to his character, and that he might rest assured that they had not formed a conspiracy against him. But all I said had no effect, and he pertinaciously insisted that what he had said was true, and said, 'they were then engaged in drawing others into their conspiracy.' During that conversation his countenance exhibited a ghastly appearance, and his whole frame trembled. On returning to the house he again retired to bed, where he remained-if we rightly remember with his head generally covered, till the next Monday morning, when he was again prevailed on to get out of bed. After he had taken some refreshments, we again walked out together, and I urged him to return home to his sister's, assured him no conspiracy had been formed against him, and that if all he imagined were true, it was far better for him promptly to meet the danger than to attempt to flee from it like a coward. That advice seemed to strike the right chord, it immediately vibrated, and after a few minutes he answered, 'It is, perhaps, best promptly to meet the danger, but I can not do so, unless you attend and conduct the quarterly meeting for me at Browder's meetinghouse, near Bardstown, on next Saturday and Sunday. That meeting must not be neglected.' We promised to comply with his request, and he returned to his sister's. That was the first clear and unequivocal evidence of partial insanity which we recollect of having noticed in brother Poythress-insanity as it respected three most intimate friends; for the conspiracy, and the causes leading to it, which he supposed to exist, had no existence except in his own heated imagination, and, for the time being, it was found to be impracticable to remove those delusive ideas from his mind.

"We were confident no conspiracy had been formed against him, as he imagined, and still we entertained fears that, in the particular cases named, he had yielded

to the temptations of the archenemy of souls; and that a conviction of his crimes, and fear of detection had produced the effects we witnessed. Having, however, since that time, acquired some little knowledge of the symptoms which often exhibit themselves in partial insanity, the fears we then entertained have entirely vanished. We mention this, in order to show how extremely careful we ought to be, not to suffer suspicions injurious to the character of another to make a lodgment in our minds.

"Agreeably to promise, we attended the quarterly meeting, and in meeting brother Poythress he exclaimed, 'Why, upon earth, did you suffer me to leave you? It was all delusion. My sister met me as usual.' Early in the year 1797 he was confined by affliction; but whether his mind was affected during his affliction we are entirely uninformed. The last time we saw him was in the forepart of the winter of 1800. The balance of his mind was lost, and his body lay a complete wreck. His labors in the Church militant were at an end, but the fruits of his labors still remain.

"We are not aware that any hereditary taint existed, which, in its ultimate range, dethroned his reason; but we can readily imagine that the seeds of that dreadful malady were sown in his system by the constant exposures and sufferings during the war of the Revolution, and the twelve years he traveled and preached in the then almost wilderness of the west. Among the eight pioneers of Methodism in Kentucky and Tennessee in the year 1788, the name of Francis Poythress stands preeminent. By those intrepid heroes of the cross the foundation of Methodism was laid in those states, on which others have since built, and others are now building. Their names ought to be held in grateful remembrance by all who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity and

truth; but among all, we are inclined to the opinion, there is not one of them to whom the members of our Church, in those states, owe a greater debt of gratitude than to Francis Poythress."

In some notes appended by Samuel Williams, Esq., making a few alterations in the above narrative in regard to some dates and places, we have an item or two relating to the close of his life, which it may be proper to give. At times, we learn from these notes, he would converse rationally upon many subjects, while on other subjects he was hopelessly deranged. He was taken to his sister's, who lived twelve miles south of Lexington, Ky., where he remained till he died. He has gone, we trust, to that world where, in bright, unclouded intellect, he now gazes upon the scenes of eternal life.

CHAPTER VII.

BARNABAS M'HENRY.

THE Rev. Barnabas M'Henry was among the first apostles of Methodism in the western country. He entered the itinerant connection in the year 1787. He was then but a youth, scarcely having reached his majority. Considering the dangers and hardships to which wandering itinerants were exposed at that early day in the west, the leaving all the endearments of a happy home, must be considered as an act of moral heroism of which but few would be capable at the present day. But as God raises up the men for the times in which they live, we must not be too exact in running our parallels or contrasting the past with the present. If we have not the men for scenes of toil, and hardship, and danger, it may be a comfortable reflection, at least, to know that they are not wanted, and the circumstances of the times do not demand them. We believe there is as much genuine zeal and devotion in the Church now as there ever was, even in the days of the apostles and primitive Christians, though not as generally diffused among the membership. If Methodist preachers in those days had, in the language of President Harrison, to live just as though they had taken the vows of poverty upon them, and had to face the dangers and difficulties that beset their path alone and unattended, we should rejoice that though the offense of the cross has not ceased, yet the times have been so wonderfully changed by the mild, humanizing, and ever progressive spirit of Christianity, that none are called to

pass through the same trials and persecutions for Christ's sake. In those early days Methodism was a thing of contempt, and a Methodist preacher was considered as a special object of ridicule. Every conceivable method was resorted to for the purpose of caricaturing the preachers and their doctrines. Songs were written and sung, while specimens of Methodist sermons, perverted and distorted, were published broadcast, to bring odium upon the society. Grave preachers and pious deacons and elders were found, who would engage unscrupulously in this work. We knew ourselves a reverend divine who, at parties, would amuse his flock by getting up a mimic class meeting, interspersing it with occasional ditties and a shout. We do not say this because we wish to revive unpleasant memories, or to show up the conduct of those who claimed all the religion, and learning, and decency of the land; but simply as a specimen of the general contempt which prevailed in certain quarters for these "rude, uneducated circuit riders." Sometimes the very almanacs would be filled with songs and caricatures of Methodist preachers; and they were in as great demand as Davy Crockett almanacs were a few years ago. We were taught to believe that Methodism was of the devil, and no better than witchcraft. Here is a specimen of the sermons preached by Methodist preachers, and believed by many to be genuine. We found it in the almanac:

"Breathren, breathren, breathren! The word breathren comes from the tabernacle, because we dwell therein. If you are drowsy I will arouse you. I will beat a tattoo on the parchment cases of your consciences, and will whip the devil about like a whirligig among you."

It cost something in those days to be a Methodist, and especially to be a Methodist preacher. Young M'Henry, however, counted the cost, and joined the despised peo