of his enemies, and won the entire confidence and warm affection of all the members of his extended charge. In public sentiment he occupied an enviable elevation. He had drawn around him the confidence-the esteem the veneration of an intelligent and respectable community. If some questioned the wisdom of his measures, none doubted the integrity of his motives. If he was not esteemed a great preacher, he was allowed by all to be a devoted and useful one. houses in which the congregations worshipped, had all been rebuilt and enlarged, with special reference to the accommodation of the coloured people. His ministry was attended by throngs of interested and respectable hearers. The fields, white to harvest, were inviting him to put in the sickle, and gather fruit unto life eternal.

The

CHAPTER V.

An account of Elder Clopton's labours in the Appomattox Association, and in other parts of the state-His first appearance at the association-Its conditionWrites two circulars for it-Extract from that on "Church Discipline"-From that on "Ministerial Ordination"-Deportment in the body-Effect of his preaching at Powhattan court house-In Spottsylvania-Account of camp meeting-His correspondence.

"NOTHING is done while aught remains to be done." Never did man act in more perfect accordance with this sentiment than did the subject of this memoir. His opportunities to do good were the only limit of his exertions. His labours and influence were not confined to the churches under his immediate care, but extended throughout the Appomattox Association, of which he was for ten years a member, and into many and distant parts of the state.

Elder Clopton first attended the anniversary meeting of the Appomattox Association in August, 1823. It was then a feeble body. Some of the ministers were tottering under

the accumulating weight of years; and most of them were compelled to follow secular employments for the maintenance of themselves and families. Several of the churches were destitute of pastors, and by most of them wholesome discipline was neglectedsin was connived at through false tenderness, and little or no provision was made for the support of the gospel ministry. He was cordially welcomed into the body. His observant eye beheld, and his pious heart deplored, the evils which threatened the overthrow of the churches. Instantly he resolved to plead for reformation-not that pseudoreformation, which, under the guise of zeal for the "ancient gospel," robs religion of its vitality and glory-but reformation of heart, of life, and of discipline. In the pulpit and with the pen, he laboured, indefatigably and faithfully, to impart correct views of church discipline, and to elevate the standard of ministerial intelligence and piety.

Mr. Clopton furnished two circular letters for the association: one, on "Church Discipline," was published in 1824; and the other, on "Ministerial Ordination," in 1827.

These admirable productions, especially the first, were reprinted, and extensively circulated in various parts of the United States. Their influence in the association was most salutary. They contain sentiments so just, appropriate, and weighty, expressed in a style so perspicuous and strong, that, but for their length, they should be inserted entire. The subjoined extracts will furnish some idea of their merit.

Having shown, in the " Circular on Church Discipline," that the directory given by our Lord in Matt. xviii. relates to personal and private offences, and that notorious and gross offenders should be dealt with in a more summary and rigorous manner, he proceeds,

"Let us inquire, What are the chief ends of Church Discipline?

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"1. And, in the first place, it is intended for the benefit or recovery of the transgressor. The apostle expressly states, that the incestuous person must be expelled from the Corinthian church, that the spirit may be saved in the day of the Lord Jesus.'

"And in this he differs very widely from those wise men of the present day, who seem

to think that the expulsion of an offender from the church is tantamount to taking his life. Paul, however, commands the church to excommunicate the transgressor, as the only suitable means of showing him his awful guilt. Because, if any thing is calculated to bring an offending Christian to reflect seriously upon the heinous nature of his transgression, it must be a declaration by the church, that they consider him as unworthy of a seat amongst them. In this, if he be a Christian, will he discover the extent and feel the burden of his guilt. Here he will see, as in a glass, the stigma which his conduct has brought upon his character-the high privileges he has forfeited-and the awful doom which must await him, should he persist in his sinful course. Thus Paul, like a skilful surgeon, knowing the disease of the offender at Corinth was almost incurable, by one bold, vigorous stroke reached the core of moral corruption, arrested the infection, and saved the patient. For we learn from his second epistle, written to the same church, about twelve months afterwards, that the offender, low as he had sunk in turpitude