The Day New Bern
Turned Upside Down
Juki like Ihe preacher suiil il would
be* ■ • ■
tty (d:oK(;i: Gi:i.K ACii
In February 1813 the Virginia Con¬
ference of Ihe Methodist Episcopal
Church in which North Carolina was
then included, met in New Bern.
Bishop Asbury and a great concourse
of circuit riders and local preachers
was present. One of the most promi¬
nent of the circuit riders, the Rev.
Jesse Lee of Virginia, who had ridden
circuits from Maine to Florida and who
had planted Methodism in that strong¬
hold of the Puritans. New England,
was called upon to preach a sermon to
the Conference. For his text he chose
the verse in the Book of Acts. “These
that have turned the world upside
down, arc come hither also."
His sermon consisted of three parts.
In the first, he stated that when God
created the earth he placed it right side
up. and under this he taught the purity
ami perfection of man in his original
state. Secondly, he said that by the
introduction of sin the world had been
turned upside down by the awful and
total depravity of the fall. Thirdly, and
this was the practical part, the world
could be put right side up again by the
Gospel preached by men who could
right the w rongs of the world by recon¬
ciling sinners to a merciful God.
Powerfully preached by a master
preacher this sermon made a deep im¬
pression on the good pastors struggling
with the harsh realities of family prob¬
lems among their people, evil in their
communities, and discouragement and
poverty in their own lives. However,
among the hearers were "certain men
mighty m the works of darkness."
Some of these characters must have
labored the whole night to make the
sermon come true in a literal sense. All
the carriages and wagons in town were
turned upside down, at great labor,
boats had been pulled ashore and had
their keels turned toward the sky.
small buildings, including some very
THE STATE, APRIL 1980
necessary ones were turned upside
down. Signs, boxes, gates, and almost
everything had been reversed.
When morning came all was confu¬
sion. but even with all the trouble and
inconvenience the whole tow n seemed
to enjoy the joke and none more than
the preachers themselves.
The young rapscallions who had
done it (I always blame teenagers)
added to their enjoyment by going
around and saying with an innocent
expression. "Didn't the preachers say
they were the men who turned the
world upside down?"
Ihe keenest enjoyment of the inci¬
dent must have been felt by the Rev.
Mr. Fee’s colleagues who were not
above a little good-natured kidding.
Clerical humor has. as has often been
pointed out. a delightful quality. The
Rev. Mr. Fee. despite the almost un-
bclicvcablc austerity of his life, en¬
joyed it himself as he had a keen sense
of humor as the following anecdote will
show.
In the autumn of 1812 he was at¬
tending a camp meeting along the
James River. One night after a great
deal of singing and preaching all had
retired to their tents and were fast
asleep. The peace and calm of the
camp was broken by a large crowd of
drunken sailors, whose ships had lied
up the James to escape a possible
British raid. Their noise and profanity
made it impossible for anyone to sleep,
and the "maddening influence of the
strong drink they had consumed"
threatened to turn the episode into
something very bad.
Now, Fee dressed and went out to
them. Ascending the pulpit he told
them that if they would sit down and
make themselves comfortable they
should have a sermon. This oc¬
casioned a great laugh, but they sat
down, made themselves comfortable,
and prepared to have a good time-
heckling the preacher.
Then Mr. Fee announced that the
Rev. P. Courtenay would preach. Sur¬
prised. hut always ready. Brother
Courtenay took as his text. "At mid¬
night Paul and Silas prayed, and sang
praises to God." As soon as he began
to preach a change occurred. The dark
and quiet night, the cool autumn air.
the soothing tones of the preacher's
voice, the effect of their "potations."
first made them drowsy and soon sunk
them into deep sleep. Then Mr. Fee
pulled Mr. Courtenay's coat-tails and
said. "Stop." "Why?" said Mr.
Courtenay. “They're all asleep. I
knew you could do it. Brother Cour¬
tenay. I knew you could do it."
He also enjoyed it the next morning
when, stiff and sore from the chilly
night on the ground and with king-
sized hangovers, they growled about
the preacher who tricked them into
listening to a midnight sermon. "Come
over here by the fire. Brother, and
have a cup of hot coffee."
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