[Editors note: Over the next several days there will be excerpts that I
will finally need to edit a bit more than just adding chapter headings. 
It appears from a later note in one of the articles that the editor of
the paper fell ill, and the job apparently handed to someone not quite
up to the task.  There are omissions and misspellings that were not at
all characteristic of Rev. John; I have corrected the minor, obvious
ones.  However, from time to time I will not correct them so that the
reader can decide for himself what is meant.  EDR]

INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF METHODISM

By

The Reverend John Elmore DuBois

Edited by Elizabeth A. DuBois
(c) 1998  DuBois Publishing Co, Simsbury, Connecticut. All rights
reserved.

Twelve

Greensboro 1834 Annual Conference  
Princely Hospitality
 
	In December, 1834, I removed from Perry county to Greensboro, which is
now in Hale County--then in Greene.  Soon after my arrival, the Alabama
Conference convened there and presented an array of men so marked for
energy, zeal and eloquence, that even scoffers were convinced that
Methodism was a power in the land, and destined in a short time to
achieve grand results and take its stand in the front ranks of Christian
denominations.  Time has long since demonstrated the truth of these
predictions, and today we behold the Methodist Church as one of the
leading denominations in Alabama, not only in numbers, but in moral and
religious power, wealth and culture.  

	The Conference above mentioned was an occasion of much interest to the
whole community.  To many it was something new. Curiosity ran high and
with such its novelty was the chief ground of interest.  Some manifested
a spirit of envy and jealousy, and indulged in criticisms that would
doubtless have been more severe had policy not dictated a wiser course. 
Others again gave us a cordial grasp, threw open their doors and did all
they could to make it an occasion of pleasure and profit.  But it was
among the Methodists that it gave a peculiar interest.  Our people
seemed to vie with each other in playing the useful and agreeable hosts;
and even in those early days they were distinguished for their elegant
homes and princely hospitality.
 
[To be continued]

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