to say and do things suitable for the hour. In the administration of the ordinances he displayed the same rare gift of adaptation. Under his hand the administration of the Lord's Supper was a most impressive service.

Like all successful pastors, he carried the cause on his heart. The conversion and edification of souls were ever in mind: and he was never able to rest without attaining this ultimate purpose of the ministry. As a result, he was favored with many precious revivals, some of them of a marked character, which added greatly to the numbers and strength of the churches. These results were not secured without forethought, prayer, and labor. Few knew so well how to utilize lay help. Through the official and most active members, whom he drew close about him, he kept in touch with the whole congregation. At the public and social services he was able to take many by the hand, and to greet others more familiarly at their fire-sides. With his forces so well in hand, he was able to maintain harmony and activity in the church, and to be ever ready for evangelistic work. In resources and expedients for carrying on the work, he was unusually affluent. If one method or expedient failed, he was ever ready with another. In some way he was bound to succeed.

The commanding qualities, sound judgment, knowledge of affairs, and tact in dealing with men, displayed in the pastoral service suggested him as eminently adapted to manage a district; and accordingly, at the close of his term at Lynn, in 1844, he took charge of Worcester District. In 1854 he was ap pointed Presiding Elder of Boston District. In this supervisory service he was eminently successful. He knew the men and the churches, and was happy in his adaptations. To preachers and people he was a safe adviser, especially in financial matters, and inspired them to move forward with courage and enterprise. At the close of his first term on a district he returned to the pastorate, serving at Chicopee and East and South Boston with the freshness of youth.

Meantime, the antislavery agitation in the Conference had reached a crisis. The low mutterings, heard as early as 1830 on the distant horizon, broke at last in flame and terror on New England. The elements were in commotion; the solid foundations were moved. Amid the electric display no one felt secure.

Leading men, lay and clerical-the old guard-were shaken in their loyalty; princes of the tribes, men long held in the highest regard for talent and devotion to the Church-Orange Scott, Jotham Horton, Luther Lee, Lucius C. Matlack, and others-withdrew from it and formed a new organization. In so great an upheaval, when old things were passing and all seemed likely to become new, few heads remained level; but James Porter's was one of the few. In turning back this tide of secession he acted an honorable and important part. In sympathy with antislavery-belonging, in fact, to the radical wing he was prepared to offer moderating counsel which would not have been accepted from a conservative source.

As an organizer and leader of the loyal sentiment of the Conference he stood pre-eminent. With a clear comprehension of the question in its various bearings, a knowledge of the actors in the case, and skill in handling parties, he found men prepared to recognize his sagacity and wisdom in the present exigency, and to accept counsels favorable at once to the cause of reformn and the integrity of the Church. The party gathered about him, grew with each day, and became, in due time, a solid phalanx, which swept opposition from his path and gave him for many a year the foremost place in the body. Besides this prime advantage he was a master in debate. He knew how to put things. He knew equally well how to hold his opponent at bay or to turn the edge of his argument. He excelled in replication. Quiet, deliberate, cautious in traveling toward the goal, he was yet, when the hour struck, nimble of foot as a wild Like the whaleman, he allowed ample length of line until his antagonist became weary or involved in the lines of argument, and then used the spear. In conference and convention, as well as in the press, he led the debate, in which many able men joined. In the General Conference of 1844 he was conspicuous for counsel, suggestion, and good management, both on the floor and in committee. Active in debate, he was also influential in shaping legislation. As a member of the "Committee of Nine," he had a hand in the most important action of the session.

roe.

In the debates and discussions which followed in later years he exhibited the best qualities of the politician and statesman. With tact and inexhaustible resources in organizing parties and

directing the course of debate, which pertain to the politician, he combined the broader outlook, the knowledge of men, the estimate of causes and motives, and the capacity for the adjustment of social and moral forces which characterize the statesman. These great qualities made him dominant, giving him a firm, long-continued hold on the Conference and denomination. He was the only member ever sent seven times to the General Conference; the only one able to continue thirty-five years in control.

Besides other great qualities, James Porter possessed the instincts of a business man, which led to his election in 1856 as Assistant Book Agent at New York, a position he held for twelve years in succession. With some knowledge of the book business, he brought to the house, also, enterprise, skill in manipulating his forces, and, above all, a sound business judgment and capacity for managing large interests. He did much to make the house a paying concern, by pushing the sales and clearing the shelves of lumber. In his addresses to the Conferences he was extremely happy, taking occasion to boom the latest issues of the house. In the selection of works for publi cation he was usually fortunate. Though appreciative of high literary merit, which commends itself to the few, he believed, as a publisher, in practical, pious, salable books, which would appeal to the tastes of the majority and chronicle their virtues on the ledger. The increased sales and permanent growth of the business, as well as the furnishing for its enlarged facilities, all evidence the thrift and enterprise of this great publishinghouse during his term of office.

His election, as a triumph of the antislavery party, was of fensive to conservative men, especially to those on the border; and he was exposed to the danger of being judged as a partisan rather than on his business merits. To avoid this evil, he showed much tact and good sense in conciliating the opposing elements, so as to allow his service to be judged on its merits. And here he was strong. The unfortunate incident of his official term was the difference between the agents, which opened the way for allegations and charges of fraud and mismanage ment in the affairs of the house, and led to a long and bitter controversy in the Church. Fortunately, the business was not, as alleged, "in a confused and chaotic, but in a decidedly un

derstandable shape," enabling the referee, James P. Kilbreth, to ascertain and place before the General Conference "the exact state of affairs from the books." In the bindery alone were found irregularities and evidences of slight loss; but "it it is matter of wonder that in so large a business as the Book Concern has been doing for so many years, the frauds and iregularities, after scrutinizing examinations, are so smallsinaller than would be found, on the average, in houses of equal business and employing as many persons." In showing the general soundness of the Concern, and vindicating the integrity of the agents, the investigations were productive of good. The sole criticism of Dr. Porter's agency by the referee was the allowing of purchases through his son; but, even in this case, it was not claimed that the Book Room suffered the loss of a penny. The criticism was a protest against nepotism, which, with a democratic Church, never fails to obtain favor.

But the Book Room controversy was greatly prolonged and embittered by the simultaneous occurrence of the debate on lay delegation, in which Dr. Porter was an active and able participant. On this subject he was conservative. With many of the older men, like Curry and Whedon, he stood for historic Methodism, in which the ministry had led the Church on to the most glorious successes of modern times. The fear that the introduction of the laity would impede the progress of the cause led him to oppose the measures of the reformers, and this opposition drew the concentrated fire of the enemy. Old scores came up for settlement. Conservatives who had been piqued by the repeated successes of his candidacy were ready to join hands with the leaders in the lay delegation movement to secure his defeat. This, however, was not the whole of the case. Against the wiles and combinations of the enemy he was still able to command a formidable opposition, and with the conditions of earlier years he would have come off triumphant. But those conditions no longer remained. The sentiment of the Church as to ecclesiastical economy had traveled away from him. Perhaps he was too far advanced in life to take up this question on its merits; his early appreciation of the orig. inal structure of Methodism continued with him to the last, and made him suspicious of efforts to introduce a wooden horse into the citadel.

But Dr. Porter was a successful author as well as publisher. In all, he issued sixteen different treatises, some of them possessing rare merit. His books, like his sermons and addresses, were characteristic. Without indulging in learned dissertation or logical formulas, he wrote for the popular mind on current topics with which he was familiar, especially those relating to his own Church; several of his volumes being popular exposi tions of the economy, doctrines, usages, and history of Methodism. His Hints to Self-Educated Ministers, and Revivals of Religion, abound in wise and helpful suggestions, especially for young preachers. The Compendium of Methodism and Compendious History of Methodism were happy conceptions, and merit a long lease of life. Though much has since been written on the subject, these books have not been superseded.

Though at the close of his Book Agency in New York he retired from regular work, he was not inactive. Some of his best books were written at this period. As one of the secretaries of the National Temperance Society, he made many addresses; he performed many side services, preached many sermons, held religious services, and pushed the sale of his books. With much physical vigor, he retained unusual mental activity. He spoke and wrote with the sanity of earlier days. In vigor, finish, and flow of thought his article in this Review on “Making the Appointments" was not surpassed by his earlier productions. The love of evangelistic work was with him a ruling passion. Each year he delighted to assist regular pastors in special services, in which he preached much and conducted many social meetings. After the death of his wife, in 1886, which was a severe blow to him, he found special comfort in this work. During his last year, when on the verge of four score, he preached more than a hundred sermons. His final effort was a three weeks' campaign in Philadelphia, from which he returned home extremely ill. Though hopeful himself of recovery, the physicians gave no encouragement. The forces of nature were spent. The pilgrim had reached the end of his journey. The disease was heart failure.

But the last four months of his life, passed on the verge of the two worlds, were among his best. The quiet and glow of sunset were about him. The storms had blown over, the clouds were dissipated; and in his evening sky the blue and gold