Hedding says of Ryan, "He was in that day
a very pious man, a man of great love for the case of
Christ, and great zeal in his work as a minister. A man who
labored as if the judgement thunders were to follow each
sermon. He was sometimes overbearing in the administration of
the discipline; but, with this exception, he performed his
duties in every part of his work as faithfully as any man I
ever knew. He was very brotherly and kind to me—often
speaking to me in a manner calculated to urge me on to
diligence and fidelity in the great work. When we met in the
place of intersection in the Circuit, he would salute me
with his favourite exhortation, 'Drive on, brother! Drive
on! Drive the devil out of the country! Drive him into the
lake and drown him!'"