Plan of Separation adopted by the General Conference of 1844, do solemnly declare the jurisdiction hitherto exercised over said Annual Conferences by the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church entirely dissolved; and that said Annual Conferences shall be, and they hereby are, constituted a separate ecclesiastical connection under the provisional Plan of Separation aforesaid, and based upon the Discipline of the Methodist Episcopal Church, comprehending the doctrines and entire moral, ecclesiastical, and canonical rules and regulations of said Discipline, except only in so far as verbal alterations may be necessary to a distinct organization, and to be known by the style and title of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.

44

Resolved, That, although we cannot abandon or compromise the principles of action upon which we proceed to a separate organization in the South, nevertheless, cherishing a sincere desire to maintain Christian union and fraternal intercourse with the church North, we shall always be ready to entertain and duly and carefully consider any proposition or plan having for its object the union of the two great bodies in the North and South, whether such proposed union be jurisdictional or connectional.” 1

Soule and Andrew were invited to become bishops. The latter accepted; Soule responded with a written communication to the effect that he must act as bishop among the Northern conferences until he had completed the plan of visitation settled by the bishops in New York.

After this convention the bishops of the Methodist Episcopal Church, exclusive of Soule and Andrew, resolved to withdraw from the South. A private note from Bishop Hedding to Bishop Andrew, dated July 4, 1845, explains the circumstances: "A meeting had been invited of the

1 Curtiss's "Manual of Church History," pp. 184, 185.

ITS FIRST General CONFERENCE.

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bishops adhering to the Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishops Waugh, Morris, Janes, and myself attended. We judged that, in consideration of the acts of the Louisville convention, we could not be justified in presiding in the Annual Conferences represented in the said convention. Bishops Morris and Janes desired going to the conferences assigned to them in the South, but the final decision was that it would be inadvisable."

At the time of the publication of the revised plan of episcopal visitation they also passed the following resolution:

"Resolved, That the plan reported by a select Committee of Nine at the last General Conference, and adopted by that body, in regard to a distinct ecclesiastical connection, should such a course be found necessary by the Annual Conferences in the slave-holding States, is regarded by us as of binding obligation in the premises so far as our own administration is concerned.

The first General Conference met in Petersburg, Va., May 1, 1846, and consisted of eighty-seven members. John Early presided on the first day until the arrival of Andrew. On the second day Soule formally announced his adherence. The closing paragraph of his statement reads as follows:

"The organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, being thus completed in the organization of the General Conference with a constitutional president, the time has arrived when it is proper for me to announce my position. Sustaining no relation to one Annual Conference which I did not sustain to every other, and considering the General Conference as the proper judicatory to

which my communication should be made, I have declined making this announcement until the present time. And now, acting with strict regard to the Plan of Separation and under a solemn conviction of duty, I formally declare my adherence to the Methodist Episcopal Church, South. And if the conference receive me in my present relation to the church I am ready to serve them according to the best of my ability. In conclusion, I indulge the joyful assurance that, although separated from our Northern brethren by a distinct conference jurisdiction, we shall never cease to treat them as 'brethren beloved,' and cultivate those principles and affections which constitute the essential unity of the church of Christ."

The conference elected Early book-agent, and made the editors of the "Christian Advocates" at Charleston, Richmond, and Louisville assistants and subject to his direction in depository matters. A "Quarterly Review" was ordered to be started at Louisville, H. B. Bascom, editor. A constitution for the Church Missionary Society was adopted, and the bishops were authorized to appoint two missionaries to China. E. Stevenson was elected missionary secretary; T. O. Summers editor of the Sunday-school paper. Provision was made for revising the hymn-book, and commissioners were appointed to act in concert with the commissioners of the Methodist Episcopal Church in adjusting mutual interests in the Book Concern. Also it was ordered that, should the commissioners appointed by the General Conference fail to effect a settlement as above, they were authorized to “take such measures as might best secure the just and equitable claims of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South, and the property and effects aforesaid."

William Capers and Robert Paine were elected bishops, 1 McTyeire's "History of Methodism,” p. 643.

NUMBER IN NEW ORGANIZATION,

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and ordained by Soule and Andrew, assisted by Lovick Pierce and John Early. Pierce was appointed a delegate to the ensuing General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church" to tender to that body the Christian regards and fraternal salutations of the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South.”

Capers had risen to a commanding position in the Methodist Episcopal Church. Eighteen years before he had represented that body as fraternal delegate to the British Conference; and one year later had established missions to slaves, taking the position of superintendent thereof, and had been astonishingly successful; six years before he had been elected one of the general missionary secretaries.

Paine had for sixteen years been president of La Grange College, Alabama, and in 1844 was chairman of the committee on episcopacy and of the committee which drew up the Plan of Separation.

The section and rule on slavery were left unchanged, but an explanatory statement was added that it was understood in the sense of the declarations made by the General Conferences of 1836 and 1840,"1

At that time the new organization contained 459,569 members, in which were included 1519 traveling preachers. Of these members 124,961 were colored.

1 History of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South,” by Gross Alexander ("American Church History," vol. ii.), p. 48.

CHAPTER XVIII.

A CALM SURVEY.

IN reviewing this controversy in the colder and clearer light of the present day, a recognition of certain facts is essential to the formation of an impartial and equitable judgment.

When Methodism arose in America slavery existed in all parts of the country, with a tendency to increase rapidly in the South. The difficulties to which it gave rise were far greater in the South than in the North. The restrictions upon freedom of speech, which are necessary to enforce subordination and preserve social order where slavery exists, embarrassed and almost prevented discussion of the merits and demerits of the institution. In the North, where the number of slaves gradually diminished until they disappeared, the only impediments to public consideration of the subject arose from commercial and social connection with the South and the intermingling of political parties.

In the South agriculture and the sale of its products offered a much larger field for slave labor than could be found in the North, where manufactures and commerce predominated; and while the warmth of the Southern climate reduced the cost of maintaining slaves, it acted as an impediment to white labor.

Little by little, the spirit of Methodism became less aggressive and more indulgent toward an institution relent