nd, if I did know, I had not the strength, to do the
things that were right--that was the invitation that He gave to me out
of my conscious weakness and want. I will not repeat the scene of that
morning when light broke fairly on my mind; how one might have thought
that I was a lunatic escaped from confinement; how I ran up and down
through the primeval forest of Ohio, shouting, 'Glory, glory!'
sometimes in loud tones and at other times whispered in an ecstasy of
joy and surprise. All the old troubles gone, and light breaking in on
my mind, I cried: 'I have found my God; I have found my God!' From
that hour I consecrated myself to the work of the ministry anew, for
before that I had about made up my mind to go into some other
profession."

His early training school for effective preaching was well selected.
It was, as is well known, one of the little villages on the banks of
the Ohio River, where the wants of river bargemen and frontiersmen
demanded his attention. It was there he decided what his life work
should be.

"My business shall be to save men, and to bring to bear upon them those
views that are my comfort, that are the bread of life to me; and I went
out among them almost entirely cut loose from the ordinary church
institutions and agencies, knowing nothing but 'Christ, and Him
crucified,' the sufferer for mankind. Did not the men round me need
such a Saviour? Was there ever such a field as I found? Every
sympathy of my being was continually solicited for the ignorance, for
the rudeness, for the aberrations, for the avarice, for the
quarrelsomeness of the men among whom I was, and I was trying every
form and presenting Christ as a medicine to men. I went through the
woods and through camp-meetings and over prairies. Everywhere my
vacations were all missionary tours, preaching Christ for the hope of
salvation. I am not saying this to show you how I came to the
knowledge of Christ, but to show you how I came to the habits and forms
of my ministry. I tried everything on to folks."

Added to the forces of experience and surroundings was always that of
his own personal, natural endowment. This he found fault with and
tried to change, as most people do at some period of their lives, but
finally accepted and concluded to use as best he could, without
murmuring, but always conscious of its limitations.

"I have my own peculiar temperament, I have my own method of preaching,
and my method and temperamen