Dr. Bashford's Address

Dr. Bashford, president of the Wesleyan University, of Delaware, O.hio, occupied the pulpit of the M. E. church Sunday morning and delivered a very able sermón on the text found in Rev. 2:17. In the evening Dr. Bashford delivered the third address before the Wesleyan Guild. His subject was "The Character andWork of John Wesley," using asja text the 17A verse, 7H1 chapter of John, "If any man will do his will,!he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speakof myself. " The speaker likened the i8th Century to the month of May, as in it the seeds were sown for a harvest of great men. There are six representative men of that century, Voltaire, the agnostic; Napoleon, the embodiment of worldliness; Kant, the philosopher; Humboldt, the scientist; Goethe, who thought man was put into the world for self development; and Wesley, who thought man was put into the world to do the will of God. Wesley owed a great deal of his religious bent to his mother. He early resolved to devote all his life to God, and spent many years in preparation for his work. He was too conscientious to be satisfied with mere morality. While at college he formed a club, called by the students, "The Holy Club," while its members were dubbed ' ' Methodists, ' ' but Methodism did not spring into existence until Wesley had recognized the four great truths of salvaI tion. Intellectually, he was the best trained man of his age. He posessed a fund of practical common sense, and believed in obedience to the light we have. In politics he leaned toward a centralized government. He introduced the Sunday school to the masses, and denounced slavery and drunkenness, when it was prevalent both within and without the church. His talent was not mental but moral. Cardinal Manning has called Wesley the greatest man that modern Europe has produced. Wesley's dying words were "The best of all is, God is with us." Dr. Bashford is a most eloquent and ! forcible speaker, and kept the attention of his audience throughout.