USA > North Carolina > Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical : illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers > Part 36
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There has been no memoir of this man given to the world; but it is not right for the church community to let his memory perish. To have looked at him, in his early days, as he was laboring in the fields in Carolina ; or to have seen him when he was become angry that an honest man doubted his religion ; or to have listened to him when he passed through Virginia, at the close of the revival, under Smith and Graham, we probably should not have said this is the man whom God has chosen to put in motion the whole community, on the greatest of all subjects, and the one to which the human heart is most averse. But God sees not as man sees, and he chooses whom he will for his divine purposes of mercy, both as agent and recipient. Let man honor whom God honors ; and let us rejoice in him whom God first made a vessel of mercy, and then a jewel of honor.
In the preface to a volume of sermons, which a few years ago were published from his papers, in Louisville, there is a brief ac- count of the commencement of the revival in Kentucky, drawn up by his hand. In the preface to the second volume, which appeared some time after, is the apology of the Editor, for not fulfilling ex-
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pectations he had excited in the first, of having a memoir of the able and blessed servant of God, whose sermons he was sending out to the world, and informs the public that he had entirely failed in obtaining any information about his early life and labors. McGready left no son, and no memoranda of himself, among his papers, except the short account of the commencement of the revival ; modestly estimating himself, and his labors, and usefulness, he was willing to wait the developments of the Great day, and abide the providence of God.
At several different times, in the year 1843, the Rev. Ebenezer B. Currie, of Orange Presbytery, who was a pupil of McGready in his youth, gave the writer an extended account of the labors and successes of that eminent servant of God, and is the authority for the principal facts in his early history, and very many respecting his maturer years. He, the Rev. James Hall, D.D., and S. E. McCorkle, D.D., are the authority for the statements about the revival in North Carolina. They all speak of things they saw and heard and knew.
The parents of McGready were of the Scotch-Irish race, but whether they emigrated from Ireland, or were born in Pennsylvania, is not now known. When he was quite young, they removed to Carolina, and settled in Buffalo congregation, in Guilford county, near where Greensboro, now stands, about the time that Dr. Caldwell became the pastor of the congregation, which is now occupied by Mr. Caruthers. Here James passed part of his boyish days, and part of his youth, in such labor, as persons of no very extensive property were, in those years, accustomed to in Carolina.
The sedateness of the youth and his punctuality in religious duties, united to a desire for mental improvement, so pleased an uncle of his, who was on a visit at his father's, that he conceived the idea of having James educated for the ministry, and prevailed on the parents to consent to his taking his son with him to Pennsylvania to secure an education in preparation to his preaching the gospel. His uncle believed him to be religious ; he thought so himself. In speaking of these, his early days and impressions, Mr. McGready used to say that he never omitted private prayer from the time he was seven years old, and having been preserved from outbreaking sins, from profane swearing, from intoxication, and sabbath breaking, and other ex- cesses, he had begun to think that he was sanctified from his birth. When about seventeen years of age he united in the communion of the church, professing a full belief in the doctrines of the Bible, in which he had been carefully instructed, and in the formulary, the catechism
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of the Westminster Assembly, in which, at that time, all children of Presbyterian congregations were reverently taught.
While he was studying for the ministry, fully satisfied of his own interest in the redemption of Christ, an incident occurred that destroyed all his peace. He overheard a conversation between the gentleman with whom he boarded and a neighbor who had stepped in one day. "Do you think," said the neighbor, "that this young man you have studying here has got any religion ?" " No," said the gentleman, " not a spark." The meaning was, that he did not think him a converted man, and that he, of course, had not felt in his heart the doctrines of grace. McGready felt himself much aggrieved at this opinion, and peculiarly at this expression of it ; and resolved to change his abode, not willing to live any longer with one that thought so little of his piety or his knowledge of religion. After the first rush of his indignation had somewhat subsided, the thought arose in his mind, that perhaps there might be some ground for the gentleman's unfavorable opinion. He, therefore, commenced a thorough examination of his principles of belief, his practice, and his feelings. Of his principles of belief, after examination, he was satisfied that they were correct. Of his practice, it appeared to him that he loved what the Scripture required, and turned away from those things the word of God forbade. Thus far he felt safe. But when he came to examine his feelings, to try them by such passages as, being "filled with the spirit ; filled with joy ; filled with the Holy Ghost ; joy of the Holy Ghost ; the fruit of the spirit is love, joy, peace," it seemed to him that he did not understand these things experimentally. Like Paul, " When the commandment came, sin revived and he died." The conflict in his soul was severe and protracted. He said that the first actual sin of which he felt con- victed was his having communed improperly ; and then the sin of his whole life stood up before him in awful array. He had no rest in his soul till he believed Christ gave him peace in believing, and his heart tasted some of the joys of the Holy Ghost.
This part of his experience gave a peculiar cast to his preaching through life, and made it peculiarly pungent in Carolina, where he commenced his labors. Through life he was famous for pointing out the hiding-places of the hypocrite and self-deceived, and bring- ing out the thoughts of men's hearts and revealing to them their secret purposes, and setting them at war in their own souls, lead them to Christ Jesus for peace. Formal professors had generally a very great dislike to him, accusing him of personality and undue severity.
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Redstone Presbytery gave him license to preach when he was about thirty years of age. His education was finished under Dr. McMillan, the founder of the Literary and Theological school, that ultimately grew into Cannonsburg College, the first institution of the kind west of the Alleghanies. Three institutions were com- menced by the Scotch-Irish before the Revolution ; one in Western Pennsylvania, one in the valley of Virginia, and one in Charlotte, North Carolina. The latter was broken up during the Revolution ; the two former are now flourishing institutions. Dr. McMillan was the means of rearing many useful preachers, by whom the wants of the rising West were for a time supplied.
After his licensure, McGready returned to Carolina to visit his connexions. On his way he passed through the places in Virginia visited by the Revival, which spread so far and wide under the ministrations of J. B. Smith and William Graham, in 1788 and 1789. He made some stay in Prince Edward, at Hampden Sydney College, then under the care of Mr. Smith, that eminently success- ful minister of Christ. With his heart warmed by what he heard and saw, and cheered in his soul with the expectations of good to come from the Great Head of the church to Zion, through the in- strumentality of the excellent young men he saw in preparation for the ministry, and of whom Pattillo speaks encouragingly in his letter to Synod in 1793, he reached Guilford, prepared to bear a testimony to men in favor of divine truth in its spiritual application.
The form of religious instruction and worship had been continued by the churches in Carolina, with commendable exactness, during the trying scenes of the Revolutionary war. The attention to cate- chetical instruction in families had not much abated. But the life. and spirit of religion had suffered much from the necessary irregu- larity in attending on the public ordinances, and from the harass- ing cares and indescribable vexations and suffering from the pro- tracted campaigns of Cornwallis, preceding the battle of Guilford Court-house. There was much true piety nourished in the congre- gations, and much of the heavenly temper cherished in the closet and family circle; but much formality had also come in, and close upon its footsteps outbreaking sin. The march of armies is marked by plunder and vice ; and dissipation and immorality follow in their train. The most moral and retired neighborhood suddenly found themselves in the track of hostile forces, and felt the moral shock in their families with painful sensibility.
As the subjects naturally presented for discussion, during the contest between the colonies and the mother country, by the patri-
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otic Presbyterian ministers, were of a general nature-more often referring to the wise providence of God; the necessity of contend- ing for liberty of conscience, of person, and of property ; the pro- priety of resistance to blood in a good cause, than to the more spi- ritual and devotional duties of the gospel ; it came to pass that the subjects of experimental religion were less insisted upon or heeded than they might have been, or than they had been in former and more quiet times. It is not to be understood that the standard of piety or morality was either intentionally abrogated or changed, but the subjects pertaining to the war in which all were involved, assumed a paramount controlling influence, and the sacred fire burned less purely in the congregation and the family ; and the scenes of bloodshed and plunder witnessed so frequently, hardened the heart against the commands of God.
After the settlement of peace, many things were found to have crept into at least some of the congregations in Carolina, which could not be justified or tolerated ; more easily introduced than eradicated ; more clamorously defended than adroitly extenuated. Parties for dancing were considered by many as harmless as they were fascinating ; the use of spirituous liquors had become more free and dangerous ; and in some neighborhoods horse-racing was tolerated as an innocent amusement, from which improvement of the breed of useful animals might be looked for as a natural consequence. All had sought for freedom of opinion and of conscience through the mortal strife of the Revolution ; and many considered freedom from moral obligation as part of civil liberty. It is scarcely to be won- dered at, though much to be mourned over, that in breaking down the opposition to religious freedom, and the unjustifiable hindrances to the exercise of religious liberty, the necessary barriers to vice and transgression should receive a severe shock, and even some of the outworks be broken down.
Among other things of a very objectionable nature which had become prevalent, was the habit of distributing spirituous liquors at funerals. Provisions of some kind were set out, commonly before the door, or carried round in baskets, and spirits offered freely to those who desired. The solemnity of the occasion was sometimes lost in the excitement, and scenes of drinking invaded the house of mourning. To preserve the appearance of religion, some one, an officer of the church, if present, was called upon to open the scene of eating and drinking by asking a blessing on the refresh- ments prepared.
Mr. McGready attended a funeral soon after his return to Guil-
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ford, and in compliment to the young minister just returned, he was called upon to ask a blessing that they might commence their drinking. "No," he replied, " I will not be guilty of insulting God by asking a blessing upon what I know to be wrong." A great sensation was produced, and McGready stood up for his de- fence, a champion not to be despised, large in form, some six feet high, of prominent features, grave in demeanor, solemn in speech, plain and neat in his style of dress, unaffected in his manners, with a powerful voice, and somewhat ungainly in his address, with the appearance of great weight and bodily strength.
The attention of the neighborhood being turned to him, he com- menced preaching along Haw River, and in various other places in Guilford. His first sermons were to alarm church members. Under his ministrations very many gave up their hopes of salvation which they had been cherishing, and confessed themselves deceived hypo- crites. Under his searching addresses they felt themselves to be, as he had been, unworthy to be acknowledged members of Christ's visible church, and abhorred themselves in dust and ashes. He would often say to them, " An unworthy communicant in such cir- cumstances as yours, is more offensive to Almighty God than a loathsome carcase crawling with vermin set before a dainty prince."
His pulpit preparations, while he lived in Carolina, were made with much study ; what were his habits after removing to the West is not known. In Carolina he used to devote some two days of each week in writing out his sermons for Sabbath with great care. He considered the word of God as truth to be taken for granted, and of course not to be reasoned about as if to be proved, but to be explained and enforced by the various considerations presented by revelation itself, by man's condition, and by providence. His written discourses were carefully perused and re-perused before he appeared in public, but were never seen in the pulpit. By his care in preparation the subject was sufficiently impressed upon his mind for him to speak with fluency and correctness without reference to notes. His spoken sermons were much longer than his prepara- tions, the different heads being more fully explained, and the appli- cation very much enlarged. The volumes of sermons printed at Louisville a few years since, were composed of preparations of this sort. The Rev. Mr. Currie, who was for a time his pupil, recollects to have heard some of those sermons delivered in Carolina. From these circumstances the printed sermons, exhibiting much good thought and power of language, will be less impressive than the discourses that fell from his lips, possessing all the excellences of
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the written ones, and enriched by the tide of feeling from a burning heart.
He excelled in public prayer, and the prayer before sermon was usually long, free from repetitions, and filled with earnest wrestlings with God for the assembled people. Often the congregation was in tears, under the influence of his devotions.
In his delivery he was always solemn, and sometimes very ani- mated from the commencement. Generally he began very calm and waxed warmer as he progressed, and in the application was always fervent. Avoiding metaphysical discussions, he preached the plain word of God with much point and great plainness and effect. To his hearers he often seemed a "Son of Thunder," and always a warm experimental Calvinistic preacher.
The congregations in which his labors were more particularly expended, were Haw River and Stony Creek. Haw River has de- clined from being a congregation ; the place of preaching is re- moved and is now called Gum Grove. Stony Creek is still a congregation and enjoys the labors of a pastor. In these congre- gations, and wherever else he preached in the neighboring charges, the excitement on the subject of religion was great, and the in- quiry about experimental godliness became very general. After he had been in Carolina about a year, he was married to a Miss Nancy Thompson, from the bounds of Redstone Presbytery, in Pennsylvania, and took his residence some three or four miles be- low High Rock, about midway between his two congregations. A school was opened at his house, under his direction, but taught principally by his brother, who was himself pursuing a course of study. This location being near his parents' residence, Mr. Currie attended upon its instruction for a length of time, and under the preaching of Mr. McGready became permanently impressed with a sense of religion, which was ultimately ripened into a desire to preach the gospel.
Buffalo and Alamance, the congregations of Dr. Caldwell, re- ceived many profitable visits from Mr. McGready, who frequently called upon the school under the Dr.'s care, and became a favorite of the students. His intercourse with these young men had an abiding influence over their hearts and lives. Many became hope- fully pious in consequence of his exhortations and instructions. At one time he lay confined by great debility of body, brought on by excessive labors, and a consequent fit of sickness, and was very kindly and assiduously attended upon by the more serious of the young men. He used occasionally to send for the more thoughtless,
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and hold a short conversation with them on the subject of their sal- vation ; and seldom did any one, says Mr. Currie, leave him with- out tears. One young man made himself merry at the tenderness of the others, till one day McGready sent for him for an interview, from which he in a short time returned, more deeply affected than the others by the kindness and solemnity of the manner, and the importance of the subjects presented to his mind.
The excitement that spread over the congregation of Hawfields, Cross Roads, Alamance, Buffalo, Stony Creek, Bethlehem, Haw River, Eno, and the churches in Granville, and those on the Hico and the waters of the Dan, was great, and ultimately exceedingly beneficial. Dr. Caldwell, a very sound but dispassioned preacher, stood by him and improved the influences in his own congregations. Cross Roads and Hawfields were vacant at the commencement of the revival. Mr. John Debow, the successor of Henry Pattillo the first pastor, who is spoken of by tradition as an excellent preacher, had died in September, 1783, and lies buried in the church-yard at Hawfields. His brother-in-law, a Mr. Lake, preached to the con- gregation for a time ; and under his ministrations the congregation of Cross Roads was set off, composed of portions of Hawfields, Eno, and Stony Creek. The next preacher was cotemporary with McGready, a Mr. Hodge. He had been hopefully converted under the preaching of Mr. Debow, and had commenced preparation for the ministry ; but had become discouraged after the death of his pastor and abandoned his design. Mr. McGready's preaching kin- dled his desire anew, and finishing his preparatory studies with Dr. Caldwell he commenced his labors as a minister at Hawfields and Cross Roads. He went heart and hand in the work of the gospel with McGready ; and often made excursions with him. Agreeing in principles and designs, these men were different in their tempera- ment and their manner of dispensing the gospel. From his tender and affectionate manner Hodge was styled " the Son of Consolation."
While the work of revival was going on in the counties of Orange and Guilford, and in parts of the neighboring ones, the congrega- tions in Granville, where Pattillo lived and preached, and along the Hico, were visited by Nash Legrand and Carey Allen, young men from Virginia, the fruits of the revival which had prevailed under the preaching of John B. Smith, particularly at Hampden Sydney College, of which they were members. Great effects followed their preaching. When their mission was ended, multitudes followed them into Virginia to attend the sacramental seasons in Prince Ed- ward and Charlotte. A friendly intercourse was then commenced
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between the congregations of the two Synods, which has continued more or less to the present day.
This revival, which commenced about the year 1791, continued for some years in the upper part of what is now Orange Presbytery. Many professors of religion renounced their hopes and became, as they thought, truly converted to God ; others were greatly enlivened and strengthened in their faith, and rejoiced in renewed graces ; and many hopeful converts were added to the church. This was the SECOND REVIVAL OF RELIGION in North Carolina, after the Revo- lutionary war, of any extent, of which any account or tradition has been preserved ; the FIRST having been in Iredell.
Mr. Currie relates the interesting fact, that in the year 1801, in the month of March, at Barbacue church in Cumberland county, five young men, Messrs. Brown, Murphy, McMillan, McNair, Shaw, Matthews, together with himself, were licensed to preach the gospel by Orange Presbytery. All had received part of their education at Caldwell's school, in Guilford ; and some, the whole. Part of them had grown up there, and been more or less under the influence of McGready. Of these, Matthews and Brown have received the de- gree of D.D. from respectable colleges.
This revival was attended with no unusual appearances or exer- cises. The opposition to the close and practical preaching and re- newed discipline never broke out into violence but in one case. At Stony Creek there were some families of wealth and influence, that had become loose in their religious habits and morals during this disturbance of the war and the presence of the armies ; these opposed Mr. McGready's course and preaching, and proceeded from one step of opposition to another, till their dislike exceeded all bounds. Some of these, during one of their nights of revelry, made a bonfire of the pulpit near the church, and left in the clerk's seat a letter written with blood, warning him that unless he desisted from his way of preaching, their vengeance would not be satisfied with the destruction of the pulpit; and his person would not be inviolate. McGready, as might have been expected, not in the least intimi- dated by the burning of the pulpit, or the letter, continued to preach as usual; and the opposition, confined to a few, died away. In a few years the dissipation of these families became the ruin of their character and property ; and after the lapse of a short period not a descendant of theirs could be found in the congregation.
Throughout the country, the pious, and the sedate who were not pious, favored the labors of the ministers that were engaged in this work of grace, whose effects have been a blessing to the church and
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community to this day. Some of the ministers that were brought in to the church, during those years the revival continued, yet live, crowned with years and usefulness, soon to follow to the judgment of God the generations that were actors in these scenes.
In the year 1796 Mr. McGready, who had been ordained in 1793, removed to Kentucky ; in the year 1799 the Presbytery of Orange dismissed Rev. Wm. McGee, and Barton Stone, a licentiate, to Pennsylvania Presbytery, and in 1800 the Rev. Messrs. Wm. Hodge, Samuel McAdo and John Rankin, to remove to the West ; and the part these men acted in the succeeding events in the West forms an interesting page in the history of the valley of the Mississippi.
The following is an extract from McGready's own statement, and shows the state of things in Kentucky.
Logan county, Kentucky, Oct. 28th, 1801.
" In the month of May, 1797, which was the spring after I came to this country, the Lord graciously visited Gasper River congrega- tion (an infant church under my charge). The doctrines of Re- generation, Faith, and Repentance, which I uniformly preached, seemed to call the attention of the people to a serious inquiry. During the winter the question was often proposed to me, Is reli- gion a sensible thing ? If I were converted would I feel it and know it? In May, as I said before, the work began. A woman who had been a professor in full communion in the church found her old hope false and delusive. She was struck with deep convic- tion, and in a few days was filled with joy and peace in believing. She immediately visited her friends and relations from house to house, warned them of their danger in a most solemn and faithful manner, and pleaded with them to repent and seek religion. This as a mean was accompanied with the divine blessing to the awaken- ing of many. About this time the ears of all in that congregation seemed to be open to receive the word preached, almost every ser- mon was accompanied with the power of God to the awakening of sinners."
" In the summer of 1798, at the administration of the sacrament of the supper in July, on Monday the Lord graciously poured out his spirit, a very general awakening took place. Perhaps but few families in the congregation could be found who less or more were not struck with an awful sense of their lost estate."
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