From Death into Life by William Haslam

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I went out the next evening, intending to tell it at the school-room
meeting; but before I began to do so, I observed that the people sang
more freely than usual, and I also noticed that two men who prayed
omitted to offer the usual request for hindrances to be removed. When I
told my dream, a man arose and said, "I know all about that; there has
been one among us whom we thought was a good man, but instead of this we
have discovered that he was most immoral and deceitful, doing a deal of
mischief, secretly undermining the faith of some, and misleading others;
he has been detected, and is gone." Sure enough our old happy freedom
returned, and there was liberty in preaching, praying and singing, and
souls were saved.

Another time, when I was getting a little impatient with the people, I
took a leaf out of my Scripture-reader's book, and preached a furious
sermon about "damnation," representing God as pursuing the sinner to cut
him down, if he did not repent there and then. I thought I had done it
well, and went home rather satisfied with myself, supposing that I now
knew how to make the congregation feel. The next morning, a yeoman
called to me as I was passing her cottage, and said, "Master, what d'yer
think? I dreamt last night that the devil was a-preaching in your
pulpit, and that you were delighted at it!" A sudden fear fell upon
me--so much so, that I returned to the church, and shutting the door,
begged God's forgiveness; and thanking Him for this warning, asked that
I might remember it, and never transgress again.

As my Scripture-reader continued to denounce wrath and vengeance,
instead of preaching the Gospel, I parted with him.

Next, let me tell of a vision which refers to others. My sister came to
me one morning, and said, "William, I had a vision last night of a young
man in a tall hat, with a green-and-red carpet-bag in his hand. I saw
him so plainly, that I should know him again anywhere. He was walking up
the road when you met him, shook hands, and returned with him to the
house. Then you and F---- brought him in at the glass door. On the hall
table there stood a basket containing four beautiful and fragrant
fruits. You took up the basket and offered it to the visitor, who,
putting his hand upon one, said, 'Oh, thank you!' Then touching the
three others in order, said, 'That is for mother, and that for sister,
and that for --.' I could not hear who. You may smile," she continued,
"but I heard that, and saw it all as plainly as I see you now."

I was accustomed to hear such things, and consequently thought no more
about it, but went on to speak of other subjects. In the course of the
afternoon, as I was going out, I met a relative coming along the road,
and took him back with me to the house; there my wife came out to him,
and we led him in through the glass door. When he had sat some time and
had had some luncheon, my wife said, "I wonder whether this is the young
man we heard about this morning? .... What young man?" asked our
visitor, hastily; "What young man do you mean? .... I should not wonder
if it is," I replied; "We will see presently." He seemed very
suspicious, having heard before he came that some mysterious change had
taken place in us, and so looked again and again to see if he could
detect anything different.

"Come and see my sister," I said; to which he assented, and we went
across to her house. As soon as we entered her room, she said, "How do
you do? I saw you last night." "What do you mean ?" he replied,
withdrawing his hand. "Why, I was on board the steamer last night."
"That may be," she said, "but you are the gentleman I saw. Have you not
a green-and-red carpet-bag? and did not William meet you on the road?"
Poor young man! he looked dreadfully perplexed. "Never mind her," I
said; "sit down and tell us about your journey."

After we had talked of this and other subjects, we return home. I then
told him that we were converted and asked if he had given his heart to
God. He said he had. Not being satisfied, I put the question in another
form, and yet remained unsatisfied with his answer. "Do you doubt me?"
he asked: "I will prove it to you." He then went up to his room for a
little while, and returned with a paper in his hand, in which was a
dedication of himself to God, duly signed and sealed. I had never seen
an instrument of this kind before, and asked if he really believed in
it? "Yes, certainly," he replied; "and I mean it, too."

"But," I said, "do you not see that faith does not consist in believing
what you write, but in what God has written? The Word says that God is
more willing to take than you are to give: you believe you have given;
but do you believe that God has taken? He is far more ready to take your
heart than you to give it; as surely as you have given, so surely He has
taken. Cannot you see that?"

He replied, "I knew that there was something wrong about this, but I did
not know what. Thank you! thank you!" Then thoughtfully folding up the
paper, he went out of the room.

The bell was rung for dinner, but he did not appear; and then for tea,
but he declined taking any. After we had gone to church, he found his
way down and followed us there; and when the service was over he
returned again to his room. I was detained at the schoolroom that night,
and until two o'clock in the morning, praying and talking with anxious
souls, and returned home very tired. Going up to bed I saw a light
shining under my visitor's door, and hesitating there a few moments, I
heard him pleading earnestly for mercy. I had a great mind to knock, but
was afraid of disturbing him; so I prayed for him, and went to bed.

In the morning he came down smiling. "Thank God," he said, "it is all
right now; I am saved." In his hand he held three letters--one to his
mother, one to his sister, and the other to a cousin, in which he
invited them earnestly to come to Jesus. Within the week all four were
in our house, praising God for salvation.

As the vision indicated, we had nothing to do but hold the basket to
him. He accepted it, and the fruit for himself and his relatives.

Amongst other people and characters I met with at this time was a good,
respectable man, who had a remarkable dream. He came to me one day,
after I had been speaking about Jacob's ladder, and said that my sermon
had reminded him of his dream. I begged him to sit down and tell it to
me. He said, "I dreamt that I and nineteen other young men were living
in a beautiful house and place, where we had everything provided fer us,
and were free to enjoy ourselves as much as we pleased. We all
understood that the premises belonged to Satan and that we were his
guests. As such, we were permitted to take our pleasure upon two
conditions--one was, that we were not to pray; and the other that we
were not to go away. We smiled at this, and said it was not likely we
should do the former, for we were not the praying kind; and less likely
that we should do the latter, for why should we be such fools as to
forego or give up our enjoyments?"

I thought to myself, What a wonderful dream that is and how true to
reality! What numbers of young men there are, and young women too,
besides: many other people, who hold their worldly happiness on this
tenure, and of course from the same master.

Well, to continue the story of the dream, he said, "In the course of
time we all became heartily tired of the place and its pleasures, and
longed to get away, but we could not. One of us made an attempt to do
so, but he was captured and brought back, and made more of a slave than
ever. At last, I and a few others agreed to pray at a stated time in
different places, in the hope that if one was caught, yet the rest might
escape. Upon a set day and time we began praying, each in his appointed
place. I had fixed upon a dark corner in a large deserted room, where we
had stowed away bales and bales of goods we did not care to open.
Climbing over the top of these stores, I landed on the other side, and
went to the spot I had chosen. I had not prayed long before I heard
master coming, cracking his whip, and saying, 'I'll teach you to pray.'
This made me tremble exceedingly, and pray all the harder; but hearing
that he was very near and coming after me, I opened my eyes, and to my
surprise there was a beautiful silver ladder before me. As quick as
thought, I sprang with hands and feet upon it, and began to climb for
dear life. 'Ha!' said master, 'I'll teach you to climb.' Then I felt the
ladder shaking under me, and knew that he was coming up. I expected
every moment to be seized and dragged back, so I climbed all the faster,
and looked up to see how much farther I had to go. Oh, it was such a
long way, and there was only a very small hole to get to at last. My
heart began to fail me, so that I almost let go my hold, till I felt the
master's sulphurous breath on the back of my neck, which made me rush
forward more vehemently. At last I reached the top, and thrust my arm
through the hole, then my head, and then my other arm; thus I got
through altogether, leaving my old enemy blaspheming and cursing down
below. It was a most beautiful place that I was now in, and angels were
flying about, just as the birds do in this world. I saw the Lord
Himself, and fell down before Him to give Him thanks. As I remained a
long time prostrate. He said to me. 'What is thy petition?' I answered,
'Lord, grant that that hole may be made larger, for I have nineteen
friends down there in the power of the cruel master.' The Lord smiled,
and said, 'That hole is quite large enough.' So I awoke."

Where there is a will, there is always a way of some kind; and if
worldlings are really tired of Satan's service, they can easily call
upon God to deliver them, and He will most surely do so when He sees
they are in earnest. This dream had the effect of spiritually awakening
the man who had it, and of bringing him to the foot of the cross for
mercy and salvation.

I noticed that in dreams and visions in Cornwall the Lord Jesus very
often appears, and the devil also; these are real persons to the Cornish
mind, and their power is respectively acknowledged.

During the summer, a young gentleman, whom we invited to our house in
the hope of reaching his soul, came to stay with us; and this in spite
of his avowed prejudice against us and our proceedings. I took this as a
token of encouragement, for I was sure that the devil would have
hindered his coming, unless the young man had been constrained by a
higher power. He spent his time in riding about or smoking, and made
great fun of our meetings and services, though I observed that he was
very attentive to hear the sermon whenever he did come.

One week-day evening, while we were sitting in the drawing room, and
little expecting it, he burst into tears and cried out, "I don't know
what to do; I shall be lost for ever!" We immediately sprang up to his
help, always delighted at such opportunities of working for the Lord. We
knelt down to pray, and as we continued to do so, he fell into great
distress, and even agony of soul; he literally writhed as if in
excessive pain, too great for utterance, and looked as if he was
fainting with the struggle. We called all the servants into the room to
help in prayer, and while I was praying by the side of my young friend,
and pointing him to Christ, one of the servants rose up and walked
straight across the room, and, with a firm hand pushing me aside, said,
"The Lord is here Himself." I rose instantly and moved out of the way,
while she stood with her hands together, adoring.

She afterwards told us that she saw the Lord stoop down to the low chair
where my young friend was kneeling, and putting His hand on his head, He
said something, and then stood up. Immediately upon this she saw the
verandah crowded with ugly-looking devils, all with their eyes fixed on
the young man as he knelt. The Lord then waved His hand, and the ugly
company vanished. At that instant the young man lifted up his head, and
turning towards the side on which she had discerned the Lord as
standing, said, "Lord, I thank Thee," and then fainted away.

When the vision was over, the servant came, with tears in her eyes, to
ask pardon for so rudely pushing me aside, but said that while the Lord
was there she could not help herself: "Oh, He is so beautiful, so
grand!" The young man was soon restored to animation, and began to speak
in a voice and tone very different to his former utterance. He was
altogether a remarkable instance of a change of heart and life.

A careless, worldly man in my parish dreamt one night that he was in the
market hall of a certain town. He was surprised to see, in a wall, a
doorway, which he had never noticed before--so much so, that he went
forward to examine it, and found that it really was a door, and that it
opened to his touch. He went inside, and there he saw an impressive and
strange scene. There were a number of men and women walking about, who
appeared to be very woeful, end in great agony of pain. They were too
distressed to speak, but he recognized most of them as persons who had
been dead some time. They looked mournfully at him, as if sorry that he
had come there, but did not speak. He was much alarmed, and made his way
back to the door to escape, but was stopped by a stern, sullen-looking'
porter, who said, in a sepulchral voice, "You cannot pass." He said, "I
came in this way, and I want to go out." "You cannot," said the solemn
voice. "Look, the door opens only one way; you may come in by it, but
you cannot go out." It was so, and his heart sank within him as he
looked at that mysterious portal. At last the porter relented, and as a
special favour let him go forth for eight days. He was so glad at his
release that he awoke.

When he told me the dream I warned him, and begged him to give his heart
to God. "You may die," I said, "before the eighth day." He laughed at
the idea, and said he was "not going to be frightened by a dream." "When
I am converted," he continued, "I hope I shall be able to say that I was
drawn by love and not driven by fear." "But what," I said, "if you have
been neglecting and slighting God's love for a long time, and He is now
moving you with fear to return to Him?" Nothing would do; he turned a
deaf ear to every entreaty. When the eighth day arrived, being market
day, he went to the hall as usual, and looked at the wall of which he
had dreamed with particular interest, but seeing no door there, he
exclaimed, "It's all right; now I will go and have a good dinner over
it, with a bottle of wine!"

Whether he stopped at one bottle or not, I cannot tell; but late on
Saturday night, as he was going home, he was thrown from his horse and
killed. That was at the end of the eighth day.

Whether these dreams and visions were the cause or effect of the
people's sensitive state, I do not know; but certainly they were very
impressible, and even the cold and hardened amongst them were ready to
hear about the mysteries of the unseen world. I attributed this to the
spiritual atmosphere in which they were then living.

CHAPTER 12

Billy Bray, 1852.

After the events narrated in Chapter 10, and when all the people who
dwelt on the hill on which the church was built were converted, there
came upon the scene a very remarkable person, who had evidently been
kept back for a purpose. This was none other than the veritable and well
known "Billy Bray."* One morning, while we were sitting at breakfast, I
heard some one walking about in the hall with a heavy step, saying,
"Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord!" On opening the door, I beheld a
happy-looking little man, in a black Quaker-cut coat, which it was very
evident had not been made for him, but for some much larger body. "Well,
my friend," I said, "who are you?"

__________________________

* See "The King's Son; or, Life of Billy Bray," by F. W. Bourne.
___________________________

"I am Billy Bray," he replied, looking steadily at me with his twinkling
eyes; "and be you the parson?"

"Yes, I am."

"Thank the Lord! Converted, are ye?"

"Yes, thank God."

"And the missus inside" (pointing to the dining-room), "be she
converted?"

"Yes, she is."

"Thank the dear Lord!" he said, moving forward.

I made way for him, and he came stepping into the room; then making a
profound bow to the said "missus," he asked, "Be there any maidens
(servants)?"

"Yes, there are three in the kitchen."

"Be they converted too?"

I was able to answer in the affirmative; and as I pointed towards the
kitchen door when I mentioned it, he made off in that direction, and
soon we heard them all shouting and praising God together. When we went
in, there was Billy Bray, very joyful, singing,

"Canaan is a happy place;
I am bound for the land of Canaan."

We then returned to the dining-room with our strange guest, when he
suddenly caught me up in his arms and carried me around the room. I was
so taken by surprise, that it was as much as I could do to keep myself
in an upright position, till he had accomplished the circuit. Then he
set me in my chair and rolling on the ground for joy, said that he "was
as happy as he could live." When this performance was at an end, he rose
up with a face that denoted the fact, for it was beaming all over. I
invited him to take some breakfast with us, to which he assented with
thanks. He chose bread and milk, for he said, "I am only a child."

I asked him to be seated, and gave him a chair; but he preferred walking
about, and went on talking all the time. He told us that twenty years
ago, as he was walking over this very hill on which my church and house
were built (it was a barren old place then), the Lord said to him, "I
will give thee all that dwell in this mountain." Immediately he fell
down on his knees and thanked the Lord, and then ran to the nearest
cottage. There he talked and prayed with the people, and was enabled to
bring them to Christ; then he went to the next cottage, and got the same
blessing; and then to a third, where he was equally successful. Then he
told "Father" that there were only three "housen" in this mountain, and
prayed that more might be built. That prayer remained with him, and he
never ceased to make it for years. The neighbours, who heard his prayer
from time to time, wondered why he should ask for "housen" to be built
in such an "ungain" place.

At last, after sixteen years, he received a letter from his brother
James, to say that they were hacking up the "croft" to plant trees, and
that they were going to build a church on the hill. He was "fine and
glad," and praised the Lord. Again he did so, when his brother wrote to
say there was a vicarage to be built on the same hill, and a schoolroom
also. He was almost beside himself with joy and thankfulness for all
this.

In the year 1848, when the church was completed and opened, he came on a
visit to Baldhu, and was greatly surprised to see what a change had
taken place. There was a beautiful church, a parsonage, with a
flourishing garden, and also a schoolroom, with a large plantation and
fields round them. He was quite "'mazed," for he never thought that the
old hill could be made so grand as that! However, when he went to the
service in the church, his joy was over; he came out "checkfallen," and
quite disappointed. He told "Father" that that was nothing but an "old
Pusey" He had got there, and that he was no good. While he was praying
that afternoon, "Father" gave him to understand that he had no business
there yet, and that he had come too soon, and without permission. So he
went back to his place at once, near Bodmin, and continued to pray for
the hill.

After three years his brother James wrote again; 'and this time it was
to tell him that the parson and all his family were converted, and that
there was a great revival at the church. Now poor Billy was most eager
to come and see this for himself, but he obtained no permission, though
he asked and looked for it every day for more than three months.

At last, one wintry and frosty night in January, about half-past eleven
o'clock, just as he was getting into bed, "Father" told him that he
might go to Baldhu. He was so overjoyed, that he did not wait till the
morning, but immediately "put up" his clothes again, "hitched in" the
donkey, and set out in his slow-going little cart. He came along singing
all the way, nearly thirty miles and arrived early in the morning.
Having put up his donkey in my stable, he came into the house, and
presented himself, as I have already stated, in the hall, praising God.

We were a long time over breakfast that morning, for the happy man went
on from one thing to another, "telling of the Lord," as he called it,
assuring us again and again that he was "fine and glad, and very
happy"--indeed, he looked so. He said there was one thing more he must
tell us; it was this--that he had a "preaching-house" (what we should
now call a mission-room), which he had built years ago. He had often
prayed there for "this old mountain," and now he should dearly love to
see me in the pulpit of that place, and said that he would let me have
it for my work. He went on to say that he had built it by prayer and
faith, as "Father" sent him help, and that he and another man had built
it with their own hands. One day he was short of money to buy timber to
finish the roof; his mate said it would take two pounds' worth; so he
asked the Lord for this sum, and wondered why the money did not come,
for he felt sure that he was to have it. A farmer happened to look in
the next morning, and Billy thought he had come with the money, but he
merely asked them what they were doing, and then took his departure,
without giving them help. All that day they waited in expectation, and
went home in the evening without having done any work. The next morning
the same farmer appeared again, and said, "What do you want two pounds
for?" "Oh," said Billy, "you are come, are you? We want that money for
the roof yonder." The farmer then went on to say, "Two days ago it came
to my mind to give two pounds for the preaching house, but as I was
coming down the hill on yesterday morning, something said to me, 'if you
give one pound it will be handsome; then I thought I would give only
half-a-sovereign; and then that I would give nothing. Why should I? But
the Lord laid it on my mind last night that I must give you two pounds.
There it is!"

"Thank the Lord!" said Billy, and proceeded immediately to get the
required timber. In answer to prayer he also obtained "reed" for
thatching the roof, and by the same means timber for the forms and
seats.

It was all done in a humble manner, so that he did not dream of buying
any pulpit; but one day, as he was passing along the road, he saw that
they were going to have a sale at the "count-house" of an old mine. He
went in, and the first thing which met his eye was a strong oak
cupboard, with a cornice around the top. It struck him that it would
make a grand pulpit, if only it was-strong enough: on examination, he
found it all he could desire in this respect. He thought if he could
take off the top and make a "plat" to stand upon, it would do
"first-rate." He "told Father" so, and wondered how he could get it. He
asked a stranger who was there, walking about, what he thought that old
cupboard would go for? "Oh, for about five or six shillings," was the
reply. And while Billy was pondering how to "rise" six shillings, the
same man came up and said, "What do you want that cupboard for, Billy?"
He did not care to tell him, for he was thinking and praying about it.
The man said, "There are six shillings for you; buy it if you will."
Billy took the money, thanking the Lord. and impatiently waited for the
sale. No sooner was the cupboard put up, than he called out, "Here,
maister, here's six shillin's for un," and he put the money down on the
table. "Six shillings bid," said the auctioneer--"six shillings--thank
you; seven shillings; any more for that good old cupboard? Seven
shillings. Going--going--gone!" And it was knocked down to another man.

Poor Billy was much disappointed and perplexed at this, and could not
understand it at all. He looked about for the man who had given him the
six shillings, but in vain--he was not there. The auctioneer told him to
take up his money out of the way. He complied, but did not know what to
do with it. He went over a hedge into a field by himself, and told
"Father" about it; but it was all clear--"Father" was not angry about
anything. He remained there an hour, and then went homewards.

As he was going along, much troubled in his mind as to this experience
(for he still felt so sure he was to have that cupboard for a pulpit),
he came upon a cart standing outside a public-house with the very
cupboard upon it, and some men were measuring it with a foot rule. As he
came up, he heard them say, "It is too large to go in at the door, or
the window either." The publican who had bought it said, "I wish I had
not bid for the old thing at all; it is too good to 'scat' up for
firewood." At that instant it came to Billy's mind to say, "Here, I'll
give you six shillings for un." "Very well," said the man, taking the
money; "you can have him." Then Billy began to praise the Lord, and went
on to say, "'Father' as good as told me that I was to have that
cupboard, and He knew I could not carry him home on my back, so He found
a horse and cart for me. Bless the Lord!" Promising to bring it back
very soon, he led the horse down the hill, and put the old cupboard into
the preaching-house. "There it is!" he exclaimed, "and a fine pulpit he
does make, sure enough! Now," said Billy, "I want to see thee in it.
When will you come?" I could not fix for that day, or the next, trot
made arrangements to conduct a series of services the next week, and
promised to have them in that place.

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