not
in his estimation the only one. He was a fanatic, pure and simple, as
regarded his own denomination, but a fanatic full of high and noble
purposes, and one whose zeal was productive only of good. This
fanaticism was necessary to the success of his labors. It was his
perfect belief that his was the only church in which sinners could find
perfect peace that carried him through the difficulties which
encompassed him. Men were dying all around him, and they must come into
his church. They had other denominations close at hand, but they, in his
estimation, would not do. The Methodist Episcopal Church was a necessity
for sinners, therefore it must be planted in all parts of the land. No
sacrifice was too great for the accomplishment of this object. He has
lived to see those sacrifices rewarded, to see his church one of the
most numerous and powerful religious bodies in the country.

Being so zealous in behalf of his own church, it is not strange that he
should have clashed frequently with other denominations. He got along
very well with the majority, but with the Baptists and Universalists he
was always on the war path. The latter especially excited his
uncompromising hostility, and he never failed to attack their doctrines
with all his forces wherever he encountered them. "I have thought,"
says he, "and do still think, if I were to set out to form a plan to
contravene the laws of God, to encourage wickedness of all kinds, to
corrupt the morals and encourage vice, and crowd hell with the lost and
the wailings of the damned, the Universalist plan should be the plan,
the very plan that I would adopt....

"A few years ago," he continues, "I had a neighbor who professed to be a
confirmed Universalist. He contended with me that there was no devil but
the evil disposition in man, and that there was no hell but the bad
feelings that men had when they did wrong: that this was all the
punishment any body would suffer. When this neighbor's father lay on his
dying bed (a confirmed Universalist, professedly) there was a faithful
minister of Christ who believed it his duty to visit this old
Universalist, warn him of his danger, and try to awaken his conscience,
if not seared, to a just view of his real situation. The minister,
however, failed in his faithful attempt and well-meant endeavors, for
the old man, then on his dying pillow, was greatly offended at the
preacher, and told him that he did not thank him for trying to shake his