INTRODUCTION. 



The author of this volume is entitled to the thanks 

 of the whole Church for his careful, thorough, and 

 valuable History of Methodism in South Carolina. 

 One by one the fathers are passing away, and very 

 soon their names will be scarcely known to the gener- 

 ation following. Books like this gather up the facts, 

 garner the precious memories, and embalm them for 

 all time. 



To write a history is a most difficult task. To dis- 

 criminate in the distribution of praises ; to administer 

 censure where it is deserved; and to connect the 

 events of the past into a chain which gives due prom- 

 inence to causes and effects alike, are duties of the 

 historian which many recognize and few fulfill. Dr. 

 Shipp has allowed the actors in the scenes to speak 

 for themselves wherever their personal records were 

 either essential to the narrative or explanatory of 

 circumstances which could only be known to the wit- 

 nesses themselves. 



In two respects this book will commend itself to 

 the thoughtful reader. The author has not followed 

 the order of time so much as the order of his topics. 

 The volume, whilst it loses the feature of a book of an- 



