240 History of Methodism 



presence of no ordinary man; and no one, learned or 

 unlearned, ever saw Bishop McKendree under any 

 circumstances without being struck with the dignity 

 of his personal appearance. He was about the com- 

 mon height, and his form was finely proportioned. 

 The prominent characteristics of his mind were the 

 power of analysis and the faculty of drawing correct 

 conclusions. He was not a classical scholar, and yet 

 there never appeared in the Connection a finer model 

 as a preacher. He was eloquent in the true sense of 

 the term. Few men ever filled the pulpit with greater 

 usefulness, and there was a beautiful simplicity in his 

 sermons. His common theme was the love of God, 

 and in so persuasive a manner did he commend this 

 love to the hearts of his hearers that he never, per- 

 haps, preached a sermon in vain. He was eminently 

 qualified to fill the important office he occupied in the 

 Church. It could boast of no wiser or better man. 

 He suffered no occasion to pass without recommending 

 the religion of his Master, and fixed in the mind of 

 all with whom he came in contact a remembrancer of 

 his deep and unaffected piety. Prayer — solemn, fer- 

 vent prayer — was the element in which he moved and 

 had his being. The last words that trembled upon his 

 pallid lips thrilled the heart of the Church, as they 

 went over the hills and valleys where the good Bishop 

 had traveled and preached. They inspired the min- 

 isters everywhere with fresh courage; old men, lean- 

 ing on the top of their staves, repeated them; youths 

 in their prime echoed them ; and even childhood lisped 

 forth the last words of the departing Bishop: "All 

 is well." He died March 5, 1835, and now sleeps in 

 peace beside Bishop Soule on the campus of Vander- 

 bilt University, and near to Wesley Hall, to recall to 



