The Earnest Christian
By C. H. Zahniser
Chapter 10
SUPERINTENDENCY, TRAVELS, AND POST OBITUM 1870-1893, 1910
The fourth General Conference of the Free Methodist Church met at Albion, New York, October 14, 1874. Mr. Roberts did not arrive the first day, so the Rev. Epenetus Owen was elected chairman until his arrival. That year, the Committee on Superintendency recommended the election of a second General Superintendent because of the growth of the work.[1] The phrasing of the recommendation carried a statement that they were "heartily pleased with the very able and efficient manner" in which their beloved Superintendent had labored among them. On the first ballot, Mr. Roberts received twenty-six votes out of a total of thirty-four votes cast, while E. P. Hart received twenty. Both were declared elected. Mrs. Roberts wrote to her husband, "I feel better and better over your being released from so much traveling. It will prove a blessing and help. You must sit down in quietness and think and write and rest. 1 believe God is in all you felt in reference to this matter."[2] The recognition of women as evangelists that year was doubtless due to the influence of Mr. Roberts, who strongly favored using women who were sufficiently talented for Christian service.[3] 2. Fifth General Conference, 1878 The General Conference session of 1878 met on October 9th at Spring Arbor, Michigan. In the balloting for General Superintendent, Mr. Roberts received only one vote more than his younger co-worker, E. P. Hart. However, both of them had a great majority of the votes; Roberts received forty-nine and E. P. Hart forty-eight votes out of a total of fifty-three cast. After the election, the doxology was sung.[4] Mr. Roberts was the first named on the Board of General Missions, and was named chairman of a committee to compile a hymn book.[5] He was also made one of the members of the Board of Trustees of the General Church. The Committee on Superintendency reported that they found the administration of their General Superintendents during the past four years had been "faithful and efficient." The Iowa, Wisconsin, and North Michigan Conferences had been organized since 1874, making the total number of conferences ten, with 313 preachers and 233 local preachers. The salary of the superintendents was reported as $526.15, which was above the average salary of $200.02 received by the preachers.[6] That Conference was composed of men who had become Sunday School minded. They made it a part of the duties of the General Superintendents to attend and assist in Sunday School Conventions.[7] One other action of that Conference affected the life of Mr. Roberts the following year. A resolution was passed that a general superintendent should visit the Pacific coast and look after the denominational work there.[8] 3. Sixth General Conference, 1882 The sixth General Conference was held at Burlington, Iowa, convening October 11,1882. General Superintendent B. T. Roberts was once again elected to the same office, that time with the highest majority possible, having received fifty-seven votes out of a total of fifty-seven.[9] At this General Conference a more adequate provision was made for the salaries of the two Superintendents, the amount being set at eight hundred dollars and traveling expenses, the amount being pro-rated to the several circuits. It was carefully specified, however, that if anything was received "properly chargeable against his salary," it should be reported and deducted from the amount issued by the newly elected treasurer of this account, S. K. J. Chesbrough.[10] The Committee on Superintendency brought in a report censuring Mr. Roberts for a decision in which he had stated that inasmuch as two members of the North Michigan Conference had been transferred to the Michigan Conference, having been counted in the basis of representation to the General Conference, first from the former, and after transfer to the latter, that the said Michigan Conference was entitled to one more ministerial and one more lay delegate. After much debate, the committee report was lost, and Mr. Roberts was sustained.[11] The same committee brought in a motion of censure for his action in receiving a certain Septer Roberts into the Michigan Conference "on a letter of withdrawal from the Conference and church." This motion was changed to apply to the Michigan Conference rather than to the General Superintendent.[12] The report of the Committee on Reforms was tempered with the views of Mr. Roberts on prohibition, for although the committee deemed it advisable to assist those who were "struggling for prohibition," they specified "voting only for such men, irrespective of party, as we believe will promote and maintain righteousness instead of mere party interests."[13] As president of the fully organized Board of Trustees of the new church, the duty of conveying real estate for the Board fell upon Mr. Roberts. The General Conference also assumed the direction of The Free Methodist paper at that session, thus preparing the way more fully for additional duties for Mr. Roberts at the next General Conference session.[14] The organization of the Ohio, Central Illinois, Texas, and Louisiana Conferences reflected the labors of Mr. Roberts during the quadrennium immediately preceding the General Conference of 1882.[15] The membership of the movement had increased to 11,705 full members and 1854 probationers, served by 336 preachers and 321 local preachers. The Sunday Schools, which the General Superintendents had, by General Conference action, promoted, had increased to 425 schools with 2671 teachers and 14,800 scholars. Property had increased to more than half a million dollars[16] . An item on general missions was listed for the first time, reflecting the increasing consciousness of the church. A Missionary Board was elected.[17] That General Conference of 1882 marked the peak of the popularity of Mr. Roberts as evidenced by his unanimous reelection, and by the fact that no action was allowed to go directly against him. He was then a man fifty-nine years of age, with twenty-two years of experience in the Superintendency behind him. 4. Seventh General Conference, 1886 The time for the seventh quadrennial session of the General Conference was imminent. Mrs. Roberts, wishing her husband to be at his best, exhorted him, "You must breathe in more life. Take more by faith. The quickening power of the Spirit I trust will keep you fresh and rested." Then she added her underlying reason, "I do not want you to come to the General Conference jaded and worn. I do not expect you will."[18] The General Conference met at Coopersville, Michigan, October 13, 1886. One of the first motions of Mr. Roberts there was to observe a day of fasting and prayer on the following day, which was carried.[19] He also offered a resolution to the effect that the denomination at large become responsible for a church in our national capital, which was referred to the committee on church extension. Today the beautiful B. T. Roberts Memorial Church stands in the nation's capital in his memory. The report of the Committee on the State of the Work, headed by Mr. Roberts, dealt with insubordination severely, specified many wrong practices that should be shunned, inveighed against a "freedom of the spirit" which was virtual anarchy, advocated real conversions, a rational standard of holiness (not too high or too low), and emphasized that every preacher should be a revival preacher. The Conference ordered the report published in tract form, and that B. T. Roberts should see to it that the preachers had sufficient to supply each family in the church with one copy.[20] At that General Conference, a third General Superintendent was elected, taking the increasing load once again from his shoulders. For the first time, B. T. Roberts received less votes than his younger fellow Superintendent, E. P. Hart.[21] The salaries of the Superintendents were raised to a thousand dollars and traveling expenses.[22] It would appear that Mr. Roberts had passed the peak of his popularity, but only slightly, for that year, in addition to the heavy responsibilities he was already carrying, he was elected editor of The Free Methodist, the official church organ. Upon his election, he immediately arose and said, "Brethren, you have now chosen me to two of the most responsible positions in the Church, and I am ready to resign whichever one you may designate." As no desire for his resignation from either office was specified, he functioned in both capacities, in addition to his editorial work on his own magazine, The Earnest Christian.[23] At the preceding General Conference, he had come within one vote of being elected to the editorship of The Free Methodist. For a long time, it had been felt that his literary culture should have been utilized more fully by the church, and also there was a growing feeling that the church paper had become too political in character, and that Mr. Roberts would curb the increasing tendency.[24] It had always been the position of Mr. Roberts that the church should not align itself with any one political party, but be free to vote for the best candidates for office, regardless of party affiliation. 5. Eighth General Conference, 1890 During this general gathering of the Church, which was held in Chicago in October, 1890, Mr. Roberts and his wife were entertained at the home of M. C. Baker, 3235. Wood Street. The duties of this, his last General Conference, occupied his attention. As an administrator, he objected to making unnecessary changes. When a Brother Gaffin proposed to change the word "men" to read "persons" (in the Discipline) in order to include the opposite sex, Mr. Roberts objected, "I wish brethren would not propose such changes. If you do this you will have to change the Bible. 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved' must be made to read, 'He or she that believeth.' " His evangelistic friend, Cusick, spoke up at that juncture and said, "They haven't been through the hopper," referring to the possibility that such a proposal would be killed in committee. In that Conference, quite a discussion took place about the words "obey him and serve him" in the marriage ritual. After the question had been divided as to striking out the above words, and the vote had been taken favorably to strike out the words "serve him," B. T. Roberts arose and offered as a substitute for the whole the words "comfort him." After considerable discussion, the proposal was voted down. The final solution was to ask essentially the same question to the woman as to the man.[25] At that Conference, the old debate on committing the General Conference to the Prohibition Party was continued. Mr. Roberts alone made a speech against doing so. The editor of the General Conference Daily stated that it was a surprise to many to see the Report on Reforms containing a committal of the church to the Prohibition Party, adopted almost unanimously, with only one speech against it (by B. T. Roberts), and none in its favor.[26] Mr. Roberts was ready to oppose what he thought was bad policy even though almost the entire church was against him in it. It was during this period that he said, "I have seldom been with a majority." In a case that came before the General Conference with reference to a change of venue for a new trial in the appeal of a certain man, Mr. Roberts arose and said,
He then referred to his own request for a change of venue in his trial in the Methodist Church which was refused, and stated that a minister in another Conference had told him, "If you had belonged to our Conference, we would have given you a vote of thanks instead of expelling you." He added that he understood that the right to a change of venue was then included in the rules of the M. E. Church, although such was evidently not the rule at the time of his own trial and expulsion.[28] When the election of an editor for The Free Methodist paper came up, his failing health caused him to refuse further duties. The General Conference of 1890 was a hard one for Mr. Roberts, not only from a consideration of his physical condition, but also from the standpoint of the actions taken by the body. He unsuccessfully espoused the cause of the Pentecost Bands which he wished to conserve to the church. Their leader, the Rev. Vivian A. Dake, had been a student in the Chili Seminary and was a close friend of Mr. Roberts. Others in prominence in the church felt these Bands were a divisive element in the church and were able to secure their exclusion from it.[29] Mr. Roberts also sponsored, as was his custom, the right to ordain women, but was, as usual, strongly opposed. The first vote taken was in accordance with tile position of Mr. Roberts, but by a subsequent vote for reconsideration, it was lost by a small minority.[30] The Rev. R. W Hawkins, a personal friend of Mr. Roberts, was up for trial for writing a book on Redemption or The Living Way which was believed to contain error. Mr. Roberts knowing of his positions on the subject, had advised him not to write his views and after the book had been published Mr. Roberts had noted the publication, with a mention of the deviation of position from that recognized as the church position Now however Mr. Roberts advocated a conciliatory attitude but his advice was not heeded The condemnatory action of the General Conference resulted in the loss of Mr. Hawkins to the church, and brought pain to their senior Superintendent.[31] At the close of the Conference, he said, "I do not know that I want to attend another General Conference," and he never did. He wrote to a minister, the Rev. W. P. Ferries, "The General Conference left me in such a state of mind and body that I felt I was not wanted anywhere very much."[32] In connection with the General Conference, Mr. Roberts preached the dedicatory sermon for the new Free Methodist Church in Chicago. In the course of his address, he told them of a camp meeting he had held that fall, previous to the General Conference date, where the townspeople had taken unusual pains to show courtesy to the campers. They had built a sidewalk half a mile from the town to the campground, and had dug wells for their convenience. The meeting had been "a time of power" with a "good deal of shouting." Then he commented, "If you want to get into a noisy meeting just go up to North Michigan among the ox drivers." At the close of the meeting, the town officials came to the service, the president of the town board made a short address and invited them back each year for the next ten years. Mr. Roberts, upon inquiring into the cause of all the cordiality, received the reply, "There is not one of these Free Methodists but pays his bills."[33] The itinerary of Mr. Roberts took him to the field of the labors of the Rev. William Hart, to the Maple Grove Church in Saginaw, Michigan, which had been raised up through the labors of a farmer's wife. She was not then a member of the church, but she wanted to see a church built. This woman persuaded her husband to give two acres from the corner of his farm, and every tenth day's work. The consent of her husband she took as an answer to her prayers and as an evidence that the work was of God. She then solicited the neighbors, taking everything they would contribute from one cent to a bed quilt and exchanged everything for lumber. She herself, wrote Mr. Roberts, gave every tenth pound of butter and every tenth dozen of eggs. An irreligious man told her she had "church on the brain," but said she could have an old debt at the mill if she could collect it. This, the mill men readily granted her, giving the entire amount to her in lumber. Mr. Roberts was called to dedicate the church on August tenth. He described it as a "neat convenient edifice, thirty by forty feet, well built, and nicely painted." The dedication services which commenced on Thursday and lasted over Sunday were described as "seasons of wonderful power . . . . The people came for miles and pitched their tents around the church." Mr. Roberts thought conviction rested upon the people in "the whole region."[34] From a Michigan Camp Meeting, Mr. Roberts wrote to his wife that "Brother Hart seems quite satisfied with having you at the Coldwater Camp Meeting." He had told Mr. Hart, who had wanted some one to help him over the Sabbath, that he believed "the Lord would help" his wife to "talk to the people." He then made arrangements to meet Mrs. Roberts at Coldwater. He asked her to tell Benson, their son, who had recently professed faith in Christ, to write to Miss Carpenter, because she "greatly rejoiced at what the Lord had done for him."[35] The next day on his journey from Napoleon, Michigan, the Rev. William Hart "and all the rest of them" insisted on his staying for the dedication. He thought Michigan a "fine country" and liked the people "very much." He arrived at the camp on August 29th and found himself "tired, sleepy, and cold." The meeting started "off dull," probably because they seemed less lively here than in many parts of Michigan, and partly because of the discomforts of the cold weather. His wife for some reason did not arrive, but because of the poor weather conditions, he told her it was best. He did miss their little tent which he had wanted his wife to bring with her. A draft for fifty dollars was sent home for seed wheat for the farm and he told his wife that he "loved her dearly" and "missed her much."[36] After a cold uncomfortable ride disturbed by the noise of; the passengers so that he could not sleep Mr. Roberts wrote a short letter informing his wife that he was expressing though for one of their friends, "a bottle of ague cure that was said to be sure and safe." He reported a chill the night before Per haps he took a dose of the ague cure, for he wrote that he felt better that morning.[37] In October, he was on his way to Crystal Lake, riding on a slow train all the way from Buffalo to Chicago. Writing from Chicago, he asked to have George, his son, take care of the Susquehanna and Genesee Conference Minutes as soon as they arrived, for he had the responsibility of publishing the Combined Minutes of the various conferences of the church. He also wanted to have a description of his land in Iowa, copied from the deed which had been left at home, sent on to him so that he could go and see it while he was there.[38] From Crystal Lake, Illinois, he wrote about appointments, and his future course to Belvidere and Iowa, and then requested her, or someone at home to attend the auction which was being held at Syracuse by Mr. Hicks, the class leader of the Free Church there. Intimating that he had been reproached by his beloved, he answered, "Darling, I love you very dearly. I am sorry that I was not a greater help to you, and hope I shall be a greater help after this."[39] The next day Mr. Roberts reached Belvidere and stopped at the home of his wife's brother, Charles and Melissa Stowe, who had been especially close to him since 1860 when they attended a meeting held by Mr. Roberts at Bonus Prairie. At that time, Mrs. Stowe had consecrated herself as fully as she knew how to the Lord. From there, Mr. Roberts sent his wife a draft for one hundred and fifty dollars which he said she might keep until he got back.[40] He wanted his wife to feel the importance of her mission at the school to "such a degree" that she would not feel troubled by the deportment of a certain troublesome teacher at the Seminary. He excused himself for unwittingly imposing such heavy burdens upon her. Turning to a description of his surroundings, he said that the Iowa country was fine, and "much like Minnesota." He reported, "The weather was cold this morning, but the sun now shines out quite warm." The Rev. T. S. LaDue was the entertaining minister. Roberts wrote to his wife, "You are dear to me I love you fervently and want to do all I can to help you." With "love to the children," and a "continue to pray for me" he closed affectionately.[41] As far back as 1873, Mr. Roberts had written of the many urgent calls that were coming to him to send a preacher to the Pacific Coast.[42] He thought free churches were needed in California as well as on this side of the mountains. "Even in the land of gold, the poor are found, who cannot afford to buy or rent a seat in the popular churches. The services are too expensive for their limited income. The surroundings are too gorgeous for their plain and cheap attire." He thought that whatever might be the longings of the poor man for something better, he would feel in the bitterness of his heart that no man cared for his soul. Rev. G. W. Humphrey and wife had felt for some time that they should go, and asked only for transportation there. Mr. Roberts called for this money so they could be sent in October.[43] In November, he reported that the Rev. G. W. Humphrey, a member of the Genesee Conference, had been sent to California "for the purpose of planting churches on the Pacific coast."[44] In 1879, Mr. and Mrs. Roberts went together to the "land of sunshine." They had been in correspondence about the proposed trip while he was away, and she had finally written back that she thought it was best to go. A gift which he received at that time probably helped on their expenses. She wrote him that she felt "blest" but couldn't sleep. Evidently she felt considerable excitement about the long journey.[45] On the first lap of their trip, they stopped in Chicago, where Mr. Roberts preached three times. Near Kellogg, Jasper County, Iowa, they stopped and Mr. Roberts preached twice on the Sabbath. Coming in on the close of a four weeks' revival, results were forthcoming and the altar "was filled with seekers of pardon and purity." They stayed in the home of their friend, Abram Moore, formerly from western New York. They had "a season of refreshing at their hospitable home." They went on from there for Omaha, by way of the Union Pacific "through the frost and snow of the Rocky Mountains." By January third, they were as far west as Nevada. Mrs. Roberts, writing back to Mrs. Cady, mentioned seeing "mountains piled on mountains, towering to the skies." She thought the Rockies immense and grand and said she was "glad to feel" that her Father "made them all." Probably because the love of level country was ingrained in her system, she added, "I am satisfied with mountain scenery." Mrs. Roberts stated that on their way out, "for five nights I did not take off my clothes. I slept on the seats, and five and a half days I ate my meals from a lunch basket, except one meal, and when I landed I felt well and not much tired." She said, "You can never conceive how extremely dirty we got on the cars. They burned soft coal and it was fearful."[46] They arrived in Oakland, California, on the fifth of January. Mr. and Mrs. M. F. Bishop met them at the station and took them to their home at Alameda. Mr. Roberts commented that Oakland was a city of some ten thousand inhabitants which was on the mainland across the bay from San Francisco. He said that the railroads terminated there, and that the passengers were transferred by ferry across the bay about four or five miles to the larger city. Alameda, south of Oakland, and separated by only a narrow ship channel from the bay over which the cars passed on a drawbridge, was a growing town. Many of the business men of San Francisco resided there.[47] Mr. Roberts began his activities there in a small way, preaching the day after they arrived, to a few people who gathered in the home where they were staying, that day being Sunday. He also preached there on Tuesday evening, and wrote that one backslider had been reclaimed. On Thursday evening, they went across the coast range of mountains to a small town, eighteen miles distant, named La Fayette, where he preached to a "small but attentive congregation." Then he traveled eight miles up the valley to Pacheco, a town of three or four hundred people in "Contra Costa County." A Mr. Horton had gone there and found that no regular services were being held in the town. There was a Presbyterian Church, "a cheap temporary building" in which visiting ministers occasionally held a service. In contrast to this was a "substantially built Odd Fellows Hall, in which meetings were regularly held." Mr. Horton had been able to stir up sufficient interest there that "some of the leading Odd Fellows became converted and left the lodge." Out of that meeting a small Free Methodist Church was organized, the Presbyterian Church was reorganized, and a Congregational Church was formed and a pastor settled. Mr. Roberts held a quarterly meeting there over the Sabbath, and there was sufficient interest shown for him to remain throughout the week with the result that a "few young persons . . . . were saved."[48] Going back to Alameda, he preached in the Methodist Episcopal Church and reported that "the truth was well received."[49] He said he had "abundant invitations to preach in other churches" but that he had not been sent there for that purpose.[50] The great need of "earnest Christian effort" was matched by the obstacles which were "great and powerful," Mr. Roberts said. He thought organized opposition to the New Testament was so strong that the churches made no effort to meet it, but lowered their standard to avoid all issues "with the numerous and powerful secret societies." He also noticed a "general indifference" to religion that he had never seen elsewhere. Sabbath desecration was common. The fine, sunshiny weather permitted the people to be out of doors. He thought that the country which had been originally settled by the Roman Catholics, with their ideas of the Sabbath as a day of recreation, had an influence for evil. Many of the permanent residents were old miners who came to dig for gold. They had lived so long without the Sabbath and without the restraints of Christianity that they did not like to assume them now. However, the people were awakening to the importance of the temperance questions, he thought, and temperance meetings were becoming common. Since the people went there to make money, of course they could not look with favor upon any religion that interfered with the purpose that brought them there. His faith arose, however, above all obstacles to assert that he believed that "this beautiful land may be redeemed to Christ, because we believe in the Holy Ghost."[51] Mrs. Roberts brought in a note of their home surroundings and of her reactions to California. She evidently felt that the people who entertained them, not being accustomed to company, were finding it somewhat difficult. She wrote from a bedroom where there had been no fire all winter, but the sun had shone in all day. Nights and mornings it was so chilly that "one needs a fire" she confided. The weather was mild but it seemed to her sometimes that she "would like one breath of good freezing air." She thought the climate was not as bracing to the nervous system. Mr. Roberts was having difficulty, she wrote, getting over a cold he had taken on the way out.[52] The indifference of the people to religion was very hard on Mr. Roberts, but he expected God to come in power so that they could "break through the crust."[53] A group of friends finally rented the Second Advent Church on Eddy Street in San Francisco for twenty-five dollars a month, and continued their meetings there, beginning February second. The attendance was small and those who came were for the most part members of the various churches. Only a few were helped spiritually. Mr. Roberts commented that men out for riches and to enjoy the pleasures of the world would not respond. "Men but a few steps from the grave," he mourned, "with a full knowledge of their condition, will tell you with the utmost coolness" that they do not want religion.[54] The Roberts rented a moderate sized, furnished room in which they were keeping house. He said it seemed a little awkward at first to have but one room for "kitchen, dining room, study, and bedroom," but they were getting along quite well. "It is a beautiful country," he concluded, "now in the middle of February. The fields are green; pinks, roses, and other flowers are in bloom: it seems like May at home." Then he exclaimed, "O that this pleasant land might be won back to God."[55] The new living quarters they had secured were described by Mr. Roberts in a letter to his daughter-in-law. He said:
Mrs. Roberts also commented on the simple style of their living in this "hired room." She said they enjoyed this far more than moving about from place to place among the people. Up to that date, the people had taken care of their expenses. This, they considered good in view of the "hard times" there, for many were out of work. Most people there, she said, "take it as easy as they can." Some very fine families were there from the East. A good many of them who had been there for a long time, had fallen into California ways, which, she thought, resulted from their mining habits. "Very many seem as if camped down for a season." Many rent furnished rooms and live out at restaurants, she asserted. They had tried restaurant fare for a season, but because they wanted to have a little bit of "home feeling" they had decided to cook for themselves. Evidently she was quite pleased that they were able to find a room to themselves, however inelegant it might have been. She wrote, "Our room does seem like home indeed to us. I can never tell anyone how thankful we are for it." She told her husband that they were prepared by that experience to live anywhere. The kindnesses of the people were appreciated. A "sister" washed their "flannels," and their other clothes they had done by a chinaman. Many things had been sent them to eat. "Some things we have a good laugh over and others we eat with great thankfulness. Praise God. This is the most of a faith home I ever got into." She continued her letter to her son George, telling him that the week before she thought that they were living on pretty short rations, so decided to ask the Lord for help. As she prayed, she became bold and said, "Lord, we want a good many things." She said they had had so little variety that she began to desire something "more than usual." A basket full of different things was in her mind's eye. "Right away," she recorded, "there came a basket with a beautiful baked fowl and bread with it, and jelly. Another brought pie and cake and butter, etc." This reminded her of the man who said he never spoke to the Lord about his wants, but He gave him so much it made him ashamed.[57] The wickedness of the city called forth the anathemas of Mr. Roberts. He denounced:
He also noted the monopolies developing there. "This is a singular country," he commented. "Everything goes by extremes. This is more of a tendency to monopoly here than in the East." Though raw sugars were imported from the Sandwich Islands free of import duty, yet refined sugars were twenty per cent higher than in the East. There was but one refinery, and they, of course, made large profits. Petroleum retailed at fifty cents a gallon, though there were oil wells farther south, but, he judged, they lacked oil refineries. Concerning the gambling interests there, he wrote, "In San Francisco, as in New York, and other cities, the leading business of the leading men appears to be stock gambling." He thought they were like "successful robbers" for what they gained others lost. He told of their procedure when a new mine was discovered. If the owners were satisfied with legitimate profits they did not put stock on the market, but worked the mine to best advantage and divided the proceeds. But if they were gamblers, they put a part, less than half the stock, on the market, being careful to keep the control in their own hands. They then made large dividends so that the stock sold at a large price. When all the stock had been disposed of, they would break their machinery or have the mine flooded with water, and so find it necessary to make an assessment. The holders were, under those circumstances, anxious to sell, and the promoters would then buy back the stock at a nominal price. "It is said by those who claim to know" he asserted, "that the stock of a good mine, honestly managed, is never put upon the market."[59] Mrs. Roberts wrote to her daughter-in-law, Anna Roberts, that some of the old Californians wonder how "your father got so correct an understanding of the stock business."[60] In a letter to his son George, Mr. Roberts said "one of the old Californians" told him he gave a better account of "how stocks are managed here" than he could have given himself.[61] Mr. Roberts also had some comments to make about land and landowners. The best of the land, he asserted, was owned by only a few, comparatively. Some owned ten thousand acres and some more. A farm of one hundred and sixty acres would be assessed at fifty dollars an acre. One of a better quality of land and improved, and ten thousand acres large would be assessed at five dollars per acre. The house of Mr. Crocker, the great railroad magnate, who had recently died, was assessed at only twenty-five thousand dollars, which, he thought, was not a quarter of the cost of the wall around his grounds. The whole, he judged, would have cost a million dollars. These injustices had stirred up the working man, and had made Dennis Kearney a leader. Though he did not have sympathy with him, yet he thought there were great wrongs which ought to be redressed. He thought the press in San Francisco was "venal and corrupt." Politics did not escape his notice. "Corruption holds such fearful sway that one can hardly touch politics without being polluted," he asserted.[62] Going back to the religious work they were attempting, some account is given of the meeting. On March third, Mrs. Roberts wrote that Mr. Roberts had been "very much blest in his preaching." Also she reported that "a good many had been saved and very many had been blest and encouraged in the way to heaven." The house of worship was "well filled."[63] In the April issue of The Earnest Christian, Mr. Roberts noted that he had then preached forty-two times, and had spoken to the largest congregation to date on the previous Sabbath evening. He referred again to the low standard of religion the people held. Many did not see "any inconsistency in being very wicked" and at the same time "very religious." When he approached a leading merchant of the city and coast about seeking the Lord, the man who had then lost everything through drink replied, "O, that is not what I want; it is to stop drinking. I am religious now." A young man who had sought religion at the altar, but who had not been seen for several days, was approached by Mr. Roberts and asked how he was getting along. "0," he replied, "I am all right now. I have stopped drinking and swearing, and Sabbath-breaking. I have only one bad habit, smoking, left, and I intend to quit that." One of the great obstacles to the establishment of a work in that "metropolis on our Pacific Coast" was "the enormous valuation put upon real estate in the city." Mr. Roberts was anxious to stay until he could see a church permanently established.[64] The protracted meeting in San Francisco was closed the last day of March. During that two month period, Mr. Roberts had preached twice a day with the exception of Saturday. He reported "a goodly number of conversions." From there, they went to San Jose for about a week and preached in the "Friends Meeting House," which had been "kindly opened" to them. A rainy time and small congregations did not look so encouraging, but he left the results to the Lord, he said. The city itself was "beautiful."[65] Mrs. Roberts said she had never seen roses until she went there. They grew so finely, in little trees, she wrote, and large bushes, and climbing to the tops of the houses, all kinds and colors. Over against the flowers, however, were the fleas. She said, "I have had terrible times with them in some places."[66] Mr. Roberts wrote that San Jose was then a town of ten thousand inhabitants, had many fine residences with yards full of shrubbery and flowers. He noted that the Jesuits had a college there, as well as a Catholic convent and college for young ladies. Also the Pacific University of the Methodist Episcopal Church was located there. The next Sabbath he expected to commence a "protracted meeting" in Alameda.[67] The meeting at Alameda was not too successful but some members of other churches who attended received help, Mr. Roberts thought. He was so impressed with the weather that he said he wished sometimes he were located on the west coast. He was deterred, however, by the consideration that every kind of business operated on the principle of making the "rich richer." He felt the foundation of a good work religiously had been laid, and he was then making his plans not to remain there longer than the latter part of May.[68] After the Roberts left, they received letters telling them that the work was encouraging. Word came from Pacheco that another had been converted. Mr. Horton wrote that the work in San Francisco gave cause for encouragement, and Mrs. Bishop wrote that the meetings in Alameda were "gaining in interest."[69] Mr. Bishop wrote that many had inquired about them after they left, and thanked God that they had ever "come to the coast."[70] Toward the close of the year, Mr. Horton wrote an appeal for Mr. Roberts to return, or at least to send "Brother Vorheis" temporarily. Some were not joining the new church because they had no permanent help of the right character. There was not strong insistence upon the return of Mr. Roberts just then for fear it would interfere with a permanent move there to which they looked forward.[71] That Mr. and Mrs. Roberts did think of going back to California soon is evident from a letter she wrote him in which she said, "In reference to our going to California I think in some respects, there is a greater cross in it than there was before." She thought, though, that perhaps they ought to go. She was anxious, she said, that the Lord would make the path of duty very plain to her husband.[72] On their way home from California, they stopped over at Salt Lake City, and attended two Mormon services, one in the Tabernacle in the afternoon and another in a smaller church in the evening. Mr. Roberts published in The Earnest Christian a description of the region, the city, the Mormon Temple, and their worship in two Methodist churches in the city.[73] He thought the Mormons then were mostly from the "ignorant masses" though occasionally there were persons of intelligence among them. About two-thirds of the twenty-five thousand inhabitants were Mormons. The remarkably quiet Sabbath, with stores closed and no amusements, impressed him with its having more the appearance of a Christian city than some which laid claim to the name. He was sufficiently impressed with the oval shaped Mormon Temple to give its dimensions, and something of its construction. He thought it was capable of seating twelve thousand persons, and was informed it could be vacated in one and a half minutes. The great organ with three thousand pipes, and the elevated dais on the west end where sat the President, twelve Apostles and the Bishops, were noted. The worship service was much like a common Protestant service, with a sermon somewhat evangelical, followed by an exhortation which was distinctively Mormon in doctrine. Going in the evening to one of the churches located in each of the twenty-two wards, he was introduced more clearly to the distinctive doctrines of the sect. "Sealed marriages" that made the union eternal, the adherents becoming gods and peopling new worlds, the possibility of accepting Mormonism after death to become servants of the others who had accepted the doctrines in life, were all referred to by the speaker.[74] Mr. Roberts commented, "All religions are to be rejected which make our future felicity depend, not upon what we do, but upon what a priest does to or for us."[75] and then quoted, "We have a great, high priest that is passed into the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God."[76] In the latter part of June, 1882, Mr. Roberts went to Minnesota to help in meetings. When almost to his destination, he wrote back to his wife, "I love you, have fellowship with you, prize you, honor you, and in some measure appreciate you."[77] The following day he wrote again that he had arrived the night before in time to preach. William Cusick was urging him strongly to go up north, informing him that the meetings he had held in Alexandria two years before were still being talked about, and had "made a great stir." So earnest had Mr. Cusick been in his desire, that he had obtained a pass from St. Paul to Winnepeg for both Mr. and Mrs. Roberts. Then Mr. Roberts wrote about the duties at home. He asked his wife to see about putting the "plaster" on all the corn and potatoes, assuring her that he expected "to find a fine looking garden" when he got back.[78] With reference to his wife's advice on preaching, he wrote her, "I preached twice on Sunday and stood it well. I tried to obey your direction about my elocution and to let my voice fall and not speak on the same key."[79] The next day while passing through Minneapolis, he marveled at the rapidity of the city's growth; the people then claimed seventy-five thousand for the population. He also thought it was "astonishing what a fever possesses our American people to get away from home in the summer" with comfortable nights there, yet the cars were "crowded" with people going to the much advertised lake resorts.[80] He then referred to a letter from his wife, in which she had mentioned attending meetings conducted by a Mrs. Beckman in Chicago. He added:
He thought that it was "time that a proper attention to these matters" should be placed "among the rudiments of a Christian life." Then he asked, "But are we to get beyond the rudiments in the sense of neglecting them? Are we not to get beyond them as we get beyond the alphabet in the Bible?" He added, "I would like to be a symmetrical Christian, perfectly developed in every particular."[82] Mr. Roberts went on to Clear Lake, Minnesota, where William Cusick had made a preaching appointment for him. The day following, he was "out on the prairie drinking in the pure air" and trying to find some prairie flowers to send his wife. After having a "delicious nights sleep" he had a breakfast of fresh fish and boiled eggs. The night before he had preached a sermon "with comparatively little power in it." He asked his wife by letter if there were not danger of his being so careful not to hurt himself that he did not help others as he should.[83] Doubtless his wife had been admonishing him not to exert himself too much because of his failing health. He then went on to Alexandria where he had preached two years before. He arrived on Thursday at three o'clock to find "truly Western improvidence." There was no team to meet him, but a boy was there who told him to go on the "Omnibus." He hesitated on account of his baggage but was assured that it would "come right along." It didn't, so he sent a team for it, but the man had waited to do his chores before he went. About seven o'clock the Omnibus man came along with his baggage. William Cusick helped him to get his tent erected. A bed was "already made" which was covered by a "nice feather bed" which one of the campers had contributed. He thought that was one of the best beds he ever had on a campground. Replying to a statement of his wife, he said, "I think you are right. We need something more than emotional religion, but it seems to be a fact that even intelligent people will not move till moved upon. It does not seem to be enough to convince. I convince, but I do not get people to act." He confessed, "There is where I fail." He thought he "certainly ought to do better" than he had ever done, but he did not know that he would succeed.[84] Of special note to Mr. Roberts was the fact that the Methodist and Congregational preachers were in the audience in that camp meeting. He thought that since he had preached twice without taking a rest the day before, and had come to the close of the day without being especially tired, it indicated he must be getting some "resurrection power." Again, William Cusick pressed him to go on for another meeting, that time to Motley. He wrote that he would not go there if he could well get out of it, but Mr. Cusick had "advertised extensively" that he would be there, and it seemed unwise not to do so. Back home, Mrs. Roberts was overwhelmed with duties and responsibilities which she bore to lighten the load for her husband. They had just moved into their new home in North Chili, built on the highest land in that characteristically level country. She wrote to Lucy Sellew Coleman, "It is very evident that I have not moved into heaven. I have too much of worldly matters to look after. I cannot get them all moved in, so I go in and out." Besides carrying out her husband's instructions which came to her by mail, she was busy with guests in the home almost constantly. She wrote her husband of the many burdens that pressed her, and in reply he acknowledged that he felt the "care of home matters a good deal."[85] At Alexandria, Mr. Roberts did not go out to the evening meetings, but retired at 8:30 and slept right on through the meetings, evidencing the fact that his natural vigor had broken somewhat under the strenuous labors of his life. He was keeping warm in the somewhat cool weather with "woolen drawers, thick coat and overcoat" which he wore both morning and night.[86] His course to Motley evidently took him through Fargo and Manitoba. His next communication reported that he had reached there on the sixth of July. There, the man of many religious duties, had a day of sport. "Yesterday," he said, "I went fishing and caught seven great, nice fish and had all I could eat for supper and breakfast." This experience and the beautiful lakes of the region so enthused him that he remarked, "I have not got the Western fever but if I were a young man, I think I should try it in some of these new places which are springing up like magic all over this great Northwest."[87] He exclaimed about the exquisite beauties of the Red River valley, its rolling prairies, without a tree or a shrub, as far as the eye could reach. The people were "flocking from all lands." He did not close, however, without enclosing a special note on business, in which he asked her to send books on to "Brother Bradfield," since the ones he received had evidently not been properly bound; to be sure that Charlie got that "plaster" for the garden, and to see that Julius would "cut out, hoe out, or pull out all the weeds."[88] Then Mr. Roberts found himself in a dilemma. He had received a letter from Professor Clark Jones at Spring Arbor Seminary to hold a Quarterly Meeting for them, and he wrote an acceptance of the date. Before he mailed it, however, a letter from his wife had come, and so great was her insistence that he return home that he decided not to mail the letter to Professor Jones. He left the letter in his tent, evidently already addressed, and someone who came by, wishing to do him a favor, took the letter and mailed it for him. Then he had received a dispatch from Professor Jones that they would be expecting him. He promised his wife to try to get a substitute for the meeting, but if he did not succeed, he said resignedly, "I suppose I will have to stop over for it." Then he added, "Do not feel hurt over this blunder and lay it up against me, for it will be a greater disappointment to me not to get home this week than it possibly can for you."[89] After spending some time at home, another western tour took him to his Conferences. While in Waterloo, Iowa, enjoying the company of the Rev. William Gould, one of the prominent men of the church, he mentioned the fact that they had difficulty in getting the men to preach, "so he had set the girls to it." He said,
The reports from these young ladies indicated they were doing "a good work," he said.[90] That year he wrote in The Earnest Christian that he had probably spent more time at camp meetings than ever before in a single summer, and that not one of them had been "unfruitful in good results."[91] In July of 1883, Mr. Roberts was in New York City holding meetings. While at the home of the Mackeys, he was somewhat amused by the way "Aunt Jane" was so "eloquent in the praises of her daughter," evidently hoping for something by way of attention from his son George. He said, "I did not 'let on any' but congratulated her on her success with her children." Then he added, "I presume the daughter is a nice girl, but New York has gotten so bad that I almost feel like asking 'if any good thing' can come out of it." It appeared to him that the best of it had gone out of it long ago.[92] With a Mr. W., with whom he was staying at Brooklyn, he had a little pleasant recreation. "In the afternoon," he wrote, "he and I went to Coney Island. I told him it seemed to me there like a carnival of hell. But the ocean was nice and though there was not much surf, I had a good swim. It seemed to do me good and give me life and vigor."[93] On the 26th he again "had a good swim." He commented, "The breakers there do not amount to anything."[94] While there, he visited Jerry McCauley of the Water Street Mission and described him as "tallish, raw-boned, Scotch-Irish, shrewd, ignorant, and I believe honest." He commented, "I am surprised at his success and hardly know how to account for it."[95] Mr. Roberts was preaching at Brooklyn during this period, and in the services one day of that meeting, he felt that his "commission was renewed."[96] In February, 1884, he attended and lectured at a Prohibition and Anti-Secrecy Convention held at the National Capital in Lincoln Hall. Frederick Douglass gave an address the first evening on civil rights, "a masterly defense of the rights of the colored people," Mr. Roberts thought. In the afternoon of the 21st, Mr. Roberts "spoke in favor of Prohibition," followed in the evening by an eloquent address by Dr. Miner. At the dedication of a new building purchased by the Christian Association, Secretary Dr. Stoddard, President Blanchard and ex-Senator Pomeroy made remarks. Ex-Senator Pomeroy was nominated for President. Mr. Roberts thought "a great and powerful party embracing all the best elements of society should be organized," but added, "whether those who have taken it in hand possess the organizing ability to do it, remains to be seen." The man who sponsored the rights of women in his own church noted particularly "the absence of those generally recognized as ladies of the Prohibition party."[97] While in Washington, he visited Congress and the Senate The House made a favorable impression upon him and the Senate he characterized as "a dignified, orderly body of men. He listened with interest to a debate on the "money question" which might have been an added incentive to finish his book on First Lessons on Money which appeared two years later. He preached three times to a "small band of pilgrims" at the Free Methodist Church, and to a larger congregation at Alexandria, Virginia, whom he characterized as "heroic."[98] In 1881, Mr. Roberts had spent some time in the southland. Once again, in 1884, he was on his way to Texas and Louisiana. He traveled to Texas by way of St. Louis and was heartened by the Christian conversation of several of the preachers and their wives who rode with him on their way to their appointments. "Christian conversation," he said, "interspersed with spiritual songs, made the journey seem short." Commenting on the preachers he said, "These devoted soldiers of the cross go with joy to toil, to suffering and to victory." On the Missouri-Pacific train enroute to Dallas, Texas, he noted the "turbulent Missouri River, the beautiful prairie country" settled with a thriving population. Sitting up because he thought he could not afford a sleeping car, he passed the night in comparative comfort, to wake up in Indian territory. This section, he related, was divided among the Creeks, the Choctaws, Cherokees and Chickasaws. They were partly civilized and had fair houses and flourishing schools and churches. "Thanks to our national government," he said, "they have no saloons." He thought it indicated a "lack of a decent standard of morality" on the part of the whites to try to dispossess the Indians simply because their lands were desirable. lie thought if their lands "were a thousand times more valuable" than they were, there would be no adequate reason to rob them of their homes.[99] At Dennison, Texas, where the train stopped over, he ate in a "French Restaurant." His "tolerable 30 cent dinner" which began with "ox-tail soup" and included lettuce, which seemed out of season in December, sufficed until he reached Ennis that night at eleven.[100] He arrived there in time to conduct the infant Conference which was composed of fifteen men and seven women. He said, "They have the best spirit in doing improper things of any people that I ever saw."[101] A Brother Phillip Allen had held up the passing of "Brother Matterby's character" because he was "too formal and had not the Spirit." Mr. Roberts said that after a long discussion it appeared that the accused preacher had done about the best of any of them. He commented the next day, "This Conference is not doing very well. A spirit of judging has crept in among them and there is something brought against several of the preachers." His reaction to all this was, "I do not like Texas as well as I did when I was here before."[102] Probably the harder times affected them. There were great cracks in the ground caused by the heat "so deep that a ten foot rail" could be run down into its whole length. As a consequence, their staple product, cotton, was only about a quarter of a crop.[103] Mr. Roberts attributed the backwardness of the work to circumstances that were entirely out of their control. A fine impression of holiness work had been created by a holiness camp meeting held five years before by G. R. Harvey and Dr. Bush of the Methodist Church South. The meeting had been eminently successful, resulting in four hundred conversions, and two hundred professions of holiness. People were favorable to holiness, until a Rev. Richard Haines, of the Cumberland Presbyterian Church, who professed and preached the experience of holiness, had followed the above mentioned camp meeting, and preached that people should come out of all the churches, claiming that the church was an instrument of the devil. This man professed unusual spiritual gifts and had indulged in the "wildest excesses, "including waiting in an upper room with some of his followers for translation. He died and his body was kept for days awaiting the resurrection until finally police discovered it and forced burial. Mr. Roberts said, "A perfect revolution took place in the minds of the people, and the doctrine of holiness became as unpopular as it had been popular before."[104] While at Ennis, he mentioned receiving twenty-five dollars for advertising in The Earnest Christian. He also revealed some of his personal habits. He said, "I go to bed about nine or half past and generally get up after seven. I seldom omit my morning bath."[105] He did not get the "hang" of the meeting house there. They had a big tall stove in the middle of the church floor which he got them to move. Then, evidently with fire going, they threw open six big windows and three doors, giving ventilation from side to side and from end to end.[106] Before leaving Texas on his way to Louisiana Mr. Roberts wrote his wife, "Shall I bring you a darkee from La If so what kind?"[107] His wife replied to this sally Was it a darkey or a donkey you asked about? I conclude the former Well you may decide the kind. I guess a girl" Then she became suspicious, and asked, "But do you really mean it? What if I could not get along with them? I should want one well recommended as to disposition, etc." Again she faltered, "But if you prefer a boy, all right. Maybe a boy would be of most service as he could work out of doors." She added in some doubt, "But you may not want either."[108] On November fifth, he left Corsicana for Welcome Home, Louisiana, to hold his last conference of that year. The sparsely bearing fields of cotton through which he passed drew forth the comment that farmers had to mortgage their cotton crops for means to live on, even while they were raising it. Hence, the poor yield meant "hard times for all the people." A closed cotton factory at Terrill as he traveled east, the vast prairies with great herds of cattle, miles of woodland, the soil of deep red clay, were points of interest and emphasis before he arrived at Marshall, Texas. From that old town of five thousand inhabitants, which had formerly been the capital of the state, he went on to Shreveport, another old city, founded by the French, and which still had French-speaking people.[109] He had been concerned about the presidential election before he left Corsicana, admitting that he felt an "unusual anxiety" about this one. He declared if Cleveland were elected he would feel almost like leaving the country.[110] On his way across the state of Texas, he had read a Texas paper which claimed that Cleveland was elected. He bantered his wife, "If so I want you to sell out if you can before I get home. Let's go to England!" Abruptly turning to nature, he told his wife he was disappointed at not getting a mocking bird, but that it was against the law to catch them. Probably thinking of his penciled epistles, vacillating between politics and nature, he queried, "Do you get tired of my letters? Tell me honestly if you do." Then he explained, "I write every day as a boy whistles going through grave yards, in part at least, to keep my courage up." Then he admitted, "I get such a longing at times to be at home once more." On November sixth, the certainty that Cleveland had been elected brought the reaction that it was "a national calamity and a national disgrace."[111] Arriving at Monroe, a town of three thousand inhabitants, located on the Ouachita River, he had to ride in a buggy thirty-eight miles farther to Columbia. Riding down the river valley, one of the most prosperous portions of Louisiana in the days of slavery, he noted that the buildings were then dilapidated in appearance. One informed planter told him that they were all poorer than they had been ten years before, and that they were growing poorer. He analyzed this poverty as being due to two causes: first, that the negroes were not as enterprising then and could not be counted on to do the same work as during slavery; and second, that since 1880, the Mississippi had been overflowing its banks and doing immense damage. He noticed water marks on some of the trees, four to eight feet above the ground.[112] There were about ten negroes to every white and they did not seem to be doing much, he thought, but "enjoying their freedom." He noticed several of them milking their cows that morning between eleven and twelve o'clock.[113] On November the tenth, he was at his destination, Welcome Home, and was up and dressed by seven o'clock writing by the light of a blazing pine knot. One side of him was hot and the other side was cold, but by "frequently turning around" he managed to keep comfortable. Sitting down after breakfast, he jotted down that the dining room was in a building about a rod from the house, the kitchen in the back end, and that there was a rousing fire in the fire place. The outside doors were wide open and the windows with their sashes were out entirely. The family were then seated at the table, and two colored boys were standing before the fire. The fare, he said, was "nice baked sweet potato and hot biscuits, boiled rice and hot corn bread, milk gravy with no meat, butter or syrup." They ate their potatoes with salt and their biscuits plain. He took tea while the rest had coffee. He reported that he "made out a good breakfast" and felt thankful, no symptoms of dyspepsia.[114] While there he made some observations and comments on the surrounding country. This he viewed while taking a "delightful" horse back ride of eight miles over the country. He wrote that cotton was raised until the fields were exhausted and they then threw it out "to commons." These soon grew up in weeds, but pines covered the hill country quickly. Where cotton had been grown ten or fifteen years before, he saw pines twenty to thirty feet high. He thought that the girdling of pine trees, planting cotton among them, waiting until they were dry enough to burn, was wasteful. Many such trees, he estimated, which would be capable of making from five hundred to a thousand feet of lumber, stood within three miles of the Ouachita River, navigable for rafts and boats to New Orleans. As he traveled from one plantation to another, he observed that they hardly ever joined, but each was a world "by itself and within itself."[115] A good meeting was in progress, according to Mr. Roberts, with forty or fifty attending. It was held under a roof built on large oak posts, and open all around. This might have been part of the church which he mentioned that they were building on a "nice elevation at the edge of a small clearing surrounded by woods" almost two miles from a public road. To it the people came on foot and on horseback. The ladies, too, rode on horses, and there was not a "wheeled vehicle to be seen." He thought it too bad for them to have to send to New Orleans to obtain window sash when these useful trees surrounded them, some from eighty to one hundred feet high, and three feet or so through. Some spiritual good was done, he thought. One day, two backsliders had been reclaimed, and an elderly lady was "gloriously saved." Her expressions of joy "touched" all of them.[116] He had taken a stroll that day among second growth pines, in an old cotton field which had been "left out," that is, not cultivated. He was being entertained in a home where the man was his age but his wife was young. They had three small children. He wrote, "I have lived with babies ever since I attended the Illinois Conference." At this home where he said the man owned a thousand acres, they did not have a carpet on the floor, and he thought they had no broom. Finally he did see one with a broken handle. They swept the floor with a "handful of tasseled rods." Because he arrived a little early, he had a little time for rest and relaxation. He remarked, "I have had two good seasons of prayer today in the woods." Mr. Roberts played the doctor while there. He heard his host and wife talking about giving the baby calomel for colic, but he suggested catnip tea, about which they had never heard. The baby slept all night, so that it got up in the morning bright and good-natured. He conceded, "My reputation as a doctor for babies is established."[117] Lighted to the meetings each night by pine torches, riding through the woods by trail and bridle path, commenting on the pines and the tall beeches, eating the beef that had been killed for the occasion, he came to have a sympathy for these "poor but pious" people. "The people appear kind and religiously inclined," he commented, "but they lack in health." "No one says he is well." The common expression with them was "tolerably well," but he said, "I tell them, I am well." He was told that three out of five white children died before the age of twelve. Malaria abounded.[118] He felt "a good deal drawn out to them and for them."' Everywhere in the South he said he was treated "with kindness and consideration." The meetings there attracted people from quite a distance. During that period, five hundred people who attended, some drawn forty miles in wagons by ox teams, were lodged and fed free of charge. Before he left, Mr. Roberts organized a Conference, and appointed nine preachers to circuits. Fearing that their relation to the North might be a hindrance to them, he urged them to go back to their own church, but they thought otherwise. The last Sabbath he was there he preached three times "out of doors."[120] On his way home, he rode forty miles in a buggy, and was three nights on the cars, traveling about fifteen hundred miles. He recounted that the Lord had wonderfully kept him, and that he could not say that he was tired. He reached home on Saturday, November twenty-second, and went to church on Sunday. Since the previous June, he had attended nine camp meetings, had held ten conferences, and had "worked hard at each." He claimed he had nothing of that "jaded feeling," and when urged to preach his first Sunday back home, he "could not resist."[121] The Centenary Conference on Foreign Missions was held in London, June 9 - 19, for the purpose of helping to solve the problems on the missionary field, and to advance the cause of missions. The Conference had engaged the attention of the American churches for some time previous to the date of the meeting, through the visit of the Organizing Secretary who came to this country in November preceding and visited the various missionary societies in the United States and Canada.[122] Whether Mr. Roberts was one of the fifty-seven Secretaries visited in the United States is not known, but the interest of the Free Methodist Church in the enterprise is evidenced by the action of the Missionary Board which met in January 25, 1888 at Franklin Street, Chicago. A communication from William Kincaid was read, as well as from others, relative to the proposed World's Missionary Convention, requesting the Board to elect delegates to the said Convention. By a rising vote, unanimously chosen, B. T. Roberts was elected, and also T. B. Arnold. Both of these men "generously proposed" to take care of their own expenses.[123] Mr. Roberts received information from Bywater, Tanqueray and Company from Victoria Street, London, concerning the purchase of his ticket at a reduced rate because he was a member of the conference, and also that the company was throwing open "the spacious offices" of their "Missionary Agency" at 17 Water Street, Liverpool, and 79 Queen Victoria Street, almost opposite the British and Foreign Bible Societies House, for the free use of all delegates. Appended in ink on the bottom of this communication is the information, "We believe several of the missionaries of your esteemed society have been in business relations with ourselves."[124] When Mr. Roberts arrived in New York, he wrote to his wife on stationery of Gray Bros., Steam Job Printers, informing her that "the Lord brought me through here in peace and safety." He had purchased his ticket to England and had a room with but one other in it. On the ferry boat, he said he found himself unconsciously singing, But then, he reflected, how glad he was that he "could sing at all." He called at the office of "Brother B." and was to have dinner with him. He had received a reduction of two dollars on his ticket to New York which he used to pay for the sleeping car. At that late date, about ready to sail, he wrote his wife how much he loved her, and appended, "If you want me not to go, send telegram."[125] On the same day, he jotted down a few words to his son, Benjamin, who had written to him about selling his horse, Ned. Mr. Roberts told him he thought he might be able to sell Ned for him. He referred to another horse owned by the son of a Mr. Winchester which had brought an offer of seven hundred dollars, and said that horse was handsomer than Ned, but he did not think any better. He told Benjie to ask Mr. Hovey what he would charge for taking Ned over for a month and putting a little flesh on him. He then told him to be careful in going to Chicago and "avoid danger, and fight shy of strangers." "The Lord bless you and take care of you," he prayed; then added, "I will try and take good care of myself."[126] Mrs. Roberts was much concerned that her husband should look his best at the London Conference. After writing to him about making some adjustment of date for the Canada Conference, and to be sure to buy some oranges and lemons, she said solicitously, "I wanted to tell you that your coat looked well unbuttoned, as you unbuttoned it a little while before you left. Benjie thought the same, but keep the fold in the collar just as Taylor H. pressed it." She was evidently watching the weather reports too, for she noted that there had been a "bad storm on the Atlantic." Trying to calm her own fears, she exhorted him to be "full of courage today."[127] On the same day, Mr. Roberts was engaged in busy activities both religious and business, preparatory to his trip. He had called on Judge Davis and Mr. McCrossan, and had taken dinner at the home of Hannah Bowns and her husband, called at Louise's, and had then gone to see Mr. Winchester. While at McCrossans he had traded a three years' subscription for The Earnest Christian for "a good waterproof coat" for which he asked "Benjie" to make note and credit the same to his account. The day before he had preached, and five young ladies knelt at the altar for prayer, four of whom professed "to find the Lord."[128] On Saturday before sailing, he attended the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church which was meeting in the Metropolitan Opera House in New York,[129] and which was then coming to the close of its long twenty-seven day session.[130] Of the four hundred and sixty-three members of the Conference,[131] he saw no one whom he knew well. He was present when J. M. Buckley was elected editor of The Christian Advocate. Frances Willard, a delegate from the Rock River Conference, received over a hundred votes. She was one of the five lady lay delegates who were affected by the adverse ruling that, though regularly elected, they had no seats in the conference; still she had retained this popularity.[132] Missionary Bishop William Taylor, whom Mr. Roberts had expressed the desire to see, was on the stand. While Mr. Roberts had been in his San Francisco meetings, previously related, he had mentioned the work of Bishop Taylor there in the same city some time before, and stated that his congregations had kept dwindling until the people reported the congregations were no larger than those of Mr. Roberts during his stay. This, Mr. Roberts said, was due to the thorough going type of gospel Bishop Taylor preached.[133] Mr. Roberts, writing to his wife from "Brother Gray's office," evidently the same Gray Bros., Steam Job Printers, previously mentioned, said he had not as yet seen his steamer berth, but intended to go and see it that day. He later described it as a state room, shared with the leader of a Welsh band of singers. Already, before even sailing, he was making plans to get back earlier than he had anticipated, telling Mrs. Roberts that he would try to get around and visit London during the conference, thus making it possible to leave sooner.[134] The next day he wrote again that he had received both the letter and telegram from his wife, and that he had completed his preparations, having bought himself a "good chair, lemons, oranges and bananas." He had reached Winchesters that afternoon, and had "reckoned up his accounts," made some lemonade, and was then sitting down to write to his "beloved." He wrote that Judge Davis had given him a very excellent letter, evidently a letter of introduction to prominent people whom he wished to solicit for help for Chili Seminary. He solicited "Mr. Depew," who informed him that all applications for help should be addressed to him personally, in writing. He said, "I think I shall write him." Trying to solicit help from Mrs. Russell Sage, he had been refused; and Mrs. Marshall Roberts, from whom he had some hopes, had gone to Europe so he was unable to see her. He added, "We must hold on for that fifty thousand dollars from Philadelphia." He then boarded the ship before the letter was sent, and wrote with his customary indelible pencil the following note:
Then he put a P.S.
Writing the day her husband was scheduled to sail, Mrs. Roberts noted, "You have been about two hours on the water, if you left at the expected time," and then informed him, "I felt helped in praying for you this morning and can but feel you are blest and more courageous than when you left us." She referred to the negro spiritual which he said he had sung, stating, "I trust you had a better song than the one you mentioned as singing on Saturday." She then wished for the Lord to make him "glad and happy all the way" knowing that if he were "safe and happy" she would be satisfied. She added, "I never feel it is the Lord's order for us to be very long separated. And he can make this time seem short." She wanted him to "enjoy all and everything in Him" and to let the trip be a change that would rest him even if there should be less of comfort in some ways. Before closing she declared, "I live for you mostly." The following short paragraph on beauty and love was then penned:
On the thirtieth of May, the ship sailed out of New York harbor. Four days previously, his wife had written:
Mr. Roberts carried with him, perhaps in the pocket of his satchel, a little message from his wife for each day of the voyage. On the envelope was marked, "Letters to the dear Father from E. L. Roberts to be read on the ocean." On the top of one of these notes is written "First Mail at sea for my husband," and reads:
The same day that Mr. Roberts sailed out on the Atlantic for a ten day trip, his sister-in-law, Melissa Stowe, who had received spiritual help in meetings he held at Bonus Prairie, Illinois, in 1860, sailed out on the wider ocean of death. A letter written by her husband told that just before she became unconscious she raised both hands and seemed to be looking at something above her, while one of the most "heavenly smiles" rested upon her. Her husband asked her, "Melissa, what do you see?" She replied, "What do I see? A land of rest, the saint's delight, a heaven prepared for me," and repeated the last expression three times. An attendant expressed hope that she would have rest. She replied, "Yes, rest in heaven." Then, sometime before morning, she uttered the words, "Very soon."[139] Mrs. Roberts recounted the scene in a letter to her husband. Mr. Roberts did not receive the sad news before sailing, but was rather taken up with his ocean voyage. On Monday, June fourth, when he was about half way across the ocean, he wrote that the sea had been smooth and the "weather quite comfortable on the whole." The first two days had been foggy but at that time it was clearer though still somewhat cloudy. He was not particularly enthusiastic about the comforts of his passage and perhaps his "second cabin bill of fare" on this White Star Line, and wondered why people wanted to cross the ocean for pleasure. He thought it well that his wife had stayed at home since the discomforts were "so many and so great." Just what the inconveniences were he forgot to say. Perhaps he didn't like the "sea pie" or the "sago pudding" served at noon that day, or perhaps it was the "scones, cold meats, jam and gruel" of the evening.[140] Or it might have been the upper berth wasn't conducive to rest. He was a good seaman, being sea sick only "a little once." As usual, he was engaged in religious activities. Three other delegates to the Missionary Conference were also in the second cabin as well as his cabin mate, the Welsh singer, who had just completed a singing tour of America. On Saturday evening, they sang hymns together in the cabin, and Mr. Roberts particularly enjoyed the Welsh singing, perhaps because of his own Welsh ancestry. He then read the Bible and prayed and two others followed. The captain of the vessel was approached for permission to hold services with the steerage passengers on the Sabbath, hut the request was not granted. However, services were permitted in the first cabin, and Mr. Roberts listened to Dr. Taylor preach "a good, serviceable, practicable sermon." Perhaps this was Bishop William Taylor who was to be a speaker at the Missionary Convention.[141] In private, Mr. Roberts read a chapter in his Greek Testament, and followed by perusing a History of England, probably brushing up in preparation for the days he would spend in England. He spent most of his time on the deck until his face was "burned very red" and was "very sore." "I can hardly bear to touch it," he wrote. He penned an expression of appreciation to his wife for the notes she had sent with him, one marked for each day. One designated for the fifth day was written on very tiny note paper, folded into a petite linen envelope. a beautiful gray in color and diagonally striped, measuring about one inch by two and a half inches in size. He said, "Darling, your letters are a great comfort to me. They are such beautiful notes - like you."[142] Her fifth note began, "Dearest One, I shall have hard work not to wish I was with you. But I expect we shall cross the Ocean together some time." She reminded him that his hymn for the voyage was "How Firm a Foundation." She exhorted him, "Give to the wind your fears if tempted to have any. Let your faith be in full exercise." Then she exclaimed, "Oh, it seems to me to be out on the Ocean would seem like being surrounded by the Infinite One." Another longer note contained a paragraph that even the sixty-five year old Roberts must certainly have read more than once:
In a little note written "Near Queenstown," Mr. Roberts informed his "darling one" that it was then 5:40 P. M., Thursday and that the mail was about to close. Rain had been falling all day and the waves had been running high, but he added, "I have enjoyed it." With more masculine brevity, he closed with, "Darling, I love you so dearly" and signed it "Your own, B. T. Roberts."[144] Two hours after he landed, he wrote, "We reached here this evening about eight o'clock." In order to correct any wrong ideas about time, he told his wife that it was then 5:10 P. M. in North Chili, New York. His passage had been "prosperous" but he was not able to say that he enjoyed traveling; yet being there, he was prepared to make "the best of it." Doubtless his poor health had something to do with the change in his usually interested attitude when traveling. Perhaps his experience in getting to the Lawrence Hotel had exasperated him some. He had started to walk but was "so beset by boys and men determined" to carry his baggage that finally, to protect himself, he hired a "hack" at a shilling to convey himself and baggage to his destination. Another annoyance to him was a big envelope which a representative of Bywater, Tanqueray Company had handed to him as soon as he landed from the boat. It was postmarked Chicago, had five stamps on it and six letters in it. Doubtless they came from the publishing house in Chicago where he had been editing The Free Methodist, and carrying on other official business for the church. Thinking he had left some of his cares behind, he said rather curtly, for which he apologized quickly, "I hope it is the last of them here." He had made this trip for pleasure and he did not want to be reminded of business.[145] The four who were traveling together planned to leave for London, the seat of the Missionary Conference, at nine o'clock the next morning.[146] That meeting was heralded in the papers of America, Mrs. Roberts wrote to him, as "the most important in this century," and that it was "an honor to be a delegate." Mr. Roberts, still suffering the effects of his burn on the deck of the ship, proceeded to the Conference with his face "as red as if I were an Englishman and drank beer." He and his companions traveled along the coast of Wales and England on their way, and were near enough to the shore to see the houses and wind-mills, and to view the green fields."[147] He arrived at his destination at five o'clock Saturday afternoon in time for the evening session. The Right Honorable the Earl of Aberdeen presided. The first session was of a social character. The hall was laid out with a great variety of shrubs and flowers. Tea was served under the gallery and on the platform. The delegates, especially those from America and the Continent, were introduced to Lord Aberdeen, as President of the Conference.[148] Mr. Roberts referred to the Earl, who presided that evening, as "an intelligent, modest appearing gentleman of about thirty or thirty-five years of age." His address of welcome, he characterized as "cordial, sensible and appropriate." Dr. A. C. Thompson of Boston, Chairman of the Prudential Committee A.B.C.F.M., with others, gave the reply.[149] Appropriate hymns were sung by the evangelistic choirs of London. The climax came when "the great assembly, which filled the large hall, with one heart and voice sang the Hundredth Psalm."[150] Mr. Roberts was entertained in the home of Mrs. I. L. Frere, of 30 Palace Garden Terrace. Mrs. Frere impressed him as "a deeply devoted Christian lady." She was the widow of a vicar, "thoroughly evangelical" and "full of missionary zeal." A daughter, a young lady about twenty-five years of age, was also at home. These folks, who lived in style, with two servants, made their guest feel at home. As with most travelers, the British accent bothered him at first, but soon he could say, "I am getting the hang of their English so that I understand them tolerably well." He was located in the pleasant part of the city. A great park two miles long with beautiful trees and shrubs was near by. Instead of mowing the grass, he explained, they turned loose a "hundred great fat sheep."[151] Mr. Roberts did not spend all of his time at the Convention. The very next day, he was off to the Wesleyan Church at St. James Hall to hear the Rev. Mark Guy Pearse. In the evening he attended St. Mathews, a parish of the Church of England. He was struck by the evangelical character of the Rector's message, stating that "he urged that people should know their sins forgiven." Besides attending the two services, he walked that day about six miles. London he liked "very much." It seemed "more sensible than our American cities," with a people who were "more substantial," plainer and "steady - not so fast."[152] The city was "wonderfully clean." The buildings were "generally plain and substantial" from three to four stories high. He mused that he might like to live in London. The only drawback to him was their brogue; "if only they spoke our language," he lamented.[153] Walking about the city again, he noted that some of the streets were broad, but that some important streets were so narrow that there was room for only one cart so they made them one way streets. Such was the character of Paternoster Row, he said, on which were so many publishing houses "known throughout the world." Many of these lanes, on which were shops and stores, were not wide enough for teams, only for pedestrians. However, they were nicely paved and were kept "neat and clean." On these thoroughfares were the "homes of the poor." Everywhere he went the streets and lanes swarmed with people. He also visited the grounds of Kensington Palace where the Marquis of Lorne and the Princess Louise lived. These grounds, covered with "great oak trees and flowering shrubs and beds of beautiful geraniums and other flowers" were what he thought at first to be a park, near the home where he stayed.[154] The next day, his curiosity having been somewhat satisfied, he attended the Missionary Conference. This he characterized as "full of interest." The second paper of the afternoon was read by the Rev. James Hudson Taylor, founder of the China Inland Mission, who had spoken on the evening before also on the first General Survey.[155] Mr. Roberts later wrote a report on the meeting in which he said that he had become "greatly interested in the China Inland Mission" by the address of Mr. Taylor on the "condition of China." The personal aspects of Mr. Taylor's call, leading up to the organization of the China Inland Mission, were the items of reference in his report, although these things do not seem to appear in the published reports of the Conference.[156] Mr. Roberts met James Hudson Taylor while there, and he said that Mr. Taylor prayed with him and for him.[157] If the influence of Mr. Taylor in that conference may be judged from the number of times he spoke, it was evidently considerable. On the evening of the eleventh, Mr. Roberts went to the Salvation Army Missionary Meeting which was held in City Temple. That "immense room" was packed to the utmost. He estimated that there were four or five thousand people in attendance. The service was enlivened by a "full brass band" and evidenced an "envious enthusiasm." Converts from Australia, India, China, and other parts of the world spoke, and General Booth gave a more general account of their missionary work. Mr. Roberts thought Booth was "more of an organizer than a preacher," but appended that he was "doubtless doing a good work."[158] On the eighteenth, he went to hear Charles Haddon Spurgeon preach. He described Mr. Spurgeon as being "very poorly," keeping a cane in his hand all the time on which he leaned. Several times he had rested on his knees while preaching, doing this, Mr. Roberts said, to ease his feet since he "suffered from the gout." Dr. A. J. Gordon of Boston conducted the preliminary services. Mr. Roberts sat on the fourth or fifth seat from the front so that he would be able to see well the famous man. "The sermon was excellent," he reported. "I was delighted with its simplicity and fervor." He was different from all the other preachers he had heard in that he spoke "plain English, no clipping of his words, no affectation of foreign accent." Mr. Roberts was impressed that he was a man who knew God. He thought the sermon was "far more pious" than that of Mark Guy Pearse or of General Booth. He declared his "soul was fed," and that if he could, he would get a copy of the sermon and take it home to his wife. The audience room was "very large" with two galleries surrounding it. The pulpit was located on the "back end of the lower gallery."[159] Evidently this was one of the high points of the London trip in the thinking of Mr. Roberts. He also visited some of the interesting places about the city. including the Dore gallery of paintings which he rated the finest he ever saw. This judgment was probably based in part upon the fact that they were "mostly taken up with Scripture subjects." Some of them were as large as thirty feet in length and twenty feet in height with as many as from fifty to a hundred figures on them. One thing that impressed him favorably, and which he thought remarkable for a French gallery, was the fact that "there was not a nude female among the paintings."[160] Westminster Abbey also claimed its share of his attention.[161] His trip to the spot on which Latimer and Ridley were burned at the stake made a strong impression upon him. This was located in the old university town of Oxford. A cross in the pavement of the street marked the spot where the fires were kindled. A beautiful gothic monument had been erected nearby as a memorial to the martyrs who, he said, "sealed with their blood their testimony to the truth as it is in Jesus." He also visited the Bun-hill Burying Ground which, at the time of his visitation was in the central part of London. Here had been buried many whose names were known throughout the civilized world. The monuments were "generally plain" but full of interest to him. He made special note of the monument which had been renewed over the grave of John Bunyan. He gave the inscription as found, and then commented, "These few rods mark the resting place of the body of a man whose Pilgrim's Progress has been translated into more different languages than any other book in the world except the Bible." He also gave in full the inscription found on the tomb of "Mrs. Susannah Wesley, widow of the Rev. Samuel Wesley, M.A., late rector of Epworth in Lincolnshire, who died July 23, 1742, Aged 73 years." In his review of her life, he made special mention of the fact that she had conducted services, and quoted the letter she had written to her husband in defense of the innovation.[162] He was giving, however, at least a part of his time to the Missionary Conference. On the twelfth of June he wrote that they were having a good Conference and that he had hoped that It would help on the work of his own church as well as the cause of God generally. Most of the delegates he said were men as old or older than he was, many of them missionaries from all parts of the world. He had not spoken as yet in the Conference, but thought he might that day. On the fourteenth, he wrote, "The Conference is going on very pleasantly; but I have nothing to do but to listen, and you know I am not used to that. Yesterday, 1 got in a few words."[163] That was in one of the open conferences listed under the general title, "Women's Work in the Mission Field," and was conducted in the large Hall instead of the Annex, because of the crowded attendance.[164] General Sir Robert Phayre presided and gave the opening remarks. Miss Rainy of the Free Church of Scotland presented a paper on "The Place of Female Agency in Mission Work "[165] followed by another on the theme, "Medical Work for Women' in the Mission Field" by Miss A. K. Marston from the India Female Normal School and Instruction Society, Lucknow, India.[166] In the general discussion that followed, three ladies preceded, while four men followed the brief speech of Mr. Roberts. The text of that short address, which he said "seemed to be well received," follows:
Mr. Roberts thought that it "was not worth crossing the Atlantic twice to say." However, it did get the Methodists to talking, for his speech was followed by that of Mrs. Mary C. Nind, of the Woman's Foreign Missionary Society of the M. E. Church, U. S. A.[168] Mr. Roberts remarked on the sixteenth that the Methodists did not seem to take much part in the proceedings. He thought the most spiritual sayings came from the evangelical wing of the Church of England.[169] At the close of the Conference, he likely phrased the words which he later reported as his general reaction. He was "gratified and surprised at the deep spiritual tone and the fraternal spirit manifested by many of the preachers and members of the Church of England." He quoted in approbation a sermon one of the first preachers, Canon Farar, of that church had delivered in Westminster Abbey, in which he said:
He carried away a personal incentive in his own heart, so that he asked himself, "Am I doing all I can for the conversion of the world to Christ? If I am personally giving all the money I should; am I doing all I might to get others interested in the cause of missions?" He saw that the great work of cooperation was "a matter of importance" to the spread of the gospel. Doubtless thinking of the contributions of the innumerable groups, he emphasized, "Many drops make a shower; many showers make a river; many rivers make a mighty ocean."[171] Disappointed that he had not seen more of Methodism in England, and had not become better acquainted with more of their preachers, yet he was, on the whole, pleased with his visit, and believed that it would help on his own work. He said, "We must take hold of Mission work as we have not done and push it especially in Africa."[172] A farewell reception given to the foreign delegates by Lord and Lady Radstock in their mansion, was a very pleasant experience to Mr. Roberts. The hosts were esteemed very devoted Christians, he said. She was rather "large and motherly" and he was a handsome man of about six feet five inches, devoted to good works. The four sons and daughters were introduced to the assembly of about one hundred persons. Refreshments were served and they had "a social, Christian visit." Whether he absent-mindedly wrote twice, "It was a very pleasant time" or whether it was so pleasant that he thought it needed a double emphasis, one must judge for himself.[173] As early as the twelfth of June, Mr. Roberts had arrangements for his return voyage, planning to go to Scotland and sail from either Glasgow or Queenstown.[174] Two days later, he had moved up his sailing date to the twenty-ninth of June, leaving Glasgow on the State Line. He wrote to his wife, "My body is here, but my heart is with you. I want to get with my heart as soon as possible."[175] On the sixteenth of June, he notified her that he was traveling first Class on the Nevada and that he would "count the days and hours" until he could be with her. He finally decided to sail on the Nebraska, a little larger ship than he had originally planned to take, and it sailed a few days later than he expected to leave. In his account of the Missionary Convention, Mr. Roberts characterized it as one of the most important gatherings of modern times, explaining that 130 different Missionary Societies in Great Britain, the United States, Canada, and the Continent of Europe, were represented. (The final report of the Convention showed that 149 Missionary Societies had participated.) Eighteen different nations were represented, with 1,447 delegates enrolled. The total scope of the Convention was so large that seven meetings were generally held each day, two and sometimes three meetings being held concomitantly.[176] The large Exeter Hall was well filled twice every day, besides those attending meetings in other parts of the building.[177] 5. England, Ireland, Scotland, Home The Missionary Conference closed, and Mr. Roberts found himself with a few days of waiting before he sailed. Writing from Leeds on June thirtieth, he mentioned that he was at the home of a Rev. Ferguson, a preacher of the Primitive Methodist Church, a brother-in-law of a Mr. Hanmer of the Free Methodist Church. His hosts were very cordial, and made him feel at home. He characterized the Primitive Methodists as a "strong body" doing a "good work" in England. He had arrived the day before, and expected to go on to Edinburg on Monday.[178] He estimated Leeds to be a city of about five hundred thousand people, and noted that it was a manufacturing center for woolen and other goods. He was surprised to see so few houses in the country. The fields, he narrated, were mostly in grass, and grass grew well in that country where it had rained almost every day since his arrival a month before. He thought he had not seen the sun for an all day period since he had left home. Taking everything into consideration, he believed he liked his own country best. While in Leeds he went to hear Canon Bullock preach, and found him delivering his message to thirteen people in "a great splendid Church." This, perhaps, made him think of his own work among the few, and he commented, "It almost seems to me that I have forgotten how to preach." He did, however, preach on Sunday, July first, in one of the Primitive Methodist Churches to a small congregation.[179] He thought he was not much blessed but supposed it was all right, since "getting blessed" had gone out of fashion in England, with the exception, perhaps, of the Salvation Army.[180] In the afternoon of the same day, he went out to the "moor," a public ground on top of one of the hills, which, he thought, might have been a park if it would have had trees. However, it did have "nice walks, beautiful shrubbery and seats." It was not only a place of public resort, but devoted to public meetings. Four religious services were held there. Two of them were on holiness, and one was an Adventist service. Mr. Parr, another of the Primitive Methodists, had an organ on wheels, a band of singers, and a good congregation. Mr. Roberts thought what he said was "good and sensible." Mr. Roberts said he wished he could have "got a word in," but since he did not feel like "crowding in," he found no opportunity. He remarked that the English appeared to prize the ability to speak in public.[181] That evening he went to a large Wesleyan chapel on Oxford Street which was not a third filled. They had a large pipe organ, and from the service, he judged them to be "quite as formal" as those of the Church of England. Out of this welter of experience, his reaction was in favor of his own denomination. "I feel more and more thankful to the Lord for the Free Methodist Church," he wrote, "and see more clearly the necessity for it." Then an ejaculatory prayer sprang forth, "May God enable us to make it a great blessing to other churches and to the world."[182] On July 6th, he wrote that he was about ready to board the steamer, Nebraska. Having had all the foreign travel he cared for, he was looking beyond the ten day trip to seeing his loved ones at home. On July seventh, after having a "pleasant sail" the day before, he discovered to his "horror" that they had to wait another thirty hours to take on freight. In the interim he went to Belfast, a twenty-three mile trip where he was glad to see a little of Ireland. But the charm of scenery and of description was over, and he hardly knew how to wait out his time. He confided to his wife, "Darling, you are more to me than all the countries and all the wonders and sights of the world."[183] He postponed the date of his arrival at home until the sixteenth or seventeenth of July. Although he felt rested, and knew the trip had been beneficial, yet he said he would be "only too glad to get to work again."[184] As he sailed out of the harbor, he had in his possession a farewell letter from Liverpool, signed by J. Albert Thompson of the Church Societies' Depot, which read:
Mr. Roberts had known something about meeting the "last enemy" as he lived to suffer losses in his immediate family and among his friends. his own children, taken in earlier years, had been followed by the keener loss of "Sammie," thirteen years of age, who had passed away in 1875 after a siege of scarlet fever. Mr. Roberts had expected that this child should live to preach the gospel, and yet he said he would "bow submissive to His will, and kiss the hand that had so sorely smitten" them. The "heavy sorrow" caused by the loss of this child of "remarkable promise" was probably the greatest blow of the years.[186] Anna, the wife of their son George, had been taken in childbirth in the year 1881. Mr. Roberts wrote, "Oh, she was such a lady. It seems so hard that she should be taken. She will be so missed."[187] Later in the same year, his own beloved father had been taken. He wrote his mother, "Father is in glory," and comforted her with the promise of the "Mighty overshadowing presence of the most high."[188] He had told her, "We must keep on until our feet shall touch the immortal shore and we clasp glad hands where sorrow never comes."[189] His sister-in-law, Melissa Stowe, had gone on more recently while he was making his way to London in 1888, but not before he had visited her in what proved to be her last illness, and had heard her singing one early morning in a soft, clear . . . . voice," In 1880, for the first time in his life, Mr. Roberts suffered a prolonged sickness following a series of conferences and dedications. Taken with a violent attack of "chills and fever" he was "left weak and almost prostrate" so that for four weeks he never left the house. He attributed this to a lack of rest and mounting tension.[191] In 1881, after returning from his conferences "feeling uncommonly well" he was suddenly taken down with his old enemy, malaria, by the "first cold blast" from the north he encountered. He admitted then that he was "weak and prostrated," that "strength, vigor and flesh" were gone, and that he needed 'd good, long, quiet rest."[192] Still he judged rightly that he would yet "do much work for the Master."[193] Again in 1885, he showed indications of impaired health, but not until after his trip to London did he have the severe attack which was the distant precursor to his death. This occurred while he was presiding at the Canada Conference in the fall of 1888 and was attributed to overwork. He wrote of that experience, "After years of unceasing toil your Editor finds himself obliged to call a halt." He attributed his heart condition to his "incessant labors" attending conferences, preaching from five to seven times a week, "with tedious night journeyings" made more tiring by changing cars at night, and the constant demands of his editorial work on both The Earnest Christian and The Free Methodist. Slight exertion then brought severe pains in his chest and a "sense of weariness and weakness" all through the upper part of his body, which physicians diagnosed as due to the impaired action of the heart.[194] He hoped that many years of service could yet be given due to the "sound body" which had served him for so many years. However, at his last General Conference in 1890, although he was back into the busy activities of his itineraries, there was a noticeable change in him. In a short account of his life in the General Conference Daily, it was noted that "his great labors" were beginning to tell upon his once "more than ordinarily vigorous frame." Still in full flesh, but somewhat bald, he had lost "the quick and springing motion of his early years."[195] C. B. Ebey noted that "his benignant face showed lines of care" and urged the Conference not to "overload him for the future."[196] Because of his condition, he refused to continue the editorship of The Free Methodist. In 1891 he announced that he had not the physical strength to "hold meetings every day and every night" as he had done, but said that he would be able to hold some meetings, believing then that he was gaining in health.[197] Though at the close of the year he felt that the Lord was "wonderfully caring" for him, yet he acknowledged, "Still I shall be glad when I get around these cares forever."[198] In the fall of 1892, at the close of his round of conferences, he was very worn and showed signs of coronary trouble. His wife begged him to desist from his continued exertions, but he felt that he "must go." She said that he was so hopeful and so continually looking on the "bright side" that the family did not apprehend any immediate danger.[199] (a) Closing itinerary. In Stanhope, New Jersey, where Mr. Roberts had gone to preach, there was, it was reported, "literally a rush to the altar" and fifty seekers presented themselves at the altar for prayer.[200] In 1891, he started across the country, preaching at every opportunity. In the depot in Chicago, he spoke to the woman in charge about the necessity of becoming a Christian, and she began to read her Bible and promised to seek the salvation of her soul. In Maricopa, Arizona, where he had to wait for his train from seven o'clock in the morning until eleven, he was invited by a hotel keeper to go over to his house and to "talk to the boys" because, he said, they "needed it." Mr. Roberts promised to preach a sermon if his host would call in the people of the town, which the man did. Mr. Roberts preached and Mrs. Roberts exhorted and the hotel keeper "passed his hat around and took up a collection." This was reputed to be the first religious service which was held in the village.[201] He still enjoyed and commented upon his travels. Phoenix, "a beautiful town of some seven or eight thousand" took him by surprise with its "fine brick blocks, neat churches, three daily papers, books, electric lights and street cars." Recently made the state capital, he found the capitol building "finely laid out and decorated with beautiful trees and shrubbery." There he preached in the M. E. Church South in the afternoon and the M. E. Church at night.[202] He and Mrs. Roberts proceeded to Los Angeles where he was attracted, upon leaving the train, by "a large palm tree, standing like a live pillar" and having its "glorious tuft of great leaves at the top." He organized the Southern California Conference, and dedicated a church. After visiting several other places, he went back to Mameda where he had the pleasure of seeing the new Free Methodist Church there, and of meeting "many who were saved in the meetings" which he held there eleven years before. Proceeding to Oregon "through the spurs and over the tops of sublime mountains," riding for eight hours in sight of Mt. Shasta whose top, white with snow, was difficult to distinguish from the fleecy clouds which floated over it, they stopped to see and to drink the refreshing water at Soda Springs. "A jet about an inch or two in diameter rises up to an elevation of eighty feet and descends in spray," he commented.[203] At Sodaville Camp Meeting he preached twice every day except the last. Then he proceeded to Salem in the "fertile Willamette valley" where strawberries, "truly wonderful for their size and excellence" were raised. At Dayton, where he had gone to dedicate a church, he was unable to raise the four hundred dollars necessary to pay off the mortgage, but that disappointment did not deter him from seeing in Oregon in its fertile soil and mild climate "a good field of labor for devoted men of God." He went on to Tacoma, "beautifully situated on Puget Sound" from whence he sailed to Seattle by steamer over waters as smooth as a "deep, quiet river" with mountains capped with snow on the horizon, and "solemn fir trees" standing like "sentinels" on the banks. At Seattle, "mostly built on hills," he commented on the improved appearance as a result of a fire a few years before. He was heartily welcomed to the home of H. H. Pease. He took a steamer to Whatcom, and from there rode east on the Canadian Pacific Railroad through British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, and Manitoba. The bracing air, the grand scenery, the "wild torrents lashed to foam," the high precipices and snow covered mountain peaks, the numerous tunnels, the extended plains covered with the "great wheat fields of the world" held his interest. Arriving home on the tenth of July, he noted that he had traveled some six thousand five hundred miles.[204] In 1892, he toured to the south and commented upon its colored population. Savannah, with half of its people colored, and with its "cotton, lumber, resin, turpentine and phosphates," gave him an opportunity of preaching through the Wesley Monumental Church to a "great congregation." After preaching in the colored Asbury M. E. Church, and visiting a colored industrial school, he commented that the colored people were showing "encouraging signs of prosperity." They were securing for them-selves homes, were as well dressed as the working classes in the North, and were well behaved on the streets. He thought if the colored people were taught "books and trades" as well as "science and Christianity" that the race problem would solve itself. "Give them a chance," he said, "and they will not fall behind the whites in intelligence and thrift." At the Georgia State Industrial College, located on a large farm of one hundred and thirty acres, and taught by "educated, gentlemanly colored men," he listened to recitations which he felt would "do credit to similar classes of white young men whose advantages had been no better."[205] He commented upon the visit of General Howard to Atlanta where he had made an address at a school to the newly emancipated slaves. Whittier, he said, recounted the occasion thus: The man of many battles, With tears his eyelids pressing, Stretched over those dusky foreheads His one armed blessing. And he said, "Who hears can never Fear for or doubt you: What shall I tell the children Up north about you? Then ran around a whisper, a murmur Some answer devising; And a little boy stood up: 'Massa, Tell 'em we're rising!' Thc little boy who made that answer was then, Mr. Roberts said, Mr. R. R. Wright, A.M., "the able, accomplished, and highly efficient President of The Georgia State Industrial College" where Mr. Roberts sat listening to the recitations. This, he said, was "rising to some purpose," and was encouraging to the friends of the colored man. "It shows what they are capable of doing only give them half a chance," he concluded.[206] From his university days when he taught a class of colored girls in a Sunday school, Mr. Roberts had always sponsored the cause of the negro. Once when traveling by train, a passenger was rudely remonstrating with the conductor for not making a nicely dressed, well-behaved group of young colored people go to the second-class car. The conductor explained that they had first-class tickets and were entitled to remain where they were. When the man still more vigorously protested riding with "niggers,' Mr. Roberts interposed in their behalf and argued their case so convincingly that the rude passenger was quieted and the young people were permitted to stay where they were. Before the group of young people left the car, they gathered about Mr. Roberts, and in cultivated language, the spokesman for them thanked him for his kindness. Then, still gathered about him, they sang for him a beautiful song. It proved to be one of the first troupes of Jubilee Singers from Fiske University, whose songs so stirred the nation to an appreciation of what the black man was capable of doing with a little training.[207] Closing comments of his trips are recorded. At Kansas, he spoke of a reunion of six who had started out in the early history of the movement together, and were "still true to the principles they then advocated, and pressing on in the way of life." Oklahoma was to him an "inviting field"; West Kansas a "missionary Conference." Colorado, with territory uninviting in many respects, having deep valleys and great mountains that threw their peaks into the regions of perpetual snow, was occupied by miners and cowboys who were not "the most accessible to gospel truth." Yet with men like H. A. Crouch still doing circuit work and singing, "Lame as I am I take the prey" he thought "encouraging progress" was being made. In the "great growing state of Texas" with "intelligent and thoughtful" people, he looked for a "glorious work." He thought Louisiana and Arkansas, whose stagnating waters made them unhealthy, but whose people gave "a willing ear to the gospel" were "deserving of attention and assistance." He could say after arising at three o'clock in the morning and driving twenty-eight miles in a buggy to Delhi to catch a train, "The Lord kept us from being over-wearied. He has wonderfully helped and preserved us thus far on our tour of Conferences. To him be all the glory."[208] The last two reports of his work are found in the February number of The Earnest Christian, 1893. Those trips took him to Burlington, Vermont, and Bradford, Pennsylvania. He enjoyed greatly the Vermont weather, with its zero temperature, shining sun, still and bracing air, and "snow singing under the runners." He thought it was better to "drink in the ozone" from the northern mountains, "even in winter" than to "breathe the balmy air of the tropics." While there, he lectured in the W. C. T. U. Hall on "How to Secure Prohibition."[209] The morning after his departure, the city paper carried this notice:
At Bradford, he was with the Rev. Walter A. Sellew where he reported the work was "greatly prospering." Services had been in progress in the United Brethren Church under the labors of a Rev. Bullis, an evangelist. The meetings, which were turned over to Mr. Roberts on Saturday and Sunday, were, he said, largely attended. "Many rose for prayers, and some, we trust, were saved," he wrote.[211] (b) Last Writings. The last sermon Mr. Roberts wrote for The Earnest Christian was on the theme of "Saving Righteousness" in which he used the words of Christ, "For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the Scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no wise enter into the Kingdom of heaven."[212] His last two editorials were on the "Creation of Man," and "Tobacco." c) Last Sermons. The last sermons, except one which was a funeral sermon, he preached in North Chili, New York, his home town. His text was, "Today if ye will hear his voice. harden not your hearts."[213] Adella P. Carpenter a teacher in Chili Seminary, said that he stood erect and preached with "unwonted power . . . . and spoke with great solemnity, and a marvelous spirit of authority." At the close of the morning message he stated that he would always prefer seeing an altar service on Sunday morning. On his way home from church, in reply to a question from his wife as to whether he had ever preached from 'hat text before, he answered, "No, the Lord gave me that sermon at ten o'clock this morning."[214] That was one hour before he arose to speak. The funeral sermon, his last, was preached for a Mrs. Bittle from Spottsylvania, Virginia, also in the home church. lie made his remarks on the text, "To die is gain" just two weeks before his own death. (d) Spirit of His Last Days. Mrs. Roberts wrote that "for many of the last years of my husband's life, praise was the constant overflow of a heart full of love." In the two months preceding his death he had remarked to her many times, "What a happy life we have had together." She said he was "tender, considerate and loving" and always "asked forgiveness . . . . if he thought he had failed in the least thing."[215] Mr. Roberts had often said he would like to die while in the midst of his activities. His desire was granted. On the evening of February twenty-fourth, 1893, he left home to hold a Quarterly Meeting for the Rev. George Allen at Cattaraugus, New York. After spending the night in the home of his aged mother, he left her home in "noticeably good spirits" and took the train for Cattaraugus, about twenty miles distant. As he changed cars at Dayton, he was taken by a coronary attack so severe that by the time the train had traveled ten miles he was hardly able to walk. At Cattaraugus he was taken into the depot to rest until a sleigh was brought to take him to his place of entertainment. Dr. Amelia Tefft of East Otto, who had been his physician for several years, was sent for but did not arrive until eleven o'clock at night. He refused to let his family be notified because he thought his wife would be too greatly alarmed, and also because he still hoped to he able to go home by morning. During the night he quoted Scripture promises and exclaimed, "These are precious promises . . . . The Bible is full of precious promises for us, if we but fulfill their conditions." Early in the morning, he was heard to exclaim, "Praise the Lord" twice, and a little later he repeated: He was heard later to repeat the words "so freely spilt for me," and still later he repeated again the above fully quoted verse. He dressed that morning, but was so short of breath that more than once he went to the door to get air. He occasionally praised God aloud, and tried often to sing but was unable. Fifteen minutes before the end, friends came in to see him. He walked into the room where they were, shook hands and greeted them warmly, and then returned to the couch and lay down. The look of pain that crossed his face drew the company to him, and all saw that the end was near. He was raised to a reclining position, and with a clear voice he said, "Praise the Lord, Amen" and passed away.[216] His wife and son Benson, who had been too late notified of his condition, were at that moment in the Buffalo station waiting for a train to take them to his side.[217] His wife, after learning of his death, exclaimed, "Oh, how bitter that I could not have been with him!" Then she reasoned, as though the words came from the Lord, "Did I not send Aaron to Horeb to die, away from the people and his dear ones? Did I not send Moses to Nebo in the plains of Moab to die?" Mrs. Roberts, unaware of her husband's condition, had read those very accounts the day her husband was suffering in such agony, and as she read them, the thought crossed her mind, "How different God's ways are from our ways."[218] The funeral service was held in the chapel of Cox Hall, a new building on the campus of the Chili Seminary which Mr. Roberts had founded. The day, March 2, 1893, was bitterly cold, and a deep snow lay on the ground. Nearly forty ministers formed in procession in front of the Roberts home, and followed the casket to the chapel. The Rev. A. F. Curry conducted the funeral service, and close friends spoke words of appreciation. The Rev. Joseph G. Terrill's remarks, while not so eulogistic as most, were nevertheless appropriate:
It was after five o'clock when the procession formed to march to the nearby grave. His old friend, S. K. J. Chesbrough, read the ritual. Students of the seminary were his pallbearers, and it was the students who filed by the open grave to drop in their sprigs of evergreen, while a lone Japanese youth dropped in a coin, according to the custom of his people.[220] The bitterness of conflict over the party issues within the area of the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church gradually passed with the years, and finally, the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Church, seventeen years after the death of Mr. Roberts, requested the Genesee Conference of the Free Methodist Church to send a fraternal delegate to represent that branch of Methodism, at their centennial celebration. This celebration of the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Church was held in Rochester, New York in 1910. The delegate chosen to represent the Free Methodist Church was Benson H. Roberts, son of Benjamin Titus Roberts. On the first day of their session, Mr. Ray Allen, who was then Secretary of the Genesee Conference of the Methodist Church, read a paper entitled, "Historical Sketch of Genesee Conference."[221] The Minutes of that Conference record that on the third day, Friday, September 30th, "Benson H. Roberts, fraternal delegate from the Genesee Conference of the Free Methodist Church, previously introduced, addressed the Conference."[222] Dr. Wilson T. Hogue reported that Benson Roberts "was treated with the utmost courtesy and cordiality. His address before that body was one of the finest, most courteous, courageous, diplomatic and effective addresses of the kind that I have ever known."[223] He mentioned a reaction that does not appear in the Minutes: "At the conclusion of its delivery, there was general weeping, accompanied by fulsome expression of praise to God and commendation of the speaker."[224] It was probably at this time that "Blest be the Tie that Binds" was sung, as recorded in the official minutes of the conference.[225] The address by Mr. Roberts was answered by Mr. Ray Allen, who responded on behalf of the assembled body. In connection with his response, and in "eminently well chosen and touching words"[226] Mr. Allen presented to Benson Roberts the parchments of his father, the Rev. B. T. Roberts, which he had surrendered at the time of his expulsion.[227] In the official printed Minutes, the action reads, "The Secretary of the Conference in accordance with the action taken Wednesday, delivered to Benson H. Roberts, the ordination parchments of his father, the Rev. Benjamin Titus Roberts, and the recipient made response."[228] A motion was then made by J. E. Williams that the action concerning the restoration of credentials be given to the Free Methodist Church.[229] It was said that the vote of a previous day, authorizing this act, was carried with great applause.[230] In the historical sketch read by Mr. Allen, he noted the events that led up to the formation of the Free Methodist Church, and when speaking of the expulsions he said:
Following the reading of the paper by Mr. Allen, the conference voted to restore the credentials of all the preachers who had been expelled at that time, the vote in favor of their restoration being unanimous.[232] Thus ended the relationship of stress out of which grew the Free Methodist Church. In the Centennial Number of thc Official Minutes of the Genesee conference of the Methodist Episcopal. Church of 1910, the names of all the expelled ministers are listed as having been former members of the Conference. On page two hundred and seventy-three is found the record of B. T. Roberts which reads:
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[1] General Conference Minutes, 1874, p.131. Denominational Headquarters, Lake, Indiana. [2] Letter from Mrs. B. T. Roberts to her husband, October 28, 1874. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [3] "History of the General Conference," General Conference Daily, vol. II, No. 1, (October 8, 1890), p.4. (Chicago: Free Methodist Publishing House). [4] General Conference Minutes, 1878, pp. 195, 196. Denominational Headquarters, Winona Lake, Indiana. [5] Ibid., pp. 168, 169. [6] "History of the General conference," General Conference Daily, 1890, (Chicago: Free Methodist Publishing House), 5. [7] General Conference Daily, (June 17, 1907), 8. [8] General Conference Minutes, 1878, p.211. [9] General Conference Minutes, 1882, p.277. [10] Ibid., pp. 266.267 [11] Ibid.. p.239. [12] Ibid., p.273. [13] Ibid., p.29. [14] General Conference Daily, (June 17, 1907), 8. [15] Wilson T. Hogue, op. cit., II, p.182. [16] General Conference Daily, (1882). [17] Wilson T. Hogue, op. cit., II, p.185. [18] Letter from Mrs. B. T. Roberts to her husband, September 22, 1886. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [19] Minutes of the General Conference, 1886, p.37. [20] Ibid., pp. 58-65. [21] General Conference Daily, (October 8, 1890), p.8. [22] General Conference Minutes, 1886, p.85. [23] Wilson T. Hogue, op. cit., II, p.189. [24] J. G. Terrill, "Some Reminiscences of Rev. B. T. Roberts," The Earnest Christian, (April, 1893), 113. [25] General Conference Minutes, (October 22, 1890), p.204. [26] General Conference Daily, (October 17, 1890), P.126. [27] Ibid., (October 22, 1890), p. 181. [28] Ibid. [29] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.556. [30] Ibid., pp. 556-558. [31] Ibid., pp. 558, 559. [32] Ibid., p.559. [33] General Conference Daily, (October 12, 1890), p.79. [34] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (September, 1872), 95 [35] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, August 21, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [36] Letter from B. T. Roberts, near Bronson, Michigan, to his wife, written August 30, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [37] Letter from B. T. Roberts, Delta, Ohio, to his wife, written September 28,1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [38] Letter from B. T. Roberts, Chicago, to wife, October 1, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [39] Letter from B. T. Roberts, Crystal Lake, Illinois, to his wife, October 7, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [40] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, written from Belvidere, Illinois, October 8, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [41] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, written from Plymouth, Iowa, October 10, 1872. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [42] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (September, 1873), 97. [43] Ibid. [44] Ibid., (November, 1873), 163. [45] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband, undated, but evidently late in 1878. [46] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to Mrs. Cady, written from Alameda, California, January 9, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [47] B. T. Roberts, "In California," The Earnest Christian, (February, 1879), 82. [48] Ibid. [49] Ibid. [50] Ibid. [51] Ibid., p.63. [52] Mrs. Roberts. letter to Mrs. Cady, written from Alameda, California, January 9, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [53] Letter from B. T. Roberts to Anson Cady, written from Alameda, California, January 31,1879. Among personal letters of B. T. Roberts. [54] B. T. Roberts, "From California," The Earnest Christian, (March, 1879), 94. [55] Ibid., p.91. [56] Letter from B. T. Roberts to Anna Roberts, written from Alameda, California, March 3,1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [57] Letter from Mrs. B. T. Roberts to George Roberts, written from Alameda, California, March 3, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [58] Letter from B. T. Roberts to Anna Roberts, written from Alameda, California, March 3 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [59] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (March, 1879). 95. [60] Letter from Mrs. B. T. Roberts to Anna Roberts, written from Alameda, California, April 22,1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [61] Letter from B. T. Roberts to George Roberts, written from San Francisco, California, March 22, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [62] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his son, George Roberts, written from Alameda, California, April 22, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [63] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to George Roberts, March 3,1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [64] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1879), 129. [65] Ibid., (May 1879). 162. [66] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to Anna Roberts, April 22, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [67] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (May, 1879), 162. [68] Letter from B. T. Roberts to George Roberts, April 22, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [69] Letter from Jennie Bishop to Mrs. Roberts, written from Alameda, California, June 9, 1879. [70] Letter from M. F. Bishop to B. T. Roberts, June 12, 1879. [71] Letter from F. H. Horton to Mrs. Roberts, written from Plymouth, California November 8, 1879. Among the letters of B. T. Roberts. [72] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband, December 25, 1879. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [73] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (July, 1879), 30, 31. [74] Ibid. [75] Ibid. [76] Heb. 4:14. [77] Letter from B. T. Roberts to wife, from Prairie Du Chien, Wisconsin, June 22, 1882. Among personal letters of Roberts. [78] Letter from B. T. Roberts, to wife, from Northfield, Minnesota, June 23, 1882. Found among personal letters of Roberts. [79] Letter from B. T. Roberts. to wife, from Northfield Minnesota, June 27, 1882. Found among personal letters of Roberts. [80] Letter from B. T. Roberts, to wife, from Minneapolis. Minnesota, June 28, 1882. Found among personal letters of Roberts. [81] Letter from B. T. Roberts, to wife, from Minneapolis, Minnesota, June 28.1882. Found among personal letters of Roberts. [82] Ibid. [83] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Clear Lake, Minnesota, June 29, 1882. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [84] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Alexandria, Minnesota, June 30, 1882. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [85] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Alexandria, Minnesota, July 3, 1882. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [86] Ibid. [87] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Motley, Minnesota, Friday, July 7, 1882. Found among the personal letters of Roberts. [88] Ibid. [89] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, July 13, 1882. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [90] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Waterloo, Iowa, September 23, 1882. Found among personal letters of Roberts. [91] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (September, 1882), 97,98. [92] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from New York, July 22, 1883. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [93] Ibid. [94] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from New York, (Brooklyn). July 26. 1883. Found among the personal letters of Roberts.: [95] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, July 23, 1883. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [96] Ibid. [97] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (March, 1884). 95, 96 [98] Ibid. [99] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1884), 165. [100] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Dennison, Texas, October 22, 1884, Found among personal letters of Roberts family. [101] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Dennison, Texas, October 24, 1884. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family. [102] Ibid. [103] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1884), 165. [104] Ibid. [105] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Ennis, Texas, October 28, 1884. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family. [106] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Corsicana, Texas, November 3, 1884. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family. [107] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Corsicana, Texas, October 31 1884. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family. [108] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband, November 4, 1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [109] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife. from Marshall, Texas, November 6, 1884 Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [110] Letter from 13. T. Roberts to his wife, from Corsicana, Texas, November 4, 1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [111] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Marshall, Texas, November 6, 1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [112] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1884) 186. [113] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Columbia, Louisiana. November 8, 1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [114] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Welcome Home, Louisiana. November 10,1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [115] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1884). 187. [116] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from welcome Home, Louisiana. November 10, 1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [117] Ibid. [118] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, November 13, 14, 1884. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [119] Ibid. [120] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1884), 187. [121] Ibid. [122] James Johnston (ed.), Report of the Centenary Conference on the Protestant Missions of the World, (3rd ed., Chicago: Fleming H. Revell), I, 24. [123] Records of the General Missionary Board of the Free Methodist Church, p. 123. Filed at Denominational Headquarters, Winona Lake, Indiana. [124] Letter from Bywater, Tanqueray and Company, to B. T. Roberts, April 2, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [125] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from New York, May 26, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [126] Letter from B. T. Roberts to son Benjamin, May 28, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [127] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband, from North Chili, New York, May 28, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [128] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, May 28, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [129] George L. Curtiss, Manuel of Methodist Episcopal Church History, (New York: Hunt and Eaton, 1893). p.333. [130] Ibid., p.342. [131] Ibid., p.333. [132] Ibid., pp. 334, 336. [133] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (June, 1879), 188. [134] Letter from B. T. Roberts, Brooklyn, New York to his wife, May 28, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [135] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, May 29, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [136] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband, May 30, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [137] Letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband, May 26, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [138] Steamer letter for Mr. Roberts from his wife. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [139] Letter from Charles L. Stowe to his sister, Mrs. Roberts, June 2,1888, from Belvidere, Illinois. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [140] Second Cabin Bill of Fare of White Star Line, for Monday. Found among the personal papers of B. T. Roberts. [141] James Johnston, op. cit., I, pp. 426-431, 475-477. [142] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, written on board ship, June 7, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [143] Steamer letter from Mrs. Roberts to her husband. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [144] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife. written on ship, June 7, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [145] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 9, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [146] Ibid. [147] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 9, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [148] James Johnston, op. cit., p.1. [149] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (August, 1888), 61, 62. [150] James Johnston, op. cit., p.1. [151] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, written from London, June 11, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [152] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from London, June 11, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [153] Ibid. [154] Ibid. [155] James Johnston, op. cit., I, pp. 172-177. [156] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (August, 1888), 61, 62. [157] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from London, June 23, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [158] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from London, June 12, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [159] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, London, June 18,1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [160] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from London, June 16, 1888. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family. [161] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from London, June 23, 1888. Found among personal letters of the Roberts family. [162] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (August, 1888), 64. [163] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 14, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [164] James Johnston, op. cit., II, p.140. [165] Ibid., pp. 141-146. [166] Ibid., pp. 147-151. [167] James Johnston, op. cit., II, p.143. [168] Ibid., pp. 153, 154. [169] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 16, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [170] Quoted by B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (September, 1888), 96. [171] Quoted by B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (August, 1888), 61, 62. [172] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Leeds. England, June 30, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [173] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 22, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [174] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 12, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [175] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, June 14, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [176] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (August, 1888), 61, 62. [177] James Johnston, op. cit., Introduction, p. XXIV. [178] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, from Leeds, July 2, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [179] Ibid. [180] Ibid. [181] Ibid. [182] Ibid. [183] Letter from B. T. Roberts, Ireland, to his wife, July 7, 1888. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [184] Ibid. [185] Letter from J. Albert Thompson. Liverpool, July 2,1888, to B. T. Roberts. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [186] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (February, 1875), 63. [187] Letter from B. T. Roberts, to his wife, January 28,1881. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [188] Letter from B. T. Roberts, to his mother, March 14, 1881. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [189] Letter from B. T. Roberts, to his mother, March 7, 1881. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [190] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (July, 1888). [191] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (December, 1880), 188. [192] Ibid., (December, 1881), 187. [193] Ibid. [194] Ibid., (December, 1888), 191. [195] General Conference Daily, (October 8.1890) p.10. [196] C. B. Ebey. General Conference Daily, (October 11.1890). p.52. [197] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (February, 1891), 63. [198] Letter from B. T. Roberts to his wife, September 29, 1891. Found among the personal letters of the Roberts family. [199] Mrs. B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1893). 135. [200] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (July, 1891), 5. [201] Ibid. [202] Ibid. [203] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (August, 1891), 83. [204] Ibid. [205] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (May, 1892), 159. [206] Ibid. [207] B. H. Roberts, op. cit., p.565. [208] B T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (October, 1892), 131. [209] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (February, 1893), 62. [210] The Earnest christian. (October, 1893). 131. [211] B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (February, 1893), 64. [212] Matt. 5:20. [213] Heb. 4:7. [214] The Earnest Christian, (April, 1893). 101. [215] Mrs. B. T. Roberts, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1893), 135, 136. [216] The Free Methodist, (March 15,1893), 8. [217] The Earnest Christian, (April, 1893), 94, 95. [218] Ibid., p.136. [219] J. G. Terrill, The Earnest Christian, (April, 1893), 129, 130. [220] Ibid., p.132. [221] Centennial Number, Official Minutes, Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, (Rochester, New York: Spinning and Davis and Steele, 1910), p.43. [222] Ibid., p. 48. [223] Wilson T. Rogue, General Conference Daily of the Free Methodist Church, (June 20, 1911), p.45. [224] Ibid. [225] Centennial Number, Official Minutes, Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, p.48. [226] Wilson T. Rogue, General Conference Daily, (June 20, 1911), 45. [227] Centennial Number, Official Minutes, op. cit., p.49. [228] Ibid. [229] Ibid., p. 55. [230] Wilson T. Hogue General Conference Daily, (June 20, 1911), p. 45. [231] Ray Allen, Address before the Centennial session of the Genesee conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church, September 28, 1910. [232] Centennial Number, Official Minutes, Genesee Annual Conference of the Methodist Church, (1910), p.55. [233] Ibid., p.273. |
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