Francis Asbury, the subject of the following sketch was born in the parish of Harrodsworth, about four miles from Birmingham, England, on the 20th or 21st of August, 1745. His parents, though belonging to the humbler class of English society, were honest and industrious, and were able to procure a comfortable maintenance for themselves and family. They had but two children, a son and daughter, and as the latter died while in infancy, Francis was left as the only child of his parents. At an early age, be was sent to school, where he remained till about thirteen years of age.

Having received rather rough treatment from his teacher, he at the above age, preferred leaving school and learning a trade, at which be continued till he was nearly twenty years of age.

Soon after his apprenticeship commenced, he was awakened to a sense of his sinfulness by nature, through the conversation and prayers of a pious man, with whom he became associated. The effect of such awakening, was, that he immediately began to pray morning and evening, and not relishing the cold formal sermons of his own parish minister, he visited other parish churches for the purpose of listening to men who were more evangelical and zealous in the cause of Jesus Christ. Shortly after his awakening, he heard of the Methodists, and on inquiring of his mother, who, where, and what they were, she directed him to a person, who would take him to Wednesbury to see them. On repairing thither, he found that the Methodists were not “the Church,” but to him something better. The people seemed devout, — men and women kneeling down and saying: “Amen!” Then singing hymns! And stranger still the preacher had no prayer book, and yet prayed wonderfully! He took his text, and preached, and yet had no sermon-book! This was all new and wonderful to Francis, who never had seen it in this fashion before. The preacher talked about confidence, assurance, etc. etc., to all of which Francis was a stranger, and led him still further to see his lost condition while out of Christ, and prompted him to seek earnestly for pardon at the hand of God.

Shortly after this, while engaged with a companion in praying, in his father’s barn, the Lord pardoned his sins, and justified his soul. He soon felt it to be his duty, young as he was, in age and experience, to hold meetings for reading and prayer. He also ventured occasionally to exhort the people to repentance, and some professed to find peace in believing through his instrumentality. He subsequently became a local preacher in the Wesleyan connection, which relation to sustained nearly five years, when, at the age of twenty-one, he gave himself wholly to the work of the ministry under the direction of Mr. Wesley. After officiating about five years more as a traveling preacher in England, when a call having been made by Mr. Wesley, at the Bristol Conference in August, 1771, for laborers to volunteer for tine American continent, Mr. Asbury at once offered himself for the work, and was accepted. At the close of Conference he hastened home to inform his parents of his design, and although he had one of the most tender mothers, she interposed no obstacles in his way, but freely gave him up to the cause of God and of universal Methodism.

Having formed, while a local and traveling preacher, an extensive acquaintance among the good people of Staffordshire Warwickshire, and Gloucestershire, had felt it his duty also to visit them before his departure.

Many of these friends wondered at the moral heroism of the young man, who could thus consent to leave his “happy home and happy country, far in distant lands to dwell,” but none opposed him in his undertaking, no doubt believing that it was a call of Providence. Having thus made a flying visit to different parts of England, he returned to Bristol in the latter part of August, where he found Mr. Richard Wright — who had also been appointed to America — awaiting his arrival, that they might sail together.

So very little money had Mr. Asbury laid up during his ministerial labors in England, that when he arrived in Bristol he had not a penny of money in his pocket; but the Lord soon opened the hearts of his friends, who supplied him with comfortable clothing, and ten pounds in money.

On the 2d day of September, Mr. Asbury and his colleague, Mr. Wright, set sail from a port near Bristol, and after finding himself on the wide expansive ocean, the former began strictly to examine his motives in going to America. He inquires: “Whither am I going? To the new world. What to do? To gain honor? No; if I know my own heart. To get money? No, I am going to live to God, and bring others so to do. In America, there has been a work of God: some moving first among the Friends, but in time it declined: likewise by the Presbyterians, but among them also it declined.

The people God owns in England are the Methodists. The doctrines they preach, and the discipline they enforce are, I believe, the purest of any people now in the world. The Lord has greatly blessed these doctrines and this discipline in the three kingdoms; they must, therefore, be pleasing to him. If God does not acknowledge me in America, I will soon return to England. I know my views are upright now — may they never be otherwise!”

After a pleasant voyage of five weeks, the two missionaries landed in Philadelphia, and were cordially received by the people, as also by Mr. Pilmore, who was then stationed in that city. After spending a few days with them, Mr. Asbury left for the city of New York, where he arrived on the 12th of November, and on the next day preached in John-street church, from the text, “I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and him crucified.” In New York he found Mr. Boardman, the colleague of Mr. Pilmore, and was as kindly received by the former as by the latter.

Hitherto, the labors of Messrs. Pilmore and Boardman who, previously to the arrival of Mr. Asbury, were the only Methodist missionaries in America — had been confined almost exclusively to the cities of New York and Philadelphia. The number of Methodists in New York at this time, was three hundred; in Philadelphia, two hundred and fifty; and a few in Maryland, gathered under the labors of Mr. Robert Strawbridge, a local preacher, the, whole amounting to about six hundred souls. Mr. Asbury resolved, however, not to confine his labors to the city, but to make excursions into the country places, for the purpose of preaching Christ to the inhabitants. Accordingly, he soon after made excursions to West Farms and Westchester, as also to Rye, New Rochelle, and Staten Island, and in all these places he was hailed as the messenger of God, and had great success among the people, although sometimes called to suffer persecution among the rabble.

In December, 1772, Mr. Asbury went into Kent County, in Maryland. On one occasion, before preaching, a minister of the English Church came to him, desiring to know who he was, and whether he was licensed. Mr. A. told him his name, and that he was regularly licensed as a Methodist preacher. The minister began to speak great swelling words, and said he had authority over the people, and was charged with the care of their souls.

He said also, that Mr. Asbury could not, and should not preach: and if he attempted it, he should proceed against him, according to law. Mr. A. gave him to understand that he had come to Maryland for the express purpose of preaching, and preach he would; he further asked the reverend gentleman if he had authority to bind the consciences of the people, or if he was a justice of the peace? The clergyman replied, by accusing him of making a schism Mr. A. retorted by saying, that he did not draw people from the church. The minister said that he kept people from their work.

Mr. A. inquired if fairs and horse-races did not hinder them from their work? and informed the gentleman that he had come to help, instead of to hinder him from doing good to the people.” I did not hire you for an assistant, nor do I want your help,” replied the clergyman Mr. A. rejoined by saying, that if there were no swearers or other sinners, he was sufficient.” But what do you come for?” asked the minister. “To turn sinners to God,” said Mr. A. “But cannot I do that, as well as you?” Mr. A. replied, by stating that he, Mr. A., had authority from God to preach the gospel. The clergyman laughed him in the face, and said, “You are a fine fellow, indeed!” Mr. Asbury, not to be intimidated by such clerical insolence, began to preach, and call on the people to repent, and turn from all their transgressions, so that iniquity should not prove their ruin. The poor parson could only give vent to his rage, by cautioning the people against coming to hear Mr. Asbury. But in spite of all such treatment, the people came out to hear the word, and many of them received it into good and honest hearts.

From the above circumstance, the reader can perceive the manner in which Mr. Asbury and his colleagues in the missionary work, were received by those who would monopolize the cure of souls, and who claimed to be, by divine right, in the succession from the apostles; but all these things moved not Mr. Asbury, who in the midst of opposition kept steadily onward in the pursuance of his great work of saving souls.’

In October, 1772, Mr. Asbury received a letter from Mr. Wesley, appointing him as the General Assistant, or Superintendent of all the preachers and Societies in America, and requiring a strict attention to all the rules of the Society, both as it regarded preachers and people. As yet, no annual Conference had been held, but the interchange of preachers appears to have been determined upon by mutual consent, at the quarterly meeting conferences, which at that time were but three or four in number.

At one of these meetings, held in Maryland, Dec. 23d, 1772, the preachers were regularly assigned their respective fields of labor, by Mr. Asbury, himself remaining in Baltimore, and occasionally extending his visits to the regions round about, everywhere being received as the messenger of God, and everywhere “making full proof of his ministry.”

In June, 1773, Messrs. Rankin and Shadford arrived in Philadelphia, from England, having been sent over by Mr. Wesley to reinforce the small number of preachers in America. As Mr. Rankin was Mr. Asbury’s senior, both in ago and ministerial standing, it seemed good to Mr. Wesley to appoint the former in the place of Mr. Asbury, to the office of General Assistant, and giving him power also to call the preachers together in an annual Conference. Accordingly, on the 4th day of July, 1773, the first regular Conference ever held in America met in the city of Philadelphia. It was composed of ten preachers, and the number in the Societies are reported to have been 1160. At this Conference, Mr. Asbury was reappointed to Baltimore, where he labored efficiently, extending as opportunity offered, his travels into other portions of Maryland. During this year, he assisted in the erection of a Methodist church in Baltimore, since known by the name of Light-street Church. In 1774, Mr. Asbury was appointed to New York and Philadelphia cities, in connection with Mr. Rankin, each of them being required to change alternately, once in three months. It appears, however, from Mr. Asbury’s journal, that he was not confined to those two places during this year, but that he traveled extensively in all the region of country around those cities, preaching the Gospel and raising Societies in different parts of the wide field. His labors, in fact, were so extensive, that he seriously injured his health, and was for a length of time confined to his bed. In 1775, he was appointed to Norfolk, Va., where he found about thirty persons only in Society, without any place of worship, except an old shattered playhouse. He, however, persuaded the “feeble few” to attempt the erection of a church, which they finally succeeded in doing.

It appears by reference to Asbury’s journal, that a difference of opinion obtained between him and Mr. Rankin, in relation to the proper administration of discipline. The latter gentleman was not only a strict, but a severe disciplinarian, so much so, that his appointment by Mr. Wesley, as General Superintendent, did not give very great satisfaction to either the preachers or people. Mr. Asbury was also a strict enforcer of the rules of discipline, but without that severity which characterized the administration of Mr. Rankin. Hence these gentlemen had their particular friends and adherents, and although Mr. Asbury does not appear to have interfered with the proper administration of discipline by Mr. Rankin, the latter could not but perceive that the affections of the preachers and people were placed more fully on Mr. Asbury than on himself. The knowledge of this fact led Mr. Rankin to suppose that Mr. A. might have used undue means to supplant him in the affections of the people, if not to remove him from his official position as General Assistant. In accordance, therefore, with these surmisings — and they were nothing more, having no other foundation than jealousy to build upon — Mr. Rankin wrote to Mr. Wesley, and in some manner not precisely known, misrepresented Mr. Asbury’s conduct and motives, to the father of Methodism. These misrepresentations appear, for the time being, to have had the desired effect on Mr. Wesley’s mind; so much so, as to lead him to desire Mr. Asbury’s return to England, and in reference to his expected return, he writes to Mr. R., saying: “I doubt not but brother Asbury and you will part friends. I shall hope to see him at Conference (in England). He is quite an upright man. I apprehend he will go through his work more cheerfully when he is within a little distance from me.” From this, it appears that Mr. A. had been desired to return immediately, as the letter is dated May 19th, 1775, and the English Conference would assemble in about two months thereafter, at which time Mr. Wesley hoped to see him. Mr. Asbury, however, did not return, and we find Mr. Wesley, in a letter dated July 28, 1775, “rejoicing over honest Francis Asbury, and hoping he will no more enter into temptation.”

Shortly after this correspondence, the ever memorable war of, the Revolution began, which rendered the situation of some of the leading preachers unpleasant in the extreme. This was particularly the case with Messrs. Rankin and Asbury, the former of whom, soon after the issuing of the Declaration of Independence, July 4,1776, resolved to return to England. He, however, deferred his departure until September, 1777. Mr. Asbury resolved, however, to remain true to the cause of American Methodism, and “not to depart from the work on any consideration.” In thus resolving, Mr. Asbury placed himself in imminent peril, arising from the fact that one of the preachers — an Englishman by the name of Rodda — had so far forgotten his calling as a minister of the Gospel, as to become a warm partisan and friend of royalty, and was even detected in reading the King’s proclamation while discharging his duties on his circuit. This one circumstance was sufficient to awaken jealousy in regard to the political integrity of other Methodist preachers, and particularly of those from England: hence they were not even permitted to preach in many places, and Mr. Asbury, who was always exceedingly guarded in reference to his expressions of, political preference, was, at the beginning of hostilities, fined five pounds at or near Baltimore, for no other crime than preaching the Gospel. Still, however, be kept on discharging his duty as a minister of the Lord Jesus Christ.

At this time, it was enacted by the several State Legislative Assemblies, that the oath of allegiance to the State authorities should be taken by all the inhabitants residing within their respective jurisdictions. Mr. Asbury had no objection to the oath of allegiance, but had conscientious scruples about taking the one prescribed, by the State of Maryland, in which State he was then residing. In consequence of this refusal, Mr. Asbury was threatened with imprisonment as a “tory,” and was obliged to retire into the State of Delaware, where he found a quiet and pleasant asylum at the residence of Judge White, a man of great influence in that State, and where he remained in a state of partial concealment for nearly a year, until the height of the political tempest had passed away. But even here Mr. Asbury did not pass his time in idleness; for although he could not with propriety address a public congregation on the Sabbath, yet he would visit from house to house, and was probably instrumental in doing as much good as he possibly could have done by more public labors. While in this state of seclusion, the Conference of 1779 met at the house of Judge White, and as Mr. Rankin had left for England, and no successor had been appointed as yet by Mr. Wesley, the Conference, by vote, chose Mr. Asbury as the General Assistant, which station he afterward filled by the appointment of Mr. Wesley himself, in 1782. During the next year (1783), peace was declared between Great Britain and her hitherto rebellious colonies in America; and after a long and severe struggle, the independence of these United States was secured, and acknowledged and strange as, it may appear to many, the cause of Methodism, instead of having become defunct during the din and confusion of war, and by the departure of some of the preachers and the imprisonment of others, the Society had increased during the struggle, from 3,148 members, to 14,986. The number of preachers had also increased, so that in 1783, there were no less than eighty-three appointed by Mr. Asbury, to different fields of labor.

The year 1784, forms a new era in the history of American Methodism.

Hitherto the Methodists had been regarded as members of the Church of England, but ,now it became necessary to acquire an organization of their own, especially as the Church of England had lost its ecclesiastical jurisdiction over its churches in America, and these latter had not as yet acquired an independent existence. The consequence was, that there were very few ordained Episcopal clergymen in America, and the majority of those who were, ordained, were by no means qualified, either by grace or morality, to administer the ordinances of the Church — even if they had been willing to do so — to the Methodists. Besides, not a single Methodist preacher in America had been ordained, and thus the fifteen thousand members, and the fifty or sixty thousand adherents of Methodism, with their families, were deprived of the administration of the ordinances of the Church, particularly Christian baptism. True, a few of the preachers in the more southern portions of the United States had, without ordination, ventured in view of the seeming necessities of the case, to administer the ordinances of baptism and the Lord’s Supper; but these administrations, by Mr. Asbury, Mr. Wesley, and the great body of the American preachers, were held to be irregular, and were consequently abandoned. Meanwhile, constant applications were being made for relief, to Mr. Wesley, as the acknowledged father of Methodism; and he, after due deliberation and prayer, set apart Dr. Coke as a Bishop, and gave him authority to proceed to America and organize the Societies in that country into an Episcopal Church, and also to ordain Mr. Asbury as Joint Superintendent, or Bishop of the same. Accordingly, Dr. Coke, in compliance with his instructions, proceeded at once to America, and on the 25th day of December, 1784, organized the Methodist Societies into the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States, and ordained Mr. Asbury first as deacon, then as elder or presbyter, and finally as a superintendent, or bishop.

Does the bigot, or the stickler for the exploded dogma of apostolic succession, inquire if Mr. Wesley had authority to confer Episcopal consecration on Dr. Coke? We answer, he had; first, because he was as truly a scriptural bishop as any man in England; and secondly, because he was more than a bishop — he was in a high sense an apostle, and gave greater evidence of his call to the apostleship, than the Bishop of London ever gave of his call to the Episcopacy. Wherein, we ask, did John Wesley fail to show the true signs of an apostle? Was an apostle sent and commissioned by Jesus Christ to teach all nations, baptizing them, etc.?

And did not Mr. Wesley receive such a commission? Did an apostle give evidence of the divinity of his call by the success attend in his labors? And did not Wesley the same? Let the seventy thousand Methodists in Great Britain, besides the thousands in America, and in other portions of the earth, at the time of his decease, answer this question. If success is to be considered as an element in the evidence of a divine call to the apostleship, surely Mr. Wesley, more than any one man since the apostles’ time, has furnished such proof of an extraordinary call ; and had he never been ordained by the English Episcopacy, yet had the same success attended his labors, we should not have hesitated to acknowledge his authority as a divinely commissioned legate of the skies. But aside from these considerations, Mr. Wesley was in duty bound to provide the word of life and the ordinances of the Gospel for these poor sheep in the wilderness, for whose souls none of the ecclesiastical dignitaries of the Church of England seemed to care.

It was under these circumstances, that Mr. Asbury was set apart to the episcopacy, — an event which more than any other conspired to the permanent establishment and success of Methodism in America. Before we proceed in our narrative of events as connected with the biography of Bishop Asbury, it may be proper to observe that, although Mr. Wesley ordained Dr. Coke to the episcopacy, and ordered the ordination of Mr. Asbury to the same office, yet he did not design the application of the term bishop, to these newly created epicopoi. The term preferred, and employed by Mr. Wesley was the simple one of superintendent. This term was selected in preference to the other, because of the enormous abuses which had existed in the Church, in connection with the title bishop. Besides, the name itself was associated in Mr. Wesley’s mind with all the grandeur and pomposity of modern prelates, and for this latter reason he strongly objected to its use among his preachers, as applied to any one of their brethren; and for the same reason he disapproved of the employment of the term priest or presbyter, as applied to an ordained elder in the Methodist Church; as also of the use of the term college, when applied to a literary institution of the highest grade, preferring as he did, the more modest and unassuming appellation of school.

We deem it necessary to make these remarks preparatory to the introduction of a letter, written by Mr. Wesley, to Bishop Asbury, in the year 1788, after the title bishop began to be generally employed by the preachers, in their addresses to the bishops. The letter referred to, was dated London, Sept. 20, 1788, and contains the following words, which we give as an extract: — “But in one point, my dear brother, I am a little afraid both you and the doctor differ from me. I study to be little; you study to be great:

I creep; you strut along. I found a school; you a college! Nay, and call it after your own names. O, beware! Do not seek to be something. Let me be nothing, and Christ be all in all. “One instance of this, your greatness, has given me great concern.

How can you, how dare you suffer yourself to be called a bishop? I shudder and start at the very thought! Men may call me a knave or a fool, a rascal, a scoundrel, and I am content; but they shall never, by my consent, call me a bishop. For my sake, for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, put a full end to this.”

We have thus given, in Mr. Wesley’s own words, his objection to the use of the title bishop, by Mr. Asbury, or Dr. Coke; and these words afford sufficient evidence that Mr. Wesley, while he disapproved of the name bishop, was not opposed to the office itself. Whatever fears may have disposed Mr. Wesley to oppose the assumption of the title, yet the history of the Church since that period, and especially the history of the worthy men who have since then filled the episcopal chair, prove the falsity of these fears, and the propriety of adopting the title.

After his consecration to the episcopacy, Bishop Asbury began a series of labors and travels which have rendered his name immortal, and which have fully entitled him to the appellation of Apostle of American Methodism. He first directed his attention to the founding of a Methodist College. Being joined, in this important enterprise, by Dr. Coke, they soon succeeded in collecting a sufficient amount by subscriptions and donations, to warrant the erection of a noble brick edifice, one hundred and eight foot long by forty wide, in the town of Abingdon, Va., about twenty-five miles from Baltimore. In December, 1787, the college was solemnly dedicated by Bishop Asbury, to the service of God, and of religious knowledge. In ten years afterward, the college was destroyed by fire. A second college was secured in the city of Baltimore, but like the former, it soon perished in the flames. Mr. Asbury, although the friend of sound education, appears to have become discouraged about making any further attempts to secure the erection of collegiate edifices.

In 1788, Bishop Asbury crossed the Allegheny Mountains, and as an illustration of the mode in which this modern bishop “strutted” through the world, we will give his own account of his journey: “We had to cross the Allegheny Mountains again, at a bad passage. Our course lay over mountains, and through valleys, and the mud and mire was such as might scarcely be expected in December. We came to an old forsaken habitation in Tygers Valley: here our horses grazed while we boiled our meat: midnight brought us up at Jones’, after riding forty, or perhaps fifty miles.

The old man, our host, was kind enough to wake us up at four o’clock in the morning. We journeyed on, through devious, lonely wilds, where no food might be found except what grew in the woods, or was carried with us. We met with two women, who were going to see their friends, and to attend the quarterly meeting at Clarksburgh. Near midnight we stopped at A—’s, who hissed his dogs at us: but the women were determined to go to quarterly meeting, so we went in. Our supper was wasted. Brothers Phoebus and Cook took to the woods; old — gave up his bed to the women. I lay along the floor on a few deer-skins, with the fleas. That night our poor horses got no corn; and the next morning they had to swim across the Monongahela; after a twenty miles’ ride, we came to Clarksburgh, and man and beast were so outdone, that it took us ten hours to accomplish it.

My mind has been severely tried under the great fatigue endured both by myself and horse. O, how glad I should be of a plain, clean plank to lie on, as preferable to most of the beds; and where the beds are in a bad state, the floors are worse.”

In 1789, George Washington was elected the first President of the United States of America, and while Congress was in session, in the city of New York, a congratulatory address was prepared by order of the New York Conference, for presentation to President Washington. The duty of its presentation, and the reception of the President’s reply, devolved on Bishop Asbury, who was very politely received by the President, and to whom a complimentary reply was given. The estimation in which the Father and savior of his country was held by Bishop Asbury, may be inferred from the following language, which he used on hearing of Washington’s death, in 1799: “I am disposed to lose sight of all but Washington. Matchless man! At all times he acknowledged the providence of God; and never was he ashamed of his Redeemer. We believe he died not fearing death,” etc.

In 1791, Bishop Asbury visited New England, for the first time, and opened his mission in the city of New Haven, Conn. His appointment to preach was published in the city papers, and although many of the literati came to hear him, yet no nine invited him to their homes; and although he attended the chapel of Yale College, in time of prayers, no one invited him to visit the interior of the college, although some of the faculty were present who had heard him preach. This cold treatment induced him to say that if the opportunity ever should occur, he would “requite their behavior, by treating them as friends, brethren, and gentlemen.” “The difficulty,” he adds, “I met with in New Haven, for lodging, and for a place to hold meeting, made me feel and know the worth of Methodists more than ever.”

Bishop Asbury subsequently visited Boston, where his reception was as cold as at New Haven, and he remarks, in reference to it, “I have done with Boston until we can obtain a lodging, a house to preach in, and some to join us.” Such was the cold-hearted Christianity of New England Calvinism, in those days of tithes and state support. Were Bishop Asbury now alive, and were he to visit either New Haven or Boston, he would find that a mighty change had taken place since his first visit to New England, not only in the localities named, but in all the towns and villages through which he passed. He would find that the seed then sown by him and his fellow-laborers in the vine yard of Christ, had indeed taken deep root, and germinated, and fructified, so that not only “thirty” or “sixty,” but even “an hundred fold” has been brought forth in that cold and sterile soil. The following remarkable passage occurs in his Journal after having made the above visit. In reference to the “standing order,” as they were then called, he says: “I am inclined to think the eastern church will find this saying hold true in regard to the Methodists, ‘I will provoke you to jealousy by a people that were no people: and by a foolish nation I will anger you.’ They have trodden upon the Quakers, the Episcopalians, the Baptists, — see how, if the Methodists do not work their way.” This almost prophetic language has been literally fulfilled; the Methodists have “worked their way” in spite of all opposition.

It would be pleasing no doubt to the reader, to follow Bishop Asbury in his various journeys over the American continent, but our limits will only allow us to state in reference to this point, that he was constantly active, always on the move from place to place; like the apocalyptic angel he flew “through the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach,” to the inhabitants of earth. As a further illustration of his peculiar trials and privations, however, we may be allowed to give a few incidents. While traveling in the south, he relates as follows: “Having rode in pain twenty four miles, we came to O’s tavern, and were glad to take what came to hand. Four miles forward we came to Home’s Ford, upon Catawba River, where we could neither get a canoe, nor guide. We entered the water in an improper place, and were soon among the rocks and the whirlpools. My head swam, and my horse was affrighted. The water was up to my knees, and it was with difficulty we retreated to the same shore. We then called to a man on the other side, who came and piloted us across, for which I paid him well. My horse being afraid to take the water a second time, brother Gibson crossed, and sent me his, and our guide took mine across. We, went on, but our troubles were not at an end; night came on, and it was very dark. It rained heavily, with powerful lightning and thunder. We could not find the path that turned out to Connell’s. In this situation we continued till midnight or past. At last we found a path which we followed until we came to dear old father Harper’s plantation; we made for the house and called; he answered, but wondered who it could be; he inquired whence we came; I told him we would tell him when we came in; for it was raining so powerfully that we had not much time to talk. When I came dripping into the house, he cried, ‘God bless your soul is it brother Asbury?

Wife, get up.

As a further illustration of the extent of his travels on horseback, he remarks on one occasion: “From the best judgment I can form, the distance I have traveled is as follows: — from Baltimore to Charleston, S.C., one thousand miles; thence up the State of South Carolina, two hundred miles; from the center to the west of Georgia, two hundred miles, through North Carolina, one hundred miles; through the State of Tennessee, one hundred miles; through the west of Virginia, three hundred miles; through Pennsylvania, and the west of Maryland, and down to Baltimore, four hundred miles.” Thus making in a single tour on horseback, through rivers and swamps, over hills, and mountains, preaching almost every day, lodging in log-cabins, or on the cold ground a journey of two thousand three hundred miles, in a few months’ time! On another occasion he writes, that he traveled “six hundred miles with an inflammatory fever and a fixed pain in” his “breast.” These facts are sufficient to show the self-sacrificing spirit of the apostolic Asbury, while they should put to blush the assertions of those who have accused him of being a man greedy of honor.

In consequence of Bishop Asbury’s severe labors, his health became so seriously affected that at the General Conference of 1800, he meditated a resignation of the office of bishop and with this design, actually wrote a letter to that effect to be laid before the Conference. The Conference, however; after the matter was presented, passed resolutions approbatory of his course as a bishop, and earnestly entreating him to continue his services to the Church in that capacity, as far as his strength would permit. The entreaty of the Conference thus made, had the effect of inducing him to relinquish his design of resigning his office for the present, and as Dr. Coke was under the necessity of spending the greater portion of his time in Europe, and consequently could render but partial assistance in the episcopal work, the Conference elected the Rev. Richard Whatcoat as the colleague of Bishop Asbury. Mr. Whatcoat had been selected for this office by Mr. Wesley himself, at the same time that Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury were appointed, but as the state of the work did not demand three bishops, his election to the office was deferred until the time above referred to.

After the adjournment of the General Conference of 1800, Mr. Asbury continued, through much bodily affliction, to travel far and near, presiding in the Conference, and visiting all portions of the work, preaching the Gospel of the kingdom to the poor on the frontiers of the country, as well as to the rich in the populous cities of the land. In referring to these labors he remarks in his journal: “Why should a living man complain? But to be three months together on the frontiers when generally you have but one room and fire-place, and half a dozen of folks about you, strangers perhaps, and their families, certainly (and they are not usually small in these plentiful new countries) making a crowd, — and this is not all — for here you may meditate if you can; and here you must preach, read, write, pray, sing, talk, eat, drink, and sleep, or fly into the woods. Well! I have pains in my body — which are very affective when I ride, but I cheer myself with songs in the night.” During the year 1802, he rode about four thousand miles, mostly on horseback, through snow and rain, but God was always present to cheer and comfort him.

At the General Conference of 1804, Bishops Coke, Asbury, and Whatcoat were all present, and presided alternately over the deliberations of the Conference. Two years subsequently, Bishop Whatcoat died at the residence of Governor Bassett, in the State of Delaware, in the seventy first year of his age. The decease of Bishop Whatcoat left Bishop Asbury virtually alone in the episcopal work, Dr. Coke’s presence in Europe being still requested by the English Conference; so that during the year 1807, Bishop Asbury was under the necessity of presiding in the seven Conferences of the Church, and, of traveling six thousand miles in ten months, in order to do it. During these travels, he was frequently under the necessity of lodging, and eating in taverns, but it is worthy of record, that whatever might be the character of the house where he stopped, if only to eat a meal, or feed his weary beast, he made it a point always to ask the privilege of praying with the family before he left them; which permission was seldom if ever refused.

At the General Conference of 1808, Bishop Asbury was the only bishop present. The Conference, however, elected the Rev. Wm. McKendree as an episcopal colleague to fill the place vacated by the death of Bishop Whatcoat. Bishop Mckendree being comparatively young and robust, rendered valuable assistance to his aged colleague, which the latter appreciated, and in proper terms acknowledged from time to time. The two bishops generally rode during the first year of McKendree’s episcopate together, that the senior might introduce the junior member of the episcopacy, to the respective Conferences, as also to the people in every part of their extended diocese. In reference to their travels together, Mr. Asbury remarks on one occasion, “My flesh sinks under labor. We are riding in a poor thirty-dollar chaise in partnership, two bishops of us, but it must be confessed it tallies well with the weight of our purses. What bishops! Well — but we have great news, and we have great times, and each Western, Southern, and Virginia Conference will have one thousand souls truly converted to God. Is not this an equivalent for a light purse?

And are we not well paid for starving and toil? Yes, glory to God!” That the purses of these bishops were “light,” may be inferred from the fact, that their salary was eighty dollars a year, and their traveling expenses eleven, or a trifle over twenty cents a day! Whatever might have been their motives for enduring the hardships incident to the discharge of their episcopal functions, no one we think can justly accuse them of being prompted by a desire to grow rich.

In the year 1811, Bishop Asbury visited Upper Canada, which at that period, and until 1828, was embraced within the jurisdiction of the American General Conference, and with consequently under the supervision of the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Passing through the Indian village of St. Regis, he crossed the St. Lawrence to Cornwall, and for the first time in forty years, stood again under the flag of his native country. In, reference to his feelings on this interesting occasion, he remarks: “My strong affection for the people of the United States, came with strange power upon me, when I was crossing the line. Why should I have such new feelings in Canada?” These “feelings,” were no doubt occasioned by the operations of his memory, bringing vividly before the mind, the days of his youth, his country, his parents, his early associates, his troubles during the war of the Revolution, and especially the mighty changes which had been wrought since his emigration to America, not only in the civil condition of his adopted country. but in the condition of that branch of the Church of Christ, of which he was the acknowledged head, and of which, in an important sense, he had been, the apostle. The good bishop passed along up the northern shore of the St. Lawrence, stopping frequently and preaching to the people on his way. After visiting Kingston, and other important places in Canada, he recrossed to Sackett’s Harbor in an open boat, having a “tremendous passage,” as he informs us in his journal. After landing in the United States, he proceeded to meet the Genesee Annual Conference, in Paris, Oneida County, New York, from which place in company with Bishop Mckendree, he proceeded on a tour through New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Kentucky, Tennessee, and other southern states of the Union, traveling some sixteen hundred miles, over rough roads, and through other hindrances in about two months.

In 1812, the first Delegated General Conference, assembled in the city of New York, Bishops Asbury and Mckendree being present. Soon after the adjournment of the Conference, war was declared against Great Britain by the United States, and although this war was exceedingly detrimental to the interests of pure religion, it did not prevent Bishop Asbury from pursuing his customary labor for the benefit of souls. It is true, when he heard of war being declared, his soul was cast down within him, while he reflected on the miseries that must necessarily ensue; he, however, felt it his duty as an American citizen and bishop, to pray earnestly for the success of the arms of his adopted country, — declaring publicly on the floor of an Annual Conference, that he who at such a time refused to pray for his country, deserved not the name of a Christian, or Christian minister. This last remark was nude with reference to the fact, that there was a faction in the Eastern States, who not only opposed the war, but even refused to pray for their rulers on that account. Bishop Asbury, during the year 1812, presided over nine Conferences, was present at ten camp-meetings, and traveled six thousand miles; but although his labors were severe, so much so, as almost entirely to prostrate his physical system, and render it necessary for his friends to lift him into his carriage, he exclaims, “O, let us not complain, when we think of the suffering wounded, and dying of the hostile armies! If we suffer, what shall comfort us? Let us see, — Ohio will give us six thousand for her increase of members in one new district.” So that amid the ravages of war, the bishop’s heart was consoled with the reflection that God was reviving his work.

In 1814, Bishop Asbury was seized with a severe attack of inflammatory fever, in New Jersey, so that his life for some time was despaired of by his friends and physicians. He, however, suddenly recovered strength sufficient to go out. In reference to his partial recovery of strength, he says: “I would not be loved to death, and so came down from my sick room, and took to the road, weak enough. Attentions constant, and kindness unceasing, have pursued me to this place. I look back upon a martyr’s life of toil and privation, and pain; and I am ready for a martyr’s death. The purity of my intentions — my diligence in the labors to which God has been pleased to call me the unknown sufferings I have endured — What are all these? The merit, atonement, and righteousness of Christ alone, make my plea.”

The friends in Philadelphia, in consequence of the bishop’s infirmity, made him a present of a light four-wheeled carriage, and in four days after, we find this extraordinary man in Pittsburgh, across the Allegheny Mountains, having urged his way through swamps, rough roads, mountainous passes. etc., in order to get there. From this time until 1816, Bishop Asbury continued to discharge his episcopal duties as much as his wasted strength would allow, flying from place to place, with almost railroad speed, until at length the wheels of life began to move more slowly, and the veteran bishop was admonished that his work on earth was nearly finished.

On the 24th of March, 1816, he reached the city of Richmond, Virginia, — at which place he preached his last sermon, from these words: “For he will finish his work, and cut it short in righteousness: because a short work will the Lord make upon the earth.” This sermon was preached by the venerable and apostolic man while seated upon a table in the pulpit, having been carried from his carriage to the sacred desk. After sermon, he was assisted to his carriage, and pursued his way to Spottsylvania, Va., where he put up at the house of his old and valued friend, Mr. George Arnold, where he finally died on the 31st day of March, 1816, in the 71st year of his age, and the 55th of his ministry. He died in great peace, and raised both his hands in token that Jesus Christ was precious to him in the hour and moment of dissolving nature.

His remains were interred in the family burying ground of Mr. Arnold, but by order of the next General Conference, which assembled in Baltimore on the first day of May following, they were disinterred, and removed to Baltimore, where they were finally deposited under the recess of the pulpit of the Eutaw-street Church, in a vault prepared for the purpose.

Thus died Francis Asbury, and thus was a weeping Church left to mourn the departure from earth of their father and beloved senior Bishop. It is scarcely necessary, after what has been said, to attempt a description of Bishop Asbury’s character. Let it suffice to say, that he was emphatically a\parCHRISTIAN — a man of deep religions experience; that he was also a divinely appointedCHRISTIAN MINISTER, giving the most indubitable evidence of this fact, by the success attending his labors. He was also an example of benevolence and true Christian charity. His entire effects, after his decease, were found to be worth only about two thousand dollars, which he left to the Book Concern, for the benefit of the worn-out preachers, widows, and orphans. He was temperate in all things, and remarkably plain and modest in his apparel. His arduous labors have been referred to; during the forty-five years of his ministry in America, it has been estimated that he preached no less than sixteen thousand five hundred sermons, besides his lectures, exhortations, etc. etc. He also must have traveled not less than two hundred and seventy thousand miles, or about eleven times the circumference of the earth! He probably also presided in not less than two hundred and twenty annual Conferences, and ordained not less than four thousand persons to the office of the ministry, besides tens of thousands who we re admitted by him to the Church, by the rite of baptism.