American Conferences, 1778 to 1781. 131

him with all that had taken place at that session, and
especially with the fact that at the next Conference
the sacramental question was to be considered. His
journal presents other indications that various items
of information reached him from time to time, and in
his moments of meditation he possibly matured plans
for the future. That he thought there would be a
brighter future for him seems more than probable.
Thus, on the 30th day of March, 1779, he writes: "I
then rode on to Brother Shaw's, where I heard agree-
able news. Peradventure there is something in the
womb of providence for which the Lord hath been
preparing me by bringing me through fire and
water." ^

What was this pleasing news? What was this
brighter anticipation? He docs not say, but leaves us
to whatever our imaginations may picture.
We are now on the eve of important events. It
will be remembered that the Conference of 1778
ordered that the next Annual Conference should
meet at Fluvanna, Virginia, on the 18th of May,
yet on the 28th of April, 1779, twenty days before
the time, we find a Conference meeting at Judge
White's, the recent home of Asbury, in Kent County,
Delaware.^

At once the reader will ask. Who called this Con-
ference, and by what authority was the call issued?
Legally, as matters then stood, no one but the Con-
ference could fix the place for holding the Confer-



> Asbury's Journal, 1821, Vol. I, p. 236.
« Printed Minutes, 1773-1813, p. 18 ; Asbury's Journal, Vol. I, p. 237.
132 Governing Confsrbnce in Methodism.
