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AS SECRETARY VISITS THE SOUTH. 61

Bible Society, and addressing a Western New York Conference in its behalf, he was arguing the necessity of personal consecration in order to liberal and acceptable offerings unto God, and as he proceeded with fervid and impassioned eloquence he threw himself upon his knees, and in prayer led the body. of the Conference before they were aware, in the very act of consecration; the effect was most thrilling, and was one of those life-time acts the memory of which endures through generations."

In the winter of 1841-42 Mr. Janes made a "Southern tour," going as far as the State of Georgia. None of his letters of the period have been preserved, but fortunately scraps of a diary transmit to us some account of his doings. Bishop Waugh, of the Methodist Episcopal Church, whose manuscript journal was temporarily in my possession, makes mention of hearing Mr. Janes on this tour. He says of his preaching before the Conferences, in one instance, "it was excellent," and in another, "it was fine." They journeyed together in their route northward. At this time Mr. Janes writes:

Dec. 29, 1841. Left New York to visit the States of North and South Carolina and Georgia. Traveled in the mail line, and reached Wilmington, N. C., on Saturday evening. Preached in the morning, and had an appointment of a Bible meeting given out in the different churches for the evening. The evening, however, proved a very stormy one, and the congregation was quite small. I addressed those who were present, and obtained a promise of future effort in the Bible cause.

Monday, Jan. 3, 1842. Went in steam packet from Wilmington to Charleston, S. C. Arrived in the latter city early next morning after a very pleasant sail.

Tuesday, 4. Spent this day and the following in calling upon the officers of the Charleston Bible Society, consulting with them about my own and their operations. On Wednesday the Board were together, and I addressed them. They fixed the time of their annual meeting to suit my convenience, resolved to employ a local agent, etc.

Thursday, 6. Went to Augusta, Ga., by railroad. The next day started for Milledgeville, at which place I arrived in the afternoon of the following day, after a very fatiguing ride all night, being once upset and somewhat lamed. I found the Georgia Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church in session, to whom I was introduced, and by whom I was courteously received. The next day being Sabbath, I preached a missionary sermon in the evening. On Monday I attended Conference; had a Bible committee appointed. On Tuesday the before-named committee reported, and I was permitted to address the Conference. Several expressive and important resolutions were passed by the Conference. In the afternoon visited the Oglethorpe University, where we have an auxiliary society among the students and professors. This society has been efficient. The term having only just commenced, but few of the students were present. Good promises were given. In the evening the Milledgeville and Baldwin County Bible Society held a public meeting, which I addressed at length. A good feeling was manifested. A liberal collection was taken. A collection of about $100 was also taken in the Conference in the morning. At the missionary meeting the evening before a very liberal collection was taken, (which meeting I also addressed,) which rendered the collection for the Bible cause the more acceptable.

Jan. 12. Returned to Augusta.

Thursday, 13. This evening attended the annual meeting of the Georgia Bible Society. Notice not having been properly given, the attendance was small. I, however, addressed those

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who were present. The next day the Board met, and resolved to hold another meeting the following Tuesday evening.

Friday, 14. I left in the evening for Savannah, traveled all night, though staging and the road rough. In the morning. reached the railroad, and arrived at Savannah about five o'clock in the afternoon. Waited on Dr. Preston, who invited me to preach in his church on the following morning, and I agreed to address the Methodist Church in the evening. Sunday preached as before mentioned. The morning congregation was large and attentive. I am sure good will result from the sermons. In the evening we had a good meeting in the Methodist Church. Here a liberal collection was taken.

route.

Monday, 17. Returned to Augusta by the same fatiguing On the 18th the meeting of the Georgia Bible Society was held. The attendance better than before. The meeting was quite a spirited one. Addressed by myself, Professor Means, and the president, Professor Ford. A liberal collection was taken up for the cause.

The

Wednesday, 19. Rode from Augusta to Charleston. evening of Thursday, 20th, was fixed as the anniversary of the Charleston Bible Society. The evening proved stormy, and the meeting was postponed until the following Monday evening. Contrary to my calculations, I had to remain until that time. On Sabbath I preached in two of the Methodist churches, and in the church of Mr. Smyth, Presbyterian. Monday evening the meeting was well attended, and was addressed by the pastor of the First Presbyterian Church, Dr. Stevens, of Savannah, Ga.; Rev. William M. Wightman, of Charleston; and myself. It was certainly a good meeting, and good will result from it.

Tuesday, 25. I started for Charlotte, N. C., the seat of the South Carolina Conference, to attend its sittings. I passed through Columbia and Camden. At Camden I stopped and delivered a Bible discourse. The friends of the cause here seem quite spirited, especially in the matter of their county supply. Dr. George Reynolds is very much interested, and is

I arrived at Charlotte on the

an active, influential citizen. 28th, after a very fatiguing ride of nearly two hundred miles in a two-horse stage over almost impassable roads. The Conference was in session. Committee was appointed who considered and reported upon the Bible cause. On Tuesday I was permitted to address the Conference on the subject, when appropriate resolutions were passed, etc. On Monday evening we had a public Bible meeting, which I addressed, as did also the Rev. W. A. Smith. A very liberal collection was taken for the Bible cause. On Tuesday evening I started on my homeward journey. About two hundred miles of the distance I had to travel by stage over the worst road I ever traveled in my life. Some of the way we were obliged, on account of the badness of the roads, to travel in an open wagon all night through the rain. Sometimes we stuck fast in the mud, and were delayed until we could send for men and horses to get us out. Once upset, but mercifully preserved from serious injury. I arrived at home February 8, having been gone six weeks, and traveled two thousand eight hundred miles. Thankful to God for his care and kindness.

Mr. Janes is so lenient as not to state, as Bishop Waugh does, that the upset which they had was due to a drunken driver.

During this absence he preached and spoke about twenty-five times. Whenever he was not traveling he was either conferring with boards or agents, or engaged in addressing meetings, so that he was constantly employed. He would pass the night on well-nigh impassable stage-roads, and the next day speak with as much power and freshness as if the night had been spent in soothing sleep on a sumptuous couch. Ministers and people were carried away with his zeal and eloquence, and the

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cause of Bible distribution received an impetus it had never before known.

He thus concludes his observations:

On the whole, though I found some indifference to the high claims of the blessed Bible cause in the South, yet I think it has a strong hold on the affections of the people, and is prospering. When the financial condition of the country shall improve, I think the contributions will be greatly enlarged. In my tour I labored to do all the good in my power. How much good was done I do not expect to know until the judgment-day.

Seldom did any other reference to his deeds escape him than what is here so modestly expressed— that he had labored to do what good he could, and was content to await the results until the judgment. He worked and "endured as seeing Him who is invisible."

On his return to the office at New York, a brief record-a line or two-for each day shows the same incessant activity. One example is sufficient.

Feb., 13. Preached in the Methodist Protestant Church, Attorney-street, New York, and took up a collection for the Bible cause.

In the summer and autumn of 1842 he visited the Western conferences. His advocacy of the Bible. cause was here equally effective as in the South. Some of the older preachers of the Ohio Conference still refer in warm terms to an address which he delivered before that conference, at its session in

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