Clark Journies towards Kentucky.--His Dress and Appearance.--
Colloquy.--Hospitality of Mr. Wells.--Recognized by a former
Convert.--Description of a “Big Meeting.”--Persuaded to Stop
and Preach.--Effects Produced.--Mr. Wells Converted.--A
Revival.--Shouting.--Family Religion.--Departs.--The Wells
Family turn Baptists.
It was early in the month of February, and in the year of our Lord,
one thousand seven hundred and ninety-six, that a stranger was seen
passing along the pathway that led down the range of low bluffs toward
the Savannah river. He was on foot, with a small bundle of clothing
tied in a handkerchief which hung over his shoulder, and was supported
by a stout walking stick. His countenance was cheerful, as he tripped
lightly along, without seeming to be wearied with the day’s weary
journey through the forest, with seldom a house on the public road.
His dress was the ordinary garb of the country, coarse cotton and wool
mixed, and of a greyish or light blue color. The outside garment was
a hunting-shirt; an article then worn by all classes on the frontiers.
This was a loose open frock that reached half-way down the thighs, with
large sleeves, and the body open in front, unless fastened by a girdle
or belt around the breast; the large cape fastened to the collar, and
the edges fringed with strips of reddish cloth. The materials of all
his garments were cotton with a mixture of wool, and spun and wove
in the families where he had lived. On his head was a low-crowned
felt hat, and his feet were shod with a kind of moccasins called
“shoe-packs.” These were made of thick leather, tanned by the farmers
with oak bark in a trough, and dressed with the oil or fat of the
raccoon, or opossum. The soles were fastened to the upper-leather by a
leathern thong, called by backwoodsmen, a “whang.”
“And is that strange-looking man a minister of the Gospel?”
“Yes; that is our excellent friend, Father Clark; called by all the
religious people of that time, _Brother_ Clark. Why do you ask?”
“Because he is dressed so singular and shabby.”
“Why do you say ‘_shabby_?’ I said no such thing. His garments are not
ragged, for that is what you mean by _shabby_, if you understand the
English language. His hunting-shirt, jacket,[26] and trowsers were new,
whole, and less soiled than yours will be in a single day when you run
through the dusty streets, and playground at school; though he has
traveled more than fifty miles.”
“But he looked so strange and odd in such clothes, and he a minister
of Jesus Christ? I never heard of a minister being dressed in such a
singular manner.”
“Ministers of the Gospel certainly ought not to be singular in their
dress, lest the people think they desire to be noticed for their
garments. I told you before, his dress ‘was in the ordinary garb of
the country.’ Mr. Clark wore such garments as the men did to whom he
preached, and therefore he appeared plain and equal with them. And his
loose garments, especially in a warm climate, were far more comfortable
than to be yoked up in a modern fashionable dress-coat, like the
ministers in these days.”
“But I should laugh so to see a minister in such a dress as Father
Clark wore; it would look so funny.”
“That would only prove you to be very foolish; or, to know very
little. Suppose preachers of the Gospel should appear in our costly
and fashionable church-houses, dressed just as Jesus Christ and the
Apostles did in Judea? Would you be silly enough to laugh at them?”
“How did they dress?”
“Have you forgotten your lesson in the Biblical Antiquities, from the
Sunday-School library, you read a few weeks since? There you learn
about the dress worn in Judea.”[27]
“Why don’t our ministers dress as Jesus Christ did?”
“Because you would laugh at them. Nor would Father Clark have worn
the same dress he did in Georgia and Illinois, had he been a pastor
in Boston, New York, or Philadelphia. In such matters as were not
religious and did not pertain to the service of God, but were earthly
comforts, about which God has given no revelation, but left every one
to his own reason and common sense, Father Clark, as did Paul, would
have become ‘all things to all men.’[28] According to his notions of
propriety, the dress he wore in Georgia was convenient and comfortable.
The women who loved and respected him as a minister of Christ, made
the cloth and cut out the garments, and gave them to him in the same
form as they made for their husbands and sons; and he felt thankful
and comfortable. Besides, he preferred to live plain, and economical,
and by that means had money to give away to purchase the house and
burying-ground for the poor Africans.
“But had he received a large salary as your ministers do, or possessed
millions of property as the rich merchants, speculators, bankers, and
railroad brokers now do, he would still have dressed very plain, and
lived in such a manner as to have had the means of doing good amongst
men. I very much doubt if even the force of custom would have induced
him to appear before the people in a lugubrious garb of _black_, as
clergymen do.”
“What causes ministers to dress in _black_ clothes?”
“Doubtless because they like to be fashionable, and be noticed a little
for their distinctive dress. Some folks think black looks solemn, and
therefore suited to the clerical profession. But, after all, a solemn,
sour appearance is a species of clerical trick, which Father Clark
never would perform. He was always pleasant and cheerful, and was the
more useful for it.”
“But still I do not see why our ministers should be so fond of _black
clothes_.”
“We will answer that question, and then follow Father Clark. Black was
introduced as a clerical garb, after the church became apostate, and
was one color of the priestly garb. Probably nine-tenths of those who
have worn it, both Catholics and Protestants, have been anything else
than the true followers of Christ. An eccentric writer of a former
period, in a satire on this fashion of an ungodly priesthood, gives
this reason why they wore black as an official garb:--“_That they might
the more exactly resemble their great master Beelzebub, whose garments
are all very dingy._”
We left our old friend Clark, wending his way down the range of low
hills that looked over the expansive bottom lands on the opposite side
of the Savannah. Near the river was a house where lived a plain, rough
frontier man, who kept the ferry. The house was a double cabin of hewn
logs, and a space between the rooms about ten feet in width. The owner
was sitting in this passage as Mr. Clark came to the stile, or steps by
which the door-yard fence was passed. The sun was descending towards
the western hills, and its face would soon be hidden by the range of
forest-land along the river.
“Good evening, friend. Can I stay with you to-night?”
“I reckon you can, if you will get along with such fare as we have.
Come in, stranger. Kitty, run and get the gentleman a chair; that’s a
good gal.”
A blue-eyed little girl, apparently about ten years of age, brought
from one of the rooms a plain, country-made chair, and Mr. Clark was
soon seated. In the meantime the host eyed the stranger, as though he
had seen him somewhere, but could not recollect.
“Sort’r pleasant weather, these days, stranger?”
“Yes: and we ought to be thankful to a merciful Providence for good
weather, and all other good things in this life.”
“Traveling far, stranger?”
“Some distance. I’m bound for _Kaintuck_.”
“Law me--’way to that country? And do you calkelate to walk all the way
there?”
“Yes; I prefer walking to riding.”
“Now, stranger, I begin to s’pect you are the preacher I he’rn tell of,
who was at the big meetin’ on ‘Coon Creek, a year or two sin’. What
mought your name be?”
“John Clark.”
“That’s the very thing. Here, old ’oman; Patsey, come here;” he called
to his “better half,” who was in the kitchen in the rear of the house,
attending to her domestic concerns.
“What’s wantin’, old man? I’ll be in soon.”
Presently a decent looking female, apparently about forty, with a
sun-bonnet on her head, and dressed in a short gown and petticoat of
the same stuff as her husband’s garments--cotton and wool mixed--came
in. No sooner did she cast her eyes on the preacher than she knew him,
and broke out--
“Dear me, if this ain’t Brother Clark, sure as I’m alive!” and she
sprang forward and shook hands with him, with as much rude, but hearty
simplicity, as if he had been her own brother; and bid him equally
welcome.
This recognition of one who appeared as a stranger needs a little
explanation.
More than two years before this period, Preacher Clark, and two other
Methodist ministers, held a meeting for several days in a frontier
settlement, some twelve or fifteen miles from the ferry, and Mrs.
Patsey Wells was there. Mr. Wells had emigrated from Pittssylvania
county, Virginia, to Georgia, about eight or nine years previous. He
was not a professor of religion, but accustomed to hear the Baptists
in his native State. His wife’s father and mother were Baptists, and
she had been in the habit of attending their meetings, and at times was
under serious impressions. She thought she must wait the Lord’s time,
when, if she was to be converted, she would be; at least she understood
the matter in this way from what she heard the preachers say. In the
new region of Georgia, where they settled, there was no preaching,
or preacher of any kind. Her husband got hold of a valuable tract of
land lying along the Savannah river, on the south, or Georgia side,
at a convenient crossing-place, where he established a ferry. In the
course of a few years it became a thoroughfare on one of the principal
roads leading from the settlements on the Upper Oconee and Broad river,
across the upper part of South Carolina towards Virginia.
Mrs. Wells felt unhappy that her children were growing up without any
religious instruction, and she could hear no one preach. But she had
the care of a family to claim her attention, and withal became quite
worldly in spirit, as their landed property rose in value, and the
comforts of life increased. She was industrious, tidy, and kept on well
after a worldly sort, but still felt at times unhappy, as if there was
some great want unsupplied.
Mr. Wells was a good-natured, hospitable man, seldom got in debt, and
then got out as soon as possible. He was reasonably industrious and
with four stalwart sons, who were from twelve to eighteen years of age,
he had opened a large farm and made some tobacco for the Charleston
market. The reason he gave why he bought no negroes was, “he thought
them more plague than profit,” and he was determined his sons should
learn to work, and get their living as he had done, by hard labor.
He really thought he was a good man, though he never served the Lord,
nor thought of the high and responsible relation he sustained to his
Creator and Redeemer, and made no provision for another world. True
he loved a big dram, and the habit increased on him, but he only got
tipsy, and behaved very foolish when he attended courts, elections, and
horse-races; and mortified his wife Patsey by his silly behavior when
he came home late at night. He was good-natured when drunk, boasted
of his wife, children, and property, and never abused Patsey or the
children; and would laugh, and tell jocular stories about himself, when
he was sober.
His wife Patsey, as he called her when talking about her to others,
heard of the Methodist meeting and felt very much like going. She had
heard Methodist preachers in Virginia, but did not like their ways,
and would have preferred to hear the Baptists; but none came into that
settlement. One of her old Virginia female acquaintances lived at the
place of the meeting, and she had intended for a long time to make her
a visit; and now it would be economical in time and expense to gain two
objects in one journey. So she left the “old man” and younger boys to
tend ferry and keep house with the two little girls; and she, and her
eldest son, went each on horseback to the meeting.
It was a powerful time on the frontiers; there was a shaking among the
dry bones; and many a stout-hearted sinner fell as if slain before the
Lord. There were three preachers present, each with gifts differing
from those of his brethren. The first we shall describe, was considered
as a sort of Boanerges among his brethren; at least so far as lungs
and voice were concerned. And he used many “big words,” quite beyond
the comprehension of plain, illiterate people. Some supposed him to be
a great preacher, and very learned, because they could not understand
him. The second preacher was what the people called “a powerful
exhorter.” He could not work in the lead to any advantage, but he could
follow a clear-headed preacher, and enforce the things said on the
consciences of the people by persuasive language and apt illustrations
with great effect. Mr. Clark after all did most of the real preaching,
and every one on the ground heard him with fixed attention.
The meeting was held in the shade of the forest, where a “stand” had
been prepared for the purpose. This was an elevated platform of split
slabs, and a book board, breast high in front of the preacher, on
which he might lean. Seats were made of the halves of small timbers,
the ends of which were placed on logs, and covered over a space of
ground large enough to accommodate several hundred hearers. In front
of the stand was an open space, with low seats around, and called the
altar, where the “mourners,” or persons who were seriously impressed,
were invited. At a late hour they separated and went to the houses of
the people who lived within a convenient distance for refreshment and
lodging. Prayer meetings were held at the houses at night, until late
bed-time. Some families that came from a distance with wagons, brought
provisions and encamped on the ground. Others, as did Mrs. Wells and
her son, were accommodated by the hospitality of the people, and
invitations were given publicly each day, if any strangers had arrived,
they would find a welcome. This was not a regular camp-meeting, for
those religious gatherings had not been instituted.
The husband of the woman whom Mrs. Wells came to visit, was a
Methodist, and performed a principal part in getting up and sustaining
this meeting. His wife had not joined society, but was a seeker, and
gave evidence of conversion at an early stage of the proceedings. Mr.
Clark took his meals and lodged with brother Lowe and family, where
Mrs. Wells stopped, and it was under his preaching and exhortations
that she became powerfully wrought upon, and was in great distress. In
kind and sympathizing language Mr. Clark conversed with her freely.
She had heard persons narrate their experience and conversion in the
church meetings where her father and mother belonged, and had obtained
some general knowledge of the gracious change all true Christians must
experience before they are fit to join a church of Jesus Christ;--that
a sinner must be under conviction, and have a “law-work,” as the
preachers called it, and obtain a “hope,” as it was termed. But she
knew very little about the nature of a real conversion, and the way
of salvation through the righteousness of Jesus Christ. Her female
friend told her she must pray earnestly and strive powerfully “to get
religion;” and Mr. Clark showed her from the Scriptures the sinfulness
and helplessness of fallen, corrupt human nature, and the infinite
ability and gracious willingness of Jesus Christ to save her, and the
mighty agency of the Holy Spirit in that work. He told her something
of his own experience in trying to make himself righteous, instead of
receiving Christ in all his fullness, and “who of God is made unto us
wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption.”[29]
This instruction had its due effect on her mind. Very soon she
despaired of making herself better, and felt her dependence on the Lord
to that degree, as to beg the preacher to pray to God to have mercy on
her; while with an audible voice she cried out in agony, “Lord, have
mercy on me, a miserable sinner.” We have given some account already
of the simplicity and effect of the prayers of Father Clark, but in
this, as in other cases of prayer for sinners in distress, his whole
heart seemed to go out in strains of the most moving supplications, as
though he could take no denial;--as though the eternal salvation of
the deathless spirit hung on the issue. Before he closed, Mrs. Wells,
who lay prostrate across her chair, groaning and crying for mercy, as
if wholly unconscious of what she said or did, sprang to her feet,
clapped her hands in a joyous ecstacy, and at the top of her voice,
in exultant tones exclaimed, “Glory to the Lord Jesus! Glory to the
Lord Jesus!--he’s pardoned my sins;--he’s pardoned my sins!”--and with
continuous shoutings and exclamations, until nature was exhausted, she
sunk into the arms of Mrs. Lowe, who placed her in the chair. Here she
sat, still rubbing her hands in ecstacy, and in a subdued voice, nearly
powerless, still cried, “glory, glory.”
“Well, I don’t believe in such conversions as that,” says a sentimental
lady;--a church member;--though she spent the half of the preceding
night over a specimen of the yellow-colored “light” literature that now
fills all our highways and by-ways;--and sighing and sentimentalizing
over an unreal and mawkish story of love and suicide.
“’Tis all fox-fire,” declares a grave and reverend divine, whose
intellect is as clear and as cool as an iceberg, and who has not enough
of impulse to raise the slightest emotions in his soul.
“What a lamentable thing it is to have ignorant persons carried away
with such enthusiastic notions,” responds a metaphysical philosopher,
who can map out the whole field of the human mind, and describe to the
tenth part of a grain the degree of emotion one ought to have under
all circumstances.
Those who weigh the impressions and emotions of gospel truth in one
metaphysical scale; who cannot endure any excitement in others above
their own passionless temperament;--who never had a muscle agitated
nor a nerve affected by the unseen workings of the inner man, will
have very orthodox notions about such impulsive feelings as Mrs. Wells
manifested when she suddenly felt herself relieved from the burden of
her sins, and enjoyed the gracious conviction of the power and mercy of
Jesus Christ in her salvation.
It is a very queer kind of philosophy that admits persons to faint,
fall, and even die under the pressure of some sudden and overwhelming
calamity; or from ecstacy from hearing joyful news of an earthly
kind, and yet accounts such paroxysms as Mrs. Wells had, “fox-fire,”
“enthusiasm,” and the fruits of “ignorance.” Mrs. Wells was a woman
of strong emotions, easily excited, and never trained to disguise her
feelings under a cold, conventional exterior. She behaved naturally,
and under the circumstances quite decorously enough. No one was
disturbed or interrupted by her shouts, but every unconverted sinner
in the room became most deeply impressed, and the revival became
general in the congregation. The meeting continued and the excitement
kept up for more than a week; during which a large society was
gathered, chiefly of those who professed to be converted, and Mrs.
Wells joined. A new circuit was formed, and a preaching station fixed
in the neighborhood of Wellsburgh; as some waggish traveler named the
ferry farm.
It was not strange or singular that Mrs. Patsey Wells greeted Father
Clark so joyfully, or that her husband, who had heard her describe the
preacher at the meeting on Coon Creek should have guessed so readily.
He not only spent the night with this hospitable family, but could
not get away even had he desired, until he had made an appointment,
and word was sent through the settlement for the people to gather for
preaching.
In all frontier settlements in the south-western States, it makes very
little difference in gathering a congregation, whether the preaching
is on the week day or the Sabbath. All classes turned out in their
ordinary working dress, for which they had a change of clean garments
ready. They knew nothing and cared little to which Christian sect
the strange preacher belonged; as all preached very much alike, and
iterated the same common place truths of the Bible on such occasions.
Men wholly worldly, and not very moral; who fingered bits of spotted
pasteboard, drank whiskey, and attended horse-races and shooting
matches, would turn out to hear a strange preacher, or go to a “big”
meeting, as these large convocations were called; where several
preachers of diverse gifts were expected.
The youngsters of the family were on their horses before the sun peered
his bright face over the hills of Georgia, and rode throughout the
settlements, and hallooed at every cabin to give the inmates notice
that “mother’s preacher” had come, and would preach at ’Squire Redman’s
that day. Of course every body understood the hour for meeting would
be twelve o’clock. Though the people were scattered over the hills
and along the vallies for many miles distant, the news spread, and by
eleven o’clock men, women and children, two and three often on one
horse, were approaching ‘Squire Redman’s plantation from every point of
the compass. A full complement of dogs to every family were on foot,
coursing along the margin of the woods near the pathway, smelling for
game, and barking up hollow trees. The children of course, large and
small, had to be taken, or the mothers could not go, and the dogs,
accustomed to follow their masters and the horses would go, whether
wanted or not. And should the young children cry and the dogs bark,
both the preacher and hearers were used to such trifling annoyances,
and never went into spasms, as we have seen a preacher, or a new comer
from a particular section of country. In the vicinity of Mr. Redman’s
house, and near a large spring, was the “stand” for the circuit
preacher, when the weather was favorable; and the dwelling house
afforded shelter in stormy weather, for which the owner had provided
rough moveable seats for the accommodation of his neighbors.
The preaching of Father Clark on this occasion was interesting,
instructive, and impressive. Several of the hearers, besides Mrs.
Wells and her son Jacob, had heard him at Coon Creek meeting. Wet
eyes were seen, and sister Wells was in raptures; alternately praying
with internal agony for her husband and children, and then smiling in
ecstasy, as the preacher described, with an occasional incident or
anecdote, the amazing love, power and grace of the Lord Jesus Christ
to save the lost. Mr. Wells heard the text and the introduction with
reverent attention; as the speaker advanced he was observed in an
unusual position; his body was bent forward, his eyes fixed, and
his mouth half open as though he would take in every word. Again,
his posture was changed, his elbows rested on his knees, his hands
supported his head, and a tremor seemed to agitate his whole frame.
Those who sat near him saw the tears dropping fast to the ground, and
it was evident he was unusually and powerfully affected by the sermon.
This did not escape the notice of his wife, who was seated among the
females on the opposite side of the stand, and every one could see
she was exceedingly agitated. Others were affected, amongst whom were
some rough looking, stout-hearted men, who never before discovered any
agitation under preaching. Two of the youngsters of the Wells’ family
were among the anxious. Jacob, or Jake as he was familiarly called,
who accompanied his mother to the great meeting on Coon Creek, had
been serious at times since; while at other times he seemed to be more
thoughtless, wayward and wicked than ever. He was there, said nothing;
but held his head down.
Father Clark’s sermon did not exceed an hour, but there was singing,
praying, and conversation with persons in distress. ‘Squire Redman, who
was class-leader, gave a warm and feeling exhortation, prayed two or
three times, and finally held a private conversation with our friend
Wells, and pronounced him to be “powerfully convicted,” and “not far
from the kingdom of God.”
We hope our fastidious, cold-hearted, philosophical readers will not
get offended and throw the book aside because good Mrs. Wells had a
paroxysm of shouting on this occasion. Those readers, whose emotions
were never excited until every fibre of the heart seemed ready to
give way for a husband and children, as she was, who she knew by her
own sad experience were in the broad road that leads to the gates of
eternal death, may retain their cold, calculating fire-side philosophy.
But we shall permit this impulsive, warm-hearted woman to shout, and
express her thankfulness to heaven in the strongest manner, and to her
heart’s content. A little too much heat and moisture are infinitely
more fructifying in faith and holy living, than ice-bound cliffs and a
region of perpetual frost. She had been praying for more than two years
for her “old man and little ones,” as she called them, and now she had
evidence that the Lord was at work with them. Under these circumstances
it would not do to stop the meeting, and the appointment was given out
for that night at ‘Squire Redman’s house, and next day at the stand.
Father Clark, the Wells family, and several others tarried for dinner,
and a good opportunity was presented to converse with Mr. Wells.
Mrs. Wells and two or three other women turned into the kitchen with
mother Redman, and by four o’clock, two or three tables were filled in
succession by hungry guests, the men first served, the females next,
and then the children. Bountiful were the supplies of meat, chickens,
eggs, corn-dodgers, and sweet potatoes, with pickled beets, cucumbers,
and divers other condiments; enough to supply a whole settlement,
including the dogs.
It would have been the season of winter in a northern climate, but it
was then the opening of spring, in the early part of February; the
weather was pleasant and not disagreeably warm. After the first table
was through, Mr. Clark gave our friend Wells a jog of the elbow, and
they walked together into the forest to a retired place. Mrs. Wells
saw the movement, tried to partake of the refreshment at the second
table, but her appetite failed. She was too deeply affected to speak,
and with another female who belonged to the same society, was seen
moving pensively in another direction, towards the thick forest. We
will not intrude. Her husband, whom, under all the rough exterior of
unpolished nature, she truly loved, was in a most critical situation.
She had conversed with him, kindly and affectionately, about his
eternal interests, when he seemed in a mood to listen; she had told him
incidents of her own experience; her agony of distress and the efficacy
of Mr. Clark’s prayers on her behalf. He had offered no objection
to her joining society, though she knew he disliked the Methodists
before she joined, and seldom attended the meetings since the circuit
had been established. For the first time within the period of their
acquaintance, he was anxious about his soul;--she knew it, felt it,
and who will blame her if she and her female companion prayed for him
audibly and fervently, while Father Clark had him on his knees in
another direction, where no eye but the eye of God was upon them, and
no other ear was listening.
Towards the setting sun, and as the people began to collect for the
night meeting, Mr. Clark and his friend Wells were seen coming out
of the woods, arm in arm, engaged in conversation. Mr. Wells seemed
cheerful, if not happy, while the countenance of Mr. Clark was lighted
up with a heavenly smile. From that day Samuel Wells was an altered man.
The meeting continued over the Sabbath, during which several others
gave evidence of a change of heart and life, and when the newly
appointed preacher from the Conference made his appearance at this
remote station on the circuit, the following week, he found a
revival in progress, and that his old acquaintance who had left the
“connexion,” had been at work in the Lord’s harvest, and the Methodist
society had sustained no damage by his independent labors.
Mr. Clark returned to the ferry with his friends, the Wells family, but
there was enough of rejoicing and friendly conversation to occupy him
that day. Besides, he must not think of departing on his journey before
his clothes were in order, and everything ready; so mother Wells
argued.
And there was another duty to perform which no itinerant, or faithful
pastor, will neglect. Religious meditation, and especially prayer
in the hearing of others, was a new business to Mr. Wells, and it
required just such a man as Father Clark to encourage, instruct and
lead him into the practice of household religion. Though his speech was
somewhat incoherent, and a tremor shook his brawny limbs, in making
the first attempt in presence of the preacher, his wife and children;
he had decision enough to go forward, and soon acquired a gift that
was profitable in the society and class-meetings. And now there was
another serious difficulty. He had no Bible in his house; only a torn
and shattered Testament, which his wife had read over and over, on
the dreary Sabbaths she had passed with her family. Her husband had
promised on two occasions, when he visited Charleston and sold his
tobacco, to buy one. But on one journey he had made inquiry at several
stores and found none; the other time “getting a little overtaken,” as
he called it, he had forgotten the business, though he did not fail
to bring his wife a new calico dress, and several other luxuries she
had not requested. The idea of Bible Societies, and special efforts to
supply the destitute with the Word of God, had entered into the mind of
no one. Nor could such books be found for sale in any of the interior
settlements of the South or West.
Father Clark had a neat pocket Bible, which he obtained in London,
and which was his daily companion. He was now in a strait betwixt the
conflicting claims of duty. Generosity and sympathy spoke loudly to
his heart to give this family his Bible. Conscience and reason seemed
to say, “You cannot spare this book. How can a preacher do without
a Bible?” After a season of prayer on the subject, faith turned the
scale, “Leave the Bible, and trust in the Lord for another;” and so it
was decided, and he never regretted it.
The parting scene was affecting. Mr. Wells and his wife both wept like
children, and begged him not to forget them in his prayers, and if
he ever came that way again to make their house his home. The whole
family walked with him to the river bank, and Mr. Wells and his two
eldest sons worked the ferry-boat over the river. As they turned into
a slight bend in the river, they could see mother Wells still sitting
on the bank, with her handkerchief to her eyes, deeply affected that
she should see her preacher’s face, and hear his voice no more; yet,
devoutly thankful that the Lord had sent him that way as the instrument
of salvation to her house.
The boat was tied to the shore, and the old man and his two sons walked
with the preacher through the low bottom-land that lined the bank of
the Savannah river, to the bluffs and up-lands of South Carolina. As
they were about to part, the preacher kneeled down and prayed with
them, and especially mentioned the young lads, that they might be
like young Timothy, and serve the Lord from their youth. Mr. Clark
was now seen slowly but cheerfully ascending the sloping hills, that
led towards Greenville district, while in silence the father and sons
returned to their home.
Leaving father Clark to pursue his journey towards the mountain
range in the north-west, we will continue a while on the banks of the
Savannah, to learn a little of the future history of the Wells family.
The rule of the Saviour, to judge of religious excitements and
conversions, is, “By their _fruits_ shall ye know them.” Our
metaphysical and philosophical friends, with the class of
cold-blooded, grave divines, who measure the character of others by
their own passionless natures; with the sentimental ladies who are
dreadfully shocked at religious ebullitions, may be assured that the
excitable Mrs. Wells, and her more sluggish husband, never “fell from
grace,” as our Methodist friends denominate the result of spurious
conversions. It is true they left the Methodist society, and were
baptized into the fellowship of a Baptist church, but this was in
accordance with their original predilections and previous training.
During the period of Mr. Clark’s sojourn in Georgia, Baptist churches
and preachers were more numerous than Methodists. In the region south
and east of Augusta, they were by far the most numerous class of
Christians. In 1792, there were about fifty-seven Baptist churches,
fifty-eight ordained preachers, twenty-five candidates, and about 2,400
communicants in Georgia. The Georgia Association had been constituted
in 1784, and in 1792 included about twenty-five churches. The Hepzibah
Association was organized in 1794, and the churches extended along the
waters of the Ogeechee and Oconee rivers. The ministers who itinerated
in upper settlements, on Oconee and Broad rivers, after Mr. Clark left
the country, were Mr. John Cleveland, who crossed the Savannah river
from South Carolina, D. Thornton, William Davis, Thomas Johnson, and
Thomas Gilbert. Mr. Cleveland became acquainted with the Wells family
by crossing their ferry, and they liked his style of preaching and that
of his brethren, and being taught the way of the Lord more perfectly,
with others, were baptized, and a church was raised up near their
residence.