The Bolivar bulletin. [volume] (Bolivar, Hardeman County, Tenn.) 1865-1888, 1881-10-13
The Methodist Council.
HOW THE WHITE AND BLACK DELEGATES
FROM THE SOUTH APPEARED.

HOW THE WHITE AND BLACK DELEGATES
FROM THE SOUTH APPEARED.
London letter from Moncure d
Conway in the Cincinnati CONNER
ctdJ: IN the days when I was able to
be present-four-Bis Bishop Peek made
the best Chairman. His method was
to be infiexIbly legal. 1t was a rule
that the essayists and invited speak
ers should be allowed twenty minutes
each, and the subsequent speakers five
minutes each. Bishop Peck had be-
fore him.-a bell which he touched with
extreme punctuality, but generally
with felicit0us remark. "Such preg-
nant thoughts as those Of our brother
can afford TO be cut short" On one
occasion it was necessary to arrest All
able essay read by Rev. DIR. Arthur,
the most eminent of English Wesley
ans, who was so loyal as not even to
utter the next word of the sentence he
had begun. Bishop Peck said: NO
one can know how 1T hurt me to touch
that bell" During the same session
a speech was made by a remarkable
black African, Rev. j. G. Price, of
Newbern, North Carolina, which
caused an outburst of enthusiasm.
The Bishops bell sounded in the
midst of it. The Conference cried,
go OH ~ The Bishop said: Our
brother has grand good sense, and
will not 90 on ~ An influential En-
glishman arose and moved that an
exception should be made in this
case; but Bishop Peck said the regu-
Iaions did not allow him to receive
the motion. 1t is-a pity that this ne
= l., L,
Nothing could exceed the literary
neatness and finish of his style, the
music of his voice, and the charming
humor of what he said. No other
speech during any of the sessions
which | attended produced an equal
effect. 1t was followed by a very re-
markable scene. While the enthu-
siasm was still prevailing, Rev.
DR.. Marshall, Of Vicksburg, arose
and in the course of am i'm
pressive speech declared that as in the
days of slavery he and his white
brethren had never neglected the
cOlOred race, so now he was happy
to greet him who had just spoken as
his brother. With that he turned and
shook hands with Mr.. Price, amid an
applause which broke through the
regulations that limit applause to
vocal exclamation. The coIored rep
resentatiyes have appeared well IN
this Conference. One of the best
speeches made at Exeter Hall, at a
meeting assembled to hear about the
progress of Methodism in America,
was made by Bishop Payne, of Balti-
more. Several other Africans made
good speeches. 1t was also a pleasant
thing to see the ministers of the
Methodist Church South fraternizing
with the colOred men. The abIest
man from the Southern Church, as |
think. is Rev. DR.. AIpheus Wilson, of
Nashville,-a son, by the way, of the
late Norval Wilson. a celebrated Balti-
more Conference preacher, who had
to undergo some persecution in Vir-
ginia for clinging as long as he could
to the Northern Church. DIR. Wilson
read a fine essay before the Conference
on The Influence that Methodism has
Exerted OH Other Religious Bodies,
and the Extent to Which They Have
Modified Methodism." It was thought
full and liberal, but it was only when
he was giving an account of the work
of Southern MethOdisn that one
could recognize the force of his simple
eloquence. The large audience was
much surprised to learn that since the
war the Church South has nearly
doubled its numbers, and this without
counting the cOlored people who have
Withdrawn into associations of their