After one night’s rest at home, I left the next morning for C——, thirty miles distant, to meet my friend Rev. Mr. D——, who was with us at the commencement of the meetings at L——, and engage in another meeting. The Rev. Mr. P——, who was pastor at that place, was likewise a colporteur of the Tract Society, and had five little churches in as many different communities in the county. So he left us to hold a meeting in C——, while he was laboring in other portions of his field.

I had on several occasions passed through this town, which, in a religious view, was one of the darkest I have ever visited. I saw the men, most of them young men, while Mr. P—— was preaching to a few, mostly women, standing all round the church with their heads in the windows, talking aloud, and even swearing profanely, till the preacher’s voice could scarcely be heard. As Mr. D—— was a stranger there, I informed him that we might expect open opposition. The meetings were to be conducted in the same way as those to which I have already alluded.

After warning the people of the impropriety of such conduct, and insisting that if they attended the services, they should come into the church, Mr. D—— preached, and I followed by telling of the Lord’s work in the places where I had been. A deep solemnity seemed to fall on every soul, and we felt God was there. All present were well supplied with tracts.

The next day our meetings were very solemn, and still more so at night, when there were five anxiously inquiring for salvation. By the next night most of the females began to feel very deeply, and some young men began to interrupt by their talking; but I rebuked them most solemnly, and we had no more interruptions during that meeting, and I am happy to say there have been none since in that place.

This meeting began on Thursday night, and by Monday twenty-two had professed hope in Christ. Among the number was one man sixty years old. He had been intemperate forty years. Though he was then so ignorant that he did not know who was the Saviour of sinners, and did not know one letter of the alphabet, he still lives a monument of grace.

One young lady of fortune, who was there at school, and whose anxiety about her soul bordered on despair, gained a hope on Saturday. On the next Saturday she joined the church, and then told her companions, “I will go to the Lord’s table to-morrow; it may be my last Sabbath on earth.” On Monday morning she came to school apparently in her usual health, and seemed deeply affected by the opening prayer; but soon complained of being unwell, went to her boarding-house, and in forty-eight hours she was numbered with the dead. Grace and glory came very near together.

After a few days of rest, at the request of the Rev. Mr. H——, to whom I have alluded at the town of U——, I met him in an old log-church on Wolf Creek, one of his preaching-places. I left home in the morning, rode twenty-four miles, and reached the place at one. Mr. H—— was preaching to a small congregation, as it was now the beginning of harvest. After an interval of thirty minutes, I addressed the people. The next day was Saturday. The house was full; and in the evening we had five inquirers. Sabbath morning Mr. H—— preached with great power, and then left for another appointment, with the expectation of returning on Monday. In the mean time I was to go on with the services. In the evening I had thirteen inquirers; and among them was Colonel H——, fifty years old, and Major B——, sixty-eight, two men of the largest wealth and highest standing in that community, who had been remarkable instances of grieving the Spirit of God. I related in their hearing the fact of what an aged man had told me about his grieving the Spirit. I saw it affected them both very deeply. They told me they had felt all that that man did whose case I had described, and that they had now made up their minds to seek Christ. In a few days both were hoping in Christ; and two years ago they had continued active Christians.

Becoming exhausted, almost as if I was at death’s door, I left for home; but Rev. Mr. H—— continued the meetings. Such was the interest awakened, that daily labor in the harvest-field was entirely suspended. Masters and servants were all at the same mercy-seat. God was there; the world was lost sight of, and eternal things took its place. Everybody had a tract in hand. You could see them reading on their way home; some in carriages, some on horseback, and others on foot. The result was, thirty-six were added to that little church, and many others to the other churches in that region of country. I soon learned that one wild, thoughtless young woman was awakened by reading a tract, and she is now one of the mothers in Israel.

I had received several letters from the Rev. Mr. C——, an aged man who had moved to Fayette county, to preach in a very destitute region, near the celebrated Hawk’s Nest, or Marshall’s Pillar, a cliff or precipice of about one thousand feet perpendicular height, hanging over New River, ten miles from its junction with the Gauley. After a day of rest, I took the stage, and at the end of fifty miles reached the place. On Friday morning the meeting began in the woods. No church was near; but an arbor was made by putting up poles and covering them with green bushes. When I came it rained, and only about thirty were present; but God was there with his gracious power. We had a meeting in the evening at one of the neighboring cabins, and a crowd was collected.

The next morning we met at the arbor. The day was fair and beautiful, and the crowd great. The Lord helped me greatly in the service. At the interval I scattered tracts freely, and set all to reading who could read. At the close of the afternoon service there were eleven anxious inquirers. On Sabbath morning we met at nine for prayer. By eleven o’clock a thousand people had assembled; and after the evening service, seventeen came out for instruction. On Monday the communion was to be administered, and seventeen were added to the Lord’s people. The Lord was there in his mercy. After the afternoon service nineteen more came out as inquirers, among them men of sixty years and from that down to boys, most of whom professed religion soon after. A church was soon after organized, which still lives. The blessed influence spread for miles around, and all denominations shared in the glorious work. I shall ever believe the way was prepared by a faithful colporteur, who had been over the ground a few months before.

Mr. P——, an elder in a vacant church called Locust Bottom, had applied to the Rev. Mr. P—— to come and administer the communion in that church, and to bring me with him. The meeting was to begin on the Friday before the third Sabbath in August. I left home on Thursday morning, and reached the place, fifty-four miles distant, at noon the next day. In the afternoon I addressed the audience by telling them what the Lord had done in so many other places, and that I felt assured if they would seek him with their whole hearts he would bless them too.

The next morning we were assembled at nine for prayer and exhortation. At eleven Mr. C——, a student of divinity, spoke with much fervor. After recess I spoke with much liberty, and five came out as inquirers. We held meetings at night in two places; both well attended, and several were awakened. The Sabbath morning prayer-meeting was crowded. The communion was administered by Mr. P——; and after recess I spoke again, and we had nine inquirers. The next morning we had a crowd, and there were clear indications of the presence of the Spirit of God.

Some weeks previous, Mr. W——, a colporteur to whom I have alluded, had been all through this region, and circulated books. A daughter of Colonel S——, one of the elders, became awakened by reading one of them, and her state of mind had aroused some of her friends and companions, who were among those most deeply concerned; and it was agreed to hold the evening meeting at the colonel’s, though four miles distant.

In addition to the colonel’s large family, a number of others were present, all seeking peace with God. After tea was over we were all seated in a large parlor, to the number of at least twenty. As Mr. C—— expected soon to leave, I asked him to lead us in prayer, and especially to remember the anxious souls in the room. At the close of the prayer, one of the colonel’s daughters was sobbing as if she would break her heart. I sat down beside her, and pointed her to Jesus who died for sinners. She looked at me a moment, and then sprang into her mother’s arms, and said, “Oh, mother, I have found Jesus.” But a short time had elapsed, when a daughter-in-law of Mrs. S—— went to her and said, “Oh, mother, I have found the Saviour too.” Soon the wife of one of the elders who was there cried, “Oh, Mrs. S——, the Saviour has blessed me too. Oh, what a Saviour I have found.” This woman had been so opposed to religion that her husband could not have family prayers. All these three had been awakened by reading tracts. During all this time the old grandmother, ninety years old, and for over seventy years a follower of Christ, was walking through the house saying, “Oh, Mr. C——, is not this heaven? my poor soul can bear no more of the divine glory.”

In a short time Colonel S——, who had been absent, returned. As soon as his daughter saw him she was in his arms, saying, “Oh, my dear father, your prayers are answered; I have found Jesus.”

By this time the news had spread all over the farm, and more than fifty blacks of all ages were in and round the house. The old mother of Col. S—— said to me, “Oh, Mr. C——, won’t you preach to these poor souls?” “Certainly,” said I; and in a few minutes a large room was crowded with them. I stood in the door, with the old mother holding me by the arm, and announced the words, “Behold, I bring you glad tidings of great joy which shall be to all people.” The negroes soon became so excited they could hardly contain themselves. Some were on their knees praying, and others clapping their hands. The old lady undertook to keep them in order; but her own heart became so deeply impressed, that her bodily strength sunk under it. The scene was one that neither tongue nor pen can describe. No doubt some who have never seen or felt any thing like this, will call it enthusiasm; but if it was, I would wish to live and die in the midst of such enthusiasm. This was one of the most intelligent families in that community—all educated and refined, and strict Presbyterians. I have found but few such families.

The next morning we all repaired to the church, where I was met by Mr. W——, the colporteur whom I have mentioned. Before that day’s meeting closed eight more professed hope. That night I had a meeting at a Mr. C——’s, who was a professed atheist, but within a few days after, was numbered among God’s people.

The next day the house was crowded below with whites, and the gallery with blacks. The presence of God seemed to be with every soul. There were in the house two men, brothers, of large wealth and much intelligence, both unmarried and somewhat dissipated. For two days they had been deeply concerned, and their pious friends were earnest in prayer for them. Just as I was closing my last discourse in the evening, when there was scarce a dry cheek in the house, a negro who was subject to fits, fell in a fit in the gallery, and made the most unearthly noise I ever heard. All fled from the house with fright, thinking the house was falling. These two brothers, when they went out, said they were glad at what had happened, for if they had remained any longer they would have been compelled to yield to the Spirit of God. They both went away, and never returned; and said often afterwards that they sealed their damnation that day. Each of them died a horrible death with delirium tremens.

I exhorted three or four times each day throughout all the week, and brother W—— scattered books and tracts, and talked and prayed. Twenty-two were added to that church, and as many more joined other churches. Before this meeting began, that church was nearly broken up, and in six months after, the student to whom I have alluded was the pastor.

Ten years after, as I was passing through this region in a stage, one of my travelling companions told me he was one of the converts at a place where I had labored. We were alone in the stage when we reached the place of crossing a river near this church. The driver stopped to water his horses, and I handed tracts to two men that were working at the edge of the river. They looked at me a moment, and then caught my hands: “Oh, this is Mr. C——. It was your tracts and labors that God blessed to save our souls.” The stage-driver dropped his bucket and rushed to me: “Oh, is it possible I have been hauling Mr. C—— and did not know it? It was your tracts and labors which you began in the rain in Fayette county that God blessed to my soul.” Here were four men who had been led to Christ at different places, and now had met the one whom they called the instrument of their salvation. To God alone be all the glory.