Page:A short account of the rise and progress of the African Methodist Episcopal Church in America.djvu/29

 rapidly to increase, so that the enemy of souls began to be angry at the prosperity of the church, and sought opportunities to hinder her progress. The first attempt he made, was with the two eldest preachers of our Society, viz. Abraham Thompson and June Scott, who were induced by the expectation of filthy lucre to try the formation of a society separate from Zion Church. The manner of the attempt (so far as can be recollected) was as follows: A white man, named John Edwards, a scale-beam maker, who had been a member of the Friends' Society, but had been expelled therefrom, and at this time professed to be a preacher according to the order of the Friends' Society, (and was sometimes a kind of troublesome man, acting as if he did not enjoy his right mind) having a lot of ground in Green Street, No. 101, and being desirous to have a place where he might preach occasionally himself, he aided some coloured men, who applied to him, to build a house upon it for a church, which was so constructed as to have two wings for the residence of the preachers who might become attached to the intended society. Our brother, Abraham Thompson, being made acquainted with the supposed favourable circumstance, and hoping to have, at least, a place of residence gratis, and thereby receive some compensation for his labours as a preacher, he consented to become one of the preachers, and having persuaded brother June Scott, to unite with him, they formed a society which was styled "The Union Society." This position of our old brethren caused the minds of many of the members of Zion Church to be measurably divided and inclined to follow them; but this first stratagem of the enemy soon failed, for when the official members of Zion