USA > North Carolina > Sketches of North Carolina, historical and biographical : illustrative of the principles of a portion of her early settlers > Part 38
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at the public stand, others went to the tents, where crowds attended. The work went on all that day, and a great part of the following night ; so that, I believe, could the aggregate have been ascer- tained, although the work began at so late a period, as great a proportion was affected as had been at any former meeting.
" At our first meeting in this county, we had prepared to admin- ister the sacrament of the Lord's Supper ; but so numerous were the persons in distress, and so loud were the cries, that we declined the administration of the ordinance. At the two latter, we removed the communion table to a considerable distance from the places of preaching, where we administered the ordinance without embar- rassment. At the first, we had about six hundred, and at the se- cond, near five hundred communicants.
" At all our meetings, a considerable number professed to ob- tain the comforts of religion, and of those, I have not heard of one whose conduct has dishonored their profession. Praying so- cieties are formed in all our congregations, both supplied and vacant. In those the work scems to be promoted as much, and often more, than in our congregational assemblies. The face of the public, in point of morals, is evidently changed for the better, even in those places where the good work has not reached. It is to me no inconsiderable proof that the work is carried on by the same divine, omnipresent Spirit, when I behold such a sameness of exercises in the different subjects.
" It is granted, that those exercises, or affections, which are merely bodily, are very different, which no doubt arises from the different temperament or habit of body. The same difference is obvious in different constitutions or habits of body, as to swoon- ing, outcries, &c., when the matter of grief or terror is the same, and the distress equally pungent. But those exercises which are mental, appcar generally to run in the same channel. This can neither be from sympathy nor imitation ; for I have observed the same in the State of Tennessee more than eighteen months ago, as well as in various places in this State, where the subjects had never seen any other person in a similar situation. The first cry is usually for mercy, although I have attended upon sundry per- sons, who, when first struck, have been so overwhelmed with a sense of guilt, that they have told me, they were afraid to ask for mercy. But this state is usually of short continuance. And among the hundreds to whose exercises I have attended, have been pleasingly surprised to find so few cases of despondency, and not one instance of what may be called despair. This has been
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the more remarkable, when such sluices of conviction have been opened upon the consciences of sinners, as to extort such bitter outcries, and produce such terrible effects upon the body. After fervent cries for mercy, there are usually complaints of unbelief, obstinacy and hardness of heart, together with importunate pleading that those may be renewed. Then there will appear glimmering hopes of salvation through a Redeemer, who seems to appear afar off. Here are pleadings indeed ! Sometimes one person of the adorable Trinity, and sometimes another is addressed, according to his respective province in the economy of man's salvation. This is more especially the case with those who have been pre- viously well instructed in the doctrines of the gospel. In the sup- plications of those who are ignorant, there is not such a variety ; but even their addresses, especially those of children, are really astonishing. When hopes of pardon appear, the importunity, if possible, becomes more incessant. Never did an humble and dutiful child, pleading for a favor from a compassionate father, offer more humble, fervent and affectionate petitions, than are here used for acceptance with God through a mediator. O for faith, for more faith, is the usual cry. When the patient receives comfort, he generally lies silent ; wrapt in deep contemplation. Then some rise in raptures of joy and praise ; others in silence, with a placid serenity spread over the countenance. In both it is almost incredi- ble what change it makes on the countenance, which in many will be visible, not only for days, but weeks.
" In attending on some of those cases, I have often thought, that were I to set down and commit to writing the manner in which I believe, from the scriptures of truth, the spirit of God deals with a sinner, in bringing him from a state of nature to a state of grace-from the time he is first convicted of the evil of sin until he has a saving discovery of the mercy of God through the mediation of Christ, I know not how I could succeed better than by recording the exercises of some on whom I have waited ; although as to others, who are the subjects of severe exercises, it is evident to those tolerably well read in the anatomy of the human heart, that though they rise comfortable, they may be still in the bond of iniquity. This is not saying, but the most scrutinizing Christian may be mistaken as to the experiences or exercises of another ; but we must form our opinion according to our best evi- dencé drawn from the word of God. And if among the subjects of the present work some should persevere, and others draw back, this is no more than can be expected ; as the production will be
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according to the nature of the soil on which the seed of the word is sown in the human heart. When comfort is not obtained in those exercises, the subjects are generally left under deep convic- tions of sin, and are usually exercised again, some five or six times before they obtain comfort. Of those who have received comfort the first time they have been exercised, I have not known any whose religious hopes have not been afterwards shaken, and have fallen under exercises again. Frequently such will rise under clouds, which will not be removed until they have undergone another, perhaps frequent exercises, before their comforts be restored. Those exercises do not appear to be confined to those who never had experienced the power of religion before. I believe many are the subjects of them who have long been acquainted with vital piety. This answers many valuable purposes, as it quickens their graces, brightens their evidences, attaches them more warmly to the revival, and makes them more assistant to the ministers of the gospel.
"Nor is this happy revival confined to those who are under visible bodily exercises. I believe that many more are effected in what may be called God's usual way. With many such I have conversed, who appear to be under deep and rational conviction, and who think they have no valid impressions, because they are not the subjects of those violent exercises. Some of this class, with whom I have conversed, who, I have every reason to believe, have availed themselves of the benefits of Christ's mediation, dare not appropriate the comforts of religion, because they have not those ecstatic joys which they perceive in others. It is a matter of gratitude to cvery pious mind to see how a propitious Provi- dence has smiled on our general meetings. These have instru- mentally spread the work two hundred miles, in a greater or less degree, from east to west, and near one hundred from north to south ; though in those bounds a very small minority have felt its happy effects. But the work is evidently spreading, and we hope will diffuse itself until the whole be leavened. We are extremely happy in the coalescence of our Methodist and Baptist brethren with us in this great and good work. Party doctrines are laid aside, and nothing heard from the pulpit but the practical and ex- perimental doctrines of the gospel. To-morrow I expect to set out to a general meeting, appointed near the boundary of Guilford and Rowan counties, on middle ground between the Presbyteries of Orange and Concord. Another commences on Friday, the 21st instant, on middle ground between the first Presbytery of South
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Carolina and Concord. Our members are to divide between those meetings.
"May 13th. This day I returned home from the meeting near the Guilford and Rowan boundary. Five Baptist, four Methodist, and four Presbyterian ministers attended. The place of meeting was at a house of worship, supplied with a stated pastor of the Baptist church. The happy fruits of our meeting at Randolph now appear there. So great is the work there, arising from that meeting, that the pastor of that church baptized twenty-eight per- sons on the first Sabbath of this month. Appearances at our general meeting were much as above described at other places. Many were awakened, and a considerable number professed to obtain the comforts of religion. A letter I received to-day, so- liciting my attendance at another general meeting, in Rutherford county, eighty miles to the westward, to commence on the first Friday of next month, at which I expect to attend. The letter gives pleasing accounts of the happy effects of our little meeting near Morgantown. The contemplated meeting is to be about thirty miles to the southwest, where it appears that the happy in- fluence of the other meeting has reached them.
" What shall we render to the gracious King of Zion for his goodness and for his wonderful works to the unworthy children of men ! What I have written are mere introductory sketches to what might be said on what I have seen during the last three months. Volumes might be written on the subject. Many of the scenes to which I have been witness baffle description. At a com- munion in my own church on the first Sabbath of this month we had a solemnity from Friday noon until Tuesday morning, during which time there was scarcely any recess of exercises day or night, and a far greater proportion of the assembly were religiously af- fected than I had ever seen at our public meetings. May God carry on his work until righteousness cover the earth as the waters cover the seas, and the nations of the world become the kingdoms of our Lord and of his Christ !
"I am, Sir, your affectionate friend, &c.,
" JAMES HALL."
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" Important Letters communicated by the Rev. SAMUEL M'COR- KLE, North Carolina, through the hands of Mr. John Langdon, of Salisbury, Rowan county.
"LETTER I.
Dated Westfield, December 16, 1801.
" SIR,-I had before received some imperfect accounts of the re- vival in Guilford, Caswell, and Orange counties ; but have now received a more perfect account by the Rev. Mr. Flinn. A remark- able libertine, says he, has been lately struck down, and the stroke has silenced and confounded his companions. The preacher and people frequently remain all night on the ground in prayer, exhor- tation or praise. At a late meeting three young men were struck down in the act of cutting whips to correct some poor negroes who were crying for mercy. Our brethren from Orange have in- vited us to meet them at a sacrament in Randolph on the first day of the New Year. I design to attend. May the work come this way."
" LETTER II.
" January 8, 1802.
" SIR,-I now sit down to give you a narrative of the transac- tions at Randolph, commencing on Friday, January 1, 1802, and continuing until the ensuing Tuesday.
" On Thursday, the last day of the last year, I set out from home for Randolph, and lodged in Lexington with some preachers, and a number of people, mostly from Iredell, going on to the same place. The evening was spent in prayer and exhortation, without any visible effect. Next day the preachers arrived at the Ran- dolph meeting-house ; but the Iredell company lodged five miles behind.
" On Saturday, in the interval of two sermons, the congregation (near 2,000) were informed that the Iredell company were reli- giously exercised, in a sudden and surprising matter, at evening prayer, in the family or house where they lodged. This struck with seriousness every reflecting mind, because the effect did not appear to arise from oratory or sympathy, the causes commonly assigned for this work. The second sermon was delivered and the benediction pronounced as usual; but the people paused, as if they wished not to part, nor go either to their homes or encamp- ments.
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"Just then rose a speaker to give a short parting exhortation : but wonderful to tell, as if by an electric shock, a large number in every direction, men, women, children, white and black, fell and cried for mercy ; while others appeared, in every quarter, either praying for the fallen, or exhorting bystanders to repent and be- lieve. This, to me perfectly new and sudden sight, I viewed with horror ; and, in spite of all my previous reasoning on Revivals, with some degree of disgust. Is it possible, said I, that this scene of seeming confusion can come from the Spirit of God ? or can he who called light from darkness, and order from confusion, educe light and order from such a dark mental, or moral chaos as this ! Lord God, thou knowest. The first particular object that arrested my attention was a poor.black man with his hands raised over the heads of the crowd, and shouting, 'Glory, glory to God on high.' I hasted towards him from the preaching-tent; but was stopt to see another black man prostrate on the ground, and his aged mo- ther on her knees at his feet in all the agony of prayer for her son. Near him was a black woman, grasping her mistress' hand, and crying, ' O mistress, you prayed for me when I wanted a heart to pray for myself. Now thank God, he has given me a heart to pray for you and everybody else.' I then passed to a little white girl, about seven years old. She was reclining with her eyes closed on the arms of a female friend. But oh ! what a serene angelic smile was in her face ! If ever heaven was enjoyed in any little creature's heart it was enjoyed in her's. Were I to form some notion of an angel, it would aid my conception to think of her. I took her by the hand, and asked how she felt, she raised her head, opened her eyes, closed them, and gently sunk into her former state. I met her next day with two or three of her little compa- nions, I asked her how she felt yesterday. 'O how happy,' said the dear little creature, with an ineffable smile, 'and I feel so happy now, I wish everybody was as happy as I am.' I asked her several questions relative to her views of sin, a Saviour, hap- piness and heaven ; and she answered with propriety, and as I thought rather from proper present feelings than from past doctri- nal or educational information : for when I was afterwards called to examine her in order to communion, I found her defective in this kind of knowledge, and dissuaded her from communicating at that time, though she much desired it. This I have since regret- ted, for I do believe, on cool reflection, that she possessed that ex- perimental knowledge of salvation, which is infinitely preferable to all the doctrinal or systematic knowledge in the world without it.
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" But to return. I pressed through the congregation in a cir- cuitous direction, to the preaching tent, viewing one in the agony of prayer ; another motionless, speechless, and apparently breathless ; another rising in triumph, in prayer and exhortation. Among these was a woman five hours motionless, and a little boy under twelve years of age who arose, prayed and exhorted in a wonderful man- ner. After themselves I observed that their next concern was their nearest relations. After this, I went to the nearest encampment, where seven or eight were prostrate on the earth ; while viewing this scene, a stout young man fell on his knees behind me, and cried for mercy. I turned about. He asked me to pray for him. I attempted it. He arose with some assistance, called for a brother, and gave him and the bystanders a most pressing dissuasive against delaying repentance ; ' this,' said he, ' has been my own case until I saw the Iredell company passing by. They left me restless and wretched. I was forced to follow. I have just come ; and have been running from camp to camp, until I was able to go no farther. I now cry for mercy, and feel determined to cry until I find it.'
" After I had gone round the encampments, I went into the wood to see a large number, some of them my own charge, at a distance from the camps. Two or three had retired for prayer and conversation, and were struck ; others were led to them by their cries, some of whom were also struck, until there was a large company of spectators, and persons exercised. I had now viewed the whole as a spectator. My mind seemed to be made up of a strange mass of sensations, and I retired for a moment to make some serious reflections. Still did the notion of disorder perplex me. What is disorder, said I, and wherein consists its criminality ? There is an external disorder, which disturbs formal organized worship. This disorder may arise from the fainting of the speaker, or of any of the hearers, or from any sudden alarm, as Hervey has stated in the story of a press-gang in a seaport in England. Has organized worship been disturbed in Randolph ? No. Would the disturbance be criminal if it were involuntary ? Certainly not. If so, Peter might have been disturbed with the cry of his hearers, and Paul with the fall of Eutychus from the third loft. Yet there was no crime. Where then is that disorder which involves guilt ? It is in a multitude of improper, incohe- rent, and wandering thoughts. Do such thoughts pass through the minds of the exercised, or of serious spectators ? No. An awful sense of the majesty of God-a painful sense of sin-an
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earnest desire to be delivered from it, &c., &c., surely there is no disorder here. I see criminal disorder through roving eyes, and vacant features. I see it in the conversation of an intoxicated youth. I see it in the giddy crowd running from camp to camp, without a fixed object, and I see it in the conduct of those pro- fane persons who have overturned the sacramental tables, and trampled them under their unhallowed feet. This is disorder voluntary, and awfully criminal. But who will dare to say this of the poor sinners constrained to cry, even in the great assembly, ' Men and brethren, what must we do to be saved ?' But who con- strains ? I answer, the impression is God's, the expression ours, and will ever be as the suddenness of conviction, the weakness or energy of the mind, and the sense or aggravation of its guilt. I had often viewed the unity and variety of God's works, and thought I began to see these traits here. What a sameness in the exercises of all, and yet what a wonderful variety in time, place, means, and degrees of exercises ! What a sameness and variety in the persons, faces, and voices of men; and also in the natural powers and dispositions of the mind. Surely the God of nature is the God of grace. Natural affections begin with self, and then spread around ; so do the affections that show themselves in this work. First, what shall I do to be saved ? Then, O my child, my brother, or sister, 'Repent and believe.' Surely this must be the work of God, and marvellous in our eyes ! After all, it seems an astonishing way to reform mankind. It is not the way I would take to do it. But what is conducted as I would con- duct it ?- peace or war, plenty or famine, pestilence or health, life or death ? No. I can but say, O God, as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are thy thoughts above our thoughts, and thy ways above our ways.
" On the last evening of the solemnities were my difficulties completely removed by the ardent exercise of a man near three score, a man far, very far from enthusiasm, and its constituents, melancholy and irrational devotion ; a man whose mind was en- lightened, long enlightened with the rays of science and religion. This man felt no pain nor anxiety for himself. The ardency of his desire, or prayer, was first excited for a particular person who was impressed ; but his ardency seemed to rise as high as the heavens, and to extend wide as the earth. It seemed as if God then vouchsafed to answer his prayer, to rend the heavens, and come down ; to shine into his heart, to give the light of the know- ledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus, and the joy un-
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speakable, even raptures, that arise from such a view. Never was prayer offered with more ardor for the extending of this work, nor with more firm and unbounded confidence that it would be extended. He seemed to see the glory of all the divine attri- butes at one view, and to see them all displayed in the progress of this glorious work. He has never since suspected that it was delusion, but has mostly since enjoyed
' The soul's calm sunshine, and the heart-felt joy, Which earth can't give, and which earth can't destroy.'
And he has ever since expressed an ardent zeal to promote this work."
"LETTER III.
" February 4, 1802.
" The subject of this letter is the first meeting in Iredell, called the Third Creek meeting ; on this I have nothing different from Mr. Hall's statement, except these remarks : 'That persons who had obtained a religious education, and were moral in their general deportment, continued longer under convictive impressions than others who were ignorant and immoral ; but the former had greatly the advantage in the regularity of their exercises, and in the fa- cility and perspicuity with which they communicated them. And that, though very young and bashful persons might pray and ex- hort well under the first exercises or impressions, yet they seldom or never succeed so well in future. And that, though very young people have gone as far as education or genius could go, yet I have never seen them go beyond. It is indeed saying a great deal to assert that they have gone so far.'"
" LETTER IV.
" March 17, 1802.
" The subject of this is the meeting at Cross-roads, in Iredell. The extract not noticed by Mr. Hall, is that a system of rules was agreed to by the ministers for the more uniform conducting of the work. These rules are :-
" 1. That persons exercised and crying for mercy, should neither be disturbed with prayer nor exhortation, unless when they re-
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quested it, or were verging to despair, or becoming careless with- out gaining consolation.
" 2. That when consolation came, thanks should be given ; yet not in such terms as if conversion and salvation were entirely cer- tain ; but only in a judgment of charity hopefully begun, and to be manifested by a future humble active course of obedience to all the divine commandments. These rules were suggested by viewing the conduct of some, who seemed to push impressed per- sons too hastily along, and hazard the mistaking of convictions for conversion. Here too much caution cannot be taken ; for, on the one hand, is danger of kindling sparks, and on the other, of estab- lishing a righteousness of our own, or of getting confidence or consolation that comes not from the comforter. To these two rules might have been added two more. 1. Never to make it an object in prayer, preaching or exhortation, to excite bodily affec- tions ; for, in this sense, bodily exercise profiteth little. It is not essential to true religion, and is even now but an incidental cir- cumstance which the wisdom of God is directing to purposes most important indeed. 2. That young people, and especially children, who had spoken feelingly and sensibly under their first impressions, should not be pushed forward by their friends to speak again, after these impressions were abated or gone.
" Opposers here had time to combine, and show themselves. They were rather sentimentally than really united. One class were infidels, curiosity brought them, they laughed at the disputes of Christians, and cared little about them. Another class were the Associates-they were in angry earnest, and wished for dispu- tation. Another class were of the baser sort, low, vulgar drunk- ards, buffoons and debauchees. These several classes were seldom opposed otherwise than by prayer."
LETTER V.
" April 2d, 1802.
" The subject of this is the meeting at New Providence.
" Extract, not in Mr. Hall's Narrative. At this meeting has been demolished an infidel objection that only weak nerves and minds are affected in this work. Here I saw prostrate, a young man, remarkable for the robustness of his body, and energy of his mind, and for opposition resolute and determined. 'O God,' were his very words, 'and must I shrink now ? Must I lie here an
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humble spectacle to the gazing crowd ?' After a pause, ' O God, have mercy :'-but after another-‹ Did I ever ask it before ? No ! but often for curses.' Another young man, the largest in the Assembly, was stricken down. But the most remarkable of all was a gentleman of a strong constitution, and a mind enlightened, and enlarged by science, and knowledge of the world-and in the school of infidelity, a master. This gentleman I saw soon after he was struck. He passed a night in horrors indescribable. I heard him declare the next morning that he believed this to be a supernatural work ; and urged in proof the first of the above young men, ' whom I know,' said he, ' to have both strength of nerves, and energy of mind ; and yet he fell.'
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