department, he wrote much for The Christian Recorder, and became noted for his forcible and weighty sentences. But few men in the United States have ever equaled him in that capacity.
Being a man of great nerve and strong character, the missiles he would throw from his pen would rarely ever fail of their mark, and through his wisdom he directed and wrote much Sabbath-school literature, which was circulated all through the United States and fell into the hands of many indolent persons, acting upon them as an incentive for future endeavors, which demonstrated the fact that the press, in the hands of the Afro-American, was, and will ever be, a mighty power.
After serving the time allotted him by the Convention, he compiled a hymn book for the A. M. E. church. He also wrote a standard work, entitled "The Methodist Policy," defining the duties of the officers of the Conference and the functionaries of the church. This work he has revised recently, and it will soon re-appear, more instructive than when it was first introduced.
In 1886, he became convinced that the church needed an organ in the Southland, through which its ardent laborers could express themselves that many might be edified, which could not otherwise be accomplished. Consequently, he caused to appear on the 25th day of September, 1886, a neat sheet, known as The Southern Recorder. This paper, from the time of its appearance to that of its becoming a church organ proper, he so managed as to quicken the dormant faculties of many, which resulted in so great a demand for space that he was compelled to enlarge his sheet, long before it was a year old. Daily its subscription list increased, until, at the expiration of a year, thousands were blessed with the privilege of its columns—its editorial columns especially—in which could be found witty and wise expressions, coming
