and in its constitutional law, recognized that the "Constitution" superseded the "Act of Confederation," and that the republic was no longer a confederacy but a nation, and as such, supreme and sovereign over all its states. It was at a period of no little political agitation on the question of state sovereignty that this change was made: the Kentucky "Resolutions of 1798," and those of Virginia, 1799, had become the basis of a State Rights party. A cotemporary Methodist preacher (Henry Boehm, still living) records that just previous to this time "there was great political excitement. Federalism and Democracy ran high-such was the excitement that it separated families, and friends, and members

States of America, according to the division of power made to them by the Constitution of the United States, and by the Constitutions of their respective States. And the said States are a sovereign and independent nation, and ought not to be subject to any foreign jurisdiction,' The "Witness" proceeds to say that "the language of the Article leans very strongly toward an anti-democratic view of the relations between the Federal and the State governments, and has been often so construed by the authorities of the Church since our present political troubles began. It has been referred to again and again by the Annual and General Conferences, by the official papers, and by the bishops and preachers, as decisive of the position which the Church holds upon the subject of State rights." The "Witness" errs in saying this form of the Article existed "from the beginning," but is correct in its statement of the Church's interpretation of the Article. After the adoption of the National Constitution, Methodism never doubted the sovereign nationality of the Republic, and never had the unstatesmanlike folly to recognize any State right of secession, or any sovereignty which is not subordinate to the National sovereignty.

of the Church. I was urged, on every side, to identify myself with one political party or the other, or to express an opinion. I felt sad to see what influence this state of feeling was producing in the Church." It was in such circumstances that the Methodist Episcopal Church took its stand for the National Constitution. During the late civil war it has appealed to its Article, as expressing the loyal duty of all its people, and they have responded to the appeal with a patriotic devotion surpassed by no other religious communion of the country.

The Methodist Episcopal Church was also the first religious body to recognize the organization of the national government and the presidency of Washington. Bishops Coke and Asbury, in the name of the Conference in session at New York, waited on Washington, then just inaugurated, on May 29, 1789, and Asbury read to him the address of the Conference. "The address," says a cotemporary preacher, "and the answer, in a few days, were inserted in the public prints; and some of the ministers and members of the other Churches appeared dissatisfied that the Methodists should take the lead. In a few days the other denominations successively followed our example." The Address of the Bishops was signed by Coke and Asbury. It said, "We, the Bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, humbly beg leave, in the name of our Society, collectively, in these United States, to

express to you the warm feelings of our hearts, and our sincere congratulations on your appointment to the presidentship of these states. We are conscious, from the signal proofs you have already given, that you are a friend of mankind; and under this established idea, place as full confidence in your wisdom and integrity for the preservation of those civil and religious liberties which have been transmitted to us by the providence of God and the glorious Revolution, as we believe ought to be reposed in man. We have received the most grateful satisfaction from the humble and entire dependence on the great Governor of the universe which you have repeatedly expressed, acknowledging him the source of every blessing, and particularly of the most excellent Constitution of these states, which is at present the admiration of the world, and may in future become its great exemplar for imitation; and hence we enjoy a holy expectation, that you will always prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine vital religion, the grand end of our creation and present probationary existence. And we promise you our fervent prayers to the throne of grace, that God Almighty may endue you with all the graces and gifts of his Holy Spirit, that he may enable you to fill up your important station to his glory, the good of his Church, the happiness and prosperity of the United States, and the welfare of man

kind. Signed in behalf of the Methodist Episcopal Church."

Washington, in reply, said: “I return to you individually, and through you to your Society collectively in the United States, my thanks for the demonstrations of affection, and the expressions of joy offered in their behalf, on my late appointment. It shall be my endeavor to manifest the purity of my inclinations for promoting the happiness of mankind, as well of the sincerity of my desires to contribute whatever may be in my power toward the civil and religious liberties of the American people. In pursuing this line of conduct, I hope, by the assistance of Divine Providence, not altogether to disappoint the confidence which you have been pleased to repose in me. It always

affords me satisfaction when I find a concurrence of sentiment and practice between all conscientious men, in acknowledgments of homage to the great Governor of the Universe, and in professions of support to a just civil government. After mentioning that I trust the people of every denomination, who demean themselves as good citizens, will have occasion to be convinced that I shall always strive to prove a faithful and impartial patron of genuine vital religion, I must assure you in particular, that I take in the kindest part the promise you make of presenting your prayers at the throne of grace for

me, and that I likewise implore the divine benedic tion on yourselves and your religious community."

These two first bishops of Methodism were inti· mate with Washington, and were entertained at his table at Mount Vernon, where they held patriotic consultations with him, especially on the subject of slavery, he being, as they have recorded, of their own sentiments on that subject.

On this great national question, which has so fortunately reached its solution in our day, Methodism has always borne a decided testimony, and has contributed more, perhaps, than any other Christian denomination, to its final settlement. If Quakerism has given a less equivocal verdict on the evil, Methodism has done incomparably more effectual work against it. At the organization of the Church it enacted a law against it, and afterward incorporated into its constitutional law (its General Rules or terms of membership) a prohibition of "the buying and selling of men, women, and children, with an intention to enslave them," a law which has kept its honorable record down to this day. The early Methodist preachers, who, like Hatch and Garrettson, inherited, or otherwise came into the possession of slaves, emancipated them. With the rapid spread of the Church southward, its stringent opinions on the subject became lax; violent discussions and parties arose within its com