that end, he worked to insure the physical, moral and intellectual developments of his students. European travel In 1835, Fisk suffered another relapse in his battle with what appears to have been some sort of chronic respiratory disease. His physician advised him to take a sea voyage to try to regain his health. The trustees of the Wesleyan University were anxious for him to make a complete recovery and offered to let him take a year off to travel to Europe to acquire books and laboratory equipment for the university. Willbur and Ruth left New York in the company of a faculty member and friend, Wilbur B. Lane, in 1835. Before their departure in 1835 the Board of Fellows of Brown University awarded him a Doctor of Divinity degree. While in England, Fisk gave many sermons, and throughout his trip he was actively engaged in carrying out his assignment of acquiring supplies for the university. In addition to sightseeing, the European tour proved to be quite strenuous for his frail constitution. His health did improve, however, and after he returned to Middletown in 1836, he resumed his duties as president of the university. In 1838 Harper's published his book describing the European tour: Travels On The Continent Of Europe; Viz., In England, Ireland, Scotland, France, Italy, Switzerland, Germany, And The Netherlands. Slavery, temperance and Indian missions The question of slavery was one of the burning issues of the day, and one that often put Willbur Fisk at odds with many of his fellow Methodists. He was a colonizationist who favored sending America's slaves to Africa. He opposed the abolitionists within the church who sought to deny membership to any slaveholder or any supporter of slavery. Willbur felt that the abolitionist approach would split the church and prevent those who needed Christian love and teachings the most from receiving it. He endorsed what he believed was a truly Christian, non-violent way of solving this social evil. Many felt his approach would not bring about emancipation. Toward the end of his life he regretted some of his arguments, but still stood on the principle that a unified church was the quickest way to emancipate slaves. Whether his way would have worked is open to debate, however, in one sense he was correct—in 1844 the Methodist church did split along exactly the lines that he predicted, and only twenty years after his death