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Bishop Janes arose, and as he cast one look on the face of the dead, then glanced upward, then looked steadily into our dry eyes, I saw the man for the hour had come, and I trembled for joy-that the Moses who could smite the rock which lay on our hearts and make the waters gush forth had come at last. He lifted his rod and we wept together.

Mrs. Janes, writing to her husband at Penn Yan, New York, under date of August 19, thus alludes to the death of Dr. Olin :

We have just received your letter from Middletown. . . . My heart feels very sorrowful at the removal of Dr. Olin. I felt an interest in him and affection for him deeper than toward any other of our ministers. As I have just heard of his death, my feelings have not yet settled down. I wish he could have lived longer. I was just thinking of Dr. Olin's saying, "The old foundation." I suppose he referred to the verse, "Other foundation can no man lay than that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

In the administration during the year, Bishop Janes, in the absence of Bishop Waugh in the far West, who was responsible for the Philadelphia appointments, was obliged to fill a vacancy created by the death of one of the ministers. He did so by assigning the Rev. George W. M'Laughlan, who had only that year been admitted on trial, to the vacant charge. The letter he wrote on that occasion to Mr. M'Laughlan is so characteristic that I cannot refrain from its publication. Possibly it may help some other young inexperienced minister.

The decease of our lamented brother, Rev. Daniel Shield, pastor of the Salem Church in this city, has made it necessary

LETTERS TO YOUNG MINISTERS.

147

to appoint some one to fill the vacancy. At this period in the conference year we find it extremely difficult to do so, especially as it is necessary to give them a single man, as they cannot provide for a married man and the family of the deceased. We think we can supply your place at Halifax Circuit acceptably and usefully. We have therefore concluded to remove you to Salem Church, in Philadelphia. You will come on to the city in time to preach for them on the 19th inst. In the administration of the Discipline be careful to consult your presiding elder. You will do well to advise with him about all your plans and arrangements. I would recommend to you to change with the preachers stationed in the city frequently, probably once each Sabbath. It is desirable you should give special attention to pastoral visiting. Be prudent; be humble; be modest; be prayerful; be holy. Let no man despise thy youth. Jesus-holiness-usefulness-heaven.

On his return from the tour for the promotion of the missionary cause before alluded to, he addressed a letter to the Rev. H. C. Benson, then Professor of the Greek Language and Literature in the Indiana Asbury University, at Greencastle, Indiana, in reference to his transfer to the Oregon and California Mission Conference:

. . . I am pleased with the sentiment and spirit of your letter.

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In my judgment a short life in that new and rapidly rising country is worth more than a long one in an old-established Conference. The work there is mission work-hard work-involving sacrifice and suffering, but it has pay for just such service, both while being performed and in heaven. The man who goes to that country lays the foundation of the Church, he does not build on another man's foundation. If you conclude to go it is important that you go as soon as possible. Days here are months in California at this time. Reasons which I cannot mention make it extremely desirable you should sail at

the earliest hour possible. Will you let me hear from you at your earliest convenience; if possible by return of mail.

Mr. Benson writes from San Francisco, December 5, 1877:

I answered the letter, was notified of my appointment to the work in California by telegram, and on January 26, 1852, I left with my family for New York, en route for the Pacific. We arrived on February 14, 1852, and have remained to the present in the work here.

DEATH OF BISHOP HEDDING.

149

CHAPTER IX.

1852, 1853.

Death of Bishop Hedding-General Conference at Boston-The Far West Again.

N the spring of 1852 it fell to Bishop Janes to

IN

preside at the Baltimore, Philadelphia, and New Jersey Conferences. A little incident at the session of the Baltimore Conference, at Cumberland, March 3-11, showed something of the nervous decision which so distinguished him. A package of the New York "Christian Advocate" had arrived, and some one was taking the papers up the aisles to the tables within the altar rail, and the preachers, rising from their seats, began reaching and grasping for the papers. The Bishop springing to his feet and clapping his hands, excitedly cried, "Brethren! brethren! this will never do!" His call quieted them in an instant. He did not preach at the Conference, but yielded the pulpit on Sunday morning to Rev. Dr. J. P. Durbin.

About the last of March, in company with the Rev. George Peck, D.D., he made his last pilgrimage to the bedside of Bishop Hedding. He venerated Bishop Hedding as a father. His admiration for him was unbounded. If one wished to induce

Bishop Janes to talk, it was only necessary to ask his opinion of Bishop Hedding. He would dilate most enthusiastically upon his excellences-his profound and accurate knowledge of the English language, his full and varied attainments, his judgment of human nature, his statesmanlike comprehension, the tenderness of his sensibilities, the fervor of his piety, and the childlike simplicity of his manners -right along, with a fluency which he seldom indulged in.

He was presiding in the New Jersey Conference, Trenton, New Jersey, when he heard of the Bishop's death. Chained to his seat, unable to hasten to the house of mourning as he wished, he thus addressed. Mrs. Hedding:

Most deeply do I sympathize with you in this bereavement. Few women ever had such a husband, consequently few women can suffer such a bereavement. It must be a cause of thankfulness and pleasing remembrance that you were privileged so long to enjoy the companionship of so excellent and so great a man. Fellowship and conjugal intimacy with such a noble mind, and such a Christian spirit, for so long a time, is a privilege few mortals ever enjoy. You have been greatly blessed of God in your domestic relations. . . . I regret most deeply that I cannot be present at the funeral. It would have been a melancholy but great privilege, but such are the circumstances of the Conference that I cannot safely leave. I have telegraphed Bishop Waugh, who answers he will attend the funeral.

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The eleventh delegated General Conference assembled in Boston, Massachusetts, May 1, 1852.

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