[[40/41]] God it soon passed away, and he spake with un[common del]<usual> liberty and power, the congregation was deeply attentive. Mr B- kept his position unmoved apparently, for some three quarters of an hour, but when the Pr came to the last part of the discourse, while he was speaking of the fearful consequences of a continued & final refusal, and the impossibility of escaping the horrors of an eternal hell, and quoting more passages of scripture to that point, then he ever could remember at any one time before, the vast assembly was moved to tears, and Mr B- suddenly leaned forward, covered his face with his hands, resting upon his knees, seemed much affected, and looked up no more till the sermon was [closed del] <ended>, and the speaker called upon him to close for him, when he rose and said let us pray, and he did pray, appropriately and feelingly, and earnestly invoked the divine blessing upon the important truths to which they had listened, that the Preacher might be blessed and prospered in the good work in which he was engaged <&> [[41/42]] And after prayer he seated himself as before only beside the Pr who supposed that perhaps Mr B- was waiting for the dismissal be<fore> he should make his attack, arose sung a few verses and pronounced the benediction, & then resumed his seat, but none left, all looked as if expect<ing> some important event, still a deathlike silence reigned, at length Bro. T- who was seated on the other side the Pr asked him <(speaking> loud enough for both to hear,) if he had any objections to Mr B’s addressing the congregation? (This he did, (as he afterward said), to make the victory complete, for he discovered that Mr B- was whipped,) The Pr replied, “not the least,” and then addressing Mr B- said that when he asked him to close he expected him to address the people, and that as they [people del] appeared interested & unwilling to go, it was not yet too late, But Mr B- declined, remarking that there had been so much said & so much to the purpose, that anything he could add would be superfluous - . After waiting a few minutes, seeing the congregation were not disposed [[42/43]] to leave, the Preacher rose, sang a few verses, the people appearing to be much affected, he gave a few words of advice, sang another song, and then mentioning his appointment the ensuing week at the usual place, he again gave them leave to retire, which they at length did, though with evident reluctance.
Mr B- then arose and taking the young Pr kindly by the hand enquired concerning his health and prosperity, and Mr D- coming up urged him to stay and dine with them as they had put off the dinner hour till after meeting. To this he consented and the time passed in pleasant conversation, Mr B- renewing his enquiries concerning the Parents, relatives & friends of the Pr and relating several incidents of <the> days of early methodism + in Vermont, without once alluding to his own change of sentiment, or of Church fellowship, soon after dinner [the Pr del] <Mr Ruter> (17) left. amid many expression + of kindness and good will, by Mr B- and the family, and went on his way, greatly rejoicing in spirit, that God had, in mercy, given him such a signal bloodless victory, he not then having occasion to draw his polemic sword, he thought that surely “the stars in their courses fought against Sisera.” (23)
Sometime afterward. Bro. T- meeting Mr B- asked him why he did <not> attack the young Pr as he [[43/44]] had intended, adding, we all know you had that appoint<ment> made for that purpose, now why did you not do it?
Well, said Mr B-. I will be candid with you, I reflected that possibly I had gone a little too far with my liberal notions, and if I am wrong, the Methodists are right, and when I come + to hear that young man I could not find it in my heart to attack him, or, to throw anything in the way of his success, let him go on.”
O how true is that declaration, “God hath the hearts of all men in his hand.” (24) – The young Pr saw Mr B- no more and no further opposition was attempted. Stop. (25)
In the town of A- there had been no Methodist preaching. There was collected together a small society of Congregationalists, but not strong enough to employ a Preacher, a pious Deacon was in the habit of preaching to them on the sabbath + a Sermon, and was careful to keep up the organization, & to guard the little flock from the wolves in sheeps + clothing as he, in his charity, styled the Methodist ministers. A Local Preacher however from a neighboring town, succeeded in getting leave to Preach in a house about a mile from the village, and many flocked to hear, and a good work commenced, Our Young Pr was invited to preach there which he did and formed a small class directly. Then it was the fight began, the good Deacon & his few [[44/45]] followers fought bravely, The Methodist should < not> preach in that town, no house should be opened for these disorganizers, the door of the school house, (the only public building in the town) was fast locked, parties were made, or attempted to be made, on the day of preaching, but in the midst of this excitement a gentleman living near the centre of the town, in a house that would probably hold twice as many as the schoolhouse declared the Methodist should preach in his house if they would, a message to this effect was sent to our Pr who made his next appointment there, the people generally came out to hear, Many were cut to the heart, and cried “what must we do,” (26) The excitement became general, and the people earnestly besought the preacher not to leave them, And a Local Preacher. considering this an important point kindly offered to go on partly round the Ct. The arrangement was accordingly made & our Pr remained between two & three weeks in that town preaching & teaching from house to house. During this time all kinds of secular employment, almost entirely ceased, the time being earnestly spent during the day and part of the night was spent in going from house to house praying, and singing praises to God. The Pr could get little time for rest and was compelled occasionally [[45/46]] to repair to a neighboring town, a few miles distant that he might obtain the needed repose.
All open opposition ceased, and those who at first opposed now came and united in worship, the good Deacon even, proclaiming that this was the work of the Lord, by this means and by the aid of a Missionary, who came shortly after the Pr left, they succeeded in accomplishing what they could not have effected by opposing openly, that is, out of some fifty or more converts, five or six joined their Church, the others, some forty five joined the M. E. Church, and the Class was left in a flourishing condition at the close of the year.-
A little beyond the State line, in the borders of Pensylvania + was a large settlement of wealthy farmers, mostly Germans, that is the first settlers were Germans, They had raised large families, the settlement had incr<eased > in numbers and wealth, till it was considered as one of the best in that region. A few of the old settlers were Lutherans, in the Motherland but here they had no Church, no Preacher, and indeed there was no preaching in that region. A Local Preacher who went into the neighborhood on business, told them of the great and good work which was progressing in the reserve, And a Mr B- the Patriarch [[46/47]] of the settlement, a German Lutheran Gentleman sent a message to our young Pr requesting him to come and preach in his house, an appointment was sent and when the day arrived, the Pr went, He found a large house, in the midst of a well cultivated country. He was cordially welcomed by the old gentleman, who had prepared benches for the congregation & even a small moveable stand or pulpit for the Pr
A congregation soon assembled, and with grave attention listened to the sermon, the first they had heard from a Methodist preacher. Soon as the Benediction was pronounced, the old gentleman came and laying his hand on the young man’s shoulder said, “You preaches here again,”
Well Mr B, if you desire it, I can preach here again four weeks from to day,
“O yes” said he “You bees our preacher, by sure you preaches here again,”
The appointment was announced, and the Pr having dined went on his way.
At the second appointment the congregation was much larger, The most deep and marked attention given to the word, and it was evident that the word was taking effect, on many hearts, which was attested by the starting tear, the quivering lip &c. And the Pr (though [[47/48]] he had determined to preach a few plain doctrinal sermons, first, that they might become instructed in the truths of the gospel), found it difficult to restrain his own feelings within <the> bounds he had prescribed for himself, as the most prudent course to be pursued, in a place where the entire population, were wholly ignorant concerning Methodist doctrines & usages. The meeting however was closed in due order, another appointment announced, and the congregation retired, serious & thoughtful. He remained at the request of Mr B- and spent the night pleasantly with him & his family. He found the man, tho. ignorant of Methodism, pretty well instructed in protestant theology and not wholly ignorant of experimental religion, but like many others felt himself firmly bound to the Lutheran Church yet a man of liberal feelings, and wishing the prosperity of other Protestant Churches.
When the day arrived for the third visit, Our Young Pr felt his spirit stirred within him, when he saw the crowd collecting from several miles around, so that when the hour arrived, the house, tho. spacious would not contain the people, and a <dense> crowd was standing around the door & open windows, it being on Thursday in the month of June [[48/49]] The text was Mat. 18: 3 rd. (27) after explaining the text with considerable liberty and when toward the close the speaker was urging the necessity of immediate conversion, and [word smudged illegibly] throughout the entire assembly, a deathlike stillness reigned, a portly middle aged woman of fine personal appearance, seated near the centre of the large room in which the speaker stood, suddenly uttered a most fearful scream, and fell to the floor as one dead. Instantly the whole congregation sprang to their feet, and without even saying, “by your leave sir”, all rushed for the doors, the speaker paused & out they went, so that he was, in less than three minutes, left alone, with the exception of two or three ladies, who tho. frightened almost to distraction, would not leave the fallen one to perish alone, but gathered around and tried, in vain, to raise her up, and the master of the house, who seated in his arm chair near the door, did not rise, but sat and looked as if he thought the last hour had come. while those who ran out, stopt + in the yard and looked back as tho. they every one expected to be instantly shot down. so soon as they paused so that he could be heard, the speaker calmly & in a mild manner entreated them to return & hear him out, assuring them that not one of them should be hurt, [[49/50]] and that he would guarantee the well being of the fallen lady, and would be answerable for all damages, that such exercises were not uncommon in christian congregations, and begged them to wait & see the end. They all came back, and in five minutes more, the house was as densely crowded as before. All were seated, and seemed anxious to see the denoument. + The fallen lady + still on the floor, then they had succeeded in raising her apparently lifeless form, so far as to rest her head upon the lap of another. The speaker commenced again, and then it was that, the word was indeed like a two edged sword, sighs and tears burst forth in every direction, the Pr soon left the stand & passing among the crowd, addressed one individual after another on the necessity of personal religion, in real class-meeting style, once in a while singing a verse or two of an appropriate hymn,
at length the fallen one uttered another scream, the congregation showed signs of alarm, so that the Pr feared another stampede, but pausing he entreated them to remain quiet and all would be well. In a few minutes more, the fallen lady sprang to her feet her countenance beaming with heavenly joy, and with astounding freedom & eloquence declared what God had done for her soul, and [[50/51]]