circuit in Vermont. From this place he was removed, at the conference of 1827, to the city of New York. This appointment was unsought by him. So far from it, when he learned that such was the probable result, he ventured a request to the bishop to appoint him to some other portion of the work. And when the appointment had been made, he came to the city with many misgivings and with much fear. But he solaced himself with the reflection that the appointment was not of his own seeking; and, therefore, should he fail, on that ground he would be free from censure. The city of New York then comprised one circuit with seven churches, and a membership of three thousand two hundred and eighty-nine persons. The churches were those now known as the John, Forsyth, Duane, Allen, Bedford (then Greenwich Village), Seventh (then Bowery Village), and Willet street churches. Six preachers were stationed in the city. They circulated through the appointments in regular order, each preaching in the morning in one church, in another in the afternoon, and in a third in the evening; thus completing the circuit in a little over two weeks. In this new field of labor the popular talent of Mr. Levings found ample room for exercise and abundant stimulus to call it forth. His discourses were characterized rather by brilliancy than depth of thought, by apt and striking illustration rather than by strength of reasoning. The tenacity of his memory and the fluency of his speech were alike remarkable. He never wanted for words, and his superintendent on the circuit, "representing his case" before conference, said: "Brother Levings was born with words on his tongue." The tones of his voice were well managed and pleasing; his gesture was appropriate and exceedingly graceful; his delivery was ardent, while at the same time his whole manner was self-possessed. These were precisely the qualities to render a man popular in New York. Accordingly, his congregations were crowded to excess. Numbers followed him from church to church, unwittingly, perhaps, violating the proprieties of the Christian sabbath and of the worship of God in order to enjoy the eloquence of their favorite preacher. More than twenty years have passed away since that period, and yet I find many who still retain a vivid recollection of portions of his discourses, and of the effects produced upon the congregations by them. He has, during this period, been accused of catering to the religious enthusiasm of that class of excitable persons whose manifestations of piety are apt to be more vociferous than practical. What foundation for this charge his preaching at that day, when youthful enthusiasm was at its height, may have afforded, we will not undertake to say; or, indeed, how far his ardent zeal and his own high state of religious enjoyment may have superinduced these results, is a question we may not now profitably discuss. The purity of his Christian and ministerial character none have ever doubted; nor have any questioned but that the great ends of the gospel ministry were accomplished through his labors. The manner in which he felt the responsibilities of his work, and the spirit that actuated him in its commission, may be best seen in the private journal of his labors and experience. In his record of September 7th, for this year, he says: "For some weeks past I have felt more than ever the importance of the work in which I am engaged. I trust that I am enabled to love God more than ever before. O that my heart may be filled with supreme love to Him who is my life and my salvation! Blessed be the Lord God, my heart seems more and more taken up in his work! I am far from believing that raptures are a sure evidence of deep piety. It is a good remark, that shallow water ripples, while that which is deep generally rolls on in silence and tranquility. If I have my will subdued, my passions governed, and my affections sanctified and set on things above, then have I evidence of a deep and genuine work of grace. O Lord, search my heart and know me; see if there be any wicked way within me, and lead me in the way everlasting." On another occasion, when he had completed his thirty-first year, he enters into the following train of reflections: "How swiftly do the years fly away? How soon will eternity be my everlasting home! How stands the account, let me inquire, between God and my soul? Wherein am I better than I was one year ago? Do I love God more than I did then? Have I a greater deadness to the world, or a greater conformity to Christ? Do I feel more the importance of the work in which I am engaged? I have much reason for repentance upon all these points; and yet in some respects I trust I am advancing in the divine life. Some of these questions I believe I can answer in the affirmative. But how slow my progress! I feel myself to be the weakest of the weak. O, for divine grace to help me! I have of late had some gracious intimations of the divine willingness to make my heart His constant home. O, when shall I experience all the fullness of God!" Thus do we find this servant of God, in the full tide of his popularity, still yearning after holiness of heart; still panting for full redemption in the blood of Christ. Nothing could seduce him from his allegiance to the Savior; nothing could unsettle him in his determined reliance upon Christ. He had a buoyancy and elasticity of spirit that some times seemed to border upon lightness. This he felt to be a sore temptation. He says: "The Lord knows, and, to some extent, I know, that I have many imperfections, both as a Christian and a minister. I am naturally prone to be unguarded in speech; especially when in the company of Christians and ministers. By this I sometimes inadvertently offend against the generation of God's children. This often wounds my heart and wrings it with sorrow. May God forgive and help me, that I offend not in word; for 'the same is a perfect man, and able also to bridle the whole body.'" We admire the watchfulness which thus led him to write bitter things against himself. But we have never known in him a breach of Christian courtesy to his brethren. And though possessed of a lively imagination, fine colloquial powers, and an inexhaustable fund. of anecdote, making him a most interesting social companion; yet we must say, whatever may have been his faults in earlier life, that we have always found this exuberance chastened by the most sweet and lovely Christian spirit. The record of this temptation in his jour nal shows, that while panting for more holiness he did not cease to watch with a godly jealousy over himself. During the fall of this year, the Rev. Freeborn Garrettson sickened and died at the house of his friend, George Suckley, in the city of New York. During his sickness it was the privilege of our brother to visit him, to be instructed by his counsel, and cheered by his resignation and by the triumphs of his faith. Under dat of September 17th, he says: 66 This morning I visited the venerable Freeborn Garrettson, who lies dangerously ill at the residence of George Suckley, Esq. He is faint, yet pursuing; and I trust will make a good and glorious end, when called to · lay down his body and his charge. He said, 'I have given up my wife and daughter; my treasure is in heaven.' Then with uplifted hands he exclaimed: 'I want to go home to Jesus. There is nothing below worth looking upon.' And, addressing himself to me, he said; Keep straight forward, straight forward.' I then said: 'Sir, you must feel at this time something like Simeon of old, having lived to see the salvation of God these thirty or forty years in the rise and progress of Methodism in these United States.' But on my expressing some fear lest we, who are sons in the gospel, should suffer the work to decline from its original simplicity and purity, he instantly replied: You will stand, and do better than we have done.'" Nine days later, the good old patriarch departed to his rest. The dying scene, as well as the character and history of this old veteran of Methodism, seemed to make an ineffaceable impression upon the mind of the young preacher; and led him to long after the spirit of the old Methodist preachers, and to desire to imitate them in the entireness of their devotion and the abundance of their labors. Like Elisha, he prayed that the mantle of the departing man of God might fall upon him. At the conference of 1829, Mr. Levings was stationed in the city of Brooklyn. During this year his family was much afflicted with sickness; and one of his children, "little Charles Wesley," was taken from him. His feelings on the occasion were thus expressed: "Shall we receive good and not also evil at the hand of the Lord? 'Thankful I take the cup from thee, Powerful the wounded soul to heal!" He was returned a second year to Brooklyn, and throughout the period of his stay labored with efficiency |