The daily Green Mountain freeman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1861-1865, 1862-07-01
"Reminiscences Of Northern Ohio.

land inhabitants aud peculiurIlies, seenieh u
he iii adapted to rapid spread u! thc "oc
irines rnd usag,s Of the Methodist rplscoPa
Church. Its cary settlers were pnrl'aDira
10 thsir descent, Hlth s9ropg Pfedllcct'oh> Il"
the old and we!l-estahllsned system 0f parua
salvation, the general features OF which tnt
old Puritan divincs had dyed. az il "cre, IN
to their very souls Methodism was more
Iaiituiinarian 10 iIS nature and operations
aud hence it was looked upon as the hereSy
predicted ia Revelation. the croWnlng shame
oi religious ianatlcism, second Babylon, III
lie better than the dogmatlca mother of bar
ots-the Church Of Rome. The mysterious
rise and r;.pid growth ot Methodisnl. ioget her
with ;hc peculiar cl~ss Of ministers whSm
God raised up from among the people TO
establish aud defend it, are matters OF TACT
with which the mos; casual observer OF
Cnulch history must be iainilar England
needed suah religious champions a. the IS
loyS, Coke, Nelson, Maxwell aud Clarke, to
arouse formal Church Lnd re-lnaugurate
that apostolic system OF taIIli which Tor many
centuries mad been buried beneath the accu-
initiated rubbish Of lne DIRK ayes. 80 New
EnoIard must ueedr have such men "a lee,
Broadhead Pickering, Iayior Neis and
G3oDer. 10 meet the nordes OF ecclesiastical
Sausons whose mighty sway, at tht lrIro-
luction Of Meihodlsm into the New Word.
gave its feeble friends reason 10 tear tha. d
l,Iant oi ,uvn unnatural and rapid growth,
would scarcely survive the severity OF their
a.. liar hni Rut
the sec; everywhere ~poScn agalnst, not Oh
" he'd lis own in Puritan soil, but, III Its ag-
gre>sivc achievements, noof. passed the Iof'icst
ridge OF The Alleghanies, and with the march
OF ccascicss emigration found lie way INTO
the immense and newly broAcn forests OF the
great North West At first lis opposition
was Of & trivial character. Tor with the pccu-
liar a.ilmus oil the new order the common peU-
pic seemed 70 be almost wholly unacqualn'ed
pu; as the Established clergy ntcame scattered
through the land al Ouce, there commenced
polemtc warfare, which had proved exceed
msly DISASTROUS TO the newly ORGANIZED Church
iu the wilderness, haG not God raised up
Young, Quinn, Finley, Walker, Burke,
Strange, brunson, Bigvow, Elliott, and Il
host OF others, men OF giant minds, loving
peace, but driven TO wal, ouy Till Increasing
light should more generally dlhuse Itself
among the various orders ot society, ministers
who sustained just as important relation to
Methodism i'll the West, as Lee and his COIN
peers had sustained 10 the saIue cause ia 'Du
East. Though Methodsm was BORN and
bred in Il college, the opinion 100 generally
prevailed, al al early period Vi l1s history III
this country. that one OF the most prolnInen,
points in It's doctrine and discipline Was To |.
more learning and thus keep lis votarles N
obedicnce to the new order by keeping them
in profound and eterna ignorance. When !
Martin Ruter received, at the hands Of his
lima Mater the honorary degree oil Doctor
OF Divinity, there was IS much gossip III The
religious world on the subject, as though some
remarkable crowned head IL the Old Won ID !
had suddenly abdicA;ed lis throne lii favor Of
the verle>I buffoon IT The imperial court.
: Who would have dreamed OF ch arrant
NONSENSE as to Electorate IA poor, despissu
Methodist preacher, where the title had been
monopollzed by the standing order OF the
"iuiSti1 lIOhi ti'uC liuulCtlOTdl LDuCu was |
the feeling among kindred religious organ,za-
tons when the unostentatlous circuit rulers
began their arduous labors OF love 10 the un-
cultivated wlds Of Northern Ohio. But
even here ii was not unirequently the caac
that tie standing clergy and their ;upport-
ers found among the igaorant and despised
Methodist preachers, travelling and local, !.
COED share Ut mother wit, besides not "a little
scientific aud classic eruditlou. When one of |
the New England divnes, to lest the literary
qualifications OF one OF our early preachers
proposed question to him in Latin, he i'm
medlateIy responded in German, on which the
learned a0mtmo went away and reported that
there was one educat' Il itinerant preacher for !,
he could talk Hebrew, from which clrcum. |
stance this eccentric genius was long known
III that vicinity as the learned Methodist cir |
cult rider Circumstances of Il similar char
acter sometimes occurred in the early organi
zation OF society On the Western Reserve, one |
OF which 1t may not he out Of place to relate. |
Among the early Methods, local pre- chers
III IrumbuIl county was the cccentric Elisha
warner, who still lives, At good old age, TO
blow the Gospel ram horn on the BANKS of
the PIPER Mississippi One OF his early ac- /,
qualniances in Ohio was Hon. Elisha Whit. |
tesey, Uho had then u, now, all attorneys |
othco III that part OF the State where be has |
so long resided. Being something of way
and hearing that his friend, Elisha Warner
had been authorized TO preach, ne resolved
on the hrst oppo UNITY to lest Nh Warmers |
o. tlnnl ..rl l,La......