THE CONVERTED COLLIER: OR, THE LIFE OF RICHARD WEAVER. A BRAND PLUCKED FROM THE BURNING AND MADE INTO A TO THE CROSS OF HIS DEAR SON. By R. C. MORGAN. He hath put down the mighty from their seats, and exalted New York: PUBLISHED BY CARLTON & PORTER, TRACT SOCIETY OF THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, 200 MULBERRY-STREET. 1866. PREFACE TO AMERICAN EDITION. THE subject of the following sketch belongs to that remarkable class of men represented by John Bunyan, William Huntingdon, John Nelson, Benjamin Abbott, etc.; men dug out of the depths of sin and used by the Head of the Church to accomplish wonders in raising multitudes of like sinners from the same gulf. Its author in his preface says, "To give a vivid idea of the man and his work, rather than a detail of every event of his life in the order of its occurrence, has been my object in this sketch. "Those who are familiar with Richard Weaver and his preaching will not think any of the anecdotes here related very improbable: but some of them are so unusual as possibly to impress others with the idea of invention or exaggeration. In order to assure myself of their reality by the testimony of eye and ear witnesses, I visited Prescot, where some of the most remarkable events occurred, and there read to several Chris 4 PREFACE TO AMERICAN EDITION. tians, of various ranks in life, that which had been written. Their common testimony was that nothing had been stated which was not true, and that indeed much more should have been said, in order to convey an accurate conception of his sojourn there. "Objections have been raised against the publication of this narrative during the lifetime of its subject. I will not attempt to combat these. Results will justify or condemn. I will but say, that in writing it my own heart has been far more occupied with the God who thus picked up a worm and used it to thresh a mountain than with the worm itself. And while commending my dear friend, and this story of God's dealings with him hitherto, to the prayers of all who love our Lord Jesus Christ, let me hope that they who reap will also be led to glorify 'Him that liveth for ever, and doeth according to his will, in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth.' I can readily believe this last statement. Though it may not suit the tastes of the fastidious, I am persuaded that there is that in this tract which may by God's blessing bring many American sinners to the cross of Jesus. DANIEL WISE. THE CONVERTED COLLIER. CHAPTER I. RICHARD WEAVER was born on the 25th of June, 1827, at the little village of Asterley, nine miles from Shrewsbury. His father was a farm-laborer, an ungodly, drinking man, who walked before his children in the road to hell, and bitterly opposed his pious wife in her endeavors to lead them in the way of holiness. This ill-assorted couple had four children, all sons, of whom Richard was the youngest. His eldest brother, John, about fourteen years older than himself, still works in the Shropshire collieries. George, the second son, Richard's senior by eleven years, is a local preacher among the Primitive Methodists. We shall have occasion again to refer to him in the course of the present narrative. The remaining brother, |