The Birmingham age-herald., 1917-11-05
MEN, WOMEN
 AND THINGS

Cities, states and nations have their
 seals. and notices, and why shouldn'
 churches2
 My daily visits to the conference al Woodlawn got me to figuring a grea deal for the church or 8 coat of arms for Methodists They Amay have one
 for all I know, but not knowing fol
 sure, or what 1t is. have figured oui
 one that suits mo and hope will make
 it's appeal to them.
 In the center Of the seal would place
 pair of saddle bags, and underneath
 for motto I would place these iitumi- mating words. The World Is My Par l iish" Tn this way I would link English and American Methodism, for the saddle
 bags stand for Asbury, while the sen-
 timent is that of Wesley.
 l Just as no one can understand the re- Hgious life of England during the 18th century without taking into considera-
 sion the life and labors of John Wesley. l heart of the spiritual development in America during the same period without taking note of Francis Asbury, the prophet of the long road
 1 Now I belong to another denomina-
 tion. My friends know me as 8 Bap- i tist, but I never tire reading about Wesley the man who gave Methodism 1 to the world. and Asbury. the man you are not familiar with their lives you are losing something worth while 1 out of your own, and I advise you to get acquainted with them at the earliest possible moment.
 Fortunately, there Is little excuse for our remaining in ignorance as both Wes- 1 lew and Asbury in their journals, have set down for us the story of their wan messages into places where the regular churches were not reaching the masses and then each has had worthy bIogra- phers
 Not to start or to revive an old con- troversy as to Wesley's relation to the church of England, the fact remains that when he begins his work the ea- tablished church was not fulfilling it's divine mission In reaching the sub- merged classes A student of the time 8 said that the plain precepts of the scriptures were disregarded by the clergy and people Sunday was a day of sport, and divines were notoriously active in their observance of the day in this fashion.
 The fox hunting parson is a conspic- uous figure in the literature of the eighteenth century. Religion was at a low ebb. Extempore preaching had died out. and preachers droned platitudes into the ears of a wicked and debased peo- pie. Gin drinking had become a mania It has been pitifully said the Puritans were buried. and the Method ists had not been born.
 Into such world came John Wesley, a man of God, possessed with a divine AAS@A SS-sA II AOA GO1Ads LIC 4ltdS q It1cSSdR6 of hope and redemption for the lowly and his evangel swept through the land lifting England out Of the darkness of the twilight zone of sin into the light of the brightness of Him who was what he claimed to be, the light of the world Wesley's coming put an end to the reign of religious buffoonery incarnated in Jonathan Swift. and opened an era of faith shot through with moral earnest ness that transformed preachers and people.
 To the oft asked question, Where did Methodism have it's birth?" Issaac Taylor made answer, saying: "The Wes- ley's' mother was the mother of Meth for her courage, her submissiveness to authority, the high tone of her mind, it's independence and it's self-control the warmth of her devotional feelings. and the practical direction given to them, came up and were visibly repeated In the character and conduct of her sons"
 A historian of the denomination says, 'the Methodist movement, however, may be said to date from the forma tion of the Holy Club at Oxford-for which Charles Wesley was largely responsi- ble." John Wesley was not at the fam ous school when the friends first came together, nor did he return to the un.t- versity until after the name Methodists' hod urfxy f< +ho who met together at first every Sunday evening. then two evenings 8 week. and finally every evening from to g o'clock.
 This may have been the outward start of Methodism, but I prefer to go back to its conception in the loving heart l of Susanna Wesley. I read tho other day where some publicist had said that Sarah Bernhardt was the greatest woman of the twentieth century" and in l the article he quoted her as saying. ''I have tried to get the most I could out of life. because I-you know I do not believe in any other life." And then she confessed that if she had had her way, she had rather have been a paint ! CT or sculptor, so she might have left behind something of permanent vaIue,''
 whereas, now I shall leave--a memory"
 
 l l haven't time here, to tell why do not believe the great tragedenne is the 1 greatest woman of the age, I grant that l she is among the best known It is true. as she sees for herself, that she l will gradually fade out of the world $ View, but set over against her Susanna Wesley, as the greatest woman of the leghteenth century, a woman who will