The Montgomery advertiser., 1903-09-22

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 Y. Abernathy. presented R. r. Yergan
 for ordination as deacon. The candiA
 date was elected by the North Alabama Conference as a deacon and had his cre-
 dentials with him.
 pr. ]. A. Rice of the Court Street
 Church read the gospel and Dr. A L.
 Andrews read the epistle. The Bishop
 then laid his hands on the mead of the
 candidate and pronounced the ordination
 service.
 l The church was filled and the gallery was crowded.
 John Wesley and Methodism.
 Bishop Cander then addressed the large | congregation. his subject being John | Wesley and Methodism." He spoke as
 follows:
 | We are assembled to honor the memory
 and perpetuate the influence of a hnan porn 200 years ago and who has been oeao ll2 years. He is remembered so long and revered SD profoundly not for martial
 deeds, nor civic achievements. nor liter
 ary success. but because by the grace of l God he brought multitudes to Christ and
 made a new era in the history of the l races.
 l We are not come together that sectarian | pride may disport itself in pompous pane
 gyric, but that we may recall the victo- | ries of simple faith. and fire anew our
 tainting hearts by the story that we re- count. | The boasting of bigotry is excluded by
 every consideration of piety and propri- | ety. The man whose birth we celebrate
 IS the peculiar and exclusive possession
 or no sect or order; he belongs to our
 common Christianity. He devoted his whole life, extending over SS years, and , comprehending an active ministry of more
 than three score years not to the promo
 ton of any sectarian ends, but to the spreading of scriptorial holiness through out his own and other lands. He abhor- | red the spirit of bigotry and with cordial cethoiicity declared: q desire to have l league offensive and defensive with every
 soldier of Christ" Now that at length his influence has penetrated in greater
 or less degree every Christian body on
 the earth. if he could speak to all Lhris- | tians of whatsoever names assembled in one place, he would doubtless repeat his | famous eXhortation: q beseech you brethren, by the mercies of God that We | be in nowise divided among ourselves Is
 thy heart right my heart is with thee2 ask no further question. If it be- give | me thy hand. For opinions or terms let 1 us not destroy the work of God. It is
 enough. I give thee the right hand of | fellowship" Wesley's spirit. therefore no
 less than the presence of these honored brethren. who from bodies beyond the
 limits of the Wesleyan family of churches. come to unite with us in this celebration
 forbids the slightest indulgence of secta-
 ran selfshness and the mildest expres- | sion of denominational pride
 Hour Past for Eulogy. Nor Is this an hour for the eulogy of John Wesley. He has passed long since
 the point of compliment or criticism. and has now attained a height of historic em- ] thence at which he has become the ject Of reverent admiration and devout study. 1 Robert Southey said about him above
 seventy-fve years ago: There may come
 a time when the name of Wesley may be
 more generally known, and in more re-
 mote regions of the globe. than that of Hrederlck GIT Catharine." That day has
 come. Over areas of which Sou.hey's brain never dreamed and among multi pned millions which the prophetic vision or wesley never fOresaw. in America in
 India, In China. in the frigid zones of po-
 lar lands, and in the sunny islands of the | troplc seas. where the name of the Prus-
 san despot has never been heard, and where the history of the Russian Empress IS unKnoWn. the words of the great Eng fish preacher are household themes and power.
 When man has reached such an ele vauon-when it can be justly said of bIu1 that no saint in all the calendars of Chris tendon has been more truly and nohIv
 canonlzed-he has passed quite bevon1 th, need of eulogy to enchance his fame and the power of censure to dim the Iustre of his renown. We are therefore not here | to praise or to blame him.
 It may not be amiss, however to ny,r,, | together some of the estimates wbicb | other great men have put forth concern | ing him. that we realize more sensthIv how far he has risen above our poor now CTS of compliment or condemnation. and | that we, lifted upon the pinions of the praises of mighty men who have studied | his wondrous work. may be raised to the l lofty level of the worldwide celebration. of which this occasion Is but the smallest part.
 Accordingly I bring to your attention what some of the most conspicuous men Of his own and later days have said con cerning him. being careful to quote from
 no Methodist authority and laying before
 you not tthe of what might be present. ed if the limits and proprietles of this hour permitted.
 Lord Macauley said of hinfNthat The was man whose 1quence and logical acute ness might have made him eminent in literature and whose genius for govern ment was not inferior to Richeieu."
 Robert Southey declared: 'I consider him the most influential mind of the last century-the man who will have produced the greatest effects, centuries, or perhaps milleniums hence. if the present race of men should continue so long,"