Page:Oregon Historical Quarterly vol. 19.djvu/373

 CORRESPONDENCE 355 work has extended into the Methodist and Congregational churches and they are holding interesting meetings at this time. This is the first revival of religion that Oregon City has witnessed. Our prayer is that it may pervade the whole town and vicinity. With this state of things and the church having no minister to perform pastoral labors and knowing of no prospect of obtaining a pastor, it resolved to invite me to take the pastoral charge and to ask the Home Missionary Society to appoint me to this place with a salary of $600, the church to raise $100 of it. I never have got my consent to accept of the call on account of the importance of the general work which must be performed for Oregon. Yet, from the importance of sustaining this point, my own sympathies for my little, motherless family, of girls in part, who need and must have counsel at this period of life, together with the dying request of my wife that I keep the family together and, added to all the rest, these young disciples who are promising and very much need proper religious training, I have thought your Board would allow me to watch over the interests of this church for a few months and perform such agency labors as I can, and is much needed, in the vicinity till the time of the meeting of our association which occurs in June, after which I hope to be able to leave my family and explore Washington Ter. in the latter part of the summer and fall. By the time our association closes, I hope the work necessary to give our school a vigorous growth will be accomplished, at least so far that Br. Post can manage the financial affairs, in addition to the labor of teaching, for a few months. I trust also that Br. Cramb will be on the ground and meet with a favorable recep- tion with the church and people. In this whole matter I desire to submit myself with prayerful resignation into the hands of Infinite Wisdomi. From all I can gather by the opening 1 provi- dences of God, I now think I shall pursue the course above suggested and make a formal application for a reappointment as exploring agent by the next mail. I think this is the judgment of all the brethren, except so far as relates to the members of this church ; and even here, their desires for pas-