Read Ebook: Five Years in the Alleghanies by Cross Jonathan

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Ebook has 239 lines and 43120 words, and 5 pages

The Preparation 5

The milestone--The elegant young man--The collier--The rich lady 15

The grog-shop--The rolling mills--The Universalist 27

The new "relagin"--The hard father and his little daughter--The deserted homes--The stolen books 37

Book preachers installed--"Caught with guile"--The clenched fist--Review 49

Governor of West Virginia--Surprising desolations--The lodging--The dinner--"Blazing the trees" 57

The hunter seeking books for a Sunday-school--The first sermon--Clock pedlars 68

The "Ironside" preacher and distiller--Wife and granddaughter 75

A church dignitary--"Have you let Washington into heaven?" 81

The pistol--The surveyor's son--A public-house--"You have prayed plenty"--The pocket-Bible 89

The wickedest man in the county--The bully--The shooting match--A gang of desperadoes 111

A night on guard--Old Randal Lucas 119

"No church, no preacher, no Sunday-school, no day-school"--A young lady's success 128

A Pentecostal season--Service in a graveyard--A Seceder church 151

Grieving the Spirit--Striking effects of the Anxious Inquirer 176

THE CONCLUSION 201

FIVE YEARS

THE ALLEGHANIES.

I was born on the border of Western Pennsylvania and Virginia, within the wilds of the vast range of the Alleghanies, where the howl of the wolf, the scream of the panther, and the Indian's tomahawk were my dread. In infancy my father died, and a few years later my pious mother. But God raised up a foster-mother, and in her family an intelligent Scotch female teacher, who made me her special charge during my first year at school. Here, in connection with faithful preaching from a tent in the woods on the Sabbath, and instruction in the log-cabin day-schools, I received those rudiments of education, and was indoctrinated in that sound system of faith and morals from which "old Scotia's grandeur springs."

Conscious of my ruin by sin and need of the "new birth," as set forth in old standard works of Flavel and Boston which I read, for three years from ten to thirteen, I was often deeply impressed as to the state of my soul. I attended constantly on preaching and the monthly examinations, committed to memory catechisms and scriptures, and wrestled with God in prayer that I might be truly converted and become a minister of the gospel; and sometimes I indulged a trembling hope in Christ.

When I arrived at eighteen, I spent two or three nights in a week at the card-table, to "kill time" and drown the whispers of the Spirit. I thought of enlisting in the army, and then resolved to go to sea: but in the providence of God, a young woman just then engaged my affections; thoughts of the army and the sea were dislodged, and in a few months we were married, depending on our personal exertions for the means of support.

We rented a piece of land, and entered upon the scenes and responsibilities of real life. After six months, I was seized with acute inflammatory rheumatism, and the verdict of the physician was, that the disease was incurable, and I must die. Every feature was distorted with agony; and yet the agony of soul at the thought of being dragged into the presence of God with all my sins unpardoned was unspeakably more terrible. I saw that I had shut my heart against the calls of God's word and Spirit a thousand times, and that I deserved the deepest hell. I tried to pray, but there seemed to be no God to hear, no Saviour to intercede, no Spirit to comfort my lost and wretched soul.

As I was recovering, "The Afflicted Man's Companion," received from a friend, was greatly blessed to me, and I resolved by God's help to live the life and die the death of the righteous. The struggle now began in earnest. Such was my agony of soul, that I often went to the woods and rolled on the ground for hours. Most of those around me, for miles in every direction, were living in neglect of God; intemperance fearfully prevailed; there was not one religious friend to whom I could reveal the feelings of my heart. I tried to surrender myself to Christ, but in vain. A voice seemed to follow me continually, "He that is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will I be ashamed before my Father and his holy angels." I felt that a public acknowledgment of Christ and his cause was the only way of relief; but I shrunk from the duty, wishing to be a secret Christian, and go to the Saviour, like Nicodemus, by night. This distress continued for some months.

At length I was enabled to ask a blessing at my table, which seemed a hard task before my then irreligious wife; and after this it was a struggle of six months before I could summon courage to commence family prayer, even on a Sabbath evening. This duty was then performed, and peace of mind followed. After a few months I made known the state of my mind to the officers of a church some miles distant, and was admitted, though with many sore misgivings and fears that I had no right to the Lord's supper, and was self-deceived.

God graciously removed these doubts, and I felt the claims of Christ to do something for others. I first engaged in loaning such good books as I could get, especially The Afflicted Man's Companion, Doddridge's Rise and Progress, and Pike's Persuasives to Early Piety; feeling assured that no one could prayerfully read either of these books without being converted.

With these results before me, as soon as I heard of Colportage my heart beat with joy at the thought that the poor would soon have the gospel preached to them, and that thousands of children, untaught at home, would be reached by soul-saving truth adapted to their opening minds.

But the question came into my mind at once, "Who will go into these ignorant communities, and deny themselves the comforts of home, to do this work?" little thinking that God, by fifteen years training, had selected me for that very work in the Alleghanies.

On the morning of October 20, 1844, I rose in peace, with my happy little family around me; but a holy Providence ordered that in twelve hours my dear wife was to be in the cold embrace of death, and that her death was to be the first of a chain of providences to lead me "out into the highways and hedges."

I left home for the field of labor assigned me on the first day of November, 1844.

On my way on horseback I came alongside of a young gentleman of very fine appearance. We immediately entered into conversation about the beautiful farms and fine improvements we passed.

The evasive reply of the elegant young man led me to suppose he was a gay, thoughtless young lawyer or physician, as I had discovered that he was an educated man.

I then observed to him that as we were providentially thrown together, and I had made a promise not to travel a mile or spend an hour with any one without speaking on the subject of religion, I hoped he had no objections to such conversation.

He said, "It is no doubt an important subject," but said it in such a way that I still thought he was an irreligious man.

I then observed that I felt a deep interest in young men, especially as the destinies of the church and nation would soon be in their hands. That the only safeguard of either was real piety. I then repeated the text, "Except a man be born again he cannot see the kingdom of God." And after preaching him a sermon from it near a mile long, he observed,

"Well, sir, that is very good theology."

The manner in which it was said led me to reply, "Perhaps I have run against a preacher."

"Yes, sir," said he, "I am a new beginner at it, and you have given me one of the best lessons that I have ever learned. I thank you for it; it needs no apology, and I hope God will give me grace always to do likewise."

Our journey as we continued it to Pittsburg was pleasant and profitable.

But this delay was the most important part of my training. Those were days of most earnest searchings of heart, while such passages of Scripture as, "He that is ashamed of me and my words, of him will I be ashamed before my Father and his holy angels," were constantly ringing in my ears.

On the evening of the third day the box of books came. I had engaged a class-leader in the Methodist church to go with me the first day; but the sight of the box made me tremble, and so great was the dread of beginning the work that evening, that I resolved that if God did not give me strength by the next morning, I would start home and give it up. The night was spent without sleep. I can truly say I was in an agony till four o'clock in the morning. Then in a moment of time all my fears were gone, and I longed for the morning to come that I might begin my work.

In a few minutes we entered the first house. They were Germans; very irreligious. We talked and prayed with them, and sold some books. They seemed pleased with the visit, and thanked us for it.

The next house we entered bore the brand of intemperance. The husband was sitting by the fire with a sore hand and red eyes. We preached to him "righteousness, temperance, and a judgment to come," till he trembled and wept like a child. He promised to drink no more, joined a temperance society that night, became a church-going man, provided for his family, and as far as I know has turned out well.

During that day we visited twenty-seven families, talked and prayed with all of them, and distributed near twenty dollars' worth of books. Many shed tears while we talked with them of Christ and salvation, and promised to attend to the "one thing needful."

The next morning we started, full of zeal and hope. We met with many of the most wicked and degraded people that I had ever seen. Some listened to us with attention, while others treated us with contempt. Late in the evening, while we were visiting a row of board shanties, occupied by coal diggers, I was told not to venture into one of the shanties; that the man was almost a giant in size and strength, and a very dangerous man; that he was a terror to the neighborhood, and had beaten his wife very badly the day before. I replied there was the more need to see him, and I would go in. My friend would not even come to the door of the shanty, for fear of him.

The shanty was sixteen feet square, no floor but the earth; neither chair, table, nor bed except a bundle of straw in one corner. He was seated on a large block of coal at one side of the fire, and his wife on another block at the other side, while the children were lying on the ground playing between them. The woman's face bore testimony of the beating she had gotten the day before.

He was one of the most fiendish-looking men I ever saw. He was of enormous size, was clothed with rags, and did not appear as if he had been washed for months. He was as black as coal-dust could make him. I must confess it required all the courage I could summon to speak to him.

I approached him, and extended my hand, and said to him, "I have come to supply you with some good books to comfort you and point you to heaven. Have you a Bible?" "No," said he. "Can you read?" "Yes, a little." "Do you love Jesus Christ?" "I fear not, sir." I then urged him by every thing sacred to attend to his soul's salvation without delay; that death, judgment, and eternity were hastening on, and pictured to him as well as I could the awful consequences of dying in his sins. The tears ran down his blackened cheeks till the coal-dust was washed away below his eyes. I gave him a book, and prayed with him. He begged me to call again, and said, "You are the first man that ever spoke to me about my soul."

The next day we concluded to visit a coal digger's boarding-house, said to be the wickedest den that was to be found in the whole district. I will not attempt to describe its character. We entered late in the evening, as this was the only time we could find the men in. The house was kept by an old woman and her sons, who worked in the mines and were notorious for their daring profanity.

When we entered the house several men were playing cards, others were lying on benches about the room in various stages of intoxication. My colaborer was a small, timid man, and seemed somewhat alarmed.

I introduced our errand by proposing to sell them some good books, which they declined even to look at. I then commenced a general exhortation, which had no effect more than pouring water on a rock. I then called on my friend to pray, as it was his turn, and we had agreed to lead in turns. This he did with great fervor, and was responded to by the men with vulgar songs, and such other behavior as I have never seen before or since.

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