the affliction, and would not have it otherwise. I do believe it was rendered a blessing to the place."

In the very front rank of that noble band of men who planted Methodism in these United States, is the posi tion of Freeborn Garrettson. In piety, ability, labor, suffering, and success, he was equaled by few, scarcely exceeded by any. He was born in Maryland, in 1752. Like most of the preeminently good and useful men who have blessed the world, he owed his early religious bias to a devout mother. He was converted to God, in 1775. At that time he was the legal owner of a number of slaves, that fell to him on the death of his father. Soon after his conversion, his mind became deeply dejected, he was encompassed with darkness, and the most severe distress." In this state of mind, he one day ealled his family together to attend family devotions.

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I stood," says Mr. Garrettson, “with a book in my hand, in the act of giving out a hymn; this thought powerfully struck my mind, It is not right for you to keep your fellow-creatures in bondage; you must let the oppressed go free.' I knew it to be that same blessed voice which had spoken to me before. Till then I had never suspected that the practice of slave-keeping was wrong; I had not read a book on the subject, nor been told so by any. I paused a minute, and then replied, Lord, the opressed shall go free.' And I was as clear of them in my mind as if I never owned one. I told them they did not belong to me, and that I did not desire their services without making them a compensation. I was now at liberty to proceed in worship. After singing, I kneeled to pray. Had I the tongue of an angel, I could not fully describe what I felt: all my dejection, and that melancholy gloom which preyed upon me, vanished in a moment, and a divine sweetness

ran through my whole frame." This event speaks for itself. We can scarcely help asking, however, whether God required more at his hands, than he does of others in similar circumstances. Happy had it been for the church and the nation, if all our preachers and people similarly situated had followed his example. The day of judgment will reveal some startling things relative to that " crying sin."

Some idea of what he passed through during the fifty two years of his itinerant life, may be gathered from the following extract of a letter written to Mr. Wesley, when he had traveled but nine years: "My lot has mostly been cast in new places, to form circuits, which much exposed me to persecution. Once I was imprisoned; twice beaten; left on the highway speechless and senseless (I must have gone into a world of spirits, had not God in mercy sent a good Samaritan, that bled me and took me to a friend's house); once shot at; guns and pistols presented at my head; once delivered from an armed mob, in the dead time of night, on the highway, by a surprising flash of lightning; surrounded frequently by mobs; stoned frequently; I have had to escape for my life, at dead time of night. Oh! shall I ever forget the divine hand which has supported me.” (Life Garrettson, p. 168.)

From North Carolina to Nova Scotia, he labored with inextinguishable zeal and glorious success. Our limits forbid our giving anything like an outline of his history or character. The reader is referred to the life

of this noble, lovely, exemplary man, by Dr. Bangs.

In 1790, Albany and also New Lebanon circuits appear on the minutes. The preachers on the latter of these were Samuel Smith, and Thomas Everard. During this year these men introduced Methodism into Pittsfield, Mass., and as that became at an early date

a prominent position, a brief sketch of our history in that town is here given.

It is believed that the first Methodist preaching in Pittsfield was in the east part of the town where an appointment was established, first at the house of Mr. Z. Herrick, afterward at Mr. N. Webb's, just over the line, in the town of Dalton, and subsequently it was removed to the school-house near Mr. Herrick's residence in the east part of Pittsfield. The precise time when a society was organized there, is not known.

About the same time or soon after, Mr. Smith visited the west part of the town, and preached at the house of Colonel Root. The following year, 1791, Rev. Robert Green, being on the Stockbridge circuit, preached at the house of Mr. Stevens in the same neighborhood. Being detained there some days by a snow storm, he visited from house to house, and preached repeatedly. God poured out his Spirit, souls were saved, and the first Methodist society in Pittsfield was formed. regular appointment was established at the school-house, and about the year 1800 a church was raised, enclosed and dedicated, which, however, the feeble society were not able to complete until some years after.

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In 1806 a very general revival prevailed throughout the town, by which our cause was greatly strengthened. The New York Conference held its session in that church in 1810. In 1812, a secession took place, another house of worship was erected, and a Reformed Methodist church was organized, which has long since ceased to exist. The first Methodist sermon ever known to have been preached in the village of Pittsfield, was by Rev. Freeborn Garrettson. The precise date is unknown. Methodism in that place is much indebted to Rev. Robert Green, who not only organized the first society, but also, after ceasing to travel, located there, and in

1806 or 1807, Rev. Laban Clark dedicated Mr. Green's house as a place for the ministry of the word, where occasional sermons were preached for many years. The first society in the village was formed August 22, 1827, and consisted of eleven members. In 1829, just forty years after the introduction of Methodism into the town, the church in East street was erected, and Pittsfield, which had previously constituted a part of a large circuit, soon after became a separate charge. This charge has been favored with revivals from time to time, the most extensive of which occured in the winter of 1837 and 1838, while Rev. Henry Smith was pastor, and in which Rev. James Caughey was a principal instrument. A number of ministers have been raised up and sent out from Pittsfield, some of whom have become distinguished for ability and success.

Parmely Chamberlain, Nathaniel Kellogg, F. G. Hib bard, Abiathar M. Osbon, D. D. Russell, M. Little, R. Pierce, and W. W. Pierce, here received license to preach, and the first four named are said to have been also converted there. Since the village became a separate charge, the following traveling preachers have been licensed by its quarterly conference, viz: Richard Brown, Adam Jones, J. S. Hart and C. M. Anderson. In 1851, while the writer held the pastoral relation to that church, a new and superior house of worship was erected on Fenn street in a central part of the village.

Returning to the period to which we had traced our history, we find that in 1791, the Saratoga circuit was formed; and in June of the same year, Mr. Garrettson dedicated the first Methodist Church in the city of Albany, to the worship of Almighty God. (See Garrettson's Life, p. 227.) This was a small building, about thirtytwo by forty-four feet, which the infant society had erected on the corner of Pearl and Orange streets. In

1798, Albany, which had previously constituted a part of Albany circuit, became a separate station, and Rev. Joel Ketchum was its first stationed preacher. For twenty-two years, the little building in Pearl street held all the Methodists in that city. There Robert Green, Joel Ketchum, Cyrus Stebbins, Dr. Phœbus, Daniel Ostrander, Lewis Pease, Samuel Merwin, and others, held forth the word of life. Under the administration of the last named, in 1813, the church in Division street was erected. The church in Pearl street was subsequently occupied by the Baptists, and also by the Cameronians, and is now (1853) used as a grocery-store and dwelling.

In the same year that the first church was dedicated in Albany, Mr. Garrettson, speaks of a "small flock" in Johnstown, and of having contracted for a lot and engaged men to build a house of worship in that place. This building, if the writer is correctly informed, was in the principal street of the village, and was subsequently disposed of, and the society broken up. By a reference to the sketch of Rev. J. D. Moriarty, in another part of this volume, it will be seen that the present church in that village was erected under his administration in 1829.

Sometime in the year 1795, the eccentric Billy Hibbard preached his first sermon. It was in a tavern kept by a professed deist, at Hinsdale Flatts, Mass. God blessed his first discourse to the conversion of an aged man, who soon after died in the peace of the gospel. Mr. Hibbard preached frequently in Hinsdale and the neighboring towns during the two succeeding years, and in 1797, was sent by the presiding elder to assist Rev. C. Stebbins, on Pittsfield circuit. Thus began his career of self-denying, zealous labors, which were continued for nearly half a century.