index--Official Organ Had Always Published Articles Mentioning the Names of Men for the Bishopric-- The Address of the Bishops to the Church--C. H. Phillips Made No Reply--Views on the Address Expressed by S. E. Poer, M. F. Jamison, M. L. Morrison, E. W. Mosely, J. L. Armstead, S. E. Ervin, G. W. Holbert, A. J. Stinson, M. Lewis, P. H. Hunter, and Others . . . . . 264

  • CHAPTER XXIV.
    C. H. Phillips Writes a Valedictory and a Salutatory Address to the Church--Defines a New Editorial Policy . . . . . 282

  • CHAPTER XXV.
    General Conference Methodist Episcopal Church, South-- Election of Bishops and General Officers--Agitation Over the Collection of $288,000 from the Federal Government by Agents Barbee and Smith--Retiring of Bishop Keener --J. D. Barbee a Friend to the Negro . . . . . 287

  • CHAPTER XXVI.
    The General Board Meeting--I. S. Person and R. A. Carter Elected Missionary and Epworth League Secretaries Respectively --Chairmen of the Various Boards Elected-- Episcopal Plan for 1898--R. H. King, Fraternal Delegate --G. W. Stewart Plants the Church in Mobile--Some New Leaders . . . . . 293
    Page 254



  • CHAPTER XXVII.
    The Church Celebrates the Twenty fifth Anniversary of Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane to the Episcopal Office-- Miles Memorial College Organized By the Two Alabama Conferences--R. T. Brown Writes About the School-- Bishop Holsey and Paine College--Secretaries Carter and Persons Active--Fourth International Epworth League Convention at Indianapolis--The Church Launches Twentieth Century Thank Offering--Address of the Bishops to the Church . . . . . 298

  • CHAPTER XXVIII.
    Afro-American Council--Bishop Holsey Attends the Chicago Meeting--His Letter to the Index--Platform of the Council --Tuskegee Institute and Dr. R. R. Moton--National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Dr. Dubois--Other Race Organizations . . . . . 304

  • CHAPTER XXIX.
    The Twentieth Century Movement Again--When Did the Nineteenth Century End?--The Author Visited Thirteen Conferences in the Fall of 1899--Some Impressions Formed--General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church and African Methodist Episcopal Church--R. M. Cheeks Dies at His General Conference--R. A. Carter and N. C. Cleaves, Fraternal Delegates--Dr. Washington Organized the Business League in Boston--The Author's Impression of Him . . . . . 308

  • CHAPTER XXX.
    Bishops Meet in May, 1900--Nashville Chosen as Place for General Conference in 1902--Christian Index Issues Twentieth Century Edition--R. W. Perks Originated Twentieth Century Movement--Perks Described--Chapter Concludes With a Reproduction of an Editorial Entitled "The Passing Century" . . . . . 313

  • CHAPTER XXXI.
    The Meeting of the Third Ecumenical Conference a World-Wide Gathering--Delegates of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church Present--Bishop Williams and C. H. Phillips deliver Addresses--Other Members of the Delegation Deliver Extemporaneous Addresses--President McKinley Shot--He Dies--H. S. Doyle Speaks--Conference Closes--Delegation Returns to the United States--Discussion in the Church--All Ready for the Nashville General Conference . . . . . 317
    Page 255



  • CHAPTER XXXII.
    Tenth General Conference Meets in Nashville--Its Organization --The Bishop's Message--What They Said About the Election of a Bishop--Majority and Minority Reports of the Episcopal Committee--C. H. Phillips Elected Bishop--Some Comparisons Between Election of Bishops--Election of Bullock, Brown, Person, Stout, and Carter as General Officers--Commission on Organic Union--Fraternal Delegates--C. H. Phillips Consecrated Bishop--Bishop Williams Preached the Sermon--Splendid Quadrennium . . . . . 321

  • CHAPTER XXXIII.
    Bishop Beebe Fails in Health--His Death--Bishop Phillips' First Field of Labor As a Bishop--Church Organized in Cleveland, Ohio--Work of L. E. Shy--T. H. Copeland Becomes First Regular Pastor--General Conferences of the African Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church--Doyle and Carter Fraternal Delegates--Telegram from President Roosevelt--Booker Washington Delivers Address--Looking Toward the General Conference of 1906--The Election of a Bishop the Outstanding Question--Bishop Phillips' Article to the Index--Articles of B. Herron, T. J. Moppins; and G. C. Parker, N. C. Cleaves and W. M. Gladden--Elective System of Appointing Presiding Elders--A Comparison-- Chapter Concluded . . . . . 331

  • CHAPTER XXIV.
    The Eleventh General Conference--Its Organization--Message of the Bishops--Recommended No Election of Bishops--Majority and Minority Reports--How the Bishops Stood--The Bishop Question--The Church Divided Into Episcopal Districts--Monument to Bishop Beebe--Fraternal Messengers--Two Commissions-- Election of General Officers--The General Board Formed --Some Personalities--Tabling Motions--Conference Adjourns . . . . . 342

  • CHAPTER XXXV.
    Episcopal Plan for Quadrennium Beginning 1906 and Closing 1910--Death of I. H. Anderson--Few Words of Appreciation--Church Founded in Indianapolis, Los Angeles, and Other Cities--H. J. Johnson, Presiding Elder Nashville District--West Texas Conference Sent J. W. Reese to Los Angeles--Woman's Missionary Society of This Conference--Mission Founded in El Paso-- J. W. Tolbert, Presiding Elder El Paso District--Organizing a Mission Conference . . . . . 354
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  • CHAPTER XXXVI.
    The Educational Awakening--Financial Rallies of 1907-1908-1909 --Special Efforts of Georgia, Tennessee, Alabama, and Texas--Tripartite Conference of the Bishops of the Colored Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, and Zion Churches--Their First Meeting in Washington, D. C., February, 1908--Twenty-six Bishops Present--Tempus Fugit--Only Seven Bishops Alive To-day Out of the Twenty-six Who Attended the Washington Meeting . . . . . 359

  • CHAPTER XXXVII.
    Bishop Cottrell and His School Enterprises--The Carnegie $25,000 Donation--Bishops Williams and Phillips-- Editor Brown's Observation--General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches--Bishop Phillips' Fiftieth Anniversary Celebrated--Deaths of J. W. Luckett and Harriet E. Holsey--A New Conference Organized --Letter of A. W. Walker--Bishop Lane's Work in Chicago and Elsewhere--Delegates Elected to General Conference of 1910--Some General Observations on Church Issues--The Attitude of the Church--Some Prominent Writers and Reply of R. T. Brown . . . . . 368

  • CHAPTER XXXVIII.
    The Twelfth General Conference--Its Organization--The Message of the Bishops--Some Recommendations-- Bishops of the Three Methodist Churches Meet in Washington --The Election of Two Bishops Recommended-- Some Comments--The Issue to Elect Two Passed-- Politics in the Conference--A Caucus Organized--"Salvation" the Password--The Work of the Caucus--M. F. Jamison and G. W. Stewart Elected Bishops--General Officers Elected--Bishops Consecrated--Bishop Phillips Preaches the Sermon--General Conference Deprived C. H. Phillips, M.D., of His Seat--Article of Bishop Phillips Published in Index on the Constitutionality of the Action of the Conference Reproduced--Two Letters from Two Distinguished Leaders--Bishop Lane Quoted --Bishops Assigned to Their Work--Conference Closes . . . . . 377

  • CHAPTER XXXIX.
    Jamison, Stewart, and General Officers Begin Their Work-- Some Comments by T. H. Williams--Tragedy followed Tragedy--Bishop Jamison Encourages Changing the name of Phillips University Back to Texas College-- History of the Change--Opinions of Rawlston, King,
    Page 257

    Whitmore--Bishop Jamison Wrote Letter to Index Concerning the Change and Bishop Phillips Replied in a Short Article--Meeting of the Tripartite Council of the Bishops of the African Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal Zion, and the Colored Methodist Episcopal Churches at Mobile, and the Fourth Ecumenical Conference at Toronto--Delegates of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church--Bishop Phillips Elected a Secretary-- General Board Meeting at Macon--Bullock and Moseley Resign--Deaths of Washington, West, President Walker, of Paine College, Francis Harper--Bishops Meet in Chattanooga--Haygood Elected to Fill Place of Washington --Martin and McKinney Chosen Successors to Bullock and Moseley--Bullock's Report Short--Other Reports-- General Conference Commission Selects St. Louis as Meeting Place for 1914--Deaths of Welch, Patterson, Catherine Cottrell--Hamilton--J. W. Gilbert Visits Africa With Bishop Lambath . . . . . 403

  • CHAPTER XL.
    Bishop Stewart Accused of Misappropriating Money--Dr. J. A. Bray Makes Statement Against Him in a Birmingham Paper--Case Investigated--Bishop Jamison Presides --Bishop Stewart Suspended Till General Conference of 1914 . . . . . 432

  • CHAPTER XLI.
    Deaths of Lucy Ellis Tappan Phillips, H. G. Armstead, W. J. White, J. K. Daniel, Bishop W. B. Derrick, and Maud Smith--Meeting of the General Board--Looking Toward the General Conference--Rumors About Bishop Cottrell--A. J. Cobb as an Editor--The Quadrennium Ends . . . . . 448

  • CHAPTER XLII.
    The Thirteenth General Conference Meets in St. Louis, Mo. --Organization--The Message of the Bishops--Legislation Begins--Time Limit of Presiding Elders--Comment on the Same--Bishop Lane Voluntarily Retires--His Address--Bishop Stewart Tried for Money Shortage-- Case Compromised and He Was Retired Without Salary-- Some Comment--Bishop Cottrell Tried for Ugly, Immoral Charges--General Conference Finally Passed His Character --Some Laws Enacted--A Law Prohibiting Bishops From Serving as Treasurers of Connectional Funds-- Donations Not to be Raised at Annual Conferences--Departments of Education and Ministerial Aid Created-- Some Other Enactments--Carter and Cleaves Elected
    Page 258

    Bishops--General Officers Elected--General Board Members --Ordination of Carter and Cleaves--Bishop Lane Delivered the Sermon--General Conference Adjourns . . . . . 455

  • CHAPTER XLIII.
    The World War--Declarations By Various Countries--A Severance of Diplomatic Relations Follow--President Wilson Issues a Proclamation of Neutrality--Neutrality Ends--War Declared--Our Expeditionary Forces Land in France--The Signing of the Armistice--The Part the Negro Took--The Relation of the Races After the War-- The Forming of Interracial Commissions--The Negro Desires All the Rights and Privileges of an American Citizen--Education, Training, and Time to Aid in Inter-racial Matters--The Influence of the Churches--Chaplains Thomas, Oveltrea, and Parker--Fixing the Responsilbilty of the War--Moves for World Peace-- Scott's Ode on the Drum. . . . . . 492

  • CHAPTER XLIV.
    A Meeting at Cincinnati, June 30, 1915, Called to Consider Organic Union and Co-operation--The Personnel of Those Present From the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church: Bishops Phillips, Carter, and Cleaves; Revs. J. A. Bray, J. W. Gilbert, J. A. Hamlett; and Professors D. C. Potts, W. A. Bell, and G. F. Porter--A Working Conference on the Union of American Methodism at Evansville, Ill., Feb., 1916--Subjects Discussed--Persons Who Were Present--Meeting of the Bishops in Houston, Texas-- Question of Migration--G. T. Long Expresses a View-- Bishop Carter Tours the North and East--Missions Are Planted--Some General Conferences--Deaths of Bishop Walters and R. L. Bray . . . . . 492

  • CHAPTER XLV.
    The Fourteenth General Conference Meets in Chicago--Its Opening--The Message of the Bishops--Conference Begins the Study of Organic Union--G. M. Noble and Bishop Cleaves Make Statements--C. W. Holsey's Motion-- Bishops Kyles, Clement, Caldwell, and Coppin Visit the Conference--Bishops Phillips and Carter Deliver Speeches For and Against Organic Union--Conference Votes for Union--Not Much New Legislation--Some Things Accomplished-- --General Conference Elects General Officers --Appoints Committee on Union--Deaths of the Hills and Bishop Jamison--Appointments of the Bishops--No Bishops Elected--Conference Adjourns--Bishop Holsey Pronouncing the Benediction . . . . . 501
    Page 259



  • CHAPTER XLVI.
    Movements in 1918 to May, 1922--General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South--Bishops Elected--Centenary Movement in Methodist Episcopal, Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and Colored Methodist Episcopal Churches--The Cleveland Church--What Each District Contributed in Purchasing It--Deaths of Bonner and Stanton--General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal, African Methodist Episcopal, and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches--The Methodist Episcopal Church Elects two Negro Bishops--African Methodist Episcopal Church Elects Five--Colored Methodist Episcopal Church Celebrates Its Fiftieth Anniversary-- Bishops Raise Large Sums of Money--Death of Bishop Holsey--Appreciation--His Burial--All the Bishops Present --Fifth Ecumenical Conference in London--Colored Methodist Episcopal Delegates Present--Speeches by Bishops Cleaves and Phillips, Dr. C. H. Phillips, Jr., Prof. G. F. Porter--Bishop Phillips Visits Sheffield, England --Conferences in Fall of 1921 Elect Delegates to General Conference of 1922 . . . . . 512

  • CHAPTER XLVII.
    Organic Union--Submitted to Colored Methodist Episcopal Conferences Which Rejected the Birmingham Plan--Correspondence Between Bishops Smith and Williams-- Positions of Editors Wright and Walls--Fixing the Blame for Failure of Union--One Plan of Union Between the Methodist Episcopal Church and the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, Failed--Blame Put on Negro in the Methodist Episcopal Church--Failure of Union Between the Three Churches--Blame Colored Methodist Episcopal Church--Author Dissents--African Methodist Episcopal and African Methodist Episcopal Zion Churches Failed to Unite--Bishop Payne's Statement--Comments by Author--Chapter Closes With Statement from Dr. Wright . . . . . 531

  • CHAPTER XLVIII
    General Conference of 1922--Its Opening and Organization --Report of Committee of Credentials--Some Comments --Message of the Bishops--Woman Delegate Denied a Seat in the General Conference--Distinguished Visitors-- Electing Four Bishops: Brown, Martin, Hamlett, McKinney --Some Comments --Bishops Consecrated-- Bishop Phillips Preaches Sermon--Election of General Officers --Bishops' Assignments for Quadrennium--Memorial Service in Honor of Bishops Jamison and Holsey-- Bishop Williams Delivers the Eulogy--No Action Taken on Organic Union--Conference Adjourns . . . . . 543
    Page 260



  • CHAPTER XLIX.
    Pen Portraits of Bishops Jamison, Stewart, Carter, Cleaves, Brown, Martin, Hamlett, and McKinney . . . . . 563

  • CHAPTER L.
    Our Institutions of Learning--Paine College--Lane College --Miles Memorial College--Phillips College or Texas College--Mississippi Industrial College--Holsey Normal and Industrial Academy--Homer College--Haygood Seminary--The Arkansas--Haygood Industrial College --Three Other Schools . . . . . 579

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HISTORY OF THE COLORED M. E. CHURCH.

CHAPTER XXII.

        Enlargement of this History--Some General Statements-- History Brought Down to Date from 1898 and 1900 to May, 1925.

        THE first edition of PhiIlips' History appeared in the summer of 1898. While many editions could have been issued and sold, the supply being exhausted many years ago, it is expedient to say this history has had but two editions.

        It has been twenty-seven years since the appearance of the first edition in 1898, and twenty-five years since the appearance of the second, in 1900.

        It will be the purpose of the author to trace the most important events of the Church since 1898 and 1900 and thus bring this work down to this year of our Lord, 1925.

        It is the duty of the historiographer to write without prejudice as he records and explains events as they affect a nation, institution, science, art, religion or Church affairs, and give philosophical explanation of their causes.

        In writing the happenings in our Methodism for the past twenty-seven years it shall be our purpose to base our findings, fundamentally, upon facts as they develop during our research, and record what is simon-pure, whether it be tasteful or distasteful. History is history whether it be good or bad. The progress of the Church since 1898 has been the most remarkable

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in all its eventful history. The activity and enterprises of our Methodism have been so wide and manifold that we shall make no effort to deal in detail with them, but rather seek truth of statement as we narrate the movements and forces that have shed a benign influence far and wide upon the Church.

        But this enlargement of Phillips' History shall be more than a narration of events. The author, here and there, shall express his own convictions on delicate questions, impress his personality and individuality upon many of the important happenings that have confronted the leaders of the Church, and offer a solution for a few of the problems that once engaged its mind.

        Menander, one of the most celebrated of the Greek comic poets, uttered an apparent truth when he said:


                         Time brings the truth to light.

        Many things happen during the passing of events and during the life of individuals that appear to be unexplainable. Very often motives are impugned, official acts of rulers are misrepresented, and the wisdom or unwisdom of transactions needed more time for recognition and vindication than the present allowed. The future throws light back upon the occurrences of the past and evolves and properly interprets the events of that age. Abraham Lincoln is loved more to-day than he was at the time of his death. His greatness is more pronounced. He is better understood. Far removed from the stirring scenes of his day and from the prejudices and jealousies of his contemporaneous rivals, historians and writers of the present have a clearer vision and a wider horizon to study the acts, the wonderful achievements, the

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largeness of heart, the absence of malice of our great emancipator. We can understand Shakespeare when he wrote:


                         Time shall unfold what plaited cunning hides.
and so the evolution of the years will shed light upon the actions, undertakings, and happenings of many of the deceased leaders of the Church, as well as explain how the Church and localities were affected by them.

        We shall not distort the accounts of events according to our prejudices against, or interest of, any person or persons whom we may perchance to know, but, as far as we are able, we will attempt, with cold impartiality, to ascertain and record the actual truth and the lessons which they taught with regard to human conduct. Our Church is fifty-five years old as an organization. But fifty-five years constitute such a short time in the life of an organization that the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church is yet in its infancy cannot be denied. However remarkable her growth during her first quarter of a century, her development and extension since May, 1898, to May, 1925, has been even more pronounced and outstanding. The multiplying of our schools with better equipment; the filling of the depleted ranks of our ministry with better-qualified men; the pushing of our Zion across the Mason and Dixon line; the election of additional bishops with energy, vision, and consecration, contributed to the expansion and healthy growth of the Church and its increase in numbers, territory, and influence.

        Subsequent chapters will deal with this progress and such other subjects as the Church has had to observe during the evolutions of the last quarter of a century.

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CHAPTER XXIII.

        Discussions on the Bishop Question--Opinions of Carter, Cobb, B. Smith, A. L. Scott--Papers Spring Up in the Church-- Attitude of the Gospel Trumpet--Correspondents Wage a War on the Trumpet--Bishops Meet in January, 1898, in Augusta --They Criticise Editorial Management of the Index--Official Organ Had Always Published Articles Mentioning the Names of Men for the Bishopric--The Address of the Bishops to the Church--C. H. Phillips Made No Reply--Views on the Address Expressed by S. E. Poer, M. F. Jamison, M. L. Morrison, E. W. Moseley, J. L. Armstead, S. E. Ervin, G. W. Holbert, A. J. Stinson, M. Lewis, P. H. Hunter, and Others.

        ALLUSION was made in Chapter XXI of the short duration of the Columbia General Conference and that the smallpox scare and unwarranted restlessness contributed to that result, making the Ninth General Conference the shortest in all the annals of the Church.

        In Chapter XVIII and on page 192 will be seen that we referred to the discussions that went on in the official organ on questions that would probably engage the attention of this Conference. But the question that was mostly discussed, the question that would not down, was the election of an additional bishop.

        Contributors to the Christian Index not only found it difficult to write communications without discussing the bishop question, pro and con, but found it even more difficult to close their articles without mentioning the name of the man whom they desired to see elected to the episcopal office. A situation of this sort would naturally engender jealousies, coalesce those who were opposed to the election of a bishop, crystallize opposition to the man whose name was

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most frequently mentioned, and amalgamate those who favored the propaganda. There is always a consanguinity between thinkers of the same school.

        We can do no better or wiser thing than select some representatives from each of the two schools of thought and let them speak for those with whom they were in perfect affinity. R. A. Carter, writing on "The Needs of the Church," in the Gospel Trumpet, the article being reproduced in the Christian Index of February 12, 1898, among other things, said:

        We have read all the articles emanating from the "wise (?) men" of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church which have appeared in the official organ from time to time concerning the needs of the Church, and we have noticed that with striking and peculiar unanimity every one of them, with a few exceptions, pointed out but one need--and that does not exist--another bishop.

        The Church does not need another bishop. It does need more machinery to carry on the noble work of soul-saving and Church extension. . . . Another bishop, or a hundred bishops, cannot spread the Church without money with which to buy and build and educate.

        What can a bishop do in a great city without a dollar towards spreading the Church when other bishops come to the same people, backed by thousands of dollars of Church extension and missionary and educational money? Absolutely nothing.


        That was about the line of thinking of those who were opposed to the election of a bishop. A. J. Cobb, who represented another view on this question, wrote as follows in the same issue of the Index, but his article was in no respect an answer to the views of R. A. Carter:

        Will the delegates to the forthcoming General Conference elect another bishop? The first thing to be settled with reference to this question is, does the Church need another bishop? If so, the bishops ought to say so in their message. If they don't, then what? Some say the Church does not need another bishop and

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give as their reason that the present number of bishops can do the work. Let us see if this statement will bear the test. Take Bishop Williams' district. He has, I believe, twenty-six or twenty-seven District Conferences to hold, under the present law of our Church, which will take him about five months beginning, say, in May, running on up to the last of September. Now do you think any bishop can go on for twenty-seven weeks, holding district meetings, replying to all the questions put to him by those who cluster about him, replying to all the letters he receives from those with whom he is not in personal contact, preaching every Sunday, lecturing and preaching all through the week, giving his attention to business matters that demand his attention from the outside world without breaking down physically? Why, no. What is true of Bishop Williams' episcopal district and himself is true, in a measure, of all the other bishops and their work. Will the bishops in their message ask for another bishop? I think not. Well, then, what? I plead for manhood upon the part of the delegates.

        If to differ from the bishops you must, then do it manly and Christlike.


        B. Smith, who for many years had been one of the prominent men of the Church, expressed a different view in the Index of March 12, 1898:

        I for one do not think the Church needs another bishop. But if the General Conference thinks differently from me, I shall bow to the wisdom of that great body. I do not object to Dr. Phillips any more than anyone else. He is qualified for a place on the bench, but we do not need anyone now. . . . Each delegate, clerical and lay, should be at the opening in May and let each man go to work for the Church and not for any man or set of men.

        If it is for the good of the Church to elect another bishop, and that should be the judgment of the General Conference, do that and let God find the man. If God wants Dr. Phillips or doctor anybody else, he will give to the Church that man regardless of what will be said by me or anyone else.


        A. L. Scott, who was pastoring in Jacksonville, Alabama, in 1898, in the Index of March 5, writes that

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        much has been said concerning the election of one more bishop. In my opinion, we need more bishops to help the grand men who are now at work, and to give further prestige to our cause. we need the presence of a bishop in all our District Conferences and must have them if the men can be found.

        Have we got the men? Yes. There is Dr. C. H. Phillips, a preacher of righteousness, a scholar, and a high-toned Christian gentleman, who is now Editor of the Christian Index, one of the best-edited religious papers in this Southland.

        "Well" says one, "if he is great he has used the paper to publish his greatness until he seems small to me." Has he said anything for himself in the way of a puff? No. I am a reader of the Index and a close one at that, and nowhere, as yet, has it been my privilege to read anything he has said of himself in the way of an advertisement.

        He has only published what his friends and foes have said about him.


        The communications to the Index favoring the election of an additional bishop far outnumbered those which were opposed to that action by the General Conferences. The proportion of the advocates of an election to the opposition was eight to two out of every ten contributors to the Index.

        In 1897 a number of papers sprung up in different parts of the Church. We say "sprung up" because most of them lived but a short time after they were born. Among these were the Gospel Trumpet, published in Georgia by Bishop Holsey and R. A. Carter; the Colored Methodist Episcopal Fly, in Texas, by C. F. Moore; the Western Index, in Texas, by W. B. West; the Mississippi Christian Index, and the Fort Worth, Texas, Item.

        Editor Moore concerning his paper said:

        The duration of the Fly is unknown.


        In the Index of April 10, 1897, we replied:

        Rev. Moore knows how to make an amusing statement.


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        The most influential of the above publications was the Gospel Trumpet. Both Bishop Holsey and R. A. Carter wielded sarcastic pens often dipped, as it were, in vitriol, and directed their criticisms at the editorial policy of the Christian Index. As editor of the Index we very largely reproduced the vitriolic paragraphs of Editor Carter and made no replies, whatsoever, to the views of Bishop Holsey. That policy neutralized the influence of the Trumpet and proved a boomerang to its editors.

        To defeat the election of a bishop the Trumpet consecrated its best energies. To defeat the election of C. H. Phillips to the episcopal office was one of the real purposes for which the paper was established. From all parts of the Church correspondents waged a continuous warfare against the Trumpet in the columns of the Index, defended the policy of the official organ, and advocated its editor for the episcopal office.

        Finally, the bishops took a hand and indicated to the Church what they thought of the editorial policy of the Index. What was the policy of the paper? It was simply to publish articles that named different men for episcopal preferment. The paper had always done that. We were following the course pursued by our predecessors. But ninety-eight per cent of all the writers mentioned the name of C. H. Phillips and that was considered a censurable offense by some Church partisans.

        The bishops met in January, 1898, in Augusta, Ga., to survey the work of the Church during the quadrennium; to confer on the message to be delivered to the General Conference, and to make a deliverance on such problems as they thought confronted the Church.

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        Upon the adjournment of their meeting they gave out an address to the Church which was duly published in the Christian Index of February 5, 1898. They congratulated the Church upon its social relations, moral status, educational attitude, continued extensions, and inviting missionary fields. They said the greatest need was money to foster and develop the mission work, the growth of the Church in numbers, the building of larger and better Church houses, the sacrificing spirit and devotion of the ministry, the liberality and loyalty of the laymen were subjects for congratulation and commendation on the part of the bishops.

        They suggested that the Church observe a week of prayer commencing April 3 and run through April 10, and that Good Friday, April 8, be a special fast day. They further asked the Church to pray for the approaching General Conference and for a general awakening and thorough revival of religion throughout the bounds of the Church.

        That part of the address which referred to the Christian Index was so remarkable and created such a stir among the bishop-men and no-bishop men, according the their likes and dislikes, that we deem it wise to give the document a permanent place in history, allowing it to become a precedent for commendation or criticism, as the evolution of years may evolve present and future conditions. The address was as follows:

        As your chief pastors we have constantly endeavored to represent and protect all the interests of our Church in the now rapid progress of its development. And knowing the value and helpfulness of a well-edited and properly managed Church paper, we have striven hard to give it support and patronage. In our efforts to do this we have, in some instances, incurred the displeasure

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of some of our ministers, both traveling and local, by enforcing the law requiring them to take the paper. Our official organ was designed to conserve and protect the interests of the whole Church; to promote peace and harmony among the ministers and members; to help create and disseminate religious sentiment for the Church; to be an official medium of communication for the entire Connection, and to be an advocate of the enterprises and general institutions of the Church.

        But we very much regret that our duty as chief counselors of the Church obliges us at this time to call attention to the hurtful and harmful editorial management of the Christian Index. There have appeared from time to time, especially more recently, expressions in the editorial columns of the Index not in keeping with our idea of a Church paper supported and maintained for the common interests of us all.

        We are not aware of such indiscretions or overreaching improprieties in the administrations of the bishops of the Church, or any one of them, as to deserve the implied rebuke in recent issues of the Christian Index.

        In our considerate judgment and opinion, our official organ has been perverted from its legitimate and lofty purpose as a Church paper to advocate discord and even disloyalty among the hitherto loyal legions of our membership and ministry. We had hoped that the Christian Index, which costs the Church something over four thousand dollars a year, would have brought the Church better returns. We, therefore, feel it our duty to emphasize the fact that our paper was not intended to be a partisan sheet, published at the expense of the Church, in the special interest of any man or men.

        We had anxiously waited and hoped to see ere this time a change in the editorial policy of our paper. But now that there is no special reason to feel that such a change is probable, and since the opposite course has been indicated in recent issues of the paper, we feel it our duty to invite the attention of the Church to these facts and to advise against them.

        For God and the Church we are, brethren, your co-laborers and chief pastors in the Lord.

J. A. BEEBE,
L. H. HOLSEY,
ISAAC LANE,
R. S. WILLIAMS,
E. COTTRELL.

Augusta, Ga., January 23, 1898.
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        We published the address of the bishops without comment. We confess, however, after a lapse of twenty-seven years, that our decision to publish it without comment tested every virtue that we may have possessed. We had the moral courage to make reply, or what a large number of men of to-day call manhood by a misnomer. There is, in our opinion, an appreciable difference between manhood and courage. A person by making noise and injudicious statements may be impressing shallow thinkers that he has manhood. But one can display moral courage by acting rather than by saying.

        To have made a discourteous reply to the bishops to show to the Church we had manhood would have exhibited palpable indiscreteness. To show to the Church that we possessed moral courage was the easier and wiser course to pursue. We took the latter course. Knowing we were following precedents; knowing that contributors had mentioned the names of R. S. Williams and E. Cottrell, from 1890 to 1894, in the columns of the Index ad libitum, we determined that writers should mention our name or any other man's name just as much as they desired, between 1894 and 1898, and, then, if we should in May, 1898, be reelected, change the policy of the paper. We made no change in the policy of the Index after the publication of the address of the bishops up to the General Conference.

        That was a pretty fair example of moral courage. The composition and publication of an address of that kind within two months of the General Conference gave it a savor of Church politics. How it was received by the Church may be imagined by a few writers to the Index.

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        S. E. Poer, of Georgia, who has long since gone to his reward, wrote thus in the Index of February 19, 1898:

        I read the address of the bishops with great interest. It was encouraging to see from their paper that the Church is on the upward march and that our educational institutions are giving such good results. But there seems to be hidden fire burning somewhere against the editorial management of the Christian Index.

        I have been a close reader of the Index ever since Dr. Phillips has been in charge, and I can say with many others that it is a grand paper and is well managed.

        I have seen nothing in its editorial columns worthy of note against any of the bishops.

        Bishops, treat all men alike. Do not help some men and burden others. It is God's Church and we are to meet him after a while.


        M. F. Jamison, who was generally regarded an administration apologist, or a man who stood with the bishops against the election of a bishop, in the same issue of the Index where appeared the article of S. E. Poer, wrote these observations:

        The bishops all united in condemning the editorial management of the Christian Index, thus dealing Dr. Phillips a dreadful blow. What will the Church say of this? All along it has been said that the Index had been wonderfully improved and made the equal of any Negro journal. But now the chief pastors come and unite in condemning it. Since the days of W. P. Churchill there never has been a man who held the quill of the Christian Index who did not meet a similar fate to that which falls upon Dr. Phillips.

        Fitzhugh, Thomas, Hamilton, Brown, Jamison, and Phillips died in the slaughterhouse of the Index, crushed to death. Who next? Well, I suggest that the General Conference call on heaven for an editor, as none on earth is found worthy.

        Of course, no one will deny the fact that Dr. Phillips has sadly blundered in allowing his simple and misguided friends to boom him for the office of a bishop. There was no sense in this. I felt sure it would bring the doctor into disfavor.

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        Now the chances are decidedly against him; not only for the high office of a bishop but even the editorial chair.

        The bishops are acting in self-defense, it seems; but it is to be regretted that they have made an issue out of Dr. Phillips. It may lead to his destruction or to his promotion. Let us watch and wait.


        Prof. M. L. Morrison, a prominent layman of Ruston, Louisiana, in the issue of the Index of February 26, 1898, said:

        If the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church is not going to recognize her talented, her brainy, her cultured, and her best men by putting them in front and giving them the best positions, then she had as well do away with her colleges and seminaries and let the young divines pack their trunks and leave for some other vocation. An educated man has power, though all great men are more or less feared. It was said Cæsar was a man who could brook no equal; Pompey, a man who could suffer no superior.

        I believe there are leading men in our Church who, like Cæsar, can brook no equal. We all know that Dr. C. H. Phillips has no superior in the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. . . . Socrates once said: "What higher reward could a teacher ask than to have Xenophon and Plato as pupils?" While many are working their mental vocabularies in planning what great thing to do in the General Conference, would it not be wise to ask what greater honor could they confer on the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church than to elect Dr. Phillips to the bench of bishops?


        E. W. Moseley, of West Tennessee, in the issue of the Index of February 26, wrote:

        Whether the whole Church will agree with the bishops' address, the future will tell. I, for my part, do not agree with the bishops respecting the editorial management of the Christian Index. I believe the majority of us are decided in our minds as to how we will vote, respecting certain issues that are likely to come before the General Conference.

        I have read and pondered well the address of our chief pastors, and I believe I voice the sentiments of the majority of the whole Church when I say that it will be read thoughtfully by every delegate to the General Conference.


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        In a February issue of the Gospel Trumpet R. A. Carter declared that a yea and nay vote would be taken at Columbia, so the people and Conference might know how every delegate voted. Of course, it was thought that a vote so taken would embarrass the delegates in the presence of the Bishops, and that many would vote contrary to their convictions in order to be in harmony with the feelings and views of the Bishops.

        Looking back across the lapse of twenty-seven years and being an eyewitness to the proceedings of the Columbia General Conference, we do not hesitate to say that J. L. Armstead, of Oxford, Mississippi, not only spoke his views but the views of many delegates, when in the Index of March 5, 1898, he wrote these words:

        R. A. Carter said in the last part of his article that the people propose to hold every delegate to a strict account for his vote. This is what everyone expects. We are not going to the General Conference to run blind ballots. But we are going to do our work for the Church and not for certain men. I shall want my vote recorded because I am going to vote my sentiments on each and every question.

        Doctor, I hope you are not discouraged. You are giving us a good paper. All loyal members of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church say so.


        G. W. Holbert, writing from Nacogdoches, Texas, in the same issue of the Index with J. L. Armstead, said:

        I want to say right here, coolly and dispassionately, that it is not the question of another bishop so much that drives our good brethren and opposers into a fit or stirs their souls from center to circumference. But it is the man who is so conspicuous, and on this man all eyes are fixed for the next man to grace the bench of bishops.

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        It is believed by even his opposers that if any man is elected to this high and honored position, this particular man will be the one.


        S. E. Ervin, of Mississippi, in the same issue of the Index with Almstead and Holbert, wrote:

        M. F. Jamison, of Texas, says the "simple and misguided friends" of Dr. Phillips, by their booming him has lessened his chances not only for bishop but also for Editor; that the editorial management had been the slaughterhouse of great men; and that Dr. Phillips is thrown in the slaughter-pen to make out the number. He failed when he said Dr. Phillips' chances for the bishopric were lessened. I assume authority to say that the protest against his management of the Index has not done any harm.

        If you read the law of cause and effect you will find that in order for a kite to rise it must rise against the opposition of the wind. So these winds of opposition to Dr. Phillips are helping him to rise to that sphere in this Church that he has not reached. So opposition is necessary.

        They are the things that make us take our stand on the top of the mountain.


        William Ponder, of Kilgrove, Texas, contributed a very thoughtful article in the Index of March 26, 1898, on what he styled "The Bishops' Address to the Church." It was as follows:

        I believe I can truthfully say that there be few men who have a higher regard for our bishops than I have. But when I read their comment on the management of the Index I must confess that my ardor somewhat necessarily abated. I do not impute any unholy motives to our good bishops; no, not by any means. But in this comment I observe what I conceive to be an encroachment upon the first principles of freedom. I believe the Editor of the Christian Index is a creature of the people; and, as such, is bound to publish for his constituency articles respecting the interests of the Church when they are worded respectfully and in decent language.

        In the absence of more explicit language, I take it that the "indiscreet or overreaching improprieties" referred to in the

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address was that contained in the accusation brought by M. F. Jamison against the Editor for publishing the articles of his "simple and misguided friends." A man in the discharge of a public trust is allowed to be a servant of his friends as well as his foes. But the most remarkable part of this comment is their admission that they have waited nearly four years to see a change in the conduct of a man who evidently believed himself in the right.

        This waiting to see a sinner convert himself without the aid of Christian influence is such a strange doctrine that I can hardly believe the bishops serious when they make such an admission. Our good bishops have neglected the Bible and the Discipline as well. We are commanded when we have a grievance against our brother to go to him and try to righten matters and make a public exposition of his error a last resort.


        M. Lewis, of Bonham, Texas, in the same issue of the Index in which the Ponder article appeared, asks:

        Is there any harm for a man to be proud of being in demand by his people when his life has been one of active service and quality? All true men are looking up. . . . I think now that Dr. Phillips ought to be elected bishop. Why? Because he has made but one mistake in four years. The bishops say so. They are worthy of belief.


        P. H. Hunter, of Louisiana, in the last issue of the Index of March, 1898, wrote:

        It has become common to sing one more bishop and Dr. Phillips is the man. There is a time to sing and a time to stop and to think.

        The way things are going on now it will be impossible to hold a General Conference. Why, men seem to run over the Church and the delegates who are to act for them.

        Again, the chief pastors ought to be respected. I do not believe their meeting in Augusta, Ga., meant to defeat Dr. Phillips. No, I will never believe that. I am one of the delegates of the Louisiana Conference. I am not in favor of the election of another bishop. In my opinion, the Church has enough bishops for the next four years and if the question is sprung in the General

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Conference for another bishop, I shall not say for whom I shall cast my vote.

        Dr. Phillips may be the man now but he may not be the man at the Conference. I remember very well before the General Conference met in Memphis, in May, 1894, it was Dr. Phillips for bishop.

        But when the General Conference met and the votes were cast, Williams and Cottrell were elected and Dr. Phillips was left in a storm of defeat. Some of these same men that are booming Phillips now boomed him before, and then went to the General Conference and voted for Williams and Cottrell. It is rumored if you want to see your article in the Index just boom Phillips for bishop. I am sure that I am a better friend to Phillips than all the men that are doing so much talking. Now I pray God's blessing upon you, Dr. Phillips, and the whole Church. Let us go to the General Conference to do right, and God will bless us.


        In the issue of the second of April, 1898. A. J. Stinson, of Augusta, Ga., wrote:

        I rise to defend the bishopric of our Church. At the same time, I appreciate the fact that they are fully able to defend themselves and, therefore, do not need my little finger to touch their burdens, however great; nor my pen to champion their cause.


        After saying that much, Stinson proceeded to write of the responsibilities of a bishop: of their peculiar work, of what they had accomplished, and what they had done to extend and build up the Church.

        But he did not refer to the "Address of the Bishops;" did not defend them in the position they had taken in their criticism of the editorial management of the Index; did not positively define his own position on the question of the election of another bishop, nor state just what he thought of the paper and its policy.

        Whatever may have been the feelings of the real strong men of the Church who were in sympathy with

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the "Bishops' Address," they did not then indicate them through the columns of the Christian Index.

        And what is even more remarkable, some of the weak men of the Church who in those days were very often dubbed flatterers of the Bishops did not take up their cudgels for their defense. If, therefore, it appears that few contributors wrote against the election of an additional bishop, and fewer still in support of the Bishops, let it be remembered that it was no fault of the Editor during those exciting times, nor is it his fault now, as the author of this History. We published then what was sent to us for publication. We are putting into permanent history, now, the records of those days. History is history. It is the province of the historian to write as systematically as possible of transpiring events as they affected individuals, the Church, or any other kind of institution.

        In the same issue of the Index in which the article of A. J. Stinson appeared, R. T. Brown contributed a very timely and thoughtful communication on "The Liberty of Thought." It was his conviction that

        there should be no secret conclave in Church or state to crush manhood. Nor should ecclesiastical intimidation be brought to bear to force men to act irrespective of their convictions.


        F. H. Williams, of Mississippi, and I. P. Norman, of Arkansas, joined the discussion. The former said:

        The Church needed men who felt equal rights were guaranteed to all men who loved God, walked uprightly, would not stoop to seek the advantage of their brother, destroy the peace of the community, warrant fairness and honesty to all men, and live not to monopolize the world for themselves.


        The latter, after reasoning that when "a man is prejudiced against another, it is impossible to show

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him anything reasonable," he wrote it as his opinion that the General Conference would not

        have time to convince a man that is full of prejudice.

        We who are in favor of Dr. Phillips do not count favors nor those who are opposed to him. We have our minds made up and will vote for our choice. I believe that the men that oppose Dr. Phillips are honest. I believe the men that favor him are honest. I believe our whole delegation, laymen and clergy, are men, and will use their own judgment and should not be criticised by anyone.


        W. S. Wiggins, of Georgia, said:

        When Bishops Williams and Cottrell were aspirants, men boomed them and no one objected to it. Now, why is it such a crime to say who should be bishop? Because this man uses the Church's paper to publish communications concerning himself? Put any man, in this Church or any other Church, in the place of this man and he will be in the same predicament. How can he keep from publishing communications about himself when he is Editor of the paper? If he were not Editor he could not be charged with using the paper for his personal benefit.

        Thus, you see, he is not convicted.


        In the Index of April 9, 1898, W. R. Neal, of Mississippi, rejoiced that

        this is a day of free speech. It has been said,


continued Neal,

        that I am premature and speak with discourtesy to my bishops. I am honest and have an ingenuous nature for right. I always respect my superiors and my inferiors when no assaults are imposed by either.

        Some of the writers seem to oppose the election of a bishop and some do not. I agree with the latter.

        I have looked well the big men of the Church over and I see none in the Church that I think would excel Dr. Phillips.


        In the Index of April 30, 1898, the last before the General Conference, T. C. Little of Mississippi, and

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R. W. Warren, who was pastoring at Athens, Ala., were among those who wrote articles touching on General Conference matters.

        Little closed a well-written article by saying:

        Brethren, be sure to elect Phillips bishop and the Church will be satisfied.


        Warren said:

        If I had ten thousand votes I would cast them for Dr. Phillips because I know no other man in the Church that deserves the office more than he. I think he is a high-toned Christian gentleman.


        We have given the views of a number of correspondents out of a still larger number whose articles can be found in issues of the Index, especially of 1897 and 1898, to show the growing independency on the part of the leaders of the Church and their aspirations for a larger freedom.

        It was not in the mind of the leaders to be disrespectful or discourteous to the Bishops. But it was in their mind to eliminate, as far as possible, episcopal censorship of episcopal elections and restore that prerogative to the General Conference, where the fathers of Methodism had located it. Unfortunately, the Bishops had been too active in indicating who should and who should not be elected bishops.

        That they had a right, in a dignified manner, to speak favorably of the man or men whom they would like to see promoted was not questioned. It was, however, not only a debatable question whether it was right to employ the agency and influence of the episcopal office to prevent the election of a bishop, but it was, at the same time, incompatible with the genius and institutions of our Church government. It was

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inherent in a General Conference to elect an additional bishop without any recommendation from the Bishops, and the Columbia General Conference made the attempt over their protest. While the vote was close, as is seen in Chapter XXI, it marked a new innovation in our episcopal history. It was the first time any General Conference of our Church had ever attempted an episcopal election without a recommendation from the bench of Bishops. That innovation was necessary to the growth and welfare of the Church. The cry of the people, through their leaders and delegates to the General Conference, was for an inculcation of the spirit of democracy throughout the Church.

        They desired a voice in selecting of their bishops, and more than one man could have been elected to the episcopal office if the people could have been given the ballot.

        In the evolution of years some method for the election of Methodist Bishops different from our present system will be brought nearer the people, to the rank and file of the denominations. The spirit and temperament of the Connection can well be imagined through the various writers exhibited in this chapter.

        Before closing it we desire to say that the quadrennium closing at Columbia marked a new era in the editorial management of the Christian Index, so far as mentioning the names of men for the episcopal office was concerned.

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CHAPTER XXIV

        C. H. Phillips Writes a Valedictory and a Salutatory Address to the Church--Defines a New Editorial Policy.

        HITHERTO we have called attention to the dignified battle of words that raged through the columns of the Christian Index concerning General Conference matters and our editorial management of the paper. So many ardent correspondents defended our policy that we found it unnecessary to become involved in the political Church maelstrom.

        Two weeks before the General Conference we wrote the following "Valedictory Editorial to the Church," in which we reviewed briefly our editorial experiences and reciprocated the support given, and the general encouragement extended us:

        Four years ago, when we were elected Editor of the Christian Index, we made our salutatory address to the Church and bowed as gracefully as we could to those whom we were to serve. Time, in its onward flight, has pushed four years behind us and on its fleeting wings has brought us to the eve of another General Conference, where our term of office expires.

        These have been years of trial, experience, and discipline. We did not assume the functions of this office without some misgivings and without a deep sense of the responsibilities that would arise out of it. True, we had been writing for newspapers for years, yet we knew nothing of those experiences that were peculiar to an editor. Consequently, we had to get out on the journalistic seas, take the oar in hand and attempt to guide our bark over the waves, shoals, and pitfalls incident to journalism.

        Not the least important of the many important duties connected with this office is that of the publication of communications. As all could not be inserted, we have, conscientiously, endeavored to treat all men and all parties with fairness. We

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have reasons to believe that the great masses are inclined to the opinion that we have tried to be impartial so far as the publication of the communications of correspondents is concerned. We have not been able to please everybody; we did not hope to do so.

        Perhaps no Editor of this paper has been more generally praised; certainly not one has been more persistently criticised and abused. But praise does not make us a "fool," nor abuse make us a "mourner."

        Fortunately, we are used to both, and God has made us hard enough to stand both. These criticisms and abuses have been good for us. They have developed our patience, seasoned our manhood, and educated us how to be social and good-humored under trying ordeals. If any man had told us four years ago that we could have endured what we have without "losing our head," we should have said, not so. Such have been our experience and develop that now, if a brother-preacher were to call us a "liar," we could consider the source and pass the insult by unnoticed.

        True moral courage and integrity of character do not consist in striking back at those who assail us, but they are evidenced when their possessor exhibits a disposition to be patient under peculiar and trying conditions. Notwithstanding the implacable prejudices, unwarranted antipathies, and groundless misstatements that have been arrayed against us, we are thankful to say that we did not avail ourselves of the opportunity we possessed to overwhelm our accusers with execration or invective.

        But we shall thank them always for their great services. They have furnished the occasion for the development of that which we needed greatly--patience and forbearance. Our relation with all our exchanges has been pleasant.

        Only one paper has criticised this Editor, and that paper never pointed out one rule of journalism that we have violated. When the Lord had us elected Editor at Memphis we asked him to guide and keep us from "flying off the handle." The Lord guided and kept us.

        We have been struck but we struck not back again. Amid it all we have really enjoyed our hard work. We love to think; we love to write, and this position has furnished an opportunity for both. It has been a pleasant duty to have to talk to so many people through our editorials. We have tried to interest, entertain, and instruct. How far we have succeeded in this we leave it to

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a charitable and reasonable public to determine. We made our bow in coming into this office; we bow now as we are about to lay down this pen. We shall not go up to the General Conference an office-seeker.

        Whatever our enemies may say to the contrary, the truth is this: We have never been one one-hundredth as anxious to be elected to any office as those who will not love us are anxious to prevent the same.

        We have no claim on any office; we hold a mortgage on none. The Church has a number of able men and she is free to honor whom she will. We have always served where Providence has placed us, and we shall continue to do so in the future.

        To the readers of the Index we thank you for the tolerance you manifested when your articles could not be published; for the loyal support you have given us, and for your prayers. God has wonderfully blessed us. In every issue of this paper our editorials have appeared, and we have not been sick during this quadrennium. Praise the Lord! We assure our readers that no man will be more cheerful at Columbia than the man who pushes this pen. We have committed our future into the hands of Almighty God and shall there let it remain. And, now, as there is to be but two more issues of the Index before the General Conference, we take this opportunity to say to our readers, whom we have served these years often with a heavy heart but cheerful spirit: Good-bye! Farewell! God bless you!


        Shakespeare makes Hamlet, the hero of his greatest tragedy, say:


                         There's a divinity that shapes our ends:
Rough hew them how we will.

        If there were any tragedy at Columbia, it was not our defeat for reelection to the editorship of the Index, nor did we have the anticipated stormy session.


                         He who, from zone to zone,
Guides through the boundless sky thy certain flight,
In the long way that I must tread alone
Will lead my steps aright.

        After our reelection, mention of which as well as other elections have already been made, in the Christian

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Index of June 4, 1898, we wrote our "Salutatory Address," which was as follows:

It was only a few weeks ago we made our valedictory address to the Church. We had rounded out four years in the editorial harness, and it was befitting for us to make some final remarks to those whom we had faithfully tried to serve.

        Now that we have been commissioned to resume the duties which we discharged during the last quadrennium, it is well for us to salute the Church and give in this editorial a forecast of what our readers may anticipate. We appreciate the consideration and kindness of the General Conference in re-electing us to this position, and we shall endeavor to exhibit this appreciation by faithfully performing the functions of this office.

        Four years of experience will better enable us to give the Church a paper that will be less objectionable in its general reading matter, and more satisfactory in its editorial management.

        We can now improve upon many things which some considered our mistakes; we can profit by the experience of the past. Experience brings on development; development, ripeness, and ripeness, perfection.

        It is common for Negro organs of ecclesiastical bodies, more or less, to mention again and again the names of those who are prominent in their Churches for whatever positions they may have to confer on the worthy. This has been done in the past; it is being done now. Some Negro paper should break away from this custom, strike out for reform, and make a precedent for other papers. The Christian Index will now take this initiative step. In the future, this man nor that man's name will not be mentioned in connection with the episcopal office, editorial position, book agency, or any other office in these columns.

        Men may discuss the offices but leave out the names of those whom they might desire to see fill them. We confess this is a new departure, but it will give satisfaction in the end. The Christian Index, Christian Recorder, and Star of Zion have always allowed correspondents to mention in their columns the names of those whom they want for bishops and general officers. The Index will now start the reformation and these other papers will be bound to follow our example, sooner or later. During the last quadrennium some of our good brethren misrepresented us. They said they could not get their articles published unless they

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mentioned our name for the bishopric; others said other things equally as unjustifiable. Under our new policy there will be no more of this kind of talk. Our name nor the name of any other man will be mentioned in connection with the episcopal office in these columns.

        Official organs of white Methodists pursue this course and there is no reason why Negro papers should not attain that high ideal.

        We desire to have the honor of bringing the Index up to this standard. We, therefore, call upon all the bishops and our readers to help us attain this proposed excellency in Negro journalism. This will not interfere with freedom of speech. When it is time to discuss the necessity of making additional bishops in 1902, this can be done without mentioning the names of the men whom the Church should honor.

        We expect a much smoother sail these four years than we had the last. If there is to be any fighting of the bishops, agent, or editor, it will certainly not be carried on in this paper.

        When we see a man writing for the purpose of creating confusion in the Church, we shall consign his articles invariably to the waste-basket.

        If occasion requires it, we shall not object to criticism, but we shall protest against abuse.

        In making our bow to the Church we trust that these years may be years of peace and prosperity.

        We shall faithfully discharge the duties of this office and do all in our power to give the Church a first-class religious journal. We ask the blessings of God upon us. We ask the prayers of the Church.


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CHAPTER XXV

        General Conference Methodist Episcopal Church, South-- Election of Bishops and General Officers--Agitation Over the Collection of $288,000 from the Federal Government by Agents Barbee and Smith--Retiring of Bishop Keener--J. D. Barbee a Friend to the Negro.

        WHILE our General Conference was in session in Columbia, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, was in session at Baltimore.

        The latter body proposed to elect two bishops, but, by an unusual happening, three were elected.

        The daily papers gave this version of the election:

        It was the liveliest election ever held by the Southern Methodists. The Rev. Dr. Warren A. Candler, of Oxford, Ga., and the Rev. Dr. H. C. Morrison, of Nashville, Tenn., were, undoubtedly, elected bishops. Only two ballots were taken, but many delegates were of the opinion that the Rev. Dr. E. E. Hoss, of Nashville, was also elected. The whole number of votes cast on the second ballot was 255, and Bishop Wilson announced that 128 were required to elect. Dr. Candler received 148; Dr. Morrison, 140, and Dr. Hoss, 129. The Conference had started out to elect two bishops. That limit had already been determined upon several days before the election.

        As soon as Bishop Wilson announced that Drs. Candler and Morrison had been elected, there was a storm of protest. It was claimed that Dr. Hoss had also been elected. Motions were offered thick and fast, and, for a time, the Conference was in confusion.


        The friends of Dr. Hoss thought of reconsidering the election, but upon the advice of the doctor the matter was dropped. Four years afterwards he was elected again and served his Church faithfully for a

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number of years, being, perhaps, its most distinguished representative up to the time of his death.

        Bishop John Christian Keener, after twenty-eight years of service in the episcopal office, on account of old age and feebleness, voluntarily retired, his salary being fixed at three thousand dollars for the remainder of his life. The foreign and domestic work of the Church was doing well under its Missionary Society, and the debt of the Board, amounting to $129,144.78 at that time, was reported paid. The publishing plants was valued at $895,000, with a volume of business during the quadrennium of $1,378,858.60. The value of all kinds of Church property was estimated at considerably over $35,000,000, with a membership of 1,478,421. Of course, the growth of the Church since 1898 would be in striking contrast to what it was then. A good watch and silver service were presented Bishop Keener by the General Conference as an expression of its love and esteem. Besides the election of two bishops, the Conference elected W. R. Lambuth and J. H. Pritchell Missionary Secretaries; E. E. Hoss, re-elected Editor of the Christian Advocate, receiving 221 out of 241 votes; H. M. Dubose, Editor and Secretary of the Epworth League; Book Editor and Editor of the Review, J. J. Tigert; W. B. Murrah, Secretary of Education; Sunday-school Editor, James Atkins, Book Agents, Barbee and Smith, reelected.

        Out of these general officers, in the evolution of years, Drs. Hoss, Tigert, Dubose, Lambuth, and Atkins were elected bishops of the Church. The salaries of the bishops were fixed at $3,600 and that of the general officers at $3,000. Concerning the election of Drs. Candler and Morrison to the episcopal office, Dr.

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Palmore, at that time Editor of the St. Louis Christian Advocate, paid them this compliment:

        Our two new bishops are about the finest preachers in the American pulpit. They are both orthodox, earnest, sympathetic, and eloquent. Missouri, Arkansas, and the West would be delighted to have them in their first episcopal service


        One of the questions which almost immediately engaged the attention of the leaders of this Church after the Baltimore General Conference was the securing of $288,000 by Agents Barbee and Smith from the Federal Government as a belated recompensation for injury done the Church property of the Church during the Civil War. Some persons, who were careful in their estimates fixed the damage at $400,000. Congress allowed $288,000. The Nashville American declared that

        was shabby conduct and tardy injustice on the part of a great rich Government like that of the United States.


        The critics of the Book Agents objected to the methods which they claimed were used by them to collect the money. The Church divided according to their opinions and interpretations of the methods employed. The controversy became rather personal, acrimonious, and bitter.

        One of the disturbing factors that entered very largely into the problem of affairs was the $100,800 paid Mr. E. B. Stahlman as a fee for his services as the acting attorney for the Agents. The American protested. It declared that Mr. Stahlman's

        contract was for only ten per cent more than had been offered a prior Agent who failed. He undertook the case at his own expense on the condition that he was not to be reimbursed if he

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lost. He gave to the matter three years of hard work. His time was valuable. He resorted to no bribery or corrupt methods in pushing the work, and this is not charged nor stated. He succeeded and he justly earned the amount paid him.


        Clement C. Cary, of Cedartown, Ga., a minister of this Church, writing to the St. Louis Christian Advocate, said Barbee and and Smith should resign. He said he desired the following:

        1. Return that money to the Treasury of the United States forthwith, before the hands of the Church burns or blackens it. Let us never ask for it again nor consent to receive it.

        2. Let Barbee and Smith resign. If they decline let them be displaced.

        3. Let McKendree Church require of Mr. Stahlman confession of his great sin publicly, and suitable promise of amendment, or else expel him. Not to do so means to have a veritable Jonah on board the ship, and to retain a real Achan in the camp.


        In the Index of September 3, 1898, we wrote as follows:

        Rev. Cary has a right to express his views. But there are thousands in his Church who do not believe that they should resign or be removed from office. There are two sides to this controversy and doubtless agitation, pro and con, will be kept up during the present quadrennium.


        In September, Dr. J. A. Orman, Presiding Elder of the Murfreesboro District, called a committee of seven men to investigate rumors involving the moral character of Dr. Barbee in collecting the $288,000. After remaining in session thirteen hours, the Committee made the following report:

        Your Committee, after prayerfully and carefully examining all the testimony, unanimously report no trial necessary.


        If the author of this History is lingering long on this incident of the Church, South, it is because of our personal

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interest in Dr. Barbee. We were interested in the outcome of the case and were always delighted to know that the distinguished Book Agent never was punished by his Church other than by the mental worry and unpreventable embarrassment that must inhere in a case of that kind. The adjustment of that case naturally developed into Church politics.

        Leaders succeeded and failed as they took positions on that matter, so far as their ambitions led them to seek or desire various important positions in the Church. Our sympathy was with the Agents, especially with Dr. Barbee for personal considerations besides from the merits of the case. When we were a struggling young man, just out of college, waiting for something to do while we were making some preparations before starting full-fledged into the traveling Connection, it was Dr. Barbee who procured for us a position in the city schools of Clarksville, Tennessee, where we taught a session and then went to Lane College. We appreciated his kindness; loved him while he lived, and sorrowed at the time of his death.

        Dr. Barbee belonged to a school of men like Bishops Haygood, Galloway, Lambuth, Hoss, Tigert, and others whose names are too numerous to mention. At Clarksville, during his pastorate, he greatly assisted J. M. Mitchell, pastor of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church. Occasionally he preached for our people; helped and encouraged Mitchell in his efforts to remove our church from its very undesirable location, near the Louisville and Nashville depot, to the very excellent location on Franklin Street. He gave his own means and procured help from the church which he pastored. At Nashville he was no less helpful. He preached from time to time in Capers' Chapel, helped

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in a financial way, and rendered invaluable services to Bishop Lane in his efforts to organize and build the basement of Lane Tabernacle, in East Nashville. It was not so much the assistance which he rendered us; not so much the financial help he procured that endeared him to the Negro, but it was his large sympathies, his big heart, and benignant spirit that put him side by side with Bishop Haygood, who loved his "brother in black." May the tribe of these men and others like them greatly increase in the white race!

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CHAPTER XXVI.

        The General Board Meeting--I. S. Person and R. A. Carter Elected Missionary and Epworth League Secretaries Respectively --Chairmen of the Various Boards Elected-- Episcopal Plan for 1898--R. H. King, Fraternal Delegate-- G. W. Stewart Plants the Church in Mobile--Some New Leaders.

        WE HAVE seen that the Columbia General Conference did not finish its work but delegated certain prerogatives to the General Board, which was composed of one representative from each Annual Conference. The members of the Board were:

  • Alabama . . . . . G. W. Mills
  • Arkansas . . . . . I. P. Norman
  • East Florida . . . . . G. W. Coar
  • Georgia . . . . . R. A. Carter
  • Illinois and Missouri . . . . . G. W. Parker
  • Indian Mission . . . . . H. Fergerson
  • Kentucky . . . . . J. A. Hatcher
  • Little Rock . . . . . J. E. McDade
  • Louisiana . . . . . Arthur Daniel
  • Mississippi . . . . . A. L. Jennings
  • Missouri and Kansas . . . . . J. M. Rivers
  • New Orleans . . . . . J. C. Phillips
  • New Jersey . . . . . D.D. Tillman
  • North Alabama . . . . . G. F. Welch
  • North Mississippi . . . . . F. H. Williams
  • North Carolina . . . . . J. W. Roberts
  • South Georgia . . . . . R. J. Johnson
  • South Carolina . . . . . J. C. Martin
  • Tennessee . . . . . N. C. Cleaves
  • Texas . . . . . A. K. Hawkins
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  • Virginia . . . . . J. W. Harris
  • West Tennessee . . . . . C. W. Lane
  • West Texas . . . . . B. Smith

        Senior Bishop J. A. Beebe called the Board to meet in Nashville, at Capers' Chapel, July 6, 1898. Among those present were Bishops Beebe, Holsey, Lane, Williams, and Cottrell. Others present were: G. F. Welch, G. W. Mills, H. S. Doyle, R. T. Brown, and Prof. H. A. Knox, of Alabama; J. C. Martin, of South Carolina; J. W. Roberts, of North Carolina; H. Fergerson, of the Indian Mission Conference; R. A. Carter, I. S. Person, R. J. Johnson, of Georgia; C. W. Lane, N. C. Cleaves, of Tennessee; G. W. Parker, of Illinois and Missouri Conference; J. E. McDade, of Arkansas; J. C. Phillips and Arthur Daniel, the only layman on the Board, of Louisiana; A. L. Jennings, of Mississippi; J. A. Hatcher, of Kentucky, and resident ministers of the city. A. N. Stevens, the pastor of Capers' Chapel, made it delightfully pleasant for all the Board members and visitors. The Missionary Society was launched and I. S. Person, on the first ballot, was elected its Secretary.

        One of the liveliest discussions of the meeting was had over the adoption of a society for the young people of the Church. Some favored the Christian Endeavor organization, others the Epworth League. The Epworth League advocates finally won out and R. A. Carter, on the second ballot, was elected its first Secretary over C. W. Lane, who was his close rival. The Board resolved to found a Quarterly Review and operate it with the Epworth League, but it was never done. It was further decided to celebrate the silver anniversary of Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane to the episcopal office, at Jackson, Tenn., in May, 1899;

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to cease the publication of the Presiding Elder's Quarterly Conference appointments to stand in the Index, and unanimously endorsed "Phillips' History of the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church" as the recognized "History of the Church," the motion being offered by Bishop Holsey. The salary of the Book Agent was fixed at $1,300; that of the Editor of the Christian Index, Missionary Secretary, and Epworth League Secretary at $1,200 each. Petitions from the Alabama and the North Alabama Conferences asking the privilege to retain their pro rata of their educational moneys was read, but the request was denied the petitioners. They were allowed to retain all money raised on Children's Day in the two Conferences. It was under these discouraging conditions that the Alabama school enterprise had to face the future in the early days of its struggles.

        Bishop Lane was elected Chairman of the Publishing Board; Bishop Cottrell, Missionary Board; Bishop Williams, Sunday School and Epworth League Departments; and C. W. Lane, C. H. Phillips, and R. T. Brown, with the local pastors of Jackson, a Committee to make arrangements for the silver anniversary of the three bishops.

        With this organization the Church started out with a clear sky and bright prospects for the quadrennium.

        Here is the episcopal plan for the fall of 1898:

    • BISHOP BEEBE'S DISTRICT

    • CONFERENCES . . . . . TIME--PLACE
    • North Carolina . . . . . November 2--Washington
    • West Texas . . . . . November 9--Ft. Worth
    • Texas Mission . . . . . November 16--Houston
    • East Texas . . . . . November 23--Tyler
    • Little Rock . . . . . November 30
    • Arkansas . . . . . December 7
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    • BISHOP HOLSEY'S DISTRICT

    • South Carolina . . . . . December 14--Batesburg
    • Georgia . . . . . December 7--Washington

    • BISHOP LANE'S DISTRICT

    • Indian Mission . . . . . October 5--Ardmore
    • Missouri and Kansas . . . . . October 12--Richmond
    • Kentucky . . . . . October 19--Lebanon
    • Virginia . . . . . October 26--Anacostia, D.C.
    • Southeast Missouri and Illinois. . . . . . November 9

    • BISHOP WILLIAMS' DISTRICT

    • New Orleans . . . . . November 9--New Orleans
    • Louisiana . . . . . November 16--Ruston
    • Mississippi . . . . . November 23--Centresville
    • North Mississippi . . . . . December 7--Tupelo
    • West Tennessee . . . . . November 30--Brownsville

    • BISHOP COTTRELL'S DISTRICT

    • Tennessee . . . . . November 16--Nashville
    • North Alabama . . . . . November 23--Anniston
    • Alabama . . . . . November 30--Orrville
    • South Georgia . . . . . December 7--Brunswick
    • Florida . . . . . December 14--Jacksonville

        Through the summer the bishops visited as many of the District Conferences as possible, and otherwise carried forward the work committed to their care.

        In different parts of the Church a new leadership was rapidly developing and faithful ministers were giving good account of themselves wherever they were called to serve.

        R. H. King, a versatile writer, eloquent speaker, and one of Georgia's most prominent men, was chosen by the bishops as fraternal delegate to represent the Church at the General Conference of the Church South at Baltimore.

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        His address, which was published in the Christian Index, evidenced research, study, and thorough preparation. G. W. Stewart, in the Christian Index of this year, writes thus:

        I left Columbia, S. C., May 10, and went directly to Mobile, Ala., where I bought a Church, to be paid for on easy payments. I found twenty-five members in number; held my first Quarterly Conference; and started the Colored Methodist Episcopal ball to rolling in Mobile.

        The Church lot is 150 by 50; and the Church is 65 by 35 and cost $1,250. For twenty-five years we have been trying to get into Mobile. Now we have entered, and, if the Connection will send me a little help, I will firmly plant the Church in this great gulf city.


        To-day we have a well-organized Church in Mobile. Among the new leaders, who were gradually making their way to prominence in the general Church, were: J. W. Harris, R. K. Harris, J. C. Colclough, of Georgia; J. W. Lewis, W. B. West, M. Lewis, C. Lewis, of Texas; I. P. Norman, J. E. McDade, and Hunter, of Arkansas; G. W. Stoner, J. W. Luckett, J. A. Hatcher, of Kentucky; D. W. Featherston, W. W. Seveir, of Tennessee, and many others throughout the Connection.

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CHAPTER XXVII

        The Church Celebrates the Twenty-fifth Anniversary of Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane to the Episcopal Office--Miles Memorial College Organized By the Two Alabama Conferences --R. T. Brown Writes About the School--Bishop Holsey and Paine College--Secretaries Carter and Persons Active--Fourth International Epworth League Convention at Indianapolis--The Church Launches Twentieth Century Thank Offering--Address of the Bishops to the Church.

        IN THE fall of 1898 the various Annual Conferences celebrated the twenty-fifth anniversary of Bishops Beebe, Holsey, and Lane to the episcopal office with becoming interest and well-prepared programs. In May, 1899, the General Board met in Jackson, Tenn., where a general celebration was had, delegates coming from many of the Conferences.

        The Church showed its appreciation of the invaluable services these faithful servants had rendered, and showered them with flowers, visible and invisible. Besides, a purse of a respectable size was given each. The celebration at Jackson, as well as those held throughout the Church, were quite enough to impress the bishops that their labors of love were appreciated and highly invaluable.

        One of the large movements of 1898 was the creation of Miles Memorial College by the North Alabama and the Alabama Conferences.

        The North Alabama Conference, which met in Anniston, elected fifteen trustees, and these met the Alabama Conference at Orrville, where fifteen trustees

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were elected from that Conference, and these thirty men formed the Trustee Board of Miles College. The Board met at once and organized thus: G. W. Stewart, President; J. W. Wills, First Vice-president; J. W. Pollard, Second Vice-president; G. E. Coley, Treasurer; W. G. Jones, Recording Secretary; G. F. Welch and J. W. Wills, Banking Committee, and R. T. Brown, Corresponding Secretary. In the Christian Index of January 21, 1899, R. T. Brown wrote as follows of the school enterprise:

        The Board unanimously located the school in Birmingham and named it Miles College. Harmony prevailed and a love feast was had. Such unanimity in Church matters was never seen before. The State is baptized into Miles College. Both Conferences adopted Easter Sabbath as Children's Day.


        And so began a school enterprise which has grown to be, in point of the student body, the largest in the Church.

        In the fall of 1898, Bishop Holsey continued his visits to the Annual Conferences of the Church, South, in the interest of Paine College. He was traveling to raise money to assist in the building of Haygood Memorial Hall. He succeeded in raising a considerable sum of money, and by his speeches greatly strengthened the relations of the two Churches.

        The Epworth League and Missionary Secretaries were moving over the Church with rapidity, getting acquainted with the Conferences and the men, and explaining and giving information concerning their departments and their operations.

        In July, 1899, the Fourth International Epworth League Convention met in Indianapolis, Ind. The Colored Methodist Episcopal Church was given one place on the programme and that place was filled by

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R. A. Carter. His speech on "How to Deepen the Spiritual Life" made a deep impression upon the Convention.

        Rev. J. J. Ransom, D.D., of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, writing to the Christian Advocate of the Epworth League Convention, spoke thus of Secretary Carter's address:

        Rev. R. A. Carter, D.D., introduced as of the Colored Methodist Church, compared God to the ocean and man's spiritual nature to the shallow bays and harbors that must be deepened. The ever-flowing waters of unnumbered centuries completed in the rock-ribbed strata of the earth what primeval upheavals began. By their ceaseless activity mighty gorges yawn and deep-rolling streams move on in majestic sweep where tiny rills rolled and weakly streams purled and played when creation was young. His entire address was like gorgeous rhetoric.


        In the issue of the Christian Index of July 1, 1899, we published the following letter from Rev. E. L. Gilliam, Vice-president of the Executive Committee:

Indianapolis, Ind., June 20, 1899. Rev. C. H. Phillips, D.D.

Dear Sir:

        I shall take pleasure in securing first-class accommodations for you. The rate will not exceed $1 per day. Drop me a postal card a day or two before your arrival and our Reception Committee will meet you. I hope you will come prepared to remain over the Sabbath. The Committee is anxious to give prominence to each Church. As there is no one representing your Church except Rev. Carter, I have you down for a sermon on the Sabbath at 10:30 A. M., in one of the leading Churches.

        It is probable we will have a Special League Rally for Colored delegates one evening, when you will be wanted to take a place on the program. God bless and prosper you.

Yours truly,

E. L. Gilliam.


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        Rev. Gilliam's letter furnished the facts of the cost of board and lodging. There was a current rumor that the color line would be drawn and white and black delegates would not sit together.

        Along with Rev. Gilliam's letter we published this item from Rev. J. F. Berry, Secretary of the Epworth League of the Methodist Episcopal Church:

        Several colored members of the Methodist Episcopal Church have been given places on the Indianapolis Convention program. They will, no doubt, acquit themselves with great credit as they have done at previous International Conventions.

        Delegates of the two races will not be separated. Every person attending the Convention, White or Colored, will have the privilege of sitting where he pleases. There will be no color line.


        This Convention was historic so far as the Colored Methodist Episcopal Church was concerned. It was the first time our Church had participated in the Epworth League movement as an organization. While I. H. Anderson and C. H. Phillips attended the Third Epworth League Convention, which met in Toronto, Canada, in 1897, they attended it, however, as individuals and not as representatives of the denomination. In the Christian Index of August 12, 1899, we wrote the following concerning the Indianapolis meeting:

        When the question is asked in the future, who were the first members of the Church to attend an International Epworth League Convention after the Church had adopted the League as its Society for young people, the records will show the following:

        Rev. R. A. Carter, Georgia; Rev. C. H. Phillips, Tennessee; Rev. C. F. Moore, Texas; Rev. G. W. Parker, Illinois; Rev. G. L. Tyus, Arkansas; Rev. J. E. McDade, Arkansas; Rev. G. E. Coley, Alabama; Rev. G. W. Stewart, Alabama; Rev. B. Herron, Tennessee; Rev. N. C. Cleaves, Tennessee; Mrs. C. H. Phillips, Tennessee, Mrs. L. D. Key, Texas.


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        The League held biennial meetings for some years. But, finally, they were discontinued. Those Methodist bodies that adopted it as their Young People's Society still believe in it as a mighty force for God and an invaluable agency in promoting and deepening the spiritual life of young people.

        Another important movement of the year was the launching of the "Twentieth Century Thank Offering" by the bishops of the Church. In the Christian Index of June 10, 1899, appeared the following address to the Church:

        We, your chief pastors, after duly considering the forward movements of the Methodist Churches of the World for a "Twentieth Century Rally," and after considering the great need of our own special branch of Methodism, have at the earnest request of many of our leading ministers and members and of the General Board which met in Jackson, Tennessee, May 3, decided to call upon the Church for $25,000 as a Twentieth Century Thank Offering.

        It will require no argument to convince the ministry and membership of the importance of this appeal for their hearty and most enthusiastic cooperation. We need money for our mission work and our schools. We have designated this call, "Twentieth Century Thank Offering."

        The $25,000 when collected is to be equally divided between our educational and missionary work, all the schools sharing alike in the distribution.

        We also think it proper, and have so decided, that ten per cent of the money raised in each Conference be left in the Conference where there are educational enterprises. The General Board urged that we put one of our number, Bishop Williams, at the head of the movement. This we have done; and, now, we urge that every minister and member throughout the Church rally with him to make this "Offering" the greatest achievement on the records of our great Church. Let every Conference, district and annual, take up the matter, discuss it, urge it upon the attention of the people, and adopt plans for a united effort.

        Bishop Williams will inaugurate plans for general operation;

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consult him. A great opportunity is before us. Let us enter the new century with renewed zeal and spirit worthy of our great Church and race; worthy of our high and holy calling; and worthy of God our Saviour.

        Now that every branch of Methodism is rallying with becoming dignity and characteristic energy, let our Church go down in history in this movement as a vigorous and aggressive member of the Wesleyan family. With high hopes of glorious results we are your chief pastors

J. A. BEEBE
L. H. HOLSEY,
ISAAC LANE,
R. S. WILLIAMS,
E. COTTRELL.


        It was befitting for the Church to launch such a movement at that time. We stood, then, in the departing shadows of the nineteenth century and in the dawn of the twentieth. To transmit to posterity a stimulus and precedent for financial movements was the duty and obligation of that day. Our educational and missionary enterprises needed better fostering, and there were many reasons why the Church should have given some expression of thankfulness to Almighty God for blessing and prospering the Church in all her activities.

        What was finally raised will be mentioned in some future chapter.

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CHAPTER XXVIII

        Afro-American Council--Bishop Holsey Attends the Chicago Meeting--His Letter to the Index--Platform of the Council-- Tuskegee Institute and Dr. R. R. Moton--National Association for the Advancement of Colored People and Dr. Dubois-- Other Race Organizations.

        ON THE eighteenth of August, 1899, the Afro-American Council met in Chicago. Bishop Holsey and C. H. Phillips were present. In the issue of the Christian Index of September 2, Bishop Holsey wrote thus of the Council:

        I was anxious to meet this, perhaps the most noted organization of men and women of the Afro-American race in this country; the Church organizations being excepted. I had never met this distinguished body before, although at its last session in Washington, D. C., I was made one of its vice-presidents.

        Bishop Walters, of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, the President of the Council, presided with ease, fairness, and dignity. He is a very affable man with a level head, an endless patience, and a gentle spirit, sweet as the flowers of May. The Council was graced by five bishops: Walters, Turner, Clinton, Harris, and Holsey. Rev. C. H. Phillips, of our Christian Index, with his estimable wife, were on hand gleaning news and notes for the Index He read a beautiful paper to the Council which was filled with wisdom and choice wordism that was captivating, magnetic, and euphonious. There were distinguished doctors, lawyers, educators, politicians, and representatives of the professional world ready to do what they could to advance the varied interests of the race. Many noble women of the race were there to cheer the feelings, stimulate every effort, and spread the soothing balm of soft words and anthemic melodies over the sometimes agitated assembly.


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        The race question, one of the most lively subjects before the American people, was discussed in many phases. The speakers were independent in their ideas and free in their expressions. The Council was established for the following objects:

        1. To investigate and make an impartial report of all lynchings and other outrages perpetrated upon our people.

        2. To assist in testing the constitutionality of laws which are made for the express purpose of oppressing the race.

        3. To promote the work of securing legislation, which, in the individual States, shall secure to all citizens the right guaranteed them by the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution of the United States.

        4. To aid in the work of prison reform.

        5. To recommend a healthy migration from terror-ridden sections of our land to States where law is respected and maintained.

        6. To encourage both industrial and higher education.

        7. To promote business enterprises among the people.

        8. To educate sentiment on all lines that especially affect our race.

        9. To inaugurate and promote plans for the moral elevation of the Negro.

        10. To urge the appropriation for school funds by the Federal Government to provide education for citizens who are denied school privileges by discriminating State laws.


        The Council, for the most part, had a splendid programme. It engaged the public eye a few years after the Chicago meeting, then died for the want of the proper racial support and encouragement. However, a little reflection will show that Dr. R. R. Moton and the Tuskegee Institute are fulfilling the first plank of the Council. Once a year they make report of lynchings and the outrages that are said to produce them. In a most appreciable manner, the "National Association for the Advancement of Colored People,"

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an organization founded by Dr. W. E. B. Dubois, is carrying forward the purposes of planks 2, 3, 4, 9, 10 of the old Council without any intention, on its part, of doing so. Perhaps this organization is the most effective force in the race to-day in procuring the rights of the Negro; in helping him in the presence of injustices, and in the enactment of legislation intended for his moral and civic betterment. Tuskegee Institute, Dr. R. R. Moton, and the Business League of which he is the titular head, are very much engaged in promoting the work purposed in planks six and seven. "The Urban League" executes plank five, and the "Interracial Commission of the Federal Council of the Churches of Christ" has forces and organizations that are doing more than is implied in plank eight.

        In view of the above, it would seem that the race lost little "in the going" of the American Council after a life of six years. Yet its influence upon the race was good, and it did not live in vain. The "National Race Congress," led by William H. Jernagin, D.D., a Baptist minister of Washington, D. C.; Mr. Jesse Lawson, leader of the "National Sociological Society," also of Washington; "Friends of Negro Freedom;" "The Universal Uplift League;" "The African Blood Brother;" "The Universal Negro Improvement Association," headed by Marcus Gamey; "The Pan-African Congress," sponsored by Dr. Dubois, are some other forces and agencies working for the common weal of the race. Prof. Kelley Miller thinks these organizations have not had time "to make a deep or abiding impression upon the minds of the race."

        These institutions, with our various Church denominations, schools and colleges, long line of benevolent and secret societies, numerous variegated

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business and economic enterprises, under God, should release more and more the phlegmatic inertia of our group and set in motion dynamic, uplifting currents of moral, religious, educational, and business enterprises that will finally result into such outstanding achievements that the race will make for itself a new place on the map of the world.

        Interracial Commissions that have been organized in a number of the States, North and South, are not only allaying friction and adjusting misunderstandings between the races in different parts of the country, but they are educating both races up to the idea that this is their common country and whatever is good for one is good for the other; and that equal justice and equal opportunities constitute the foundation upon which the two races should stand together to work out their destinies.


                         Under the storm and the cloud to-day,
                         And to-day the hard peril and pain--
                         To-morrow the stone shall be rolled away,
                         For the sunshine shall follow the rain.
                         Merciful Father, I will not complain,
                         I know that the sunshine shall follow the rain.

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CHAPTER XXIX

        The Twentieth Century Movement Again--When Did the Nineteenth Century End?--The Author Visited Thirteen Conferences in the Fall of 1899--Some Impressions Formed-- General Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church and African Methodist Episcopal Church--R. M. Cheeks Dies at His General Conference--R. A. Carter and N. C. Cleaves, Fraternal Delegates--Dr. Washington Organized the Business League in Boston--The Author's Impression of Him.

        IN ALL the Conferences of the Connection held in October, November, and December of 1899, special interest was manifested in the twentieth-century movement.

        The design of the movement was to raise funds with which to better equip our Methodism to measure up to her opportunities on facing and entering out upon the duties and responsibilities of the new century; to seek the baptism of the Holy Ghost and a great revival wave over our Churches.

        In the Index of January 6, 1900, we wrote a short editorial on "When Does the Nineteenth Century End?" After writing a few lines we reproduced the following from the New York Christian Advocate, of which Dr. J. M. Buckley was the editor:

        When do the first ten years of a century end? Plainly with the last movement in the tenth year. When does the second decade begin? Plainly with the first minute of the year eleven. When do the last ten years of a century end? Plainly at the last moment of the tenth decade, namely, at the end of the one hundredth year. When does the nineteenth century end? Plainly at the last moment of the last year in it, which is 1900.

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If a man owed you two dollars and paid you in cents, one by one, when would you get the first cent of the second dollar? When you had had ninety-nine, or not till after you had received one hundred cents?


        Doctor Buckley was of the opinion that Murray's Dictionary was one of the best in the English language. That book said "the nineteenth century consists of the year 1801-1900 inclusive." Consequently, the nineteenth century ended at midnight, December 31, 1900, and the twentieth century began at midnight, January 1, 1901.

        The Church used 1899 and 1900, therefore, to gather sufficient spiritual and financial momentum to give the Connection a smooth and potential start into the new century. The years 1900 and 1901 were full of interest from many viewpoints. C. W. Lane was transferred from the West Tennessee Conference to the Virginia Conference and stationed at Israel Metropolitan Church, and R. E. Hart, who was at Israel, succeeded Lane at Liberty Church, Jackson, Tenn. These prominent ministers of the Church began their ministries in January, 1900, under most favorable skies and wrought well in their appointed fields. After visiting thirteen Annual Conferences in the fall of 1899, quite a large number for one man to visit when they were being held in different parts of our Church territory, we wrote the following editorial as our impression of the Conferences visited in the Christian Index of January 13, 1900:

        It is indeed gratifying for one to look on and note the moral and intellectual development of the members of the Conferences. Good, competent secretaries can be found in all the Conferences, as well as men amply qualified to serve on the various committees. That the Church is growing in all the elements and fitnesses that go to make up a progressive denomination, no

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reasonably-minded person will deny. It is an easy matter now to find a preacher who can make an intelligent speech and deliver a close, logical, and interesting sermon. But our visit to the Conferences further impressed us that the Church is making gains, not only in the intellectual personnel of their members, not only in the neatness of their general appearance, and in the development of their moral growth, but also in a material aspect. Quite a large number of preachers, out of their meager salaries, are purchasing farms, houses, and beautiful homes.


        Such were our impressions twenty-six years ago. The evolution of the years has increased the efficiency of the Church in every respect and wrought a wonderful transformation in all the forces that make for good.

        Among the important events of this year we might mention the assembling of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church at Chicago and the General Conference of the African Methodist Episcopal Church at Columbus, Ohio. R. A. Carter was a fraternal delegate to the first body, and N. C. Cleaves to the latter. The author was a visitor to the African Methodist Episcopal General Conference and witnessed the consecration of Revs. Evans Tyree, Morris Marcellus Moore, Charles Spencer Smith, Cornelius Thaddeus Shaffer, and Levi Jenkins Coppin to the episcopal office. The Conference was saddened by the death of R. M. Cheeks, the Editor of the Southern Christian Recorder. We recall the unusual fervor and tender pathos with which B. F. Watson, the sweet singer and Church Extension Secretary, sang "Looking This Way, Dear Ones in Glory, Looking This Way." R. M. Cheeks was the uncle of the author's present wife.


                         There is a reaper whose name is death,
                         And with his sickle keen
                         He reaps the bearded gain at a breath,
                         And the flowers that grow between.

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        Out of the fourteen bis