SAVOY, 
 
 LIBRARY OF 
 
 HENRY M. DUNLAP 
 
 ILLINOIS 
 
 jQgggOWgD PLEASERETURN PROMPTLY i 
 
 ■SIONmi 'AOAVS 
 
 THE UHIVEHWTY 
 
 or auMon 
 
 UIRAIIY 
 
 C^S>2c\ 
 
 ,r^g|
 
 JiA^yJ^ 

 
 LIBRARY 
 
 CF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
 
 I 
 
 
 I Hi HAWKS XKST. (h: makshai.i/s imllah, 
 
 KWKriK CurSTY, WK-r VIIH.IMV. \'\i,Y IC.T.
 
 FIVE YEARS 
 
 IN 
 
 THE ALLEGHANIES 
 
 PUBLISHED BY THE 
 AMEEICAN TEACT SOCIETY, 
 
 150 NASSAU-STREET, "NEW YORK.
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1863, by the 
 American' Tract Socictt, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court 
 of the Southern District of the State ofSew York.
 
 CONTEIS^TS. 
 
 ^ 
 
 ^ CHAPTER I 
 f The Preparation - 5 
 
 CHAPTER n. 
 The milestone — The elegant young man — The col- 
 ■^ Her — The rich lady • -- 15 
 
 ^ CHAPTER nX 
 
 The grog-shop — The rolling mills — The Universalist, 27 
 
 ■ \ CHAPTER IV. 
 
 43 The new "relagin" — The hard father and his little 
 
 . Vj daughter — The deserted homes — The stolen books, 37 
 
 W CHAPTER Y. 
 
 ^ Book preachers installed — ' ' Caught -with guile '' — The 
 
 ^ clenched fist — Keyiew - -- 4:d 
 
 \ CHAPTER ^T 
 
 -VjGrovemor of "West Virginia— Sui-prising desolations — 
 v^T^T,^ 1^/1^,,^ r^^.r. A;....r... " Blazinor the trees "-- - 57 
 
 ^ 
 
 CHAPTER XTL. 
 The hunter seeking books for a Sunday-school — The 
 first sermon — Clock pedlars 68 
 
 q^ CHAPTER XJIl. 
 
 •^The "Ironside" preacher and distiller — "Wife and 
 fV granddaughter--- 75 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 r^A church dignitary — "Have you let Washington into 
 . hearen?" - - 81 
 
 ^ CHAPTER X. 
 
 The pistol — The surveyor's son — A pubHc-house — 
 ^j,^^ ' ' You have prayed plenty " — The pocket-Bible 89 
 
 ,^ 104/897
 
 4 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 The summit of Cheat monutum — The "fellow that 
 wanted to colport" — The sheriffs warrant — "Wish- 
 ing to be a iraet agent 97 
 
 CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 The wickedest man in the county — The bully — The 
 shooting match — A gang of desperadoes Ill 
 
 CHAPTER Xm. 
 A night on guard— Old Kandal Lucas 119 
 
 CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 ' ' No church, no jweacher, no Sunday-school, no day- 
 school " — A young lady's success 128 
 
 CHAPTER XY. 
 
 "Xo such place as hell" — The busj- lawyer — A Trini- 
 ty — The great work in L , and in U 137 
 
 CHAPTER XA1. 
 A Pentecostal season — Ser^^ce in a graveyard — A Se- 
 ceder church - 151 
 
 CHAPTER XVn. 
 
 The Spirit's blessing at C , and near Marshall's 
 
 Pillar, and at L B Col. S 's household, 163 
 
 CH.APTER XYIU. 
 
 Grieving the Sj^irit — Striking elTocts of the Anxious 
 Inquirer - 176 
 
 CHAPTER XIX. 
 
 Work of grace at L The German professor— 
 
 The wealthy young lady — "Don't be oflfended" — 
 
 A distinguished ciWlian 188 
 
 The Conclusion --- - • 201
 
 FIVE YEARS 
 
 IN 
 
 THE ALLEGHANIES. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 " It is uot in man that walketh to direct his 
 steps." In all my connection with the scenes 
 here truthfiillj described, as in the training 
 and discipline of earher years through which 
 I was brought into them, I have been led in a 
 luay that I kneiu not. 
 
 I was born on the border of Western Penn- 
 sylvania and Yii'ginia, within the wilds of the 
 vast range of the Alleghanies, where the howl 
 of the wolf, the scream of the panther, and 
 the Indian's tomahawk were my dread. In 
 infancy my father died, and a few years later 
 my pious mother. But God raised up a fos-
 
 6 FIVE YEARS 
 
 ter-motlier, and in her family an intelligent 
 Scotch female teacher, who made me her 
 special charge during my first year at school. 
 Here, in connection with faithful preaching 
 from a tent in the woods on the Sabbath, and 
 instruction in the Ibg-cabin day-schools, I re- 
 ceived those rudiments of education, and was 
 indoctrinated in that sound system of faith 
 and morals from which "old Scotia's grandeur 
 springs." 
 
 Conscious of my ruin by sin and need of 
 the "new birth," as set forth in old standard 
 works of Flavel and Boston which I read, for 
 three years from ten to thii-teen, I was often 
 deeply impressed as to the state of my soul. 
 I attended constantly on preaching and the 
 monthly examinations, committed to mem- 
 ory catechisms and scriptures, and wrestled 
 with God in prayer that I might be truly con- 
 verted and become a minister of the gospel ; 
 and sometimes I indulged a trembling hope 
 in Christ. 
 
 But among the snares and flatteries of un- 
 godly companions, my alarm and faint hopes 
 of salvation gi'adually subsided. I was at 
 length led to show my manJiood by tobacco-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 7 
 
 cheTNTQg, card-plajing, and eyen profanity. 
 Next I was enticed to read works on Univer- 
 salism, and for four years sought to stifle con- 
 science by arguments to prove tliat all will be 
 saved. Yet a still small voice was wkLspering, 
 " The soul that sinneth it shall die ;" and 
 though jovial in company, when alone heU 
 would seem to flash up before me in aU its 
 horrors. Two great powers were striving in 
 my heart : one to lead me into deeper sin ; 
 the other crying, " Turn ye, turn ye ; for why 
 win ye die?" At seventeen I went ^^ith an 
 ungodly young man into the then ^oLderness 
 of Central Ohio, where for haK a year I 'heard 
 no sermon, hunted on the Sabbath, threw ofi 
 restraints, and as it were dared the ven- 
 geance of God. Oh how astonishing the mer- 
 cy of God, to continue to strive with such a 
 rebel ! 
 
 When I arrived at eighteen, I spent two or 
 three nights in a week at the card-table, to 
 "kiU time" and drown the w^hispers of the 
 Spirit. I thought of enhsting in the army, and 
 then resolved to go to sea : but in the provi- 
 dence of God, a young woman just then en- 
 gaged my affections; thoughts of the army
 
 8 FIVE YEARS 
 
 and tlie sea were dislodged, and in a few 
 months we were mamed, depending on our 
 personal exertions for the means of sujDport. 
 
 We rented a piece of land, and entered upon 
 the scenes and responsibilities of real life. 
 After six months, I was seized with acute in- 
 flammatory rheumatism, and the A^erdict of 
 the physician was, that the disease was incur- 
 able, and I must die. Every feature was dis- 
 torted with agony ; and yet the agony of sord 
 at the thought of being dragged into the pres- 
 ence of God vrith. all my sins unpardoned was 
 unsjDeakably more terrible. I saw that I had 
 shut my heart against the calls of God's word 
 and Spirit a thousand times, and that I de- 
 served the deepest hell. I tried to pray, but 
 there seemed to be no God to hear, no Sav- 
 iour to intercede, no Spirit to comfort my lost 
 and TVTetched soul. 
 
 As I was recovering, " The Afflicted Man's 
 Companion," received from a fiiend, was 
 gi-eatly blessed to me, and I resolved -by 
 God's help to live the life and die the death 
 of 'the righteous. The struggle now began in 
 earnest. Such was my agony of soul, that I 
 often went to the woods and rolled on the
 
 I^' THE ALLEGHANIES. 9 
 
 ground for hours. Most of those around me, 
 for miles in every direction, were HAing in neg- 
 lect of God ; intemperance fearfully prevailed ; 
 there was not one religious fiiend to whom I 
 could reveal the feehngs of my heart. I tried 
 to surrender myseK to Christ, but in vain. A 
 voice seemed to follow me continually, " He 
 that is ashamed of me and of my words, of him 
 will I be ashamed before my Father and his 
 holy angels." I felt that a 'public acknow- 
 ledgment of Christ and his cause was the only 
 way of rehef ; but I shrunk from the duty, 
 wishing to be a secret Chi'istian, and go to 
 the Sa^dour, like Nicodemus, by night. This 
 distress continued for some months. 
 
 At length I was enabled to ask a blessing 
 at my table, which seemed a hard task before 
 my then irrehgious wife ; and after this it was 
 a struggle of six months before I could sum- 
 mon courage to commence family prayer, 
 even on a Sabbath evening. This duty was 
 then performed, and peace of mind followed. 
 After a few months I made known the state 
 of my mind to the officers of a church some 
 miles distant, and was admitted, though with 
 many sore misgivings and fears that I had
 
 10 FIVE YEARS 
 
 no right to the Lord's supper, and was self- 
 deceived. 
 
 Grod graciously removed these doubts, and 
 I felt the claims of Christ to do something 
 for others. I first engaged in loaning such 
 good books as I could get, especially The Af- 
 flicted Man's Companion, Doddiidge's Pdse 
 and Progress, and Pike's Persuasives to Ear- 
 Iv Pietv : feelins^ assui'ed that no one could 
 praverfolly read either of these books -without 
 being converted. 
 
 When I was in my twenty-third yeai', a 
 devoted CTnistian settled in a very wicked 
 community about five miles from me, where 
 he started a Sabbath-school. I went to see 
 it, and was greatly pleased with it. At the 
 
 close, I was introduced to Mr. P ; and to 
 
 his influence, under God, more than to that 
 of any other individual, is to be traced all I 
 have been enabled to do for the salvation of 
 souls. He told me aU about the management 
 of a Sabbath-school, and how to get books 
 from the American Sunday-school Union, 
 which had just begun its heaven-bom work 
 in our country. I immediately set to work, 
 raised five dollars, procured ten dollars' worth
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 11 
 
 of books, and opened a Sabbatli-scliool in 
 my own bouse. The room soon became too 
 small ; bnt God put it into the heart of an irre- 
 ligious neighbor to offer a larger room, where 
 the school was continued for a year, and 
 where I also held a weekly meeting, usually 
 reading one of Burder's Yillage Sermons. 
 More room soon became necessary, and a 
 large school-house was built ; and there, for 
 twelve long years, the Sabbath-school and 
 rehgious meetings were kept up, imtil nearly 
 all the youth and most of the adult popula- 
 tion in the neighborhood were brought into 
 the church. 
 
 This Sabbath-school and that of jNIi'. P 
 
 were the means God used to build up a good 
 congi'egation in one of the most ^svicked and 
 hopeless communities. 
 
 With these results before me, as soon as I 
 heard of Colportage my heart beat with joy 
 at the thought that the poor would soon have 
 the gospel preached to them, and that thou- 
 sands of children, untaught at home, would 
 be reached by soul-saving truth adapted to 
 theu' opening minds. 
 
 But the question came into my mind at
 
 12 FIVE YEARS 
 
 once, " Who -will go into these ignorant com- 
 munities, and deny themselves the comforts 
 of home, to do this work ?" little thinking that 
 God, by fifteen years training, had selected 
 me for that very work in the Alleghanies. 
 
 An incident that occurred some years pre- 
 vious made a deep impression on my mind. 
 The ecclesiastical body with which I was con- 
 nected had requested the ofiicers of vacant 
 churches to visit all the famiHes in those 
 churches, and talk and pray with them. I 
 shrunk from the task; but encouraged by 
 
 Mr. P , I entered on it with fear and 
 
 trembhng. By the time the first visit was 
 paid I felt as if I should like to spend my 
 days in such a work. Late in the evening of 
 my first day I stoj)ped at a house where the 
 man and his wife were members of our church. 
 A young man was present who was to be mar- 
 ried in a few days. I had some acquaintance 
 with him, and asked him if he had ever felt 
 any concern about his soul. He said, "A 
 little sometimes, but not much." I urged 
 him to seek first the kingdom of God and his 
 righteousness, and said to him, "For aught 
 you know, before another morning you may
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 13 
 
 be dead, or on a sick-bed from wliicli you 
 may neyer rise." At midnight that night he 
 woke np sick. In a day or two I was sent for. 
 He told me the moment he woke sick he 
 thought of what I said, and felt that he should 
 never get well. He lingered three months; 
 but more than a month before he died he 
 professed his faith in Christ. From that time 
 till he died, he daily urged his ungodly, in- 
 temperate parents to repent and meet him in 
 heaven. The father soon became much dis- 
 tressed about his soul; and a year after, he 
 died a most triumj^hant death, committing 
 his children to my care for religious instruc- 
 tion. Within a few years the mother and 
 most of the childi-en were united with God's 
 people. All attributed their salvation to the 
 exhortations of that son and those of us who 
 attended him and his father. This encour- 
 aged me to try to do more. 
 
 On the morning of October 20, 1844, I 
 rose in peace, with my happy little family 
 around me ; but a holy Providence ordered 
 that in twelve hoiu*s my dear wife was to be. 
 in the cold embrace of death, and that her" 
 death was to be the first of a chain of provi-
 
 14 FIVE YEARS 
 
 dences to lead me " out into the liighwajs and 
 hedges." 
 
 The next Sabbath morning our pulpit was 
 
 occupied by Eev. Mr. W , who presented 
 
 the moral and rehgious wants of our country, 
 and tenderly appealed for laborers. At* the 
 close of the service I was introduced to him, 
 and he accompanied me to the new-made 
 gi'ave of my beloved companion. The band 
 that had bound me to my home was loosed. 
 On Monday morning the preacher called on 
 me again ; prehminaries were an'anged ; and 
 I was commissioned as colporteur for West- 
 ern Yirginia, consenting fii'st to labor a short 
 time among the colliers in Western Pennsyl- 
 vania.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 15 
 
 CHAPTEE II. 
 
 I LEFT home for the field of labor assigned 
 me on the first day of November, 1844. 
 
 On my way on horseback I came alongside 
 of a yonng gentleman of very fine appear- 
 ance. We immediately entered into conver- 
 sation about the beautiful farms and fine im- 
 provements we j)assed. 
 
 When we had rode some distance, I ob- 
 served a mile-stone, which reminded me of a 
 promise made some years before, that I would 
 never travel a mile or spend an hoiu' alone 
 with any person mthout talking on the sub- 
 ject of "religion. I immediately set about to 
 find something to make an introduction out 
 of. The first thing that caught my eye was 
 a very tall hickory pole, raised by one of the 
 political parties of the time, and said I ffeared 
 the pohtical excitement was very seriously 
 affecting the interests of the church. 
 
 The evasive reply of the elegant young man 
 led me to suppose he was a gay, thoughtless
 
 IG FIVE YEAKS 
 
 young lawyer or plijsician, as I had discov- 
 ered that he was an educated man. 
 
 I then obser^'ed to him that as we were 
 pro^ddentiallj throT\*n together, and I had 
 made a promise not to travel a ^mile or spend 
 an hour T\ith any one %\'ithont speaking on 
 the subject of religion, I ho2:)ed he had no 
 objections to such conversation. 
 
 He said, " It is no doubt an important sub- 
 ject," but said it in such a way that I still 
 thought he was an ii'religious man. 
 
 I then observed that I felt a deep interest 
 in young men, especially as the destinies of 
 the chui-ch and nation would soon be in theii* 
 hands. That the only safeguard of either 
 was real piety. I then repeated the text, 
 " Excej)t a man be born again he cannot see 
 the kingdom of God." And after preaching 
 him a sermon from it near a mile long, he 
 observed, 
 
 " Well, sir, that is very good theology." 
 
 The manner in which it was said led me 
 to reply, "Perhaps T have run against a 
 preacher." 
 
 " Yes, sir," said he, " I am a new beginner 
 at it, and you have given me one of the best
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 17 
 
 lessons that I have ever learned. I thank 
 you for it; it needs no apology, and I hope 
 God Tvill give me grace always to do like- 
 wise." 
 
 Our joui'ney as we continued it to Pitts- 
 burg was j^leasant and profitable. 
 
 In the evening I reached the hospitable 
 
 home of the Eev. Mr. J in the tillage of 
 
 T , near to the city. It had been ar- 
 ranged for his house to be my headquarters, 
 and I shall never forget the nights I spent 
 with him and his devoted companion. I 
 thought him as nigh Christian perfection as 
 man is ever raised in this world. Had it not 
 been for their wise Chi'istian counsel and ear- 
 nest prayers, my faith and courage would have 
 yielded when I came to look on my field of la- 
 bor. My new work, to which everybody was a 
 stranger, and to be done among strangers in 
 the bustle of business and worldly excite- 
 ments, seemed to be too formidable an tm- 
 dertaking. All nations seemed to be rej^re- 
 sented; scores intoxicated, and blaspheming 
 God's holy name. And what added to the 
 difficulty was, that my books did not come 
 to hand for three da^^s, leaving me that time 
 
 Pive Years. 2
 
 18 FIVE YEARS 
 
 to magnify molehills into mountains of diffi- 
 culty. 
 
 But tliis delay was the most important part 
 of my training. Those were days of most 
 earnest searchings of heart, while such pas- 
 sages of Scripture as, " He that is ashamed of 
 me and my words, of him will I be ashamed 
 before my Father and his holy angels," were 
 constantly ringing in my ears. 
 
 On the evening of the thu'd day the box of 
 books came. I had engaged a class-leader in 
 the Methodist church to go with me the first 
 day ; but the sight of the box made me ti'em- 
 ble, and so gTeat was the dread of beginning 
 the work that evening, that I resolved that if 
 God did not give me strength by the next 
 morning, I would start home and give it up. 
 The night was spent without sleep. I can 
 truly say I was in an agony till foiu* o'clock 
 in the morning. Then in a moment of time 
 all my fears were gone, and I longed for the 
 morning to come that I mightrbegin my work. 
 
 By eight o'clock in the morning I called on 
 
 Mr. S who was to accompany me, with 
 
 my basket filled with good books and tracts. 
 
 In a few minutes we entered the fii'st house.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 19 
 
 They were Germans; very irreligious. We 
 talked and prayed with them, and sold some 
 books. They seemed pleased vrith the visit, 
 and thanked ns for it. 
 
 The next house we entered bore the brand 
 of intemperance. The husband was sitting 
 by the fii'e with a sore hand and red eyes. 
 We preached to him " righteousness, temper- 
 ance, and a judgment to come," till he trem- 
 bled and wept like a child. He promised to 
 drink no more, joined a temperance society 
 that night, became a chm-ch-going man, pro- 
 vided for his family, and as far as I know 
 has turned out well. 
 
 During that day we visited twenty-seven' 
 famihes, talked and prayed T\dth all of them, 
 and distributed near twenty dollars' worth of 
 books. Many shed tears while we talked 
 with them of Christ and salvation, and prom- 
 ised to attend to the " one thing needful." 
 
 Mr. S , my fellow-laborer, was so stiiTed 
 
 in soul with the day's work, that he c.aid he 
 must let his business stand and go the next 
 day. 
 
 The next morning we started, full of zeal 
 and hope. We met with many of the most
 
 20 FIVE YEARS 
 
 wicked and degraded people that I had ever 
 
 seen. Some listened to us with attention, 
 while others treated iis "s\-ith contempt. Late 
 in the eTening, while we were visiting a row 
 of board shanties, occupied by coal diggers, 
 I was told not to venture into one of the shan- 
 ties ; that the man was almost a giant in size 
 and strength, and a very dangerous man ; that 
 he was a teiTor to the neighborhood, and had 
 beaten his wife yerj badly the day before. I 
 rephed there was the more need to see him, 
 and I wovdd go in. My friend would not 
 even come to the door of the shanty, for fear 
 of him. 
 
 The shanty was sixteen feet square, no 
 floor but the eai-th; neither chau*, table, nor 
 bed except a bundle of straw in one corner. 
 He was seated on a large block of coal at one 
 side of the fire, and his wife on another block 
 at the other side, while the children were 
 hing on the gi'omid playing between them. 
 The woman's face bore testimony of the beat- 
 ing she had gotten the day before. 
 
 He was one of the most fiendish-looking 
 men I ever saw. He was of enormous size, was 
 clothed with rags, and did not appear as if he
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 21 
 
 had been washed for months. He was as 
 black as coal-dust conld make him. I must 
 confess it reqiiii'ed all the courage I could 
 summon to speak to him. 
 
 I approached him, and extended my hand, 
 and said to him, " I have come to supply you 
 'svith some good books to comfort you and 
 point you to heaven. Have you a Bible?" 
 "Xo," said he. "Can you read?" "Yes, a 
 little." "Do you loye' Jesus Christ?" "I 
 fear not, su\" I then urged him by every 
 thing sacred to attend to his soul's salvation 
 without delay; that death, judgment, and 
 eternity were hastening on, and pictured to 
 him as well as I could the awful consequences 
 of dying. in his sins. The tears ran down his 
 blackened cheeks till the coal-dust was wash- 
 ed away below his eyes. I gave him a book, 
 and prayed with him. He begged me to call 
 again, and said, " You are the first man that 
 ever spoke to me about my soul." 
 
 During this day we ^dsited twenty-two fami- 
 lies, and had rehgious conversation and prayer 
 
 with each of them. Mr. S had become 
 
 so deeply interested, that he said he must go 
 another day.
 
 22 FIVE YEARS 
 
 The next day we concluded to visit a coal 
 digger's boarding-liouse, said to be the wick- 
 edest den that was to be found in the whole 
 district. I will not attempt to describe its 
 character. We entered late in the evening, 
 as this was the only time we could find the 
 men in. The house was kept by an old, 
 woman and her sons, who worked in the 
 mines and were notorious for then- daring 
 profanity. 
 
 When we entered the house several men 
 were playing cards, others were lying on 
 benches about the room in various stages of 
 intoxication. My colaborer was a small, timid 
 man, and seemed somewhat alarmed. 
 
 I introduced our eiTand by proposing to 
 sell them some good books, which they de- 
 chned even to look at. I then commenced a 
 general exhortation, which had no effect more 
 than poui-ing water on a rock. I then called 
 on my fi'iend to pray, as it was his turn, and 
 we had agreed to lead in tiu*ns. This he did 
 with great fervor, and was responded to by 
 the men with vulgar songs, and such other 
 beha^^or as I have never seen before or 
 siuce.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. , 23 
 
 At the close of Lis prayer I turned to the 
 old woman and told her I was astonished at 
 the mercy of God that permitted snch a fam- 
 ily to live, and portrayed the awful conse- 
 quences of her meeting her household in hell, 
 I drew every alarming picture I could sum- 
 mon irom. the Bible or the resources of my 
 own mind. After some time the old woman 
 began to weep, and she promised to attend 
 the mission chapel the next Sabbath. After 
 supplying them with a copy of Baxter's Call, 
 and a number of suitable tracts, we left them. 
 
 The next Sabbath the old woman was at 
 the chapel. A series of reUgious meetings 
 began that day, and before its close, as my 
 friend informed me, who was a worshipper 
 there, the old woman and one of her sons 
 professed rehgion. 
 
 One day we entered a room where a man 
 was lying sick. We introduced the subject 
 of religion to him. He ground his teeth with 
 rage, and swore he did not want to hear any 
 thing on that subject. I then began to in- 
 quire about his complaints, and to prescribe 
 some simple remedies, and he soon became 
 calm. After some time I remarked that af-
 
 24 .FIVE YEARS 
 
 flictions did not come by cliance, neither did 
 trouble spring out of the gi'ound, but they 
 ■were all sent of God for some wise purpose. 
 " Do you thmk so ?" said he. " Yes," said I, 
 " and for our good." He then Hstened atten- 
 tively, and soon shed tears. Though he was 
 very poor, he bought some books. I prayed 
 with him, and left him, but not without many 
 thanks and entreaties to come and see him 
 as often as I could. 
 
 This closed the work of three days, in 
 which time we had visited eighty-five fami- 
 lies. 
 
 These three days were the most interesting 
 days that I had ever spent. By the next 
 morning I found my voice almost gone, and 
 all my limbs trembHng. The excitement of 
 the work and intensity of feehng had pros- 
 trated me before I was aware of it. 
 
 After a day or two of rest I resumed my 
 labors for three weeks, when I went home a 
 few days. 
 
 I then returned to the same place, and 
 spent a month in ^'isiting new famihes and 
 revisiting old ones; and I shall never forget 
 the cordial shake of the hand that I got al-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 25 
 
 most every day, wlien I would meet some one 
 in the lionse or on tlie street whom I had ' 
 before conversed with and supphed with a 
 book or tract. Special services had been 
 held in several churches, and quite a number 
 had professed rehgiou. One minister told me 
 he had taken into his church forty, many of 
 whom dated theii* first rehgious impressions 
 to reading the books and tracts I had sold or 
 given them, others referred to the visits as 
 the means of their awakening. 
 
 There was one thing in the work which 
 strack me with great force — the effect on 
 Christian people. I tried as far as possible 
 to get some good man to go ^ith me in my 
 visits. It was a great help to me and added 
 to my success, and at the same time it stirred 
 up many to work for Christ that had never 
 done any thing before. 
 
 One instance I will name of a Miss L , 
 
 though she had been a worker. She was a 
 lady of large wealth, and had a number of 
 poor tenants h\dng on her property. She 
 heard of my work, and came to see me. At 
 her request I went to visit her "parish," as 
 she called it. I went at the set time, and 
 
 ^.
 
 26 FIVE YEARS 
 
 slie was ready to go with me, basket in liand. 
 During the day we visited thirty families, and 
 talked and prayed in every house. When my 
 strength failed she took it up, and such en- 
 treaties to sinners I have seldom heard, and 
 such prayers are seldom offered. During 
 that day I found eleven persons that attrib- 
 uted their conversion to her efforts with books 
 and tracts. She said she was a colporteur 
 before, but did not know it till that day. 
 Keader, go and do likewise.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 27 
 
 CHAPTEK III. 
 
 I NOW add a number of facts and incidents 
 tliat occurred diuing these two months of 
 labor. 
 
 There was a Mr. G- , a coal-digger, of 
 
 desperate character, that I had been warned 
 not to visit. I was told that he was such an 
 abandoned character that lie was hopeless; 
 that he spent the most of every night in a 
 miserable doggery, drinking and fighting. I 
 had passed his house every day for some 
 time, but did not feel satisfied Tvdth myself 
 for neglecting it. 
 
 At last I felt constrained to call one even- 
 ing; but he had not returned fi'om his work. 
 I had a long, earnest talk with his wife, who 
 seemed very careless and wicked. All I could 
 say made no impression on her. I gave her 
 a copy of Baxter's Call, with the earnest re- 
 quest that she and her husband would read 
 it. "WTiat followed I will relate as near as I 
 can in his own words in a prayer-meeting in 
 his own house about two weeks after.
 
 28 FIVE YEARS 
 
 " AMiile eating my supper, my "vrife told me 
 some man had been here and left a book, 
 which he was very desirous she and I should 
 read. I got the book to look at it, and read 
 a few pages T\'ithout much interest ; but as I 
 was very tired, I concluded not to go to the 
 grog-shop that night. In the morning, which 
 was Sunday morning, I felt incUned to go and 
 get my bitters ; but seeing the book, I conclud- 
 ed to read till breakfast, and then go. By the 
 time breakfast was ready I felt pretty serious, 
 and asked my wife if she would not like to go to 
 church — a place we had not been in for eight 
 years. She said she had no objections. I 
 read till it was time to go, and began i:o feel 
 somewhat anxious about my soul. I listened 
 to the preaching with intense interest. I read 
 the book nearly through that evening, went 
 back to the church that night, and when those 
 who desired to have an interest in Christ were 
 called for, I came ^forward. A week after, I 
 found peace." 
 
 He then added, "K it had not been for 
 that book, I think myself and Tvife would 
 have been in hell to-night. That gim was 
 loaded," pointing to an old gun in the corner.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 29 
 
 "with a yiesv of killing myself and wife near a 
 montli ago, and if God had not saved me, it 
 would likely have been done before this time. 
 I was a miserable man; life was a burden; 
 but now I am happy." 
 
 This naiTative brought tears to all our eyes, 
 and joy to our hearts. 
 
 I visited some of the gTOg-shops around 
 the village every day to supply their cusfom- 
 ers -uith temperance tracts. In the village 
 j^roper, no Hquor could be sold, as in all the 
 deeds for lots there was a temperance clause 
 that forfeited the property if Hquor was sold; 
 but all round the village the grog was abun- 
 dant, and customers plenty. 
 
 Passing one of these drinking places one 
 day I saw several customers in, and entered 
 the bar-room ^dtli my tracts. The liquor- 
 sellers had got to know me, and often looked 
 daggers at me. A good-looking man, well 
 dressed, and about liaK drunk, was approach- 
 ing the counter to get a six-cent drink. Said 
 I, "My fL-iend, I can give you something 
 for six cents that vdR do you much more 
 good, and no harm." He asked me what it 
 was, when I presented to him Baxter's Call.
 
 30 FIVE YEARS 
 
 I told him the Hqiior might kill him, and if 
 he would read that book with prayerful at- 
 tention, it might save his soul. He said he 
 would buy the book if he had the money, but 
 that he had only six cents to pay for that 
 glass of hquor, which by this time was stand- 
 ing on the counter. 
 
 We both came up to the counter, when I 
 laicTthe book beside the glass, saying, " Here 
 is life or death for six cents." The gi'og-sel- 
 ler said I had no business to come there an- 
 noying his customers, and injuring his busi- 
 ness. I urged the man at 'the risk of losing 
 his soul to buy and read the book. The 
 struggle seemed to be between life and death. 
 At last he handed me the money, took the 
 book, and went out of the room. I then 
 handed the landlord a book worth more than 
 the whiskey, and told him to read it, and then 
 sell it to make up the loss. This is only a 
 sample of every day occurrences in village and 
 city colportage. Eternity only will reveal the 
 results. 
 
 At the request of the proprietors of a large 
 rolUng-mill, I visited those in their employ. 
 * Among them was a man that professed to
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 31 
 
 he a kind of Universalist preaclier. He was 
 a boss oyer a number of hands, and I was 
 told was shrewd and fond of argument, and 
 was doing much injury in propagating hi^ 
 oj)inions. Late one evening I called at his 
 rooms. There was no one in but his wife. I 
 conversed vrith. her some time, and found her 
 a pious Christian woman. I asked her about 
 her husband. She burst into tears, and said 
 he was a kind husband, 'but a T\ieked man; 
 that he preached sometimes, and was a Uni- 
 versalist. 
 
 TThile I was urging her to labor and pray 
 for his salvation, a fine-looking . man, of a 
 haughty mien and de]portment, came in. 
 
 I arose and introduced myself, and asked 
 
 if he was 'Mr. Y , the gentleman of. the 
 
 house. He repHed that he was. I then told 
 him I was a colporteur visiting fi'om house to 
 house, selling and gi^dng books, and talking 
 and praying ii^ith the people. 
 
 " Oh, I have heard of you about here for 
 two or three days. I am a UniversaHst, sir ; 
 I do n't believe there is any such place as 
 hell." I repHed that it would be well for 
 many of us if that doctrine was true, and
 
 32 fl\E YEARS 
 
 asked him liow long lie had been a Univer- 
 salist. He said about eight years; that his 
 mother had belonged to the orthodox, and 
 ^auglit him in his early years about a terrible 
 place called hell, and that he knew no better 
 till about eight years ago. That for three or 
 four years after he heard the tnie doctrine of 
 the salvation of all men, he was troubled 
 with those foolish prejudices; but for the 
 last four years he had never had a soHtary 
 pang on that subject. 
 
 I repHed that it was often hard to get rid 
 of a mother's instructions and prayers ; that 
 it had taken the devil four years to silence 
 his conscience, and get them put to sleep. 
 
 " Do you feel confident," I said, " that you 
 are this moment prepared to enter heaven if 
 you were to die?" "Yes," said he, "as cer- 
 tain as I am that the sun rises and sets." 
 " Well, ' said I, " is not this rather a toilsome 
 world to live in?" "Yes," said he, "it is, 
 and I have a full share of it." " Then," said 
 I, " why not cut your throat, and go right to 
 heaven tliis evening?" "Oh," said he, "I 
 have my wife to provide for." " Oh," said I, 
 " cut her throat, and take her along." " Oh,"
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 33 
 
 said he, " that would be wrong." " No," said 
 I, " if jour creed is right, it cannot be ^Tong; 
 and even if it should, you would be done with 
 all the consequences of the wrong as soon as 
 you were dead." He hung his head, and 
 made no fiu'ther reply. I told him I hoped 
 that he had seen the fallacy of his belief, and 
 would at once abandon such soul-destroying 
 opinions. I sold him several books, and left 
 him. 
 
 As thd men worked by turns all night in 
 the rolling-mills, and it was difficult to gain 
 access to them, one of the proprietors pr(> 
 posed that he would join me to visit them all 
 the next Sabbath, when they often gathered 
 in groups to play cards and drink. Accord- 
 ingly the next Sabbath morning we were 
 joined by a theological student, and com- 
 menced going round the houses and rooms, 
 near one hundred in number. 
 
 Late in the evening we entered the apart- 
 ments of Mr. Y and his wife. They were 
 
 sitting reading new books, which I think were 
 those I had sold them. I said, " Good even- 
 ing, Mr. V . I have come to talk with you 
 
 again, and I am glad to see you reading those
 
 34 FIVE YEARS 
 
 books. I hope you have clianged your mind 
 on religious subjects." "No," said he, "I 
 am more convinced than ever that I am 
 right." "Well," said I, "I want to ask you 
 a few questions by the way of information, 
 as you profess to have a near cut to heaven." 
 Said he, "I am not going to answer anymore 
 of your questions. I don't like to be criti- 
 cized." I told him I would only ask him 
 easy questions ; that I wanted to know what 
 that scripture meant which speaks of a class 
 of men who "shall not be forgiven, neither 
 jn this world, nor in the world to come." 
 Said he, "I am not going to answer any 
 more questions." 
 
 Mr. E said he would like to ask him 
 
 one question. " There were two thieves cru- 
 cified with Christ. He said to the one, ' This 
 day shalt thou be with me in paradise ;' where 
 did the other go?" He made no answer. 
 
 We all three united in urging him to repent 
 and believe in Christ, but he made no answer. 
 At last I said, " Brethren, unless God will 
 hear and answer prayer in this man's behalf, 
 he is a lost man." His wife was weeping as if 
 her heart would break. We knelt in prayer,
 
 IN THE ALLEaHANIES. 35 
 
 and I think there were four earnest hearts 
 lifted up to God. He sat still some miuutes, 
 but at last he knelt. When we rose from 
 our knees the tears were running down his 
 cheeks. I said, "Do jou feel no * pangs' 
 now?" "With a sob that seemed to come 
 from his heart, he said, " I do n't know what 
 has come over me." "We then pointed him to 
 the Saviour, and told him we beheved his 
 feelings were produced by the Sphit of God. 
 Of all the penitents that I have ever seen, I 
 hardly remember one who seemed so deeply 
 moved as this man. During the time he re- 
 mained in that place he seemed to be an en- 
 tirely changed man. 
 
 One day, accompanied by the Kev. Mr. 
 J , we called at the office of a very fine- 
 looking gentleman, and introduced the sub- 
 ject of rehgion to him. He was rather surly 
 and sceptical. I proposed to sell him a book, 
 but he declined, saying that he seldom read 
 such books. At last I proposed to give him 
 a copy of Nelson on Infidehty, and went on 
 to say that it equalled any romance in inter- 
 est. At last he said, " I have money plenty 
 to buy books, and as you are so urgent about
 
 36 FIVE YEARS 
 
 it, I will buy it, and read it ; and if it is not 
 as good as you say it is, I will give you a 
 thrasliing the fii'st time I catch you." I told 
 him I would run the risk of that if he would 
 read the book carefully. 
 
 About ten days after we were passing 
 again, and called on him. He met us in the 
 most cordial manner. I told him I had called 
 to see whether he would thrash me or not for 
 the book I had sold him. " Oh," said he, "it is 
 the best book I eyer read. I woidd not take 
 five dollars for it, if I could not get another like 
 it." We foimd him deeply anxious about his 
 soul. After a long talk with him, I told him 
 I was about to close my labors there, and 
 neyer expected to meet him again in this 
 world, and- ui-ged him to meet me in heayen. 
 "With tears running down his cheeks, he said 
 
 to Mr. J , " Will you not come and see 
 
 me again?" Mr. J said with tears that 
 
 he would, and he no doubt did yery fi*e- 
 quently.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 37 
 
 CHAPTEE IV. 
 
 Calling one day at a fine country-house in 
 Western Pennsylvania, I found a prosperous 
 Ii'ish family of more than ordinary intelli- 
 gence. I inquired if they wanted some good 
 religious books. The father replied, " "Wliat 
 kind of relet gill do you "^ach?" I rephed, 
 "The holy catholic reUgion." "Ah, it's not 
 the Eoman-cathohc relagin. "^Miat objec- 
 tion have you to the Eoman-cathoHc rela- 
 gin?" I replied that all that I desired was, 
 to teach the people to repent and beheye in 
 the Lord Jesus Christ and to lead holy Hves, 
 and that I was not going about to argue with 
 people about their churches. Still he insist- 
 ed on my telling him what objections I had 
 to the Eoman-cathohc chui'ch. 
 
 At last I told him they violated the second 
 commandment by the use of images in the 
 worship of God. But this he denied. I asked 
 him to get his Bible and compare it with mine. 
 He brought out the Douay Catechism to prove 
 he was right, and told me that was his Bible.
 
 38 FIVE YEARS 
 
 I got mine ; but he forbade my reading it, as 
 it was a heretic's Bible. I insisted on having 
 Bible authority for the use of images hi God's 
 worship. As the old man seemed to be at a 
 loss to defend his position, one of his daugh- 
 ters, a beautiful gu-1, presented herseK before 
 me, and said, "I can give you Bible plenty 
 for the use of images, and the good resulting 
 from the use of them. What was it that Mo- 
 ses put up on th# pole for the Israehtes to 
 look at when the fiery serpents bit them?" 
 I explained to her that the brazen serpent 
 was set up, not to be worshipped, but simply 
 looked at as a type of Christ, to whom dying 
 sinners may look and Hve. But all my efforts 
 were in vain. As I left them, she was still 
 asking me to repent, and come over to the 
 true Eoman-cathoHc church as the only place 
 of safety. 
 
 A few days after, the Eev. Mr. J re- 
 quested me to visit the town of S , where 
 
 he occasionally preached, and had made an 
 appointment for me to address the jDeople at 
 night, preparatory to visiting all the famihes. 
 He gave me a letter of introduction to one of 
 his members, who lived a. mile fi'om the vil-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAMES. 39 
 
 lage, and who he expected would go with me. 
 I came to liis house near dark, almost frozen. 
 He received me very coldly, and neither of- 
 fered me food or company. I inquired the 
 way to town, and soon left. 
 
 The night was dark, the snow deep, the 
 cold intense, and I was an entire stranger in 
 the place. As I rode along the street, every 
 door and window was shut, till I came to a 
 store. I tied my horse and stepped ia, and 
 found a large, fine-looking man sitting by the 
 stove alone. By asking a few questions, I 
 
 learned it was Mr. S , the proprietor of 
 
 the town. I told him I was glad to make his 
 acquaintance. That I had come there at the 
 
 request of the Rev. Mr. J , to hold a meet* 
 
 ing that night, and to spend a few days vis- 
 iting his people and supplying them with good 
 religious books,. and I would be glad to have 
 his counsel and advice as to the best way to 
 do it. 
 
 Said he, *' It depends very much, su', on the 
 kind of religious books you want to circulate 
 here. I suppose you have the Confession of 
 Faith of the Presbyterian chui'ch among them, 
 and I can prove that it is full of falsehoods ;
 
 40 riYE YEARS 
 
 and more tlian that, I Tvant jou to know, sir, 
 that I have made a promise to kick out of my 
 house every man that comes in it that has 
 graduated at Jefferson College, and studied 
 theology at the Western Seminary." As he 
 closed the sentence, he stood up before me, as 
 if he was going to make good his promise. I 
 requested him to wait till I should explain my 
 object. I told him I had no Confessions 
 of Faith, nor any denominational books ; that 
 they were all the books of the American Tract 
 Society, and approved by nearly all evangel- 
 ical Christians, and consequently not secta- 
 rian. And as to the other objection, I had 
 never graduated either at Jefferson College 
 or the Western Theological Seminary, conse- 
 quently he was barking up the wrong tree. 
 " Why," said he, " are you not a Pres- 
 byterian preacher ?" " No, .sir," said I, " I 
 have not the honor to be a preacher." He 
 turned instantly and walked out, leaving me 
 alone. 
 
 I stepped to the door, and asked a little boy 
 
 who was passing if there was a Mr. G 
 
 living in the town. " Yes," said he, " he lives 
 in the adjoining house." I stepped to the
 
 ' IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 41 
 
 door, and was cordially greeted by an old 
 acquaintance. In a few minutes I was seated 
 at a sumptuously supplied table, wliich I very 
 much needed; and an hour after was in a 
 school -house, holding forth to the people, 
 with my belligerent friend for one of my hear- 
 ers. I visited all the town ; but Mr. S 
 
 carefully avoided meeting me, always turning 
 away to shun me ; but I suppUed his family 
 with a good stock of books. 
 
 At the close of my labors in that to-^iMi, I 
 entered a very hilly region of country, and 
 
 stopped over night with a Mr. W , an 
 
 aged, infirm man, who sent his son with me 
 the next day to hunt up the cabins of the 
 poor. The son had spent some years in a 
 roving life, and seemed totally indifferent 
 ajDOut religion. 
 
 In the first cabin we called at, we found a 
 young woman in the last stages of a decline. 
 I have seldom seen any soul so full of joy and 
 peace. She talked more hke an inhabitant 
 of heaven than of earth. "While we spoke of 
 Chi'ist's love, and what he had done for her, 
 I saw the tears course down my companion's
 
 42 riVE YEARS 
 
 cheeks. When we left her he said, " Rehgion 
 is a reahty." 
 
 After visiting a few more families, we came 
 in sight of a beautiful farm, which lay in a 
 
 valley. Mr. 'W said to me, " I ^ill not 
 
 go "s\ith you to that man's house. He is an 
 imbehever, and a shrewd fellow, and if you 
 talk to him on rehgion as you have done to 
 others, he will get mad, and insult you. BQs 
 wife is pious ; but I have heard him say that 
 when the preacher came to visit his family he 
 kept out of the way, because he did not "v\ish 
 to insult him; and he vd]! certainly insult 
 you, if you speak to him on that subject." 
 Said I, " He has the more need to be visited. 
 Such persons are the very ones I am sent to 
 hunt up ; but as he may take offence at you 
 for leading me to his house, you may fall be- 
 hind, and come up after me," which he con- 
 cluded to do. 
 
 As I approached the house, I got off my 
 horse, and took my big saddle-bags, filled 
 with books, on my arm, and stej^ped into the 
 house. In a few minutes all the children were 
 in. They were fine, intelhgent children ; and 
 to my surprise, I recognized their mother as a
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 43 
 
 once dashing young lady I had known well 
 fifteen years before ; but she had entirely for- 
 gotten me. 
 
 In a few minutes in came my travelling 
 
 companion and Mr. C ^n.ih. him; Mr. 
 
 C 's face indicating gi*eat determination 
 
 and firmness. I immediately began to hunt for 
 a text to begin with, and chose a Httle girl of 
 three or four years old, whom I called to my 
 side. I began to tell. her about Jesus, and 
 what he did to save sinners, and how deeply 
 praying fathers and mothers felt for their 
 dear children, whom they would soon meet 
 at the bar of God. I asked her if father and 
 mother did not pray for her. By this time 
 the mother and the oldest daughter were 
 weeping freely. I asked the mother if she 
 would not rather see her children converted 
 to God than any thing else. " Oh, yes," she 
 exclaimed, "it burdens my heart." I cast 
 
 my eye round towards Mr. C and Mr. 
 
 W , and both were weeping. 
 
 " Mr. C ," said I, " do n't you feel con- 
 cerned about the souls of this interesting 
 group of children which God has given you 
 to train up for him?" "Not as much as I
 
 44 FIVE YEARS 
 
 ought to do." His heart was so full he could 
 scarcely iitter one word. Said I, "Ai'e you 
 not a professor of rehgion ?" " No, I am not. 
 I have been a very careless man on that sub- 
 ject. When I was a young man I was very 
 much concerned for a while, but I fell in with 
 wicked young men, and read bad books, and 
 I have entu'ely neglected rehgion ever since. 
 But I do n't know what has come over me 
 now." 
 
 " I tnist," said I, " it is the Sph:it of God 
 that has touched your heart, and I beseech 
 you now to yield to his di^dne solicitations ; 
 not to delay for one moment. 11 you resist 
 the Holy Ghost now, he may leave you for 
 ever, and then your doom T\ill be sealed ; but 
 if you now give up all for Christ, you will find 
 peace, and there may be joy in heaven among 
 the angels this moment." He cried out in 
 the agony of his soul, " What shall I do to be 
 saved?" I urged him to enter that night on 
 all the duties that God had enjoined on him ; 
 to read his Bible, and pray for himself and 
 family. He pledged his word to me to do it. 
 He kept that pledge. I prayed with him, sold 
 him eighteen volumes of good books, and left
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 45 
 
 the whole family in tears. He soon after 
 
 joined the church ; and Mr. W , I was 
 
 told, professed reHgion soon after, and attrib- 
 uted his conversion to a day's travel with a 
 colporteiu*. 
 
 I held a prayer-meeting that night at the 
 
 house of Mr. H , a man of remarkable 
 
 piety and benevolence. He told me of an 
 incident that marked his whole life, and made 
 him what he was. Said he, " I served my 
 time with a hard master to learn the wagon- 
 making business. I had engaged to go, the 
 day I was free, some forty miles to work as a 
 journeyman; The evening before I was to 
 start, a good man gave me his advice, and at 
 the close asked me if I had money to pay my 
 way. I told him I had no money, but could 
 get there, as I was going to walk. He hand- 
 ed me fifty cents, all he had, as a present. 
 While on my way I met a poor miserable 
 man begging. He told me he was starving. 
 I gave him the fifty cents, as I had no way 
 to divide it. Before I had gone many rods I 
 found a silver dollar lying on the road, over 
 which he had stepped. I said to myself, 
 * God sent tliis^' and I determined to serve him
 
 46 FIVE YEARS 
 
 all the days of my life; and he has blessed 
 me ever since." 
 
 In a few days I commenced labor along the 
 line between Western Pennsylvania and West- 
 ern Yirginia. The Eev. Mr. E took a 
 
 deep interest in my work, and travelled more 
 than a week with me. Our work made quite 
 a stir among the people. The news spread 
 that we were enteiing every house, talking 
 and praying. 
 
 We set a day to visit a neighborhood that 
 was noted for its wickedness. There were 
 several families owning fine farms who never 
 entered a chui'ch. On the day set, we took 
 an early start. As we api^roached the first 
 house, we saw all the inmates running to the 
 barn. We knocked at the door, but no an- 
 swer. We went to the bam ; but before we 
 reached it they were runniag across the ad- 
 joining field. We understood the cause, and 
 came back to the house, and put in at the 
 window Baxter's Call and a few suitable 
 tracts, with the earnest prayer for God's bless- 
 ing to attend the reading of them. 
 
 We went on to the next house, but it was
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 47 
 
 closed, and no one to be found. We here 
 also installed Baxter and several other preach- 
 ers through the mndow; and so on till we 
 had visited six famiHes. At every one of 
 these houses the people either fled or con- 
 cealed themselves at our approach. Mr. E 
 
 pleasantly observed, as we vrere poor men, 
 he thought the best thing we could do for our 
 worldly interests would be to take possession 
 of the property, for he supposed they would 
 never come to dispossess us. Great fear fell 
 upon sinners at oui' approach. 
 
 A few miles distant I held a prayer-meet- 
 ing one night, and had a large crowd. At 
 the close, I laid my books on the table, and 
 told them that I would sell to any that wanted 
 to buy. In a little time the man of the house 
 told me that a man had stolen his pocket fiill; 
 that he was a very bad man, and we should 
 have a fight if we attempted to take them 
 fi'om him. Among them was a fine pocket 
 Bible. So I concluded to let them go, and 
 pray that God would overrule his wickedness 
 for good. 
 
 Some weeks after, while visiting along the 
 Ohio river hills among the wood-choppers
 
 48 FIVE YEARS 
 
 near tlia same place, I called at a cabin, and 
 found a woman in deep distress about her 
 soul. Slie told me slie had got a book that 
 was the cause. That a man had sold it to a 
 neighbor. They were the fourth family that 
 had read it, and all were concerned about 
 their souls. I found all the families she 
 named, and the book thus blessed was a copy 
 of Baxter's Call which that man stole fi'om 
 me and sold to one of these families.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 49 
 
 CHAPTEK Y. 
 
 DTJEixa my labors in this region I was fre- 
 quently requested to ^dsit G , a town that 
 
 had been laid out about the close of the Eevo- 
 lutionary war, and is noticed in the history 
 of the Indian wars as being near the scene 
 of some bloody struggles. It contained over 
 three hundred inhabitants, but never had a 
 church in it. A good man built one near 
 by. 
 
 The Eev. Mr. E sent a notice that he 
 
 and I would be there on a certain evening to 
 hold a meeting. A few came. He preached, 
 and I made a statement about my work, and 
 told them I was going to visit the town to 
 talk and pray with each family, and supply 
 them with rehgious books. I had engaged a 
 class-leader in the Methodist church, who 
 hved a few miles distant, to go with me. 
 
 We entered the village the next morning 
 soon after breakfast. The first four or five 
 houses we stopped at we could find no one at 
 home, and we soon found they were hiding
 
 50 FIVE YEARS 
 
 from US. We could see heads out at the doors 
 and windows as vre approached the house ; 
 but when we would knock there was no an- 
 swer. As soon as we understood the matter, 
 I told my colaborer they shoidd not foil us 
 in this way ; that I would install preachers in 
 every house before I left the place. I im- 
 mediately commenced pushing in the old hats 
 that were stuck in the broken windows, and 
 thi'ew into the houses a Baxter's Call, Al- 
 leine's Alarm, or a Sabbath Manual, and some 
 of the most awakening tracts. 
 
 We spent two days in this work. With all 
 the skill we could use, we did not get into 
 one third of the houses; but we put good 
 books into every one. 
 
 Some few months after, a minister who was 
 preaching near by found many interested 
 about their souls. He held daily meetings 
 for some time, and more than fifty professed 
 faith in Christ ; many dating their first re- 
 Hgious impressions to the silent preachers 
 thro^Ti into their houses at the time of our 
 visit. In 1861, on the raih'oad, I passed in 
 sight of this to^Ti lying across the Ohio river, 
 and instead of the old dilapidated village it
 
 . IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 61 
 
 was seventeen years before, it looked to be 
 new and flonrisliing. 
 
 At the close of my labors in that communitj 
 
 I went to B county, Ya., at the request 
 
 of Eev. Mr. W , who had a large country 
 
 charge and was laid up by bad health. He 
 requested me, in addition to visiting all the 
 families, to hold prayer-meetings among his 
 people every night. This I did for one month, 
 and God's Spirit seemed to be present at 
 every meeting. Every one I talked with 
 seemed to be moved by the Sj^irit. I sold 
 more than §200 worth of books ; and a few 
 months after, more than one hundred persons 
 were added to the churches. Mr. "W af- 
 terwards stated that a large portion of them 
 had been led to consideration by reading the 
 books we scattered among them. 
 
 He often gave me directions where to go, 
 and what kind of people I should find them 
 to be. On one occasion he directed me to a 
 neighborhood where he had foiu' or five fam- 
 ilies hving some miles from the church. The 
 parents all professors, "with large irrehgious 
 famihes, and no family altars. 
 
 The first family of them I called on, I soon
 
 52 FIVE YEARS 
 
 found to be but little interested about relig- 
 ion. I spoke with the father as if he were a 
 devout praying man ; but told him I had no 
 doubt there were some prayerless families in 
 that neighborhood; and that God had de- 
 clared that he would " pour out his fury on 
 the families that caU not on his name." I 
 spoke of the sad effect of such ungodly hying 
 on children, and urged him to try and talk 
 with all his neighbors about it, and to go with 
 me a day or two till we shoidd try to wake up 
 such professors of religion. His family were 
 present. I saw his very soul was pierced. 
 
 I visited all the families the same way. 
 God's Spiiit seemed to stir every soul. In a 
 few months after, the pastor was able to visit 
 them, and found that each had estabhshed 
 the family altar. Each one resolved that he 
 would begin to pray in his o-^ii family, and 
 then he could go and ui'ge others to do the 
 same. Neither of them supposed that I sus- 
 pected them of living without prayer till they 
 began to compare notes ; and then they found 
 I had talked to all the same way. They sent 
 me their thanks by their pastor for " catching 
 them with guile."
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 53 
 
 In anotlier neigliborlioocl, I was urged by 
 a very good man to visit his brother-in-law, 
 who he told me was a wicked man, and rais- 
 ing a large family like heathen. He told me 
 that he was a gentleman in his behavior to 
 strangers, and would treat me kindly ; but to 
 secure for me a kind reception, he sent with 
 me a young man who was a nephew both of 
 himself and of the gentleman. The day was 
 extremely cold, and the distance some four or 
 five miles. We visited several cabins along 
 the river hills, and expected to reach his house 
 about noon, and remain there till the next 
 day. 
 
 About one o'clock we came to the place. 
 It seemed to be the abode of plenty. We 
 tied our horses, and entered a large front room. 
 
 Mr. C , the head of the family, was in it 
 
 alone, shelling com on a machine, keeping up 
 a hot fire by burning the cobs. His nephew 
 introduced me to him, but he scarce looked at 
 me, spoke very httle, and went on with his 
 work, '^dthout asking me even to sit down. 
 We both sat some time without a word being 
 spoken, when the young man passed through 
 into another room, where the family were talk-
 
 5-i FIVE YEARS 
 
 ing. As soon as I got warm, I concluded to 
 ti'Y and do my work and leaye the house, as 
 every thing looked rather gloomy. 
 
 He was a big, fierce-looking man. His coun- 
 tenance indicated that he was a very wicked 
 man, which proved to be the fact. I some- 
 times thought it would be best to leave him 
 without saying any thiag, but my conscience 
 would not let me do that. At last I said, " Mr. 
 
 C , I am engaged in distributing good 
 
 rehgious books, pubhshed by the American 
 Tract Society, and I have called to supply 
 you and youi' family with them." I had scarce- 
 ly got the words spoken, when he sprang right 
 before me, with his fist clinched, and called 
 me a horse-thief and robber, and every vile 
 name that a vile tongiie could use, inter- 
 spersed with the most aT^-ful oaths I ever 
 heard. He rubbed his fist under my nose, 
 and swore he would smash my face into a 
 jelly. I sat still for some time without speak- 
 ing, in the hope that he would stop, that I 
 might reason with him ; but it was in vain. 
 
 At last I thought, if I am the cause of this 
 man's sinning so much, I -^ill leave him. I rose 
 to my feet and said, " Mr. C , if you will
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 55 
 
 stop a moment till I speak, I will leave your 
 house. I came here at the special rec[uest of 
 
 Mr. E , your brother-in-law, to try to do 
 
 good to you and your family. And now, su-, 
 I warn you, that if you do not repent you will 
 perish. I leave a message from God to you 
 on this table," placing there Baxter's Call and 
 a number of tracts ; " and if you reject them, 
 they will meet you as witnesses on the judg- 
 ment-day." The -^Nicked man quailed, and 
 tried to make apologies for his abuse of me ; 
 but I told him to ask God for pardon, and not 
 me, for I was not in the least injured. I never 
 saw the place or the man afterwards ; but I 
 heard he soon went to ruin. None of the fam- 
 ily showed their faces during the interview. 
 
 Eighteen years have now passed since these 
 labors were performed, and sufficient time has 
 elapsed for all the dust and excitement to pass 
 away ; and on a calm review of that period of 
 my life and labors, I look on it as the most 
 important of any through which I ever passed : 
 not in actual results, but in the development 
 of a gTeat system of evangelization, which has 
 carried salvation to thousands who had never 
 been reached by saving truth. A few had pre-
 
 56 FIVE YEARS 
 
 viously entered this field of ClirLstian effoii; 
 for tlie destitute, and done mucli, north and 
 west ; but this was the beginning of the work 
 in the middle and southern states, which has 
 reached millions of all classes and conditions, 
 both bond and free. As to myseK, I found it 
 the best school I ever entered for spiritual 
 and intellectual improvement, and if I have 
 since been the instrument of any good to my 
 fellow-men, the labors of the Httle time refer- 
 red to prepared me for it. 
 
 At the close of this month's work, two gen- 
 tlemen called on me one evening, and re- 
 quested me to take a walk in the -soilage of 
 
 P . I was soon led into a tailor's shop, 
 
 and had my measui-e taken ; and then fi-om 
 one store to another, till a fine new suit, from 
 head to foot, was selected, costing near fifty 
 dollars.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES, 5t 
 
 CHAPTEE YI. 
 
 April 1, 1845, I commenced mj labors in 
 
 the town of F , in Western Yirginia. As 
 
 soon as tlie object of mj visit to tbat region 
 was known, I received a cordial welcome from 
 a large majority of tlie people, who did all 
 
 they could to aid me in my work. Mr. P , 
 
 a young lawyer at that time, and since gov- 
 ernor of Western Yii'ginia, volunteered to go 
 with me to every house in the town. His 
 high position and universal popularity made 
 the work j)leasant and successful. In three 
 days my buggy load of books were circulated 
 in the village. 
 
 I immediately replenished, my stock, and 
 commenced my work in the country among 
 the mountains. It was Kke a translation from 
 surJight into darkness — from a high civiliza- 
 tion into one of ignorance and superstition, 
 with here and there a family of wealth and 
 refinement. 
 
 The very broken, rugged state of the coun- 
 try, with a sparse population, rendered it
 
 58 i'lVE YEAILS 
 
 impossible for the people to support either 
 schools or churches. Consequently in many 
 isolated communities whole families grew up 
 without any one knowing the alphabet, and 
 very few places had preaching more than 
 once in a month, and that on a week-day in 
 some log cabin to a few women. I have vis- 
 ited as many as ten families in succession, in 
 one case fourteen, T^ithout finding a Bible. 
 It will hardly be thought strange that youth 
 of both sexes were often found who could 
 not tell who is the Savioiu' of sinners, and 
 that when they were told of Christ dying 
 for sinners, they would look incredulous and 
 say, we live so much out of the way that we 
 never hear any news. They often lived in 
 small cabins, without any furniture but such 
 as they made with an axe and an auger. AU 
 they raised to eat was corn and potatoes, with 
 a few hogs ; most of theii* meat being that of 
 the various wild animals which abounded in 
 the mountains. They were mostly kind and 
 hospitable, and seemed to be sorry that they 
 could not accommodate me better. I shall 
 endeavor faiUifully to describe one journey, 
 which will represent many more.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 59 
 
 About the time I went into that region, a 
 new missionary circuit had been laid out by 
 the ]\f^thodist Protestant church through a 
 broken mountain country, where the gospel 
 had never been preached ; and the Eev. Mr. 
 
 C was ap)pointed to go round it once in 
 
 each month, which requhed a ride of more 
 than one hundred miles, most of the way by 
 mere bridle paths. 
 
 He had been once or twice round the cir- 
 cuit before I became acquainted with him. 
 As soon as he learned my business he inyited 
 me to go with him. He told me the people 
 were without books of any kind, that very 
 few could read, and that many of them were 
 not half civiHzed ; that at one house, where 
 he spent the night, they cut off the skirts of 
 his saddle to sole their moccasins, and at an- 
 other the woman cut off the tail of his over- 
 coat to make a pair of pants for a little boy. 
 I agi-eed to go, and at the set time we filled 
 each of our saddle-bags with little books and 
 tracts, and our pockets with lunch. 
 
 The first apjDointment was some twenty 
 miles distant, and we had to start the even- 
 ing before. We stopped over night with a
 
 60 FIVE YEARS 
 
 wealtliy Christian family, and fared sumptu- 
 ously. 
 
 The next day we rode twelve mfles to 
 the place where he was to preach. They 
 had a church built of round logs. It had no 
 floor but the ground, and was neither chinked 
 nor daubed, consequently it was only used in 
 warm weather. The house was full at the 
 appointed houi\ More than half of the con- 
 gregation were barefooted, and but few had 
 on them more than two garments. Most of 
 the men came in with their guns in their 
 hands, and a good supply of small game they 
 had killed by the way. The guns were all 
 set up in the corner of the chui'ch, and the 
 game laid beside them. 
 
 At the request of Mr. C I conducted 
 
 the service. The constant responses and 
 loud amens indicated the deep interest they 
 seemed to feel. At the close of the service 
 I requested them to keep their seats, and told 
 them I would go round and give each a tract 
 or httle book. More than half the families 
 represented were destitute of the Bible. The 
 tracts and books were received with very great 
 joy, though few could read a word in them.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 61 
 
 At the close we had to ride some miles to 
 a stopping place for the night. We fonnd 
 the cabin small and destitute of any seats ex- 
 cept stools. The beds were poles put through 
 the corners, covered with the skins of deers 
 and bears. Many of the spaces between the 
 logs were wide enough for the dogs and cats 
 to pass out and in at pleasure. The food was 
 bread made of corn ground in a hand mill, 
 or pounded in a hominy block. The meat 
 was coon or opossum, and the coffee made 
 of chestnuts. The night was spent in self- 
 defence against unseen foes, and in dread of 
 snakes. After partaking of a breakfast sim- 
 ilar to the dinner and supper just described, 
 and praying -^ith the family, we left them. 
 
 Our appointment for that day was about 
 twelve miles distant, with a constant succes- 
 sion of mountains to cross. We stopped at 
 all the cabins by the way, which were about 
 like that just referred to, with one exception ; 
 and as the house and family were different 
 from any that I have ever seen, I shall try to 
 describe them. 
 
 The cabin was about eighteen feet square ; 
 had been the birthplace of a large family;
 
 62 FIVE YEARS 
 
 had neitlier floor — except the earth — tipper 
 story, chimney, chair, table, or bed, except a 
 pile of straw in one corner, and an old sj)in- 
 ning wheel and loom. The family we saw 
 consisted of the father, mother, and five 
 daughters, no one of which, we supposed, 
 would weigh less than one hundi-ed and fifty 
 pounds. Each of the females had on a sin- 
 gle garment made of coarse hnen, held on by 
 a drawing-string round the neck, all fleshy 
 and hearty, while we could not see any thing 
 for them to hye upon. 
 
 Ko one of them knew a letter in the alpha- 
 bet, or who was the Sayiour of sinners. They 
 were children of natiu'e isolated from the 
 world, equally ignorant of both its yices and 
 its yirtues. We spent more than an hour 
 tr^-ing to teach them the alphabet of Chiisti- 
 anity, and then commended them to God. 
 They seemed amazed at what we said ; God 
 only knows the results. 
 
 We reached the place where our eyening 
 meeting was to be held after one o'clock, ex- 
 hausted with hunger and heat. The cabin 
 was but httle better than the one just de- 
 scribed ; it contained some kind of table and
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 63 
 
 a few stools, but had neither door nor floor, 
 and cattle and hogs ran into it to avoid the 
 flies when they chose. 
 
 Mr. C , whose patience was nearly ex- 
 hausted, told the woman that we were almost 
 starved, and to hurry and get us something 
 to eat, and to make it as dean and as good as 
 she could. The children were sent to borrow 
 tools ; a fire was soon blazing under an ar- 
 bor made of bushes near the house ; a pail 
 of meal set beside it, waiting for the sMllet 
 to heat, out of which the hens helped them- 
 selves every time she turned her back to 
 them. The children soon returned with a 
 little coffee-pot minus the handle, and with a 
 knife and a fork one prong lacking. 
 
 "VYe were soon invited in to our dinner from 
 under the shade of a tree where we had ob- 
 served the whole process. The table was a 
 block of wood, with four legs to hold it up, 
 and a stool at each side for us to sit on. 
 Some pet pigs were under it waiting for the 
 crumbs : they tramped on our toes, which led 
 us to kick them ; but our kind hostess soon 
 made the children catch them and confine 
 them behind my back in a big gumm, a tub
 
 64 FIVE YEARS 
 
 sawn off a hollow log, wliicli treatment, from 
 their noise, thej seemed to dislike very much. 
 
 Soon after our meal was finished the peo- 
 ple began to gather in to hear the gospel. 
 The cabin was more than full, with the same 
 appearance of the congTegation as last de- 
 scribed. We suppUed all with books and 
 tracts — in most cases with the first book thev 
 eyer had. The night was spent much like 
 the previous one, food and lodging about the 
 same. 
 
 The next morninc^ we rode nine miles to 
 meet another appointment at eleven o'clock. 
 By the time we reached the j)lace I was so 
 sick that I had to lie down, while brother 
 
 C preached to the jDeople fi^om Jeremiah 
 
 6 : 16. At the close we sujDphed all with ht- 
 tle books and tracts, and received many 
 thanks. The dinner was set under a shed 
 outside of the house, but the sight of it sent 
 me out to the shade of a tree so sick that I 
 could not stand on my feet. 
 
 I then told brother C that I should be 
 
 compelled to make my escape to some place 
 where I could get something to eat and take 
 some rest; and asked him to take all the
 
 IN THE allegha:;ies. 65 
 
 books and give tliem away at each appoint- 
 ment to the best advantage he could. 
 
 At two o'clock I was on my horse, which, 
 happily for me, had been along the road be- 
 fore, and was siifiering from hunger- as much 
 as his rider. In six hours he was standing 
 
 at the steps of Mi\ S 's house, two miles 
 
 fi'om the town of F , fi'om which we start- 
 ed thi'ee days before. I was well acquainted 
 
 with Mr. S and his family, haying been 
 
 frequently there ; but fever had dethi'oned 
 my reason, which did not return till I was 
 taken in and my head bathed with cold wa- 
 ter, and I had di'ank a cup of coffee. 
 
 It was three days before I was sufficiently 
 recovered to resume my work. "We had vis- 
 ited twenty-seven families, talked and prayed 
 with them all, given them books and tracts, 
 and held three meetings. One haK of the 
 people were without any part of a Bible. As 
 for other books they had none, and not one 
 in ten could read a word. 
 
 I have detailed this one journey of three 
 days not only to show the condition of this 
 portion of our country, but as httle more than 
 a fair representation of destitute parts of
 
 66 FIVE YEARS 
 
 many states in the Union. If each colpor- 
 teur of the Tract Society who has visited 
 these dark, broken, isolated regions of our 
 country for the last eighteen years, had kept a 
 journal of all the ignorance and wi'etchedness 
 he met, it would have been the most interesting 
 missionary journal the world ever saw. Their 
 reports would differ as widely as the reports 
 of those whom Joshua sent out to visit the 
 promised land. While some would bring in 
 the rich clusters of Eshcol, others, with equal 
 trutlifiilness, could say that the land was in- 
 habited by giants, whose walls were igno- 
 rance and superstition. 
 
 I was often reminded in my journeys of the 
 early pioneers of our country who went 
 through the forests, tomahawk in hand, blaz- 
 ing the trees as a signal of their intended 
 occupancy of the land at some future time. 
 These visits were the Christian pioneer's 
 way-marks, not blazed on the trees with* axe 
 or tomahawk, but blazed on the hearts of 
 men in a state of natui'e by kind Christian 
 words, and sealed with earnest prayer ; while 
 the books and tracts, including many Bibles 
 and Testaments, were deeds of trust to those
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 6T 
 
 that faithfully used them ; and many by them 
 have secured a title to eternal life. 
 
 The books were like Jacob's well — the dig- 
 ger was gone — but they have quenched the 
 thirst of many a weary traveller on life's jour- 
 ney, and their smoked pages are still crying, 
 "Ho, every one that thirsteth," come and 
 partake of the waters of life " without money 
 and T^ithout price." A poor woman who 
 had a small tract given her, on her death- 
 bed had it brought to her, when she kissed 
 it, and said, "This led me to my dear Sav- 
 iour." 
 
 N
 
 68 FIVE YEARS 
 
 CHAPTEK YII. 
 
 I m:sited an old woman, who told me that 
 soon after she was married some one lent her 
 Doddridge's Eise and Progress of Religion 
 in the Soul, and that it was the means of the 
 conversion of herself and her husband; that 
 he had died happily some years ago, but she 
 had never been able to get a copy of the book 
 since. I then presented her with one, and 
 she wept for joy. I asked her if she had a 
 Bible; she said, "No;" that they had a Bible 
 when her husband died, but some time after 
 a little school was opened in the neighbor- 
 hood, and she wanted her four little boys 
 taught to read, but had no books nor any 
 way to get them, and she had to cut her Bible 
 into four parts to make each of them a book, 
 and they soon went to pieces, and she lost 
 her Bible. I then gave her a Bible, and her 
 joy seemed complete. 
 
 On another occasion I sent a notice that I 
 would be at a little church in a certain neigh- 
 borhood to aid them in organizing a Sabbath-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 69 
 
 school, and to supply the destitute with books. 
 After exhorting for some time, and arranging 
 for the Sabbath-school, I distributed all m^^ 
 stock, and was about to leave. 
 
 A young woman came up to me, haying 
 just reached the place, and asked me for a 
 book. I told her I had given away all that 
 I had brought with me. She burst into tears, 
 and said, " I left my babe, three weeks old, 
 in the field where my husband was hoeing 
 corn, and walked five miles in my bare feet to 
 get a book ; and now I am disappointed." In 
 a few minutes an old woman who had seen 
 seventy winters came to me with a crutch 
 under one arm, and a cane in the other hand, 
 and told me she had come two miles to get 
 books for her sons, who were raising large 
 families over the mountains, that were as wild 
 as the deers. I returned soon, and gave the 
 necessary supply. 
 
 One day a man entered my room wearing 
 a hunting-shirt and moccasins, -^ith a gun in' 
 his hand and a long knife hanging to a belt 
 at his side, and asked me if I was the man 
 that gave books to the poor peoj)le in the 
 mountains. I told him I was engaged in that
 
 70 . FIVE YEARS 
 
 business. "Well," said lie, "-we live in an 
 out of tlie way place, where we have neither 
 schools nor j^reaching ; and we met together 
 last Sunday to see if we could not raise a 
 Sunday-school, and teach our children to 
 read, but all the books we could find was one 
 Kew Testament; and some one said there 
 
 was a man in F that was giving books to 
 
 the poor, and so I have come to see you about 
 it." I gave him all the Hght I could as to 
 forming and conducting a Sunday-school, and 
 added twenty Testaments, with fifty small 
 volumes of Tract Society books, and some 
 ti-acts. He soon had them all in the bosom 
 of his hunting shirt, and I have seldom seen 
 a happier man. 
 
 The next Sabbath the school was started. 
 In six months a church was organized, and 
 soon after a little church built, and a man of 
 God was preaching to them once each month. 
 That bosom full of books was the means God 
 blessed to this result. 
 
 On another occasion I stopped over night 
 with a good man, who related to me the fol- 
 lowing fact. 
 
 " A few years ago a minister came to my
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 71 
 
 house late on Saturday night on his way to 
 
 preach at L- , about thirty miles distant. 
 
 Finding he could not reach the place in time 
 to meet his appointment, he told me if I 
 would gather in my neighbors, he would 
 preach for us. There were but a few families 
 in aU this valley, and so far as I knew, he was 
 the first preacher that ever had beerr in it, at 
 least he preached the first sermon. I sent 
 my boys out and gathered in my neighbors. 
 At the close of his sermon he gave every one 
 a tract. Among the rest he gave one to a 
 poor widow with a large family, but neither 
 she nor any one of her children knew a letter. 
 She took it home vdih her without any know- 
 ledge of its contents. 
 
 "The next morning she returned and re- 
 quested my wife to read it to her, which she 
 did. ^Well,' said she, 'it is a nice thiQg to 
 read; I do wish I could do it.' She took the 
 tract home, and returned the next day to 
 have it read agaia; and during the reading, 
 the tears ran down her cheeks, 'Oh,' said 
 she to my wife, ' do you think I could learn 
 to read ?' ' Yes,' she said to her, ' no doubt 
 you can.' So my wife got a New England
 
 72 - FIVE YEARS 
 
 primer we liad, and went over the letters a 
 few times with her. She took home both the 
 primer and the tract. The next morning she 
 retnmed again, and while the tract was read- 
 ing, her face was Ht up with joy, and peace 
 came into her soul. In a few hours she was 
 able to repeat the alphabet. 'And now,' said 
 she, *if you wiU. only learn me how to put two 
 of them together, and give them a name, I 
 can learn myseK.' This was soon done ; and 
 as soon as .she went home, she taught her 
 children aU sh^ had learned. In a few months 
 she and her children. could read all that was 
 in the primer. We have now a good church 
 here, anxl she and most of her children are 
 members of it. She seldom sees a tract but 
 with tears of joy she exclaims, ' If it had not 
 been for one of these httle tracts, I and my 
 children might hare remained in ignorance 
 and sin.' " 
 
 One of the great difficulties I had to en- 
 counter was the large number of famiHes that 
 could not read. These I found every day. 
 "When I would show my books and urge them 
 to buy, the reply was, " Oh, none of v.s cant 
 read.'' I soon saw the necessity of planning
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 13 
 
 some means to remedy this evil, and began 
 to establish httle Sunday-schools in each 
 neighborhood. I would hunt up the best 
 reader I could find for a teacher, furnish 
 them with a small hbrary of books, give them 
 the best direction I could how to conduct it, 
 and set them to work. Although some of 
 these schools were very superficially conduct- 
 ed, and in many cases there was nothing done 
 in them but teaching young and old to read, 
 still they had the effect of rousing the mind 
 to the acquisition of knowledge, and prepar- 
 ing the way of the Lord. Many of these 
 schools accomplished great things, and re- 
 sulted in the estabhshing of little churches. 
 Others seemed to fail, except so far as they 
 woke in the minds of some a thirst for know- 
 ledge. 
 
 Some famihes I could not prevail on to 
 take a book as a gift, for fear there was some 
 trick about it. Clock pedlars had been 
 through some portions of the country a while 
 before, sold the cheap clocks at thirty dollars 
 apiece, and took notes for the pay, which 
 had been collected in many cases by dis- 
 tress-sales. They would tell me how they
 
 74 FIVE YEARS 
 
 had been treated, and that they were afraid 
 I should send some one for the pay. I often 
 avoided this objection by lending the book, 
 and writing on it, " Loaned till I call for it." 
 Another great difficulty we had to encoun- 
 ter with these unlettered masses was their 
 jDrejudice against education. Almost every 
 day I had to meet this objection : " Oh, I do n't 
 want my children learned to read; it will 
 spoil them. I have got along very well with- 
 out reading, and so can they."
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 75 
 
 CHAPTEE YIII. 
 
 I HAD now been about ten montlis in tlie 
 colporteur work, and seeing the great neces- 
 sity for scores of men to engage in it, I 
 thouglit I could raise the salaries, and employ 
 one or two others to carry it on. I soon 
 raised $150 to pay a man for a year, and 
 Providence directed me to a good man to 
 do the work. I then succeeded in finding 
 another good man, and raising his salary; 
 and in one month, by the Divine blessing, I 
 raised and paid over for the support of col- 
 portage 8750, and these efforts were continued 
 till the colporteur work was extended through- 
 out the more destitute regions in all Western 
 Virginia. 
 
 I had made an arrangement to visit K 
 
 county, some forty miles distant, and spend a 
 month in colporteur labor. On my way I 
 had to cross a river by a ferry-boat. Two 
 travellers crossed with me. When we mount- 
 ed our horses on the opposite side of the 
 river, one of ^ them asked me if I was going on
 
 76 FIVE YEARS 
 
 a long jouiTiej with such a heavy load on my 
 horse over that mountain country. I told 
 him I had my horse loaded with rehgious 
 books, and some Bibles, and that I was en- 
 gaged in supplying destitute regions with the 
 word of life, and would soon lighten my load. 
 
 "TMiy," said he, "are there any families 
 to be found without the Bible ?" Yes, I told 
 him, there were many in all parts of our coun- 
 tiy. "Well," said he, "I do n't beheve there is 
 a family in my county without a Bible." Said 
 I, "What part are you fi'om?" "From Green 
 county, Penn." "How far," said I, "fi'om 
 the iovm. of C ?" "Five miles," said he. 
 
 Four weeks ago, I replied, I was there, 
 and made an address before one of the Pres- 
 byteries of the Cumberland church, in which 
 I spoke of the destitutions of oiu' country and 
 oui' mode of supplying them, when the Rev. 
 
 Mr. H followed me with a speech in which 
 
 he said " he beHeved one third of the families 
 
 in C , in which we were then assembled, 
 
 were without the Bible." Another minister 
 IDresent doubted it. I told them I was there 
 to visit the town, and would begin the next 
 morning. A good man volunteered to go
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 77 
 
 with me. "We spent three days at the work, 
 and found that out of one hundred and fifty- 
 seven families, ffty-four had no Bible. 
 
 On mj way to E , late in the evening 
 
 I began to inquire for some place where I 
 could sj)end the night, as the indications 
 seemed to be that a hard night's lodging 
 was before me. As I inquu-ed at each httle 
 
 cabin, they told me that "Parson W ," 
 
 a few miles ahead, kept lodgers. As these 
 mountain miles are slowly measured by a 
 tired man and horse, I did not reach "Par- 
 son W 's" till near nine o'clock at night. 
 
 "^lien I entered his little cabin, he and his 
 wife and granddaughter were at a supper of 
 corn-bread and buttermilk. I asked for lodg- 
 ing, which was granted, and was at once in- 
 ^dted to sujDper. xis soon as the parson was 
 done eating, he went and put up mj horse. 
 
 On his return, I asked him if he had any 
 pastoral charge. "Yes," said he, "I built a 
 church on my own land close by, and preach 
 there every other Sunday." We were soon 
 engaged in a rehgious conversation, and my 
 views of truth were soon tested. "Well," 
 said the old parson, " I thought you was a
 
 78 FIVE YEARS 
 
 Methodist preacher, but I find I was mista- 
 ken ; but I guess you are a Presbyterian, which 
 is no better." Finding the old man belonged 
 to what was called the Ironsides, or rigid 
 Antinomians, I thought it quite useless to 
 talk to him. 
 
 Before I could get rid of him he made me 
 tell my business. " Well," said he, " you are 
 going about plundering the country. It was 
 the Bible, Tract, and Missionary Societies 
 that broke up the country in 1837 and '38." 
 
 As I was th-ed, and jDroposed to go to bed, 
 "Well," said he, "there is a bed in that cor- 
 ner for you." " As you are a preacher," said 
 I, " of coui'se you have family prayer, and I 
 would prefer waiting to join you in it." "Ah," 
 said he, " every one does their own praying 
 here." " Is it possible," said I, " that you are 
 a preacher, and have no family prayer, when 
 God has said he will pour out his fury on the 
 famihes that call not on his name?" " Oh," 
 said he, " you may pray if you please." See- 
 ing an old family Bible on a sheK, I took it 
 down, and read a part of the seventh of Mat- 
 thew. I commented on the verse, " Strive to 
 enter in at the strait gate," etc. The moment
 
 IX THE ALLEGHANIES. 79 
 
 prayer was over, lie said, " I do n't believe a 
 word you said." I was soon in bed and 
 asleep, being tired. 
 
 Wlien I awoke there was a good fire, and 
 tlie old man sitting beside it. I was np in a 
 few minutes. " I am glad you are up," said 
 he, " as there is another point I must discuss 
 with you." In a few minutes I quoted proofs 
 from the Bible too clear to be resisted ; when 
 the old woman, who was of huge dimensions, 
 sprang out of bed in her night-dress, and pre- 
 senting herseK before me, said, " Do n't talk 
 to that feUow ; he is a Yankee, and he is set- 
 ting traps to catch you." The old man soon 
 disappeared to attend to his still-house and 
 cattle, and the old woman and granddaughter 
 occupied the whole front of the fire, making 
 their toilets ; the old lady, in her earnest con- 
 versation, frequently using a long wooden fire- 
 poker in close proximity to my head. 
 
 As the granddaughter was sitting near me, 
 completing her toilet, I spoke to her about 
 her soul, and oftered her the Dairyman's 
 Daughter. This roused the old woman again ; 
 and the old man, returning about the same 
 time, forbade her to touch the book. The
 
 80 FIVE YEARS 
 
 giii cried bitterly, and said it was such a 
 pretty book she did want it, and there was 
 not a book except the old Bible in the house. 
 The giiTs tears prevailed, provided I would 
 write a receipt in it that it was paid for, which 
 was done. 
 
 As soon as breakfast was over, and my 
 horse ready, I asked for my bill. " One dol- 
 lar,'' said the old man; "I make it a rule, 
 when any of you Yankees come this way, to 
 fleece you as well as I can." This man was 
 rich ; had a great distillery, and I was credi- 
 bly informed would take a bottle of whiskey 
 with him to the church, and at the close of his 
 services tell liis people what a fine run of whis- 
 key he had just had, and to come and taste it. 
 
 About a month after, on my return home, 
 I stopped to stay all night some few miles 
 
 from there, when lo. Parson W had stop* 
 
 ped to stay too ; but as soon as he saw me, he 
 ordered his horse, and left. I had told about 
 my lodging T\-ith him ; and as the laws of Yii'- 
 ginia at that time imposed a fine of twenty dol- 
 lars on any one who had no license charging 
 for lodging, some one had told the old man 
 that I was going to bring him before the court.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 81 
 
 CHAPTEE IX. 
 
 About this time an incident of peculiar in- 
 terest took place. The Eev. ]Mi\ Q had 
 
 invited me to visit the town of C , and I 
 
 had set a day to be at his house. Late in the 
 evening of the day appointed, I arrived in the 
 town ; and while driving along the street, 
 looking for his house, I saw him standing on 
 his portico, beckoning me to him. 
 
 As soon as I had alighted fi'om my buggy, 
 he gave me a cordial shake of the hand, and 
 said, " You have come just in time to see and 
 hear one of the gTeatest dignitaries in the 
 state of Yirginia." I observed that I was 
 perhaps a httle different from many others ; 
 that I would not go a square to see a great 
 man, unless he was a great good man. " Well," 
 said he, "he ought to be a good man; he's 
 the bishop of the Eoman-cathohc church for 
 this state ; and as he is the first Hve bishop 
 of the Holy Catholic church who has ever been 
 here, he is attracting a great deal of attention. 
 He preached in the court-house this morning, 
 
 Five Years. g
 
 82 FIVE YEARS 
 
 and it was crowded ; and lie is going to preacli 
 here for several days and nights. He has one 
 or two priests with him, and they have corae 
 to plant a church here. "Will you go and hear 
 liini?" "Yes," said I ; ''if you go, I will go 
 with you." 
 
 As soon as tea was over, we went to the 
 court-house, and it was crowded. In a Httle 
 time the bishop arose, and without any intro- 
 ductory services, gave out his text: "Thou 
 art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my 
 church ; and the gates of hell shall not prevail 
 against it." He went on to define " the gates 
 of hell" as the various Protestant sects, and 
 wound up by trpng to prove that Peter was 
 the first pope, and got the keys, and that the 
 successors of Peter still held the keys, and no 
 one could enter heaven Tsithout going through 
 the Cathohc church. His sermon was deliv- 
 ered with earnestness and eloquence, and 
 made a deep impression, as very few of all 
 present were well informed on those matters. 
 
 He made much for his cause out of the de- 
 nominational strifes with which that region 
 had been afflicted, and I heard many say 
 "Amen" to some of his thrusts*. He an-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 83 
 
 noTinced that lie would preacli the next morn- 
 ^ ing from the text, " Search the scriptm-es, for 
 in them ye think ye have eternal life, and they 
 are they which testify of me." 
 
 We returned to brother Q 's, and sat to 
 
 a late hoiu' consulting what we had better do. 
 Here was a man of Jesuitical cunning, mis- 
 representing Protestantism before a commu- 
 nity ill quahfied to form correct opinions. I 
 
 urged Mr. Q to contradict some of his 
 
 false statements ; and after praying over the 
 matter, we retired. 
 
 The next morning, at the appointed hour, 
 the house was crowded, though there were 
 not one dozen Eoman-cathohcs in the com- 
 munity. O^ing to the crowd, Mr. Q and 
 
 I got separated. I lost sight of him, and for 
 want of a seat elsewhere, got up into a win- 
 dow. In a httle while the bishop announced 
 the text, "Search the scriptures," and also 
 announced that he would preach at night from 
 the text, "These were more noble than those 
 in Thessalonica, in that they searched the 
 scriptures daily." 
 
 The ground taken in this sermon was, that 
 searching the scriptures by the common peo-
 
 84 FIVE YEAES 
 
 pie had led to all the reKgious heresies in the 
 ^'orld, and had raised up more sects than 
 there were chapters in the Bible. That there 
 was but one tnie chui'ch, and out of all only 
 one could be right. That Protestants called 
 Luther a gTeat reformer, and he was told 
 there were no Lutherans in that town ; con- 
 sequently, if Luther was right they were all 
 wi'ong; and if they were right, Luther was 
 wrong, and could not be a great reformer. 
 
 He said the Catholic church could not be 
 ^Tong ; that she was infallible ; she was " the 
 pillar and ground of the truth." He pictured 
 the quarrels among Protestants in the most 
 hideous manner, and described a heaven full 
 of such uncongenial characters, till the pic- 
 ture was ridiculous; and I saw that many 
 present were dehghted with it. 
 
 At the close of his sermon, or tirade against 
 the Protestant rehgion, he sat down. I rose 
 up in the window, much excited, to see if the 
 Rev. Mr. Q would not call him to an ac- 
 count, when I was much gratified to see the 
 
 meek and gentle form of Mr. Q slowly 
 
 rising about the middle of the house. Said 
 he:
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 85 
 
 "Bishop, you said in your sermon last 
 night that there were now two hundred mill- 
 ions of faithful Catholic childi'en in the world, 
 against which the gates of hell could not pre- 
 vail. Will you be kind enough to teU us 
 where they are ?" 
 
 The bishop rose with a haK-courteous and 
 haK-disdainful smile, and said, "You need 
 not ask me such a question as that; the re- 
 gions they occupy are all marked on your 
 own Protestant geographies ; your little boys 
 in the streets can point you to them, where 
 they have been marked in black lines," and 
 took his seat. 
 
 "WeU," said Mr. Q , "I would prefer ^ 
 
 you would name the countries to which they 
 belong." 
 
 He rose again with a most indignant frown. 
 Said he, " I suppose it would be rather hum- 
 bling to one who calls himself a preacher to 
 go to the Kttle boys for information, so I will 
 name some, at least, of the countries that are 
 Cathohc : France, Austria, most of Germany, 
 Hungary, and Poland ; and we shall soon have 
 England, as part of the church there is only 
 separated from us now by name; and Spain
 
 86 FIVE YEARS 
 
 and Mexico are ours entirely;" and he took 
 his seat again. 
 
 " Well," said Mr. Q , " do you think we 
 
 should gain any thing as a nation by chang- 
 ing our Protestant religion for that of Mexico 
 and Spain?" and he took his seat. 
 
 The bishop arose still more indignant in 
 manner, and said, "I really cannot under- 
 stand what you mean, sk, unless you refer to 
 your boasted liberties in this country ; but if 
 that is what you mean, sir, I can tell you I 
 would rather go to heaven fi'om Mexico or 
 Spain, than to hell from the midst of all your 
 boasted liberties." 
 
 By this time the audience had become in- 
 tensely interested. Said I,*' Mr. Bishop, I want 
 to ask you a few questions by way of gaining 
 information. If I understood 3'ou right last 
 night, you said your chiu'ch was infalhble ; 
 that it never had erred, and never could err." 
 
 He replied very indignantly, "I said, su', 
 that the Cathohc chui'ch never had erred, 
 and never could err." 
 
 "Well, sir," said I, "it was once right to 
 put Protestants to death for their religion, 
 and of course it is still right."
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 87 
 
 He replied, "That is a Protestant false- 
 hood, sii-; the church never put any one to 
 death." 
 
 Said I, " Sir, I can prove what I say by 
 the faithful records of history." 
 
 "Protestant authority — we could not ad- 
 mit such testimony, sir." 
 
 "Well," said I, "whether you admit it or 
 not, the blood of mart}T:ed milhons is cry- 
 ing for vengeance, and the day of divine rec- 
 ompense will erelong come." 
 
 After a number of questions from Mr. 
 
 Q and myself of similar import, Mr. 
 
 Q said, "The general opinion is that 
 
 General "Washington and General Jackson 
 died good men and went to heaven. '\Miat 
 is your opinion, bishop ?" 
 
 He replied contemptuously, "Why, sir, we 
 don't pretend to know whether they are in 
 heaven or not; those are the secret things 
 that belong to God." 
 
 "Stop, bishop," said I, "you said last 
 night that you held the keys of the kingdom 
 of heaven in your church, and that to you it 
 was given to open and shut the door ; and I 
 now demand of you as one of these door-
 
 88 FIVE YEARS 
 
 keepers, to tell us wlietlier jou have let in 
 the immortal Wasliington or not." 
 
 In a few moments the call was coming from 
 every part of the house, " Tell ns whether you 
 have let "W^ashington into heaven or not." 
 
 The bishop tore his sui'pKce off in a rage, 
 and put out of the house with one or two 
 priests after him — the crowd following him, 
 and calling out, " Come back and answer the 
 question about our beloved Washington." 
 But he Avent on, ordered his horse, pro- 
 nounced a curse on the place, closed his 
 meetings, and left the town. The excitement 
 of the crowd was most intense.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 89 
 
 CHAPTEE X. 
 
 I HAD now been in my second year of la- 
 bor for some months, during wliicli I had 
 made some long journeys, and seen some 
 hard seryice. 
 
 I made an arrangement with Mr. M , a 
 
 Yery intelligent gentleman whom I had em- 
 ployed a few months before as a colporteur, 
 to accompany me. The whole tour required 
 us to travel near four hundred miles. More 
 than two thirds of the way the country was 
 wild and romantic, the population sparse and 
 rude. Few thought rt safe to go unarmed. 
 
 On the day set I met Mr. M at C , 
 
 where he resided. To my surprise he had 
 provided a pistol for each of us. With some 
 persuasion I took one, but soon got it to the 
 bottom of my saddle-bags. 
 
 The first day we reached W , where we 
 
 found a young preacher who had been wait- 
 ing there some days for an escort over the 
 same route, fearing to travel the road alone. 
 We all started in company early the next
 
 90 FIVE YEARS 
 
 morning, with tlie understanding that we had 
 
 to reach G , a new county-toTSTi thii-ty 
 
 miles distant, or lodge in the woods. Noth- 
 ing special occurred that day, except that an 
 enormous rattlesnake crossed the road before 
 us and fiightened our horses. We called 
 at the door of all the cabins we saw, and 
 ]Dreached Christ to the people, and gave them 
 books. We reached G late in the even- 
 ing, and found a pious lawyer who had.just 
 moved there, and owned the only Bible in 
 the place. There were not a dozen famihes 
 in it. By breakfast-time the next morning 
 we had supphed him with a neat Sunday- 
 school library, which he used to gi'eat advan- 
 tage. 
 
 We were told we must ride thii-ty-five miles 
 the next day, over mountain paths, to reach 
 a place of lodging — that there was one house 
 at thii'ty miles, but by all means to avoid 
 that house. The reasons I cannot give ; nor 
 an account of the dinner we tried to eat that 
 day. 
 
 As the weather was excessively hot, we left 
 G by six in the morning. We soon over- 
 took a young man who was going some miles
 
 IN THEg|LLEGH?^IES. 91 
 
 our way, and agreed to be our guide as far 
 as we went together. We found liini totally 
 ignorant of sin, or a futiu'e state. He did 
 not know whether he had ever seen a Bible 
 or not. Though he had heard men preach, 
 and seen them with a book in their hand, he 
 could not tell what book it was. He told us 
 his father was a county surveyor, and, he 
 thought, a member of the chuix-h. I gaye 
 him a Testament and some tracts, which he 
 looked at with amazement. 
 
 About ten o'clock we came to a number of 
 men at work cutting timber out of the road, 
 that had been blown down by a storm. On 
 inquiry, we found eleven families represented, 
 only one of which had a Bible. One or two 
 others had lost their Bibles by having their 
 cabins burnt. 'We suppHed all with books, 
 and left one or two reading for all the rest. 
 
 The want of dinner and the excessive heat 
 of the sun brought on, me sick headache, 
 and by four or five o'clock I could scarcely 
 sit on my horse. I told my companions it 
 would be impossible for me to reach the 
 house we were dii^ected to, and let the con- 
 sequence be what it would, I should be com-
 
 92 SiVE l^^^s 
 
 pellecl either to lie out, or lodge in the vile 
 den of which we had been warned. The 
 brethren seemed much alarmed, but said 
 they would not leave me. Several times I 
 had to alight, to prevent falling fi'om my 
 horse. Being thus detained, we only reached 
 this dreaded place about sunset. 
 
 There was a very large grazing farm, and 
 a large double log-cabin about the centre, 
 with every appearance of plenty. As we drew 
 near the house we saw quite a number of men 
 at work haying in a large meadow. Every 
 one seemed to be drunk. Such swearing and 
 hallooing I had never heard. Our prospects 
 looked gloomy. 
 
 AYe rode up to the door, and found the 
 landlord under the same influence as those 
 in the field. When we asked for lodging he 
 seemed glad to have customers, and soon 
 had our horses cared for. 
 
 In a little time all the drunken rabble on 
 the i^lace were gathered to the house, but 
 such a set of men I have never seen before 
 or since. Supper was soon ready, and aU 
 invited in. The food was very rough, but 
 abundant. I was too sick to partake of it. ..
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANlES. 93 
 
 After supper I told tlie landlord tliat I was 
 very sick, and must go to bed; but as we 
 were all reKgious men, and accustomed to 
 pray in our families niglit and morning,, if lie 
 was willing, we would have prayers. The 
 very announcement produced silence in a 
 moment, as if some strange tiling was about 
 to happen. I requested liim to bring all into 
 the house that would come, and in a few min- 
 utes the house was well filled. I called on 
 one of the brethren to read and pray; and 
 soon after I was in bed, imconscious of all 
 around me till morning, when I awoke as well 
 as usual. 
 
 As soon as we were dressed I called on the 
 old man to get our horses. " Oh no, you 
 must stay for breakfast, and pray again," 
 said he. "Well," said I, "if you will bring 
 all in to prayers now, we will attend to wor- 
 ship with pleasure." In a httle time the whole 
 household was present. I read a portion of 
 Scripture, and made the most earnest exhor- 
 tation I could possibly do, and prayed. A 
 more solemn audience I never addi-essed. 
 
 As soon as breakfast was over, our horses 
 were ready, when I asked the old man for
 
 94 FIVE YEAES 
 
 our bill. "Not one cent, sir," said lie; "you 
 have 'proyed xJlenty to pay for eyery thing you 
 got. Eyerj time jou come this way stop and 
 get all JOU want, and pray, and it sha'n't cost 
 you a cent." We suj^pKed all present with a 
 book or tract, and left well pleased on the 
 whole with our yisit. 
 
 Dimng the day we called at all the cabins 
 on our way. At one I found a man who told 
 me he was seventy years old, had seldom 
 heard a sermon, but that he had felt much 
 concern about where he would be in the next 
 world, if there teas one. He said he never 
 had a Bible, but would like to get one very 
 much. I gave him a Testament and ti-acts. 
 He seemed very thankful, and listened with 
 gi'eat attention to all I had time to say. 
 
 At another house the woman told me they 
 had a Bible, and plenty of rehgious books. 
 I asked to see what kind of books they were. 
 ^Tien she presented the stock, it consisted of 
 an old copy of the history of George Wash- 
 ington. She beheved it to be a Bible, as no 
 one about the house knew a letter. 
 
 The same day we met a very aged man 
 riding on a poor little pony, "wath a small 
 
 #
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 95 
 
 bag of meal under him. I lianded him some 
 tracts, for which he was yerj thaiLkfal, Tvhen 
 the following dialogue occuiTed. 
 
 " Have you any preaching in this moun- 
 tain country?" "Sometimes we have." "Are 
 you a professor of rehgion ?" " Yes, I have 
 been a member of the church forty years." 
 " How are you suppHed with reUgious books?" 
 ""Well, we havent got none but two or three 
 spelling-books that I sent for many years ago 
 to teach my children how to read." " Have 
 you no Bible in yoiu' house ?" " No, I never 
 had one. I have been trying to get a Testa- 
 ment for some time at the store ; but it costs 
 seyenty-fiye cents, and I am not able to raise 
 the money." This was the regular price of a 
 small Testament in that region at that time, 
 and seldom to be got even at that price. 
 
 Said I, "Is it not hard to hve the hfe of a 
 Christian without the Bible ?" 
 
 "Yes," said he, "but I can't help it; for 
 even if I was able to buy one, it could not be 
 
 got nearer than C , which is forty miles 
 
 distant. I never expect to be rich enough to 
 buy a whole Bible." 
 
 My soul was stirred withiQ me, and I drew
 
 96 FIVE YEARS 
 
 out my pocket Bible, a fine copy Tvliicli I liad 
 received as a present, and gave it to him. 
 He looked for a moment at me with sui'- 
 prise, when the tears gushed from his eyes, 
 and he exclaimed, " I am now rich and hap- 
 py." This man was seYenty-five years old, 
 and trembling on the brink of the grave. 
 This is a true pictui-e of many cases found 
 by colporteurs. I never felt so well paid or 
 so happy as when I gave that man my only 
 Bible. 
 
 During this whole tour of five weeks' travel, 
 many a scene similar to those described oc- 
 curred; while, on the other hand, I visited 
 villages and towns where I found fine 
 chui'ches and able ministers, with highly cul- 
 tivated pious congregations. In this toui* I 
 raised over $500 in donations, and employed 
 three excellent colporteurs, one of whom la- 
 bored nme years. I met the most cordial 
 cooperation fi"om Christians and philanthro- 
 pists everywhere I went. All said, " This is 
 just what we need in this sparsely populated 
 mountain country."
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 97 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 "While on this tour I visited the town of 
 
 L , near the centre of Western Virginia, 
 
 and made arrangements to remove there in a 
 few weeks. There are few towns of the size 
 which I have ever visited where I have met 
 with a more noble people. There was wealth, 
 intelligence, and the highest degree of refine- 
 ment. This town became the centre of mj 
 operations for three years. 
 
 The distance we had to go in moving there 
 was about one hundi'ed and fifty miles, up 
 and do^TL mountains most of the way, with 
 scarce any thing like a road in many places : 
 a family of five, two of them children, in a 
 one-horse carriage, with the necessary equi- 
 page for such a journey. 
 
 On the afternoon of the thii'd day we began 
 to ascend the Cheat mountain, which required 
 nine miles travelling to reach its summit, and 
 eight miles down the other side to its base, 
 with only one house all the way, and that on 
 the top. of the mountain, called at that time
 
 98 FIVE YEARS 
 
 " the mountain house of entertainment." It 
 was a large rude log-liouse, T\-itliout comfort. 
 By the time we reached the top of it I foimd 
 my horse very much fatigued, and the sun 
 about setting. We conchided we could not de- 
 scend the mountain that night -vNdth safety, as 
 there was no moon, and the whole way was 
 through a dense pine forest. 
 
 "When we came to this house on the veiy 
 top of the moimtain, we found a number of 
 covered wagons that belonged to families 
 moving westward, and a crowd of people 
 of all colors about the house. I asked for 
 lodging. "Yes," said the landlord, "lodg- 
 ing plenty !" My family went into the house, 
 and I went to see my horse taken care of. 
 On my return I found them without any place 
 to sit down. After looking thi'ough the house, 
 and finding but two or three apartments, and 
 such a crowd of people, I asked the landlord 
 how he would lodge us all. " Oh," said he, 
 " you can lie do^ii a few at a time, and soon 
 as you get asleep I can stand you up against 
 the wall." 
 
 Though it was in September, and very 
 warm in the valleys, 3^et it was cold on the
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 99 
 
 top of tliis moimtain, and we were all sliiver- 
 ing. I asked the landlord, who by this time 
 was playing the violin for our entertainment, 
 to make us a httle fire. But there was nei- 
 ther wood nor supper. The females were 
 stowed away in one room for the night, and 
 the rest lay on the floor or sat by turns till 
 the morning came. 
 
 As we had no toilet to make in the morn- 
 ing, we were on the way down the mountain 
 at an early hour. The first house we reached 
 was a log-house, where they kept entertain- 
 ment. All was neat and clean. We called 
 for breakfast ; and while it was preparing, we 
 had our morning devotions, which had been 
 noticed by the landlady. When we came to 
 our excellent breakfast, she asked me to chris- 
 ten her childi-en, of which she had quite a 
 number. I told her I was not a preacher, 
 and had no authority to administer ordi- 
 nances. She insisted most earnestly that I 
 must do it ; that no one had ever prayed there 
 before, and she did not see any reason why 
 any praying man could not christen children ; 
 that they had been Hving there for years, and 
 never heard a sermon or seen a preacher as
 
 100 FIVE YEARS 
 
 thej knew of; and if I would only do it, they 
 would not cliarge ine one cent for breakfast. 
 After preaching them the best sermon I could, 
 and gi^'ing a good supply of little books, we 
 went on our way. In two more days we 
 
 reached L , our place of destination, in 
 
 safety, and in a few hours had a house rented 
 and were h^ing in it. 
 
 For three years I travelled almost con- 
 stantly; sometimes in a buggy, but mostly 
 on horseback, making from six to eight thou- 
 sand miles each year, distributing tracts and 
 books in cabins and mansions, collecting 
 money, and emplojing men, till I had the co- 
 operation of over fifty colporteurs. The many 
 interesting facts and incidents which occuiTed 
 during these years would fill a large volume. 
 A very few of them I shall attempt to relate. 
 
 A Mr. W , whom we had employed for 
 
 some years, a man of much more than ordi- 
 nary piety and qualifications for the work, 
 while \dsiting in the mountains, came to a 
 poor cabin occupied by a man, his wife, and 
 an only son. They were very poor. The 
 father made his living by grubbing, and took
 
 IX THE ALLEGHANIES. 101 
 
 the boy "with liim to pick tlie briisli, he being 
 at this time about sixteen years old. They 
 carried home their wages on their backs, 
 mostly in some kind of food. The mother 
 made what she earned by her spinning- 
 wheel; and while at that, had taught her 
 son to read the Testament, though she was 
 
 not rehgious. IVlr. W , after talking and 
 
 praying with them, gave this boy a copy of 
 Baxter's Call, which was the means of his 
 conversion. Before he could join the church, 
 the neighbors aided in getting him a suit of 
 clothes. 
 
 He immediately set about to improve him- 
 self in every possible way. There was no 
 school near ; and if there had been, he had 
 no means to go. His fii'st efforts in learning 
 to write were, by copying the letters out of a 
 book with his finger in the snow. He bor- 
 rowed and read all the books he could get, 
 and attended a little church where there was 
 preaching once each month. 
 
 About two years afterwards I received a 
 letter by some private way from this same 
 
 boy, D. W. S . On opening it, I made 
 
 out its contents with some difficulty. It was
 
 102 FIVE YEARS 
 
 an application to become a colporteur. In 
 the letter lie referred me to tlie Eev. Mr. 
 
 B , who lived in town. I went to him, 
 
 showed him the letter, and asked him if he 
 knew the T\Titer. He laughed: "Yes, very 
 
 well ; I received him into the church. D 
 
 is a good boy, but he is ^^ithout education, 
 and knows nothing of the world ; he has never 
 been ten miles fit'om home in his Hfe." 
 
 I wrote the young man a kind letter, say- 
 ing I hoped he would make a colporteui' some 
 da}", and advised him to go to school a while. 
 
 The next thing I heard fi-om him was a rap 
 at my door. When I opened the door, an 
 awkward-looldng youth near six feet high 
 stood before me, ^dth the same suit of clothes 
 on him he had got over two years before. 
 The pants were several inches too short, and 
 the coat-sleeves as deficient ; indeed, the coat 
 was httle more than a big patch on his back. 
 Said he, "I am the felloiv that ^^Tote you a 
 letter about wanting to colporf, and I have 
 come to see about it." I invited him into the 
 house. He was all in a tremor of excitement. 
 When I opened the parlor door he look-ed in 
 with amazement, and in walking to a seat
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 103 
 
 avoided stepping on the white spots in the 
 carpet, which was the fii'st one he ever saw. 
 He was so embaiTassed he could scarcely 
 speak. 
 
 After talking a little while about crops, etc., 
 he became composed. He then told me his 
 desires to do good, and all about his conver- 
 sion, which was entirely satisfactory. As it 
 was late in the evening, I invited him to stay 
 for the night ; and by the time we got his 
 poor old pony of a horse, not worth five dol- 
 lars, put away, tea was ready. When he sat 
 down he looked confused. I had much con- 
 versation with him that evening. At length 
 I invited him up stairs to bed. On the way 
 up he held by the raihng to avoid treading 
 on the narrow carpet in the centre. 
 
 In the morning he was up whistling psalm 
 tunes bright and early. As soon as I was 
 dressed I called him and told him I had re- 
 flected over the matter very carefully, and 
 had come to the conclusion that his want of 
 education and knowledge of the world would 
 not justify me in employing him. 
 
 I saw his countenance change in a moment 
 and the tears start in his eyes. " Oh," said
 
 104 FIVE YEAES 
 
 he, " I do want you to give me icorl% for I 
 do feel that all I tcant to live for is to icork for 
 Christ:' 
 
 I cannot describe my feelings as lie uttered 
 these words. Here was a depth of devotion 
 beyond any thing I had met. After some 
 minutes' silence I said to him, " There is a 
 region of country on the head-waters of the 
 Elk river where there never has been any 
 preaching; if you will go there a month with- 
 out any commission, I will see you are paid." 
 
 His countenance was changed in a moment, 
 and ht up T\ith joy. In less than two hours 
 I had a pair of colporteur's saddle-bags filled 
 with books and tracts, and he was on his 
 journey to that destitute region, some forty 
 miles distant. Soon after, some stock raisers 
 who had been in that region buying cattle, 
 told me they heard that the Tract Society 
 had a great man out there; that the people 
 were wonderfully j^leased with him; that he 
 was giving them books, and teaching them to 
 read them. 
 
 At the end of the month he returned, all 
 his stock had passed into the hands of the 
 people, and he gave me a glowing account of
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 105 
 
 the people's wants and his success. He said 
 it would take anotlier month to get over that 
 region, and he wanted to go "back. After 
 aiding him to dispense with his boy clothes, I 
 started him with another load of books, cau- 
 tioning him to avoid showing off his new suit 
 as much as possible. 
 
 Another month's work was done with gTeat 
 success, when he returned almost a new boy 
 in his whole appearance. He had gained 
 confidence by being constantly among people 
 that did not know as much as he did. 
 
 I then had him commissioned for P 
 
 county, a very mountainous^ region, and very 
 destitute of the means of moral improyement. 
 In a few months he had visited every family 
 in the county. In many families the bare 
 mention of his name wiU start tears in the 
 eyes of the people, and the tracts that he dis- 
 tributed have been sewed togethei? and cov- 
 ered with deerskin as remembrances of the 
 man that left them. 
 
 Often through the day when he would 
 come in sight of a cabin, he would aHght 
 from his horse and kneel in the woods and 
 plead with God for success in his visit.
 
 106 FIVE YEARS 
 
 He next 'vdsited the comities of M and 
 
 E , two large counties, Tvith remarkable 
 
 success. Bj this time he became a fine-look- 
 ing young man, and by his constant applica- 
 tion to reading the books as he rode along, 
 he had become an intelligent, spuitual Chris- 
 tian. 
 
 We then sent him to the large county of 
 
 P , where there was in portions of it a 
 
 high degi'ee of intelligence and refinement. 
 
 In a few months he was hcensed to preach 
 the gospel. He married a lady of high moral 
 
 worth, and settled in the county of H 
 
 over four weak churches. In two and a half 
 years he received over two hundred persons 
 into the church on profession of their faith; 
 then took typhoid fever, with w^hicli he soon 
 died in the triumphs of a living faith. 
 
 Since his death I have met with R\e yoimg 
 men, who are now ministers of the gospel, 
 who had been led to Christ by his labors, all 
 of whom speak of him as an extraordinary 
 man in point of piety and usefulness. 
 
 •Here was a boy that in all probabihty 
 would have hved and died in ignorance and 
 sin if he had not been found by a coliDorteur.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 107 
 
 He has often put his hand on my shoulder, 
 and said ^ith tears in his eyes, "Brother 
 
 C , if it had not been for the Tract Society, 
 
 I should have been a poor grubber to-day, on 
 the way to death and ruin." 
 
 The great secret of his success was his un- 
 tiring zeal and industry. He read and stud- 
 ied on his saddle; the shades of the forest 
 were his closet in the summer, and the cleft 
 of some mountain rock in the winter. His 
 congregations were mostly ignorant fanuhes, 
 and his rostrum a three-legged stool in the 
 corner. All his talents were put to use in 
 the Lord's work, and no doubt he has his 
 reward. Eeader, go thou and do likewise, 
 and receive a Hke gTacfous reward. 
 
 On a Saturday evening while on my way 
 to meet a Sabbath appointment, while de- 
 scending a mountain, I met a man on his 
 way home from mill, and offered him some 
 tracts. " Oh," said he, " they are of no use 
 to me, for I can't read, and I have no one 
 about me that can." I asked him if he had 
 a family. "Yes, I have a wife and seven 
 children." " It is a gi-eat sin," said I, " for 
 you to raise a family in such ignorance."
 
 108 _ FIVE YEARS 
 
 "Oil," said lie, "there is so much harm in 
 books, they are better without them." I 
 handed him two or three tracts, and told him 
 to get some one to read them to him. One of 
 them was, Fifty Eeasons for Attending Pub- 
 He Worship. He took them, and when he got 
 home showed them to his wife. " Oh," s^id 
 she, " we vnR be ruined now. I '11 bet that is 
 a warrant that Middleton has got the sheriff 
 to serve on you, and we will lose our land." 
 They sjoent a sleepless night, and early next 
 morning they went to the nearest neighbor 
 and told him they had got into sad trouble 
 about their land ; that Middleton had served 
 a warrant on them, and here it was. 
 
 The tracts were presented to a man who 
 was a class-leader in the Methodist church, 
 and was my informer near a year after this 
 occurrence. He took the first one, "Fifty 
 Eeasons for Attending Pubhc Worship." 
 " Well," said he, " this is a warrant, but not 
 sent by Middleton, but from the court of heav- 
 en. God has sent jou this, as you never go 
 to church; and now you see how you have 
 exposed your ignorance by not being able to 
 read, not knowing the difference between a
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 109 
 
 sheriff's writ and a religions tract ; and I do 
 liope yon vrill now attend clinrcli, and liave 
 jonr children taught to read." "Now," said 
 my informer, " this man and his wife are both 
 members of the chnrch, and they are sending 
 their children to school as the result of the 
 influence of those tracts." 
 
 On one occasion I left home by a stage- 
 coach before dayhght on a long journey. 
 We stopped after ten miles to take other 
 passengers. As usual, the way-bill was taken 
 into the stage-office to enter their names. A 
 man was in the office who had travelled near 
 one hundred miles to see me at L . See- 
 ing my name on the way-bill, he asked if that 
 was the man that was the tract agent. About 
 that time I stepped in to warm myseK and 
 distribute tracts, when some one acquainted 
 with me told him I was the agent. He then 
 told me how far he had come to see me, and 
 how near he was to miss me, all the time in- 
 terlarding his eonyersation with oaths, to the 
 great amazement of all present who knew the 
 nature of my work. When he was through, 
 I told him I would tell him the nature of the 
 work in a few words : that he must get a
 
 110 FIYE YEARS 
 
 good horse and a large paii- of saddle-bags, 
 fill tliem with books, and ride over these rag- 
 ged mountains, and hve on hard fare. With 
 an awful oath he said he could stand all that 
 with any fellow about the diggins. In ad- 
 dition to that, said I, you must read the 
 Bible, and pray at every house. I never 
 paw a man so utterly confounded, while those 
 present were convulsed with laughter. I 
 gave him a few tracts, and talked to him 
 till he wept like a child. Although I never 
 heard of the man again, I have hope that the 
 conversation was not in vain.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. Ill 
 
 CHAPTEE XII. 
 
 About tliis time I lield a Colporteur Con- 
 yention in C -, in which a nnmber of col- 
 porteurs were present. The meeting was one 
 of deep interest. Many facts were brought 
 out in relation to the wants of that region, 
 and the good resulting from the work, that 
 were of the most cheering character. 
 
 During the three days of our meetings, an 
 old man was present who was but httle known 
 to any that were there. When about to close 
 the convention, I said that if any one present 
 wished to give us a word of advice or ex- 
 hortation we should be glad to hear it, when 
 this old man rose, trembling with diffidence, 
 and said : 
 
 "As soon as I heard of this meeting I made 
 up my mind to attend it ; and now I want to 
 tell you what this Society has done for me. 
 
 My name is C . Ten years ago I was 
 
 considered the wickedest man in this county. 
 I was a profane drunkard. One day while at 
 S , about four miles above this place, old
 
 112 FIVE YEARS 
 
 Mr. E , who was always dishibTiting 
 
 tracts, handed me one with the word Eterrdhj 
 in large letters at the head of it. I was the 
 worse for hquor at the time, and on my horse 
 to go home, which was about fifteen miles 
 distant. On my way I took the tract out of 
 my hat to read it. My attention got fixed 
 on the word Eternity, and I became alarmed 
 about my state as a sinner. By the time I 
 got home I was nearly sober. I read and 
 reread the tract till I had it committed to 
 memory. For near two weeks I had no rest. 
 At last my distress became so gi'eat that I 
 did not want to hve. One day I was tempted 
 to go away to the woods and destroy myself. 
 While there I thought of praying, for the 
 fii'st time, and fell down on my knees and 
 cried, ' God be merciful to me a sinner.' In 
 a moment I felt rehef, and went home with 
 a joyful heart, and told my family all about 
 the matter. I read the tract to them, and 
 began to pray with and for them. In six 
 months I had a Httle church built on my land, 
 and a missionary there to preach once each 
 month, and myself, wife, and six of my chil- 
 di*en and eight servants were members of it ;
 
 IN. THE ALLEGHAXIES. 113 
 
 and here is five dollars, all the money I have 
 in the world, to aid in giving good books to 
 others." All present were bathed in tears at 
 this recital. 
 
 As soon as he was seated, another man 
 arose and said "he supposed all present had 
 
 heard of Father B , who died a few weeks 
 
 ago, and many, no doubt, remember when he 
 was a ten'or in the community. He had re- 
 markable bodily powers, and could whip any 
 man in all the country round. TMien the 
 county of L was laid off, there was a vio- 
 lent contest about where to build the coui't- 
 
 house ; and the two parties agreed that B 
 
 and another bully should decide the matter 
 
 by a fist-fight, and B gained the site 
 
 where that court-house now stands. He was 
 often brought up at the court for assault and 
 battery, and had crippled some men for life. 
 
 Judge S on one occasion, when passing 
 
 sentence on him, said, ' B , you have be- 
 come too bad a man to Hve, and if ever you 
 come before me again convicted of crime, I 
 will make you suffer for it most severely. If 
 you would improve the mind God has given 
 you, you might be a blessing to the world ;
 
 114 FIVE YEARS 
 
 but now Toii are a disgrace. Here is a tract, 
 ' The Fool's Pence ;' take and read it, and 
 may God lead yon by it to be a better man.' 
 That tract was the means of his conversion, 
 and for the last fifteen years of his life he 
 was one of the most successful preachers in 
 South-western Yir^inia." 
 
 Another fact was brought out at this meet- 
 ing by the Eev. Mr. W , who labored for 
 
 some time as a colporteur in the county of 
 
 W . He entered a large settlement where 
 
 there never had been any preaching, schools, 
 or distribution of books. The Sabbath was 
 the special day for fi'ohcking and dissipation. 
 In the house where he lodged on Saturday 
 night, the family were busy preparing to go 
 to a shooting-match the next morning. All 
 he could say had no effect on them. After 
 praying God to guide him in his duty, he 
 determined to go with them. T\'hen they 
 came to the place, a large collection of all 
 classes were present, "VNdth a great number of 
 articles to gamble for in difierent ways. He 
 told them, as it was the Lord's day, he would 
 unite with them in prayer for God's blessing. 
 He prayed earnestly, and then told them that
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 115 
 
 if they would give him their attention he 
 "^-oulcl preach to them. They seemed con- 
 founded at this remark, and all remained 
 silent as death. He announced his text, and 
 preached with unusual liberty. The atten- 
 tion was solemn, and they looked at one an- 
 other with amazement. He then distributed 
 among them his remaining stock of books 
 and tracts, and as he was very unwell, went 
 home. Soon after the news spread that some 
 people in that region were concerned about 
 their souls. A preacher visited them, and 
 soon had a good congregation gathered, and 
 over twenty converts. Sunday frohcking was 
 abandoned, and many were led to observe 
 the Lord's day. 
 
 The same man stated another fact, which 
 
 occurred in J county. While visiting in 
 
 one of those sparsely populated regions, he 
 came to a very large farm. He found the 
 family to consist of the father, mother, and 
 twelve children, the youngest about eight 
 years old. The man was wealthy in land 
 and stock, but to his surprise no one knew a 
 letter in a book. After talking to them about 
 their relations to God and eternity, he asked
 
 116 FIVE YEARS 
 
 the father why he did not have his children 
 taught to read. The old objection was raised 
 at once, that they learned enough of had with- 
 out books ; that he had got along very weU 
 without reading, and so could his childi*en. 
 
 He then began to read to them, showed 
 them the pictures in the Alphabet of Ajiimals, 
 and read them some account of them. Sev- 
 eral of the children said, " Oh, I wish I could 
 read." He then gave them one or two books 
 and some tracts. A few months after he was 
 coming back the same way, and called to pay 
 another visit. " Well," said the old man, "you 
 have give me a j^9?n-f?/ lot of trouble hy leaving 
 them hooks here. I had no peace till I got a 
 man to come and lam them to read them." 
 So sure enough the teacher was there, and 
 now they bought more books fi-eely. 
 
 In traveUing through a ^dld mountain re- 
 gion, where I was a total stranger, I came to 
 a small village of about a dozen houses, with 
 a httle store and tavern. Before I reached 
 it, I heard men hallooing in the most boister- 
 ous manner. When I drove up weary to the 
 pubHc-house, I was surrounded with such a 
 set of savage-looking men as I never had
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. llT 
 
 seen before, and all intoxicated. Every man 
 had on a liimting-sliirt, with a belt round him, 
 to which hung a long butcher-knife. I felt 
 afi-aid of the men, I must confess, and would 
 have been glad to have been elsewhere, espe- 
 cially as my buggy and trunk seemed to at- 
 tract rather too much attention. 
 
 After I had got food for myself and horse, 
 and laid round some tracts as quietly as pos- 
 sible, I started, hoping to reach a point near 
 twenty miles distant that night. Some part 
 of the way I was told the road was very 
 good, but mostly rough and mountainous. 
 
 As soon as I was out of sight, I drove rap- 
 idly, and made the first five miles in an hour, 
 when I began to breathe easier. 
 
 But all at once I heard the most unearthly 
 yeUing behind me that had ever gTeeted my 
 ears. My horse was frightened, and tried to 
 run off. In a few moments I heard the clat- 
 ter of horses' feet, and concluded all was over 
 with me. In a moment I was surrounded 
 ■^ith some eight or ten of the most desperate 
 looking men, and told to stop ; that they 
 wanted to know what I was loaded with. I 
 told them I was loaded with good religious
 
 118 FIVE YEARS 
 
 books, wliicli I was distributing among peo- 
 ple that had none I was then ordered to 
 give them all up to them, and thej would 
 scatter them on the other side of the moun- 
 tain, for there were no books over there. I 
 told them I knew thej were too generous to 
 take all that I had. 
 
 I then told them to listen to me, and I 
 would tell them what the books taught. So 
 I began and preached them the most earnest 
 sermon that I ever preached. One of them 
 said, " Give me your hand, sir, for I never 
 had a preacher bj the hand in my Hfe." I 
 held his hand firmly, and preached on, al- 
 though the muzzle of his gun was fi'equently 
 in very dangerous proximity to my person. 
 
 It was evident they began to feel uneasy 
 under my wayside sermon, and for fear they 
 would leave me without tracts, I began the 
 distribution, and gave each one a number of 
 the most suitable I could find. They invited 
 me to come over the mountains and preach, 
 and I would get plenty to come and hear me. 
 Some of those tracts were found more than a 
 year after by one of our colporteui'S, carefully 
 preserved and highly prized.
 
 IN THE ALLEaHANIES. 119 
 
 CHAPTEE XIII. 
 
 Another case tliat seemed more threaten- 
 ing than the last mentioned, occurred soon 
 
 after in the comity of G . I was on my 
 
 way to meet a Sabbath appointment. About 
 two o'clock I came to a river which was 
 much swollen by the late rains. The man 
 who kept the ferry-boat Hved on the opposite 
 side of the river, where some four or five men 
 were pitching quoits and making a great 
 noise. I called a number of times before 
 they even condescended to answer me ; and 
 when they did answer, it was with cui'ses, 
 telling me they would come when they were 
 ready. I had then sixteen miles to go to 
 
 B , the place where I expected to lodge. 
 
 They kept me waiting two hours before they 
 came with the boat, consequently it was late 
 when I got over. They were drunk and very 
 profane, charged me four prices, and cursed 
 me for troubhng them. I gave them some 
 tracts, and the best advice I could. 
 
 Soon after I met two women: one seemed
 
 120 FIVE YEARS 
 
 to be about thirty, and the other sixty years 
 old. I offered them some tracts, Tvhich they 
 at fii'st declined, for fear I might be the sher- 
 iff. Neither knew a letter, or conld tell who 
 was the Sa^ioui- of sinners. 
 
 Soon after I passed them a terrible rain 
 came on, and the roads were so deep my 
 horse conld scarcely draw my buggy. I saw 
 night would soon overtake me, and the pros- 
 pect of lodging looked nnfayorable. I stop- 
 ped at a cabin by the roadside to inquire the 
 way, and leave some tracts. A man came out 
 who looked as if he was ready for any crime, 
 and came right up to my buggy, and began 
 to look in with a scrutinizing eye. He either 
 could not or would not give me any satisfac- 
 tion about the road. After an earnest exhor- 
 tation about his soul, I gave him Baxter's 
 Call. All the conduct of the man was of a 
 very suspicious character. 
 
 It .was now late, and raining hard, and in a 
 little time would be very dark. I drove on 
 as fast as possible,' until it began to get quite 
 dark, when I met a man on the road walking ; 
 whether he was a white man or not, I could 
 not tell. I stopped him to inquire if there
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 121 
 
 was any place near where I could lodge. He 
 immediat^lj began to examine the inside of 
 mj bnggy as fully as the darkness would per- 
 mit. He told me there was a man on the 
 other bank of the creek, about haK a mile 
 ahead of me, who kept lodgers, and that it 
 was a good place to stop. I handed him 
 a book and thanked him, and drove on, he 
 follo-^-ing a short distance, asking me ques- 
 tions which were not calculated to aUay my 
 anxiety. 
 
 I soon reached the creek, which seemed to 
 be very high and rapid, and it was so dark I 
 could see no object on the other side of it. 
 The road entered by a narrow ravine, and 
 there was no way to back out. I hfted my 
 heart to God for protection, and di'oye in. 
 In a moment the water was up in my bugg}', 
 but thanks to God, I got through safely, and 
 in a few moments my horse was standing by 
 the door of a miserable cabin. 
 
 I called, and a man came out with a torch 
 of pine-knots in his hand. He was both dirty 
 and ragged. I asked him where the man 
 lived that kept lodgers. " Oh," said he, " I 
 am the man that keeps tavern here." My
 
 122 FIVE YEARS 
 
 prospects were bad, but I could get no fur- 
 ther. I asked liim to put up my tired horse 
 and feed him. He had no stable. but a rail- 
 pen, no feed but some sheaves of green 
 wheat. He took me to another cabin about 
 fifty yards distant, that was as dark as a dun- 
 geon, except so far as his torch gave us Hght. 
 Although it was warm, I requested him to 
 make me a fire, which he did with reluctance. 
 
 After some time I was invited to the first 
 cabin to supper. The man and his wife and 
 children, as weU as the supper, were all dirty 
 in the extreme. I attempted to- eat, but in 
 vain. As soon as the man finished his meal, 
 we returned to the other cabin, where I con- 
 versed with liim. He was a total stranger to 
 the simplest truths of the Bible. 
 
 I asked him if he knew any thing of the 
 celebrated Lucas family of that county. " Oh 
 yes," said he, " they hve all round here. Did 
 you not meet a man as you came along to- 
 night about the top of the hill over the creek?"' 
 I said yes. " Well, that was one of them, and 
 I wonder they let you pass so late in the 
 evening. That one, and the one that hved in 
 the house you last passed were the two impli-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 123 
 
 cated in killing the man for wliicli one of their 
 uncles was hung at Giles court-house, and if 
 I had given in my testimony, they would 
 have been hung too; and I am afraid they 
 will kill me, because I know all about it." 
 
 By this time I was considerably alarmed. 
 The conclusion I came to was that they were 
 all linked together, and that I was in the 
 slaughter-house. 
 
 I then inquired all about old Eandal Lucas, 
 who was the father of two that had been 
 hung, and some others that were in prison, 
 and was the grandfather of the two he had 
 just been telling me about. He gave me a 
 full history of the old man, much of which 
 cannot be told. " But," said he, " such a man 
 you never saw. He is ninety years old. When 
 he i3uts on a suit of clothes, he never takes it 
 off till it is worn out. In the winter he hes 
 in the ashes, and in the summer he Hes down 
 in the mire like a hog." This is confirmed 
 in Howe's History of Yirginia, which relates 
 how he sat under the gallows eating ginger- 
 bread while his sons were hung. I refer the 
 reader to that history for an account of this 
 wonderful man and his family.
 
 124 FIVE YEARS 
 
 The manner in which he told the whole 
 story was any thing but pleasant to me. He 
 began to get sleepy, and told me he would 
 hold the pine-light while I got into bed up on 
 the hft, as he called it. The only way to get 
 up was by a ladder made of a pole spht 
 in two, with rounds put into it. I climbed 
 up, and he followed me with the torch. As 
 soon as I got to the bed oyer the loose boards 
 that coyered the floor, and found an old spht- 
 bottom chair, which I expected to use in self- 
 defence before morning, I told him to T^dth- 
 draw. 
 
 I lay down T^dthout undressing, after com- 
 mitting my soul, family, and all my- interests 
 to God, without much hope of seeing the 
 light of another day. No one occupied the 
 house but myseK as a bedi'oom. I kept 
 watch till morning, and when any impleasant 
 sound was heard, I made noise enough to let 
 any one approaching know that I was awake. 
 
 As soon as it was light I was up to see to 
 my poor horse, which was standing in mud 
 and water six inches deep, T^ith^t food. 
 After getting him some more gi'een wheat in 
 the sheaf, and a little corn bread for myself,
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 125 
 
 and talking and praying Tvitli the family, I 
 left them. I cannot say whether there was 
 any intention to rob me or take my life. I 
 hope there was not. 
 
 "WTien I was about two miles on my way, 
 and was rising a mountain where the road 
 was scarcely six inches wider than my buggy, 
 a man met me, riding a poor old horse with- 
 out a saddle, all in rags and dii't, with noth- 
 ing on him but remnants of a torn shirt and 
 pants, with a rope tied round his waist, and 
 a bottle of whiskey in his bosom. Such a 
 looking piece of humanity I had never seen 
 before. In a moment I concluded this is 
 certainly old Eandal Lucas. I saw he could 
 not pass me on that narrow road, and I de- 
 termined to have a full talk with him. When, 
 we met he tried to keep the upper side of the 
 road, and get between my horse and the steep 
 bank. 
 
 " Good morning, sir," said I. " Good morn- 
 ing," said he, in a very unnatural tone of 
 voice. " Do n't you want some good books 
 to read this morning?" "No, I do n't want 
 any; I can't read." " Do you go to church?" 
 "No, I don't care about church." " WeU,
 
 126 FIVE YEARS 
 
 sir," said I, "3-011 are an old man and must 
 soon go to the other world." "Yes, I am 
 ninety years old." "Is it possible," said I, 
 "you are so old?" "Yes, I can prove it." 
 " You would find buj» few witnesses to prove 
 that by." "Well, I can swear it then." 
 "Well, sir," said I, "what do you think Avill 
 become of you when you die ?" " O well, I 
 does 'nt care any thing about that." " Can 
 you tell me who is the Saviour of sinners ?" 
 "I don't know any thing of them things." 
 " Well, sir, who made you ?" " Why, I sup- 
 pose it was God Almighty." " What is 3'our 
 name, sir ?" " Eandal Lucas." " Well," said 
 I, "I thought so," straightening myself with 
 a determined look. " Well, su% you say you 
 don't go to church, and I must tell you in 
 the name of my Master, that if you do n't re- 
 pent you will soon be in hell. I have read 
 and heard of you, sir, for years, and you 
 stand on the brink of eternal burnings, and 
 your soul stained with every crime that a 
 man could commit." He began to look fright- 
 ened, and tried to pass me; but I kept my 
 position, and for some minutes laid down the 
 terrors of the law in the strongest language
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 127 
 
 I could use, and tlien gave him some little 
 books and tracts. He trembled like an aspen 
 leaf. 
 
 A few T^^eeks afterwards lie took up the 
 idea that he was soon to die, got a coffin 
 made, tried it to see if it would fit, paid for 
 it, and set it up in his cabin — sent for a 
 preacher, told him he was going to die and 
 did not know what would become of liim, 
 and asked him to pray for him ; offered him 
 fifty cents, and said, "Pray on till my money 
 is done." The money was of course refused. 
 In a few days the poor Avretch died as he 
 had lived, leaving a host of children the de- 
 scendants of imnatural and brutal connec- 
 tion.
 
 128 FIVE YEAliS 
 
 CHAPTEE XIV 
 
 Teamiilling in a moimtainous region at 
 nightfall of a tempestuous day, and having 
 lost mj road, I was directed for a lodging 
 
 to "Squire D 's, who keeps the ferry." 
 
 After supper, I had a pleasant talk Tvith the 
 
 father of Squire T> , on whose, head the 
 
 snows of eighty winters had fallen, and soon 
 the family were gathered round us, engaged 
 in delightful converse. I inquired as to the 
 high-handed wickedness of a neighborhood 
 not far off, where I had heard that meet- 
 ings were frequently held in mockery of re- 
 ligious worship : 
 
 "Yes, yes," said the squii'e, vrith. just 
 enough of the Welsh accent to betray his 
 origin, " and our neighborhood here was just 
 as bad ten years ago ; we were all alike : no 
 church, no preacher, no Sunday-school, no 
 day-school. One evening a minister and a 
 young lady stopped at my house for the 
 night ; I thought them very inquisitive yyeo- 
 ple. They asked if we had any preaching.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 129 
 
 *No.' Any scliools ? 'No; we have had sev- 
 eral teachers, but no one will stay more than 
 a quarter vdih. us.' The young lady said she 
 would come and take a school among us, if 
 we would employ her. After some further 
 conversation, I told her I would see what 
 could be done, and write her the result. Next 
 morning they left for the minister's home at 
 M , some fifty miles distant. 
 
 " In a short time I had a school made up 
 and board engaged for the new teacher, and 
 wrote her to that effect. She came and com- 
 menced her school at the time appointed. 
 But soon there was complaint that the new 
 teacher recfcl the Bible and ];jrayed in her school. 
 And her troubles did not cease here. The 
 man at whose house she boarded insisted that 
 she should leave, because she prayed, sung 
 hymns, and would keep talking about relig- 
 ion all the time. Miss H then set out to 
 
 look up another home for herself; but she 
 met the same reply from all : ' We cannot re- 
 ceive you unless you leave off praying and 
 singing.' 
 
 " When she appHed to me, I objected on 
 the same grounds. Finally, I told her if she
 
 130 FIVE YEARS 
 
 would come on my own terms, I would take 
 her into my family. She inquired what those 
 terms were. 'Why,' said I, 'you shall haye 
 such a room to yourself; there you are to 
 stay from the time you return from school 
 imtil you start to go back, only when you 
 come to your meals : you must not sing 
 hymns ; you may pray as much as you please, 
 but mind you do n't let us hear you at it ; and 
 remember, the first time you infiinge this con- 
 tract, you leaye the premises.' To all this 
 she agreed, Tidth as much meekness as if my 
 terms had been reasonable and right. That 
 eyening she took up her abode under my 
 roof; and little did I think what a blessing 
 God was sending me in that fi-ail, dehcate 
 girl. 
 
 "The childi-en all loyed the new teacher 
 yery much. So one day she told them to ask 
 their parents' permission, and if tliey were 
 agreed, she would teach them on Sunday too. 
 This proposal pleased us aU. If she taught 
 on Sunday, that was so much clear gain to 
 us. 
 
 " I soon obseryed that my children took to 
 staying in the teacher's room much of their
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 131 
 
 time. At length, one Sunday morning, they 
 came cIot^ti with some tracts; I looked over 
 them, and found they were on the subject of 
 rehgion. Ah, said I, my lady, I 've caught 
 you now. I called her down, told her she 
 had violated her contract, and must be off. 
 The poor girl began to weep ; I felt ashamed. 
 'Dear sir,' said she, 'will you read those 
 tracts ? If you do, and still continue in your 
 present mind, I will leave your house im- 
 mediately.' 
 
 " Here was a pretty fix ; the children were 
 all crying, and begging me not to send Miss 
 
 H away ; and the books. Oh, they could 
 
 not part with the books. I was mightily 
 perplexed ; at last I gave in. Said I, ' Miss 
 
 H , you may go back to your room ; I will 
 
 consider the matter.' I shall never forget the 
 smile that passed over her face as she thanked 
 me and went back to her room. Thanked 
 me, indeed ! Well, I set to work, read one 
 of the tracts, felt seK-condemned ; read it 
 again, felt dreadfully troubled. Then I read 
 them all, and felt that I was a great sinner. 
 
 I said nothing more to IMiss H about 
 
 leaving my house. Each day my convictions
 
 132 FIVE YEARS 
 
 became deeper. At last, I could bear it no 
 longer. Thought I, this Tvont do ; I must 
 
 talk with Miss H . So I invited her to 
 
 come and sit with us in the family. She 
 cheerfuUj comphed. I asked her a great 
 many questions about the doctrines of the 
 Bible, not meaning to let her know any thing 
 about my concern. But all would not do ; 
 my distress continued, or rather my agony, 
 for I thought I was the greatest sinner on 
 earth. 
 
 "At last, I sent one evening for Miss H 
 
 to come down, and I told her my troubles ; 
 for my proud heart was weU-nigh broken. 
 
 Said I, Miss H , I feel so and so ever 
 
 since I read those tracts of yours ; and I re- 
 lated all that was passing in my mind ; and, 
 said I, do you think there is any mercy or 
 hope for such a poor miserable sinner? The 
 tears began to run down her cheeks ; then 
 she laughed ; then she caught me by both 
 hands, and looking up into my face, she said, 
 * Oh, my dear fiiend, I am so glad. * Why,' 
 said I, * are you glad because I am in trouble?' 
 ' Oh, my dear sir,' says she, ' this is the Spirit 
 of God operating on your heart.' All at onco
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 133 
 
 a great Kglit seemed to shine into my mind. 
 All that I had been learning for so many 
 weeks seemed now just as plain as A B C. 
 
 Said I, ' Come, Miss H , kneel down then 
 
 and pray for me;' and she did pray for me, 
 and I do bless God for his wonderful mercy 
 to such a poor hardened sinner. I beheve 
 that God did change my heart just while that 
 very prayer was going up. All at once it just 
 came : I loved my Bible and I loved to pray, 
 and I could not bear the company that I used 
 to take so much dehght in. 
 
 " On the next Sabbath, Miss H asked 
 
 me to go along with her and the childi'en to 
 the school — which was, and had been a Sim- 
 day-school, though we never suspected it ; 
 and here came a trial. If I go, they will say 
 I am getting reHgious ; if I stay, it will be a 
 sin, for I know I ought to go ; and then it 
 will grieve Miss H . These last consid- 
 erations were the strongest ; so I went. The 
 room was crowded with children, all waiting 
 for their teacher ; I thought they all looked 
 
 happy. After a httle while. Miss H took 
 
 the Bible, and coming to me, she said, 'Mr. 
 D , will you read and pray with us this
 
 134 FIVE YEAES 
 
 morning?' I was startled; ray yery heart 
 trembled. Said I, ' Oh no ; not now.' Then 
 she read a chapter and prayed herself. Oh, 
 how I felt, to think that I was ashamed to 
 pray before those children ! Ah, thought I, 
 this will never do ; I will come here and pray 
 next Simday. That night I read and prayed 
 with my family ; and the next Sabbath I 
 opened the school with prayer. 
 
 '' The news spread soon all through the 
 
 settlement. D has got rehgion and is 
 
 praying in the Sunday-school ! strange news 
 this ! Tery soon the people began to di'op 
 
 into our Sunday-school. Then Miss H 
 
 said to me, * Tou had better read us a ser- 
 mon at the Sunday-school, after the other 
 exercises are over.' She selected the ser- 
 mons, and I read them. Our meetings grew 
 very solemn. Presently we sent word to a 
 
 good man at B to send us a minister ; he 
 
 did so. The minister came and preached for 
 us. The Httle school-house coidd not con- 
 tain one haK of the people who crowded to 
 hear him. "We held our meetings in the open 
 air, under the trees. 
 
 "Ah, that was a wonderful time; the cry
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 135 
 
 of the anxious sinner went up from every 
 house. The Spiiit of God was moving might- 
 ily upon the hearts of the people, and many 
 were born into the kingdom of Christ. All 
 this brought a gTeat change in our settlement. 
 Instead of the dance, and the gaming-table, 
 and the foohsh song, we had meetings for 
 prayer and praise ; and the tavern and still- 
 house were exchanged for the temple of 
 God. 
 
 " The Sabbath became a day of holy rest 
 among a people who used to spend it in rev- 
 ehy or idleness. Houses of worship were 
 built, where our population flocked every 
 Sabbath to hear the preached word from the 
 living minister ; and in the course of two 
 or three years, hundi'eds professed faith in 
 Christ, and joined the church. We have had 
 a flourishing church here ever since. Ah," 
 said the good man, in his peculiarly emphatic 
 way, " see what God hath wrought for us." 
 
 How often have I reproached myself, when 
 I contrasted the heroic conduct of this de- 
 voted female with my own man-fearing spmt ! 
 She has gone to her reward ; her memory will " 
 be cherished for a few more years in the
 
 136 FIVE YEARS 
 
 hearts of those to whom her humble efforts 
 were of such immense value, and then pass 
 away and be forgotten. But her injiuence 
 wall pass on, an ever-increasing current, down 
 the long tracts of time, and throughout the 
 endless ages of eternity.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 131 
 
 CHAPTEE XY. 
 
 The latter part of the year 1848 was spent 
 laboring in South-western Virginia. I visited 
 several towns as a colporteur, faking with me 
 some applicant for this service, to give him a 
 favorable introduction to his labors. 
 
 I reached the beautiful town of A late 
 
 in the evening, an entire stranger, and stopped 
 at a hotel, wet, cold, and hungry. About the 
 same time the stage arrived with a number of 
 passengers, and we all asked for rooms with 
 fire in them. While this was prej)aring I 
 stepped into the bar-room, the only place 
 where I could find a fire ; but it had been 
 election day, and such a company of intoxi- 
 cated men I had never seen in one room. 
 Several of them were lying on the floor, una- 
 ble to rise; and the swearing was awful. I 
 immediately began the distribution of tracts 
 and little paper-covered books; and among 
 them I laid down a copy of " Universalism 
 not of God." As I jDassed round, laying them 
 down on chairs and tables, as well as hand-
 
 138 FIVE YEARS 
 
 ing them to the men, I observed a very fine- 
 looking man who had come in the stage, fol- 
 lowing me, and looking at them. 
 
 As I laid down " Universalism not of God," 
 he took it up, and said to me very abruptly 
 that the book was a libel on the TTniversalists. 
 " Oh," said I, " I understand the cause of 
 your objection to the book. You are one of 
 those who beheve that thieves, murderers, 
 and liars all go to heaven ; that there is no 
 such place as hell." " Yes," said he, " I have 
 too good an opinion of God's mercy to beheve 
 there is any such place as hell." TMien he 
 made that remark, one of the fellows who was 
 lying drunk on the floor raised his head and 
 said, "You are a har;" while another said 
 he " wished that w^as true, but there was no 
 such good news." Said I, "Su-, I will hand 
 you over to these men, and you and they may 
 settle the controversy." He immediately dis- 
 appeared from the room. 
 
 During my stay of three weeks in this beau- 
 tiful town, I visited every family in it, and 
 either sold or gave books. 
 
 One day I stepped into the office of a law- 
 yer, who was one of the first men in the state
 
 IN THE ALLEaHAXIES. 139 
 
 in his profession. I offered liim a copy of 
 Nelson on Infidelity. Said he, " I could not 
 take time to read a book of that size, except 
 on law, for less than five hundred dollars." 
 I then offered him Baxter's Call. Said he, 
 " That is too big a dose for me too." I then 
 presented him the tract, " The Great Alterna- 
 tive." ""\\^ell," said he, " as you are so anx- 
 ious for me to read some of your books, I 
 will read that right off." He • commenced, 
 and I left him. An hour or two after I was 
 passing his door, and he was sitting in a 
 thoughtful mood. Said I, "Have you read 
 the tract ?" "Yes," said he, " and if I would 
 read a few more like it I think I might be- 
 come a Christian." Said I, " Too busy to be 
 saved." "Yes," said he, "I fear that is my 
 case ; I have not a moment to spare from my 
 business." Alas, how many will have to say, 
 I was too busy to be saved. 
 
 In the same toT\Ti there was a man who had 
 once been a minister of some prominence in 
 an evangelical church, but had left it, and 
 embraced the doctrines of Swedenborg, for 
 which he was very zealous. I did not wish 
 to encounter him ; but as I stepped into a
 
 140 FIYE YEARS 
 
 store one niglit to scatter tracts, he was pres- 
 ent. He immediately made an attack on me, 
 and said tliat he could not imagine how any 
 wise man could believe in the doctrine of the 
 Trinity; that it was so absurd that nothing in 
 heaven or earth could illustrate it. I saw the 
 eyes of all present were turned to me, and felt 
 in a tight place. I lifted my heart to God for 
 help to ^-indicate his tmth. A candle was 
 burning between us. Said I, pointing to the 
 candle, "Sir, there is a trinity giving us Hght. 
 There is tallow, Tsdck, and fire, three in one." 
 He acknowledged he was beat, and took his 
 leave, to the amusement of those present, and 
 to my great satisfaction. 
 
 After two months' labor in South-western 
 
 Virginia, I returned to my home in L , 
 
 near two hundred miles distant fi'om A , 
 
 and devoted a month to correspondence and 
 adjusting accounts with over fifty colporteurs 
 I had now employed. 
 
 Though L had been my home for over 
 
 two years, I had never had time to visit all 
 the famiUes with our books and tracts. I had 
 often determined to do it, but other labors 
 had prevented. The number of warm friends
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 141 
 
 and liberal contributors in and around the 
 town seemed to lay special claims on me to 
 do the work, and I resolved to spend the 
 months of January and February laboring in 
 the town and vicinity. 
 
 At this time it was remarked by the minis- 
 ters and praying people of God, that they had 
 not felt such a spiritual dearth there for many 
 years. The ball-room was better attended 
 than the churches, and the young seemed to 
 be rushing into sin with greediness. My own 
 soul too was in darkness, and my strength 
 nearly prostrated. My devotions, pubHc and 
 private, were heartless. I was even tempted 
 to leave my work and engage in some secu- 
 lar business. 
 
 At last I told a few of the most pious whom 
 I knew about the desh:e I had to visit the 
 famihes, and that the state of my own heart 
 was such that I was prevented from doing 
 it. They urged me forward, and promised 
 to pray for me. I set day after day to be- 
 gin; but when the day and hour came for 
 me to start, my heart would fail, and Satan 
 seemed to have some excuse always ready. 
 At last I entered into covenant with God to
 
 142 FIVE YEARS 
 
 begin the next day ; but wlien the morning 
 came mj hard, cowardly heart failed me. I 
 tried to pray again and again. I put it off 
 till the afternoon, with a hope of getting 
 sti'ength. A cai-pet-bag had been standing 
 full of books and tracts for some days waiting, 
 and they seemed to rebuke my cowardice. 
 
 At last I thought that if Moses had not 
 step]3ed into the Eed sea, the waters would 
 never have receded. The next morning still 
 found me at home. As soon as my breakfast 
 was over I took the cai-^Det-bag and books to 
 a room and earnestly prayed oyer them, and 
 then started. 
 
 The next neiorhbor to me was a Mr. H . 
 
 His wife and mother-in-law were devoted 
 Christians, but he was careless about relig- 
 ion, and so was his brother, a young man 
 that had his home there. I dealt faithfullj 
 with them, and prayed with them. Each of 
 them bought a book, and I left them in tears. 
 Soon after the young man professed reHgion, 
 and the other remained serious as long as I 
 knew him. All my fears were now gone. A 
 few minutes before I was ashamed to own 
 Christ before a kitchen-maid; now I could
 
 IX THE ALLEGHANIES: 143 
 
 face the world, and the promise was reahzed, 
 "My strength is made perfect in weak- 
 ness." 
 
 I next went to Mr. P 's and had a long 
 
 talk with his daughter, a very intelligent gi;ii 
 of twelve summers. In a short time she pro- 
 fessed religion. 
 
 I next entered the house of Mr. R . 
 
 He and his wife were two of the friends to 
 wham I had told my difficulties, and who had 
 engaged to pray for me. They had two very 
 interesting daughters that moved in the most 
 fashionable circles of society. As soon as I 
 entered the house they knew my errand. I 
 was directed to the parlor, and told by the 
 father, " I ^vill send the girls in, and wife and 
 I will go into our own room and pray while 
 you talk." I felt God was there while I talked 
 and prayed. One received Pike's Persua- 
 sives to Early Piety, the reading of which 
 led her to the Saviour soon after; the other 
 got Baxter's Call, and was an inquirer during 
 all the time I remained there. 
 
 I cannot find words to express the joy I 
 felt in my own soul at the close of this day's 
 work. All nature seemed to rejoice with me,
 
 144 FIVE YEARS 
 
 and I fully realized tlie promise, "He that 
 wateretb. sliall be watered." 
 
 The next day I visited eleven famiHes, 
 talked and prayed and sold and gave books 
 and tracts in every house. In almost every 
 house some feeling was manifested, and soon 
 after several professed religion. Among them 
 
 was a Mrs. M , who told me it was the 
 
 Anxious Inquirer that led her to Christ. I 
 visited half the town in a week, and sold and 
 gave away many books and tracts. Quite a 
 number of those visited showed much feeling 
 while I talked with them. 
 
 At this time special reHgious services were 
 held in one of the churches that had but Httle 
 sympathy at that time T^ith the Tract Society, 
 or any thing else that was not under their 
 o-wn^exclusive control; and I was advised to 
 stop. my work till their meeting closed, for 
 fear they might say I was proselyting. I at- 
 tended all their meetings, and prayed and 
 exhorted when called on. Then- meetings 
 continued two weeks, during which time 
 twenty professed rehgion, most of whom I 
 had previously visited. 
 
 At the close of these meetings, I told the
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 145 
 
 Rev. Dr. McE that now was tlie time for 
 
 him to have meetings in his church. He said 
 he was not able to do any extra work, and 
 did not know where he could get any preach- 
 er. I proposed to get the Eev. R. N. D , 
 
 who was then laboring as a colporteur of the 
 Tract Society some fifty miles distant, to 
 
 which he agreed, and I wrote to Mr. D 
 
 to come on a certain day. Dui'ing the inter- 
 yening time of ten daj's I visited all the bal- 
 ance of the town and held prayer-meetings 
 eyery night. The meetings became more and 
 more interesting, and rehgion became the 
 theme of conyersation in eyery circle. 
 
 ^Tien Mr. D came pubHc preaching 
 
 was held eyery night, and the word was at- 
 tended with the power of God. Eyery morn- 
 ing we had a prayer-meeting, and through 
 the day yisited the inquirers from house to 
 house, and scattered tracts. By the end of 
 four days thirty-fiye were attending the meet- 
 ing for inquiry, and at the close of the first 
 week thirty-three had professed hope in 
 Chiist, most of them the most influential 
 people in the town. 
 
 The Eev. Mr. Y then came and aided 
 
 Five y 10
 
 146 FIVE YEARS 
 
 anotlier week, at the close of which forty-two 
 were added to the church. Thus did God 
 carry on his work vnih. the humble instru- 
 ments he had chosen. 
 
 One young lady who had been an inquirer 
 for two weeks, told us at last she did not care 
 about being converted then, and left the 
 meetings. In three weeks she died. Her 
 last words were, " I could have been saved, 
 but I rejected God's Spirit, and now I am 
 lost." 
 
 Another came sometimes to the inquiry 
 meetings, but owing to the fact that she was 
 soon to marry an irrehgious man, put off her 
 day of gi'ace. In a few weeks the day of her 
 intended marriage came. She rose in the 
 morning in usual health to prepare for the 
 ceremony, but before night her costly bridal 
 dress was her -winding-sheet. 
 
 Foui' miles from to^-n Mr. W , a col- 
 porteur, was at work during the time of this 
 meeting in the town, and ten were there 
 added to a little chiu'ch. 
 
 I have been thus particular in stating the 
 facts in relation to this work, as it was the 
 starting point of one of the most powerful
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. Uj 
 
 reviyals that I have ever witnessed. It ex- 
 tended over one hundred miles square of a 
 sparsely populated country, in which near 
 one thousand souls were converted to God 
 within about four months. The fidehty and 
 perseverance in the service of Christ of those 
 thus brought in, is the best evidence that this 
 was truly the work of God's Spirit. 
 
 At the close of these cheering labors in L — , 
 
 I went to the town of U to be with Mr. 
 
 H at a sacramental meeting, and take a 
 
 collection for the Tract Society. He is one 
 of God's ministers that does his work faith- 
 fully. The meeting began on Friday night. 
 
 Mr. H requested me to occupy the time 
 
 in giving an account of the great work at 
 
 L , which I did. Although but few were 
 
 present, and they mostly pujoils in the acad- 
 emy he taught, the bare relation of the facts 
 of the re^ival at L made a deep impres- 
 sion, and resulted in the conversion of liis 
 son, who is now a minister. 
 
 The next morning at nine, we had a meet- 
 ing for prayer and exhortation, at which there 
 
 was still more inj;erest. At eleven Mr. H 
 
 preached. At night I conducted the service
 
 i48 FIVE YEARS 
 
 by exliortation and prayer. The solemnity 
 was still increased. At each meeting we gave 
 each one present a suitable tract, T\ith a word 
 of earnest counsel. 
 
 At nine, Sabbath morning, I conducted an- 
 other prayer-meeting. At eleven, Mr. H 
 
 preached and administered the communion. 
 God was truly there in great power. At 
 three we had a meeting for prayer agaiQ. At 
 night the chui'ch was full. I based my re- 
 marks on the words, "I will arise and go 
 to my father." I saw that every heart was 
 moved, and but few cheeks were di*y. At the 
 
 close of my remarks, I turned to Mr. H , 
 
 and said to him, "If you will ask*them, some 
 anxious souls will remain for instruction and 
 prayer." The result was, seven inquirers took' 
 a stand on the Lord's side that night. This 
 
 seemed to rouse the great soul of Mr. H to 
 
 an extraordinary pitch of fervor, and led to the 
 appointment of a meetiag the next morning. 
 
 On Monday morning we both exhorted, and 
 the interest was deep. At three we held an 
 inquiry-meeting, and nine attended. At night 
 I spoke again ; the meeting was deeply inter- 
 esting.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 149 
 
 Tuesday morning the prayer-meeting was 
 crowded, and in tlie afternoon there were 
 seventeen inquirers. We had three ' services 
 each day, the one at three only for inquir- 
 ers ; and each day there was an increase of 
 
 interest. On Saturday morning Mr. H 
 
 had to go some miles to another preaching- 
 place, and I was left alone on Saturday and 
 the Sabbath. Sabbath, at three, there were 
 twenty-seven inquirers, and ten were indulg- 
 ing a hope in Christ. During the next week 
 forty-two professed faith in Christ. 
 
 In the whole course of these meetings we 
 kept the very choicest of our books and tracts 
 in the hands of the people. . One observing 
 Christian said to me, " There has been more 
 ^reading here on the subject of religion in th(5 
 past eighteen days, than there had been in 
 three years before." Quite a number of the 
 inquirers told me they were first awakened 
 by reading a book or tract, and others that 
 they were gTeatly aided by them in coming 
 to Christ. Their interest in these pubHca- 
 tions was shown by their contributing one 
 hundred dollars on one of the Sabbaths to 
 aid the tract and colporteur work.
 
 150 FIVE YEARS 
 
 Tliis town Tvas one of the \\-ickedest in 
 Western Virginia, and had for years been a 
 centre of infidehtj. A woi'thj farmer "^ho 
 lived near told me, at the close of our meet- 
 ings, that for years he had never passed 
 through that to^vn T\dthout hearing oaths and 
 vulgar songs; "but now," said he, "that is 
 all stopped, and I hear them singing hymns 
 of praise to God." This to^Ti will now com- 
 pare favorably with any other within my 
 knowledge for piety and sobriety. 
 
 I
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 151 
 
 CHAPTEE XVI. 
 
 At the earnest request of Mr. H , I 
 
 promised to meet him on the next Sabbath 
 at one of his country churches, about ' six 
 miles fi'om town, in one of the most densely 
 populated and wealthy commitnities in aU 
 
 Western Virginia, called Mount P . It was 
 
 only fourteen miles from my home at L . 
 
 I reached the church a little before the hour 
 of service, a stranger to aU except a few who 
 had met me at the meetings in town. The 
 house, although large, was crowded, and I 
 took a seat in the back part of the house. In 
 
 a few minutes 3Ii\ H came in and walked 
 
 up into the pulpit. He looked sick and fee- 
 ble, and while glancing his eye over the house, 
 saw me, and beckoned me to him. He was 
 unable to speak louder than a whisper. 
 
 Said he, "I am attacked T\ith bronchitis 
 and unable to preach, and you must preach." 
 This I refused, on the ground that I had no 
 authority. Said he, "I wiU give you the 
 authority here, and stand between you and 
 
 .^
 
 152 FIVE YEAKS 
 
 danger." He arose, and \ritli great exertion 
 told the people that he had never had such a 
 desu'e to preach as he had that day, but the 
 Lord had shut his mouth, and sent me to do 
 the preaching, for which he was yeiy thankful. 
 
 I at once opened with singing and prayer, 
 and* announced my text, " Behold, I stand at 
 the door and knock." I felt that the thoughts 
 and words were not mine, but dictated by 
 the Holy Ghost. I spoke for an hoiu*. The 
 audience was still as the gi-ave. After an in- 
 terval of thirty minutes, as was the custom, 
 we resumed the service. My text in the after- 
 noon was, "Eemember now thy Creator in 
 the days of thy youth." The feeling was 
 deep. I asked the anxious to remain for in- 
 struction, and twelve remained. At night I 
 had a meeting at a private house, where gi'eat 
 interest was manifested. 
 
 At the earnest recjuest of many, services 
 similar to those of the Sabbath were contin- 
 ued on Monday and for several days after- 
 wards. On Monday morning, when I came 
 to the church, there was a crowd, and much 
 
 to my joy and reUef, Mr. "W , one of our 
 
 best colporteurs, was there. He had labored
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 153 
 
 faithfully over all that ground but a feT\' 
 weeks before, and knew almost every one 
 in that region. Although very diffident, he 
 conducted the morning meeting with great 
 acceptance. I spoke at eleven, and at two; 
 and at the close of the last service we had 
 eighteen inquirers. God seemed to come 
 down as on the day of Pentecost. Ten of the 
 number indulged hope, and their countenan- 
 ces were ht up with joy. 
 
 At night we had a meeting at Mr. D 's. 
 
 One half could not get into the house. He 
 had a son that was desperately wicked, and 
 had done all in his power to oppose the work 
 of God. During the time of the service he 
 went out of the house in an agony of convic- 
 tion for sin. The next morning, at family 
 jDrayers, he cried out in the bitterness of his 
 anguish, "God be merciful to me a sinner." 
 A sister of his, that had been a very thought- 
 less gu-1, also cried out in great distress. 
 This seemed instantly to electrify the whole 
 family. The place seemed awful with the 
 majesty of God. I felt as much of the divine 
 glory as I could bear. Such a scene I had 
 never -s^-itnessed. Soon the whole family
 
 154 FIVE YEARS 
 
 were embraced in each other's arms, rejoicing 
 in hope of eternal life. We seemed to be in 
 the inner sanctuary and the most holy place. 
 Although near fourteen years have since 
 passed, while I describe this scene it fires my 
 own soul afresh. 
 
 Though it was a hurried season of the year 
 with farmers, . work was suspended, ploughs 
 were stopped, white and black were in the 
 church, or as near in as they could get, as 
 the church would not hold more than half that 
 came. 
 
 The Tuesday morning prayer-meeting was 
 one of the best I ever attended. At eleven 
 
 the Eev. Mr. H returned, and preached 
 
 one of the best of sermons. In the afternoon 
 I spoke again. There were thirty-six more 
 inquu-ers, and twelve more were indulging 
 hope. 
 
 On Friday night I held a meeting at the 
 
 house of a Dr. N , who was a man of the 
 
 world. I spoke on the hroad road and icide 
 gate. The doctor was awakened that night, 
 and has ever since dated his first impressions 
 on religious subjects to that time ; and two 
 yoimg men, one of them since educated for
 
 IX THE ALLEGHANIES. 155 
 
 the ministry, likewise dated their conversion 
 the same night. 
 
 At eleven the next morning Eev. Mr. 
 
 ^ preached, and in the afteri^pon Dr. 
 
 •McE . At the close of this service, sixtj- 
 
 two were added to the chiu'ch on j)rofession 
 of their faith. 
 
 When the hour for pnbhc worship arrived 
 ^on Sabbath morning, one. half could not enter 
 the church. It was arranged that I should 
 invite those who could not get in to assemble 
 out of hearing of the church and preach to 
 them. I selected the gTaveyard, where most 
 of the graves had enclosures of rails around 
 and over them. The circumstance suggested 
 my text : "Man dieth, and wasteth away; yea, 
 man giveth up the ghost, and where is he ?" 
 I felt as I never did before, standing among 
 the dead and the living, and spoke as I never 
 did before or since. Some of the "wickedest 
 men in all the country were before me. 
 
 One gray-headed sinner seventy years old, 
 who sat on the rails which were around the 
 graves of his wife and children, shook as if 
 he had the ague. A year after, he died ; and 
 often, when he was on his death-bed, spoke
 
 156 ^ FIVE YEARS 
 
 with deep sorrow of resisting God's Spirit at 
 tliat time. At tlie close of the services in tlie 
 church a collection of §120 was taken up for 
 the Trapt Society, which was five times as 
 much as could have been obtained a week 
 before. Books and tracts were cumulated 
 every day in these meetings, and read with 
 interest. Twenty persons told me that books 
 or tracts were the means of either awaken- 
 ing them, or directing them to Christ. In 
 addition to the sixty-two added to the church 
 as above, twenty-four who obtained a hope 
 at these meetings joined a church of another 
 denomination a mile distant. 
 
 Only two miles from the above meetings, 
 was the church of a large congregation of 
 Seceders. Till this time they had not gone 
 to hear any preacher but their own, nor ad- 
 mitted any other denomination to preach in 
 their church. But so great was this work 
 that some of their young people had been 
 drawn away, and gained a hope in Christ, 
 but kept it secret. Their pastor, Kev. Mt. 
 McG , came himself on Saturday, and be- 
 came deeply moved with what he saw and 
 heard. In the evening Kev. Mr. H told
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 157 
 
 him there were many still anxious about their 
 souls, and not a few of them were among his 
 own people; "and now," said he, "this har- 
 vest must be gathered, and if you will go on 
 with a meeting next week I ..ill close my 
 meetings to-morrow." This arrangement was 
 made, and it was agreed that I should go and 
 
 assist jMi\ McG on the afternoon of the 
 
 next day, after the services in that church 
 should be closed. 
 
 At four o'clock the Seceder church was 
 crowded, and all the ardor of feeling seemed 
 to come along with the people. Key. Mr. 
 
 McG was very feeble in health, but was 
 
 a devoted servant of God ; and it was ar- 
 ranged that he was to take a text and speak 
 ten minutes, and I was then to fill up the 
 hour. After that service we held another in 
 a private house at night. 
 
 The next morning at nine, we had the house 
 full at the prayer-meeting. At eleven, Mr. 
 McG preached ten minutes, and I fol- 
 lowed; and after the service all were siqiphed 
 with tracts. During the afternoon service 
 the presence of God seemed to move every 
 heart. And as I beheve that when God
 
 158 FIVE YEARS 
 
 moves on men's hearts, they ought to move 
 too as the prodigal did, when I had ceased 
 speaking, and the congregation were singing 
 the eighty-fourth Psahn, Rouse's version, I 
 
 said to Mr. McG that I had no doubt 
 
 but if an invitation was given some would re- 
 main for instruction. He feared it would not 
 be acceptable to the officers of the church, 
 all of whom had come from Scotland, and 
 had been accustomed to hear preaching only 
 fi'om Seceders, and considered occasional hear- 
 ing an offence. But he said he would not in- 
 terfere with what I thought was duty. 
 
 As soon as the song was simg, I arose and 
 told them that a piece of old Scotch history 
 had just come into my mind. That over one 
 hundred years ago, previous to their com- 
 munion occasions, the minister at the close 
 of his services for some days would invite all 
 that intended to com mime for the fii'st time 
 to remain for instniction in regard to tlieir 
 duties ; and that for want of that many came 
 to the Lord's table who were ignorant of the 
 nature of the ordinance. And as I beheved 
 there were a number who c6ntemj)lated join- 
 ing the church and going to the communion
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 159 
 
 table on the next Sabbath for the first time, 
 I would ask all such to remain after the con- 
 gregation Tvas dismissed, to receive such in- 
 struction as should be given. After some 
 agitation all was quiet, and I told them the 
 first point of inquiry for them was, to know if 
 they were born again, and spoke some twenty 
 minutes on the nature and evidences of re- 
 generation. The old elders sobbed aloud; 
 and as soon as the services were closed, they 
 had me by the hand, and said, " That is just 
 what our young people need." The oldest el- 
 der, whose daughter was among the inquirers, 
 came up leaning on his staff, and said, " That 
 did my soul good." We had an appointment 
 that night five miles distant, and this old man 
 went all the way with me on horseback. The 
 house was crowded. Many were awakened, 
 
 and among them Mr. B the proprietor, 
 
 who was a hardened sinner of fifty years. 
 He soon professed his faith in Christ. 
 
 The next morning this old elder, Mr. M , 
 
 said to me, " Oh, Mr. C , I slept none last 
 
 night. I have had a foretaste of heaven, and 
 long to be there. I have never experienced 
 religious joy till last night; and now I have
 
 160 FIVE YEARS 
 
 one request to make, and deny me not, that 
 is, that yon commune with me next Sab- 
 bath." 
 
 The next day we had similar services, and 
 at the close of the last service I told them as 
 all the congregation seemed desirous to hear 
 what was said to those wishing to consider 
 their duty to join the chui'ch, such would 
 come forward while we simg the twenty- 
 third Psalm. Sixteen thus presented them- 
 selves, and Eev. Mr. McG spoke to them 
 
 with a heavenly unction. The next day there 
 were twejity-eight inquirers, and the next day 
 thirty-nine, of whom twenty-two appeared to 
 be indulging a good hope in Christ. All the 
 business of the field was suspended, and many 
 were saying it was- the dawn of the day of 
 glory to the chiQ'ch. As the time had arriv- 
 ed for me to visit another place fifty miles 
 distant, to engage in similar labors, the pas- 
 tor told them he wanted them to make a 
 thank-offering to the Tract Society, and in a 
 few minutes $80 was on the table, and a pres- 
 ent of $20 to me. On the Sabbath fifty-six 
 were added to the church, and more than 
 thirty to a Methodist chui'ch near by. 
 
 1
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 161 
 
 Foiu'teen months after, I visited this cliurcli 
 again. The presence of God was still there, 
 and many said they felt as if they were ready 
 to begin again where they had left off four- 
 teen months before. The strong prejudices 
 against worshipping with other Christians 
 were among the things that had been. 
 
 During my brief stay many incidents were 
 related to me. One young man told me it was 
 "Advice to a Married Couple" that awaken- 
 ed him, as he was soon to be married. Three 
 of the anxious got rehef by reading the tract 
 " What is it to Believe in Christ ?" A man 
 well acquainted in the community told me 
 thirty family altars were reared on one Sab- 
 bath night. 
 
 In one instance two families lived in one 
 house, and both the men and their wives had 
 joined the church. They felt that they must 
 have family worship, but neither was willing 
 to pray. One said he could do the singing, 
 and the other said he would read the Bible. 
 At last they united in ashing a lame negro 
 man that was pious, and he led in prayer. 
 
 There is probably no region of our coun- 
 try, when aU the difficulties are considered, 
 
 Fire Year*. 1 1
 
 162 FIVE YEARS 
 
 Avliere tlie Tract Society and colporteurs 
 have clone as niucli real good as in Western 
 Virginia. Some of the most godly men we 
 ever employed had visited every house again 
 and again, and most of the books to be found 
 in the houses vrere the Society's publications. 
 In some of the poorer districts they were 
 even the only school-books. I have heard of 
 schools in those mountains where one had 
 Bunyan, another Baxter's Call, or Saints' 
 Best, and so on all thi'ough the school. We 
 can say that in many jDlaces the work has 
 made the wilderness and the soKtary place 
 rejoice and blossom as the rose.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 163 
 
 CHAPTEE XVII. 
 
 Aftee one night's rest at liome, I left the 
 
 next morning for C , thirty miles distant, 
 
 to meet my Mend Eev. Mr. D , who was 
 
 with ns at the commencement of the meet- 
 ings at L , and engage in another meet- 
 ing. The Eev. 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 rehgious 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 swear- 
 ing profanely, till the preacher's voice could 
 scarcely be heard. As Mr. D was a
 
 164 FIVE YEARS 
 
 stranger tliere^ 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 ah'eady alluded. 
 
 After warning the x^eople of the impropri- 
 &tj of such conduct, and insisting that if they 
 attended the services, they should come into 
 the church, IMr. D j)reached, and I fol- 
 lowed 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 sol- 
 emn, 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
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 165 
 
 man sixty years old. He had been intem- 
 perate forty years. Tlioiigli lie was tlien so 
 ignorant that he did not know who was the 
 Saviour of sinners, and did not know one 
 letter of the alphabet, he still Hyes a monu- 
 ment of gTace. 
 
 One young lady of fortune, who was there 
 at school, and whose anxiety about her soul 
 bordered on despair, gained a hope on Satur- 
 day. On the next Saturday she joined the 
 chui'ch, 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 deej)ly 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 Eev. Mr. H , to whom I have alluded 
 
 at the town of IT , I met him in an old 
 
 log-church on Wolf Creek, one of his preach- 
 ing-places. I left home in the morning, rode 
 twenty-four miles, and reached the place at
 
 166 FIVE TEARS 
 
 one. Mr. H was preaclnng to a small 
 
 congi-egation, as it was now tlie beginning 
 of liarvest. After an interval of thirty min- 
 utes, I addressed the people. The next day 
 was Satui-day. The house was full; and in 
 the eyening we had ^\e inquirers. Sabbath 
 morning Mr. H preached with great pow- 
 er, 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 in- 
 quirers ; 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 Spu'it. I saw it affected them 
 both very deeply. They told me they had 
 felt all that that man did whose case I had de- 
 scribed, and that they had now made up their 
 minds to seek Chi'ist. In a few days both 
 were hoiking in Christ; and two years ago 
 they had continued active Christians. 
 
 Becoming exhausted, almost as if I was at
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 16T 
 
 death's door, I left for home ; but Eev. Mr. 
 
 H continued the meetings. Such was 
 
 the interest awakened, that daily labor in the 
 harvest-field was entirely suspended. Mas- 
 ters 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 add- 
 ed 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 jnothers 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 Haiclcs Nest, or 
 3IarshcdVs Fillar, a chff or precipice of about 
 one thousand feet perpendicular height, hang- 
 ing over IS'ew Eiver, ten miles from its junc- 
 tion 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
 
 168 FIVE YEARS 
 
 meeting began in the woods. No cliurcli was 
 near; but an arbor was made bj putting up 
 poles and covering them Tvith green bushes. 
 When I came it rained, and only about thir- 
 ty 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 
 fi-eely, 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 assem- 
 bled ; and after the evening service, seventeen 
 came out for instruction. On Monday the 
 communion was to be administered, and sev- 
 enteen were added to the Lord's people. The 
 Lord was there in his mercy. After the af- 
 ternoon service nineteen more came out as 
 inquirers, among them men of sixty years 
 and from that down to boys, most of whom 
 professed rehgion soon after. A church was
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 169 
 
 soon after organized, wliicli still lives. The 
 blessed influence spread for miles around, 
 and all denominations shared in the glorious 
 work. I shall ever believe the way was pre- 
 pared 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 
 
 Kev. 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 reach- 
 ed 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.
 
 ItO FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 morn- 
 ing we had a crowd, and there were clear indi- 
 cations of the presence of the Spirit of God. 
 
 Some weeks previoiis, Mr. W -, a col- 
 porteur 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 esjDecially 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 be-
 
 IN ,THE ALLEaHANIES. 171 
 
 side her, and pointed lier to Jesns wlio 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 Sa^dour has 
 
 blessed me too. Oh, what a Saviour I have 
 found." This woman had been so opposed 
 to rehgion that her husband could not haye 
 family prayers. All these three had been 
 awakened by reading tracts. During all this 
 time the old gTandmother, 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 daugh- 
 ter 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
 
 172 FIVE YEARS 
 
 ages were in and round the house. The old 
 
 mother of Col. S said to me, " Oh, Mr. 
 
 C , wont jon 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, " Be- 
 hold, I bring you glad tidings of gTeat joy 
 which shall be to all people." The negroes 
 soon became so excited they could hardly con- 
 tain themselves. Some were on thek knees 
 praying, and others clapping their hands. 
 The old lady imdertook to keep them in or- 
 der ; but her own heart became so deeply im- 
 pressed, 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 io hve and die in the midst of such en- 
 thusiasm. This was one of the most intel- 
 ligent families in that community — all edu- 
 cated and refined, and strict Presbyterians. 
 I have found but few such famihes. 
 
 The next morning we all repaired to the 
 church, where I was met by Mr. "W , the
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 113 
 
 colporteur whom I have mentioned. Before 
 that day's meeting closed eight more pro- 
 fessed 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 be- 
 low 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 intelli- 
 gence, both unmarried and somewhat dissi- 
 pated. For two days they had been deeply 
 concerned, and their, pious Mends were ear- 
 nest in prayer for them. Just as I was clos- 
 ing my last discourse in the eyening, 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 fi-om 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 ;
 
 lU FIVE YEARS 
 
 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 aU 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 trayelling 
 companions told me he was one of the con- 
 verts at a place where I had labored. We 
 were alone in the stage when we reached the 
 place of crossing a river near this chui'ch. 
 The driver stopped to water his horses, and 
 I handed tracts to two men that were work- 
 ing 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-diiver di'opped his bucket 
 and rushed to me : " Oh, is it possible I have
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 1*15 
 
 been hauling Mr. C and did not know it? 
 
 It was youi' tracts and labors whicli you be- 
 gan 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.
 
 176 FIVE YEARS 
 
 CHAPTEE XYIII. 
 
 As, in the providence of God, I have been 
 brouglit into contact with thousands of per- 
 .sons who have told me with much candor 
 the history of their own minds, and con- 
 versed freely in reference to the all-important 
 subject of their salvation, I have thought it to 
 be my duty to record some of the facts I have 
 met, for the benefit and warning of others. 
 That there is a point when the Holy Spirit, 
 if wilfully and perseveringly resisted, ceases 
 to strive with man, no one doubts who be- 
 lieves in his renewing and sanctifying agency ; 
 but too many take it for granted that this 
 point is not reached tiU the close of life, and 
 neglect or resist the strivings of the Spirit 
 till he gives them up to hardness of heart 
 and blindness of mind, perhaps many years 
 before their earthly existence has terminated. 
 
 The first case I shall mention is that of a 
 woman about thirty years of age, with whom 
 I conversed in the presence of her mother. I 
 inquired if she was a member of any church.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. Itt 
 
 She answered, " Ko." I asked if slie had not 
 at some time felt concern for her salvation. 
 " Yes," she said, " I think but few have been 
 more anxious on the subject than I was once." 
 I asked at what period of her life this oc- 
 curred, when she gave me the following ac- 
 count of God's deahngs with her. " When I 
 was about fifteen years old, I felt that I was 
 a great sinner in the sight of God. Often 
 my distress was so great that I could not 
 sleep ; and for three years I seldom had 
 peace for a "week at a time. I knew that the 
 Holy Sx^irit was striving with me, and that I 
 ought to yield my heart to his influence ; but 
 I thought it would cut off my pleasures in 
 the midst of youllh. I tried to banish the 
 thoughts of eternity; but they would still 
 return and interrupt my pleasure; I tried 
 reading novels and romances ; they gave me 
 relief for a while, but my distress returned. 
 At last I went to the baHroom — and I have 
 never since had such feelings as before." 
 "And have you no fears," said I, "that you 
 have grieved away the Spirit of God for 
 ever?" "Yes," she replied, "I have no doubt 
 of that, and that I shall be lost." I proceed- 
 
 Five Years. 1 2
 
 ITS FIVE YEABS 
 
 ed to describe the state and miserr of the 
 lost, and appealed to her, by the prayers of 
 her mother and the tears which were then 
 falling fi'om her simten eyes, by the danger 
 of an eternal separation £i*om pious friends, 
 by the glories of heaven and the agonies of 
 the Son of God, now to make her peace with 
 him and be saved. "All this,'* she calmly 
 rephed, "has been tried npon me before. 
 Xothing that yon or any other man can say 
 on that subject, can move me now. My doom 
 is fixed-"' 
 
 Another case was that of Mr. B -, who 
 
 was over seventy years old, and Hving an un- 
 godly hfe. I approached him with kindness, 
 and at length he conversed freely. I spoke 
 of the goodness of God to him in his ad- 
 vanced years, and asked if he hoped he had 
 an interest in Christ. He rephed, " Xo." I 
 asked if he received the Bible as the word of 
 God. He answered, "Yes.'* I said, "The 
 Bible teaches that a man must be bom again 
 before he can enter the kingdom of God ; do 
 you think you have experienced that change?" 
 "No," said he, "I never have." I saw that 
 he was inteUigent, and inquired if no " still
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 179 
 
 small voice" had ever wMspered to liim, 
 "Son, give me tlij heart?" "Yes," said he, 
 " often. I used to feel, bnt for many years I 
 have not felt as I did when I was young. I 
 then had some very serious times." I asked 
 at what period he had felt most deeply the 
 importance of religion. He replied, " When 
 I was seventeen I began to feel deeply at 
 times, and this continued for two or three 
 years ; but I determined to put it off till I 
 should be settled in life. After I was mar- 
 ried, I reflected that the time had come when 
 I had promised to attend to rehgion ; but I 
 had bought this farm, and I thought it would 
 not suit me to become religious till it was 
 paid for, as some time would have to be de- 
 voted to attend church, and also some ^- 
 pense. I then resolved to put it off ten years ; 
 but when the ten years came round, I thought 
 no more about it. I often try to think, but I 
 cannot keep my mind on the subject one 
 moment." I urged him by all the terrors of 
 dying an enemy of God, to set about the work 
 of repentance. " It is too late," said he, " I 
 believe my doom is sealed; and it is just that 
 it should be so, for the Spirit strove long with .
 
 180 FIVE YEAES 
 
 me, but I refused." I then tiu-ned to his chil- 
 dren, young men and young women who were 
 around him, and entreated them not to put 
 off the subject of rehgion, or giieye the Spii'it 
 of God in their youthful days. The old man 
 added, "Mind that. If I had attended to it 
 then, it would have been well T\ith me to- 
 day ; but now it is too late." 
 
 On conversing with a man in middle life, 
 he informed me that his father was a devoted 
 Christian, that he was faithfully insti'ucted 
 and his mind was early impressed with the 
 importance of rehgion. In his youth, there 
 was a period of six months in which he was 
 in distress, day and night; and a voice within 
 seemed to be continually saying, "Forsake 
 y«ur sins and come unto me, and I will give 
 you peace." "But," he added, "I did not 
 wish to be a Christian then ; I thought it 
 would ruin my pleasures. I visited a part of 
 the country where dancing and balls were 
 frequent ; in a httle time my serious thoughts 
 were gone, and I have never had any since." 
 I asked if he did not fear that God had given 
 him up. "Yes," said he, "I am afraid he 
 has. I go to church and read the Bible, and
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 181 
 
 try to feel, but I cannot." I strove to arouse 
 jbis fears, but it was in yain. I afterwards 
 learned that lie was pursuing his worldly 
 business on the Sabbath. 
 
 It is not for me to pronounce that God had 
 said of all these persons, they are " joined to 
 their idols, let them alone;" "woe to them 
 when I depart from them ;" but the state of 
 all such is unspeakably alarming. If the eye . 
 of such a one falls upon these lines — ^if you 
 have persisted in saying, " Go thy way for 
 this time ; let me alone, that I may have the 
 pleasures of this life," and have quenched 
 the Spirit by resorting to amusements, the 
 novel, the baUroom, or the theatre, God may 
 have given you what you desired ; but what 
 have you now of all these pleasures? Can 
 you look back upon them with an approving 
 conscience? Will they bring you consola- 
 tion in a dying hour? Have you not even 
 now in your own soul, if you would make the 
 confession, the gnawings of the worm that 
 never dies, the burning of the fire that is 
 never quenched? If the Spirit of God is now 
 striving with you, it is the most momentous 
 period of your existence. It is perhaps the
 
 182 FIVE YEARS 
 
 turning-point betTS'een heaven and hell — the 
 songs of angels, or the wailings of the finally 
 lost. Beware of stifling the Spirit. Multi- 
 tudes have told me the dreadful tale, "I went 
 to scenes of amusement, or turned to the ex- 
 citing romance, and I have felt no anxiety 
 since." While the Spirit strives it is the 
 seed-time of eternal life, the embryo of a 
 happy immortahty. Sit not do^n to count 
 the loss of sinful pleasures ; receive the Sav- 
 iour into your heart, and you wiU have pleas- 
 ures lasting as eternity — pleasures that leave 
 no sting behind — pleasures that will sustain 
 the soul when on your dying pillow, when the 
 last trumpet shall sound, and the congregated 
 world stand before God. 
 
 Many facts of a more cheering character 
 might be given. The Eev. N. C— — , who had 
 
 a pastoral charge in M county, said to 
 
 me, "A colporteur had left a copy of the 
 Anxious Inquii-er in the house of a wealthy 
 
 man in M county. After some time he 
 
 became interested for his salvation. One day 
 while there on a visit I pointed him to a chap- 
 ter in this book, and requested him to read it.
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 183 
 
 He read it, and soon found peace. Like every 
 real Christian, he desired the salvation of his 
 relations. He sent the book to his brother, a 
 physician, who, together with a sister, were 
 led to Christ by reading it. The book is kept 
 in the family as an heir-loom." On another 
 
 occasion Eev. Mr. C said he was sent 
 
 for to go some distance to see a sick woman. 
 His custom was always to carry with him a 
 few select books to give or loan. He gave 
 her a copy of the Anxious Inquirer, and re- 
 quested her husband to read it to her. Both 
 were irrehgious; but by God's blessing on 
 reading this book, both were led to the Sav- 
 iour. A colporteur sold a copy of the same 
 book to a man who sent it to an absent son. 
 It led him and two of his companions to 
 Christ. A colporteur gave a copy of Baxter's 
 Call to a very wicked family, who never went 
 to church. Within ten months he found the 
 reading of it had been blessed to three of 
 the household. A tract put into a wag- 
 oner's feed-trough while driving his team 
 on the Sabbath, was the means of stop- 
 ping him from travelling on the Sabbath, 
 and led him to repentance. He became
 
 184 FIVE YEARS 
 
 eminent for his piety and usefulness in the 
 chiu'ch. 
 
 A missionary who preached once a month 
 in a wild region, ^nd gave part of his time 
 to colporteur work, often told me of a family 
 that lived just beside his httle mountain 
 church, but never entered it. "WTien he be- 
 gan the colporteur work he made them a 
 visit. The man told him he did not wish 
 him to say any thing to him on the subject 
 of rehgion; that if he wanted to hear him; 
 he could go to the church. All the time ho 
 talked and prayed, the man was muttering, 
 and his wife increased the speed of her wheel 
 to di'own his voice. Finding all his efforts to 
 get their attention in vain, he laid down a 
 copy of Baxter's Call and a few tracts, and 
 left them. On his return to fill his next ap- 
 pointment at the little church, to his surprise 
 this man and his wife were in the chui'ch near 
 the pulj)it. During service they were deeply 
 exercised. At the close he spoke to them 
 about their souls. They told him that after 
 he left their house they began to think about 
 the way they had treated him, and had read 
 his little - books, and found they were great
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 185 
 
 sinners. At liis next communion they both 
 joined his church, and they were among the 
 most consistent and useful of its members. 
 
 One morning I took the stage to go to the 
 raih'oad, some sixteen miles distant. There 
 were two gentlemen in the stage. Both 
 knew me, but I did not know them. One 
 was a preacher, with whom I talked all the 
 way to the depot. While waiting for the cars, 
 the other passenger, a fine-looking young 
 man, said, " I can't let this opportunity pass 
 without making myself known to you. Do 
 you remember laying your hand on the 
 
 shoulder of a youth in the town of B 
 
 six years ago, and urging him to' seek the fa- 
 vor of God, and handing him a Httle book?" 
 I said I had no recollection of it, as I was 
 doing something of that sort almost every 
 day. "Well," said he, "that talk and book 
 were the means, I trust, of my salvation. I 
 have since that time gone through college, 
 and hope soon to preach the gospel." He 
 was the son of a poor widow. He is now an 
 able minister of the Kew Testament. 
 
 One day while on a journey, I came to a 
 very small cabin on the top of a high moun-
 
 186 FIVE YEAKS 
 
 tain. A poor T^iclow was by the door in very 
 homely ai^parel. I asked her if she had a 
 Bible. "Xo," said she, "but I have a part 
 of a Testament, and a number of httle tracts." 
 Seeing a number of clean but poorly clad 
 children, I began to ask them questions. 
 The answers they gave would have done 
 credit to most of our Sunday-school childi-en. 
 I asked her if she had a church or Sunday- 
 school near. " No ; there is no chui'ch or 
 Sunday-school anywhere in reach. My chil- 
 dren have never been in either, and I have 
 not been at church for eight years." "Why," 
 said I, " madam, how have you got your chil- 
 dren so well instructed?" She ran into her 
 cabin and brought her whole hbrary, which 
 consisted of a part of a Testament, and sev- 
 eral Httle books and tracts sewed together, 
 which I learned had been given her by col- 
 porteurs in their visits. Said she, "I read 
 these to my children every Sunday, and teach 
 them to read them, till they know all that is 
 in them." I added to her supply Httle books 
 tin the countenances of herself and her chil- 
 dren were radiant "vsith joy, and I felt it was 
 truly " more blessed to give than to receive."
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 181 
 
 A few miles fiirtlier on I stopped at another 
 cabin. The woman looked at me a moment. 
 " Oh, I know jou. Yon are the man that 
 preached and gave ns tracts at the church 
 down on the river. I trust I was converted 
 there. Can't you give me some tracts to 
 ^ve away? I am living now among very 
 wicked people." I gave her a package, and 
 passed on.
 
 CZi^IIZS XIX 
 
 Of fL .^ - -
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 189 
 
 many, a man of fine education ; but lie was 
 connected with a rebellion against the goyern- 
 mentj and had to flj in the night, and made 
 an almost miraculous escape in disguise. He 
 was an infidel. Mj subject was, "the worth 
 of the soul;" and God truly gave me what I 
 said. They both became awakened; and 
 
 seven years after, Mr. H the husband of 
 
 the lady joined the church, and is now an 
 elder. He says he was never Tsdthout con- 
 viction fi'om that Sabbath morning till he 
 yielded to Christ. 
 
 The German, Mr. S , became intensely 
 
 exercised. He attencled all the inquiry meet- 
 ings, and often called on the pastor, Mr. 
 N . His agony of mind bordered on de- 
 spair. He was told again and again that 
 whenever he could give up all for Christ he 
 would find peace. After sj^ending a whole 
 
 night in prayer, he came to Mr. N in the 
 
 morning, woke him out of sleep, and said, 
 
 " Mr. N , I have nothing on earth I care 
 
 for but this box of rings and jewels, which 
 my mother and sisters took from theii' ears 
 and fingers the night I fled from Germany ; 
 these I have held as sacred mementos of
 
 190 FIVE YEARS 
 
 tlieii* love. Take tliem, sell tliem, and give 
 
 to the poor." Mr. X said, "Mr. S , 
 
 you are not far fi-om tlie kingdom of God; 
 let lis pray." In a few moments he threw 
 
 his arms around Mr. N 's neck, saying, 
 
 "Oh, I have found Jesus." Mr. X handed 
 
 Mm back the box, and said, " Mr. S , the 
 
 Lord does not need the jewels. All he re- 
 quired was, that feeling of heart you mani- 
 fested in giving them up." This man is now 
 a missionary in some of the islands of the sea. 
 His talents are all consecrated to God. 
 
 A young lady. Miss L , veiy wealthy 
 
 and proud, became awaKened, and continued 
 for many days on the verge of despau\ She 
 hardly ate or slept. She even became des- 
 perate : said God was not as good as his 
 word; that she was willing to give up all for 
 Christ, but he would not save her. We talked 
 and prayed with her several times each day, 
 but all in vain. At last I said to her, " Miss 
 
 L , you say you are willing to give up 
 
 aU for Christ?" "Yes," said she, "even Hfe 
 itself." " TTeU," said I, " in the name of my 
 Master I ask you, out of your large wealth, 
 to give me a donation for the Tract Society."
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 191 
 
 Slie replied sternly, " I am not going to buy 
 my salvation." Said I, " The Lord can do 
 Tvitliout your money ; but I liaye asked tliis 
 to show you the deceitfulness of your own 
 heart. Tou said a moment ago that you 
 would give even life itself. Kow," said I, " I 
 shall leave you to reflect." In a few days she 
 sent for me to rejoice with her, and the dona- 
 tion was heartily made. 
 
 I then labored for three weeks in other 
 chui'ches in the city, and a large number 
 professed religion. 
 
 Among other services, I was a week with 
 
 Eev. Mr. W , who has been for some 
 
 years president of one of our auxihary tract 
 societies. At the close of his meeting one 
 day, he said he would tell them what one tract 
 had done. He gave the tract, "Have you the 
 Wedding Garment?" to a young lady, with 
 the request that she would go and read it 
 over three times. She did so, and the next 
 day she came to him as an inquirer. He 
 then gave it to her sister, making the same 
 request, and the next day she was an inquirer. 
 He then gave it to a young man, and he has 
 been led to Christ by it. " And here before
 
 192 FIVE YEARS 
 
 you," said he, " are all three of them now 
 rejoicing in hope." 
 
 The last month of the year 1850, I was in- 
 vited by the Eev. ^h\ C to visit M 
 
 county, and spend a week "udth him at each 
 of his charges, as he had two. The distance 
 was ninety miles ; the roads almost impass- 
 able. I shrunk fi'om the journey; but a voice 
 seemed to say, "Tou must go." When I 
 reached the tovm they were holding a tem- 
 perance convention, which I addressed on 
 two occasions. 
 
 On Sunday morning I spoke first on the 
 tract cause, and raised a collection of $150. 
 The night service was well attended. We 
 continued meeting twice each day, and vis- 
 ited families and distributed books and tracts 
 all the rest of the time till Wednesday, but 
 with no very marked results. 
 
 Notice had been given that meetings would 
 
 begin at B , Mr. C 's other charge, 
 
 nine miles distant, on Thursday morning at 
 eleven. We reached there at the hour, and 
 had only eleven hearers. At the close of tlie 
 
 ser\dce we were invited to a Mr. B 's to 
 
 dine. He was a backsHder, rich and eccen-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHAXIES. 193 
 
 trie. We had determined to visit families, 
 talk, praj, and circulate tracts, till the time 
 for the night service. 
 
 TMien we came to Mr. B 's, the old man 
 
 invited us into the parlor, and in a few min- 
 utes one of his daughters came in, a very 
 beautiful girl, and highly educated. After a 
 little time I introduced the subject of religion 
 to her kindly and poHtely. She gave me one 
 of the most scornful looks I ever got, and rose 
 to leave me. I was holding in my hand the 
 tract "Don't he Offended;'' and just as she 
 was passing me I presented it before her. I 
 saw the father was offended too. Eev. Mr. 
 
 C and I both felt unhappy ; but in a few 
 
 minutes we were called to dinner, and Mr. 
 
 C introduced me to two other daughters, 
 
 which made all the family. 
 
 When we were nearly through dinner, the 
 offended one came to the table. Her eyes 
 indicated that she had been weeping, but 
 nothing was said. After dinner we went to 
 another house, and met a young lady who 
 was teacher in the female academy and also 
 in a dancing-school. She made very light of 
 rehgion, and said she preferred the ballroom 
 
 Flv» T.*ri. 13
 
 194 FIVE YEARS 
 
 to tlie churcli. I spoke to her the truth very 
 plainly, and gave her a tract on dancing ; 
 and she turned away offended, and said she 
 had no respect for such Puritanical religion. 
 At night ^ye had a tolerably good congi'ega- 
 tion; and the Lord was there indeed. Such 
 was the state of things, that we invited all 
 that were concerned about their souls to re- 
 main ; and to our utter astonishment, the 
 two offended ones were among them, weeping 
 bitterly. The exhibition they had made of 
 their ■s\ickedness had so overwhelmed them 
 that they could scarcely wait till night to 
 confess their sins. 
 
 The next morning we resumed our ^-isits. 
 
 The first visit was to Mr. T 's, an elder in 
 
 the church. In conversation Tvdth a daugh- 
 ter of his she manifested much feeling. I 
 gave a tract to one of his sons, who, after 
 reading it, came to his mother, and said, 
 " Oh, mother, if I was to die as I am, my 
 soul would be lost." That day and night the 
 congregation was large. By this time the 
 pious people in the chiu'ch had awoke, and 
 all were at work with books and tracts. 
 Business was almost suspended in the vil-
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 195 
 
 lage, and religion was the only tlieme. Al- 
 fmost all were inquiring the way to Zion, with 
 the exception of half a dozen men, who threw 
 every obstacle they could in the way. One 
 of the worst of them went away to get out of 
 the influence of the meetings, and was dead 
 in three days. Another left his business and 
 went to the country to avoid the presence of 
 God, and has since died without hope. 
 
 The interest had become intense. On the 
 way home fi'om church three young ladies ob- 
 tained hope almost simultaneously, and were 
 all embraced in each other's arms. A short 
 time after, a number of the anxious were as-^ 
 
 sembled at Mr. T 's, where I was stopping. 
 
 All were pleading for mercy, but soon they 
 began to sing praises to God. They were 
 heard by people around, and in a short time 
 many assembled. The new-born souls were 
 rushing into the arms of each other, and of 
 their fathers and mothers, and thanking them 
 for thek prayers. This j oy was no doubt much 
 like that of the day of Pentecost. One hun- 
 dred and twenty-five professed their faith in 
 Christ, and were soon after added to the 
 churches ; and so far as I have been able to
 
 19G FIVE YEARS 
 
 learn, there was no case of backsliding. 
 Wliere God does the work, the work is well ' 
 done ; but where it is done by mere human 
 machinery, the results are very unsatisfac- 
 tory. The town was revolutionized by this 
 outj)ouring of the Spirit. The ballroom gave 
 way to the prayer-meeting, and the drunk- 
 ard's songs to those of Zion. 
 
 I gave Baxter's Call to a youth during this 
 meeting, who told me, eight years afterwards 
 when I met him a preacher, that that book 
 was the means of his salvation, and had it 
 not been for it, he never should have entered 
 the ministry. 
 
 At another meeting some months after- 
 wards in C , there was a powerful work of 
 
 grace, in every respect like those to which I 
 have alluded. One old man professed faith 
 in Christ, who was the third imbehever in 
 the family who had been led to Chi'ist by the 
 same copy of James' Anxious Inquii'er. 
 
 I visited J. C. C , a highly distinguish- 
 ed civihan of threescore years and ten, who 
 had filled many important stations in life, and 
 who now felt that his days were nearly ended. 
 He took me bv the hand very Idndlv, his
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIE8. 191 
 
 countenance expressive of deep emotion, and 
 said, " I am an inquirer on the subject of re- 
 ligion; / have attended to every thing hut my 
 soi'.U' I directed him very briefly to the 
 Saviour, and at the close told him I would 
 send him a httle book in the morning, that 
 would direct him more fully. He thanked 
 me kindly for the interest I felt in him, and 
 urged me to call again. The next morning I 
 sent him James' Anxious Inquirer. 
 
 In four days after I called again. His 
 health had improved. He rose to his feet, 
 liis countenance bespoke peace within, 'and 
 giving me a cordial shake by the hand, he 
 said, " I have read that little book through 
 twice; the great question is answered. I 
 think I understand what is meant by faith in 
 Jesus Christ." I then explained to him as 
 fully as I could the natiu-e of the neiv hirth — 
 the evidences by which we might decide for 
 ourselves the reality of the change. His very 
 appearance was entirely changed — the deep 
 anxiety that sat on his countenance had 
 passed away, and happiness was expressed 
 in every feature. 
 
 In a few days he was able to walk, and
 
 198 FIVE YEAES 
 
 called to see me. He said lie had read the 
 book through again; that it "was "a great 
 hook ; but the wiiter had omitted one impor- 
 tant point — he did not inform the reader how 
 long the work of sanctification must be con- 
 tinued after a man was justified; that justifi- 
 cation was an act instantaneous, but sanctifi- 
 cation was a work." I replied, " Our Saviour 
 said to the thief on the cross, ' This day thou 
 shalt be with me in paradise;' here sanctifi- 
 cation was completed in a few houi's." "I 
 thank you, sir, that is enough: here is a 
 check for $30, for the Tract Society; it is 
 doing a great work." 
 
 For six years he remained steadfast in the 
 great doctrines of salvation by faith in Christ, 
 and in a blameless Christian life, though ever 
 distrustful of himself. Soon after his death 
 in February, 1856, at the age of seventy- 
 seven, the Kev. Mr. M justly said of him, 
 
 "Well-deserved tributes have been paid by 
 the governor of the commonwealth, and by 
 the legislature and other public bodies to 
 the distinguished pubhc worth and private 
 vu'tues of this eminent citizen. His views of 
 salvation by faith in the crucified Eedeemer
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 199 
 
 were clear and scriptural, and showed that 
 the powers of a yigorons and highly cultivat- 
 ed mind had been brought to bear upon the 
 all-important subject. He often expressed 
 surprise that any one could read the holy 
 Scriptures in the proper spirit, and not be 
 convinced of the reahty of religion, the divin- 
 ity of the Saviour, and the atoning efficacy of 
 his precious blood. His faith was simple and 
 childlike. No dependence whatever was plac- 
 ed in his ovm. merits or righteousness. The 
 atonement of the Son of God was ' the anchor 
 of his soul,' the basis of his hopes of heaven."
 
 200 FIVE YEARS 
 
 COXCLUSIOX. 
 
 Most of tlie facts and incidents in these 
 sketches were committed to ^Titmg about 
 the time of their occurrence, and may be 
 relied on as simple verities. Much of deep 
 inherent interest, which met my eye, or fell 
 upon my ear, might have been added, but 
 for its inappropriateness to the character of 
 this work, or unduly swelling the narrative. 
 
 Those enjoying the calm refinements of 
 social hfe in our favored cities and villages, 
 who have never entered the abodes of ig- 
 norance and poverty in the moral wastes of 
 the land, may be unwiOing to credit even the 
 facts related ; but in a matter of such infinite 
 importance as the enlightenment and salva- 
 tion of perishing souls, could the real facts 
 have been consistently withheld ? 
 
 In the providence of God I was sent out as 
 a watchman, not upon the walls of Zion, but 
 outside of those walls; and ought I to conceal 
 the facts, and report, " All 's well," when 
 hundreds of thousands are djdng in sin and
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 201 
 
 ignorance of the great salvation? Would 
 not such unfaithfulness be criminal in the 
 sight of God? 
 
 And when the Holj Spirit was poured out 
 in maryellous effusions, almost as in the day 
 of Pentecost, should not the facts be recorded 
 to the praise of divine gTace in Jesus Christ ? 
 
 Eeared as I was from infancy under reHg- 
 ious pri\aleges, I had no idea that any part 
 of our land was in the sad moral condition 
 which I found actually to exist; or that the 
 distribution of printed truth and personal la- 
 bors "pubHcly and from house to house," were 
 ever so richly blessed. And such erroneous 
 and defective impressions as to the wants of 
 our fellow-men, and the encom^agements to 
 labor "for their good, I believe are very prev- 
 alent. 
 
 I remember the day when I was confident 
 that all around me were well supphed with 
 the Bible, but on examination I found eight 
 famiHes, and among them my next door 
 neighbor, who had no Bible; and a pastor 
 who regarded Bible efforts in his congrega- 
 tion as quite unnecessary, on investigation 
 received from family after family the report,
 
 202 FIYE YEARS 
 
 " No Bible," the family of liis own sexton be- 
 ing among the number. An excellent young 
 man, now a missionary in a distant land, on 
 faithfully exploring a wealthy county, stated 
 what he had seen to Mr. W , a distinguish- 
 ed Christian citizen. " I have heard of you," 
 said the gentleman. "I don't beheve the 
 statements you are making about the moral 
 destitutions of this county. I have made up 
 my mind to go with you and see for myself." 
 The young man welcomed his company. In 
 the first dwelling they entered the family had 
 
 no books, not even a Bible. Said Mr. W , 
 
 " Give them $2 50 Avorth, and I will pay for 
 them." In the next they entered, and in the 
 third, they found equal destitution ; and in 
 
 each case Mr. W said, " Give them $2 50 
 
 worth, and I will foot the bill." They went 
 
 further, but soon Mr. W said, "My young 
 
 friend, the half is not told ; take this $20 and 
 go on with this heaven-directed work." 
 
 As to the rich blessing that has attended 
 the reading of books and tracts, it is well for 
 those reared in the midst of church privileges 
 and good libraries to consider how different 
 the influence of a good book may be on
 
 IN THE ALLEGHANIES. 203 
 
 such as have few books, or none at all. 
 Take, if you please, a prosperous family in 
 the interior of the country, far fi'om any 
 book-store, who may have an old family 
 Bible, a few school-books, or perhaps some 
 other old books moral and rehgious. A col- 
 porteur enters mth his saddle-bags of beau- 
 tiful books. The children are almost frantic 
 with joy. Each member of the family gets a 
 book. It is devoured with greediness — not 
 by a gospel-hardened sinner, but by one who 
 has few or no gospel privileges. 
 
 Is it strange that such a one, on reading 
 the Pilgrim's Progress, the Anxious Inquirer, 
 or Come to Jesus, is immediately awakened 
 to seek for pardon and salvation ? Is it not 
 rather more strange, that every one who at- 
 tentively and solemnly reads such a book is 
 not led to Christ? 
 
 And when we come down to those who are 
 whoUy destitute of books, who rarely hear a 
 sermon, and yet are able to read, the effect is 
 often stiU more powerful for good. 
 
 Notwithstanding aU that has been done, 
 I beheve one half of all the families in our 
 land now belong to one of these two classes.
 
 204 FIVE YEARS 
 
 Hence the necessity of this system of evan- 
 gelization. We fear the time is far distant 
 when our country will be so well supphed 
 Avith chui'ches and pastors as to reach the 
 surging masses of all languages that are 
 crowding our vast territories, seeking homes 
 for themselves and families. 
 
 Let each one ask himself, in \iew of the 
 final account he must give to God, "What 
 can I do for these perishing thousands?" 
 Here a way is pointed out by which every 
 one can do sometliing, either by lahoring, 
 inaying, or giving. An old lady unable to 
 move about, with an income of $600 per an- 
 num, gave Sl50 each year as the salary of a 
 colporteur, and she had a few other ladies to 
 meet her once each week to pray for God's 
 blessing on his labors. Few men in latter 
 days have done as much good as this colpor- 
 teur, Mr. C r. She thxis labored by proxy. 
 
 The man is still living who at first paid SloO 
 for my support, and was thus instrumental in 
 whatever good I have done. Himdi'eds would 
 be ready to go and work in this department 
 of Christian efi'ort if means were provided. 
 
 This system of labor developes the dor-
 
 IX THE ALLEGHANIE3. 205 
 
 mant power of the churcli. Hundi-eds whose 
 influence for good was never felt outside of 
 theii' own family circle, have become success- 
 ful laborers in this heaven-bom work. Many 
 of them are now able ministers of the Xew 
 Testament, vrho would have remained " hew- 
 ers of wood and drawers of water" had it 
 not been for this system of doing good. I 
 call to mind the names of a score of men who 
 have been brought into the work of the min- 
 istry either directly or indh-ectly by this sys- 
 tem of colportage. 
 
 Shall a work of so much power for good, 
 and so much needed, be unsu]3ported ? The 
 price of one ocean steamer would support it 
 efficiently over the whole land for one year. 
 
 The issuing of this history is what the 
 •writer never intended to do, or allow others 
 to do while he Hved. He has 2:)repared it, if 
 he knows his own heart, purely with the hope 
 it may do good. He trusts it may suggest to 
 some whose supreme desire is to honor Christ 
 in the salvation of men, a way by which they 
 may gain the blessing of those who "turn 
 many to righteousness," and who shall shine, 
 above the brightness of the firmament, '"' as
 
 200 riVE YEARS, ETC. 
 
 tlie stars for ever and ever." That this ma;y 
 be the gracious reward of him who "writes, 
 and of all who read this book, is the fervent 
 prayer of the pioneer colpoeteur in the 
 Alleghant mountains. 
 
 Note. — The labors of this single-hearted, devoted, and 
 fearless servant of Christ were at first secured for one year 
 to explore some of these wild mountain gorges. Having 
 been continued five years as above, they were extended 
 southward in the Alleghany range, and at length over 
 the whole states of Virginia and North Carolina, till he 
 had had the cooperation of three liundred colporteurs, 
 and their visits had reached five hundred thousand fami- 
 lies, over forty thousand of whom attended no place of 
 evangelical worship. Usually they read the Scriptures, 
 conversed, and prayed in each family; and they gathered 
 into Sabbath-schools seventy thousand children, many of 
 whom received their first book and learned their first lesson 
 through this agency. Such wonderful effusions of the 
 Holy Spirit as in some instances above recorded, were rare- 
 ly witnessed, but these continued labors were evidently 
 owned in the conversion of multitudes of souls. As the 
 writer of the above sketches, now a commissioned minister 
 of Christ, has well said, "It must have been the work of 
 God, who causes weak things to confound the mighty. It 
 was God who led the way, and raised up men and means, 
 and guided his servants, and blessed them with his pres- 
 ence ; and to him be all the glory." 
 
 W. A. H. Seo'y. . 
 
 New York, December, 1883.