>INCIDENTS AND CHARACTERS IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF METHODISM > >By > >The Reverend John Elmore DuBois > >Edited by Elizabeth A. DuBois >© 1998 DuBois Publishing Co, Simsbury, Connecticut. All rights >reserved. > >EIGHT >A Study in Contrasts [cont.] > >Leroy Massengale once traveled a circuit in Perry county. He was junior >under E.V. Levert. It was a fortunate thing for any young preacher to >be under the protecting care of Bro. Levert; for while he was a great >preacher, he was a kind and considerate friend. > > Massengale was a poor boy and enjoyed meager advantages. Mr. Hendrick >of Carthage, whose wife was a member of our Church, became interested in >him because of his earnest zeal and piety, and sent him to school for a >while. He never distinguished himself as a scholar nor as a pulpit >orator, but as an efficient Soldier of the Cross, he bore himself with >the gallantry of the Christian hero, and won immortal honors. He was >pure in heart. Holiness was the watchword of his life. And it was this >that gave him influence with men. At the altar of prayer, he revealed >the genius of his power and the tower of his strength. Many a soul at >the altar, passed from darkness, to light, while he earnestly and >eloquently plead for them at a throne of grace. > >One of the chief elements of his success as a pastor, was his >punctuality. No ordinary circumstance caused him to disappoint a >congregation. Bad weather, bad roads, nor high water could drive him >from his track. When he told a congregation that he would meet them at >a certain time, they knew what he meant. He served a long time as >missionary to the blacks, and fell at his post while packing his >saddle-bags to meet an appointment, not thinking it was for the last >time; but "God took him," and he lay prostrate, with his armor on, all >covered with the dust and smoke of battle, as true a soldier as ever >fell in noble strife. > >[To be continued.] >