lishment of iNfethodism in New England— itself one of the most romantic, as it is perhaps the best recorded portion of :Methodist historj'— he was an active and most efficient agent, and in its stirring scenes and ftjrlorn but heroic labors he spent the flower of his manhood ; and upon it, no doubt, he left the impress of liis own great spirit, which remains his noblest and most endiu-ing monument." From 1808 to 182-i he was a delegate to every General Conference, and was always eminent in influence and power at the sessions of that body. In the " Presiding Elder Question" at the Conferences of 1820 and 1824, he stood with those who favored the election of presiding elders by the Conferences ; but his zeal in the cause never degenerated into rashness, or be- came liable to the charge of disloyalfj'. In 1824 he was elected bishop. He accepted the office with great reluc- tance, and filled it with the most distinguished ability and acceptance for 26 j'ears. "In the exercise of the epis"- copal functions he developed rare qualifications as a pre- siding officer, and especially as an expounder of ecclesi- astical law. The soundness of his ^-iews upon the doc- trines and discijjline of the Chiu-ch was so fidly and so universally conceded, that in the end he became almost an oracle in these respects, and his opinions ai-e regarded with profound veneration. As a theologian and divine, his views were comprehensive, logical, and well matured. Not only had they been elaborated with great care, but the analysis was very distinct ; and the successive steps were not only clearly defined in the original analysis, but distinct even in the minutite of their detail. His discourses were after the same pattern — an example of neatness, order, perspicuity, and completeness. From the year 1844, age and increasing infirmities compelled him to seek relief from the heavy burden of labor he had previouslj' preformed, and his visits to the Annual Conferences became less frequent. Yet his labors and responsibilities were stiU very great. He was almost incessantly sought unto by ministers in almost every part of the United States for counsel and assistance, and for information upon points of ecclesiastical law and in the administration of discipline." In 1850 he had a severe attack of acute disease, but he partially recovered, and lingered, after suffering severely, until the 9th of April, 1852, when he died in peace and triumph at liis home in Poughkeepsie. His intellect suffered neither weakness nor obscuration to the last. "About three o'clock in the morning, a change took place betokening the near ap- proach of death. Early in the morning his sufferings were great ; his extremities were cold, and his death ag- ony was upon him; but his uitellectual powers — con- sciousness, perception, memorj', reason, were unaffected. Several Christian friends Avitnessed his dying struggles, and the glorious triumph of his abiding faith. The Rev. M. Richardson came in, and inquired whether his pros- pect was clear ; he replied with great emphasis, ' Oh yes, yes, yes ! I have been wonderfully sustained of late, beyond the usual degree.' After a pause, he add- ed, '/ trust in Christ, and he does not disappoint me. I feel him, I enjoy him, and I look forward to an inherit- ance in his kingdom.'' '' A full account of the labors of this great and good man will be found ui the Life and Times of the Rev. E. Hedding, D.D., by D. W. Clark, D.D. (New York, 1855, 8vo; reviewed by Dr. Curry in the Methodist Quarterly, Oct. 1855) ; see also Stevens, I/is- tory of the Methodist Episcopal Church; Sprague, J;;- luils, vii. 354 ; North A merican Revietv, Ixxxii, 349.
Hedge, the rendering m the A, V. (besides deri\-.-.- tives from ~^D or "=0, rendered as a verb), 1, of three words from the same root ("inS), which, as well as their Greek equivalent (^pay//d(,), denotes simply that which surrounds or encloses, whether it be a stone wall ("''^3, ge'der, Prov. xxiv, 31 ; Ezek. xlii, 10) or a fence of other materials. ^.'15, guder', and ln'^'15, gederah', are used of the hedge of a vineyard (Numb, xxii, 24 ; Psa. Lxxxix, 40 ; 1 Chron. iv, 23) ; and the latter is employed to de- scribe the wide walls of stone, or fences of thorn, which
HEDGE
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served as a shelter for sheep in winter and summer (Numb, xxxii, 1(5). The stone walls which surround the sheepfolds of modern Palestine are frequently crown- ed with sharp thorns (Thomson, Land and Book; i, 299), a custom at least as ancient as the time of Homer (^Od. xiv, 10), when a kind of pricldy pear (axtpcos) was used for that purpose, as weU as for the fences of corn- fields at a later period (Arist. Eccl 355). In order to protect the vineyards from the ravages of wild beasts (Psa. Ixxx, 12), it was customary to surround them with a wall of loose stones or mud (Matt, xxi, 33 ; Mark xii, 1), which was a favorite haunt of serpents (Eccles. x, 8), and a retreat for locusts from the cold (Nah. iii, 17). Such walls are described by INIaundrell as surrounding the gardens of Damascus. " They are built of great pieces of earth, made in the fashion of brick and hard- ened in the sun. In their dimensions they are each two yards long and somewhat more tlian one broad, and half "a yard thick. Two rows of these, placed one upon another, make a cheap, expeditious, and, in this dry countr^y, a doable wall" {Early Travels in Pal. p. 48/). A wall" or fence of this kind is clearly distinguished in Isa. V, 5 from the tangled hedge, 2, n^Vjp, mestikah' (ITID^D'Q, Mic. vii, 4), which wns planted as an addition- al safeguard to the vineyard (comp. Ecclus. xxviii, 24), and was composed of the thorny shrubs with which Palestine abounds. The prickly pear, a species of cac- tus, so frequently employed for this purpose in the East at present, is believed to be of comparatively modern in- troduction. The aptness of the comparison of a tangled hedge of thorn to the difRculties which a slothful man conjures up as an excuse for his inactivity will at once be recognised (Prov. xv, 19; comp. IIos. ii, C). The narrow paths between the hedges of the vineyards and gardens, " with a fence on this side and a fence on that side" (Numb, xxii, 24), are dLsliiiguished from the " highways," or more frequented tracks, in Luke xiv, 23 (Hackett, Illustra. of Scripture, p. 1G6 ; Trench, On the Parables, p. 193).— Smith, s. v.