pursuance of Mr. Wesley's instructions, and by virtue of the authority derived from him, Dr. Coke consecrated Mr. Asbury a bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America. It is pleasing to perceive with what readiness and unanimity the preachers and people adjusted themselves to the new state of things in which they found themselves placed; adopting such measures as were deemed best for their future welfare and prosperity. No time was taken up by the conference in useless debate, in splitting hairs, in trying to determine points which had divided the world for a thousand years, and are no nearer a settlement now than at first.

The religious exercises of the conference, which continued ten days, were of the most interesting kind. At six every morning one of the preachers gave the people a sermon. Dr. Coke preached every day at noon, except on Sundays and ordination days, when the service began at ten o'clock. It generally lasted on those occasions four hours, and the chapel was full all the time. At six in the evening, preaching was kept up in the town chapel and in the Point, and also in the Dutch Church. By this means the congregations were divided; otherwise there would not have been half room enough for the people who attended in the evening. The Methodists of that day were not very particular as to their bodily comforts in church, as they worshipped in the dead of winter without fire, and sat on seats without backs. Nor were they singular in this respect. Dr. Heiner, in his centenary sermon of the German Reformed Church of this city, says, quoting from a letter of an old member of his congregation: "Our Church was located up North Charles-street, and was approached with difficulty, especially by the aged and infirm, on account of the steep hill of sand they were obliged to climb every Sabbath, in order to reach their humble place of worship. At that time we had no cushioned seats; no carpeted aisles; no, not even a stove to warm the body. The cold, northwest wind would pierce through the tender weather-boarding, and almost blow the light fabric off." The most pleasing effect of this first general council of Methodist preachers was a great revival of religion in Baltimore. Dr. Coke, on his return from New-York, February 26th, says: "There is certainly a considerable revival here; the preachinghouse will not hold even my week-day congregations, and at five in the morning the chapel is about half-full. I think I have prevailed on our friends in this place to build a new church. They have already subscribed about five hundred pounds sterling."

The first Light-street Church was built on the lot on the northwest corner of Light-street and Wine Alley, the alley dividing it from the present church; and described by Bishop Asbury "as seventy by

forty-six feet; it is well fixed for entrances and light." It was commenced in August, 1785, but was not finished until the following spring, when it was opened by Bishop Asbury, Sunday, May 21st, preaching from Psalm lxxxiv, 10: "I had rather be a door-keeper," &c.; and in the evening from 1 Kings ix, 6–9; and on the Tuesday night following the bishop, assisted by Mr. Whatcoat, held a watchmeeting, and speaks of it as a "moving time."

Among the many "liberal things" devised by Dr. Coke and Bishop Asbury, and which received the sanction of the General Conference of 1784, was a plan for establishing a school or college, like that of Kingswood, England, which was to be called Cokesbury, after the two bishops. The college was located at Abingdon, eighteen miles east of Baltimore, Harford county, Maryland, on four acres of ground, purchased from Mr. J. Dallam for sixty pounds. The building, together with the philosophical apparatus and library, cost upward of ten thousand pounds. The institution was opened on the 10th of December, 1787, by an instructive sermon from Bishop Asbury, founded on 2 Kings iv, 40: "O thou man of God, there is death in the pot." "When the college was built, it was well understood," says Mr. Lee, "that the whole management of it was to be under the conference. But, after some years, Bishop Asbury consented for it to be incorporated, which was done without the consent of all the conferences; and the trustees who were named in the act of incorporation had the management of the institution among themselves, and the conference was deprived of all the power of making rules or giving orders for the future welfare of the children. This step was disliked by many of the friends of the college, who from that time concluded that the institution would not prosper, and the business was not well conducted afterward." On the 4th of December, 1795, ten years after it was opened, the college was set on fire by design and burned down. The governor of the state offered a thousand dollars reward for the discovery of the person or persons who perpetrated the deed, but without effect. No ways discouraged by this severe calamity, seventeen of the principal Methodists of Baltimore met together, and believing that the honour and credit of the Church demanded exertion to supply the place of Cokesbury, they immediately subscribed one hundred and twenty pounds toward the erection of a new college. The proprietor of the Fountain Inn, in Baltimore, had built a large and elegant assembly-room for balls, concerts, card-parties, &c. The building, which stood on the lot where the present Light-street Church is, was the handsomest edifice in the city, and was purchased for one thousand five hundred and thirty pounds. The members of

the Church at large subscribed seven hundred pounds, and the inhabitants of the city, upon application from house to house, six hundred pounds; and the above-mentioned seventeen went security for the remaining two hundred and thirty pounds. The college, or academy, was accordingly fitted up, five masters appointed, and the whole city seemed to take pleasure in sending their children to this academy, which soon flourished beyond what Cokesbury had ever done, having as many at one time as two hundred pupils.

This assembly-room has a history which should not be forgotten by the Methodists. While its professed object was to furnish amusement for the sons and daughters of fashion, it was also built in part to grieve the Methodists by interrupting their meetings, in the church adjacent, the balls and concerts being generally held, and of set purpose, on the same nights. "It was a strange sight to look upon," as one said who participated in these scenes, "at the same time for fiddling and dancing to be going on in one room, and singing and praying in the other, and within hearing of each other." In the midst of these dissimilar movements the loud Amen would be heard, and the shout of one or more brought from darkness to light would fall upon the ears of the giddy dancers, who would break ranks and run to the windows to ascertain the cause. Wearied out at length by these repeated interruptions, and finding the Methodists were not to be put down by the united force of heels and fiddle-strings, they began to think of capitulating; moreover, such conduct was opposed to the spirit into which the nation had been lately baptized by the war of independence, securing to every man the privilege of worshipping God, "sitting under his own vine and fig-tree, none daring to make him afraid." One thing more hastened the consummation of this folly. A Mr. Brydon, who kept the Fountain Inn, was the principal promoter of this opposition to the Methodists. He had been barber to some of the English officers during the Revolutionary war, but had settled in Baltimore after peace was proclaimed, and affected to be a great gentleman, dressing like a lord, with powdered wig, as for some state occasion. It was the aristocratic house; merchants, officers of the army, and even General Washington, in passing through Baltimore, would put up with him. This inflamed his vanity, and, besides, he was a deadly foe in religious matters to any one who was not a staunch Church of England man; accordingly, to show his contempt for the Methodists, he hired three Scotchmen one night to go over to Light-street Church to interrupt a meeting of business then going on. Two of them took a station outside to watch, while one went in and seated himself in a defiant attitude. The sexton went to him and requested him to retire, alleging that

the meeting was one of business. To this civil treatment he received nothing but insolence and bravado. Mr. William Hawkins, one of the leaders, and a man six feet in height, came forward to put him out, when his two comrades came to his assistance, and a considerable battle ensued; but the belligerents were beaten off, and next day taken before a magistrate and fined one hundred dollars each. Brydon, the knight of the Razor, was made to feel at another point. The merchants and other boarders took up the subject next morning at breakfast, and discussed it freely, alleging that such conduct was an insult to the American people, and that no Tory should disturb any religious denomination with impunity, whereupon they agreed to leave his house in a body. Poor Othello's occupation being gone, he left the place, and the assembly-room was vacated, when the Methodists purchased it for an academy.

How vain are human wishes! One year from the time that Cokesbury College at Abingdon was burned, a fire broke out in a carpenter's shop adjoining the academy, burning it to the ground; thence extending to the church, and consuming it also, together with several valuable private dwellings. The fire occurred at 3 o'clock in the afternoon, while Rev. Henry Willis was preaching the funeral sermon of Mr. Colvin, father of the late Miss Rachel Colvin, of Baltimore. The congregation had barely time to escape, and it was with difficulty the corpse could be rescued from the flames. The foundation of the assembly-room was chosen for the present Light-street Church, which was erected in the year 1797, and was opened for religious services October 29th, by Bishop Asbury, with reading 2 Chron. vii; xii; Psalm cxxxii; Haggai ii; Mark ii. The subject was Eph. ii, 19-22. Many have been the thrilling scenes and touching incidents which have occurred during the last sixty years within the walls of this venerable house of God; the mention of which would shed new lustre upon the memory of those men who preached here, and who so well and successfully prepared the way of the Lord for us who have fallen upon these last days; days when Methodism is co-extensive with the civilisation of the world. There is one circumstance of recent occurrence in connection with this house which not to speak of would be unjust to the Methodists of Baltimore. It was the arrival among them, a short time since, of two distinguished strangers as a deputation, asking for aid to spread the light of a pure Christianity through Roman Catholic Ireland; the country from whence we first received the word of life ourselves. The response to the call was by no means equal to the justice of the demand, and was far, very far below our expectations and wishes; but we lacked the best opportunity. May we not hope, therefore,

that what was done is but the first-fruits of an abundant harvest which will be gathered hereafter? Let the news go then back to London and to Dublin, as we know it will, and to the banks of the lovely Shannon, where Strawbridge drew his natal breath, that we never can be ungrateful for Ireland's first, best gift, and for Maryland's first missionary.

ART. VI.-AKERS'S BIBLICAL CHRONOLOGY.

Introduction to Biblical Chronology, from Adam to the Resurrection of Christ : comprising 5573 Years of the World, synchronized with Julian Time. With such Calendars, Cycles, Tables, and Explanations, as to render the whole Subject easy of Comprehension to every Bible Student. By REV. PETER AKers, D. D., President of M'Kendree College. Cincinnati: Printed at the Methodist Book Concern, for the Author: 1855. 8vo., pp. 411.

Now at this point, we beg

THE mode in which the author of the treatise before us arrives at the chronological sum announced in the title-page, is, as we have sifted it from his pages, briefly this: The Septuagint is relied upon to furnish the patriarchal chronology throughout; the only correction represented (p. 13) as necessary in that period, being the addition (usual with all chronologers) of 60 years to the apparent age of Terah (70) before the birth of Abram, as obviously required by Gen. xi, 32, compared with xii, 4. Thus a period of 2394 years is made out, from Adam to Abraham. leave to say, in passing, that we totally dissent from this view of the relative authority of the Hebrew and Greek texts of the Old Testament, and, consequently, of the authenticity of the numbers contained in them respectively; and had we room, we think we could show the fallacy of every argument urged in favor of the "longer chronology," by its several advocates, from Jackson to Russell and Hales, and their echo, the author of the "Sacred Annals." But we do not deem it important to our present purpose to discuss this issue, although we thus enter our protest against a preference, which, we are free to confess, however, is growing rather fashionable with popular chronologers. We will merely remark here, that, aside from Josephus, (whose numbers, after all, are not followed, where they differ from the Septuagint and agree with the Hebrew,) the only collateral authorities adduced by Dr. Akers (p. 16) in support of his version of the longer chronology, are two or three general