James Caughey is a native of Ireland. He emigrated to America in his youth, and was converted about twenty-four years since. Two years after his conversion he was admitted on probation in the Troy Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church. He was ordained a deacon in 1834. His first labors were not distinguished by any uncommon results, and neither himself nor his friends had the remotest idea that his name was destined to become a household word in the church on both sides of the Atlantic.
Mr. Caughey began his ministerial life with a resolute spirit, determined to cultivate his powers by constant study, and to form his character by a close and familiar walk with God. As the flower expands itself to the sun, his earnest mind opened to every good influence, human or divine. He was always looking and listening for means of strength, wisdom, and piety. Nor did be look vainly. He learned much, gained much from many sources; but from no single influence did he reap so large a harvest as from a passage in the writings of Dr. Adam Clarke. Speaking of this passage, he says:
"From the hour I read the following striking remarks of Dr. Adam Clarke, a few months previous to my ordination, I have never varied a hair-breadth from the great truth they advocate. I can only quote from memory, as the page which first presented them to my eye is many thousands of miles from me, and I cannot turn to the place in his Works where they stand recorded; but they differ little from the following: 'But all this spiritual and rational preaching will be of no avail, unless another means, of God's own choosing, be superadded to give it an effect, -- the light and influence of the Holy Spirit. That Spirit of life and fire penetrates, in a moment, the sinner's heart, and drags out to the view of his conscience those innumerable crimes which lie concealed there under successive layers of deep and thick darkness, when, under that luminous burning agency, he is compelled to cry, "God have mercy upon me a sinner!" "Save, Lord, or I perish!" "Heal my soul, for it hath sinned against thee!"
"I shall have eternal cause of thankfulness that the above sentiments ever came under my notice. If my ministry has been rendered a blessing to many, that blessing has been vouchsafed, through the merits of Christ, to a steady recognition of the necessity of the influence of the Holy Spirit. On the evening of that "never to be forgotten" day in which I read the above, I took up my pen, in secret, before God, and gave vent to the emotions of my deeply-impressed heart, in language something like the following: I see, I feel, now, as I have never done before, upon this particular subject. From the convictions of this hour, I hope, by the grace of God, never to vary. I see, I feel, -
"1st. The absolute necessity of the immediate influence of the Holy Ghost to impart point, power, efficacy and success, to a preached Gospel.
"2d. The absolute necessity of praying more frequently, more fervently, more perseveringly and more believingly, for the aid of the Holy Spirit in my ministry.
"3d. That my labors must be powerless, and comfortless, and valueless, without this aid; a cloud without water, a tree without fruit, dead and rootless; a sound uncertain, unctionless and meaningless; such will be the character of my ministry. It is the Spirit of God alone which imparts significancy and power to the word preached, without which, as one has expressed it, 'all the threatenings of the Bible will be no more than thunder to the deaf, or lightning to the blind.' A seal requires weight, a hand upon it, in order to an impression. The soul of the penitent sinner is the wax; Gospel truth is the seal; but, without the Almighty hand of the Holy Ghost, that seal is powerless. A bullet demands its powder, without which it is as harmless as any other body. The careless sinner is the mark; truth is the ball that must pierce him; but it cannot reach, much less penetrate him, separate from this influence from heaven. In apostolic times, they 'preached the Gospel with the Holy Ghost sent down from heaven.' -- 1 Peter 1:12. In our day we need an energy from no lower source, to overturn the wickedness of the vile and profane, and to counteract the formality and worldliness which are everywhere visible.
"4th. I am now fully persuaded, that in proportion as the Spirit of God shall condescend to second my efforts in the Gospel message, I shall be successful; nor need I expect any success beyond. No man has ever been signally useful in winning souls to Christ, without the help of the Spirit. With it, the humblest talent may astonish earth and hell, by gathering into the path of life thousands for the skies; while without it, the finest, the most splendid talents, remain comparatively useless.
"5th. The entire glory of all my success shall henceforth be given to the Holy Spirit. By this I shall conscientiously abide, as by any other principle of our holy religion. It is written: 'They that honor me, I will honor.' To this may be, added that righteous, inalienable and unchanging determination of' Jehovah: 'My glory I will not give to another.' "
From this time Mr. Caughey's labors were more fruitful; yet not sufficiently so to distinguish him above many of his brethren. But in 1839 he became the subject of a very singular experience, which entirely changed the current of his destiny. We will let him speak for himself on this topic. Writing to a friend, he says:
"You will remember our Conference of 1839 was held in the city of Schenectady, N. Y. That year I was appointed to Whitehall, N. Y. Shortly after, I had my library and study furniture forwarded to my station.
"It was then I began seriously to reflect upon the propriety of choosing a wife, believing that 'marriage is honorable in all men.' I had traveled a number of years, studied hard, and expended all my time and strength in winning souls to Christ. My brethren approved of my intention. But, while indulging in this purpose, -- for some reasons I could not explain, -- my heart became very hard. The Lord seemed to depart from me; and that countenance, which so often beamed upon me from above, and had daily, for many years, brightened my soul into rapturous joy, appeared now to be mantled in the thickest gloom.
"The more I reflected thus, 'I can see no good reason why I should be singular among my brethren, nor continue to lead this solitary life,' my heart became harder, and my darkness increased. I was soon involved in a variety of evil reasonings. My will seemed to be in a conflict with something invisible. God, who had honored me with such intimate communion with himself since my conversion, apparently left me to battle it out alone. So it appeared to me then; but now I see God himself was contending with me. I was about to step out of the order of his providence; and he was resolved to prevent it, unless I should refuse to understand why he thus resisted me. Had I continued the conflict, I believe he would have let me take my own course; nor would he have cast me off; yet I solemnly feel he would have severely chastised my disobedience.
"My distress and gloom were so great, I could not unpack my library, nor arrange my study. I began to reflect most solemnly upon my unhappy state of mind, and became more concerned to regain my former peace and joy in God, than to obtain any temporal blessing whatever. The world was a blank, a bleak and howling wilderness, to my soul, without the smiles of my Saviour. In fact, that I could not live, but must wither away from the face of the earth, without his comforting and satisfying presence. Like a well-chastised son, I came back to the feet of my Heavenly Father, and with many tears I besought him to reveal his face to my soul; that if my purposes were crossing his, to show me; and whatever was his will, I would at once, by his help, yield my soul unto it. 'Lord God,' I said, 'if my will crosses thy will, then my will must be wrong; for thine cannot but be right.' Now I cared not what he commanded me to do, or to leave undone; I stood ready to obey. I felt assured clear light from God on some points would soon reach my soul; and I was fully prepared for it. But I no more expected such an order as came soon after, than I expected he would command me to fly upward and preach the Gospel in another planet. During three days I cried to God, without any answer. On the third day, in the afternoon, I obtained an audience with the Lord. The place was almost as lonely as Sinai, where Moses saw the burning bush. It was under open sky, a considerable distance from the habitations of men; steep rocks and mountains, deep forests, and venomous reptiles, surrounded me. Here, and in a moment, the following passage was given me to plead: 'And the Lord descended in the cloud, and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. And the Lord passed by before him, and proclaimed, The Lord, The Lord God, merciful and gracious, long-suffering, and abundant in goodness and truth, keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity, and transgression, and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty.' -- Exod. 34:5-7. I took hold of this; many of the words were as fire, and as a hammer to break the rocks in pieces before the Lord. The fountains of tears were opened, and the great deep of my heart was broken up. I left the place, however, without receiving any light; but my heart was fully softened and subdued, and I felt assured I had prevailed in some way with God. I was confident light and direction were coming; but of what nature I could not tell.
"This was on the 9th of July, 1839. The same evening, about twilight, eternal glory be to God! when reading in a small room adjoining my study, a light, as I conceived from heaven, reached me. My soul was singularly calmed and warned by a strange visitation. In a moment I recognized the change; the following, in substance, was spoken to my heart; but in a manner, and with a rapidity, I cannot possibly describe. Every ray of divine glory seemed to be a word that the eye of my soul could read, a sentence which my judgment could perceive and understand: 'These matters which trouble thee must be let entirely alone. The will of God is, that thou shouldst visit Europe. He shall be with thee there, and give thee many seals to thy ministry. He has provided thee with funds. Make thy arrangements accordingly; and, next Conference, ask liberty from the proper authorities, and it shall be granted thee. Visit Canada first; when this is done, sail for England. God shall be with thee there, and thou shalt have no want in all thy journeyings; and thou shalt be brought back in safety again to America.'
"The above is far beneath the dignity and grandeur of the impression. It came in a way which left no room for a doubt. A heavenly calm, a powerful persuasion, and an intense glow of divine love, accompanied the whole. It was like the breaking forth of the noon-day sun at midnight. I fell upon my knees before the Lord, my whole mind consenting to the orders, which I believed had come from heaven. O, the sweetness of that communion I then enjoyed with God! My sky was cloudless. My rest of soul unutterable. The meaning of many past providences was now explained. The possession of a few hundreds of dollars had often made me very uneasy. I doubted the propriety of laying up treasure on earth. The cause of missions stood in need of what I possessed, but still I was restrained. Now I clearly saw that God had provided me with these funds, in order to make me willing to obey the call, and to save me from embarrassment in my travels. I could perceive a special reason why I had pressed forward in my studies for so many years, and why revival texts and sermons had occupied so much of my time; -- that God had been thus preparing me for a few campaigns in Europe.
"I arose from my knees under a strong conviction that God had called me to take this tour. Letters were written immediately to Canada, etc. The next day my soul was calm and happy. My books were unpacked; and everything in my study arranged with a glad heart and free. Eleven months were before me, to criticize the impressions on my soul. With delight I commenced my pastoral work, visited from house to house, and had the pleasure of seeing a most powerful revival of religion in my circuit. During this period, not the least wish entered my heart to form any connection or engagement whatever that would entangle or hinder me from fulfilling what I conceived to be the high and solemn commission I had received from the Lord. I continued to resign the whole matter to God, entreating him to overrule all to his glory, and to hedge up my way if it were not his will I should leave America."
In obedience to this impression, Mr. Caughey asked and obtained permission from his Conference, in 1840, to visit Europe. Before setting out, however, he visited Canada, where an extraordinary influence attended his preaching, particularly at Quebec and Montreal. Five hundred persons were converted under his labors at these places in a few months.
Thus encouraged, he set out for England by the way of Halifax. He landed in Liverpool on the 29th of July, 1841. Having visited the Wesleyan Conference then in session at Manchester, and being cordially invited by the Rev. Thomas Waugh to visit Ireland, he re-embarked at Liverpool and sailed to Dublin, not knowing what might befall him there. We will quote his description of his first public service in that city.
"After taking breakfast with a few pious persons, at Mr. Vance's lodgings in Abbey Street, a young brother conducted me to Henderick Street. The congregation was small. To them, for the first time in Europe, I opened my commission, from John 17:1, -- 'Father! the hour is come.' The Lord touched the hearts of several, and a gracious influence rested on the whole congregation. At the conclusion of the service I quietly retired through a door under the pulpit, and regained the street, little imagining the stir which had been excited among the dear people in the chapel. Some were saying, 'Who is he?' others, 'What is his name?' One little party were inquiring, 'Who sent him here?' and another were fully of opinion that 'this stranger should be invited to preach again at night.'
"In the mean time I and my guide were hastening back again to Abbey Street Chapel, to receive the sacrament. Two brethren, William Fielding and Richard Craig, who have since been very valuable friends to me, were dispatched after us, and when they overtook us they presented the wish of the people. I consented on condition it should be agreeable to the preachers. They soon obtained permission, and that night I preached to a large congregation with a good degree of liberty. An influence from heaven rested upon the leaders; and, after a consultation with their ministers, it was resolved to hold 'special services' during the week, 'to promote a revival of the work of God.' I agreed to preach four nights, but with the secret determination to leave, the following week. I left the hotel on receiving a pressing invitation from Mr. Fielding to make his house my home. Towards the latter part of the week we found ourselves surrounded with weeping penitents. The glory of the Lord filled the house, and sinners were daily converted to God. We continued these services in this chapel during four weeks. A select meeting was then appointed for the young converts, and one hundred and thirty persons came forward to testify that God, for Christ's sake, had pardoned all their sins."
From that Sabbath his path opened clear as light before him, and his success was wonderful almost beyond precedent. He labored in Dublin. Limerick, Cork and Bandon, in Ireland.
Then, re-crossing the channel, he held meetings in Liverpool, Leeds, Hull, Sheffield, Huddersfield, York, Birmingham, Nottingham, Lincoln, Boston, Sunderland, Gateshead, Scarborough, Chesterfield, Doncaster, Macclesfield, Wakefield, and some other minor towns, till 1847, when he thought it his duty to return to America. During the seven years of his stay in England and Ireland, nearly twenty-two thousand persons professed conversion under his immediate labors, and nearly ten thousand entered into the rest of full salvation.
Since his return, Mr. Caughey has spent his summers in literary labors at his residence in Burlington, Vt. During the winter months he has preached successively in New York, Albany, Providence, Lowell, Fall River, Warren and Cincinnati, in the United States, and in Toronto, Quebec and London, in Canada. In some of these places he has been singularly successful. In all of them his labors have been attended with the unction of the Holy One.
Mr. Caughey is a self-educated man. He has been an extensive reader, and his mind is richly stored with the best thoughts of the best English writers. He possesses a remarkably vivid imagination, which, in its ardent flights, sometimes, though not often, soars into the suburbs of fanciful regions. His perceptive faculties are superior, his reasoning powers good, though not logical in the highest sense. His memory is both retentive and ready; hence he has a large treasury of ideas at command. His mind possesses great force; his manner is earnest and persuasive his gesticulation natural. His voice possesses remarkable compass; if not richly musical, it is very pleasant, and the more it is heard the more it charms. His discourses bear the mark of originality. It is true they often flash with the intellectual jewels of great writers, but these are faithfully acknowledged; and his sermons, both in thought and structure, are manifestly the offsprings of his own mind.
Such is the man some of whose marvelous movements and personal experiences form the topic of these pages. Nature formed him a man above the mediocrity of men, but she did not endow him with the highest gifts of genius. The church has many ministers of larger powers, more highly cultivated, better read, and of higher intellectual rank, but whose successes in God's work will not bear comparison with those of Mr. Caughey. Whence, then, has his superior power proceeded? Why has he won such victories in the church of God? We must leave this question unsolved, or attribute his surprising success to the Holy Spirit, who finds his instruments among the herdsmen of Tekoa, or at the feet of Gamaliel, as his sovereign wisdom may decide. To this source Mr. Caughey himself ascribes the glory of his fruitfulness. We do the same, and invite the reader to the pleasant work of tracing the influence of the Holy Spirit as displayed in his private mental exercises and public labors. We are assured that no candid man can peruse the following pages without feeling himself moved to become a holier man, and a more earnest laborer in the vineyard of the Lord.
