regarded at the time as so sensational, is that the Methodist
mode of church government is the most arbitrary and despotic of any in
America, with the possible exception of that of the Shakers.

"A Cry from the Wilderness--intended as a Timely and Solemn Warning to the
People of the United States" is in every way one of Dow's most
characteristic works. At this distance, when slavery and the Civil War are
viewed in the perspective, the mystic words of the oracle impress us as
almost uncanny: "In the rest of the southern states, the influence of these
Foreigners will be known and felt in its time, and the seeds from the HORY
ALLIANCE and the DECAPIGANDI, who have a hand in those grades of GENERALS,
from the INQUISITOR to the Vicar General and down....

[Image: Pointing Hand] The STRUGGLE will be DREADFUL! the CUP will be
BITTER! and when the agony is over, those who survive may see better
days! FAREWELL!"[4]

A radical preacher of the Gospel, he could not but be moved with compassion
on observing the condition of the Negroes in the South during these years.
When denied admission to white churches because of his apparent fanaticism
he often found it pleasant to move among the blacks. Arriving in Savannah,
one day, he was accosted by a Negro, who, seeing that he had no place to
stop, inquired as to whether he would accept the hospitality of a black
home. He embraced this opportunity and found the people by whom he was
entertained "as decent as two thirds of the citizens of Savannah."[5] When
on another occasion in Savannah he learned that Andrew Bryan, the Negro
minister of the city, had, because of his preaching, been whipped
unmercifully and imprisoned, Dow preached to the congregation himself.[6]
He moved among Negroes, lived with them socially, distributed tracts among
them, preached to them the Word, counted them with pride among his converts
and treasured in his memory his experiences among them.[7]

As a result this liberal-minded man was naturally opposed to slavery. He
was as outspoken a champion of freedom as lived in America in his day.
"Slavery in the South," said he, "is an evil that calls for national reform
and repentance." He thought that this "national scourge in this world"
might "be antidoted before the storm" gathered and burst.[8] "As all men
are created equal and independent by God of Nature," contended he, "Slavery
must have Moral Evil for its foundation, seeing it violates the Law of
Nature, as est