ut of a want of interest, perhaps, on the
part of the one, and jealousy on the part of the other. Like other
inexperienced administrators whom I have known, in trying to make
crooked things straight, I invoked an agency that became a fire and a
sword in my hand. Neither the Church nor the individuals concerned
derived any advantage in the result, and though the wisdom of the
administration was never called in question as far as I knew, yet I
could not suppress the conviction that Church trials can only be
commended as a last resort. It is much easier to awaken than allay the
spirit of strife. Abating this discordant note, which did not long
disturb the harmony of the Church, the two years we spent on this charge
are freighted with most precious memories. Full of incident, and
fragrant with blessing, they form a bright link in the chain of our
itinerant life. Happy in our work, with only occasional calls for
special services abroad, the years passed swiftly and joyously.

Referring to services abroad reminds me of the Quarterly Meeting I held
for the Presiding Elder, on what was then called Howard's Prairie, some
twenty miles distant. Seated in my buggy with my wife and child, I
started on Friday afternoon for the place. We reached the neighborhood
at nightfall. We were directed by the Elder to call on a given family
for entertainment, the gentleman being the most wealthy Methodist in
the settlement. We halted the buggy at his gate, and I went in to crave
his hospitality. As I approached the door and addressed myself to the
master of the premises, he put on a frigid expression of countenance,
and answered me coldly. I decided at once that I would not make myself
known, but try the spirit of the man. I inquired whether there was to be
a Quarterly Meeting in his neighborhood. He replied in the affirmative.
I then inquired where the Methodist preachers put up when they came into
the settlement.

He said, "They usually put up at the second house further on." I
concluded the old gentleman was not expecting company until the
Presiding Elder should come, and so concluded we had better go on. As I
retired the old gentleman looked sharply after me, but doubtless
thinking so small and young a man as I then was could not be the Elder,
he permitted me to go on my way. We went on to the house indicated, and
inquired of the gentleman at the gate whether the Methodist preachers
who visited the settlement usually found entertainment wi