Dr Summers A Life-Study Author:Oscar Penn Fitzgerald General Books publication date: 2009 Original publication date: 1885 Original Publisher: Southern Methodist Publishing House Subjects: Methodists Methodist Church History / General Literary Collections / General Religion / Christianity / Methodist Notes: This is a black and white OCR reprint of the original. It has no illustratio... more »ns and there may be typos or missing text. When you buy the General Books edition of this book you get free trial access to Million-Books.com where you can select from more than a million books for free. Excerpt: CHAPTER VIII. FIRST CIRCUIT (CONTINUED). ME. SUMMEES gave due attention to the course of study as prescribed by the Conference, but did not confine himself to the subjects embraced therein. He had already perused Wesley's Sermons, Watson's Institutes (first part), Fletcher's Works, and Clarke's Commentary. He was well acquainted with Methodist history. In addition to the histories by Whitehead, Watson, and Southey, he had conversed freely with old preachers in England and America who furnished him with historical incidents which they had personally witnessed. He had had instruction only in English, but he had sought to be thorough in that. He spoke his vernacular with accuracy, elegance, and vigor. He was free from the provincialisms of the English, whether of the Yorkshireman or the Cockney, and laughed heartily at their blunders. It was early his purpose to become acquaintedwith the Greek language, and to qualify himself for Biblical criticism. This purpose he pursued with unwearying tenacity. It was his bent -- he could not do otherwise. On the journey from the Conference to Augusta Circuit (before described), he devoted part of the first day to the use of Parkhurst's Greek Lexicon -- and this he repeated each day following. It has often been asked, How did Summers obtain his knowledge of the ancient languages and his vast fund of accurate knowledge of a general character? We have the answer: He had a genius for acqu...« less