lation, the general effect of Whitefield's preaching must have caused the earlier Methodist preachers to find in those parts "a people prepared for the Lord." Boardman and Pilmoor landed in 1769, and Whitefield died in 1770. And though no joint action was intended either by them or Mr. Wesley, the Head of the Church ordained that appointment in infinite wisdom, that his word might the more abundantly have "free course, and be glorified" in the land. Between the years 1756 and 1760, if not earlier, several Methodists had emigrated from England and Ireland to the continental colonies. About the latter date, and while Methodism was being introduced into Antigua, two men in youth emigrated from Ireland, to whom was assigned the honor of forming the two first societies in America; Philip Embury, at New-York, and Robert Strawbridge, in Maryland. Thus Methodism struck its roots in a free soil, and in a slave territory, at nearly the same time, although priority is generally given to New-York.* The Rev. Joseph Sutcliffe, recently deceased, and who was the oldest minister in the Wesleyan connection, gives in a written account Hembury instead of Embury, as the true orthography of the name of the former of those excellent men; and affirms that, at the time he emigrated, his name stood on the Minutes of the Irish Conference as a candidate for the itinerant ministry. It is said that the small society which he gathered together "consisted of his own countrymen and the citizens." It was not long, however, before the first ministers sent out by Mr. Wesley had to rejoice in the conversion of some of the sable sons of Ham to the knowledge of Christ. In his first communication to Mr. Wesley, November 4, 1769, Boardman writes: "The number of blacks that attend the preaching affects me much." This was in the city of New-York; so that whether those blacks were slaves or free, does not appear; probably they were of both classes, as slavery then existed in the Northern colonies. Pilmoor, who had been left at Philadelphia, "proceeded to Maryland, Virginia, and North Carolina, where he preached with considerable success, forming societies in various parts, and witnessing the happy effects resulting from the mission in which he was engaged." Here, Methodism from the commencement must have exerted an ameliorating influence on the condition of the slaves; for that benefit is inseparable from the earliest reception of the Gospel.

In a subsequent letter of Mr. Boardman, New-York, April 2, 1771, we have a paragraph of more than ordinary interest. He says:

Both were at that time slave territory.-ED. METH. QU. REV.

† Mr. Embury's own autograph is extant in this country, authorizing the ordinary orthography as unquestionably correct.-ED. METH. Qu. Rev. FOURTH SERIES, VOL. X.-3

"I have lately been much comforted by the death of some poor negroes, who have gone off the stage of time rejoicing in the God of their salvation. I asked one on the point of death, Are you afraid to die? O no,' said she; 'I have my blessed Saviour in my heart; I should be glad to die; I want to be gone, that I may be with him forever. I know that he loves me; and I feel I love him with all my heart.' She continued to declare the great things God had done for her soul, to the astonishment of many, till the Lord took her to himself."

This is the first happy death of the negro race in the annals of Methodism, and is probably the first received by Mr. Wesley; though Mr. Gilbert from Antigua had informed him of the peaceful end of some who moved in the higher walks of life. But whatever success may have attended the earliest Methodist preachers in the conversion of the negroes to Christ, from some unexplained reason they were not enrolled as members of society. For Dr. Coke says: About 1776, the number of members in America amounted to seven thousand, and the preachers to forty. The blacks also had received the good word of life; and great numbers among them had experienced that it was the power of God to the salvation of their souls; but these are not included in the above account." In this respect there was a deviation from the more correct procedure of Methodism in the West Indies, where the slave members were reckoned from the beginning. Probably the unsettled state of the country, owing to the war of Independence, occasioned it. Before that great event, six preachers had been sent out from England; the two first were joined by Asbury and Wright, and they were followed by Rankin and Shadford. None of the six had been on the continent previous to their ministerial appointments except Mr. Rankin, who, "when a young man, and soon after his conversion, went out to Charleston," it seems, on some mercantile business; but he soon returned, and entered the Wesleyan ministry. It does not appear that the English preachers interfered with the civil condition of the slaves, or made any communications to Mr. Wesley or the conference concerning it. The influence of Methodism was wholly thus far of a spiritual kind, bringing many of the poor slaves to experience salvation; but it could not place them under that equal and equitable ecclesiastical regimen contained in the Rules while they were not acknowledged as members of "the United Society;" who are one in spiritual rights and privileges all the world over. In regard to outward things, its chief action was on the mind of the masters, inducing them, in proportion to the power of religion which they felt in their own hearts, to exercise as large an amount of equity and kindness toward their servants as a state of slavery would admit. When the war terminated the venerable Asbury alone was found in America. Guided by an upright conscience, and by an unseen

hand, his five brethren returned to England; and, equally guided by an upright conscience, and by an unseen hand, he still remained: for, in certain critical and difficult positions, the path of duty may not always to godly men be, or appear to be, the same. God directed them! If all had remained, the loyalty of Methodism might have been impeached at home; if none had tarried, who should have looked after the desolate sheep in the wilderness? Diversity of judgment in this matter, one only continuing in the States, facilitated Mr. Wesley's subsequent arrangements for the ecclesiastical settlement of Methodism in America. Asbury formed a resolution, says Drew, in his life of Dr. Coke, "to have no concern with political opinions;" and he was sheltered for two years in a quiet retreat, till the storm had blown over. He had previously often preached "in the villages, and on the slave plantations." And afterward "his own black servant, Harry," was encouraged by him to preach; for which service, Dr. Coke, who several times heard him, testifies, that "he had considerable abilities." This was, perhaps, the first instance in Methodism of a man of that race preaching in the midst of a slave community. Herein Methodism in America was, at that time, certainly in advance of Methodism in the West Indies. Even if he were a free man, it was a repudiation of that prejudice of caste and color which is so predominant in the lands of slavery; a prejudice not shared by Asbury. When the commotions settled down, it was in the slave state of Maryland that Methodist preachers were first allowed to exercise their ministry without further interruption; an act to that effect passed the Legislature, even though the preachers should have conscientious scruples about taking an oath of allegiance to the newly created government. This might anywhere be done; for godly and conscientious men, whatever their opinions, will never make political disturbance. Nevertheless, it was highly honorable to Maryland, and was a strong expression of the confidence of a slave-holding community in the integrity of Methodist preachers, and in the peaceableness of their doctrines among a slave population. The Gospel soon had an extensive spread, and extraordinary revivals of religion took place in Maryland, North Carolina, and Virginia; and that, at several times; insomuch that Asbury on one occasion remarked, that while much spiritual deadness prevailed in the North, in the slave states there were overwhelming manifestations of Divine grace and power. The masses of the white people seem to have been very generally wrought upon by the preaching of the Gospel.

One might here inquire, was not this a fit time for Methodism

the united Methodism of Britain and America-to interpose on behalf of the liberation of the slaves? That is a question more easily asked than answered, however promptly some might reply in the affirmative. Good men in America would have been afraid of evoking a temporal excitement that might be dangerous to the spiritual work then in progress; and certain it is, that British Methodists were so much taken up with the account of conversions to God by hundreds, not to say thousands, that it did not occur to their thoughts to offer any suggestions for the emancipation of those who were in bondage. In truth, it was for many years pretty much the same, with regard to our mission in the West Indies. Mr. Watson's observation, "No man can be concerned for the spiritual welfare of the negro, without caring also for his temporal condition," is correct, when that condition is prominently set before the mind: but for all that, it is no less a matter of fact that, for a long season, nothing directly bearing on the civil state of the slaves was attempted; and chiefly for the reason that the hearts of pious people were almost exclusively engrossed with a concern for their salvation. Their outward lot seemed to have been generally regarded as a kind of settled condition, and the Gospel their only solace in this world, as well as the means of preparing them for the world to come. There was, however, this wide difference in the two cases. In the West Indies, the masses who were brought to receive salvation by the missionaries were slaves; the white people in our societies were scarcely in the proportion of one to a hundred; whereas, in those great revivals in the slave states of America, the whites seem to have been the largest sharers in its benefits: a course of action, therefore, that would have been fitting in one case might have been inexpedient in the other; even supposing that the public mind were at that time alive to the claims of Christian benevolence and duty. But we, who live in an age of clearer light, ought not to be severe in our reproaches of those of earlier generations. Nevertheless, much as we desire to avoid the imputation of blame, it must be a source of deep regret to call to mind that such glorious visitations of grace were permitted to pass away without any attempt to remove this stumbling-block, which is now seen to be so great an occasion of scandal in the world.

It requires, however, prudence of the highest kind on the part of those who preach the word of life in a slave region, so to observe the exact line of duty, as neither to compromise the principles of the Gospel on the one hand, nor, on the other hand, so to intermeddle with the civil state of society as to exasperate evil passions and prejudices, and thereby neutralize, or even nullify the great spiritual

objects of their mission. There is a Christian expediency which is wise and right, as well as a worldly expediency which is unprincipled and wrong. The position in which some men are providentially placed, requires in them that they should follow a particular course of action, which, as it is not in itself sinful, is allowable for the sake of usefulness; in order that, in the sense intended by the apostle, they "may become all things to all men, that by all means they may save some" of every class and of every opinion. The history of Methodism at this period will elucidate this matter; and it is the more worthy of special notice, because it seems to have modified the course of proceeding in the conducting of our West Indian mission.

About the time of those great revivals of religion in America, there were two eminent men connected with it, the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson, and Dr. Thomas Coke, who was Mr. Wesley's right hand; and who, for a considerable portion of his life, in carrying out the work of Methodism, belonged equally to England and America. Both were determined enemies of slavery. They never patronized it; on the contrary, they did not fail to declare their aversion to the system as evil and unjust; and so far, every Christian missionary may, and ought to concur with them. But they did not act with equal prudence; and the result was, that one raised against himself a violent storm of hatred and prejudice, which the other, without any sinful compromise, avoided. The case of Mr. Garrettson was remarkable. His "great grandfather," he tells us, "was among the first settlers in Maryland," so that he was one of the fourth generation of a slaveholding family. Yet, when he was converted, he received a conviction immediately from God that his connection with slavery ought to be, without delay, relinquished. The account is so deeply impressive that it cannot be better given than in his own words, taken from the Arminian Magazine of 1794. He says, (this was in the year 1775, and soon after he had found peace with God:)

"One Sabbath morning, I continued reading the Bible till eight o'clock, and then, under a sense of duty, called the family together for prayer. While I was giving out a hymn this thought powerfully struck my mind: It is not right for you to keep your fellow-creatures in bondage. You must let the oppressed go free. I knew this was the voice of the Lord. Till this moment, I never suspected that the practice of slave-keeping was wrong; having neither read anything on the subject, nor conversed with persons respecting its sinfulness. After a minute's pause I replied, Lord, the oppressed shall go free.' I then addressed the slaves, and told them, You do not belong to me: I will not desire your service without making you a sufficient compensation.' I now found liberty to proceed in family worship. After singing I kneeled down to pray. But if I had the tongue of an angel I could never fully describe