“On the next Sabbath, Miss H—— asked me to go along with her and the children to the school—which was, and had been a Sunday-school, though we never suspected it; and here came a trial. If I go, they will say I am getting religious; if I stay, it will be a sin, for I know I ought to go; and then it will grieve Miss H——. These last considerations were the strongest; so I went. The room was crowded with children, all waiting for their teacher; I thought they all looked happy. After a little while, Miss H—— took the Bible, and coming to me, she said, ‘Mr. D——, will you read and pray with us this morning?’ I was startled; my very heart trembled. Said I, ‘Oh no; not now.’ Then she read a chapter and prayed herself. Oh, how I felt, to think that I was ashamed to pray before those children! Ah, thought I, this will never do; I will come here and pray next Sunday. That night I read and prayed with my family; and the next Sabbath I opened the school with prayer.
“The news spread soon all through the settlement. D—— has got religion and is praying in the Sunday-school! strange news this! Very soon the people began to drop into our Sunday-school. Then Miss H—— said to me, ‘You had better read us a sermon at the Sunday-school, after the other exercises are over.’ She selected the sermons, and I read them. Our meetings grew very solemn. Presently we sent word to a good man at B—— to send us a minister; he did so. The minister came and preached for us. The little school-house could not contain one half of the people who crowded to hear him. We held our meetings in the open air, under the trees.
“Ah, that was a wonderful time; the cry of the anxious sinner went up from every house. The Spirit of God was moving mightily upon the hearts of the people, and many were born into the kingdom of Christ. All this brought a great change in our settlement. Instead of the dance, and the gaming-table, and the foolish song, we had meetings for prayer and praise; and the tavern and still-house were exchanged for the temple of God.
“The Sabbath became a day of holy rest among a people who used to spend it in revelry or idleness. Houses of worship were built, where our population flocked every Sabbath to hear the preached word from the living minister; and in the course of two or three years, hundreds professed faith in Christ, and joined the church. We have had a flourishing church here ever since. Ah,” said the good man, in his peculiarly emphatic way, “see what God hath wrought for us.”
How often have I reproached myself, when I contrasted the heroic conduct of this devoted female with my own man-fearing spirit! She has gone to her reward; her memory will be cherished for a few more years in the hearts of those to whom her humble efforts were of such immense value, and then pass away and be forgotten. But her influence will pass on, an ever-increasing current, down the long tracts of time, and throughout the endless ages of eternity.
CHAPTER XV.
The latter part of the year 1848 was spent laboring in South-western Virginia. I visited several towns as a colporteur, taking with me some applicant for this service, to give him a favorable introduction to his labors.
I reached the beautiful town of A—— late in the evening, an entire stranger, and stopped at a hotel, wet, cold, and hungry. About the same time the stage arrived with a number of passengers, and we all asked for rooms with fire in them. While this was preparing I stepped into the bar-room, the only place where I could find a fire; but it had been election day, and such a company of intoxicated men I had never seen in one room. Several of them were lying on the floor, unable to rise; and the swearing was awful. I immediately began the distribution of tracts and little paper-covered books; and among them I laid down a copy of “Universalism not of God.” As I passed round, laying them down on chairs and tables, as well as handing them to the men, I observed a very fine-looking man who had come in the stage, following me, and looking at them.
As I laid down “Universalism not of God,” he took it up, and said to me very abruptly that the book was a libel on the Universalists. “Oh,” said I, “I understand the cause of your objection to the book. You are one of those who believe that thieves, murderers, and liars all go to heaven; that there is no such place as hell.” “Yes,” said he, “I have too good an opinion of God’s mercy to believe there is any such place as hell.” When he made that remark, one of the fellows who was lying drunk on the floor raised his head and said, “You are a liar;” while another said he “wished that was true, but there was no such good news.” Said I, “Sir, I will hand you over to these men, and you and they may settle the controversy.” He immediately disappeared from the room.
During my stay of three weeks in this beautiful town, I visited every family in it, and either sold or gave books.