10 BIOGRAPHY OF
80 lines✦
he Lord’s,supper. In the evening the honest J. M’-Gready addressed the people from ‘‘Tekel, thou artweighed in the balances, and art:found wanting.” Hewent through all the legal works of the sinner—all thehiding places of the hypocrite—all the resting places of the deceived—he drew the character of the regen- erated in the deepest colors, and thundered divine an-athemas against every other. Before he closed his dis-course I had lost all hope—all feeling, and had sunkinto an indescribable apathy. He soon after inquiredof me the state of my mind. T[honestly told him. Helabored to arouse me from my torpor by the terrors ofGod, and the horrors of hell. I told him his labors werelost upon me—that I was entirely callous. He leftme in this gloomy state, without one encouraging word. | In this state I remained for several weeks. 1 wan=dered alone—my strength failed me, and sighs anderoans filled my days. My relatives in Virginia heardof my situation, and sent forme. My altered appear-ance surprised them. My old mother took me in pri-vate, and asked, what is the matter? I told her all.She wept much. She had always been a praying wo-man, and a member of the Church of England; butfrom this time she more earnestly sought the Lord,—united with the Methodists, and lived and died a Chris-tian. My visit proved to be a blessing to several. ofmy relatives, who were awakened to a sense of theirdangerous condition, and inclined to turn to the Lord. After a few days stay in Virginia I returned to the velpacademy i in the same state of sited: Soon after I at- tended a meeting at Alamance, in Guilford county.Great was the excitement sii!» people. On theLord’s-day,evening a strange young preacher, WilliamHodge, addressed the people, His text I shall neverforget, “‘God is love.’”? With much» animation, andwith many tears he spoke of the Love of God to sin-ners, and of what that love had done for sinners. Myheart warmed with love for that lovely character de-scribed, and momentary hope and joy would rise in my BARTON W. STONE. i: s ‘troubled breast. My mind was absorbed in the doc-trine—to me it appeared new. but the common ad-monition, Take heed lest you be deceived, would quicklyrepress them. ‘This cannot be the mighty work of thespirit, which you must experience—that instantaneouswork of Almighty power, which, like an electric shock,is to renew the soul and bring it to Christ. The discourse being ended, I immediately retired tothe woods alone with my Bible. Here I read andprayed with various feelings, between hope and fear.But the truth I had just heard, ‘‘ God is love,’”’ prevail-ed. Jesus came to seek and save the lost—‘‘ Him thatcometh unto me, I will in no wise cast out.” I yield-ed and sunk at his feet a willing subject. I loved him—I adored him—I praised him aloud in the silent night, —in the echoing grove around. I confessed to the Lord my sin and folly in disbelieving his word so long—and in following so long the devices of men. I nowsaw that a poor sinner was as much authorized to be-lieve in Jesus at first, as at last—that now was the ac-cepted time, and day of salvation. From this time till I finished my course of learning,I lived devoted to God. The study of the dead lan-guages and of the sciences were not irksome but pleas-ant, from the consideration that I was engaged in themfor the glory of God, to whom I had unreservedly de-voted my all. During this period a few incidents trans-pired, which were severe trials of my faith. My ex-penses for boarding, tuition, clothing, books, &c., wereconsiderable ; far more than I had anticipated. Myfunds were nearly exhausted ; my small patrimony hadsuffered loss. I could not procure decent clothes, orbooks, or things indispensably necessary. .I had se-rious thoughts of relinquishing my studies, and men-tioned it to my good friend and father, Doct. Caldwell.He urged me to go forward, and promised to wait withme, till I should be able to pay him. Encouraged byhim, I renewed my application through difficulties great,till I had finished my course of studies. ?
✦