a 
 
 BX 6495 .S43 A3 1863 
 Seger, John, 1786-1870. 
 Narrative of the life and 
 ministry of Rev. John Segei? 
 
^ OCT 19 1954 _^ 
 
 NARRATiyE%06,cALSi«^^^ 
 
 LIFE AND MINISTKY 
 
 OF 
 
 EEY. JOHN SEGEE, 
 
 Former Pastor of the Baptist Ckch at Hightstom N. J. 
 WKITTEN BY HIMSELF. 
 
 TO WHICH ABE ADDED 
 
 A FEW WORDS OF COMFORT, EXHORTATION, AND COUNSEL, 
 
 TO VARIOUS CLASSES OF READERS. 
 
 HOLMAN, BOOK AND JOB PRINTER, CORNER OF CENTRE AND WHITE SIS. 
 1863. 
 
'■os;?, 
 
 ""fff 
 
 oV^^^ 
 
 W Jmt^ 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Introductory 5 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 My Parentage and Early Convictions 9 
 
 CHAPTER 11. 
 My Conversion 20 
 
 CHAPTER m. 
 My Union with the Church and Call to the Ministry . . 36 
 
 CHAPTER lY. 
 
 YisiT to Pittsburgh and vicinity — Settlement and La- 
 bors with the HiffflTSTOwN Baptist Church — Won- 
 derful Escape 58 
 
 CHAPTER Y. 
 
 Labors at Jamaica, Lambertsville, and elsewhere — 
 
 Close of the Narrative 80 
 
 CHAPTER YL 
 Words op Comfort for the Afflicted 94 
 
IV CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER YII. 
 
 To Professing Christians — Importance of Personal 
 
 Piety 125 
 
 CHAPTER YHI. 
 Importance of a Holy Life 143 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 To THE Unconverted 153 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 A Word to Parents — Religious Instruction of Children 174 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 A Closing Word to my Ministering Brethren 189 
 
INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 I HAVE been induced to write the following Narra- 
 tive, by the solicitation of my highly respected Brother, 
 the Rev. Lewis Smith, Pastor of the Baptist Church at 
 Hightstown, New Jersey, of which I was a former 
 pastor for the term of eighteen years. Prior to this, 
 the thought had never presented itself to my mind 
 that it would be a matter of sufficient importance to 
 claim my attention, or to be interesting to others. A 
 more mature reflection, however, while reviewing the 
 wonderful display of divine grace in the salvation of 
 such a lost and guilty^inner as I found myself to be, 
 when God began the work of grace in my soul by his 
 Holy Spirit, has awakened within me a renewed admi- 
 ration of the love and suffering of my blessed Savior, 
 who gave himself a ransom for me. Such reflections 
 as these, I found to be well calculated to remove 
 any hesitancy that may have remained upon my mind ; 
 indeed, I at once discovered that no subject could 
 
 furnish me with a more delightful theme to dwell 
 
 1- 
 
VI INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 upon. But on the other hand, a feeling of such a deep 
 sense of so much imperfection as has been mingled 
 with my best perf(5rmance in religious duty, has had a 
 tendency to cast a gloom upon my mind, and a shade 
 over my whole life. 
 
 However, it is with a considerable degree of satis- 
 faction that I can say I am not conscious of having 
 violated what the world terms strict moral principles. 
 But, alas, how far short this comes from that perfect 
 holiness and rectitude which my God requires, and 
 that which my soul thirsts after. There is nothing 
 that can so enlighten the mind as a knowledge of the 
 Deity, hence says Job, "I have heard of thee by the 
 hearing of the ear, but now mine eyes seeth thee, 
 wherefore, I abhor myself and repent in dust and ash- 
 es." The more our knowledge increases in relation to 
 the divine character, in the perfections of his holiness, 
 so, in proportion, will be our knowledge of our own 
 imperfections. This is what caused Paul to cry out 
 "oh wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me 
 from the body of this death V^ He refers us to Christ as 
 his only hope. Our salvation is all of free sovereign 
 grace from first to last ; *' not by works of righteous- 
 ness which we have done, but according to his mercy 
 he hath saved us by the washing of regeneration, and 
 renewing of the Holy Ghost." So that, if I ever get to 
 heaven, it will be through Christ, my blessed Lord, and 
 
INTRODUCTORY. Vli 
 
 the renewing power of the Holy Spirit, by whom I 
 wish to be guided wliile writing this narrative, in 
 which I shall attempt to na^rrate some of the most im- 
 portant events that have occurred during my life of 
 seventy-seven years, which has brought me almost to 
 the end of my journey, this side the grave. Of this I 
 am repeatedly reminded by the infirmities of decaying 
 nature. 
 
 Whether this narrative may die with me, or not, I 
 can not say ; but should it live and speak while this 
 poor withered body shall lie mouldering in the grave, 
 may it speak the truth and God be glorified. The 
 plain garb in which it is clothed, will not be likely to 
 recommend it to the attention of those who are walk- 
 ing in the high path of life, such as the great and noble 
 of the earth, or secure it a place in their palaces, yet it 
 may find a lodging among the followers of the meek 
 and lowly Jesus ; and what should I wish for more ? 
 for they are my brethren and companions in the Lord ; 
 they are the excellent of the earth, whom I expect to 
 meet in heaven, and with whom I expect to unite in 
 the song of redeemihg love, for ever and ever. 
 
 Having concluded my introductory remarks, I shall 
 now enter upon my proposed narrative ; and in order 
 to make it more agreeable to the reader I have con- 
 cluded to divide it into chapters, and should it ever 
 come to the light of da^-, so as to meet the eye of any 
 
vm INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 one who may be disposed to read it, may the blessing 
 of God attend it, to the good of the reader, and God 
 shall have the glory ! Should imperfections be found 
 in this little book, as doubtless there will, it will be 
 sufficient to claim the indulgence of the reader to say 
 that it was written in the seventy-eighth year of my 
 
CHAPTER I. 
 
 MY PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 
 
 I WAS born in the city of New York, on the 
 fourteenth day of February, in the year of our 
 Lord seventeen hundred and eighty-six, three 
 years before Washington was elected President 
 of the United States. My Grandfather Seger 
 was engaged in a very extensive branch of 
 business, the manufacturing of ship anchors, 
 which gave employment for a large number 
 of hands. He was a business man,. but did not 
 concern himself much about matters of relig- 
 ion. My Grandmother Seger was a very pious 
 and devout Christian and a member of the 
 First Baptist Church under the pastoral charge 
 of Rev. John Gano. 
 
 My Grandfather and Grandmother Thomp- 
 son, together with my mother, were members 
 of the same church (he being deacon). He 
 was a very pious man, and made himself use- 
 
10 PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 
 
 ful in the cause of Christ. He was engaged 
 in a very lucrative business, he being owner 
 of what was then ten. id the tea- water pump, 
 which suppHed the cit} with water for cook- 
 ing and drinking purposes, it being conveyed 
 in hogsheads on carts. This operation gave 
 emj)loyment for a great number of hands. 
 My father was not a professor of rehgion, but 
 was considered a pious man. His married Hfe 
 was very brief, for he was seized with that 
 hopeless malady, the consumption, which 
 terminated his life at the age of twenty- eight 
 years ; leaving my mother with three small 
 children, the youngest being but eighteen 
 months old, who soon followed his father in 
 the sleep of death. 
 
 After my father's death, my mother re- 
 turned to her father's house, where she and 
 her children were made comfortable. When 
 I was about seven years old, my Grandfather 
 Seger died. After his death an old friend of 
 his, who was somewhat wealthy, and was the 
 owner of a large farm, three miles from Peeks- 
 
PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 11 
 
 kill, in the State of New York, offered my 
 mother a home in his family, both for herself 
 and her children as Ion -as she might be dis- 
 posed to stay. She, concluding that a comitry 
 life would be more agreeable, at once accepted 
 of his generous offer, and soon found herself 
 and children delightfully situated in a family 
 of old acquaintances. After having lived hap- 
 pily with this family about two years, her 
 father having deceased, and she having come 
 into possession of her share of his estate, a door 
 opened for her to resume housekeeping. At 
 this time a favorable opportunity offered for 
 her to remove to a neighborhood near which 
 the Baptist meeting was held. This removal 
 placed her a near neighbor to a deacon of the 
 church, whose family consisted of himself, wife, 
 and three children, two sons and a daughter 
 (the oldest son being clerk of the Church). 
 This family soon became much attached to my 
 mother, as she was a pious woman. After 
 some time had elapsed, the oldest son^ who 
 was a bachelor and about my mother's age, 
 
12 PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 
 
 offered her his hand in wedlock, which in due 
 time was accepted. A short time subsequent 
 to this union, we moved on a farm belonging 
 to his father, about three miles distant. This 
 arrangement rendered his father's help consid- 
 erably less, leaving him with a large farm to 
 cultivate, with only the help of a son twenty 
 years old, and a daughter eighteen. However, 
 no other arrangement could be made. 
 
 After we had been settled at our new home 
 a few months I had a very singular dream, in 
 which I saw the old serpent, the devil, who I 
 thought had come after me while I was lying 
 on my bed. He appeared in the most fright- 
 ful form, so much so that I was made to shud- 
 der with fright, and sprang from my bed upon 
 my feet. As soon as he saw this he disap- 
 peared. But on my return to my bed Jie 
 appeared again in the same frightful form. 
 This was repeated during the whol© night. 
 This dream made a very serious impression 
 upon iny mind, and led me to pray fervently 
 that the Lord would have mercy upon me. I 
 
PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 13 
 
 had heard much of Christ, but still I had no 
 consistent views of salvation through his death. 
 I thought that it was by reforming my life, 
 that I was to make amends for my past sins. 
 This led me to enter into solemn covenant 
 with the Lord, that if he would forgive me I 
 would reform my life, and devote the remain- 
 der of my days to his service. I commenced 
 with a full determination to live a holy life ; I 
 laid a restraint upon my words and actions ; 
 I was careful to watch over them in order 
 that I might bring them into subjection to the 
 rule which I had formed to determine my 
 duty to God ; I denied myself of all my boyish 
 amusements ; and thus I set sail, as I thought, 
 with a fair prospect of a successful voyage to 
 the heavenly glory. But I soon found that 
 the wind of temptation, and current of my de- 
 praved inclinations, was too powerful for me 
 to withstand ; for every tack I made, I found 
 that I was losing ground ; and soon found my- 
 self back near the port from whence I set sail. 
 Thus my convictions passed gradually away, 
 
14 PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 
 
 like the morning cloud and early dew. How- 
 ever, I was fiot entirely destitute of tender 
 feelings, for I remained more or less thought- 
 ful about my soul. 
 
 The second year of our occupancy of the 
 farm on which we lived, some considerable 
 change had taken place in the family of my 
 step-father ; his sister had died, and his broth- 
 er had received and accepted a very advanta- 
 geous offer in the city of New York ; so that 
 now his father was deprived of all his help, 
 and he and his wife considerably advanced in 
 life, with the care of a large farm. The family 
 finally made an arrangement for us to make 
 an exchange with the old people, as our farm 
 was much smaller than the one on which they 
 lived. This exchange was brought about to 
 the satisfaction of the parties therein con- 
 cerned. 
 
 Soon after our removal, I had another 
 dream, in which I saw that the end of thcv 
 world had come ; I saw the fire approaching 
 with great rapidity, and at the same time I 
 
PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 15 
 
 saw a multitude of people lying on the ground 
 in a sound sleep ; I felt deeply concerned for 
 them, and ran in great haste from one to the 
 other, shaking them with all my might, but 
 could not awaken them ; my distress was so 
 great that I awoke from my sleep. This 
 dream has furnished me with a very striking 
 representation of many of those who have at- 
 tended my ministry, for while I have been 
 warning them of their danger, that they might 
 flee from the wrath to come, they have re- 
 mained insensible and unconcerned about their 
 future destiny. Alas, how often I have had 
 to exclaim in the language of the Prophet, 
 '' who hath believed our report ? and to whom 
 is the arm of the Lord revealed ?'' 
 
 A few nights after this, I had another 
 dream, in which I saw that the Savior was to 
 be crucified again ; I thought that I loved him 
 above all beings ; I sought help to prevent the 
 deed, but help could not be found ; no one 
 regarded my pleading, but all seemed disposed 
 to help on with the tragedy. Finally, finding 
 
1 6 PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 
 
 that all my efforts had failed, I ran and clasped 
 hhn in my arms, with the request that I might 
 die with him. The love that I felt to the 
 Savior, as expressed in my dream, I never 
 could comprehend until I found the Savior, to 
 the great joy of my soul, in the work of regen- 
 eration. Sure this is love that passes all un- 
 derstanding, it being stronger than death. 
 Alas, how often I have seen my Savior cruci- 
 fied afresh in the house of his professed friends ! 
 Oh, my blessed Lord, have I ever had a hand 
 in such a wicked and disgraceful act ? if I have, 
 oh forgive, and let 'me never prove a traitor 
 to thee again ! These dreams, like the former, 
 left serious impressions resting on my mind. 
 
 At about this time, a Methodist preacher 
 and a good man, opened a meeting in the 
 school-house a mile distant from where we 
 lived. His appointments were every other 
 Lord's day evening. I became a constant at- 
 tendant at his meeting, and soon began to 
 conclude that I was a Christian. As to my 
 outward deportment, nothing could be said 
 
PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 17 
 
 against it, for I was considered strictly moral. 
 Indeed, the preacher himself came to this con- 
 clusion, and I soon became quite a favorite of 
 his, and as I was a good singer, he solicited 
 me to take the lead in this part of the devo- 
 tional exercises. This led on to the improve- 
 ment of my gift in prayer and exhortation in 
 public, and I believe these performances 
 were highly acceptable both to the preacher 
 and hearers, and myself not much behind in 
 this matter. But alas, I was deceived, and 
 knew it not. I thought that I had arrived al- 
 most to a state of perfection. But all this was 
 a delusion. The preacher was so well pleased 
 with my performance, that he appointed me 
 to conduct a meeting on a vacant Lord's day 
 evening, at which time I had a large attend- 
 ance. Our meetings were very solemn, and 
 many were seen to shed tears. 
 
 On one occasion, a very respectable old 
 gentleman came up to me after meeting, with 
 the tears gushing from his eyes, and while 
 grasping my hand said "I am ashamed of 
 
18 PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 
 
 myself that I have lived so long m sin, and 
 you, so young, engaged in religion." But oh 
 how unqualified I was to point this poor aged 
 sinner to the Lamb of God, whose blood alone 
 can cleanse from sin, and save the soul from 
 the wrath to come ! Alas, I did not under- 
 stand the religion of the Bible. And yet, 
 strange as it may seem, I thought all this 
 time, that I was doing God service. I did 
 not intend to deceive myself or others, for I 
 thought that I had arrived almost to a state 
 of perfection, and what the old man had said 
 seemed to confirm me more fully in this be- 
 lief. how the mind of man has become 
 blinded by the god of this world ! 
 
 The main cause of my gaining such a con- 
 trol over the minds of my hearers, must be 
 attributed to my being so very young, being 
 but thirteen years old. My manner was very 
 solemn, and the people had full confidence in 
 my sincerity, and at the same time I was 
 very zealous, and my moral deportment was 
 always considered very correct. I continued 
 
PARENTAGE AND EARLY CONVICTIONS. 19 
 
 this course of labor with great dehght, until I 
 was fourteen years old, at which date a cir- 
 cumstance occurred which put an end to these 
 exercises, which proved a great cross to me, 
 as my mind was completely absorbed in these 
 meetings ; but the time had now come for a 
 separation between me and my young com- 
 panions, which led to a great change in the 
 scenery of my life, as may be seen in the 
 following chapter. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 The circumstances which led to the change 
 referred to in the latter part of the preceding 
 chapter were as follows : My parents came to 
 the conclusion that it would be to my advant- 
 age to learn a trade. The people, at that 
 day, were much more in favor of bringing 
 up their children to labor than they are at the 
 present day. About this time a very favor- 
 able opportunity offered, as will appear from 
 what follows. 
 
 I had an uncle living in the city of ^ew 
 York, who had recently retired from business, 
 having amassed a considerable fortune by the 
 copper and brazier's business, and had trans- 
 ferred the whole concern into the hands of a 
 young man who had learned the trade with 
 him, and had married my mother's youngest 
 sister. This young man had solicited my 
 
MY CONVERSION. 21 
 
 parents to let me learn the trade with him. 
 These were the circumstances which led to 
 m}^ leaving home, and returning to the city 
 that gave me birth, from which I had been 
 absent seven years. 
 
 I now entered upon my apprenticeship 
 with my uncle, who had three apprentices 
 older than myself. These w^ere the persons 
 into whose company I was about to be intro- 
 duced as my future companions ; persons al- 
 together different from my former associates, 
 for although they professed to be of a moral 
 character, yet they were quite loose both in 
 their words and actions ; for they were in the 
 constant habit of making use of profane lan- 
 guage, while their general deportment was 
 about of the same character. From these 
 considerations it must be perceived, that, as 
 to my future prospects, they were not very 
 hopeful, but would rather have proved ruin- 
 ous to my soul without the interposition of 
 the kind hand of Providence. I was not 
 aware of the danger to which I was exposed. 
 
 2* 
 
22 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 I was now deprived of parental instruction 
 and of those social meetings in which I was 
 so delighted, while every avenue of my 
 young heart was open to those foul spirits 
 who are ever on the alert to allure, by their 
 artful deception. 
 
 It was very common at that day for lads 
 like myself, to spend the Lord's day in ram- 
 bling out of town for a little recreation, and 
 sometimes in sailing on the river. This last 
 amusement had proved fatal to many, and 
 had well nigh proved so to me, for I had fal- 
 len in with these habits 5 still I was conscious 
 that this was wicked and did not comport 
 with my views of religion. Yet the tempta- 
 tion proved too strong for me to withstand, 
 and I had to yield. But upon my return 
 home at night, oh the lashing of conscience ! 
 I then felt — ' ' a guilty conscience who can 
 bear?" I would then renew my promises and 
 break them as fast as I made them, and thus 
 my life became one continued scene of sinning 
 and repenting, making promises and breaking 
 
MY CONVERSION. 23 
 
 them. Thus three years of my time passed 
 away m one continual conflict. I had lost all 
 relish for the house of God, as I was not ac- 
 quainted with any of the young people who 
 attended. If I had attended meeting once on 
 the Lord's day, it would have satisfied my 
 conscience in some measure, but this had 
 become too irksome, so that my self-righteous 
 garb which I so much admired before I left 
 home, had now become ragged and in tatters. 
 I tried hard to patch up the old garment ; 
 but in spite of all that I could do, ragged it 
 would be. 
 
 Thus passed away three years of my ap- 
 prenticeship, which brings me to a more inter- 
 esting part of this narrative ; for the time had 
 now come in which the powers of darkness 
 were to be shaken, and made to yield up 
 their vassal, so long held in cruel fetters ; for 
 he who is mighty to save, said '4et the cap- 
 tive go free for I have found a ransom ;" but 
 a dreadful battle was to be fought before I 
 could be set at liberty ; it was fought, and I 
 
24 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 gained the victory through the blood of the 
 Lamb. The circumstances which led to this 
 great conflict were as follows : On a certain 
 evening my aunt with whom I lived had oc- 
 casion to send a message to her sister living 
 in the Bowery about a mile distant ; it being 
 a very pleasant evening's walk, I at once of- 
 fered my services. After having received my 
 instructions, I passed out of the front door, 
 where I found the elder apprentice standing, 
 who, on my approach, gave utterance to a 
 most profane oath. This however was noth- 
 ing strange, as it was a very common thing 
 with him to make use of profane language. 
 But on this occasion it had a very different 
 effect upon my mind,. from what it ever had 
 produced before. I was at once struck with 
 the greatest horror of mind at such wicked- 
 ness, as I thought that he had defied his 
 Maker. But, oh, the disma}^ I felt ! for in a 
 moment my eyes were opened to see the 
 condemnation resting upon my own soul, for 
 I saw my sins were placed in array against 
 
MY CONVERSION. 25 
 
 me ; they appeared like so many mountains 
 ready to crush me down under their ponder- 
 ous weight; my heart was ready to break, 
 while the tears were gushing from my eyes to 
 that degree, that I believe every step was 
 marked with them ; such was the anguish of 
 my soul, that I can not describe it or ever 
 forget. Oh how plainly I saw the justice of 
 God in my condemnation ! Oh how plainly 
 I saw and felt the force of the language of 
 the Poet— 
 
 "And if my soul were sent to hell, 
 Thy righteous law approves it well." 
 
 I had such a view of the character of God 
 in all his Divine perfections, that I thought if 
 he should place me in the lowest hell I would 
 there praise him ; for I saw that he was a 
 being worthy to be loved and admired, and 
 all the wrong was in me. I felt so guilty and 
 condemned, that I dare not look up. I could 
 stand like the publican and smite upon my 
 breast, but dare not make use of his language, 
 for I thought that mercy was clean gone for- 
 
26 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 ever, and tliat I had placed myself beyond 
 the reach of hope. I saw now that all my 
 prayers and exhortations had been nothmg 
 but a delusion ; my poor wretched heart had 
 deceived me. When I drew near the house, 
 I stood and wiped off my tears, as well as I 
 could, still fearing to enter, lest they should 
 discover the state of my mind. My tears 
 flowed so freely that it was with the greatest 
 difficulty that I <30uld suppress them, and to 
 tarry any longer would not do, as I had been 
 long on my way. I saw that now something 
 must be done. I therefore armed myself 
 with all the courage that I was master of, and 
 entered the house. When there, I could not 
 utter a word ; I sat down ; my aunt, who 
 stood near the fire-place, gazed at me w^ith 
 much surprise, and some degree of alarm, as 
 I was commonly very cheerful. After look- 
 ing at me for a moment, she, calling me by 
 name, said " what are you troubled about ; is 
 it the things of this world, or that which is 
 to come ?" The last word in the interropfation 
 
MY CONVERSION. 27 
 
 at once did the work. A shot from a gun 
 could not have been du^ected with greater ac- 
 curacy to the object of its aim ; it pierced me 
 to the heart. The tears began to gush from 
 my eyes in torrents ; for I felt as though the 
 very fountain of my soul was broken up. 
 My aunt soon comprehended the nature of 
 my distress, and called in my uncle who 
 stood at the back door. He, being a pious 
 man, was prepared to give me instruction, for 
 he understood my feelings, although I did not 
 utter a word. He sat down and selected a 
 number of passages from the Bible, well 
 suited to console my sorrowful mind; but 
 this proved all in vain, for I could not claim 
 them ; for I thought that I had committed the 
 sin unto death. After he had conversed with 
 me awhile, he prayed for me, but all without 
 having any effect in consoling my mind. 
 When I was about to leave he handed me a 
 little book by John Bunyan, the title of 
 which was ''Grace abounding to the chief of 
 sinners." 
 
28 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 On my way home, my tears flowed freely, 
 I continuing in the same state of mind. As 
 I drew near home, a difficulty more formi- 
 dable than the one I had already encount- 
 ered, attended me on my arrival. I well 
 knew what I had to expect from a family in 
 which not one pious soul could be found. I 
 had nothing to look for but sneers and ridi- 
 cule, especially from the young men. How- 
 ever, I wiped off my tears as well as I could, 
 and entered the house and delivered my mes- 
 sage m as few words as possible. Yet it was 
 not done without betraying my feelings, al- 
 though no remarks were made ; for I passed 
 quickly into my bed-room, where I sat down 
 and read the little book that my uncle gave 
 me, in which I found my feelings so fully de- 
 lineated that it became difficult for me to 
 read, as my tears flowed so fast. I read and 
 wept the greater part of the night. 
 
 The next morning found me in the same 
 sad state of mind. My mind seemed to be 
 bordering on despair, yet I strove to conceal 
 
MY CONVERSION. 29 
 
 it. This I found impossible, for I could not so 
 far suppress my feelings, as not to be visible 
 in my countenance. When I met the family 
 at the breakfast table, they discovered that a 
 very heavy pressure was resting upon my 
 mind. This was visible, not only in my sad 
 countenance, but also in my loss of appetite. 
 They knew that it could not be disease of 
 body, for if so, I would have made it known. 
 However, they soon began to comprehend 
 the mystery. This at once subjected me to 
 many reproachful epithets. At length my 
 burden became so ponderous that I became 
 quite indifferent to their severity, although 
 they persevered so far as to signify that I 
 had communications with the fiend of dark- 
 ness. I can not believe that they thought this 
 to be really the case ; if they did, they must 
 have drawn their conclusion from my having 
 absented myself so often for secret prayer ; 
 for I could not stay away. On one occasion, 
 my uncle accidentally entered the apartment 
 where I was upon my knees ; we were both 
 
30 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 much confused, jet nothing was said. I 
 think, however, that it must have had a 
 favorable impression upon his mind, as 
 he was particularly kind to me from that 
 time. 
 
 After these young men had done all in 
 their power to insult my feelings, and had be- 
 gun to despair of reclaiming me by such 
 harsh measures as they had resorted to, they 
 now begun to pursue a more mild course, and 
 to expostulate with me, in order to convince 
 me of the danger I was in, by giving up to 
 such a gloomy state of mind, as they consid- 
 ered it sure to lead on to insanity, and thus 
 prove my ruin ; and in order to prevent this 
 calamity, it would be advisable for me to ac- 
 company them to those places of amusement, 
 the theatre and ball-room. These arguments, 
 however, proved unavailing, for I felt that the 
 wound which sin had made in my heart was 
 too deep to be removed by any earthly reme- 
 dy. ]N'othing but that salve which was ex- 
 tracted from the blood of the dying Christ, 
 
MY CONYERSION. oi 
 
 and applied by the Holy Spirit, could ever 
 cure and make me whole. 
 
 I spent my evenings in reading and pray- 
 ing, while my tears flowed freely. On the 
 ensuing Lord's day, I attended the preach- 
 ing of the Rev. John Williams. This was 
 done in accordance with the wishes of my 
 uncle wdio gave me the little book to which I 
 have already referred, he being a member of 
 Brother Williams' church. I took my seat in 
 the gallery opposite the pulpit. The sermon 
 was a very cutting one to my feelings, for I 
 thought that every word was intended for 
 me ; and as the preacher's eye seemed to be 
 placed upon me, I dared not look up, for I 
 thought that he comprehended the whole his- 
 tory of my life. My feelings, while he fully 
 delineated my character, he placed before me 
 in such clear light, as can not be described. 
 I returned home more sorrowful than ever. 
 Brother Williams was a faitliful servant of 
 God ; I spent many haj)py hours with him in 
 his study after I had found peace to my soul ; 
 
32 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 but he has long smce gone to be with Christ, 
 which is far better. 
 
 My distress continued as pungent as ever ; 
 for about ten days from the time in which I 
 was awakened to a sense of my danger, was 
 spent in reading, praying, and weeping. Fi- 
 nally the day of my deliverance came, and 
 what a joyful day this was to me ! The Son 
 of Righteousness arose upon my soul with 
 healing under his wings. The darkness of 
 midnight was at once dispelled, and all was 
 light around me. I received a message from 
 him who spake as never man spake. The 
 message may be found recorded in Matthew 
 V. 4, "Blessed are they that mourn, for they 
 shall be comforted.'' These words dropped 
 from the precious lips of my blessed Savior 
 while on the mount ; and although multitudes 
 have been sharing in the blessings of this 
 gracious and heart-cheering promise, yet I 
 found it as full of consolation as when the first 
 soul participated in its blessings. This prom- 
 ise seemed to come down from the upper 
 
MY CONVERSION. 33 
 
 glory, and, through the agency of the Holy 
 Spirit, to be applied to my soul. The very 
 foundation of my prison was shaken, my fet- 
 ters fell off, my prison doors flew open, and I 
 was brought into the light and liberty of the 
 Gospel. Believing, I rejoiced with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory. I felt as though 
 I had been ushered into a new world ; every 
 thing in nature appeared to be new ; I saw 
 my Savior's hand in every thing I cast my 
 eyes upon. The sun seemed to shine with 
 greater brilliancy and glory. The spangled 
 heavens at night, I beheld with wonder and 
 admiration, while I saw in every star a 
 preacher of righteousness. I could unite in 
 the language of the Psalmist in saying ' ' The 
 heavens declare the glory of the Lord and the 
 firmament showeth forth his handy work.*' I 
 saw that not only the heavens and the earth 
 were new to me, but I was new to myself, 
 and could now understand what Paul meant 
 when he said, "If any man be in Christ he is 
 
34 MY CONVERSION. 
 
 a new creature, old things are passed away 
 and behold all have become new." 
 
 I now felt that I was complete in Christ, 
 not having on my own righteousness which is 
 of the law, but that which is by faith in my 
 dying Lord; that it is "not by works of 
 righteousness that we have done, but accord- 
 ing to his mercy he hath saved us, by the 
 washing of regeneration and renewing of the 
 Holy Grhost." I now saw the way of salva- 
 tion through the death of Christ plainly re- 
 vealed in the Bible ; and how God can 
 be just and yet justify sinners and save 
 them with an everlasting salvation ; not 171 
 their sins hut from their sins, by the blood of 
 Christ, who is the Lamb slain as the great 
 antitype of the sacrifices made under the law. 
 Under these consoling views, I now went on 
 my way rejoicing. 
 
 Before I conclude this chapter, I must refer 
 to a solemn circumstance which occurred dur- 
 ing the week in which my soul was set at 
 
MY CONVERSION. 35 
 
 liberty, in relation to one of those young men 
 who had been so active in devising plans to 
 lead my soul astray. This young man was 
 seized with a disease which soon terminated 
 his life. He sickened while absent from 
 home. He heard of the happy state of my 
 mind, and sent for me to come and pray for 
 him ; I went, but it was too late ; his spirit 
 was making its way to the invisible world. 
 Where he landed we must leave to be de- 
 cided at the judgment of the great day. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 MY UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND CALL TO THE 
 MINISTRY. 
 
 The ensuing Lord's day, I attended the 
 preaching of the Rev. William Collier, Pastor 
 of the First Baptist Church, whose meeting- 
 house was located in Gold Street, a few hund- 
 red yards distant from where I lived. This 
 brother was a good preacher and of sterling 
 piety, but of delicate health and feeble voice. 
 At the close of the meeting, I heard an- 
 nounced the time and place of the weekly 
 meeting, which was held on Friday evening. 
 The next meeting found me there. In the 
 course of the evening, a young brother was 
 called upon to pray. He was the youngest 
 member in the church, being nineteen years 
 old, two years older than myself. His man- 
 ner and language, throughout his prayer, was 
 so expressive of true devotion and sincere 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 37 
 
 piety, that my affections were drawn out to 
 him to that degree, that he appeared nearer 
 than an own brother, although he was an en- 
 tire stranger to me. On his return home, I 
 followed him some distance, in hope that an 
 opportunity might offer to introduce myself 
 to him ; but feeling myself so far inferior 
 to him in religious experience, my courage 
 failed, and I returned home much disap- 
 pointed. However, at the next meeting, I 
 succeeded, and I believe to the mutual joy 
 and satisfaction of both. 
 
 From that time, our hearts became knit 
 together like those of David and Jonathan. 
 Our leisure hours were spent almost entirely 
 in each other's company, at which times we 
 found it to be a heaven below. My becom- 
 ing acquainted with this brother, opened the 
 way for offering myself as a member of the 
 First Baptist Church, although I felt much 
 attached to Brother Wilhams. However, the 
 distance to his church was a considerable ob- 
 jection, and as it appeared to me that Provi- 
 
 3 
 
38 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 dence had marked out my duty, I therefore 
 offered myself to the church, and being re- 
 ceived, I was baptized by the pastor, in the 
 ]N"orth River, on the first Lord's day of April, 
 eighteen hundred and three, being seventeen 
 years old ; and on the same day I was re- 
 ceived into the church, and took my seat at 
 the table of the Lord. This was a happy 
 day to me. 
 
 Soon after this, I was called upon to exer- 
 cise my gift in prayer and exhortation. 
 About this time, I became acquainted with 
 a brother whose labors were wonderfully 
 blessed. He held his meetings not far from 
 where the Macdougal Street meeting-house 
 is now located, and I believe that that 
 church owes its origin to this brother's la- 
 bors. He was a plain, honest-hearted man, 
 and although he could not lay claim to be 
 a learned or methodical preacher, yet he 
 seemed to speak with demonstration and 
 power of the Holy Spirit, and was greatly 
 blessed in the conversion of sinners, and 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 39 
 
 was the means of increasing the num- 
 ber of members in the First Church to a 
 great extent, and long after his death, this 
 church were receiving the fruits of his la- 
 bors. This brother, being but a licentiate, 
 had no church of his own, and at the same 
 time, feeling a deep interest in the pros- 
 perity of the First Church, appointed his 
 meetings so as not to interfere with its 
 pubhc services. I attended this brother's 
 preaching, at which time I was greatly de- 
 lighted, being fed with the sincere milk of 
 the word. 
 
 About the year 1805, the Rev. "William 
 Parkinson, who had taken charge of the 
 First Church, became very much blessed in 
 his labors, and a great revival ensued and 
 a large number of souls were added to 
 the church, among whom were many of the 
 younger class, who like myself, felt zealous 
 in the cause of Christ, and wishing to make 
 ourselves useful, we formed a youth's prayer- 
 meeting, in which I took an active part, 
 
40 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 and was looked to as a leader of the meet- 
 ing in prayer and exhortation. This meet- 
 ing opened the way for the formation of a 
 youth's Missionary Society, of which I was 
 President for several years. 
 
 While I was thus engaged, I had three 
 singular visions of the night. In the first, 
 I was commanded to have my baptism re- 
 peated, and have on the Pastor's gown, in 
 which he baptized me, which was of a broad, 
 dark and white stripe. This dream may 
 seem trifling to some, yet it has had good 
 effect upon my mind, for it has pictured out 
 before me the different scenes of my life, 
 which have been mingled with joy and sor- 
 row. Sometimes I could express myself in 
 the language of the Psalmist ''Thou hast 
 made my mountain to stand strong. I shall 
 never be moved," and at other times I have 
 had to say, " Thou didst hide thy face and 
 T was troubled, all thy waves and thy bil- 
 lows have gone over me.'' The next night, 
 I dreamed that I was commanded to go 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 41 
 
 to the meeting-house of the First Church 
 to which I belonged, and preach a sermon. 
 I was at once filled with the greatest con- 
 sternation, and was so much troubled that 
 I fell to weeping, and made use of every 
 argument in my power against it, and that I 
 was no way qualified for such an important 
 work, but I was laid hold of by an invisi- 
 ble hand, and forced on my way, while the 
 tears were gushing from my eyes. When 
 I arrived at the meeting-house and saw the 
 people gathered, my distress was such that 
 I was led to cry out in the extremity of 
 my soul, ''Lord, help, for I can not preach," 
 and at once I awoke, much pleased to find it 
 but a dream. Oh, how often I have realized 
 the force of what I felt in this dream, while 
 reflecting upon the importance of preach- 
 ing to dying sinners the unsearchable riches 
 of Christ ! Oh, how often I have had to ex- 
 claim, "Who is sufficient for these things ?" 
 In the third vision I saw myself clad in 
 the most beautiful garment that I had ever 
 
42 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 beheld, it was of a pure white. While I 
 was admiring it, I awoke. While consid- 
 ering this vision, the thought occurred to 
 my mind, might not this robe have had some 
 reference to the righteousness of Christ, 
 that spotless robe prepared for all repent- 
 ing prodigals like myself? I had been 
 stripped of my filthy, ragged garment, that 
 I had been so long laboring to patch up, 
 in order to make it appear somewhat de- 
 cent ; but I found, after all my toil, that 
 it grew worse and worse, until I was 
 stripped of it, and clothed with the justify- 
 ing righteousness of my blessed Savior, in 
 whom I stand complete. 
 
 Not long after this, the church gave me 
 a partial license to preach among the des- 
 titute churches of the Association, as I was 
 still quite young. The circumstance which 
 led to this act of the church was as fol- 
 lows : While I was on a visit in the coun- 
 try about fifty miles distant from home, I 
 was invited to preach ; this, as yet, I had 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 43 
 
 never attempted, and had my scruples 
 as the propriety of accepting the invita- 
 tion. In ordinary cases I knew it would 
 not be deemed regular. However, being 
 overpersuaded, and thinking the matter 
 would pass off without any further notice, 
 especially as it was in a place where they 
 were not favored with regular preaching, I 
 therefore accepted the invitation. The word 
 was soon spread, and a large congregation 
 assembled. I made the attempt to preach, 
 and I think it was not in vain, as the Lord 
 gave me one soul that night as the first 
 fruit of my labor, whom I have since bap- 
 tized. Indeed, the meeting seemed to be 
 very interesting to us all, as it did appear 
 that the Lord was in our midst. I left 
 with the expectation that the matter would 
 here drop ; but in this I was mistaken, for 
 soon after my return home, the church 
 heard of what had occurred. However, it 
 operated differently from what I had ex- 
 pected ; for instead of censure, I received 
 
44 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 the approbation of the church ; and at the 
 same tnne, after having heard me preach 
 before them, they gave me a hcense to 
 preach, as has akeady been mentioned. I 
 continued this course until my apprentice- 
 ship was ended. 
 
 Soon after this I became wedded to Miss 
 Eunice Alston, a member of the same 
 church with myself. After my marriage, I 
 commenced business and was quite success- 
 ful. Still, my mind was much interested in 
 my ministerial labors. I had been in the 
 habit of preaching in the alms-house one 
 evening in the week ; this exercise afforded 
 me much satisfaction, for while preaching 
 to those poor distressed objects, a scene pre- 
 sented itself, well calculated to awaken sym- 
 pathy in the mind of a servant of Christ, 
 coming with a message of mercy from the 
 Savior. Misery could here be seen in al- 
 most unhmited measure, and almost every 
 form. Here could be seen the sick, the 
 halt, and the blind ; and on many occasions 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 45 
 
 I was called to stand by the bedside of 
 the dying ; sometimes to administer con- 
 solation to those who appeared to be truly 
 penitent, by pointing them to a dying Sa- 
 vior, who came into the world to save sin- 
 ners. In some other cases, I have witnessed 
 the power of religion exemplified in causing 
 the soul to depart in the triumphs of faith. 
 In the course of my ministry at this place, 
 I was sometimes called upon to witness 
 scenes of a far different character from the 
 one last referred to ; one of which, of a 
 most heart-rending character, I will here 
 recite. 
 
 I was called upon, by the request of a 
 dying man, to come to his bedside ; on ap- 
 proaching, I at once recognized him as one 
 with whom I was weU acquainted when I 
 was a boy ; he being, at that time, a young 
 man ; he was of a very respectable family, 
 and had been nursed by a kind-hearted and 
 pious mother, from whom he had received 
 a religious education ; but he, being a me- 
 
46 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 chanic, like multitudes of others, thought 
 that a frequent dram was indispensable, to 
 keep out the heat in summer, and the cold 
 in winter ; not with the intention of be- 
 coming a drunkard, but as an act of pru- 
 dence to preserve health ; but alas ! he had 
 taken the viper into his bosom, by which 
 the seal of misery and death was stamped 
 upon him, which he soon began to realize, 
 for he gradually sunk from his standing in 
 respectable society, and finally became a most 
 wretched sot, where the hand of charity had 
 found him, and brought him to this asylum, 
 in order to soothe his short but wretched 
 passage to the grave. When I approached 
 this poor man's bedside I found him suffering 
 under all the horrors of a guilty conscience. 
 His awful doom seemed to be presented be- 
 fore him. He knew me, and begged that 
 I would pray for him ; which I did, with 
 all my heart. If this poor man could have 
 had a voice as loud as ten thousand thun- 
 ders, he would have strained it to its ut- 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 47 
 
 most, ill warning the world against listen- 
 ing to the cruel tyrant, who had ruined 
 him, both in soul and body. After pray- 
 ing for him, and pointing him to Christ, 
 the only hope of a dying sinner, I left him, 
 no more to meet him on this side the grave ; 
 I returned home, deeply affected with what 
 I had witnessed. 
 
 Necessary attention to business, at this 
 time, prevented my becoming a pastor of a 
 church ; so that my labors were still con- 
 fined to itinerant preaching, supplying des- 
 titute churches both in and out of the city, 
 and officiating in the pulpit of the Pastor 
 when he was sick or absent. Finally the 
 church finding that there were so many 
 calls for the ordinances of the Lord's house 
 to be administered in those churches where 
 I officiated, they appointed a committee 
 to consult with me, as to my willing- 
 ness to receive ordination. This was quite 
 unexpected to me ; still, as the church 
 thought it advisable, I acceded to their 
 
48 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 wishes. The solemnities of the occasion 
 took place on the seventeenth day of Jan- 
 uary, eighteen hundred and thirteen. This 
 was a very solemn day to me. I still con- 
 tinued my labors among the churches, as I 
 did not intend to settle as a Pastor. 
 
 Up to this time we, as a family, had not 
 been taught much in the school of affliction. 
 However, the time had now come that instruc- 
 tion was needful, and our heavenly Father 
 sent the messenger death to communicate 
 to us that needed instruction, by entering, 
 for the first time, our little family circle, 
 and removing from our tender embrace a be- 
 loved little son, upon whom our affections 
 were, perhaps, too much placed. The cir- 
 cumstances connected with this bereavement 
 were as singular as they were afflictive. 
 A few days prior to his death, I had left 
 home as a delegate to the Philadelphia As- 
 sociation, and arrived at Camden the even- 
 ing before the meeting was to take place, 
 and there tarried for the night. After re- 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 49 
 
 tiring to bed I fell into a sound sleep, at 
 \Yliicli time I had a remarkable dream, in 
 which I saw my little son, placed before 
 me lifeless, lying in the sleep of death. 
 My mind became much distressed, and I 
 tried to persuade myself that it was but a 
 dream. The more I thought of it, the more I 
 became convinced that it was really the case. 
 When I awoke in the morning, this dream 
 left such a burden upon my mind, that, 
 with all my effort, I could not banish it 
 from my mind, although I knew that I had 
 left him as a picture of health. I went to 
 the meeting, and heard the sermon, but still 
 remained in the same sad state of mind. I 
 felt deeply impressed with a sense of duty 
 to return. After the sermon was ended I 
 left, and on arriving at home I entered 
 the room where my little son was. As soon 
 as I saw him I discovered death in his 
 countenance, and the next morning I be- 
 held him as I had seen him in my vision, 
 sleeping the sleep of death. I never should 
 
50 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 have seen him m this world again but 
 for this warning ; for there was no tele- 
 grajDh at that day, and the mail slow and 
 imcertain. Not to have seen my child again 
 would have added greatly to my affliction. 
 And not only so, but my presence was 
 greatly needed on such an occasion. I 
 learned by this bereavement a very import- 
 ant lesson of instruction ; that although ' ' no 
 chastening for the present seemeth to be joy- 
 ous, but grievous : nevertheless, afterward it 
 yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness 
 unto them which are exercised thereby/' 
 The Lord is too wise to be mistaken, and, 
 as a kind father, intends that all the afflic- 
 tions of his people shall work for their 
 good. 
 
 Soon after this occurrence, I obtained a 
 patent right for the first cooking stove 
 that had ever been invented. This circum- 
 stance had a tendency to increase my bus- 
 iness to a considerable degree, and thus 
 to interfere with my ministerial labors. In 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 51 
 
 order to remedy this evil, I solicited my 
 brother, who was in the same business with 
 myself, to become a partner in the concern. 
 To this he at once acceded, so that I be- 
 came relieved from the embarrassment un- 
 der, which I had been laboring for some 
 time past. I now entered more fully into 
 my ministerial labors, and doors were open- 
 ing on every hand for preaching, which I 
 attended to as far as my ability would ad- 
 mit, and in some cases I believe that my 
 labors were not in vain in the Lord. This 
 was evidently the case at Middletown, Eock- 
 land County, New York. I labored with 
 this church half of my time about eighteen 
 months, during which time the church was 
 blessed by the addition of many precious 
 souls. These brethren had a great share in 
 my affection, and I doubt not that I should 
 have settled among them, but for my busi- 
 ness having confined me to the city, where 
 my attention was occasionally required. 
 In the course of the year eighteen hundred 
 
52 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 and sixteen, I became acquainted with the 
 Rev. Peter "Wilson of Hightstown, New Jer- 
 sey, who gave me an invitation to attend their 
 yearly meeting, on the first Lord's day of Au- 
 gust, but on account of previous engagements 
 I could not attend. The next year, however, 
 the invitation being renewed, I made my ar- 
 rangements to attend, and, accordingly, on 
 the day appointed, I was found among the 
 brethren who were invited to take a part in 
 the meeting, among whom I found a young 
 brother who had been jDreaching for the 
 church a few times as a candidate for the 
 pastoral office. Consequently, as none of us 
 had come with that intention, we made our 
 arrangements for him to preach on Lord's 
 day morning, as a large congregation was ex- 
 pected to be present at that time. Some of 
 the brethren occupied the pulpit on Satur- 
 day, myself closing the meeting with a few 
 remarks ; after which, Deacon Thomas Allen 
 gave me an invitation to make his house my 
 home during the meeting, whose kind offer I 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 53 
 
 accepted. On our way to his home, we en- 
 tered mto a very agreeable conversation upon 
 matters of rehgion, with which I found him 
 to be well acquainted, and from the knowledge 
 he seemed to have of his Bible, I thought him 
 admirably well qualified as a father in Israel, 
 and I could not wonder that the Church 
 should have selected him as a fit person to fill 
 the office of Deacon. On our arrival I was 
 received with kindness by the family. After 
 supper, we resumed our religious conversa- 
 tion, in the course of which he was somewhat 
 inquisitive as to my situation in life. In 
 reply I gave him to understand that I was in 
 business with my brother, and the most part 
 of my time was occupied in supplying desti- 
 tute Churches. The conversation being end- 
 ed, and family devotions attended to, we 
 retired to bed. 
 
 On the next morning, being Lord's day, we 
 met our brethren again at the house of God. 
 As was expected, a very large congregation 
 assembled, so that not more than one half of 
 
54 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 the peojDle could get into the house. The 
 young brother who was to officiate, appeared 
 to be well qualified for the labors of the day. 
 He made quite a display of talent, both nat- 
 ural and acquired, and it was very perceptible 
 that he had studied the art of elocution to a 
 considerable degree ; and I doubt not that 
 his sermon would have graced the pulpit 
 of a congregation that had become more 
 refined in literature ; but instead of this, 
 his hearers were made up of plain farmers, 
 who were expecting to hear the truth 
 preached, in language simplified to their 
 understanding. If we wish to teach children, 
 we must make use of language suited to their 
 capacity. I have- often heard of generals 
 who, when going into battle, charged their 
 men not to aim too high, for in so doing, 
 their ammunition would be wasted. I there- 
 fore have come to the conclusion, that a plain 
 style of preaching is the best adapted to the 
 pulpit. A want of this, I think, was what 
 foiled this young man's hope of becoming 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 55 
 
 the pastor of Hightstown Church. I there- 
 fore would advise all young men m the min- 
 istry, in preaching Christ crucified, to adapt 
 their style to the comprehension of the most 
 illiterate of their hearers, and no one is so 
 well qualified to do this as a man of learning. 
 Therefore, as in the days of Christ, let the 
 poor have the Gospel preached to them. 
 However, I must now dismiss these remarks, 
 having given them a larger space than I at 
 first intended. 
 
 After sermon was concluded, it fell to my 
 lot again to make some further observations, 
 after which the meeting was closed, and I re- 
 turned with brother Allen. In the course of 
 our conversation that evening, I gave him to 
 understand that I expected to return home 
 the next morning. In reply to this, he said 
 that the leading members of the Church had 
 decided for me to preach the next day, which 
 would close the meeting. This did not ac- 
 cord with my feelings, but being urged by 
 brother Allen, I acceded to their wishes. 
 
56 UNION WITH THE CHURCH AND 
 
 After having preached for them the next day, 
 they held a private meeting, at the conclu- 
 sion of which, they interrogated me in rela- 
 tion to my willingness to accept of a call to 
 become the pastor of the chmxh. This was 
 far from what I anticipated, as I did not 
 come for such a purpose. However, I gave 
 them to understand how I was situated, and 
 that I was in business, and that I was unpre- 
 pared to give them any encouragement, but 
 as they were destitute, I would visit them 
 again in a few weeks, and accordingly made 
 the appointment. 
 
 This act of the church may be thought 
 premature, and doubtless it would have been 
 so, but for the reason that they had received, 
 as they thought, sufficient intelligence from 
 their former pastor, in relation to my stand- 
 ing in the church where I held my member- 
 ship. After having taken leave of the breth- 
 ren, I returned home. On my arrival, I un- 
 derstood that my brother's wife had purposed 
 in her mind to visit her parents, who lived 
 
CALL TO THE MINISTRY. 57 
 
 near Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, provided I 
 would accompany her. This arrangement, 
 I saw, would clash with my appointment at 
 Hightstown, and by delaying the journey un- 
 til this should have been fulfilled, would have 
 made it too late in the season to have re- 
 turned before winter. I, therefore, had to 
 leave the matter for further consideration, 
 until I should see my duty more plain. 
 
CHAPTER lY. 
 
 VISIT TO PITTSBURGH AND VICINITY.— SETTLEMENT 
 AND LABORS WITH THE HIGHTSTOWN BAPTIST 
 CHURCH.— WONDERFUL ESCAPE. 
 
 The conflict which had occupied my mind, 
 referred to in the close of the preceding chap- 
 ter, originated from mj unwilHngness to dis- 
 appoint my brethren at Hightstown, although 
 I did not feel disposed to accept of the pas- 
 toral office of any church, for I had often 
 witnessed the difficulty attending that charge ; 
 and at the same time I had a strong impulse 
 to accede to my brother's wife's wishes, as this 
 would afford me a favorable opportunity to 
 visit my brethren in what was, at that time, 
 termed the far west. I finally decided to go, 
 and accordingly we set out on our journey, 
 passing through Hightstown, and calHng upon 
 brother Allen, in order to communicate to 
 him a statement of the case ; who, after hav- 
 
VISIT TO PITTSBURGH. 59 
 
 ing heard how the matter stood, seemed to be 
 disappointed ; yet did not censure me for the 
 com^se I had taken, and offered to get the 
 pulpit supphed until my return. This was 
 altogether different from my expectation, for 
 I had thought that my having to be so long 
 absent, would have put an end to any thing 
 further in relation to this matter. However, 
 I thought the Lord might send some one 
 among the brethren who should visit them in 
 my absence, who might receive the approba- 
 tion of the church, and receive a call to the 
 pastoral ofiice. 
 
 Under these impressions, I took my leave 
 of brother Allen, resting the whole matter 
 in the hands of God, whose wisdom can not 
 err, in bringing about all events for our 
 good and his own glory, and proceeded on 
 our journey ; and after the lapse of ten days, 
 we arrived at our place of destination. I 
 soon found a large field opened before me, 
 already white for the harvest, and the labor- 
 ers but few, so that I saw that my work was 
 
60 VISIT TO PITTSBURGH 
 
 laid out before me, together with the means 
 necessary to facihtate that work, without 
 which it could not have been accomplished. 
 The hand of the Lord must have been in 
 the matter, for I soon found a warm-heart- 
 ed brother, who had horses at his command, 
 and was well acquainted with the people 
 and country, to a great distance round, who 
 offered his services to become my guide 
 and companion, on a missionary tour to this 
 destitute region. This offer was received 
 with grateful feelings, and accordingly, we 
 set out upon the field of our labor, and I 
 am inclined to think that it was under the 
 guidance of a Divine providence, for it 
 proved both pleasing and profitable to us, 
 and I think, a blessing to those among 
 whom we traveled. The people received 
 us, in every case, with a joyful welcome, 
 while I preached to them the great salva- 
 tion, proclaimed in the gospel ; and I can 
 not doubt that many serious and lasting im- 
 pressions were made. After preaching, we 
 
AND VICINITY. 61 
 
 sung and prayed until a late hour of the 
 night. Our meetings were always crowded. 
 If I had kept a diary, it would have fur- 
 nished me with some interesting incidents 
 which occurred during this tour, of a most 
 pleasing character, and might have found 
 a place here, to some advantage. One of 
 these incidents is still fresh in my memory, 
 and I shall refer to it, as I pass on. On 
 one occasion, we called at a public house, 
 and gave the landlord to understand the 
 object of our tour. We were received and 
 treated kindly, and invited to preach at 
 his house that evening, to which I con- 
 sented. The invitation was at once circu- 
 lated, and in the evening a very large 
 assembly came together ; and judging by 
 my feelings, and the serious impressions 
 that seemed to be made upon the minds 
 of the hearers, the great day will tell that 
 some good was done that evening. The 
 next day, we set out to the place of our 
 next appointment, about ten miles distant. 
 
62 VISIT TO PITTSBURGH 
 
 After having passed on our way a few 
 miles, on looking back we saw a young 
 man on horseback, a few hundred yards 
 distant, who appeared to be in deep medi- 
 tation. My brother remarked to me, that he 
 was under the impression that the young man 
 had been to the meeting the night before, 
 and had received some serious convictions, 
 which were now resting upon his mind. I 
 replied that these were my impressions. He 
 kept himself at the same distance, to the 
 place of meeting. On our arrival, he min- 
 gled with the crowd, so that I heard no 
 more of him until my return home. 
 
 This meeting was the most interesting of 
 any that we had had. The house was large 
 and every part crowded. Many of the people 
 had come from a great distance. This was 
 a very happy meeting to me, and I found 
 great liberty in preaching. After the ser- 
 mon was ended, the brethren continued the 
 meeting through the night, in singing, pray- 
 ing, and exhorting, being too dark to re- 
 
AND VICINITY. 63 
 
 turn home. Our meetings were becoming 
 more and more interesting. On Lord's days 
 I preached in meeting-houses. These houses 
 were of quite rude construction, both in their 
 workmanship and materials. They were 
 built with logs, plastered with clay, and the 
 doors and windows cut out of the logs. 
 The seats were of rough slabs, placed on 
 logs. The pulpit was a platform, raised 
 about two feet from the floor, constructed 
 after the same manner, and having a crotch 
 placed at each end, with a slab across to 
 rest the Bible on. However, I believe that 
 these buildings, though of such rough con- 
 struction, have been often graced with the 
 Divine presence ; for I am confident that I 
 can witness to the truth of this, for I never 
 preached to more attentive and solemn con- 
 gregations, for every eye was fixed, and every 
 heart seemed to be open, for the reception 
 of the word of life. As for myself, I think 
 that I never felt more of the power of re- 
 ligion in my soul, than while preaching in 
 
64 VISIT TO PITTSBURGH 
 
 those rude houses. However, these ancient 
 structures have been giving way for a more 
 modern style of architecture ; and the whole 
 face of the country is becoming changed 
 from its former appearance. 
 
 After having been traveling and preach- 
 ing near three months, I took my leave of 
 the brethren, and set out for home. On 
 my arrival, I found that the church at Hights- 
 town had been waiting -for me, consequently 
 I felt it my duty to visit them again ; and 
 in a few days, I was found again in their 
 pulpit, and after having preached, they ten- 
 dered to me a unanimous call to become 
 their pastor, with the understanding that I 
 was to supply them occasionally during the 
 winter. Having had this matter under se- 
 rious, consideration, while viewing the hand 
 of Providence in opening this door, I did 
 not dare say nay, but at once accepted 
 the call. 
 
 After having made ni}^ arrangements to 
 supply them, I took leave for home, and 
 
AND VICINITY. 65 
 
 on my arriving, I received four letters ; one 
 from Doctor Estep, one of the most popular 
 and useful preachers of the region of country 
 that I had so recently visited. This letter 
 contained a call, under the direction of one 
 of the churches. However, my recent en- 
 gagements with the church at Hightstown 
 put an end to this matter. I have learned 
 that the Doctor has, within a few months 
 past, been called home to receive the reward 
 of his labor, being far advanced in years. 
 
 I received a very interesting letter from 
 one of the Doctor's students, of the Medi- 
 cal department. This young man was awak- 
 ened under my preaching. He gave me to 
 understand that he had been reduced al- 
 most to a state of despair, but finally found 
 the Savior, to the joy of his soul. I re- 
 ceived another letter, from the young man 
 to whom I have already referred, as hav- 
 ing been awakened at the public house, and 
 who followed on to my next appointment. 
 The language of this letter was most ex- 
 
66 VISIT TO PITTSBURGH 
 
 pressive of the deep, pungent conviction 
 which he had felt in his soul, that he had 
 been such a great sinner, but that after a 
 hard struggle he had found peace of mind, 
 in the dying, risen Jesus, who came into 
 the world to save sinners. I understood, 
 soon after, that this young man had be- 
 come a member of the church, and had 
 been sent forth to preach the gospel. 
 
 The other letter was from a young mar- 
 ried man whose case was most remarkable ; 
 he had given up all for lost, and dared not 
 pray any longer. In this sad state of mind, 
 he sat down and wrote this letter, in which 
 he gave me a detail of the great conflict 
 he had felt in his mind, while viewing the 
 lost state of his soul, and that now he was 
 despairing of ever receiving any consolation. 
 As he was about folding up his letter, a 
 thought occurred to his mind that God 
 might have mercy in store for him, although 
 he was a great sinner. While under these 
 impressions, he at once retired to the woods. 
 
AND VICINITY. 67 
 
 and fell clown upon .his knees, and like 
 Jacob of old, wrestled with Grod in fervent 
 prayer, until he obtained the blessing. He 
 arose from his knees, and returned home 
 with his soul full of glory, rejoicing in the 
 Savior. He sat down, and added to his 
 letter, the wonderful change he had expe- 
 rienced. His load of sin and guilt fell off. 
 He now understood what the Savior meant, 
 by being born again, and what it is to be 
 made *'a new creature in Christ Jesus." 
 
 Oh the love of that dear Savior ! how 
 it makes the soul rejoice. It can calm the 
 troubled ocean of the mind, when it hears 
 his powerful voice. Oh what a satisfaction 
 it is to a servant of Christ, when he is 
 made the means of restoring a poor prodi- 
 gal to his Father's house, and to feast upon 
 the provision furnished by the dying groans 
 of the blessed Savior, who gave his life to 
 save the vilest of sinners. The contrast be- 
 tween the former and the latter part of this 
 letter was wonderful. 
 
68 LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 
 
 I shall now return to my narrative, in 
 relation to my connection with the church 
 at Hightstown. After having supplied this 
 church occasionally through the winter, I 
 moved my family among them during the 
 month of April, eighteen hundred and eight- 
 een, and on the first Lord's day in May, 
 I assumed the pastoral charge of the church. 
 I was happy in finding that this church was 
 greatly blessed with good deacons, they be- 
 ing men of exemplary piety, and always 
 working in harmony with each other. They 
 were honest, open-hearted men, and never 
 sought to impose upon the church the plans 
 which they might have adopted, without a 
 hearty approval of the church. Their names 
 were as follows : Thomas Allen, Wilson 
 Hunt, and Enoch Chamberlin. These breth- 
 ren after having served the church a great 
 number of years, had, at the time of writ- 
 ing this narrative, gone home ; they had 
 ceased from their labor and their work did 
 follow them. From the time of my enter- 
 
LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 69 
 
 ing upon my charge, we had a gradual in- 
 crease, both of the church and the congre- 
 gation, more especially of the latter, and 
 the church was much united. 
 
 After the lapse of two years, death en- 
 tered, the second time, into our family cir- 
 cle, and removed from me the bride of my 
 youth. She had long participated with me 
 in my joys and sorrows. The evening be- 
 fore her death, in our family devotion, she 
 requested to line the hymn that she had 
 selected as being well adapted to the state 
 of her mind, having no hope but in the 
 death of Christ ; and although she had al- 
 ways been destitute of a voice for singing, 
 yet on this occasion, she sung with a strong 
 and clear voice. After our devotions were 
 ended, she lay comfortable, until near the 
 approach of morning, at which time, we 
 were summoned to her bedside, to take 
 our leave of her immortal spirit, which in 
 a few moments, took its departure to God 
 who gave it. She had been long in a poor 
 
70 LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 
 
 state of health, yet her death was sudden 
 and unexpected. By this bereavement, I 
 was left with five small motherless children. 
 This affliction can not be fully estimated by 
 any but those who have had the experience. 
 The funeral solemnities were attended by a 
 large concourse of people. The Rev. Mr. 
 Elliot delivered the sermon, and the Rev. 
 Mr. Henry, of Cranbery, closed the meet- 
 ing. After this, nothing of a special nature 
 occurred in the church, until the fourth of 
 September, eighteen hundred and twenty- 
 three ; at which time we sustained a great 
 loss of one of our deacons, our beloved 
 brother, Wilson Hunt. The death of this 
 amiable man I felt most sensibly, for in 
 him I lost a kind and affectionate friend, 
 whose house was to me like that of a fath- 
 er ; and his loss to the church could hardly 
 be estimated, for in it, she lost one of her 
 strong pillars, for he was always active in 
 the cause of Christ. He possessed the means, 
 and was not wanting in will, to promote 
 
LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 71 
 
 the interest of the church. He finished his 
 course with joy, at the age of sixty years. 
 Although he is dead, yet he still lives in the 
 hearts of his brethren, and with him who 
 said '' because I live ye shall live also." 
 
 At about this time, the church at Notting- 
 ham Square, being destitute of a pastor, gave 
 me a call to suppl}^ them one half of the 
 time. This church was located some nine 
 miles from Hightstown. After having ob- 
 tained the approbation of my brethren, I ac- 
 ceded to their wishes, and entered upon my 
 labors. This opened a wide door for use- 
 fulness^ still it increased my labor consider- 
 ably. A little prior to this, I had become 
 wedded to a daughter of deacon Thomas 
 Allen, who proved to be an excellent con- 
 sort in the way to heaven, and a kind 
 mother to my children. 
 
 We have now to record the death of the 
 Kev. Peter Wilson, my predecessor, wlio 
 was the second pastor of this church, and 
 continued his official relation for the term 
 
72 LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 
 
 of twenty-eiglit years. He finished his course 
 May the fourteenth, eighteen hundred and 
 twenty-four, being at the time of his death 
 seventy-two years old. This brother, in the 
 morning of his hfe, was one of the most 
 successful ministers of the Baptist order in 
 the State of New Jersey ; and although his 
 afternoon w^as somewhat cloudy, yet we 
 hope to meet him in that better world, 
 where all the clouds and darkness of imper- 
 fection shall be lost in the blissful sunshine 
 of an eternal day. Let us who are still 
 in this world of sin, receive a caution from 
 the Book of God, "Let him that think- 
 eth he standeth take heed lest he fall." 
 
 Two years subsequent, the fields of my 
 labor began to ripen for harvest, at which 
 time I found the fulfillment of a blessed 
 promise that ' ' he that soweth in tears shall 
 reap in joy." I had long been weeping and 
 praying over the people, and sometimes un- 
 der the greatest discouragements, but now 
 the time had come to favor Zion, and I 
 
LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 73 
 
 saw that I had not been laboring in vain. 
 My Master armed me with courage, and 
 I entered into the work with all my 
 heart ; the Lord blessing my labors, so that 
 a large harvest of souls was gathered into 
 his garner. During this revival, which lasted 
 some considerable time, I think that over 
 a hundred and fifty were added to the 
 churches. This work gave every indication 
 of its being of God ; there having been no 
 special efforts made use of, and if my mem- 
 ory is correct, there was not a Lord's day 
 passed, during this revival, but the ordi- 
 nance of baptism was administered ; and 
 many of those who were gathered in at that 
 time, are now the pillars of these churches, 
 although many of them are gone to be sanc- 
 tified in heaven. The churches were very 
 particular in the examination of their can- 
 didates, as to the reason of the hope with- 
 in them. Near the close of this revival, I 
 received a call from the church in South- 
 ampton, Pennsylvania. I had preached for 
 
74 LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 
 
 them several times, after tlie death of thek 
 pastor, as a supply. This circumstance opened 
 a door to the course which the church 
 pursued in this matter. The propositions 
 were every way satisfactory ; indeed they 
 were far more inviting, in relation to worldly 
 comforts, than where I was then settled. 
 However, when I began to think the mat- 
 ter over, I found that my tender feelings, 
 being like that of a father to his children, 
 began to preponderate in favor of my re- 
 maining with my brethren with whom I 
 had lived in the greatest harmony and friend- 
 ship ; and at the same time, they were much 
 opposed to my leaving them. After due 
 consideration I gave the church at South- 
 ampton to understand how matters stood in 
 relation to my leaving my charge, in which 
 I had so long remained happy, and that 
 I felt it my duty to decline accepting their 
 call. However, from some circumstances 
 which have occurred since that time, I 
 have had a query arising in my mind, 
 
LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 75 
 
 whether I had not let my tender feehngs 
 lead me astray in this matter. 
 
 Soon after this, an event occuiTed which 
 furnished me with a very striking evidence of 
 the power of faith. My wife had become re- 
 duced so low in health, that her physician 
 gave up all hope of her recovery. By my re- 
 quest, he called in one of the most noted con- 
 sulting physicians. After having concluded 
 their consultations, they called me out of the 
 room, in order to communicate to me their 
 decision, which was that she could not sur- 
 vive the night. I felt very much afilicted in 
 mind, on hearing the sad tidings ; I was con- 
 fident that although the help of man had 
 failed, yet there was nothing too hard for the 
 Lord to do ; I retired into a secret place, and 
 there poured out my soul in prayer to God j 
 and I think that I felt, on that occasion, the 
 same divine impulse that Jacob did when he 
 wrestled with God. My faith was so strong, 
 that I felt an assurance that my wife would 
 recover her usual health. On returning to 
 
76 LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWX. 
 
 the room where my wife lay, on approachmg 
 her bed, I told her what I had felt ; she re- 
 plied that she had experienced the same feel- 
 ing ; and from that time she began to recover, 
 and was soon restored to her usual health. 
 Her physician called the next morning, with 
 the expectation of finding her a corpse ; but 
 instead of this, he found her fast recovering. 
 The above may appear to some rather fanci- 
 ful. However, I believe that God can have 
 a free access to the mind of any individual, so 
 as to influence him to the act of fervent 
 prayer, through which he receives the bless- 
 ings that God has promised. This the Bible 
 confirms, beyond a doubt. 
 
 At about this time, the church had become 
 greatly increased both in members and con- 
 gregation, many of whom were persons of 
 wealth. This led the way for the minds of 
 the people to become agitated in reference to 
 the building of a new meeting-house. So 
 that, in the year eighteen hundred and thirty- 
 four, they had a new brick building dedicated 
 
LABORS AT HIGHTSTOWN. 77 
 
 to the service of God. A short time before 
 this, I had resigned my charge at the Square 
 Chm-ch, as they were now in circumstances to 
 support a pastor. I have always felt strongly 
 attached to this church ever since my first ac- 
 quaintance with them, and have ever felt a 
 very great pleasure in preaching for them 
 occasionally. 
 
 In eighteen hundred and thirty-six I re- 
 signed my charge of the Hightstown Church, 
 after having been their pastor for the term 
 of eighteen years. However, by the request 
 of the church, I continued to supply them 
 three months longer, and then took an affec- 
 tionate leave of my brethren, with whom I 
 and my family had for so many years min- 
 gled our joys and sorrows. I left them with 
 the satisfaction that my labors had not been 
 in vain in the Lord. 
 
 I will here record a wonderful escape that 
 I experienced, soon after I commenced my 
 ministerial labors, in which I was providen- 
 tially saved from a most painful death. I had 
 
78 
 
 WONDERFUL ESCAPE 
 
 been preaching at Washington, South River ; 
 on my return, by way of j^ew Brunswick, I 
 took passage on board of the first steamboat 
 that phed between that place and ^ew 
 York. "While passing Amboy, the passen- 
 gers, amounting to about sixty, being all in 
 the cabin, at this moment a pleasure boat 
 passed us, having on board a band of music. 
 At this juncture, they struck up a tune, and 
 at once a rush was made for the deck, myself 
 being the last to ascend the stairs, having 
 placed one foot on the deck, the boiler ex- 
 ploded and tore away the stairs, that my 
 other foot had, at that instant, left. We all 
 ran to the stern of the boat, and fell down 
 and held our faces over to get our breath, the 
 steam being so suffocating. As soon as 
 the steam had passed away, we proceeded to 
 the bow of the boat, where an appalling sight 
 presented itself to our view ; a man had been 
 brought up out of the bow cabin, and while 
 they were in the act of stripping him, his 
 skin adhered to his clothes. This poor sufferer 
 
FROM DEATH. 79 
 
 lingered upon the shores of mortahty in the 
 most dreadful agony about two hours, and 
 then took his leave of the world. Xo pen 
 can describe the suffering of this poor man, 
 and we all escaped the same horrid death, as 
 within a hair's breadth. I have often recalled 
 this occurrence to mind, but not without ten- 
 der feelings of gratitude to God, who has been 
 my preserver, not only in this but in many 
 other cases. Indeed, I see enough daily to 
 excite my grateful feelings. 
 
CHAPTER Y. 
 
 LABORS AT JAMAICA, LAMBERTSYILLE, AND ELSE- 
 WHERE.— CLOSE OF THE NARRATIVE. 
 
 After having taken my leave of the breth- 
 ren at Hightstown, I returned to the city of 
 'New York, with the expectation of spending 
 the remainder of my days in occasional preach- 
 ing. I was not long in the city, before I was 
 called upon to supply destitute churches, and 
 among .the rest, the church at Jamaica, Long 
 Island. This little church had just sprung 
 up, having but a few members, and hold- 
 ing their meetings in a school-house. I had 
 preached for them but a few times, before I 
 began to discover some things of a very hope- 
 ful appearance. The congregation increased, 
 and serious impressions were made upon the 
 minds of many. The brethren invited me to 
 move among them, and take the charge of 
 this little branch ; and on becoming convinced 
 that duty dictated such a course, I accepted 
 
LABORS AT JAMAICA. 81 
 
 their invitation, and was soon settled among 
 them. The congregation continued to in- 
 crease, until the school-house became crowd- 
 ed to overflowing. 
 
 The brethren seeing the prospect so pleas- 
 ing, soon set about erecting a new meeting- 
 house, and in a short time we had a neat 
 little house dedicated to the service of God. 
 The dedication sermon was preached by the 
 Rev. Doctor Dowling of ^""ew York, on the 
 8th of April, 1838. The congregation contin- 
 ued to increase, and a number were baptized 
 and added to the church. After having la- 
 bored for this church near two years, a cir- 
 cumstance occurred that put an end to my 
 further prospects. The leading members of 
 the church, together with their families, 
 twenty-eight in number, left for the far West. 
 
 The church at Lamberts ville, New Jersey, 
 having heard that I was about resigning my 
 charge, gave me a call to become their pas- 
 tor. Although it had been my wish to be 
 freed from the charge of a church, yet through 
 
82 LABORS AT LAMBERTSVILLE 
 
 the persuasion of friends, I accepted the call, 
 and settled among them. Dm-ing my stay 
 with these brethren I was very happy, and I 
 believed that my labors were not in vain in 
 the Lord ; however, it seemed not to be the 
 will of my Master that I should make a pro- 
 tracted stay in this place, on account of the 
 ill-health of my wife, whoi had caught a heavy 
 cold, from the dampness of the house in 
 which we had been living. She, however, 
 was restored in some measure, so far as to be 
 about house, but it was finally discovered 
 that her mental powers had received such a 
 shock, that she was rendered incapable of at- 
 tending to her family concerns. These afflic- 
 tive circumstances led her parents and friends 
 to advise her being removed to Hightstown. 
 This being concluded upon, the scene of my 
 short stay with this church, having been 
 something less than two years, I took my 
 leave of these brethren, with a warm feeling 
 for their prosperity, and I believe that the 
 same feeling was reciprocated by them. 
 
AND ELSEWHERE. 83 
 
 I now became resolved never to take 
 charge of a church again, but to confine my 
 labors to occasional preaching. This is the 
 course I have pursued ever since. My wife 
 lived several years after this, but did not re- 
 cover her right mind, until a few months 
 prior to her death. She was fully prepared 
 for the messenger when he came, and I have 
 no doubt but she made a happy exchange. I 
 am now living with my third wife, Mary, 
 daughter of Mr. William D. Jewell. 
 
 In eighteen hundred and fifty-seven, death 
 again entered, and made another call in the 
 removal of my youngest daughter, Mary 
 Fielder, leaving four children, three sons and 
 a daughter, to mourn her loss. I have 
 written the following lines upon her death as 
 expressive of the deep feelings of my heart. 
 "Blessed are the dead that die in the Lord!" 
 
 dear Mary, thou hast left us ! 
 
 Death has seized thee as his prey ; 
 Laid thee in the grave's dark dungeon, 
 
 Till the resurrection dav. 
 
84 LINES TO A DAUGHTER. 
 
 But thy soul has now ascended, 
 
 To thy Savior's lovely arms ; 
 There with him to live forever ; 
 
 O he hath ten thousand charms ! 
 
 dear Mary, how we loved thee ! 
 
 how hard it was to part ! 
 to brake those cords asunder, 
 
 That did bind us, one in heart ! 
 
 But I hope again to meet thee, 
 
 In that better world above ; 
 There, to join the saints in heaven. 
 
 In the song, redeeming love. 
 
 Yes, dear Mary, I will meet thee 
 When my toils on earth shall cease ; 
 
 Yes, we'll meet our blessed Savior, 
 In that world of joy and peace. 
 
 O, thy dying groans, dear Mary, 
 Melted down thy Father's heart ; 
 
 When no mortal arm could save thee, 
 Death decreed that we must part. 
 
 But dear Mary, I will meet thee, 
 On the banks of Canaan's shore ; 
 
 There to dwell with Christ forever. 
 There to meet and part no more. 
 
 I am now coming to the close of my nar- 
 rative, which brmgs me to the advanced age 
 of seventy-seven years. Sixty years of this 
 
CONCLUSION OF NARRATIVE. 85 
 
 time, I have been a professor of religion, and 
 fifty-four years, a preacher of the Gospel. 
 It has been my wish to bring my thoughts, 
 words, and actions to accord with my Bible ; 
 but alas ! after all, I find that I have come 
 far short of my duty, and can say, in truth, 
 that I have been an unprofitable servant ; 
 and I regret that I have not been more faith- 
 ful to my Master's service ; but he knows his 
 people's weakness and imperfections, which 
 render the Christian, at times, almost unable 
 to endure the conflict, in which he is engaged, 
 with the combined powers of darkness. This 
 led the Apostle to exclaim, '' wretched 
 man that I am, w^ho shall deliver me from 
 the body of this death ?" but he soon found 
 a remedy for the malady, "I thank God, 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." This is the 
 only hope of the Christian in life and in 
 death. The Christian may here rest, as upon 
 a solid rock. 
 
 And now, my Father ! as I must soon 
 take my leave of the church and the world, 
 
86 MY HEAVENLY HOME. 
 
 may I safely pass the gloomy valley of death, 
 may thy rod and thy staff comfort me, and 
 may my path be lighted, by the breakmg 
 forth of the sun of righteousness, that I may 
 be guided safely to my heavenly home ! 
 
 MY HEAVENLY HOME ANTICIPATED. 
 
 Sweet home, sweet home, my heavenly home, 
 
 AVhere I shall be at rest ! 
 Sweet home, where I shall see my Lord, 
 
 Sweet home of all the blest ! 
 
 Now while my pen moves swiftly on, 
 
 I feel a heaven below ; 
 I'm thinking of my heavenly home. 
 
 Where I shall shortly go. 
 
 Sweet home, to dwell where Jesus is, 
 Where all the saints shall meet, 
 
 And with one heart and voice proclaim, 
 The bliss to be complete ! 
 
 This world, this world is not my home, 
 
 I have no portion here ; 
 I am a pilgrim here below, 
 
 My home will soon appear. 
 
MY HEAVENLY HOME. 87 
 
 Sweet home, sweet home, where all the saints 
 
 Sing with melodious sound ; 
 And not a jarring note is heard 
 
 Through all the regions round ! 
 
 As saints go up from earth to heaven. 
 
 They join the heavenly choir ; 
 The song of Jesus' dying love 
 
 Doth every heart inspire. 
 
 No mortal can describe the joy 
 
 Of that bright world above. 
 Where saints and angels join in one, 
 
 And all their song is love. 
 
 the delight, the heavenly joy, 
 
 The glory of that place, 
 "Where we shall meet our blessed Lord, 
 
 And see him face to face ! 
 
 If a few drops while here below. 
 
 Can so transport the soul ; 
 What will it be, when we get home, 
 
 AVhere streams in torrents roll ? 
 
 Shall this poor sinful soul of mine 
 There see my Savior's face ? 
 
 Wash'd from ray sins in his own blood j 
 This will be wondrous grace. 
 
88 MY CONVERSION IN VERSE. 
 
 MY CONVERSION IN VERSE. 
 
 Let those who love the Savior's name, 
 
 Now listen while I tell, 
 How my poor soul was saved from death, 
 
 While near the gates of hell. 
 
 When at the age of seventeen years, 
 
 All which I'd spent in sin, 
 The spirit gave me light divine 
 
 To see how vile I'd been. 
 
 'Twas on a night when I did hear 
 A man blaspheme God's name, 
 
 The oath struck terror to my soul 
 So dreadfully profane. 
 
 what a wretch, I thought, was he, 
 Who could his God defy ; 
 
 Why was he not at once struck dead, 
 With vengeance from on high ? 
 
 But soon I turned my eyes within ; 
 
 what did I there see ? 
 
 1 saw that in the sight of God, 
 
 1 was as vile as he. 
 
 Then, up to heaven I lift my eyes. 
 
 And horror fill'd my soul ; 
 For Sinai's mount was all on fire, 
 
 I heard loud thunders roll. 
 
MY CONVERSION IN VERSE. 89 
 
 I saw tbe justice of my doom, 
 
 Should I be sent to hell ; 
 I would pronounce the sentence just, 
 
 That doomed me there to dwell. 
 
 My sins that I had long forgot, 
 Like mountains now did rise ; 
 
 They call'd for vengeance on my soul, 
 Their voice did reach the skies. 
 
 My guilt appeared to me so great, 
 
 I thought I dare not pray ; 
 But 0, my burden was so great, 
 
 I could not stay away. 
 
 I read my Bible, while my eyes 
 
 Did overflow with tears ; 
 But not a word could I there find, 
 
 But to increase my fears. 
 
 I read of Jesus on the cross ; 
 For sinners he did die ; 
 
 can, can it be for me. 
 For one so vile as I ? 
 
 Ten tedious days I spent in prayer, 
 No comfort could I see ; 
 
 1 thought that now my doom was sure, 
 
 No hope was left for me. 
 
 But yet, the joyful morning came. 
 That shone with beams so bright. 
 
 That turned my mourning into joy, 
 My darkness into light. 
 
90 
 
 MY CONVERSION IN VERSE. 
 
 My Savior's words, while on the mount, 
 With force came to my mind ; 
 
 " Blessed are they that mourn," he said, 
 " For they shall comfort find." 
 
 No mortal can describe the joy, 
 
 The rapture and delight ; 
 I thought, had I an Angel's wings, 
 
 To heaven I'd take my flight. 
 
 how I loved my blessed Lord ! 
 I clasped him in my arms, 
 
 1 saw, at once, he did possess, 
 More than ten thousand charms. 
 
 what a change my soul then felt ! 
 I, who was so undone, 
 
 Now in my Savior's righteousness, 
 More spotless than the sun. 
 
 Old things, with me, had passed away, 
 
 I felt that all was new ; 
 New joys, new comfort in my soul. 
 
 For heaven was brought to view. 
 
 New scenes of wonder and delight, 
 Where'er I cast my eyes ; 
 
 1 saw them in the world below, 
 I saw them in the skies. 
 
 I saw them in the house of God, 
 
 For 'twas a heaven below ; 
 I saw them in his lovely saints. 
 
 And I with them did go. 
 
MY CONVERSION IN VERSE. 91 
 
 I went rejoicing on my way, 
 
 And told to sinners round, 
 That Jesus came to seek and save ; 
 
 what a joyful sound ! 
 
 I followed now my blessed Lord,' 
 
 In bis delightful way ; 
 O may I ever walk therein. 
 
 And never, never stray ! 
 
 * 
 Dear Savior, be my cor^tant guide, 
 
 And be thou always nigh ; 
 
 Be with me while I live below, 
 
 Be with me when I die. 
 
 And when I lose my mortal breath, 
 And all my powers shall fail, 
 
 May I, by faith, then conquer death. 
 And in thy strength prevail. 
 
 Then when my fiesh shall lay interred, 
 And there in hope shall rest, 
 
 O, may my soul then dwell with thee. 
 And be forever bl-est I 
 
 In heaven delighted there to see. 
 
 Those lovely saints of old, 
 Of whom the Bible speaks so much, 
 
 Such wonders have been told. 
 
 Some who may see and read these lines, 
 
 May think I am insane ; 
 While others read, they understand. 
 
 For they have felt the same. 
 
92 MY CONVERSION IN VERSE. 
 
 So Festus thought that Paul was mad, 
 
 For he could not conceive 
 How such strange things as Paul declared, 
 
 A sane mind would believe. 
 
 And Nicodemus, though so wise, 
 
 Yet he could not explain. 
 What was the meaning of our Lord, 
 
 By being born again. 
 
 This is religion from above, 
 
 Divine in every part ; 
 It stamps the image of the Lord, 
 
 Upon the sinner s heart. 
 
 The heart by gi-ace now formed anew. 
 Good fruit must soon appear ; 
 
 Our lives devoted to the Lord, 
 Flow from a heart sincere. 
 
 The Spirit's quick'ning power can change 
 
 From hatred into love ; 
 Can turn the lion to a lamb, 
 
 The vulture to a dove. 
 
 How many talk of this great change, 
 Yet still they thoughtless go ; 
 
 Trust in their righteousness to save. 
 Though all an outward show. 
 
 What multitudes pursue this course, 
 
 And think it will avail ; 
 This has been tried in every age, 
 
 And always found to fail. 
 
MY CONYERSION IN VERSE. 93 
 
 O may thy servants faithful prove ! 
 
 The gospel loud proclaim, 
 To those who still are dead in sin, 
 
 They must be born again. 
 
 I'll pray for Zion while I live, 
 
 With her I love to meet, 
 For there my blessed Lord comes down. 
 
 To make our meetings sweet. 
 
 My seventy-seventh year now has past, 
 
 My old companions fled ; 
 They gave to me the parting hand, 
 
 To rest among the dead. 
 
 Now, I must stay my father's time, 
 
 I can not long remain ; 
 If I get home to heaven at last, 
 
 Then dying will be gain. 
 
 END OF THE NARRATIVE. 
 
 5* 
 
CHAPTER YI. 
 
 y/ORDS OF COMFORT FOR THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 On taking a retrospective view of a long 
 and protracted life spent as a professor and 
 minister of Christ, in which I have found a 
 most clear exemplification of what om^ Lord 
 said to his disciples, "In the world ye shall 
 have tribulation f although I have not had the 
 experience that some have had, of the difficul- 
 ties attendant on a professional life in the 
 cause of Christ, yet I think that my knowl- 
 edge has extended so far, as to lead me to 
 feel a deep sympathy for those of the people 
 of God who are afflicted. From these con- 
 siderations, I purpose to write a short chap- 
 ter, in which it may be, that some remarks 
 may be made, calculated, in some measure, 
 to soothe the sorrows of an afflicted mind ; yet 
 this will depend upon God, who alone can 
 make the remarks prove beneficial. 
 
 Afflictions, my brethren, are the common 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 95 
 
 lot of all; SO Job says, ''Man that is born 
 of a woman is of few days and full of 
 trouble. He is born unto trouble as the 
 sparks fly upward." These afflictions are of 
 a penal character, and are the offspring of 
 a sinful and corrupt heart, which we bring 
 into the world with us, and into which the 
 seeds of misery have been incorporated ; and 
 although man comes forth like a flower, un- 
 folding its beauty, yet he bears, in his own 
 nature, the impress of mortality. Now al- 
 though afflictions are not removed from 
 the children of God, still they no longer 
 remain as a penal evil, or as an expres- 
 sion of vindictive wrath, but as a fatherly 
 chastisement; hence Paul says, "whom 
 the Lord loveth he chasteneth. But if ye 
 are without chastisment, whereof all are 
 partakers, then are ye bastards and not 
 sons." So that it is the will of the Lord, 
 that these afflictions should not be removed. 
 Paul speaks of an affliction given him, one 
 of a very grievous nature, compared to a 
 
96 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 piercing thorn in the flesh, '' a messenger 
 of Satan to buffet him." He sought the 
 Lord thrice, that it might depart from him ; 
 yet his prayers could not be answered, for 
 God saw that to remove this affliction would 
 prove very injurious to Paul ; for it was 
 found among the ''all things" which were 
 to work for his good. This affliction was 
 to serve as a preventive to his becoming 
 ''exalted above measure, through the abund- 
 ance of the revelations given to him." But 
 God gave him that which was to answer 
 a far more valuable purpose; "my grace 
 is sufficient for thee, for my strength is 
 made perfect in weakness ;" so that the 
 Lord bestowed more than what was equiv- 
 alent to the removal of the affliction. 
 Praying is not in vain, after all. 
 
 The children of God, sometimes, are 
 ready to conclude that their being afflicted 
 is an evidence against them, and thus they 
 write bitter things against themselves, and 
 are ready to exclaim — " can it be that a 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 97 
 
 child of God can be so much afflicted?" 
 But stop, my afflicted brother or sister, are 
 you in the constant habit of reading your 
 Bible? If so, you must have overlooked 
 what Peter says in relation to this matter. 
 Hark! and I will read it for you. "Think 
 it not strange concerning the fiery trials, 
 which are to try you, as though some strange 
 thing had happened unto you. But rejoice, 
 inasmuch as ye are partakers of Christ's 
 sufferings, that when his glory shall be re- 
 vealed, ye may be glad also, with exceed- 
 ing joy." By becoming acquainted with the 
 Bible, we soon discover that afflictions have 
 been the common lot of all God's people, 
 in every age of the world. In the deal- 
 ings of God, in the afflictions of his people, 
 he does not act as we sometimes do, hap- 
 hazard ; but he always acts in reference 
 to some very important end. He is too 
 wise to err, and too good to be unkind. 
 
 We may think it strange, that God should 
 have led the children of Israel through such 
 
98 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 a roundabout way, — a difficult and dan- 
 gerous way ; — and yet, it was the right way, 
 and any other way, no doubt, would have 
 proved fatal. In this way, they saw a rich 
 display of the wisdom and power of God, 
 at the Red Sea. Indeed, throughout the 
 whole journey of the Jews, from Egypt to 
 Canaan, is most strikingly symbolized the 
 Christian's experience, from the time of his 
 conversion to the faith of the Gospel, until 
 he is taken to heaven. Although Israel saw 
 so many signal displaj^s of the goodness and 
 power of God, in delivering them from 
 their bondage in Egypt ; dividing the waters 
 of the Red Sea ; forming a cloud, resem- 
 bling a pillar, to pass between them and 
 their enemies ; this pillar being a bright 
 light to Israel, but to the Egyptians dark- 
 ness and confusion that caused their des- 
 truction, the waters closing in upon them, 
 while Israel was found on the opposite 
 bank, singing a song of praise to"^ God for 
 their great deliverance. 
 
TO THE AFFLICTEP. 99 
 
 N'otwithstanding all that they had seen of 
 the wonderful display of Divme goodness, 
 and so fully expressed in their song of 
 praise, yet they had passed but three days' 
 journey in the wilderness, before they be- 
 gan to murmur against Moses and Aaron ; 
 and on every trivial occasion, the same in- 
 gratitude was manifested, against God, their 
 kind benefactor, who had done such great 
 things for them. If they could have un- 
 derstood the end that God intended should 
 be accomplished by their aflEictions, and the 
 manner in which they were to be deliv- 
 ered, it would have put an end to their 
 murmuring. But we must perceive that all 
 these murmurings were the offspring of un- 
 belief ; a want of a full confidence in the ve- 
 racity of God's word, which was delivered 
 to them by Moses ; and at the same time, 
 they had been favored with abundant evi- 
 dence to confirm their faith in the good- 
 ness, faithfulness, wisdom, and power of 
 God, to fulfill every promise he had made. 
 
100 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 by the mouth of Moses. This was their 
 great sin, that they had rejected all those ev- 
 idences, which their own eyes had witnessed, 
 in the plagues sent upon the Egyptians, 
 and their destruction in the Red Sea. 
 They had witnessed also, their own deliv- 
 erance from their enemies. They also had 
 the pillar of cloud by day, to shelter them 
 from the scorching sun, and by night to 
 lighten their camp. All these were striking 
 evidences, that Grod would accomplish every 
 gracious promise, in reference to his people, 
 and that all their afflictions must work to- 
 gether for their good, for ''tribulation work- 
 eth patience, and patience, experience, and 
 experience, hope, and hope maketh not 
 ashamed, because the love of God is shed 
 abroad in our hearts by the Holy Ghost, 
 which is given unto us." 
 
 However, I think that it is a very com- 
 mon thing, for Christians to magnify their 
 afflictions. In this case, it might be profit- 
 able for us, to examine the experience of 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 101 
 
 some of those holy men of God, recorded 
 in the Bible. This, perhaps, may have a 
 tendency to give us a more correct estimate, 
 as to the magnitude of our own afflictions. 
 The first case that I shall refer to, is that 
 of Job, in whom we see a very striking 
 example of the power of faith. From the 
 description which God has given of Job in 
 his word, he must have been a very pious 
 man. He styles him "his servant, a per- 
 fect and upright man." However, we are 
 not to understand, by this phraseology, that 
 Job had arrived to a state of sinless per- 
 fection, for there is not a man that liveth 
 and sinneth not. That state of perfect holi- 
 ness is only attainable in that glorified state, 
 where the just are made perfect in heaven. 
 There are two ways in which this phrase 
 is made use of in the Bible, in reference 
 to the people of God, w^hile in their pres- 
 ent state of imperfection. 
 
 The first that I shall name is that which 
 they receive by their union with Christ, as 
 
102 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 their head and representative, being made 
 perfect in him, not having on their own right- 
 eousness, which is of the law, but the right- 
 eousness which is by faith in Jesus Christ. 
 In this, they will stand justified before the 
 throne, \t the last day. The second case is a 
 comparative perfection, which arises from 
 those holy principles implanted in the soul, 
 in the work of regeneration. These heavenly 
 principles so operate, both upon the mind and 
 actions of men, as to bring them into a sweet 
 conformity to the will of God. Still, the 
 seeds of sin are so deeply rooted in our na- 
 tures, that sin can not be fully and finally 
 eradicated, until the soul, like the pure grain, 
 separated from its chaff and noxious weeds, 
 shall be gathered into the heavenly garner of 
 the Lord. Until this is the case, it becomes 
 all-important that the Christian make use of 
 every precaution, lest the weeds of sin be 
 permitted to overgrow those heavenly plants 
 of grace, and thus prevent the unfolding of 
 their beauty to the eye of a gazing world. 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 103 
 
 N"ow, as to the perfection which God as- 
 cribes to Job, no more seems to be intended 
 than that he was eminently pious, above all 
 in his day. This I think, must appear obvi- 
 ous from what the Lord said, "Satan, hast 
 thou considered my servant Job, that there 
 is none like him in the earth, a perfect and 
 upright man, one that feareth God, and that 
 escheweth evil?" Job was a very fit subject 
 for Satan to try his skill upon, — not only a 
 pious man, but a great man, — and of such 
 wisdom, that his counsel was sought after by 
 many of his day, and confided in, as being 
 perfectly safe. He also abounded in wealth, 
 and had a large family of children, to share 
 with him in his riches. But alas, for poor 
 Job ! for Satan hated and envied him, on ac- 
 count of his happiness and prosperity, and at 
 once devised a plan for his destruction, by one 
 dreadful crash. One servant after another 
 approached him, with the sad tidings that the 
 fire, the sword, and tempest, had reduced him 
 to poverty, and had rendered him childless. 
 
104 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 Now, my afflicted brother, what think you 
 of .the afflictions of this faithful servant of 
 God? How often you have been writing 
 bitter things against yourself, and thinking 
 that you could not be a child of God ; for if 
 so, you would not have had to suffer so many 
 weighty afflictions. Are you disposed to 
 bring them forward, and place them in the 
 balance with Job's ? If you are thus dis- 
 posed, it may afford you great relief, for you 
 will find that his afflictions were so ponderous, 
 that yours would appear like the dust of the 
 balance, and at once cease to be a burden. 
 But let us examine the subject a little fur- 
 ther, and see how these afflictions operated 
 upon the mind of Job. They had a tendency 
 to humble him in the dust. He fell upon the 
 ground, and worshiped, and said, ''naked 
 came I out of my mother's womb, and naked 
 shall I return thither ; the Lord gave, and 
 the Lord hath taken away, and blessed be 
 the name of the Lord." Here we see, that 
 Satan found, that Job's faith was more than a 
 match for his diabolical purpose. 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 105 
 
 Job's faith was much stronger than Satan 
 had anticipated, for ''in all this Job sinned 
 not, nor charged God foolishly." He gained 
 the conquest, by faith in his living Redeemer. 
 blessed religion of the Bible ! what canst 
 thou not do in sustaining the heirs of salva- 
 tion, though strip23ed of all earthly comforts, 
 and canst even cause them to sing, while 
 burning at the stake. The well of living 
 water within the Christian, is too deep to be 
 drained by all the powers of darkness com- 
 bined together ; it must and will continue to 
 spring up into everlasting life. The afflic- 
 tions of Job do not appear to be so much in- 
 tended as a fatherly correction, as for the 
 trial of his faith, which, being much more 
 precious than gold, it being intended to con- 
 firm the faith of the afflicted in after ages ; 
 and it would be well for us, my afflicted 
 brother, to receive a lesson of instruction 
 from the sentiments, to which Job gave utter- 
 ance, and seek to cultivate the same temper 
 of mind ; it being highly commendable, and 
 
106 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 will be sure to meet with the approbation of 
 heaven. 
 
 Let us further remark, that although Satan 
 met with such a powerful repulse, in his first 
 attack upon Job, yet he did not appear to be 
 satisfied with one attempt to destroy Job's 
 faith ; but gets permission to make another 
 trial, with the restriction, that his life was to 
 be secured. Satan now pursues a plan of 
 which, he expressed himself in the most posi- 
 tive terms, that it would successful. Poor 
 Job was about to receive another blast from 
 the terrible one, for Satan smote him witli 
 sores, from the sole of his foot to his crown ; 
 still he was not heard to murmur against 
 God. Satan now, no doubt, began to feel 
 fearful, that he was about to be foiled in this, 
 his second attempt ; he now solicits the aid 
 of Job's wife, in hope that she might, by her 
 influence, succeed in producing the effect 
 which, he had declared would be the result, 
 in case that the Lord should afiiict Job, in his 
 flesh and his bones. This plan of Satan, like 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 107 
 
 the former, proved ' abortive, for when Job's 
 wife said to her husband, " curse God, and 
 die,'' he at once reproved her, by saying, 
 ''thou speakest as one of the foohsh women 
 speakest. What, shall we receive good at 
 the hand of God, and shall we not receive 
 evil? In all this Job sinned not with his 
 lips.'^ Here Job gains another triumph over 
 the powers of darkness. 
 
 Let us now^ for a moment, notice the tem- 
 per of mind manifested by Job, throughout 
 the heaviest of his afflictions. It is not to be 
 considered entire submission to the will of 
 God, but it amounts to the highest degree of 
 resignation, and it justifies God, in all that he 
 had done._ This duty is one of the most im- 
 portant, and most difficult, that faith is called 
 upon to perform. 'Not that this duty is hard 
 to be understood, for a person of but a lim- 
 ited knowledge, may comprehend the mean- 
 ing of this duty, but the difficulty lays in re- 
 ducing it to practice, on account of the 
 repugnance which nature feels, to all descrip- 
 
108 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 tion of sufferings. But Job's faith was all- 
 powerful, acting upon the impulse of the soul, 
 overcoming every opposition of the natural 
 disposition, which may be brought to bear, 
 against the will of God. This is the faith 
 that has its origin from heaven, works by 
 love, purifies the heart, and overcomes the 
 world ; it gives confidence to the Christian, 
 hence says Job, ' ' though he slay me yet will 
 I trust in him." 
 
 The apostle Paul tells us that ''no afflic- 
 tion," — whether it be intended as chasten- 
 ing or for the trial of our faith, — " is, for the 
 present, joyous but grievous, yet afterward it 
 worketh the peaceable fruits of righteousness, 
 to them that are exercised thereby ;" conse- 
 quently, we must perceive, that afflictions are 
 not to be so much dreaded, after all ; for they 
 must all, in the end, work for good to those 
 who love God. Hence, says Job, "when he 
 hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." 
 God will not keep us any longer in the cruci- 
 ble, than is really needful to remove those 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 109 
 
 imperfections, which might prove injmious to 
 us as Christians. I have looked upon afflic- 
 tion as a high school, in which we are taught 
 some of the higher branches of our religious 
 education. Our Father is not satisfied that 
 his children's knowledge should remain lim- 
 ited to the elementary part of their studies, 
 but intends they should advance until they 
 may become so far proficient, as to become 
 teachers in Israel. 
 
 In this school, Job was instructed in some 
 of the most important principles of divine 
 knowledge. What he had learned prior to 
 his entering this school, was correct, so far as 
 he had advanced ; but when his mind began 
 to expand, he saw the Holy one in a light, in 
 which he had never seen him before ; for says 
 he, "I have heard of thee by the hearing of 
 the ear, but now mine eye seeth thee, w^here- 
 fore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and 
 ashes." The Lord had made such a wonder- 
 ful display of his glory to Job, during his af- 
 fliction, and light had been so clearly diffused 
 6 
 
110 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 into liis mind, that liis hearing of God was 
 exchanged to seeing him ; that is, he had re- 
 ceived a more full discovery of the glorious 
 attributes of the Deit}^ reflecting clear light 
 into his mind, and opening to his view the 
 total depravity of human nature ; and this 
 led him to abhor himself, and repent in dust 
 and ashes. The same is felt by every pious 
 soul. 
 
 This is what caused Paul to exclaim, "0 
 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver 
 me from the body of this death?'' There is 
 nothing short of the blood of Cln^ist, Job's 
 living Redeemer, that can cleanse us from this 
 pollution of sin. If we wish our bitter cup of 
 affliction made sweet, we must apply to our 
 divine Master for the consolation of the Holy 
 Spirit, whose ofiice it is to apply the consol- 
 ing promises of the Grospel. This can so 
 change the waters of Marah, as to cause them 
 to become sweet and palatable to the taste, 
 so that we can say with the Apostle, that '' our 
 lidit affliction which is but for a moment, 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. Ill 
 
 worketh for us a far more exceeding and 
 eternal weight of glory." Here we see, that 
 faith and patience are made to triumph, be- 
 cause they look ' ' not at the things which are 
 seen, but at the things which are not seen, 
 and which are eternal." But how are the 
 afflictions of the saints rendered light? 
 First, by comprehending fully the important 
 end to be answered by them. Job had ac- 
 quired some knowledge of this matter, when 
 he expressed his views, in relation to this 
 matter; for he says, "when he hath tried 
 me, I shall come forth as gold." He saw 
 that his afflictions were not intended for his 
 destruction, but to prepare him to receive 
 some of the richest blessings of heaven ; for 
 we are told, that "the Lord blessed the latter 
 end of Job more than the beginning," he 
 having greatly increased in riches, and the 
 same number of children given him ; and he 
 lived to see his children's children, to the 
 fourth generation ; and being old and full of 
 da3^s, he died, being well prepared to be num- 
 
112 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 bered among those, of whom it is said, " these 
 are they that came out of great tribulation 
 and washed their robes and made them white 
 in the blood of the Lamb/' 
 
 We now pass to our second remark, to 
 show how afflictions, so ponderous in their 
 native character, can become light. This 
 may be accomplished by the invisible agency 
 of the Spirit, sustaining both body and mind, 
 so as to render us strong in the Lord and in 
 the power of his might. In this case, a 
 heavy burden becomes light. Let God but 
 speak to the poor weak Christian, borne 
 down with the trials of life, as he did to Paul, 
 "my grace is sufficient for thee, my strength 
 is made perfect in thy weakness ;" and this is 
 all that is needed, to make the burden light. 
 Nevertheless, there is another consideration, 
 that renders our afflictions light ; they being 
 of so short a duration, compared to a mo- 
 ment. A man may bear up under a very 
 heavy load for a short time, without much 
 difficulty ; but if it should continue for a long 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 113 
 
 time, he would sink under it ; but our afflic- 
 tions are compared to a moment, which will 
 soon pass away, so that we can bear them 
 with ease, and should not murmur, but exer- 
 cise patience ; for life will soon pass away 
 like a shadow. Then, the glory of heaven 
 will be revealed to the wondering soul, like a 
 bird let out of the cage, and flying at large, 
 to behold that glory, to express which, even 
 the learned Apostle found it difficult to select 
 a term, sufficiently expressive. 
 
 We have now, my afflicted brother, taken 
 a retrospective view of the afflictions of Job, 
 that eminent servant of God. Have we not 
 come to the conclusion, that his suffering, as 
 well as his faith and patience, were almost, 
 if not quite unparalleled? Here, our faith 
 was brought almost to a stand, to know how 
 to reconcile the dealings of God, in laying 
 his hand of affliction, so heavily, upon so 
 good a man, with the character given of him 
 in the Bible, as being most kind and fatherly 
 to his people. But in tracing the matter 
 
114 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 through, we found that the diJSiculty was en- 
 tirely removed, to our satisfaction. If we 
 were totally unacquainted with the process of 
 refining metals, we might think it a very bad 
 policy, for a refiner to cast his gold into the 
 red hot crucible, we might think that it was 
 intended for its destruction ; but a little pa- 
 tience removes our misapprehension ; we see 
 that not a particle of the gold is destroyed, 
 and yet all its impurity is removed ; so that 
 in the end, it shines with greater brilliancy. 
 God knows what is best for us in order to 
 prepare us for the blessings he has in store 
 for us. 
 
 How far the foregoing remarks may have 
 operated upon your mind, to reconcile you to 
 bear the afflictions, which your heavenly 
 Father has seen fit to place upon you, I can 
 not say ; but as for myself, I think the reflec- 
 tions have proved profitable ; for they have 
 led me, through the blessing of God, to feel a 
 strong desire, to be governed by the same 
 holy temper of mind, so eminently displayed 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 115 
 
 by Job, that faithful and beloved servant of 
 God. 
 
 My afflicted brother, I had so shaped my 
 foregoing remarks, as to close with the last 
 sentence, lest I should intrude upon your pa- 
 tience ; but upon further reflection, I have 
 concluded to refer you to some other cases, in 
 which God has overruled the afflictions of his 
 people for their good. In so doing, let me 
 call your attention to the afflictions of the 
 Patriarch Jacob. Although his afflictions do 
 not appear to have been as weighty as those 
 of Job, yet I have no doubt that, to him, they 
 were equally so ; for it does not so much de- 
 pend upon the nature of the afflictions, as it 
 does upon our being prepared to meet them. 
 For instance, fifty men in a strong fortress, 
 might bid defiance to five hundred who might 
 attempt to assault them ; so it is with a ser- 
 vant of God, if he is found, when trials over- 
 take him, standing behind the strong fortifica- 
 tion of faith, hope, and patience, he, like Job, 
 can triumph over them. But, alas for poor 
 
116 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 Jacob ! he having apprehended no danger, 
 was thrown off- his guard, and he ventured 
 out into the open field, and by so doing, he 
 received a wound from which he did not 
 recover, for many days. 
 
 The history of Jacob and his family pre- 
 sents before us a subject of a most inter- 
 esting character ; especially as it relates to 
 Joseph, who was to become the savior of 
 his parents and his brethren, together with 
 the Egyptians, from the famine that was 
 to spread over the land. Throughout this 
 eventful circumstance, we discover a most 
 wonderful display of the wisdom and power 
 of God, in overruling the wickedness of 
 Joseph's brethren, in selling him to the 
 Ishmaelite merchants, for about ten dollars 
 and twenty-two cents, to become a slave in 
 Egypt, in order to bring about one of the 
 most happy events that had ever transpired, 
 in relation to his family. However, all this 
 being hid from poor old Jacob's mind, con- 
 secjuently it could not have had any in- 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 117 
 
 fluence in consoling him under his afflic- 
 tions ; for he verily believed that his son 
 Joseph was dead, and that wild beasts had 
 devoured him ; the circumstantial evidences 
 were so plain, as to put the matter beyond 
 the least reasonable doubt. However, if 
 Jacob's faith had been as strong as that of 
 Job, he would not have made use of such 
 despairing language as he uttered, when he 
 said, "I will go down into the grave unto 
 my son mourning.'' 
 
 This language seems to indicate a want of 
 full confidence in God, and is unlike that 
 of Job, who said, "if he slay me, I will 
 trust in him." However, my brother, it ill 
 becomes us to censure the old patriarch ; 
 for should we be placed in similar circum- 
 stances, it would put our faith to such 
 a stand, that I fear that our language 
 would not be more honorable to our relig- 
 ious character, than his was ; especially, if 
 we take the whole matter into consideration. 
 Joseph was the son of his old age, and the 
 
 G* 
 
118 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 son of his beloved Rachel, and from the 
 prophetic visions with which he was favored, 
 and in which a clear indication was given, 
 that he was to take a high stand in his 
 father's family ; as they were all to bow in 
 reverence to him, and as the old man now 
 believed that Joseph was dead, and conse- 
 quently that these visions were a delusion. 
 This, no doubt, had a tendency to stagger 
 his faith, and thus open the floodgates of 
 sorrow upon his mind, causing him to sink 
 under the burden, refusing to be comforted. 
 However, he found in the sequel, that al- 
 though "weeping may endure for a night, 
 joy Cometh in the morning." So it was with 
 Jacob, for when he saw the wagons which 
 Joseph had sent to convey him and his family 
 to Egypt, the old man's heart was revived, 
 and he said, " it is enough, Joseph is alive ; 
 I will go and see him before I die." 
 
 N"ow, my brother, I would say to you, 
 what a long life experience has taught me, 
 that it is best for us to try to become rec- 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 119 
 
 onciled to the will of God, in all the afflic- 
 tions he may see fit to send upon us, and 
 thus let patience have its perfect work. God 
 has some good purpose to be answered, by 
 our afflictions. Sometimes, they are in- 
 tended to reclaim our wandering steps. 
 Hence, said David, '' before I was afflicted 
 I went astray, but now I have kept thy 
 word.'"' Sometimes it is to try our faith, as 
 it is said that " God tempted (or tried) Abra- 
 ham" ; that is, he put his faith to the test, 
 by commanding him to offer up his son Isaac, 
 as a sacrifice. Abraham did not stand to 
 argue the point ; but without a murmuring 
 word, went in obedience to the command 
 of God, and when he was raising his hand 
 to strike the fatal blow, his hand was stayed, 
 the power of faith had triumphed. God had 
 prepared a substitute, a ram caught by the 
 horns, in the thicket. Thus Abraham's faith 
 was sufficiently tried, it being the purpose 
 of his heart, to do what God had com- 
 manded, however trying to his feelings, and 
 
120 TO THE AFFLICTED. • 
 
 however difficult it might be, to reconcile 
 the act with the promise which God had 
 made, in relation to his son Isaac. Thus 
 his faith predominated when there was no 
 hope arising from natural causes ; for he 
 knew that as Isaac was given to him by 
 a supernatural power, so by the same power 
 he could be raised from the dead. Hence 
 we see, that Abraham is set forth in the 
 Bible as our exemplar, and father of all 
 them that believe. 
 
 Let us learn then, while suffering under 
 affliction, to put our trust in God, do our 
 duty, and leave the event with him. This 
 it is true, is a very hard lesson to learn. 
 Still, it is of the greatest importance that 
 we should learn it. David found it hard, at 
 times, to calm the tumultuous passions of his 
 mind. We hear him exclaiming on one occa- 
 sion, "deep calleth unto deep at the noise 
 of thy water spouts, all thy waves and thy 
 billows have gone over me." Hear the lan- 
 guage of Jeremiah, "Is it nothing to you 
 
TO THE AFFLICTED. 121 
 
 all ye that pass by, behold and see if there 
 be any sorrow like imto my sorrow, which 
 is done unto me, wherewith the Lord hath 
 afflicted me in the day of his fierce anger/' 
 It is right we should feel the rod, and con- 
 fess our sins, and mourn over them, forsak- 
 ing every appearance of evil, that we may 
 be found the faithful servants of him who 
 bore our sins in his own body on the tree. 
 Let us examine, for a moment, as to the 
 nature and extent of our afflictions. Were 
 we once rich, abounding in wealth, and have 
 we now become reduced, and become poor? 
 This, we well know is very trying to the 
 natural feelings ; but have we forgotten 
 what was said of our blessed Lord, that "he 
 who was rich, became poor, that we, through 
 his poverty, might be made rich" ? Have 
 we been reduced so low, that we had no 
 bed to lie upon ? This was the case with 
 our Lord; for said he, ''The foxes have 
 holes, and the birds of the air have nests, 
 but the Son of man "hath not where to lay 
 
122 TO THE AFFLICTED. 
 
 liis head." These reflections may have a ten- 
 dency to hghten our burdens. Are we 
 ready to say with Jeremiah, "was there 
 ever sorrow like my sorrow?" Our Lord's 
 sorrows were far greater ; he was ' ' a man of 
 sorrows, and acquainted with grief. He was 
 led as a lamb to the slaughter, and as a 
 sheep dumb before her shearer, so opened 
 he not his mouth." Let us, therefore, "con- 
 sider him who endured such contradiction of 
 sinners against himself, lest we be weary 
 and faint in our minds," bearing our afflic- 
 tions with patience ; for, "if we suffer with 
 him, we shall also reign with him." 
 
THE pilgrim's PATHWAY. 123 
 
 THE PILGRIM'S PATHWAY. 
 
 This is a world of trouble, I now am passing through ; 
 
 And as I am a pilgrim, my journey I'll pursue; 
 
 My path is full of dangers, beset on every hand, 
 
 I, through this way must travel, to Canaan's happy laud. 
 
 Although so many centuries have gone their rapid round. 
 No other way to heaven has ever yet been found ; 
 The patriarchs and prophets to us do plainly say, 
 We can not go to heaven in any other way. 
 
 Both Christ and his Apostles through tribulation came, 
 And all the saints in heaven have had to do the same ; 
 let us then take courage, and on our way pursue ; 
 This is the way to heaven, we now are passing through. 
 
 'Tis Jesus, our great leader, has mark'd the path we tread, 
 And gives us bread from heaven, by which our souls are fed ; 
 He is the cloudy pillar, that lights our path around. 
 While in the path of sinners no light can there be found. 
 
 He is the rock of Horeb, from whence the waters flow. 
 To satisfy our thirstings, while traveling here below. 
 The wicked are determined to bring us to a stand. 
 But we will set our faces for Canaan's happy land. 
 
124 THE PILGRIM'S PATIIW'AY. 
 
 The Jordan lies before us, its stream we must pass through, 
 
 Let us^ be up aad going, and on our way pursue ; 
 
 Soon Jesus will give orders, the waters to divide, 
 
 Then we will pass the Jordan, and land on Canaan's side. 
 
 There we shall meet those pilgrims, once burning at the stake, 
 Because they loved the Savior, and would not him forsake ; 
 There we shall dwell with Jesus, his songs of praise repeat, 
 then, my brother pilgrim, our bliss will be complete. 
 
 We'll talk no more of trials, we meet from day to day ; 
 We'll bear them all with patience, they soon will pass away. 
 Our days, you know, are numbered, we have no time to stay, 
 Our journey may be ended, before another day. 
 
CHAPTER YII. 
 
 TO PROFESSING CHKISTIANS.— IMPORTANCE OF PER- 
 SONAL PIETY. 
 
 My remarks, throughout this chapter, will 
 be devoted to the importance of personal 
 piety. This subject should claim the atten- 
 tion of every Christian, and to such I 
 would address myself, upon the present oc- 
 casion. Beloved brethren in the Lord, it is 
 my earnest wiJh, that I may be instrument- 
 al, in the hands of God, in stirring up your 
 minds to the love and practice of holiness ; 
 for "without holiness, no man shall see the 
 Lord," and nothing can be better calcu- 
 lated to promote our spiritual, interest, than 
 to enter into a close examination, as to the 
 evidences we possess of our being the chil- 
 dren of God. 
 
 The Apostle speaks of heaven as being 
 an inheritance, where are all the treasures 
 of those who shall be found to be the heirs 
 
126 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 of salvation : so that, when their toils on 
 earth shall be ended, they will be put in 
 the full possession of all those blessings, which 
 God has laid up for them that love him ; 
 thej being the heirs of promise. Xow the 
 great question to be decided is this, are 
 we the children of God? for '* if children, 
 then heirs, heirs of God, and joint heirs 
 with Christ"; so that, in proving our rela- 
 tion to God as children, we also prove our 
 heirship. Xow. to prove this to our own sat- 
 isfaction, is a matter of the greatest import- 
 ance ; and in order to this, we must have 
 an internal evidence ; nothing short of this 
 will satisfy the real Christian. The false 
 professor is satisfied with an outward show 
 of piety ; and the reason is obvious, they 
 have never been born again, consequently 
 they have no internal evidence, and it is 
 vain to look there for it. This however, 
 is not the case, with the truly pious, for 
 they are born of God, and have the wit- 
 ness within themselves ; they having the 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 127 
 
 Spirit to bear witness with their spirits, 
 that they are born of God, and are led to 
 cry, Abba, Father. 
 
 In this change, they receive "an unction 
 from the Holy One and know all things,'^ 
 being divinely taught to know the w^ork- 
 ing of the Spirit, diffusing the true princi- 
 ples of grace, and the love of God in their 
 souls, and scattering the ignorance and dark- 
 ness of the carnal mind. The}^ become di- 
 vinely illuminated, and know all things, so 
 far as relates to the working of the Holy 
 Spirit in their souls. They are taught to 
 know themselves to be great sinners, and 
 Christ to be a great savior, God to be their 
 Father, and to know the love of God. 
 
 This is the root from which every branch 
 of true piety has its origin. The love of 
 God is the mainspring of every holy action, 
 so that whatever may be our personal or 
 ofhcial character, either in or out of the 
 church, if found destitute of this heavenly 
 grace, it wdll avail us nothing in the great 
 
128 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 day of accounts, when God will judge the 
 secrets of men's hearts. The Apostle Paul 
 is very plain and full upon this point. Hear 
 what he says, ''Though I speak with the 
 tongues of men and of angels and have not 
 charity (love), I am become as sounding brass 
 or a tinkling cymbal. And though I have 
 the gift of prophesy, and understand all 
 mysteries, and all knowledge, and though 
 I have all faith, so that I could remove 
 mountains, and have not charity, I am noth- 
 ing. And though I bestow all my goods 
 to feed the poor, and though I give my 
 body to be burned, and have not charity, 
 it profiteth me nothing." 
 
 Hence, we discover that whatever may 
 have been our professions of being the chil- 
 dren of God, and however many sacrifices 
 we may have made in order to gain a title 
 to the joys of heaven, it will be found, at 
 last, but an empty show if found destitute 
 of true love to God. We may have every 
 appearance, as to the external forms of a 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 129 
 
 devotional Christian. We may preach and 
 pray, so as to become elated with our per- 
 formances, and charm the ears of others, 
 and yet every motive be the offspring of 
 a depraved heart. He is a wise man, who 
 can govern his own heart, at all times, so 
 as to keep it mider proper control ; for 
 many have been deceived by it, until the 
 die has been cast, that has sealed their eter- 
 nal destiny. No doubt, many a piece of 
 base coin has passed for pure gold, for many 
 years, until it was detected by the refiner. 
 Let us not conclude that these remarks are 
 too cutting for us to bear. They will do 
 us no harm, for it is best that we should 
 know the worst of ourselves ; and we need 
 to pray earnestly, that God would '' search 
 us, and try us, and see if there be any 
 wicked way in us, and lead us in the way 
 everlasting.'' Some may be led to conclude 
 that there is not much danger of profes- 
 sors being deceived, at this present day, in 
 which we have so much preaching, and 
 
130 IMPORTAXCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 every one can hear it, who is so disposed. 
 This may appear very plausible at the first 
 glance ; yet upon a more considerate thought 
 upon the subject, we must perceive that 
 there is a vast difference between now and 
 the days in which Christ and his Apostles 
 lived ; for persons professing. Christ at that 
 day, had a heavy cross to take up ; for 
 they, at once, exposed themselves to afflic- 
 tions of a most formidable character. They 
 had no law upon which they could depend, 
 to protect either their lives or property. 
 This formed a great barrier, to prevent per- 
 sons from making a profession of the name 
 of Christ, who were not constrained by a 
 supernatural influence. And yet, how earn- 
 estly did both Christ and his Apostles warn 
 their hearers, against being deceived by the 
 falsity of the human heart. This being the 
 case, we must perceive that there is much 
 more need of caution at the present day, 
 in which the cross has ceased to exist. In- 
 stead of its being a cross now to profess 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. lol 
 
 the name of Christ, it is thought to be 
 most honorable to have our names enrolled 
 in some church book, and there is now no 
 stigma resting upon the profession of re- 
 ligion, that can in the least debar them 
 from the society of the great and noble of 
 the land. 
 
 We know nothing of what the martyrs 
 had to suffer on account of their profession, 
 being cast into prison, laid upon the rack, 
 bound to the stake, and burned to death. 
 And why all this ? because they loved their 
 Master, and would obey him. Now, my 
 brethren, in a case like this, it would be 
 far less difficult for us to determine as to 
 the real state of our hearts, but as the 
 matter stands with us, while there is no 
 cross to bear, and the world smiling upon 
 us, it is more difficult to come to a right 
 decision ; and there can be no doubt that 
 many have lived and died in the church, 
 and yet remained destitute of a saving knowl- 
 edge of the power of religion in their souls. 
 
132 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 If others have been deceived, is there not a 
 possibihty that we may be deceived? We 
 may have gained a very extensive knowl- 
 edge of the sacred writings and of the va- 
 rious points of doctrine they contain, so as 
 to argue upon them with great abihty, and 
 still remain unacquainted with the nature of 
 true godliness in the soul. 
 
 N'ow as this lays at the foundation of our 
 final and eternal happiness, no means should 
 be neglected in order to ascertain the real 
 state of the case ; for sad will be our con- 
 dition, if found deceived at last, in our 
 expectation of future happiness. Our hearts 
 are deceitful and desperately wicked, so 
 that we can not be too close in our ex- 
 amination, especially as the cross has ceased 
 to exist, and the world is now smiling upon 
 us ; and I think that we have some reason 
 to fear that there has been too much of 
 a compromise between the church and the 
 workl. The men of the world are wilhng 
 to recognize religion, provided it can be 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 133 
 
 SO modified as to reduce it to a mere form 
 of godliness, without the power. This is 
 the reason why the cross has ceased to ex- 
 ist, and not that there is any more real 
 union between the spirit of true piety and 
 that of the world ; and I believe that if all 
 who profess the religion of the Bible were 
 really pious, they would soon realize the 
 truth of the Apostle's declaration, that ''if 
 any man will live godly in Christ Jesus, 
 he shall suffer persecution." Let us try, 
 then, my brethren, to be Bible Christians, 
 let the event be what it may. 
 
 The Apostle Paul lays down three gov- 
 erning principles, which he terms faith, hope, 
 and charity, but the greatest of these is 
 charity. Now these divine principles are 
 supernatural ; that is, they are of a heavenly 
 origin. As to faith, the Apostle says, that 
 "it is not of ourselves, it is the gift of God." 
 The meaning of the Apostle seems to be, 
 that this faith does not belong to man in 
 his present fallen state. It is true that he 
 
134 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 has a faith, but it is found wanting as to 
 the spirit or hfe ; it has no active power 
 of hohness, to influence the motives, and 
 direct them in a right channel ; it has no 
 propehug power, to urge the soul forward 
 in acts of obedience to God ; it draws no 
 consolation to the soul from the death and 
 resurrection of Christ. Hence the Apostle 
 James terms it " a dead faith,*' and classes 
 it with the faith of devils ; but that faith 
 which we receive from God is active ; it 
 works by love, it purifies the heart, and over- 
 comes the world, and stands connected with 
 the salvation of the soul. The Christian is 
 made wise unto salvation ; his faith is resting 
 upon Christ as the only foundation which God 
 hath laid in Zion. 
 
 Hope is another gift most valuable to the 
 Christian, which he receives from God, and 
 from the grateful feelings of heart he is 
 ready to express himself in the language of 
 Paul, ''now our Lord Jesus Christ himself, 
 and God even our Father, which hath loved 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 135 
 
 US, and hath given us everlasting consola- 
 tion, and good hope through grace." And 
 again he says, ''which hope we have as an 
 anchor to the soul both sure and steadfast." 
 The similitude is quite illustrative of the 
 Christian's hope. We are all acquainted 
 with the use of an anchor, as belonging 
 to a vessel. That it is intended to be cast 
 overboard, that it may lay hold of the bot- 
 tom of the sea or river, to secure the ship 
 from being driven by the wind or current 
 of the tide upon the rocks or shoals ; and 
 thus the ship is safe, where the anchoring 
 ground is good. The Cliristian, like the 
 vessel, is always in danger of being driven 
 away from a faithful discharge of his duty 
 to God, to the loss of all his comfort and 
 religious enjoyments, when separated from 
 the anchor of his hope. He is in danger 
 from the strong wind of temptation, the 
 allurements of the world, and the current 
 of his own wicked inclinations, but his an- 
 chor, hope, holds him fast. It is cast not 
 
136 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 upon the bottom of the sea, but up into 
 heaven, withm the vail, which is far bet- 
 ter anchoring ground ; it is fastened to the 
 rock Christ. Thus the Christian can sing, 
 
 " Hope is my anchor firm and strong, 
 While tempests blow and billows rise." 
 
 The Apostle concludes by naming charity 
 or love, which he says is the greatest of 
 them all. 
 
 " This is the grace that lives and sings, 
 "When faith and hope shall cease ; 
 'Tis this shall strike our joyful strings, 
 In the sweet realms of bliss." 
 
 Faith and hope belong to us during this 
 life. They always prove loving companions, 
 but we can not take them with us through 
 the Jordan of death, into the heavenly 
 Canaan ; but love will abide with us forever. 
 I have said that the love of God is the 
 root, from which every branch of true piety 
 springs. It is the fountain from which 
 springs every holy thought and action, and 
 it elevates the mind above the sordid pleas- 
 ures of this transitory life ; indeed, it is 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 137 
 
 this that gives a foretaste of the heavenly 
 glory. The Christian has a witness within 
 himself, that he is a child of God and an 
 heir of heaven. If we love God, we will 
 love our brethren also, as they bear his 
 likeness. Now, my brethren, if in the course 
 of our examination, we find that our expe- 
 rience compares with the illustration which 
 the Bible gives of Christian experience ; 
 feeling ourselves stripped of self and self-de- 
 pendence, and only hope for life and salva- 
 tion centring in Christ, as the only sacri- 
 fice for sin, and the love of God inspiring 
 our souls to love and good works ; in this 
 case, we may reasonably conclude that we 
 have been made new creatures in Christ 
 Jesus, and have passed from death unto life, 
 having been made partakers of his holiness. 
 The love of God now becomes the ruling 
 passion of the soul, controlling the thoughts 
 and actions, and bringing them into sweet 
 conformity to the will of God. 
 
 " 'Tis love that makes our cheerful feet, 
 In swift obedience move." 
 
138 IMPORT AXCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 If our souls dwell under the influence of 
 this love, our fruit will be unto holiness, 
 and the end, everlasting life. This love pre- 
 pares the Christian to take up his cross, and 
 follow the Savior through both good and 
 evil report, and he is ready to say 
 
 " Througli floods and flames if Jesus leads, 
 I'll follow where he goes ; 
 Hinder me not shall be my cry, 
 Though earth and hell oppose." 
 
 He loves the people of God, and delights 
 to meet them in the sanctuary, to unite 
 with them in the delightful solemnities of 
 the worship of God ; and he feels it one 
 of his highest privileges to become united 
 with them in church relation, and to be gov- 
 erned by the rules laid down in the Bible, 
 both of faith and practice, and left with the 
 church, for the government of her members ; 
 which, when properly attended to, in the 
 spirit of meekness, can not fail of pro- 
 ducing the most happy results. By this 
 means, we promote the peace and pros- 
 perity of the church, and this forms a pow- 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 139 
 
 erful engine to put to silence those who 
 may assail the cause of Christ and his 
 church. 
 
 Oh how delightful it is to see, brethren 
 living together in love and unity, striving 
 together to keep the unity of the spirit in 
 the bonds of peace, and praying earnestly 
 for the prosperity of the church ! And as 
 this state of union and brotherly love de- 
 pends much upon the blessing of God at- 
 tending the administration of the Gospel, 
 pray earnestly for your pastors, that their 
 labors may prove successful, in w^inning souls 
 to Christ ; for without the blessing of God, 
 Paul may plant and ApoUos water but all in 
 vain, if God withhold the blessing. Hold 
 up their hands, when they are ready to 
 faint under their discouragements, crying- 
 out ''who is sufficient for these things?'' 
 Brethren, never let us be found among those 
 disorderly members, who are always ready 
 to pull down, while the pastor is building- 
 up ; let not our sacrificial altars be defaced 
 
140 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 by a worldly and slothful disposition of mind. 
 Let us not then brethren, be weary in well 
 doing, for in due time we shall reap, if we 
 faint not. 
 
 Let us bear in mind also, that heaven is 
 all the way up hill ; it is very easy slid- 
 ing back but hard to regain the steps we 
 lose. Let us therefore be kind to each 
 other, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, 
 in the spirit of meekness, contributing to the 
 relief of the poor saints, bearing in mind 
 that we all belong to the same family, being 
 children of the same heavenly parent. Let 
 the poor saints comfort themselves, that al- 
 though they are poor in this world, yet 
 they have a large treasure in heaven. To 
 my young brethren I w^ould say, try to be- 
 come well acquainted with your Bible, and 
 it will be a solace to you in your declin- 
 ing age, when the keepers of the house 
 shall tremble, and those who look out of 
 the windows be darkened, if your life should 
 be prolonged, to see those days. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 1 41 
 
 The Bible, my brethren, is a precious treas- 
 ure to the soul, hungering and thirsting aft- 
 er the consolations of the Gospel. If we 
 were deprived of it, we should know how 
 to estimate its value much better. Before 
 the art of printing was discovered, it re- 
 quired the wages of a poor man thirteen 
 years, to procure a manuscript of the Bi- 
 ble, thus placing it out of the reach of the 
 poor altogether. We have an account of a 
 very pious woman, who being acquainted 
 with a bookseller, was in the habit of bor- 
 rowing a Bible. On a certain day, she ap- 
 plied to the bookseller for this favor, which 
 was granted. After she had left the store, 
 a wealthy man being present, inquired in 
 relation to her case ; he was informed by 
 the bookseller that she was a poor woman 
 and very pious, and loved the Bible very 
 much. The heart of this wealthy man was 
 touched with such sympathy, that he paid 
 for the Bible and left word that when she 
 should return with the Bible, she should 
 
142 IMPORTANCE OF PERSONAL PIETY. 
 
 be informed that it was hers. On her re- 
 tnrn, she hearing the glad tidings, clasped 
 it to her heart, and exclaimed, precious 
 treasm^e ! 
 
 We shall now close this chapter by re- 
 minding the reader that time is short. Our 
 Master has placed us in his vineyard to 
 work, and has commanded us to work while 
 the day lasts. There is much to be done, 
 and but little time to do it in, let us 
 therefore be fervent in spiirit, serving the 
 Lord. 
 
CHAPTER YIII. 
 
 IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 TTe will devote tliis chapter to some fur- 
 ther remarks, addressed to those who have 
 professed religion, upon the hnportance of 
 living a holy life, in the service of our blessed 
 Lord ; so that every word and action may 
 portray the life of an humble and devout 
 Christian, the servant of Christ, the man of 
 God, maintainmg that integrity, which is so 
 highly ornamental to the Christian character ; 
 bearing in mind that we have been placed in 
 the Church, as lights in this dark, benighted 
 world, and we are to let our light shine, that 
 those around us, seeing our good works, may 
 glorify our father in heaven, taking knowl- 
 edge of us that we have been with Jesus. 
 
 We are to take up our cross daily, deny- 
 ing ourselves all ungodliness and worldly 
 lust, and live soberly, righteously, and godly. 
 We have a wicked heart to conquer, and he 
 
144 IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 that can do this, so as to rule and govern it, 
 is better than he that taketh a city ; that is, 
 he is more wise and powerful. Brethren, 
 we have learned both from the Bible and 
 from our own experience, that "it is an evil 
 and bitter thing to depart from the Lord,'^ 
 for the backslider in heart shall be filled with 
 his own ways. The Lord speaking of such 
 says, ''they are joined to their idols, let 
 them alone." Yes, let them alone, for they 
 will soon become sick of their ways, and be 
 glad to return, as many have done, with a 
 broken heart. 
 
 The heavenly Jerusalem is built upon an 
 elevated plain, the mount of God. The only 
 road leading to the Celestial city, is the 
 King's highway of holiness, a most pleasant 
 and delightful w^ay, rendered so by the jDres- 
 ence of our blessed Lord, who causes all dif- 
 ficulties to vanish. No lion is found there. 
 Even the martyrs were not heard to complain 
 of the way being rugged. No, for they 
 could smile at the devouring elements, while 
 
IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 145 
 
 they were blazing around tliem. Nothing 
 could harm them. Their eyes were fixed 
 upon the cross. It is only when we lose 
 sight of the cross, that we lose our way and 
 have to clamber over the rocks and mountains 
 of despondency, which has ever been found to 
 be a dark and dangerous way ; and all who 
 have turned aside from the King's highway, 
 have found it to be a slipper}' path to travel 
 in. David found it so, for he says, ''my feet 
 had well nigh slipped, while I saw the prosper- 
 ity of the wicked." It is a dangerous thing for 
 a Christian to have his eyes turned from the 
 cross, to worldly ease and prosperity, for it is 
 sure to lead him astray. David only recov- 
 ered his former standing, by retracing his 
 steps to the house of God, where he learned 
 his folly, by having his eyes open to see the 
 end of the wicked. The evil consequence 
 resulting from a backslidden state of the heart, 
 is not merely the loss of the enjoyment of re- 
 ligion ; but the state of the heart is the die 
 that stamps its own image upon the general 
 
146 IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 character and deportment of the professor ; 
 and by this the world judges of the truth or 
 falsity of the religion he professes ; while on 
 the other hand, if the deportment of the pro- 
 fessor be exemplary, it has a powerful mflu- 
 ence upon the minds of beholders, well cal- 
 culated to make a favorable impression, such 
 as can not be easily resisted. 
 
 But, brethren, what would be our sad feel- 
 ings if we had been instrumental in harden- 
 ing the hearts of sinners, and making them 
 more bold in blaspheming the name of our 
 Master and his holy religion, and thus plac- 
 ing . them at a far greater distance from a 
 hope of salvation ? In this case, the poor 
 afflicted pastor may preach like an angel, yet 
 all in vain. The sinner's mind, having be- 
 come so well fortified in his stronghold, that 
 as well might a soldier attempt to make a 
 breach in the wall of an impregnable fortress 
 with a shot gun, as for the j^astor to make 
 any serious impressions upon the minds of such 
 hearers, who have become thus hardened. 
 
IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 147 
 
 I have often conversed with characters of 
 this description, but have always been re- 
 pulsed, by being referred to some delinquent 
 member of the church, whose conduct has 
 become disgraceful to the cause of rehgion. 
 Hence we see the importance of our doing 
 all in our power, to counteract such a wicked 
 influence, so injurious to the cause of Christ. 
 In order to do this, we must try to keep 
 open, spiritual intercourse between our souls 
 and heaven ; we must bear in mind that the 
 Bible represents us as spiritual merchants ; 
 we commenced business, when our souls 
 were renewed by the spirit of God, and we 
 were made new creatures in Christ Jesus. 
 Although we had no stock of our own to 
 trade upon, yet we found a friend in Christ, 
 whose riches can not be exhausted, he being 
 one of the three members of the commercial 
 house of heaven. They are the three which 
 compose the royal family. Their trade is so 
 immense that no estimate can be given. 
 Their object is to enrich the world with that 
 
148 IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 wisdom which is from above, making men 
 wise unto salvation, " the merchandise thereof 
 being better than the merchandise of silver, 
 and the gain thereof than fine gold." 
 
 Every spiritual merchant may earnestly 
 recommend his merchandise without falsity. 
 Even ministers of the Gospel may publish it 
 from their pulpits, that Paul sums up this 
 merchandise in true ' ' godliness, which is 
 great gain, being profitable unto all things, 
 having the promise of the life that now is, 
 and of that which is to come." Recommend 
 your merchandise wherever you go, not only 
 by your word, but by every act of your life. 
 Let your whole deportment establish your 
 character as a man of integrity, in whom the 
 fullest confidence can be placed. Although 
 your merchandise is to be disposed of upon 
 such liberal terms, being without money and 
 without price, yet the more you dispose of 
 this merchandise, the richer you will become ; 
 for there is an invisible hand constantly in- 
 creasing your stock tenfold beyond your out- 
 
IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 149 
 
 lay, so that wliile you are imparting heavenly 
 instruction to others, in order to make them 
 wise unto salvation, you are enriching your 
 own souls. What encouragement to be dili- 
 gent in your business, and bear in mind that 
 3^our benefactor will expect to hear from you 
 often by letter, in which you will doubtless 
 record your grateful feelings, and what pro- 
 gress you have made in the trust committed 
 to you. 
 
 N'ow, dear brethren, as you have put up 
 your sign over your door, and are recog- 
 nized by all as spiritual merchants, let not 
 your profession become disgraced by your 
 negligence in business. Be active ; follow 
 the example of your benefactor when he was 
 upon earth who went about doing good, mak- 
 ing many wise unto salvation. However, 
 we must not expect to prosper in our busi- 
 ness, without difficulties. We must expect 
 opposition from the world around us, and 
 even among our own families, for you know 
 that we are all born with a vail over our 
 
150 IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 faces, so that we can not discover the nature 
 and value of our sph'itual merchandise. In- 
 deed, we all have a natural dislike to it, until 
 this vail is removed. Old prejudices, espe- 
 cially ill matters of religion, are hard to be 
 overcome. 
 
 ^^ot only so, but we have other influences 
 brought against us, occasioned by so many 
 who profess to be spiritual merchants, but 
 turn out to be deceivers. When they com- 
 mence business, they put up a splendid sign 
 over their door, and mstead of receiving a 
 stock from the commercial house in heaven, 
 have polished up their old stock, to deceive 
 the people by passing off upon them worth- 
 less merchandise, manufactured in the lower 
 region, instead of that which comes from the 
 upper region, more valuable than fine gold, 
 which endureth unto everlasting hfe. These 
 merchants, being deceivers, soon become 
 bankrupt, and down goes their sign, and 
 they return to their former calhng, the feed- 
 ing of swine. Xow, these false merchants 
 
IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 151 
 
 having played the rogue, the censure of 
 the world now falls upon all the true spmtual 
 merchants. This adds to their grief, that the 
 holy cause of their master must suffer so 
 much from the blasphemer. But go on 
 brethren, bear the reproach with patience ; 
 our master is preparing a place for us, and he 
 will soon come and talvc us to himself, that 
 where he is we may be also. If we suffer 
 with him, we shall be glorified with him. 
 
 Let us learn then to be patient in tribula- 
 tion. This we know, is a very hard lesson 
 to learn, yet it is one of very great import- 
 ance. "We should endure reproach, not 
 merely because we can not avoid it, but re- 
 joice that we are counted worthy to suffer 
 reproach for the sake of our blessed master, 
 who suffered so much for us, and hath left an 
 example of patience, and said that we should 
 follow his footsteps. We should be very 
 guarded over our thoughts, words, and ac- 
 tions, in order to bring them into accordance 
 with the spirit of the gospel ; not merely in 
 
152 . IMPORTANCE OF A HOLY LIFE. 
 
 order to bear the appearance of piety before 
 men, but to receive the approbation of him 
 who searches the heart. Integrity is that 
 which adorns the Christian character. 
 
 Alas! we find too many professors, who are 
 wanting in purity of principle. Their word 
 or profession of friendship, is not to be de- 
 pended upon ; and when you need them, they 
 are not to be found, except as a snake in the 
 grass, like their brother Judas, who betrayed 
 his Lord. Let such bear in mind their broth- 
 er's fate. Lord deliver us from such profess- 
 ors, and from our wicked and corrupt na- 
 tures, and purify our hearts, and cleanse us 
 from all our imperfection and bring us finally 
 to heaven ! 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 This chapter is devoted to the spiritual 
 interests of those who have no saving knowl- 
 edge of Christ. My dear friends, let me as- 
 sure you that the subject which we are 
 about to present for your consideration is 
 one of vast importance, and one in which 
 we are all deeply interested. I have refer- 
 ence to the salvation of the soul, that im- 
 mortal part of man, which in its original 
 purity was stamped with the divine impress, 
 though now guilty and depraved by sin. 
 This immortal treasure is of unspeakable 
 value ; indeed, there is nothing that can 
 compare with it. Should we compare it with 
 all the wealth, honors, and pleasures of the 
 world, what would they be in the scale to 
 compensate us for the loss of our souls ? 
 They would bear no comparison. They 
 would at once sink into insignificance. 
 
154 TO THE UXCONYERTED. 
 
 They can not give that solid happiness 
 which the soul requires, and what little they 
 may afford is of too short a date to be 
 taken into account. 
 
 Are we prepared to solve and answer the 
 question which our Savior propounds, "what 
 shall it pjrofit a man, if he shall gain the 
 whole world and lose his own soul?" Now 
 the manner in which the question is pro- 
 posed, is quite significant in its meaning, 
 for it is in effect saying that it would be 
 a very unprofitable exchange. For a man 
 to lose his natural life is considered a very 
 great loss. Satan, who is said to be the 
 father of lies, spoke the truth once, when he 
 said ' ' all that a man hath will he give for 
 his life" ; still we may lose our lives, and 
 yet save our souls ; but in losing our souls 
 we lose our all, and when once lost, it can 
 not be recovered again. By the loss of the 
 soul, we understand the final banishment 
 from Grod, and the glory of his power, and 
 the endurino; the wrath of God forever. Is 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 155 
 
 it not wonderful, that rational and intelli- 
 gent beings, should be so thoughtless and 
 unconcerned about the soul, as to neglect 
 its salvation ? If our lives or property are 
 in danger, how earnest we are in providing 
 for their safety. If an assault from the as- 
 sassin or robber be anticipated, then locks, 
 bars, and bolts are brought into requisition. 
 If disease of body threaten us with fatality, 
 a remedy is with speed sought after. 
 
 Now to make the matter more plain, 
 suppose we had a large amount of gold in 
 our houses, and at the same time we had 
 a number of servants in whose honesty we 
 could not place the least confidence, could 
 we feel satisfied in letting that valuable 
 treasure be exposed to those faithless serv- 
 ants, they having no regard for our interest? 
 I think not. Should we not rather seek 
 to secure it from depredation by commit- 
 ting it to some tried and trusty hand, in 
 the bank, or under lock and key? Why 
 not then regard the counsels of heaven, in 
 
156 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 relation to the safety of that immortal treas- 
 ure, the soul, the value of which is clearly 
 demonstrated in the Bible, as being far be- 
 yond conception. And shall we still ex- 
 pose this invaluable treasure to the control 
 of the wicked propensities of our nature, 
 they being in league with Satan the great 
 destroyer of souls, to prove our final ruin ? 
 Must we give up to be conci[uered, and lose 
 our souls, by bartering them for the sinful 
 pleasures of a short life ? Alas, how sad the 
 thought! While we look around us, and 
 gaze upon the busy multitude, we see them 
 toiling both in body and in mind ; and what 
 for? for worldly treasure that can serve 
 them but a few short years at most, and 
 all to the total neglect of that immortal 
 treasure, the soul. 
 
 How can we account for this folly and in- 
 difference ? The Bible says that ''the god 
 of this world hath blinded the minds of them 
 that believe not, lest the light of the glo- 
 rious Gospel of Christ should shine unto 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 157 
 
 them." Man is a depraved being, he has 
 lifted up the hand of rebellion, being an 
 enemy to God and his government, and is 
 now resting under the sentence of death, 
 which will be executed upon him, if not 
 rescued by the atoning sacrifice of Christ. 
 There is a great change necessary in order 
 to fit us to dwell with pure and holy beings, 
 who are exclaiming "holy, holy, is the Lord 
 God Almighty!'' Why, an unregenerated 
 soul, to be there, would wish itself in the 
 company of those wicked fiends of the lower 
 region, for the presence of God would be 
 a terror to it. pause for a moment, and 
 examine the matter well. Think seriously 
 upon its importance. Perhaps you may have 
 been persuading yourselves that your sins 
 are not so numerous as they have been rep- 
 resented ; if the Lord should cause the light 
 of divine truth to shine into your under- 
 standing, you would be ready to exclaim, 
 that the half has never been told you. 
 You would then discover a great difference 
 
158 TO THE UNCONYERTED. 
 
 between hearing of your sins, and having 
 them placed before your eyes. 
 
 It is the hohness of God in his hiw, that 
 discovers to us our sins, for " by the law 
 is the knowledge of sin." We know that 
 all this is hard for the unenlightened mind 
 to comprehend. Job, although he was a 
 very pious man, yet on becoming more fully 
 enlightened as to the holiness of the Deity, 
 exclaimed, '' I have heard of thee by the hear- 
 ing of the ear, but now mine eyes seeth 
 thee, wherefore I abhor myself, and repent 
 in dust and ashes.'' Paul was eminently 
 pious; yet we hear him exclaiming "0 
 wretched man that I am, who shall deliver 
 me from the body of this death ?" The 
 more pious a man is, the more he discovers 
 his imperfections ; the whiter our garments 
 are, the more clearly we discover their spots. 
 
 The religion of the Bible is that which 
 exposes and brings to light the hidden 
 things of darkness, and corrects the lives 
 and morals of men, and has done more for 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 159 
 
 the moralization of the world, than any 
 other system ever mvented. It has over- 
 come every obstacle (one of the most for- 
 midable of which, is the opposition of the 
 natural heart), and that in many cases, armed 
 with almost absolute power ; and although 
 it had a small beginning, yet it has tri- 
 umphed over every obstacle, and it must 
 triumph, until the kingdoms of this world 
 shall become the kingdom of our Lord and of 
 his Christ. Infidelity would trample under 
 feet the religion of the Bible, because some 
 of its professors have disgraced it by acts 
 of immorality. In this there seems to be a 
 w^ant of candor, for in the religion of the 
 Bible, there is nothing but purity of thought, 
 word, and action inculcated, for it teaches 
 us to '' deny ourselves of all ungodliness, 
 and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, 
 righteously, and godly." N'ow, if professors 
 violate these principles, either in a few or 
 many cases, it is not doing justice to attrib- 
 ute it to religion, which condemns every 
 
160 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 immoral act. It would be as reasonable to 
 impute the stumbling of a man in open day, 
 to the light of the sun, while his eyes were 
 directed in some other direction. 
 
 In my foregoing remarks, it has been my 
 object to point out the danger of living 
 in a state of sin and rebellion against God. 
 I have pointed out, in some measure, the 
 happy effects which religion has produced 
 in the civihzation and moralization of the 
 world. Still there is a higher branch of re- 
 ligious science to be taught, in order to 
 salvation. We must know what it is to be 
 born again, as our Lord said to Nicodemus, 
 " Marvel not that I said unto thee, ye must 
 be born again." Xicodemus was a learned 
 man, yet he had never become acquainted 
 with this kind of science, it being of a 
 heavenly origin. Without this change we 
 never can see the kingdom of God. If we 
 wish to become more fully enlightened upon 
 this subject, let us examine as to the ef- 
 fect produced by the Holy Spirit attend- 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 161 
 
 ing the preaching of the Gospel on the day 
 of Pentecost ; for while the Apostles were 
 preaching, the word was directed, like a 
 piercing arrow, cutting to the very hearts of 
 the hearers, and they were led to cry out 
 with one accord, ''men and brethren, what 
 must we do?" Peter had been charging 
 home their sins upon them, and they felt 
 themselves condemned. Their hearts were 
 now broken down, and they felt their sins 
 to be a great burden, and were anxious to 
 know what they must do to be saved. 
 Peter at once preached Christ to them, for 
 he knew that there was no other name 
 given under heaven, by which they could 
 be saved. So that in answer to their ques- 
 tion he said, ''believe on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and thou shalt be saved." 
 
 In preaching Christ, we must of necessity 
 preach the law, for where there is no law 
 there is no transgression. It is only by the 
 law that we have the knowledge of sin. 
 Paul says, "I was ahve without the law, but 
 
162 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 when the commandment came, sin revived, 
 and I died." Kow we do not suppose that 
 Paul was without a knowledge of the letter 
 of the law. This can not be true, for he was 
 well acquainted with the language of the law ; 
 he knew its meaning when it says, "thou 
 slialt not kill" or "commit adultery." In- 
 deed, he could expound the law according to 
 its literal meaning, but its life or spirituality 
 he did not comprehend. However, as soon 
 as his mind became enlightened to discover 
 the true character of the law, as being summed 
 up in pure love to God as the motive power 
 to every action of the soul ] he like every en- 
 lightened sinner, sunk under the ponderous 
 weight of guilt charged against him, as hav- 
 ing come short in every point, so that he 
 died to all hope of being justified by the 
 deeds of the law. ^ow his mind was turned 
 to Christ, who having .answered the demands 
 of the law, by his holy life and sacrificial 
 death, became "the end of the law for right- 
 eousness to every one that believeth ;" so 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 163 
 
 that, altliough the law killed Paul, yet he 
 rose again, to live a more glorious life in 
 Christ ; a life of justification from all things, 
 from which he could not have been justified 
 by the law of Moses. 
 
 Some have been induced to modify the 
 nature of this change, so as to render it more 
 easy to make a profession of religion, and 
 thus add more members to the church. 
 However, with such professors, we fear it will 
 prove a sad affair ; they not being able to 
 give a reason of the hope within them. If 
 we take into consideration ever}^ thing in re- 
 lation to this change, it can not be considered 
 a matter of small account. The language 
 made use of in the Bible, in order to illus- 
 trate the nature of this change, shows it to be 
 a matter of vast importance. Persons hav- 
 ing experienced this change, are said to be 
 new creatures, "if any man be in Christ, he 
 is a new creature." Again he is said to be 
 "created in Christ Jesus unto good works." 
 Now such language seems to express some- 
 
164 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 thing more than merely a form of godliness. 
 There is a created jDower, forming in the soul 
 a holy and heavenly principle of grace, or 
 "a new man, created in righteousness and 
 true holiness.'^ This work, whatever the infi- 
 del may think of it, is worthy of that God to 
 whom it is ascribed. Hence the Apostle, in 
 addressing his brethren at Philippi, says, 
 " being confident of this very thing, that he 
 which hath begun a good work in you, will 
 perform it until the day of Jesus Christ.'^ 
 This work to which the Apostle here refers, is 
 the work of grace in the soul, regenerating it 
 and fitting it for the service of God. In its 
 original formation as it came from the hand 
 of God, it was beautified with every principle 
 of purity ; every power of the soul was 
 formed in strict accordance with the holy will 
 of its creator, crowned with honor ; but in 
 honor it abode not, but fell from that state of 
 rectitude. Alas, may we not exclaim, how 
 have the mighty fallen I How has that beau- 
 tiful temple of man's soul become debased, by 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 165 
 
 the entering in of those wicked fiends of the 
 bottomless pit, pulling down the sacred altar, 
 extinguishing the holy fire, and every power 
 of the soul has become depraved, so that we 
 can not marvel that the Bible gives us such a 
 debased character of man, in his unrenewed 
 state. "They are all gone out of the way, 
 they are together become unprofitable ; there 
 is 71 one that doeth good, no, not one. There 
 is none righteous, no, not one. There is none 
 that understandeth, there is none that seek- 
 eth after God." Now the renewing of the 
 soul, and fitting it for the temple of the Holy 
 Ghost to dwell m, is the work of the same 
 creating power as gave to Adam his form and 
 being. Hence says the Apostle, "we are his 
 workmanship, created in Christ Jesus, unto 
 good works." This is a being born again, 
 and receiving a new and spiritual life; "old 
 things having passed away, and all things be- 
 come new." When the soul, enlightened by 
 the spirit of God, is brought into the glorious 
 light and liberty of the Gospel, it is but a be- 
 
166 TO THE UNCONYERTED. 
 
 gun work, whicli is to progress until the soul 
 is taken to heaven. 
 
 'No^Y, my dear friends, God has provided 
 a Savior for us, and the preaching of the 
 Gospel is the means by which we are to be 
 made partakers of the blessings of salvation. 
 ''Faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the 
 word of God.'' Therefore let me exhort you 
 to attend the preaching of the Gospel, and 
 read the Bible with a prayerful heart, that 
 you may understand its all-important truths, 
 that you may be profited. I have but little 
 hope for a person living in a land of Bibles, 
 and where the Gospel is constantly pro- 
 claimed, and who yet hardens himself against 
 all means of instruction. TVe know that God 
 can work without means, but this is not the 
 ordinary way in which he accomplishes his 
 purposes. God has determined the means 
 with the end ; he has given land to the far- 
 mer to till, and seed to sow, and causes the 
 clouds to water the earth ; but suppose the 
 farmer, being a slothful man, disinclined to 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 167 
 
 labor, should reason with himself thus, — I 
 know that I can not make the grain grow, 
 and I may lose all my hard labor, — and thus 
 he sits down, and lets the season pass by. 
 Now what excuse could this farmer have to 
 offer, in the time of harvest, while going to 
 his neighbors to beg his bread ? His excuse 
 would amount to about the same as the poor 
 slothful sinner would have to offer, at the day 
 of judgment, after having spent his whole life 
 in sin, having neglected every means which 
 God had put in his power in order to seek 
 the salvation of his soul. 
 
 What can the poor guilty sinner look for, 
 at that day when God will judge the world ? 
 The sowing season will then be passed never 
 to be recalled, and it will be then too late to 
 repent. Every thing must be done in proper 
 season. The harvest time will be too late for 
 sowing. that the world would lay this 
 matter to heart, that while the seed time of 
 life may last, they may be led to sow to the 
 Spirit, so that when the harvest may come, 
 
168 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 they may reap life everlasting! God has 
 sent his son into the world to save sinners by 
 laying down his life, that he might open a 
 fountain to cleanse them from sin and all un- 
 cleanness, and has given iis the Bible to read, 
 and sent his servants to publish this salva- 
 tion ; yet if the sinner is not cleansed in that 
 fountain, of what avail can all this be to him ? 
 Medicine, however efficacious, can not do a 
 sick man any good, if it is not applied. Life 
 is the time in which the soul must be stamped 
 for eternity. If it is there found with a di- 
 vine impress, it will land in glory, but if not, 
 its sad doom will be endless despair. Let me, 
 therefore, exhort you to plead earnestly with 
 God, like the publican, that he may have 
 mercy upon you, that you may be prepared 
 for a better world. Read your Bible with 
 prayerful attention, go to the house of God, 
 and hear the Gospel preached, that you may 
 receive instruction, in relation to yourselves 
 as lost sinners, without hope in Christ, and the 
 great salvation published in the Gospel. 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 169 
 
 These are the means which God has ap- 
 pointed, by which we are to be brought to 
 the knowledge of the truth. The work must 
 be done now, it admits of no delay ; the die 
 will soon be cast that will seal thy doom for- 
 ever ; time that has been misspent, can never 
 be recalled. Our characters must be stamped 
 in time, for eternity. If at death, our souls 
 are found stamped with the divine impress, it 
 will be our passport to the joys of heaven. 
 Now my dear friends, let me ask you a seri- 
 ous question ; have you ever felt yourselves, 
 like the returning prodigal? Do you now 
 lament that you have left your father's house, 
 and wandered so far from your plenteous 
 home, and by it ruined yourself? Have you 
 gone so far that you now begin to feel that 
 sin is an evil and bitter thing ? Have you be- 
 come sickened with the sinful pleasures of the 
 world? Have they become unsatisfying to 
 3"ou, as the husks that the swine do feed upon, 
 and are you reduced to such extreme poverty, 
 that you are ready to perish with hunger ? 
 
170 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 Poor soul, I know how to feel for you, for 
 I have felt the same ; for I was once a poor 
 prodigal, and wandered as far from home as 
 you have done ; but I became so dissatisfied 
 with my way of living, I could find nothing 
 but wretchedness and poverty, my garment 
 was completely tattered to raggedness, and 
 so filthy that I was sickened at the sight ; 
 never until now had my eyes been opened, to 
 see my hopeless condition, f called to mind 
 my father's house. I thought why should I 
 stay here and perish, while my father's house 
 abounds with plenty ? I came to the resolve 
 to make the attempt, and set off with little 
 hope of success, but while I was a great way 
 off, to my astonishment, I saw my Father 
 coming ; but I can not describe my feehngs, 
 while thinking what a wicked and ungrateful 
 son I had been. how can I bear the wrath 
 of my father, when he meets me ? I saw him 
 running to meet me, and to my surprise, in- 
 stead of meeting a frown from my father, I 
 met his smile, and that with open arms ; my 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. I7l 
 
 filtliy garments, sin and my own righteous- 
 ness, which I found to be in a most ragged 
 condition, were now removed, and a most 
 beautiful white robe j)laced upon me, the 
 righteousness of Christ ; and on entering my 
 father's house, all was joy and gladness, and 
 such a feasting time I never saw before, and 
 I have been feasting upon the bounty of my 
 father's house ever since I returned home. 
 
 And now, my brother prodigal, I can not 
 express the joy I have felt ever since my re- 
 turn. This makes me so desirous that you 
 should return. My Savior sent me to invite 
 you to return. Do you say that you feel 
 yourself to be too great a sinner ? This can 
 be no objection. Indeed, the consciousness 
 of being sinners, is what prepares us to come, 
 for Jesus came, "not to call the righteous but 
 sinners to repentance." It is his blood that 
 cleanses us from all sin. Do you say that 
 your garments are too ragged and defiled? 
 He has a white robe prepared for you ; his 
 perfect righteousness. This will give you a 
 
172 TO THE UNCONVERTED. 
 
 title to the heavenly glory. Say, will you 
 come? The Father says come ; the Savior 
 says come ; the Spirit and the Bride (the 
 chm'ch) say come. Say not that you are too 
 great a sinner to come. It is true, we have 
 all been very wicked in running away from 
 our father's house, and spending our precious 
 time, which to us is worth more than gold, 
 and should have been devoted to our Father's 
 service, together with all our intellectual en- 
 dowments ; but instead of appl^dng them in 
 such a useful and profitable way, we have 
 made them subservient to the gratification of 
 our depraved inclinations, and it is well for us 
 that our Father, instead of casting us off for- 
 ever, has sent his Spirit to enlighten our 
 minds, to see our wickedness and folly, and 
 become sick of our sinful ways, and to mourn 
 over them as being an evil and bitter thing 
 that we have gone so far astray. How won- 
 derful it is, that our Father, in the midst of 
 deserved wrath, has remembered mercy. He 
 has sent his Son to die for us, his servants to 
 
TO THE UNCONVERTED. 173 
 
 preach the Gospel to us, and his Holy Spnit 
 to enlighten ns ; therefore we say to you, 
 once more, come, for all things are now 
 ready, come tarry no longer ! 
 
 come for Jesus calls you, come without delay, 
 why should you still tarry, and make a longer stay ? 
 O come and join our party, we have a feast of love ; 
 'tis a taste of heaven, when we shall feast above. 
 
 come, the feast is ready, the table now is spread, 
 yes this feast is furnished, here starving souls are fed. 
 O come, why should you tarry and stay another day ? 
 come, all things are ready, how can you stay away ? 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 A WORD TO PARENTS.— RELIGIOUS INSTRUCTION OF 
 CHILDREN. 
 
 I HAVE learned from a long life, both by 
 experience and observation, that the subject 
 of parental government and instruction has 
 been much neglected, although it merits the 
 highest claims on our attention. This neglect, 
 I fear, has been the fruitful source of the nu- 
 merous calamities that have befallen the 
 young and rising generation. Alas, have we 
 not reason to fear that many parents by neg- 
 lecting the instruction of their children, in 
 the true principles of uprightness, have fur- 
 nished many prisons with inmates, many vic- 
 tims for the scaffold, and many a victim for a 
 drunkard's grave? But this is too sickening 
 and heart-rending to dwell long upon. The 
 cause and effect of this sad picture is too obvi- 
 ous to need much comment. The remedy is 
 that which should claim the attention, not 
 
TO PARENTS. 175 
 
 only of a parent's ITeart, but of every heart, 
 tender with the feehng of humanity. Many 
 a briUiant talent has been hid in midnight 
 darkness, for want of an early culture of the 
 mind, in the pure principles of integrity. 
 There is a greater responsibility resting upon 
 |)arents than is commonly supposed. Our 
 children come into the world naked, helpless, 
 and depraved, and at the same time, possess- 
 ing an intellectual capacity capable of vast im- 
 provement, with a natural inclination to evil. 
 Under these circumstances, the great Creator 
 has placed these little ones under the guardi- 
 anship of the parent, not merely to feed and 
 clothe them, but to instruct them. The mind 
 of a child needs to be cultivated as much as 
 a farm, in order to its becoming productive. 
 A farm, if left uncultivated, will yield noth- 
 ing but what is natural to the soil, such as 
 weedSj briars, and thorns ; and these are worse 
 than useless, for they impoverish the ground. 
 So it is with the intellectual capacity of 
 children. They grow up with a natural in- 
 
176 TO PARENTS. 
 
 clination to evil. Thus the young and unedu- 
 cated mind becomes deceived by the flattering 
 appearance of the amusements and pleasures 
 of the world. 
 
 A family bears some resemblance to a 
 garden in which are found some valuable, 
 tender plants, which if properly cared for 
 by cultivation, would grow, bud, bloom, and 
 thus make a great display of beauty ; but 
 where the gardener is slothful, and neglects 
 his plants, the weeds will overgrow them, 
 and the consequence is, his plants wdll never 
 bloom, but wither away in obscurity. So 
 with a family of children, where a parent 
 neglects the proper discipline of his chil- 
 dren ; whatever may be the brilliancy of 
 their talents, still they have a very poor 
 prospect of blessing either the world or the 
 church with their services, for they are sel- 
 dom found, save in the paths of ignorance 
 or vice. In bringing up a family of chil- 
 dren so as to prove a blessing to them- 
 selves and others, the parent must exercise 
 
 \ 
 
TO PARENTS. 177 
 
 a control over the passions of their minds, for 
 who can not testify to the truth of what 
 Solomon says, that ''childhood and youth are 
 vanity,'' and consequently they are not capa- 
 citated to govern themselves, although they 
 are apt to think quite differently, and in some 
 cases, to their great cost, if not their ruin. 
 
 There would be about as much hope for 
 a number of men sent out to navigate a 
 vessel to some distant port who had never 
 received the least knowledge of navigation, 
 as to send out a family of children into the 
 world without instruction or restraint ; and 
 even with a little fortune at their disposal, 
 they would doubtless soon founder upon the 
 rocks of crime and dissipation. There is a 
 fitness and adaptation in every thing in na- 
 ture. This exists in a very eminent degree 
 between the parent and the child. This has 
 been wisely ordered by the great Creator, 
 and consequently a great responsibility is 
 resting upon them. Let parents therefore 
 take warning, for God will hold them to a 
 
178 
 
 TO PARENTS. 
 
 strict account for the manner in which their 
 children are educated. It is the duty of 
 parents to feed and clothe their children ; 
 however, this requires but little comment, 
 for although they bring nothing into the 
 world with them, yet they have that within 
 themselves, that more than compensates for 
 all other deficiency. The parent at once 
 feels a kindling of love, which recognizes in 
 the little living form, ''bone of his bone 
 and flesh of his flesh.'' This natural aJBfec- 
 tion the great Creator has made to exist with 
 that little babe, the moment the parent's 
 eye is placed upon it. Love to children has, 
 been placed in the breast of the parent, as 
 a motive power to action, for the good of 
 his children. Hence we see the parent, 
 even if he be in low circumstances, labor- 
 ing hard to care for his little ones, feeding, 
 clothing, and protecting them. The rich 
 bestow upon their children more abundantly, 
 all produced by love, this propelling power. 
 But now comes on that which for certain 
 
TO PARENTS. 179 
 
 causes, is rendered much more difficult to 
 accomplish, and surely not of less importance. 
 I refer to the proper government of chil- 
 dren, in order to promote their best interests. 
 The desigQ of our electing men to legislate 
 for us, is for the good of the community at 
 large. So in families, our Creator has en- 
 acted laws for the government of families, 
 and placed the parent at the head, to en- 
 force those laws ; and we need not hesitate 
 in saying, woe to that parent who neglects 
 his duty in this matter. There are many 
 instructions given us in the Bible, and if we 
 will not receive them, the sin lieth at our 
 door. Hear the voice of God by the Apos- 
 tle, "ye fathers, provoke not your children 
 to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture 
 and admonition of the Lord ;" that is, we 
 are to do nothing that would be calculated 
 to excite their angry passions, but to im- 
 part such instructions as may be the best 
 calculated to inspire their young and tender 
 minds with the love and practice of pure 
 
180 TO PARENTS. 
 
 Bible principles ; for the Bible is the stand 
 to which we are to bring our moral and 
 religious principles to be determined. Alas, 
 for children, where parents have all their 
 thoughts and affections placed upon sublu- 
 nary things, from which they expect to 
 derive all their happiness, so that their dis- 
 cijDlme is in accordance with these views, and 
 meets with the approbation of their children's 
 natural and depraved inclination. 
 
 'No^Y why is it that parents should be so 
 blinded in relation to this important matter ? 
 The reason is obvious, they are blinded by 
 sin. Solomon said ' ' train up a child in the 
 way he should go, and when he is old he 
 will not depart from it." Parents have 
 been warned, both from the Bible, and from 
 what their own eyes have witnessed, of the 
 sad effects resulting from a neglect of a proper 
 management of their children, especially while 
 they are young. For a parent to rear a 
 family of children, comprises one of the most 
 important transactions of his life ; for upon 
 
TO PARENTS. 181 
 
 the proper or improper manner in which this 
 act is performed stand involved the most 
 serious consequences both to the parent and 
 the children. 
 
 In order to avoid those calamities which 
 befall many thousands, correct discipline is re- 
 quired. To deny that parents have sufficient 
 love for their children to wish to render them 
 happy would be contrary to reason, and 
 the natural feelings of humanity. The hap- 
 piness of the children is so blended with 
 that of the parent, that they can not be 
 separated. But the great difficulty arises 
 from the darkness of a depraved mind which 
 has rendered it incapable of determining as 
 to the objects, the best calculated to pro- 
 duce happiness. However, the general con- 
 clusion is that it is to be found in the 
 abundance of wealth, as though every thing 
 else depended upon the possession of riches, 
 even heaven itself. Hence it is, that wealth 
 has ascended the throne of dignity, and has 
 gained the admiration of the world ; for 
 
182 TO PARENTS. 
 
 the keen eye of the beholder perceives that 
 it opens a door for the gratification of every 
 pleasurable sensation, such as the amuse- 
 ments, the luxuries, and honors of the 
 world. Now in order to obtain wealth, 
 every power of the mind is brought to bear 
 upon this one point, and often we fear, with- 
 out much regard to strict integrity. 
 
 If our halls of legislation could speak, what 
 a sad account they would give of the frauds 
 committed in violation of the most solemn 
 oaths. Alas, how have the mighty fallen ! 
 Tell it not to our enemies, lest they point the 
 finger of scorn at us. However, crime of this 
 character is not confined to politicians, but it 
 has defiled the blood of the nation, to a very 
 lamentable degree. What multitudes are 
 making haste to be rich. From whence has 
 this broad river of crime its origin? The 
 Savior says that, ' ' out of the heart proceed 
 evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornication, 
 thefts, false witness, blasphemies." This is 
 the sad state of the heart, left uncontrolled by 
 
TO PARENTS. i8o 
 
 some opposite influence. But are there no 
 tributary streams, that augment this broad 
 river of crime? Alas, we are made sad at 
 the thought, that they are more numerous 
 than we can calculate ; a multitude of which, 
 emanate from the family circle, where the 
 cords of discipline have been slackened or 
 broken, through the tender feelings of parents, 
 to the final ruin of their children ; opening 
 the door for Sabbath-breaking, and attending 
 those places of amusement, which are almost 
 sure to introduce them into company and 
 habits of dissipation, which will serve as a 
 prelude to crimes of the most destructive 
 nature. 
 
 Remember then that what is done for your 
 children must be done in proper season. The 
 spring is the time to plant corn, but the fall is 
 the time to gather for use. He that neglects 
 to plant in season, can not expect to gather. 
 Let childhood and youth pass unimproved, 
 and all hope is blasted. Let parents, there- 
 fore, store the minds of their children with 
 
184 TO PARENTS. 
 
 both literary and Bible knowledge. Be kind 
 to your children, but let not your tender feel- 
 ings control you, so far as to indulge them to 
 their injury. Let discretion govern, and your 
 word be their law, but let your word be in 
 accordance w^ith the Bible. Tender feeling in 
 parents for their children is natural and com- 
 mendable, but danger is always nigh when it 
 is extended beyond due bounds. Alas, how 
 many parents have had their eyes open to the 
 truth of this, wdien too late to restore the 
 victims, and have had to pass to the grave 
 w^ith the sad reflection, that by their indul- 
 gence, they had brought to ruin, the objects 
 they so much loved. 
 
 Do I hear a broken-hearted parent exclaim- 
 ing, " my sons, my sons ! Could I recall the 
 days when my sons were boys, and fed at my 
 table, how would I instruct them to pursue 
 the path of virtue ! Their seat in the house 
 of God should not be vacated. All my en- 
 ergy and influence should be devoted to bring 
 them under Bible instruction, so as to restrain 
 
TO PARENTS. 185 
 
 them from Sabbath-breaking and from attend- 
 ing- those amusements which lead to vice and 
 dissipation. But alas ! the die is cast. Time, 
 that might have been improved, is now lost 
 forever. My sons are now swallowed up in the 
 whirlpool of destruction. My- tender feelings 
 led to indulgence, -and this proved their ruin. 
 Two have passed from the tippling-house to 
 the drunkard's grave, and one is now shut up 
 within the massive gates of the penitentiary. 
 ye parents, is it nothing to you? Was 
 there ever sorrow like unto my sorrow, 
 wherewith I am afflicted, for my contempt of, 
 the counsel of heaven ?'' 
 
 Let parents take warning. Let them bring 
 up their children to receive Bible instruction, 
 to attend Sunday-school, and the house of 
 God. By this means they will be restrained 
 from Sabbath-breaking and from bad com- 
 pany. Parents, teach your children integrity, 
 not from compulsion, but from the love of 
 virtue. Teach them a tender feeling of sym- 
 pathy for the afflicted, for although their cir- 
 
186 TO PARENTS. 
 
 cumstances in life may be far more comfort- 
 able than many around them, yet we know 
 not what a clay may brmg forth. We may 
 need to-morrow the same act of kindness and 
 sympathy we extend to others to-day. Our 
 great Creator has so arranged matters in the 
 government of his providence, that we are all 
 dependent upon each other. Here the rich 
 and the poor meet together. 
 
 Let parents also teach their children candor 
 in all their dealings with men in the business 
 of life, that they may not degrade themselves, 
 by the practice of those little cunning tricks 
 so often practiced by sharpers. Parents 
 should also teach their children economy and 
 industry in whatever vocation they may be 
 placed, .for slothfulness and waste lead to 
 poverty, and will clothe a man with rags. 
 Give your children a good plain education, if 
 nothing more, for deprived of this they lose half 
 the enjoyment of life. Xo parent is so poor 
 that he can not do this, for at this day, it can 
 be had as cheap as the Bible, being without 
 
TO PARENTS. 187 
 
 money and without price ; so that should a 
 parent neglect this duty he is censurable. 
 
 Teach your children to be cleanly, for 
 this will add to health and comfort. How- 
 ever expressive of poverty, the appearance of 
 a house or a garment may be, yet if neat and 
 clean, it will be honored with attention. 
 Warn your sons against foppishness and 
 haughtiness ; for this denotes a want of good 
 breeding, if not of good sense, and will be 
 sure to bring down contempt upon them. 
 Teach your daughters gentleness of speech, 
 sweetness of temper, and neatness in dress. 
 Restrain your children from going to those 
 schools of vice, which afford such a pleasura- 
 ble sensation to the young mind, but whose 
 sting is as deadly as that of the bite of 
 the most poisonous serpent ; such as the 
 theatre, the ball-room, the circus, and the 
 tippling-house. Some of these places, if not 
 all, have been the ruin of multitudes of the 
 young, in their unguarded moments. 
 
 Finally, endeavor, above all, to bring up 
 
188 TO PARENTS. 
 
 your children in the nurture and admonition 
 of the Lord ; train them up in the way they 
 should go, and then you may reasonably ex- 
 pect, in accordance with the words of Solo- 
 mon, the wisest of men, that ' ' when they are 
 old, they will not depart from it.'' 
 
 " See, Israel's gentle Shepherd stands 
 With all engaging charms ; 
 Hark ! how he calls the tender lambs, 
 And folds them in his arms ! 
 
 We bring them, Lord, by fervent prayer, 
 
 And yield them up to thee ; 
 With humble trust that we are thine, 
 
 Thine let our offspring be." 
 
CHAPTER XI. 
 
 A CLOSING WORD TO MY MINISTERING BRETHREN. 
 
 As I am about closing this little book, I 
 feel a strong inclination to address a few 
 lines to my brethren in the ministry ; al- 
 though at the same time, I must confess 
 that I feel a considerable degree of delicacy 
 in attempting to exhort them to a more per- 
 severing energy in the way of duty, or in 
 communicating instruction in relation to that 
 duty, as they themselves profess to be 
 teachers ; and especially as many of them 
 far excel me, both in natural and acquired 
 talents. 
 
 However, my advanced age and the great 
 length of time I have been in the ministry, 
 may serve as an apology. And more than 
 this, our holy religion teaches us not to 
 seek honor one of another, but to seek 
 to promote each other's happiness and pros- 
 
190 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 perity, in the cause of Christ. Whether 
 my feeble efforts may add any thing in ac- 
 compUshing this object^ I can not say. A 
 futm^e day will determine what we have 
 done, and what we have left undone. 
 
 Dear brethren, we have all professed to 
 have been called in one hope of our call- 
 ing, and to have received a commission from 
 the highest authority in heaven, the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, in whom dwelleth all the ful- 
 ness of the Godhead bodily. In this lega- 
 tion, we have had committed to our trust one 
 of the most wonderful embassies that ever 
 was committed to mortal man. And we 
 now appear as Embassadors of Christ, to 
 deliver our message to a guilty and rebel- 
 lious world, and to explain its contents, as 
 far as possible to their imderstanding ; for 
 it is all-important that they should hear and 
 believe, in order to salvation. We are well 
 aware as to what we preach, that it is the 
 Gospel. Thus we hear it explained by 
 Christ himself in the commission, when he 
 
TO MINISTERS. 191 
 
 sent his Apostles forth, he said, " Go ye 
 into all the world, and preach the Gospel 
 to erery creature." Now that the Savior 
 made use of the term in its mere abstract 
 meaning, can not with any degree of pro- 
 priety be admitted. In the preaching of 
 both Christ and the Apostles the whole mat- 
 ter is fully explained, as embracing all the 
 doctrines of grace, relating to the beginning, 
 progression, and completion of the salvation 
 of all who will finally meet in heaven. 
 
 The preaching of the cross lays the foun- 
 dation for the whole fabric of Gospel truth 
 to rest upon. And that sermon that has 
 not a relative connection with this founda- 
 tion will never be owned of God. Brethren, 
 in going to the pulpit, we should never 
 hide the cross behind us, lest- we forget it 
 and preach ourselves ; but let it have a 
 prominent plaae in front of the pulpit, while 
 we unfurl its blood-stained banner before 
 the people, pointing to it as the only hope 
 of a dying world. Brethren, we know that 
 
192 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 no trust could have been committed to us 
 of equal importance, and that could have 
 involved us in greater responsibility, so that 
 if we misconstrue the message which has 
 been committed to us, to be delivered in 
 faithfulness to the people, whatever evil 
 consequences may arise, God will require at 
 our hands. Therefore it becomes us to be 
 cautious how w^e speak and act in relation 
 to this matter. 
 
 There is a very great responsibility rest- 
 ing upon the physician while administering to 
 a sick man, for through his ignorance or 
 carelessness, the sick man's life may be for- 
 feited; which no doubt has been in a vast 
 number of cases ; but what is the life of 
 the body, compared with that of the soul? 
 If they who turn many to righteousness 
 shall shine as the stars of heaven, forever 
 and ever, what will be the 'doom of those 
 who are preaching " peace, peace, to the 
 wicked,'' when God has said that there is 
 no peace ? However, brethren, we are per- 
 
TO MINISTERS. 193 
 
 suaded better things of you. We believe 
 that you have been called with a lieavenly 
 calling, and thus God hath counted you faith- 
 ful, putting you into the ministry. Whatever 
 may have been your previous character, you 
 can now say, ''unto me who am less than the 
 least of all saints, is this grace given, that 
 I should preach among the Grentiles the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ." And the 
 love of Christ is the motive power, that 
 constrains you to go forth upon this mo- 
 mentous work of preaching Christ and him 
 crucified, to dying, perishing sinners. Are 
 you a pastor of a church? You have been 
 listening with attention to your duty, that 
 you are to "preach the word, to be instant 
 in season and out of season, reprove, rebuke, 
 exhort, with all long suffering and doctrine." 
 Paul found it necessary on some occasions, 
 to reprove his brethren for their having be- 
 come worldly-minded and for want of spirit- 
 uality, as there were at times found among 
 them envyings, strife, and divisions. This 
 
194 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 was heart-rending to him, and as much so to 
 every pastor of a church, where this may be 
 found to be the case, especially when they 
 originate from such a triflmg affair as the 
 Apostle found to be the case, on one occasion, 
 where a dispute took place about ministers, 
 a thing although seeming so trifling, yet at 
 the same time, very sinful and disgraceful to 
 the cause of religion. 
 
 Pastors and people, preachers and laymen, 
 are all members of one body, the church, 
 and all have their separate work to per- 
 form, and every one is to be esteemed for 
 his work's sake. ''Ye are God's husbandry," 
 and ministers are his servants to cultivate 
 the soil of your hearts. One plants, and 
 another waters, but it is God that must 
 give the increase ; so that if any man wishes 
 to glory, let him glory in the Lord. The 
 Apostle continues his remarks, and in or- 
 der to make them more interesting and hn- 
 pressive, he changes the figure and com- 
 pares the church to a building, "Ye are 
 
TO MINISTERS. 195 
 
 God's building," for says he, "know ye not 
 that ye are the temple of God?" The 
 grace of God had made of him a wise mas- 
 ter-builder, and now he lays the foundation, 
 and administers a caution to his brethren 
 in the ministry, to take heed how they 
 build thereupon, and tells them that Christ 
 is the only foundation that ever has been, 
 or can be laid, upon which this glorious 
 building is being erected. Now brethren, 
 such materials as men, in their natural state 
 of sin, should never have a place in this 
 building, here compared to ''wood, hay, 
 and stubble," until they are regenerated and 
 made new creatures in Christ Jesus ; being 
 made ''lively stones, to build up a spiritual 
 house, to offer up spiritual sacrifice, accept- 
 able to God." These lively stones are com- 
 pared to "gold, silver, and precious stones," 
 on account of that new nature which they 
 received, when born of the Spirit. 
 
 JS'ow brethren, our Master has made us 
 builders of this magnificent temple of the 
 
196 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 Lord ; let us be cautious what kind of ma- 
 terials we place in this building; for God 
 himself will try every man's work ; if those 
 persons whom we have been instrumental 
 of bringing into the church, can not give 
 a reason of the hope within them, our 
 work will be lost. They will not appear as 
 stars in the crown of our rejoicing at the 
 last day ; for if they are not consumed with 
 the lustful passions of their own wicked 
 hearts, and thus lead an immoral life, and 
 be cast out of the church, and left to their 
 own destruction, yet they will be burned 
 up among the tares to be burned, at the 
 day of judgment. The poor laborious builder 
 loses all his toil, but "he himself shall be 
 saved so as by fire" [fiery trials]. 
 
 Ministers should well understand their 
 message, and the Bible is our only stand- 
 ard by which we can test the truth we 
 preach. Let us search diligently that we 
 may come to a perfect knowledge of our 
 Master's will and sacrifice every other con- 
 
TO MINISTERS. 197 
 
 sideration that may stand in tlie way of 
 duty. Let us try to follow the example of 
 .our blessed Lord wdio was meek and lowdy 
 of heart going about doing good both to 
 the bodies and souls of men. 
 
 If we wish to be instrumental in the 
 conversion of sinners, we must feel deeply 
 concerned for their salvation, and plead 
 earnestly with God ; for the residue of -the 
 Spirit is with him. Let this motto be writ- 
 ten on our banner, "through the cross of 
 Christ, we conquer." Here lies our only 
 hope of success. Our object of preaching, 
 is to enlighten the minds of our hearers. 
 However, there is a way of preaching truth, 
 which leaves the mind more hardened and 
 beclouded than at the commencement. For 
 instance, should we make use of harsh lan- 
 guage, calculated to irritate and rouse tjie 
 angry passions of our hearers, our influence 
 at once ceases to control the mind, and forms 
 a most powerful barrier against the most 
 forcible arguments that we can make use of. 
 
198 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 On the other hand, by makmg use of soft 
 and winning language, we gain a free ac- 
 cess to their feelings, and our arguments 
 meet with a more favorable reception and 
 candid reflection ; so that a sympathetic feel- 
 ing for our hearers, will promise much to 
 our hope of usefulness. The art of rhet- 
 oric has a wonderful power to captivate 
 and control the feelings of the heart. This 
 science we have often heard displayed by 
 lawyers in our criminal courts, to that de- 
 gree that not only the audience, but the 
 judge and jury were melted into tears, so 
 that the jury were almost ready to give their 
 verdict of acquittal. However, when the law- 
 yer on the opposite side of the question 
 makes an equal display of oratory, the two 
 extremes are made to appear, when the 
 mind is brought to a better state of capa- 
 bility to judge righteously. However excel- 
 lent this science may be, when properly 
 made use of, yet when the object is to 
 pervert truth, it becomes unworthy of a 
 
TO MINISTERS. 199 
 
 servant of Christ, or of a place in the 
 pulpit. 
 
 Plain language and plain truth, will bet- 
 ter suit the wants of the people ; when 
 truth can be brought to bear upon the 
 mind. This is needed in order to enlighten 
 the understanding. Never is a servant of 
 Christ better prepared for the pulpit servi- 
 ces, than when he colnes fi^om his knees 
 w^here he has been offering up strong cries 
 and tears, for a blessing upon his hearers, 
 and at the same time having his heart and 
 lips touched, as with a live coal from the 
 altar of God. In this case, his tongue will 
 be made as the pen of a ready writer, and 
 the hearers must feel the effects of such 
 preaching. 
 
 We should take our Master for our ex- 
 ampler, in our preaching, and in all the walks 
 of life*; embracing every opportunity of doing 
 good, both to the bodies and souls of men, 
 and making use of the daily occurrences, 
 as we pass along. See how the Savior im- 
 
200 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 proves the occasion of his meeting the wo- 
 man of Samaria at Jacob's well. He found 
 her an infidel, and considering her moral char- 
 acter, not a very hopeful subject to receive 
 religious instruction ; yet in the course of 
 his conversation with her, he so simplified 
 the nature of divine grace, by comparing it 
 to the water about which they were con- 
 versing, that before' she was aware, her 
 mind became so much enlightened, that she 
 seemingly forgot the object for which she 
 came ; for she left her water-pot, and went 
 into the city, no doubt in great haste, to 
 notify her neighbors, that they might come 
 and partake of the blessings of salvation, of 
 which salvation they not only heard from 
 his lips, but on approaching Christ, were 
 made the happy participants of the same 
 blessings, in their own souls. 
 
 Let us now pass to consider the most use- 
 ful mode of preaching. We should have our 
 sermons well digested before we deliver 
 them to the people ; for our Master will 
 
TO MINISTERS, 
 
 201 
 
 hold us accountable for any deviation from 
 pure Bible truth. This is too obvious to 
 need comment, for we stand between God 
 and the jDcople. We must study the Bible 
 well, that we may receive our message 
 from the mouth of God. The writing of 
 sermons is commendable, where it is prac- 
 ticable. This will serve to improve the mind 
 greatly. When this is done, it is best to 
 leave the manuscript in our studies, until 
 our retm^n from delivering our message to 
 the people. For if we allow it to accom- 
 pany us to the pulpit, it will soon assume 
 the power of habit, which will bind us with 
 fetters, from which we can not easily extri- 
 cate ourselves. I have thought that it 
 would be somewhat difficult for us fully to 
 estimate the disadvantages to the speaker as 
 well as to the hearers of being confined to 
 the shackles of written ideas, and thus bar 
 the door against those that might present 
 themselves in the pulpit, although perhaps 
 far more exciting and illustrative to the 
 
202 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 mind of the hearer. As to a preacher hav- 
 ing the main heads of his discourse before 
 him to refer to, as a mere outhne, leaving 
 the mind free to fill up the space unoccu- 
 pied ; against this no one can object. 
 
 Again I would ask the question, does not 
 a graceful action in the speaker, give en- 
 ergy to the words he may utter ? This will 
 receive no denial. Again, I would ask, have 
 we never discovered a difference between the 
 graceful action of a speaker who reads his 
 sermons, and the one who delivers them in 
 an extemporary form ? We must reply in 
 the aflGirmative ; for while the former has the 
 action of his hands and eyes confined to his 
 manuscript, and consequently deprives the 
 whole body of that natural action which gives 
 force to the words, and produces an awkward 
 and unnatural action. A graceful action in 
 the pulpit not cftily gives force to the words 
 of the speaker, but will be looked upon as 
 ornamental in a grave and pious preacher. 
 The two last qualifications, gravity and piety, 
 
TO MINISTERS. 203 
 
 are indispensable, as every subject furnished 
 by the Bible is of this character, and will not 
 admit of any light or trifling language or re- 
 marks, calculated to excite laughter, for such 
 merriment does not accord with the solemni- 
 ties of the house of God. Such preaching 
 may amuse that class of hearers who are 
 noted for their want of solidity of mind, but 
 not the wise and intelligent. I would further 
 remark, that sermons made up of anecdotes, 
 especially, when many of them are of a 
 humorous character, as is often the case with 
 certain eccentric preachers, are not worthy 
 of the pulpit ; yet suitable anecdotes may 
 occasionally be introduced to some good pur- 
 pose, and especially if they are of a very 
 striking character, and calculated to arouse 
 the feehngs of the hearers, and thus prepare 
 the mind to receive a more serious impres- 
 sion. Figures drawn from nature, when 
 properly selected, in reference to the sub- 
 ject under consideration, often become very 
 
204 
 
 TO MINISTERS. 
 
 illustrative, and have a happy effect upon the 
 minds of the hearers. 
 
 After all, every thing depends upon the 
 influence of the Holy Spirit to crown our 
 efforts. This must always be borne in mind 
 by a servant of Christ. We may as well ex- 
 clude the work of Christ from the salvation 
 of a sinner, as the work of the Spirit, for no 
 sinner can ever be saved with either sepa- 
 rately. Christ by his sufferings and death 
 has paid the redemption price, but the Spirit 
 must unlock the prison doors, to let the cap- 
 tive go free. Thus we see that salvation is 
 all of free grace, and ' ' not of works, lest any 
 man should boast." The grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with you all ! Amen. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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