242 History of Methodism 



Conference, volunteered, in 1799, to go as a missionary 

 to the Natchez settlement on the Mississippi, in which 

 field he continued to labor until his death, April 5, 

 1804. He was a great friend of Bishop Asbury, and 

 in return had his warm affection and unlimited confi- 

 dence. Mr. Gibson traveled six hundred miles to the 

 Cumberland River, and taking a canoe and placing his 

 few effects on board, paddled himself out of the Cum- 

 berland into the Ohio, and taking his passage for six 

 or seven hundred miles more in the meandering course 

 of the Mississippi, he at length arrived in safety at 

 Natchez. Four times he traveled by land through 

 the wilderness, a journey of six hundred miles among 

 various savage tribes, from Natchez to the Cumberland 

 settlement. He tasked his powers of labor and en- 

 durance to the utmost in this field, occupied by him 

 alone until 1803, when the Western Conference, before 

 which he presented himself in great feebleness, in 

 response to his urgent application, sent to his assist- 

 ance Moses Floyd. He preached his last sermon on 

 the first day of the year 1804, and instead of shrink- 

 ing from the approach of death, anticipated it with 

 joy, in the full confidence that it was to bring him into 

 the immediate presence of his beloved Saviour. 



He did not possess extraordinary talents, but he did 

 have extraordinary zeal, and the most heroic devotion 

 to his Master's cause. His preaching was sensible, 

 fervent, and impressive, without evincing any great 

 logical power, or being embellished by a splendid or 

 graceful elocution. His grand aim was to bring God's 

 living truth in contact with the hearts and consciences 

 of those whom he addressed, and if this purpose were 

 only gained, he cared little .for any thing besides. 

 There was no sacrifice, however great, that he was not 



