230 History of Methodism 



influences of a tender sympathy, and infused into the 

 sou] the fire of a spirit-stirring zeal, sustained by a 

 vigorous and untiring energy; but to finish his char- 

 acter, grace comes in and renews the whole man, and 

 the Spirit anointed him to preach the gospel, and 

 the Church consecrated him to be one of its bishops. 

 He superintended with dignity and faithfulness; he 

 preached the gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down 

 from heaven. The unction that attended his word 

 was not merely like the consecrating oil that ran down 

 Aaron's beard, but it was like the anointing of the 

 Spirit that penetrates the heart. He preached with 

 his soul full of glory. No wonder, then, that his 

 dying-words were, ' I am going, and that 's enough ! 

 Glory! Glory!' Yes, thou triumphant spirit, that is 

 enough. May I die the death of the righteous, and 

 may my last end be like his ! " 



Josias Handle was admitted on trial in 1791, and 

 devoted the whole of his itinerant life to the South 

 Carolina Conference. In 1799 he was forced to locate, 

 but reentered in 1802, and was abundant in labors for 

 seven more years, the last three of which were given 

 to the Ogeechee and Oconee districts. This last- 

 named district was immense and perilous, extending 

 from the Oconee to the Tombigbee River, over an 

 Indian country of four hundred miles, and embracing 

 the field occupied by Messrs. Sturdevant and Burdge 

 in laying the foundations of the Alabama and Missis- 

 sippi Conferences. The noted Lorenzo Dow, who was 

 converted through the instrumentality of Hope Hull, 

 wandered into this wilderness in 1803 and 1804, and 

 preached the first Protestant sermon on the soil of 

 Alabama. Mr. Handle was a la'borious and successful 

 pioneer preacher, and his retirement from the regular 



