- serves the highest praise that his fellow-men can bestow
upon him. After laboring faithfully for the upbuilding of the church in New York, Baltimore, and Philadelphia, William P. Quinn, thirty-five years ago, went to the West, a most undesirable place for a colored man at that time. But he did not count the cost; it was enough for him to know that his services were needed, and he left the consequences with God.
Never, probably, was a man more imbued with the spirit of the Great Teacher, than was Mr. Quinn in his missionary work. Old men and women are still living who delight to dwell on the self-denial, Christian zeal, manly graces, and industry that characterized this good man in the discharge of his duties in Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Missouri. His advice was always fatherly; his example inculcated devoted piety.
As a speaker, he was earnest and eloquent, possessing an inward enthusiasm that sent a magnetic current through his entire congregation. Having the fullest confidence of the people with whom he was called to labor, they regarded him as one sent of God, and they hung upon his words as if their future welfare depended upon the counsel they received.
In 1844, Mr. Quinn was made a bishop, a position for which he had every qualification. Tanner, in his "Apology," says:—
"The demands of the work made it necessary to elect another bishop, and, as if by inspiration, a large majority fixed their eyes on the great missionary as the man most competent to fill the post."
Bishop Quinn died in February, 1873, at the advanced age of eighty-five years.
