After one night’s rest at home, I left the next morning for C----,
thirty miles distant, to meet my friend Rev. Mr. D----, who was with
us at the commencement of the meetings at L----, and engage in another
meeting. The Rev. Mr. P----, who was pastor at that place, was likewise
a colporteur of the Tract Society, and had five little churches in
as many different communities in the county. So he left us to hold a
meeting in C----, while he was laboring in other portions of his field.
I had on several occasions passed through this town, which, in a
religious view, was one of the darkest I have ever visited. I saw
the men, most of them young men, while Mr. P---- was preaching to a
few, mostly women, standing all round the church with their heads in
the windows, talking aloud, and even swearing profanely, till the
preacher’s voice could scarcely be heard. As Mr. D---- was a stranger
there, I informed him that we might expect open opposition. The
meetings were to be conducted in the same way as those to which I have
already alluded.
After warning the people of the impropriety of such conduct, and
insisting that if they attended the services, they should come into the
church, Mr. D---- preached, and I followed by telling of the Lord’s
work in the places where I had been. A deep solemnity seemed to fall on
every soul, and we felt God was there. All present were well supplied
with tracts.
The next day our meetings were very solemn, and still more so at night,
when there were five anxiously inquiring for salvation. By the next
night most of the females began to feel very deeply, and some young men
began to interrupt by their talking; but I rebuked them most solemnly,
and we had no more interruptions during that meeting, and I am happy to
say there have been none since in that place.
This meeting began on Thursday night, and by Monday twenty-two had
professed hope in Christ. Among the number was one man sixty years
old. He had been intemperate forty years. Though he was then so
ignorant that he did not know who was the Saviour of sinners, and did
not know one letter of the alphabet, he still lives a monument of grace.
One young lady of fortune, who was there at school, and whose anxiety
about her soul bordered on despair, gained a hope on Saturday. On the
next Saturday she joined the church, and then told her companions,
“I will go to the Lord’s table to-morrow; it may be my last Sabbath
on earth.” On Monday morning she came to school apparently in her
usual health, and seemed deeply affected by the opening prayer; but
soon complained of being unwell, went to her boarding-house, and in
forty-eight hours she was numbered with the dead. Grace and glory came
very near together.
After a few days of rest, at the request of the Rev. Mr. H----, to whom
I have alluded at the town of U----, I met him in an old log-church on
Wolf Creek, one of his preaching-places. I left home in the morning,
rode twenty-four miles, and reached the place at one. Mr. H---- was
preaching to a small congregation, as it was now the beginning of
harvest. After an interval of thirty minutes, I addressed the people.
The next day was Saturday. The house was full; and in the evening we
had five inquirers. Sabbath morning Mr. H---- preached with great
power, and then left for another appointment, with the expectation of
returning on Monday. In the mean time I was to go on with the services.
In the evening I had thirteen inquirers; and among them was Colonel
H----, fifty years old, and Major B----, sixty-eight, two men of the
largest wealth and highest standing in that community, who had been
remarkable instances of grieving the Spirit of God. I related in their
hearing the fact of what an aged man had told me about his grieving
the Spirit. I saw it affected them both very deeply. They told me they
had felt all that that man did whose case I had described, and that
they had now made up their minds to seek Christ. In a few days both
were hoping in Christ; and two years ago they had continued active
Christians.
Becoming exhausted, almost as if I was at death’s door, I left for
home; but Rev. Mr. H---- continued the meetings. Such was the interest
awakened, that daily labor in the harvest-field was entirely suspended.
Masters and servants were all at the same mercy-seat. God was there;
the world was lost sight of, and eternal things took its place.
Everybody had a tract in hand. You could see them reading on their
way home; some in carriages, some on horseback, and others on foot.
The result was, thirty-six were added to that little church, and many
others to the other churches in that region of country. I soon learned
that one wild, thoughtless young woman was awakened by reading a tract,
and she is now one of the mothers in Israel.
I had received several letters from the Rev. Mr. C----, an aged man
who had moved to Fayette county, to preach in a very destitute region,
near the celebrated _Hawk’s Nest_, or _Marshall’s Pillar_, a cliff or
precipice of about one thousand feet perpendicular height, hanging over
New River, ten miles from its junction with the Gauley. After a day
of rest, I took the stage, and at the end of fifty miles reached the
place. On Friday morning the meeting began in the woods. No church
was near; but an arbor was made by putting up poles and covering them
with green bushes. When I came it rained, and only about thirty were
present; but God was there with his gracious power. We had a meeting in
the evening at one of the neighboring cabins, and a crowd was collected.
The next morning we met at the arbor. The day was fair and beautiful,
and the crowd great. The Lord helped me greatly in the service. At the
interval I scattered tracts freely, and set all to reading who could
read. At the close of the afternoon service there were eleven anxious
inquirers. On Sabbath morning we met at nine for prayer. By eleven
o’clock a thousand people had assembled; and after the evening service,
seventeen came out for instruction. On Monday the communion was to be
administered, and seventeen were added to the Lord’s people. The Lord
was there in his mercy. After the afternoon service nineteen more came
out as inquirers, among them men of sixty years and from that down to
boys, most of whom professed religion soon after. A church was soon
after organized, which still lives. The blessed influence spread for
miles around, and all denominations shared in the glorious work. I
shall ever believe the way was prepared by a faithful colporteur, who
had been over the ground a few months before.
Mr. P----, an elder in a vacant church called Locust Bottom, had
applied to the Rev. Mr. P---- to come and administer the communion in
that church, and to bring me with him. The meeting was to begin on the
Friday before the third Sabbath in August. I left home on Thursday
morning, and reached the place, fifty-four miles distant, at noon the
next day. In the afternoon I addressed the audience by telling them
what the Lord had done in so many other places, and that I felt assured
if they would seek him with their whole hearts he would bless them too.
The next morning we were assembled at nine for prayer and exhortation.
At eleven Mr. C----, a student of divinity, spoke with much fervor.
After recess I spoke with much liberty, and five came out as inquirers.
We held meetings at night in two places; both well attended, and
several were awakened. The Sabbath morning prayer-meeting was crowded.
The communion was administered by Mr. P----; and after recess I spoke
again, and we had nine inquirers. The next morning we had a crowd, and
there were clear indications of the presence of the Spirit of God.
Some weeks previous, Mr. W----, a colporteur to whom I have alluded,
had been all through this region, and circulated books. A daughter
of Colonel S----, one of the elders, became awakened by reading one
of them, and her state of mind had aroused some of her friends and
companions, who were among those most deeply concerned; and it was
agreed to hold the evening meeting at the colonel’s, though four miles
distant.
In addition to the colonel’s large family, a number of others were
present, all seeking peace with God. After tea was over we were all
seated in a large parlor, to the number of at least twenty. As Mr.
C---- expected soon to leave, I asked him to lead us in prayer, and
especially to remember the anxious souls in the room. At the close of
the prayer, one of the colonel’s daughters was sobbing as if she would
break her heart. I sat down beside her, and pointed her to Jesus who
died for sinners. She looked at me a moment, and then sprang into her
mother’s arms, and said, “Oh, mother, I have found Jesus.” But a short
time had elapsed, when a daughter-in-law of Mrs. S---- went to her and
said, “Oh, mother, I have found the Saviour too.” Soon the wife of one
of the elders who was there cried, “Oh, Mrs. S----, the Saviour has
blessed me too. Oh, what a Saviour I have found.” This woman had been
so opposed to religion that her husband could not have family prayers.
All these three had been awakened by reading tracts. During all this
time the old grandmother, ninety years old, and for over seventy years
a follower of Christ, was walking through the house saying, “Oh, Mr.
C----, is not this heaven? my poor soul can bear no more of the divine
glory.”
In a short time Colonel S----, who had been absent, returned. As soon
as his daughter saw him she was in his arms, saying, “Oh, my dear
father, your prayers are answered; I have found Jesus.”
By this time the news had spread all over the farm, and more than fifty
blacks of all ages were in and round the house. The old mother of
Col. S---- said to me, “Oh, Mr. C----, won’t you preach to these poor
souls?” “Certainly,” said I; and in a few minutes a large room was
crowded with them. I stood in the door, with the old mother holding me
by the arm, and announced the words, “Behold, I bring you glad tidings
of great joy which shall be to all people.” The negroes soon became
so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Some were on their
knees praying, and others clapping their hands. The old lady undertook
to keep them in order; but her own heart became so deeply impressed,
that her bodily strength sunk under it. The scene was one that neither
tongue nor pen can describe. No doubt some who have never seen or felt
any thing like this, will call it enthusiasm; but if it was, I would
wish to live and die in the midst of such enthusiasm. This was one
of the most intelligent families in that community--all educated and
refined, and strict Presbyterians. I have found but few such families.
The next morning we all repaired to the church, where I was met by Mr.
W----, the colporteur whom I have mentioned. Before that day’s meeting
closed eight more professed hope. That night I had a meeting at a Mr.
C----’s, who was a professed atheist, but within a few days after, was
numbered among God’s people.
The next day the house was crowded below with whites, and the gallery
with blacks. The presence of God seemed to be with every soul.
There were in the house two men, brothers, of large wealth and much
intelligence, both unmarried and somewhat dissipated. For two days
they had been deeply concerned, and their pious friends were earnest
in prayer for them. Just as I was closing my last discourse in the
evening, when there was scarce a dry cheek in the house, a negro who
was subject to fits, fell in a fit in the gallery, and made the most
unearthly noise I ever heard. All fled from the house with fright,
thinking the house was falling. These two brothers, when they went out,
said they were glad at what had happened, for if they had remained any
longer they would have been compelled to yield to the Spirit of God.
They both went away, and never returned; and said often afterwards
that they sealed their damnation that day. Each of them died a horrible
death with delirium tremens.
I exhorted three or four times each day throughout all the week, and
brother W---- scattered books and tracts, and talked and prayed.
Twenty-two were added to that church, and as many more joined other
churches. Before this meeting began, that church was nearly broken up,
and in six months after, the student to whom I have alluded was the
pastor.
Ten years after, as I was passing through this region in a stage, one
of my travelling companions told me he was one of the converts at a
place where I had labored. We were alone in the stage when we reached
the place of crossing a river near this church. The driver stopped to
water his horses, and I handed tracts to two men that were working at
the edge of the river. They looked at me a moment, and then caught my
hands: “Oh, this is Mr. C----. It was your tracts and labors that God
blessed to save our souls.” The stage-driver dropped his bucket and
rushed to me: “Oh, is it possible I have been hauling Mr. C---- and
did not know it? It was your tracts and labors which you began in the
rain in Fayette county that God blessed to my soul.” Here were four men
who had been led to Christ at different places, and now had met the one
whom they called the instrument of their salvation. To God alone be all
the glory.