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From "The History of Methodism."
=_144._= THE EARLY METHODIST CLERGY IN AMERICA.
They composed a class which, perhaps, will never be seen again. They
were distinguished by native mental vigor, shrewdness, extraordinary
knowledge of human nature, many of them by overwhelming natural
eloquence, the effects of which on popular assemblies are scarcely
paralleled in the history of ancient or modern oratory, and not a few by
powers of satire and wit which made the gainsayer cower before them. To
these intellectual attributes they added great excellences of the heart,
a zeal which only burned more fervently where that of ordinary men would
have grown faint, a courage that exulted in perils, a generosity which
knew no bounds, and left most of them in want in their latter days, a
forbearance and co-operation with each other which are seldom found in
large bodies, an entire devotion to one work, and, withal, a simplicity
of character which extended even to their manners and their apparel.
They were likewise characterized by rare physical abilities. They were
mostly robust. The feats of labor and endurance which they performed,
in incessantly preaching in villages and cities, among slave huts and
Indian wigwams, in journeyings seldom interrupted by stress of weather,
in fording creeks, swimming rivers, sleeping in forests,--these, with
the novel circumstances with which such a career frequently brought them
into contact, afford examples of life and character which, in the hands
of genius, might be the materials for a new department of romantic
literature.
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