After visiting a few more families, we came in sight of a beautiful farm, which lay in a valley. Mr. W—— said to me, “I will not go with you to that man’s house. He is an unbeliever, and a shrewd fellow, and if you talk to him on religion as you have done to others, he will get mad, and insult you. His wife is pious; but I have heard him say that when the preacher came to visit his family he kept out of the way, because he did not wish to insult him; and he will certainly insult you, if you speak to him on that subject.” Said I, “He has the more need to be visited. Such persons are the very ones I am sent to hunt up; but as he may take offence at you for leading me to his house, you may fall behind, and come up after me,” which he concluded to do.
As I approached the house, I got off my horse, and took my big saddle-bags, filled with books, on my arm, and stepped into the house. In a few minutes all the children were in. They were fine, intelligent children; and to my surprise, I recognized their mother as a once dashing young lady I had known well fifteen years before; but she had entirely forgotten me.
In a few minutes in came my travelling companion and Mr. C—— with him; Mr. C——’s face indicating great determination and firmness. I immediately began to hunt for a text to begin with, and chose a little girl of three or four years old, whom I called to my side. I began to tell her about Jesus, and what he did to save sinners, and how deeply praying fathers and mothers felt for their dear children, whom they would soon meet at the bar of God. I asked her if father and mother did not pray for her. By this time the mother and the oldest daughter were weeping freely. I asked the mother if she would not rather see her children converted to God than any thing else. “Oh, yes,” she exclaimed, “it burdens my heart.” I cast my eye round towards Mr. C—— and Mr. W——, and both were weeping.
“Mr. C——,” said I, “don’t you feel concerned about the souls of this interesting group of children which God has given you to train up for Him?” “Not as much as I ought to do.” His heart was so full he could scarcely utter one word. Said I, “Are you not a professor of religion?” “No, I am not. I have been a very careless man on that subject. When I was a young man I was very much concerned for a while, but I fell in with wicked young men, and read bad books, and I have entirely neglected religion ever since. But I don’t know what has come over me now.”
“I trust,” said I, “it is the Spirit of God that has touched your heart, and I beseech you now to yield to his divine solicitations; not to delay for one moment. If you resist the Holy Ghost now, he may leave you for ever, and then your doom will be sealed; but if you now give up all for Christ, you will find peace, and there may be joy in heaven among the angels this moment.” He cried out in the agony of his soul, “What shall I do to be saved?” I urged him to enter that night on all the duties that God had enjoined on him; to read his Bible, and pray for himself and family. He pledged his word to me to do it. He kept that pledge. I prayed with him, sold him eighteen volumes of good books, and left the whole family in tears. He soon after joined the church; and Mr. W——, I was told, professed religion soon after, and attributed his conversion to a day’s travel with a colporteur.
I held a prayer-meeting that night at the house of Mr. H——, a man of remarkable piety and benevolence. He told me of an incident that marked his whole life, and made him what he was. Said he, “I served my time with a hard master to learn the wagon-making business. I had engaged to go, the day I was free, some forty miles to work as a journeyman. The evening before I was to start, a good man gave me his advice, and at the close asked me if I had money to pay my way. I told him I had no money, but could get there, as I was going to walk. He handed me fifty cents, all he had, as a present. While on my way I met a poor miserable man begging. He told me he was starving. I gave him the fifty cents, as I had no way to divide it. Before I had gone many rods I found a silver dollar lying on the road, over which he had stepped. I said to myself, ‘God sent this,’ and I determined to serve him all the days of my life; and he has blessed me ever since.”
In a few days I commenced labor along the line between Western Pennsylvania and Western Virginia. The Rev. Mr. R—— took a deep interest in my work, and travelled more than a week with me. Our work made quite a stir among the people. The news spread that we were entering every house, talking and praying.
We set a day to visit a neighborhood that was noted for its wickedness. There were several families owning fine farms who never entered a church. On the day set, we took an early start. As we approached the first house, we saw all the inmates running to the barn. We knocked at the door, but no answer. We went to the barn; but before we reached it they were running across the adjoining field. We understood the cause, and came back to the house, and put in at the window Baxter’s Call and a few suitable tracts, with the earnest prayer for God’s blessing to attend the reading of them.
We went on to the next house, but it was closed, and no one to be found. We here also installed Baxter and several other preachers through the window; and so on till we had visited six families. At every one of these houses the people either fled or concealed themselves at our approach. Mr. R—— pleasantly observed, as we were poor men, he thought the best thing we could do for our worldly interests would be to take possession of the property, for he supposed they would never come to dispossess us. Great fear fell upon sinners at our approach.