the wilds of the West; it was the introduction of a system that-whether rapid in its growth, or slow in its development-should gladden the hearts and bless the homes of thousands. To the brightest dreams of the imagination it could scarcely have occurred, that, before the close of the century, from the Church in Kentucky, the gospel, in the form of Methodism, would not only have permeated every section of Kentucky, but would extend its lines into Middle Tennessee, and beyond the Ohio into the North-western Territory. No such bright hopes opened up before the minds of the pioneer preachers in this District. True, they expected good results from their labors. For this they preached, and prayed, and suffered. We have followed them and their coadjutors in their hardships, their toils, and their triumphs. We have traveled with them from fort to fort, until we have traversed the entire State, permeating every settlement, and listened to the truths they proclaimed. Looking to the interest of the rising generation and the future of the Church, we have seen them projecting schemes of education, and laying the foundation of sanctified learning. We have seen houses of worship erected in different portions of the State-not costly edifices, it is true, but plain structures, adapted to the times, and to the wants of the people-where hundreds were accustomed to assemble and worship' God. We have seen the Church triumphing over obstacles, and assuming a permanent form. And now, we inquire, what instrumentalities, besides the itinerant ministry, have been employed, under the both in Europe and Amer stances compelled many assume this relation. M the itinerant field expect only with the termination of active service, were co ranks. Worn out by the formed, and unable longe ties of pastoral work, t decree of necessity, and i ranks they sought for qui with them to their retirem by incessant toil, and, in disease which too plainly martyrs to the work to been devoted, and that grave, yet feeling no abat the cause to which they find them unwilling to lo Lord. Others, however, who had been soundly converted to God, and feeling divinely impressed with the conviction that they ought to preach the gospel, yet unable, from domestic cares and responsibilities, to devote themselves exclusively to the work of the ministry, were to be found in the Church. Of undoubted piety, possessing gifts that qualified them for usefulness, and capable of exerting an influence for good, with the approval of the Church, they were inclined to participate in the services of the sanctuary. Such was the introduction of a lay ministry into the Church. The faithful stone-mason of Birstal was scarcely surpassed in zeal by Mr. Wesley himself; and the labors of the eccentric and devoted Strawbridge compare favorably with those of Watters and of Garretson. If, in the early days of Methodism, the lay ministers were not so successful in planting Churches, by their faithful labors they watered the good seed that had been sown by the itinerant, and, in many instances, with parental care, watched the growth of the infant societies. Into newly settled countries, not only as pioneer settlers, but as pioneers of their faith, they have frequently gone, and, in advance of the itinerant preacher, have organized societies, to be transferred afterward to his pastoral care. In the older and more populous settlements, they have enjoyed the high distinction of seeking communities which the circuit-preacher could not embrace in his field of labor, because of the amount arcely d the ridge d of , the ting the and, the neer fre ant -red ey m m nt neration for their service a consciousness of the the hope of being instru sinners. Many of them from home on tours of zeal commensurate with and the interests of those out the responsibilities have exercised its functi bors. In the homes of the sick; in places of b well as at the altars of cessfully rivaled the zeal gelist in offering hope t to the lost, and life to th Allusion has already be a local preacher of ferve and of considerable abilit three years before the Ogden. The year following his settlement in the District, under his ministrations, a few persons in Mercer county associated themselves in a class, and thus formed the first society of Methodists in Kentucky. This society was the nucleus around which was formed the Danville Circuit, recorded at so early a period in the printed Minutes. Other local preachers, whose names we have mentioned, had labored assiduously in their respective communities, either as the precursors of the missionaries, or in coöperation with them, in the establishment of Christianity, and in pushing forward the victories of the cross. Several of the preachers who had been compelled to retire from the itinerant field because of the failure of their strength, and whose labors had been greatly blessed, had settled among those who had been brought to Christ through their instrumentality, and continued to watch over their spiritual interest with the same vigilance that had previously distinguished them, though in a more circumscribed sphere. Among these the name of Benjamin Northcuttof whose life and labors we gave an account in a previous chapter-stands preeminent. Failing in health after a few years in the itinerant field, he became more prominent than any other minister in the local ranks. Not only in the vindication of the great truths of Christianity, but in those revivals that occasionally shed their light upon the Church near the close of the past, and especially in the great revival that spread throughout Kentucky |