Protestants. These self-denying men followed the Indians in their wanderings with untiring zeal, and sought to bring them over to the profession of their faith. Finer examples of devotedness are seldom to be found; and in many instances they won the confidence and affections of the savage tribes.

VI. We now come to the INDIANA CONFERENCE, on the right bank of the Ohio, and belonging to the northern division of the Methodist church. We find in connexion with this Conference eight districts; namely, Brookville, Lawrenceburg, Madison, New-Albany, Evansville, Vincennes, Indianopolis, Bloomington: eighty-seven stations, circuits, and missions; one hundred and fourteen ministers, with three hundred and nine local preachers; and thirty thousand seven hundred and forty-five church-members, of、 whom one hundred and seventy-four are people of colour.

Vincennes, above referred to as the head of a district, is one of the oldest and most interesting places,-historically considered,—in the whole of this part of America. It was settled by French emigrants from Canada, near the beginning of the last century, and long remained a solitary village. But few settlements were made in the country till the commencement of the present century; since which time its increase in population has been very rapid. This, in the whole State, is given as, in 1800, 4,875; in 1810, 24,520; in 1820, 147,178; in 1830, 343,031; in 1840, 685,800. Methodism, we see, has progressed with the general population, and constitutes, no doubt, one of its most potent moral elements. This continued, the State must become one of the most prosperous and well-ordered in the Union. Its situation is, in every sense, most favourable for progress; commanding the navigation of the Lakes on the one hand, and the Ohio on the other.

VII. The TENNESSEE CONFERENCE is closely connected with the Holston. This ecclesiastical division of country comprises nine districts; namely, Nashville, Lebanon, Cumberland, Murfreesborough, Winchester, Huntsville, Florence, Dover, Clarksville: seventy-eight stations, circuits, and missions; one hundred and forty-seven ministers, with three hundred and seventy-eight local preachers; and forty thousand one hundred and forty-eight churchmembers, seven thousand two hundred and forty-nine of whom are people of colour.

We have the following extra appointments :-John B. M'Ferrin and Moses H. Henkle, Editors, Nashville Christian Advocate; Columbia Female Institute, Jared O. Church; Tennessee Conference Female Institute, R. H. Rivers, B. H. Hubbard; La Grange College, Edward Wadsworth; Clarksville Female Academy, Joseph E. Douglass; Philip P. Nutty, Agent for Transylvania University; William G. Gould, Agent for La Grange College; Ethelbert H. Hatcher, Agent for American Bible Society.

Bishop Asbury remarks, on October 18th, 1800:

"I rode to Nashville, long heard of, but never seen by me till now. Not less than one thousand people were in and out of the stone church; which, if floored, ceiled, and glazed, would be a grand house. We had three hours' public exercises.......We came by Manslick to Drake's-Creek meeting-house, at the close of a sacramental solemnity, that had been held four days by Craghead, Hodge, Rankin, M‘Gee, and Mr. Adair, Presbyterian officiating ministers....... Yesterday, and especially during the night, were witnessed scenes of deep interest. In the intervals between preaching, the people refreshed themselves and horses, and returned upon the ground. The stand was in the open air, embosomed in a wood of lofty beech-trees. The ministers of God, Methodists and Presbyterians, united their labours, and mingled with the child-like simplicity of primitive times. Fires blazing here and there, dispelled the darkness; and the shouts of the redeemed captives, and the cries of precious souls struggling into life, broke the silence of midnight. The weather was delightful, as if heaven smiled, whilst mercy flowed in abundant streams of salvation to perishing sinners...... We crossed Cumberland River at Bishop'sFerry. What a long, solitary river this is! It is probably seven hundred miles upon a line, and near one thousand in its meanderings, before it empties its waters into the Ohio, twelve miles above the mouth of the Tennessee."*

Here is a description of a caravan of emigrants in this country in 1803 :—

"What a road have we passed! Certainly the worst in the whole continent, even in the best weather. Yet, bad as it was, there were four or five hundred crossing the rude hills whilst we were............... A man who is well mounted will scorn to complain of the roads, when he sees men, women, and children, almost naked, paddling, bare-foot and bare-legged, along, or labouring up the rocky hills, whilst those who are best off have only a place for two or three children to ride at once. If these adventurers have little or nothing to eat, it is no extraordinary circumstance, and not uncommon to encamp in the wet woods after night; in the mountains, it does not rain, but pours.

* "Journal," vol. ii. pp. 396, 397.

I too have my sufferings, perhaps, peculiar to myself; pain and temptation; the one of the body, and the other of the spirit: no room to retire to; that in which you sit common to all; crowded with women and children; the fire occupied by cooking;-much and long-loved solitude not to be found, unless you choose to run out into the rain, in the woods. Six months in the year I have had, for thirty-two years, occasionally to submit to what will never be agreeable to me; but the people, it must be confessed, are among the kindest souls in the world. But kindness will not make a crowded log-cabin, twelve feet by ten, agreeable: without are cold and rain; and within, six adults, and as many children, one of which is all motion: the dogs, too, must be sometimes admitted. On Saturday, at Felix Earnest's. I found that, amongst my other trials, I had taken the itch; and, considering the filthy houses and filthy beds I have met with in coming from Kentucky Conference, it is, perhaps, strange that I have not caught it twenty times. I do not see that there is any security against it but sleeping in a brimstone shirt. Poor bishop! But we must bear it for the elect's sake." *

And no doubt the above ministerial staff,—the establishment of the numerous churches and places of worship,the colleges, female academies and institutions,—and the potent Christian Advocate ;-with the advanced civilization which has taken place in this country, originated in these privations and sufferings.

Tennessee, as will be seen from the number of coloured people belonging to the church, is a slave-holding State. And we are sorry to perceive that the slave population is constantly increasing. In 1790, the numbers were 3,417, in 1840 they had swelled up to 183,059. It is hardly necessary to say that this Conference belongs to the Methodist Episcopal church, South.

Having now travelled from the Alleghany Mountains by the course of the Ohio, to the Mississippi, in the “far west," we shall, according to our practice, give a tabular view of the result of this territorial progress of the Methodist church in these regions.

Conferences. Dist. Circuits. Minist. Supernum. Local Pr. Members. Pittsburgh.... 8 111

184

12

265

42,378

66

As the country which we have now traversed is new territory, and is a part of the valley of the Mississippi, it may be proper to give some notices of its settlement, in order that an idea may be formed of American progress. The earliest settlements in Tennessee were made between the years 1765 and 1770; in 1790 it was placed under a separate Territorial Government, under the name of the Territory South of the Ohio;" and in 1796, the inhabitants formed a constitution, and Tennessee was admitted into the Union, as an independent State. The permanent settlement in Kentucky began in 1775; and in 1792 it was admitted into the Union as an independent State. The first settlements in Ohio were commenced at Marietta, in 1788. In the following year the country was put under a Territorial Government, and called the "Western Territory;" and in 1802, it was erected into an independent State. In 1800, Indiana was erected into a Territorial Government; and in 1816, it was admitted into the Union as an independent State. The mean length of Tennessee is said to be 400 miles, and its breadth 114, containing 45,600 square miles. Kentucky is about 400 miles in length, and its breadth is 170 miles, containing 40,500 square miles. Ohio is 200 miles long, and 200 broad, containing 40,000 square miles. length of Indiana is 260 miles, and its breadth 140, containing 36,000 square miles. The aggregate of this territory is thus seen to contain 162,000 square miles.

The

This western country consists of the finest land in the United States, and, perhaps, the most productive in the world. It is capable of the highest possible cultivation,— of producing all kinds of grain and fruits, and, consequently, of feeding an indefinite number of inhabitants. Its population at present, considering the length of time it has been occupied by a civilized race, is very great, and must soon become prodigious. The influx of emigrants from Europe, and the older States, is constantly going on; and their occupancy of the country is accompanied by a clearance of the soil, the erection of new villages, towns, and cities, and all the appliances and means of civilized life. There is amazing grandeur in this process. It is like a creation. A world of civilized men throwing around them all the garniture, the ornaments, and the blandishments of existence. Cities beautifully laid out on their rivers are springing up, almost as in a day; finely situated for commercial purposes, and, as time progresses, evidently destined

to become great and interesting centres of life. New villages, as the wilderness is passed through, appear at short distances from each other, embosomed in the forest, and surrounded by land only partially cleared; but sufficiently so to provide richly for the wants of the new comers. Railroads are made to pass along in the midst of both the occupied territory and the gloomy forest; whilst they connect, by perfectly easy means, the people of remote regions, and unite their rivers and lakes as one great thoroughfare.

It is easy to see that this portion of America must ultimately, and at no remote period, become equal, if not superior, to any part of the Union. It is, in one sense, far from the sea-coast, and in this respect must lie under disadvantages. The means of transport, however, are perfectly easy, and the cost cannot be great. Such places as Pittsburgh, Wheeling, and, especially, Cincinnati, though the buildings are new, yet have the appearance of great manufacturing and commercial towns. They have the air of communities full of life and activity, of comfort and affluence, and of perfectly established business habits. Their transactions cannot be less regular and orderly than those of long-established entrepôts of trade. There must be master minds at work in every department; these things cannot be the growth of chance. And, from the peculiarities of the country, and the great influx of people from Europe, we see the result is, that a great city springs up in a short period; whereas, in old countries, many years have been necessary to their growth. We have no such places exactly as Pittsburgh and Cincinnati, inasmuch as those cities lie on the banks of a river, forming an inland navigation,—and not on the sea-coast. On this ground we cannot compare the latter with such a place as Liverpool; one of the most remarkable marts of commerce in the United Kingdom. But Cincinnati has progressed much more rapidly than Liverpool could have done at any period of its history. Less than fifty years ago it was a mere village, containing a few scattered huts, and its population only amounted to a few hundred souls; whilst, at present, as we have seen, it is not less than something like one hundred thousand. But it is not so much the social life of this country, as matters connected with the church, which most demand our attention. The progress of religion has been as remarkable as that of society in general.

The privations and sufferings of the first pioneers of