Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-03-07
prATH or nIsnoP SOAR.


1871 IN Bristol, Hancock county, Maine
He became n convert % che system o
religion 10 which he lived and died, il
his sixteenth year; and at the Conference
Of the Methodist Church, held in New
York in 1899, he was admitted q {
preacher in the itineraey Of thai
denomination He labored in this ca
pacity with great success and growing
influence, ia the States Of Maine and
Massachusetts, until the meeting Of the
General Assembly in 1876 when he
was elected to the responsible position Oi
Senior Agent Of the Book Concern. This
was most important ofiee, and the
selection Of Mr. Soule was high tribute
to his intellectual worth and standing in
the Church The sterling traits Of his
character had already made him one Of
the most prominent members Of the
ministry Eight years previously, he bad
been at the head Of the General Com
mittee which Trimmed the constitution, SO
to speak, Of American Methodism The
framing Of the delegated General Confer
ence was the work Of his hand and that
section in the code Of Discipline Of the
Church remains monument to his fame.
At the time Of his assuming charge Of the
Book Establishment, the Methodist
Magazine was ordered by the Conference,
and this publication was under the
editorial supervision ef Mr. Soule The
first year of its issuance was crowned
with a patronage Of ten thousand
subscribers-a result due to the energy
andability of the publisher and managing
editor. Mr. Soule continued in this
department Of labor until 1920, when he
was elected 10 the Office of Bishop. The
General Conference, however, at the
same session, determined by vote a
question which had long agitated its
councils, regarding the mode Of selecting
Presiding Elders; and, according to Mr..
Soule's view, the decision was contrary
tothe organic law Of the Church, and de-
rogatory to the Episcopal functions. He,
therefore, declined to be consecrated. In
this position, he was supported by Bishop
McKendree, then at the head ofthe church,
who protested against it. BY the com
bined influence Of Soule and McKendree,
the decision was suspended until the
next quadrennial Conference, and
finally reversed. In 1924, he was again
elected Bishop and consecrated on
the 9th of May of that year. This
exalted trust he fulfilled to the period
Of his death, in the fear of God, and ae
ceptably to the great body Of christians
whose doctrines he expounded, and illus
trated by an irreproachable walk and
conversation In 1910, Bishop Soule was
selected from among his Episcopal col
leagues to represent the church in this
country, at the Wesleyan Methodist Con.
ference in England, Il mission which he
discharged in a manner as salts aetory
to the British connection, as it was eredi-
table to himself At the General Con-
ference in New York in lS44 which re-
suited in the division Of the church on a
sectional line, Bishop Soule exerted his
great powers aud influence to prevent the
schism, and labored to induce the domi-
nant majority to adjust the question in
dispute upon the principles of eonstitu-
tional Methodism His efforts failed, and
when the division came, he united with the
Southern branch, and removed his resi-
dence to this vicinity, and has ever since
been citizen of Tennessee. 1t was in
lS43, that Bishop Soule became the Se-
nior bishop Of the connection
In massive force of understanding,
dignity and weight of character, and in
all the qualities which compose the char
acter Of a Bishop, Soule was ike Saul
head and shoulders above his breth-
rem, and this was an eminence generally
conceded. As an Itinerant General
Superintendent he has visited and
preached in almost every section Of the
country, from the Canadas to the Gulf OF
Mexico, and from the Atlantic to the
frontiers Of civilization in the West and
even in the regions beyond among the
semi-eiyilized Indians and the rude squat
ters Of the wilderness And in every place
his influence was felt, as man mighty
in the Scriptures, and wise in counsel
and excellent in knowledge Everywhere,
under all circumstances, and at all
hazards, he has filed up the measure Of
his duties, and maintained a character
personally, above suspicion and impurity
ministerially, replete with the power
which is of God, and officially, mild
without weakness, firm without severity,
and digni6ed without austerity Of mans
ners or presumption of authority.
In person he was tall and erect with q
well knit frame; his face and head were
indicative of the ability and force of
character with which he impressed the
sphere Of duty in which he acted his
manners were grave and solemn; his
port was dignifed and majestic. His
pulpit discourses were elaborate and
philosophical, never ornate, but always
peryaded with a sincerity and depth of
feeling which made them powerful.
The feebleness incident to great age
had, for some years, incapacitated him
from active service, but his intellect was
clear, and he was held as the father Of
the church. His zeal was as feryent as
when, in the dew Of his youth nearly
three score and ten years ago, he gave
himself to the ministry, and to the limit
Of his strength he continued to labor. In
his closing hours, he was conscious and
approached the last scene with equa>
nimity and perfect resignation, confident
in the belief he had taught and reliant