H FROM THE LIBRARY OF REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO THE LIBRARY OF PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY ztyf THK I , PIIILADELPI] tPtATEE-MEETIXG CONVENTION. ' Then thev that feared the Lord spake often one to another; and the Lord bearkened, and heard it : and a hook of remembrance was written before Him for ^hem, that feared the Lord, and that thought upon Hi-* name. And they shall be nine? saith the Lord of Hosts, in that day when I make up my jewels."— Mal. NEW YORK : JOHN F. TROW, PRINTER, 50 GREENE STREET. 1860. TO THE ENTIRE BOUSEHOLD OF FAITH. I )f.ai;i.y Bkloved : — We greet 3 ou in the name of the Lord ; fervently wishing you grace, mercy, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus ( brisk Though but few of you arc known to ns by sight, or by name, yet, being sure that happiness is in st<»rr for ns, at no distant day. we t hank God upon every remembrance of your fellow- ship in the Gospel 5 forwe arc all one in Christ Constrained by the love of Christ, and drawn by His Spirit, your brethren and si>tn-s. in many towns and cities, have become the constant and hearty supporters of daily Union Prayer-meet- ings. These meetings united in sending delegates to Philadelphia, to report in Convention the goodness of God t<> the several meetings. Also, to consult in what ways we may enlarge their 4 THE PHILADELPHIA usefulness, and how we may secure the complete oneness in heart and work of all those who love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity. To be appointed to such a Convention, we esteem one of the highest honors and greatest privileges of our lives. We are deeply solicitous to make due acknowledgment for this, to Christ and to His Church. And it seems to us, that in no way can we better do this, than in trying to transmit to you our deepening conviction, that our Father and His Son have come to make their abode with us ; that the Holy Ghost, the Com- forter, has charged Himself with our instruction ; that He has commenced to bring to our remem- brance the words of Jesus, and that He will surely guide us into all truth. In Philadelphia we have had reason to feel, that our Father has heard the prayer of His beloved Son, the members of the Convention have been so evidently of one heart and one mind. He has glorified his Son, in mak- ing us to follow God as dear children ; in prompt- ing all to speak the truth in love ; and in making it their chief concern to declare the wonderful vwrks of God in their several cities and towns, to the praise of His great goodness, and for encour- agement to all Christians to expect yet greater things. im: LI i i:-M!.i.i ING G0NV1 M tOK. From all quarters it was shown, that ( ">d had dealt well with the attendants upon the Union Prayer-meetings, increasing the joj and peace of believers, and converting rerj man] of their friends, acquaintance) and strangers. That the heart-sympathy, and unity in prayer, which God has thus granted us, is adapted to turn many t<» Christ, and to build them up on our most holy faith, we need not argue. If any arc not yet convinced, we beg them to conn' and \Yh\ should it not be soj indeed I For meetings are absolutely a free-will offering to the Lord* This concord is unforced. Brethren and sisters come together to praise and to pray, not of constraint, but most willingly. They are of those whose lamps arc not gone out, who watch for the coming of the Lord. We do not mean that those who know the worth ofsuch prayers. Of this we cannot but Ik- sure: that it is an Inestimable gifl of our blessed Lord t«» I IN ( hurch, 6 Tffl; MILAOELMIA that there is an altar divinely prepared for the daily sacrifice ; an offering not of the smoke of bulls and goats, but of the incense of loving, grateful hearts. That there is a place upon which the dews of heaven continually descend ; a garden in which our Lord daily walks ; upon which the south winds blow, and the spices flow out. O the fountains of tender compassion which have been opened in the house of daily prayer ! the deep wells of parental, filial, and brotherly love which have gushed forth among us ! the fraternal love springing up between strangers ! the pleased surprise in finding a brother of our Lord, in one who was known before only as a merchant, a scholar, or a gentleman. How many world- hardened hearts have these revelations softened ! How many, long unused to weeping, have melted at the mention of a mother's prayers and tears* In how many instances has the frost of natural reserve yielded to the vernal atmosphere of lov- ing sympathy, and hearts opened to the Sun of Righteousness ere they were well aware of the influence of His rays upon them. It is sometimes asked, Is there not too great publicity in these meetings ? Is not delicacy sacrificed in the exposure of the most sacred emo- tions of the heart ? We answer. It is not Christ, i-i: w i i:-mi i iiv. I m.w i \ ii, .>. hut the enem) of Christ, who teaches that man may sacrifice uhblamed, on < *ery other altar hut tin- altar of his I rod. It is asked, W by are riot the ordinary prayer-meetings <»t" the several churches all-sufficient I What gives the peculiar power and interest t«» these Union Meetings I \ recent writer asks, Ma) not tin- secret !><• found in the strict application of the three-minute rule I < )h. in) I it is not to he found there. It is hut t<>n sadly evidenl that tli»' three-minute rule ran work n<» miracle for the churches whos€ members are infrequent 6r uninterested in their prayer*meetings ; who go to their meetings with- out feeling, and with no definite intention to honbr ( h ..I. or benefit their fellow -men. There are characteristics, obviously belonging — and some of them peculiar — to the Union Prayer-meetings, which are just as obviously of peculiar interest and power : and which well de- serve to be most thoughtfully and prayerfully Bidered. 1. The attendants upon these meetings Voluntarily j go because their hearts are touched by the Holy Ghost; because the Comforter has breathed upon them; because He has inspired the longing desire to worship the Lord in the beauty of holiness] because they long to Bee Hie 8 THE PHILADELPHIA King in His beauty ; because they are impelled by an irrepressible love for His cause and longing to see His kingdohi established ; and because they desire this immeasurably more than they desire any denominational aggrandizement. The very consciousness of being in a Union Prayer-meet- ing, puts an extinguisher upon lower desires, and fans the flame of spiritual life into glowing love to God and man. % The brethren and sisters throng these meet- ings because they are willing and desirous to bear one another's burdens, beyond the pale of any single branch of the Church. They covet the blessedness assured to those who mourn ; and they go in the very spirit of Christ, to weep with those who weep> and to whisper the invitation of the tenderest of comforters j " Come unto Me 5 and I will give you rest." They know that to these meetings the heavy-laden will come, and they desire to meet and comfort them. 3. The attendants upon these meetings have not a doubt that the daily Union service is a timely gift of God 3 to meet a rising want, for which no other provision exists. The time to " Stand up for Jesus," has fully come ; and those who know the history of these meetings and of concurrent events, cannot doubt that n; \yi i:-mi i 1 1.\«. I 0NV1 N i [ON. 9 God's <>wii hand Wrote this watchword in OUT hearts. 1. The people go to these meetings, because that in them, more vividly than elsewhere, they have realized the ceaseless intercession of our great* Mediator. They go therefore with great expectations, and arc no1 disappointed. Finally, they go, because they believe that the long-promised day has come, when God has begun to pour out His Spirit upon all flesh ; and they would fain be among the foremost to hail His coming with grateful and adoring praise. They find in our circumstances, a close r blance to the circumstances of the first disciples : - came unto His own and His own received him not." They go to the Union Prayer-meeting to make common cause in praying God to open our eyes, lest we should he more blind, and more guilty than Christ's " own." Not to recognize the Comforter, the Holy Ghost, the Promise of the Father, seems to he more culpable than not to have recognized the Son of God. For though the first disciple- were certainly "slow of heart to believe all that the prophets had spoken," their hearts had not been illuminated and tired by the combined rays "t' Old and New Testament his- tory. And they had known none in all the lone 10 THE PHILADELPHIA catalogue, extending from their day to ours, of noble souls regenerated by the Holy Ghost, and divinely commissioned, in their own persons, to continue the history commenced in the eleventh chapter of the Hebrews. Persuaded that the daily Union Prayer-meet- ing, so small in its beginning, seemingly so un- important, like " the stone cut without hands, which became a great mountain and filled the earth,*' is a chosen instrument in the hands of God, for the destruction of unbelief, and of for- malism, and for fostering courageous endeavors to save souls, we fervently commend it to the whole household of faith. Your Brethren in Convention. Sansom St. Church, Philadelphia, March 8, 1860. The address which you have just read, breth- ren, comes to you as a loving expression of views and feelings, developed by the fraternal conference of a large number of Christians of every name constituting the Second National Convention of Union Prayer-meetings, which held its sessions PkWYi i;-mi i 1 1\<. ( 0N\ i n i ION. I I for three consecutive days in the Sansom St. Baptist Church, Philadelphia, 'commencing on the 6th daj of March last This Convention, as you are perhaps alreadj apprised, was the result of a previous one held in the Hall oftheCooper Institute, Ne^ York, on the occasion <>f the Anniversary of the Fulton si. Meeting last fall, from the 23d to the 25th of September, At thai First Convention of Union Prayer- gs we all felt, brethren, that the Master had called us together, that He had something for us to do, and that He would guide us into doing it according to His own perfect purpose, The Convention was Bomewhat hastily sum- moned, and it might almost have been said of us when we met that " the more part knew not wherefore they were come together;" but the Great Master of Assemblies knew. It was Boon and plainly seen that there was a remarkable unanimity of feeling and desire among present, and a pressure for something to be done bo decided and so forcible, that to resist it would have been acting against the Lord's plain purpose. A L r,, <»d deal of earnest agitation of the question k * What shall we do?" resulted in the 12 THE PHILADELPHIA following Resolution, unanimously adopted by the Convention, on the eve of its adjournment. '-Resolved — That a committee of nineteen be appointed to enquire what systematic action can be adopted by the Daily Union Prayer-meetings in Convention, to promote their extension in every city and village, and to carry out in every way, and to every extent approved of by the Great Head of the Church, that principle of Union, and that consecration of secular hours, places and forces, by which they are characterized ; contemplating, among others, such methods as those of field, tent, and public-hall preaching, lay evangelism, missionary deputations to un- awakened or destitute places, and the consecration of the Press to the office of preaching the Gospel daily to every creature ; the Committee to report at the adjourned meet- ing in Philadelphia." This Resolution, so significant and so compre- hensive, was hailed with deeply satisfied feeling, and the First Convention separated with many fervent hopes and prayers, and with a general conviction that the Lord would meet His people, when reassembled, with a yet greater blessing. The Second Convention w T as called for the 6th day of March, 1860. On that day there assembled a number of brethren so considerable, and of delegates from Union Prayer-meetings representing so great an extent of territory, as quite to take by surprise i'KAVi;i:-Mi l n.\<; CONTENTION. L3 even the most hopefbL Not less than eighteen States were represented in person and by report, ranging from Maine to California, and from Iowa to Georgia, and also, by one report, Canada. The verj first and common consciousness among us as there assembled was that the Lord was with us, This was made manifest nol only by a most remarkable and most delightful unity of sentiment : hut by such a knitting together of all hearts in supreme Christian love, as has been too rarely experienced in our own day. To many present, it was almost a new revelation of the possibilities latent in the original Divine Constitution <>t' the Church. At moments of tenderer feeling many eyes gushed with strange tears, and many strong men were bowed. Mol- ten together in unspeakable love, we were all one in Christ Jesus, and realized the most wonderful foretaste of the fellowship of the saints in light, till at last it seemed almost impossible for the brethren to break away and separate to their ral homes and their several communions. It was hard to give up the unity and go back to the diversity. The following Resolution was intended to give expression to the lively and humble gratitude, which overflowed all hearts, 2 14: THE PHILADELPHIA "Resolved — That this Convention, feeling how great is His favor in His presence with them during their sessions, devoutly acknowledge their everlasting obligation, and render thanks to our Almighty God and Saviour, the Great Head of the Church ; and especially for the rich gift of His grace through the dispensation of His Spirit in the Union Prayer-meetings, whereby He has brought into a loving and heavenly oneness and consecration to His work so many hearts ; while we recognize it as an in- estimable blessing and as a pledge and means of the final triumph and joy of our blessed Lord over the great ad- versary of souls, and the redemption of a lost world to Himself, to whom be glory forever and ever." The view thus expressed, touching the char- acter, power and function of the Union Prayer- meeting, was participated in by every one. All the intelligence, all the opinions contributed by delegates, and by reports from widely-distant quar- ters, only went to confirm this view and to give it redoubled force. The conviction thus estab- lished led directly and naturally to a desire for united and somewhat systematized action. The method preferred for the attainment of this end, and at the same time for the preserva- tion, unimpaired, of the precious element of fra- ternal freedom and spiritual spontaneity hitherto so remarkably, and by all present accepted as Divinely, characteristic pf the Union Prayer- PRAT] R-M3 i I [NG 0ON1 ENTTON. L5 meetings, will appear from the following Resolu- tions : / r ,/ — t}, ;1 | | ; :l Contention of Brethren in tei in the Daily Union Prayer-meeting, we unite, and invite all Christiana to unite with us — '— In perpetual and fervent thanksgiving to God our Father for the late inestimable L r ii't, through His Holy Spirit, to the Church, of a common, a united, and a daily sacrifice of prayer and praise, wherein Be has con- descended to manifest Bia grace and glory unto us more abundantly than in ages past ; and in particular for that ikable love, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost, which He has shed down in an extraordinary manner upon ilia united people here and now assembled. Second — In constant prayers for the permanence and prosperity of all Daily Union Prayer-meetings, especially those held in business hours and places, and for the ex- tension of such meetings in due time to every place where it is practicable for two or three to gather together in the name of .U.srs. Third — In concerted and systematic efforts as well as prayers, for the institution of Daily Union Prayer-meetings in every place to which our personal and united influence may reach ; for the weakening to final extinction of that divisive and schismatic tendency so needlessly connected with the unessential and often unimportant peculiarities of the several branches of the Church ; and for the dil possible appropriation of every secular time, place, relation, instrument, and energy, which Christiana may and do law- fully employ at all, to the propagation of the Gospel and the active support of Christ's supreme kingdom on earth. 16 THE PHILADELPHIA Fourth — In maintaining a National Reunion of Daily Prayer-meetings, annually or oftener, after the simple and voluntary method of the local meetings, for the purposes of fraternal communion, prayer, counsel, encouragement, and co-operation. Resolved — That for these objects the following means are adopted and recommended : — First — That every Union Prayer-meeting be represented by a convenient number of brethren approved by common consent, without formal election, who may constitute in the aggregate a u General Committee of correspondence for the Union Prayer-meetings ; " collecting from its local constituencies stated and systematic information interest- ing to the brotherhood, and through them redistributing the same for the benefit of all in correspondence with them ; and through the same medium promoting kindred evangelic enterprises approved and recognized under the common generic principle of Christian aggression in the secular sphere. Second — That it be considered proper for such com- mittee to enquire, consult, and issue recommendations upon any subject of general concern to the Union Prayer- meetings ; to call, and make arrangements for, general conventions at such times and places as may be found ex- pedient ; and to report to such conventions the results of investigation, correspondence, and consultation on all sub- jects within their purview, having regard not to our own country alone, but to the same interests in every part of the world. Third — That of brethren now present from the several Union Prayer-meetings, or of others known to them as active and approved members of such meetings, convenient Vi:avii:-mi t.iiv. [0*. 1 < number d by mutual consent, t«> constitute the proposed local and general committees <>f correspondence — subject to the future approbation of the Prayer-meetings — ami that the Secretaries obtain and report the names of such commits as practicable. The Commit Correspondence, when organised, are desired tu find the attention ot' all Onion Prayer-meetings to the pi. m of correspondence proposed; securing sible the representation and active co-operation of all, ami availing themselves of the Bystem to promote by every i means the ends which command our m consent, as Daily Union P ved — That all th< mbraced in the reports and resolutions adopted by the convention, are commended to the prompt and energetic action of the Committee of Correspondence to he promoted by every expedient mode which may be found open to them ; and that the same committee ai i their influence by cor- respondence, memorial, or otherwise, to existing religious and ecclesiastical bodies, the clergy, and the religious :i behalf of the great cardinal objects of their ap- pointment ; and also to cause to be prepared and cir- culated as extensively as may be, an address to Christians ion, in behalf of the same great objects, together with as full a report of the 3 of this convention as may conveniently and ju- diciously be published , and a circular letter to the * Union Prayer-meetings, upon the means for reviving and perpetuating the interest and fruitfulness of such meetings, especially with reference to those which have declined or been entirely abandoned, o* 18 THE PHILADELPHIA The kind and degree of sentiment prevailing among the brethren present in the Convention can better be estimated from these comprehensive and pointed Resolves than from any amount of emphasis in description. The most earnest and lively feeling showed itself also throughout the discussion of that, which formed the other great topic of the Convention, Christian Unity and Union. More time, in fact, more thought, more power of illustration and ex- pression were spent upon this than upon any, probably more than upon all other subjects. The entire convocation of brethren seemed to throw itself with the utmost ardor of earnestness upon this great theme. Rarely have fewer words been wasted, rarely has Jess been said for effect, rarely have arguments been more to the point, or more directly the expression of thorough convic- tion and profound feeling, than during the whole of this thrilling discussion. A hushed and most meaning silence reigned, and, throughout the great audience, each eye and each heart seemed intent while one brother after another arose and gave expression, as best he might, before God and his fellows, to sentiments, to desires, to hopes, to anticipations, or to exhortations, to cautions, to warnings, every one of which spoke unmistak- ! i.k-mi-.i.. 19 My jui earnest, and a kindled soul. Seldom, we believe, has there been a discussion, amidst -><> profound and bo acute feeling, ye1 conducted, as that was. without a jarring, or an nnkin. Esq. Richmond, Va., M Rev, Dr. Grant, 1 Jo-ton, Mass., Congregational. Rev. J. W. Chioksbino, D.D., Portland, Me*, Con- gregational. J. W. K'l.MHAi.i. Esq., Boston, ICass., OongregationaL J. C. Laxfhieb, Esq., New York, Dutch Reformed. Rev. LG. Bingham, " " Hon. Bellamy Btobsb, Cincinnati, 0., Episcopal. F. V. Rushton, Esq., New York, u Rev. II. R. Boott, Hampstead, Va., " Rev. Jambs I'hatt. I). I).. Chicago, 111., " E. G. Tilestox, Esq., Boston, Ma—., M J. II. TATLOB, Esq., Portland, Conn. u Rev, A. M. Morrison, Yonkers, X. Y., " Rev. Alfred Cookmax, Philadelphia, Methodist. Rev. J. S. DlEHL, San Francisco, " David Snow, Esq., Boston, M u Rev. Dr. MoCuhtook, New York, " AVm. E. Podge, Esq., New York, N. S. Presbyterian. W. 0, Coxa xt. Esq., New York, " Rev. Geo. Dtffield, Jr., Philadelphia, " P. B. Simons, Esq., Philadelphia, u 24: THE PHILADELPHIA Rev. Dr. Lelaxd, Columbia, S. 0., 0. S. Presbyte- rian. Rev. Dr. Leybukx, Philadelphia, " J. C. Bliss, Esq., Alleghany City, Pa., u Prof. O. M. Mitchell, Cincinnati, 0., " Geo. H. Stuaet, Esq., Philadelphia, Reformed Pres- byterian. The following Reports and Papers were read and adopted by the Convention, viz. : A Report on the Organization of the Union Prayer-meetings ; A Report on Christian Union ; A Report on Union Missions, field, street, and tent preaching ; A Report on the Consecration of the Daily Newspaper Press to the cause and kingdom of Christ ; A Report on the influence and duty of women in relation to the Union Prayer-meeting ; A Summary of the Reports of Delegates to the Second National Convention of Union Prayer- meetings. An elaborate disquisition was also presented and read on the Origin, Mode, and Perpetuity of a Daily Service of Communion with God and with each other under the Mosaic and Christian Dispensations, written for the Convention by Rev. Stephen Porter, D.D,, Geneva, N. Y. i'i:.\vi:i;-.Mi:r.n.\(; < ONYENTIOV. 20 And now, brethren beloved in the Lord, praying always thai our hearts may be knit to- gether in love, an I unto all riches of the full as- surance of understanding, we commend you to God, and to the word of His grace, which is able to l>uil»l you up and to give you an inheritance among all them that are sanctified. ( hi behalf of the Convention, Your Brethbxn of the Committer of Thirty. APPEXDIX. [The first three of the Reports above enume- rated are hereto annexed, as of sufficient import- ance and interest to warrant insertion.] REPORT ON THE ORGANIZATION OF THE UNION PRAYER-MEETINGS. On the first point of practical inquiry referred to this committee, viz. : " What systematic action can be adopted by the Daily Union Prayer-meetings in Convention, to pro- mote their own extension in every city and village ? " — the following views are submitted : The Daily Union Prayer-meeting is not a " measure " or expedient of our contriving, and dependent on our ac- tion for its continuance. Not from us it " borrows leave to be." "We call it a permanent institution, not because we have so resolved and established it, but rather because we did not establish or intend it, but find it established for us, with every appearance of permanence, by Divine power. APPENDIX. I'. it Is, moreover, to Institution which human wisdom had ire in devising, and therefore cannot amend. U grew up, as it were, in ;i night, with ■ mysterious force, from ■ little germ thai fell Into the world unnoticed, none knew whence, and none knew what No presentiment of g worth and i><> i the mind of any - iw it planted. No hnman forecast joined it- ete- ta form, or intended it Id the mind of the hnman agenl i : mple thought that Christians needed, and some might perhaps enjoy, minutes pause for prayer, amidst the business of the day. Merely such ■ thought, In appearance, as ■ hundred others that c< ■ mind, and are dismissed as impi hie, or tried and foun I e '. Not by any moans one of the or hopeful of such pi<> ins, we humanly. Advisers, we know, deemed it a fan- ciful notion, rather romantic than shrewd ; well-meant, doubtless, but quixotically In collision with Btubborn facts, if not with the very nature of things. Nor can we blame bably not one in a hundred of those now pres- ent, but would at that time have lifted his eyes in amaze- ment upon the individual who should have seriously pro- 8 ispend business regularly at high noon, and attend a prayer-meeting. The plan was really weak in it-elf, but there ret alxnit it. God had chosen It — emphatically one of the weak things of the world and of the Church — to confound the things that wen 1 mighty. All alike stood amazed at it> instant and miraculous devel- opment Awed by the evidence of a divine impulsi confounded by Its transcendent power, men for once laid aside their wisdom and let it alone. A< it evolved its own force, BO it evolved its own method, and both were 28 APPENDIX. fessed divine, and like to nothing man had ever made. Perhaps nothing so unpolluted by human agency, and so fresh from Heaven, has come into the world since the Christian Church was born of the Holy Ghost in the day of Pentecost. In approaching the main subject of our counsels, there- fore, we are ready to imagine ourselves arrested by the voice that warned the Friend of God when drawing near the burning bush : " Put off thy shoes from off thy feet, for the place whereon thou standest is holy ground." We are reminded of the altar of unhewn stones, whereof it was said to Moses, " If thou lift up thy tool upon it, thou hast polluted it." While we are counselling together to bring home, to all our Zions, this Ark of God, wherein his holy presence so manifestly abides, we tremble at the fate of him who put forth his hand presumptuously to steady the ark of old. Our first and best conclusion, as we stand be- fore it, would seem to be, to take it reverently as it is, renouncing the temerity of an attempt to improve it by adding or deducting any thing. To extend its blessings to all our spiritual households ; to make it more prized and cherished everywhere ; perhaps to give a fuller form and expression to the deep-felt unity of all its branches, may be our legitimate and laudable objects. But in all we do for these ends — and here is the critical point — we cannot be too watchful to preserve incorrupt and intact the primi- tive simplicity of the institution as it was delivered unto us. "See that thou make all things after the pattern showed thee in the mount." We must add nothing in kind or in principle, but only in measure and extended applica- tion. The spiritual unity of the whole brotherhood of Daily Union Prayer-meetings, felt in spontaneous mutual aiti:\i>[\\ 29 congratulations from the first hour of t! still manifested in the most delightful correspond i every opportunity, \b a fact of the same origin with the in- stitution itself, and a vital fore.' Inherent in it< very nature. It cannot be prevented from generating - ipTes* -ion or organism, more or :• . methodical, ami distinct. Ami thu iely what is now going on in this pine W< .if we understand tach to this throbbing, sympathetic, yet formless raw of our own contriving, i from those of human societies ami corporations; but simp- ly to let it evolve, out of its own peculiar nature, a g form and method of its own, correspondent to that local ition already seen, and as superior, we ma - that is, in its beautiful simplicity and living free- to any constitution ever framed by man. The less we allow oni nave to do with the procet perfectly and lly it will be performed. The Union Prayer-meeting, as we find it, or rather as it has found us, is the first example of union without entangle- ment, embarrassment, constraint, or compromise. It is a product of spiritual and divine wisdom — M the wisdom that cometh from above" — in one of the pnresl for:: given to man to realize. Its further development, we in- >old be allowed and assisted to shape itself, in the same freedom, by the same principles, and on thi model, as hitherto. We have assembled here, BO far, in h no head hut Christ, no officer or law hut Love, no organ save the nnassnming action of brethren leading in the simp. by com- mon consent, — precisely as ire do in our local meet Why should we not continue do to do: V. 30 APPENDIX. seek here to learn u \vhat things to pray for as we ought," and endeavor to stir up each other's minds by way of re- membrance of those things, to a broad and catholic union of desire and supplication for the cardinal objects of gen- eral concern. By the same simple means we may unite all our knowledge and intelligence, to throw light upon those objects, and make them luminous to our eyes and to the world. In short, we may thus consolidate this unity of the Spirit as closely, and give it as energetic expansion and activity as may be done by the Spirit itself, through the free agency of Love, — and what could we do more, by the artificial and stringent apparatus of worldly association, within whose bonds no spiritual process can flourish and expand? We seek to foster this great root-^an every-day walk with God and with each other — and to take the same reverent care of its peculiar and legitimate branches of practical activity. As the individual members of each prayer-meeting acquire a common consciousness, and real- ize their common union with their Head, so the spiritual bodies thus formed tend, by a necessity of nature, to ac* quire a common consciousness with each other, and to give clearer expression and stronger development to their union as a great spiritual — not material— body. To effect this, and not some other thing, we repeat, the same pro- cess must still be continued, and in nowise varied. The union must not only be free and voluntary in its formation, but it must exist in the same condition to the end. As drops mingle in streams, spontaneously and harmoniously flowing down to unite in the free and flexile river that ■ " windeth at his own sweet will,'* so should we blend and flow onward in the channels of \i I'l M>1\. 81 ProTid !y and loot Jc, we should floi together, and bend our common common objects, by virtue ol inward individual forces solely. Thus confined by no forms, or laws, or lords of oar own making, and, as we neither assume nor delegate any its authority, so entangled in no artificial rei bility for each other, we can sympathise without mutually endorsing; we can confide without fcompromis- . we can loTS without judging one another; • without contracting; and, if need be and kindly at W6 came in. Let 1 object of our organisation be simple concert. Concert in prayer, with ■ concert in labor and effort, of QC pure spiritual kind which if to understand oncer! in prayer. Let us help one another, unite our whole power in any enterprise that engages appropri- ately our sympathies, under a> lit 1 1 Deoessity, or Of responsibility to or Tor each other, and with afl much free and spontaneous heartiness as we unite every day in prayer. If brethren arc designated to do any leading work, let it be, by no future possibility, through oSeii implied In election, but through union and by common consent, and let us follow them precisely as we follow one ted to lead in prayer or conduct a prayer-meeting, to the extent of our own hearty sympathy and inward de- sire. Any further following, from a sense of obligation to what are called constitutions and by-laws, would be as spiritual labor as we all feel it to be in devo- tion. Our union must continue simple, that it may be and free that it may be spiritual and pure. 32 APPENDIX. II. REPORT ON CHRISTIAN UNION. ****** What then is the perfect state of unity and union, as predicated of the Church of Christ? Is it not that, plainly, in which all things throughout its body corporate, whether of doctrine or dis- cipline, are determined, maintained, and ruled in accord- ance with the Divine law of Love, the only organic princi- ple planted within it by Christ? Is it not, in short, that state, of which the true parallel, as presented by Christ Himself, is the Infinite and Eternal Love-Union, which, in the economy of the Godhead, binds into one Father and Son? — "that they all may be one, as Thou Father art in me and I in Thee?" This no one will attempt to ques- tion. Was such an L T nity contemplated in the Lord's purpose towards His future Church? As little will any question this. Does such an Unity, or any thing approaching it, in degree at least — shall we say in kind also ? — prevail among the several branches of the one universal Church ? Least of all, alas! can any hesitate iu the answer which must be given to this question ? It does not. Why does it not? What hinders? An inquiry vital to our present purpose. Two hindrances are plainly to be discerned : 1. First and foremost, and here is the tap-root of the mischief, — the prevalence of an inveterate sectarianism, APPENDIX. •>•> :i lamentable lack of the spirit of lore, the almost unchal- lenged dominioD of ■ spirit quite the contradict this. ; :i each of the sundered di- - of the one body of Christ, of some petty obstacle either of an internal or external character, which has in the course of historic development, often firom most trivial circumstances, and which, as common in such instances, has become peculiarly obstinate and prominent, serving as only too convenient a point of attachment, and nuous adhesion for the sturdy muscles of sectarian activity. Bare, then, lies directly before us the task of this con- vention in the present matter, and the question Btands : What can be done bjthe Union Prayer-meetings, here and now assembled, to restrain, to diminish, and to destroy the unchristian spirit of sectarian selfishness, to foster the Christ-like power and habit of love, and to remove SS rap- idly as possible the several particular hindrances thereto existing in the doctrine, discipline, spirit, or habitudes of each portion of the great Christian body, the Church uni- versal ? The unity we need and seek, brethren, is no machine- made unity, no organized activity of bare human powers, duct of human will or of human wisdom We want no unity, which can i ver by any means become transmuted into the Shibboleth of a new sect. There i- no human rea- son why such a sect should not prove the most bitter, the of all; no human reason why such an unity should prove any thing more than a corrupt and noi counterfeit. Let us then, at the outset, recognize the Spirit of God 34 APPENDIX. Himself as alone able to re-create and to re-distribute through the whole complex of Christ's members on earth, that life-principle of pure and unfeigned love, which alone can give birth to, and which, in exact proportion as it in- creases, will give birth and growth to the genuine type of Christian unity. Plainly, therefore, the main endeavor of this Convention must be to open wide the mouth of the Church, and draw forth thence to heaven a great and besieging cry for the spirit of love and unity. Without this all our human effort were worse than wasted ; with it, who dare say that one smallest atom of it shall ever be thrown away? Besides this main effort, however — this reaching up after the Omnipotent arm of God, our King and Father — there is special effort needed, the effort of true hearts, earnest wills, and strong hands, to lay hold on and remove those particular hindrances already noticed as existing in the several divisions of the universal Church, and which, when, by the help of the Lord Omnipotent, they shall be made to yield, will open at once a way, both wide and easy, for the onward march, the royal progress, of all-con- quering love, fresh descended from the heart of God. 3. How shall this convention move to reach these ends ? What shall be done ? Several things are sug- gested to your committee as worthy of notice, of which they would submit the following : Organize and maintain, through the instrumentality of the Union Prayer-meetings — blessed foundation, new-laid of God for many a goodly structure of grace — a mighty and incessant current of prayer for the spirit of love and the cause of Christian union. Let every such prayer- meeting through the land be brought to see and to adopt AI'IMNDIX. $5 one of its uniform, prominent, specially obligatory and specially appropriate OOJOOtS. Impiv.-- tin- >aim- upon every accessible gathering for prayer throughout the Ta- rtans churches; bring it into every family-circle of praying souls ; cause it to be whispered in the closet of praying man, woman, ami child; "give Him no n sblish. and till He make Jerusalem a praise in the earth.' sms also worthy of inquiry, whether something, perhaps much, may not he accomplished by inducing the appointment, on the part of the various legislative bodies of the chinches, of some of their wisest and best men, clerical and lay, as delegates to a free fraternal conference of Christian brethren, where each may become acquainted with the position and views of the other in an atmosphere free from the poisonous presence of polemical rancor, and charged rather with the genial element of love; where all may, without dread, lay open the innermost convictions and desires of their souls; where the fullest information may be mutually communicated with regard to the condi- tion of popular feeling in the several branches of the Church, and where the most unprejudiced comparison of mutual sentiments may have free scope to do all it can in developing new and hopeful possibilities for the near fu- ture. Judging from the imperfect tentative movements in this direction, which any watchful eye might have detected during the pas! year from various quarters, and wholly without collusion, there certainly does seem ground for hoping that a well-directed movement toward general, in- formal brotherly conference, as above proposed, carried out under the propitious auspices of this Convention of Union Prayer-meetings, would shortly surprise all lovers 36 APPENDIX, of unity by its rapid development of possibilities now deemed perhaps altogether beyond reach. Nor are the more usual means of moral influence to- ward the great end in view, by any means to be neglected. Let the pulpit be aroused; let the many-tongued press speak with incessant utterance ; let all the now latent and dispersed moral energy of true souls be called out into ac- tivity and brought into combination. Draw together upon some common centre all the most loving hearts, that the blessed breath from heaven may kindle them to an ardent and effective welding-heat. Act upon the young, before their tender natures are hard-tempered into the sword- steel of sectarianism. Spread abroad well-prepared infor- mation as to the real substantial unity of the churches on all the vital doctrines of grace, their extensive coincidence in all that constitutes the needful, that is Scriptural, order and organic discipline of the Christian body. In short, put into action all such common moral influences and in- strumentalities as shall be suited to meet and overcome the special difficulties of the case. Such, then, are the means, and such the movements, which your committee are at present prepared to submit for your consideration and action. As to the particular method, or organized instrumentality, of which the Con- vention should avail itself for the use of these means and the carrying out of these movements, it is sufficiently plain, of course, that the simplest, least cumbrous and least formal, will be the best, and should be sought and used. In closing, brethren, suffer, briefly, the word of exhorta- tion. Is it granted, or it is not, that a thorough oneness of the Church of Christ forms its only true organic basis ? Is it granted, or is it not, that this thorough oneness is the AI'I'KNIUX. 37 raditioD of its full life, power, rictory ! U it granted, or ii it not, thai the bringing of tin- Great Bead of the Church? Is it certain, or is it not, that this Onei : • of Chrial *. y I ll true, or Kg it not, that there i through [ rli ami breadth of our churches, Qumberlesfl souls, lODg wearied with strifes and division-, loi and yearning to sink them all in oblivion ? Is it true, or [fl ir not, tliat there are COUHtleSfl Christian hearts within whieh the ardent tire of brotherly love smoulders, readj to break forth? Is it true, or is it not, that it needs but a gathering of these brands to kindle a quick flame, which shall catch and spread through our land — it may be upon lands beyond the sea? Is it true, or is it not, that our Lord is a Lord who hears, and who answers prayer? Is it true, or is it not, that we have, in these last days, special encouragement to look to Him in supplication for eater things than our fathers or we have known f If these things be not true, then may God help us! but if, indeed, they be true, brethren, — and do not our leap together here to believe they are — if they be true, then, in the name of God, llt v* arise and go for- wabd I The Resolutions accompanying this Report, as amended by the Convention, will be found incorporated in the general series of Resolutions. 38 APPENDIX. in. OX FIELD, TEXT, AXD PUBLIC HALL PREACHING. Before our Saviour ascended to heaven he said to his disciples, "Ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jeru- salem and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the ut- termost part of the earth." Thus in a single word did he describe the nature of his Church. It was to be the de- pository of his truth ; the place where it was to be col- lected, and from which it was to be distributed. Thus did he also describe the real character and office of its mem- bers. They were to be witnesses unto him ; they were to bear testimony on his behalf, in whatever sphere they might be placed, in whatever way he might happen to need that testimony. Is that Church compared to salt ? It is to diffuse its savor. Is it compared to leaven f It is to leaven the whole lump. Is it compared to light ? It is expected that the light will shine. Of what use would salt be unless scattered and applied? or leaven, if it did not pervade the three measures of meal? or light, if not permitted to show itself and dissipate the darkness ? For the disciples to restrict this salt, this leaven, this light to their own personal, individual benefit ; for Peter, and James, and John to say each one for himself, "I believe the doctrines of Jesus of Nazareth. I know him to be the Christ. I am satisfied as to the truth of his miracles. I am equally well persuaded as to the reality of his death ; of his resurrection from the grave, of his ascension on APPENDIX. 89 high, and in this belief I shall IIys and die, *nd go to heaven, do matter what becomes of other*; would be a spirit of selfishness, wide as the polea asunder from the spirit of their master. Their own personal Balration was hut secondary and incidental to his great and ultimate de- sign, which was through each of them to accomplish the| salvation of many others. k% Fe shall be witnesses unto Be both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost parts of the earth." u Go yc into all tln> world, and preach the Gospel to every creature; he that belie veth and is baptized shall be saved; but ho that believeth not shall he damned." * * "And they went forth and preached every where, the Lord working with them, and confirming the word with signs follow- tog." Such then is the spirit of the gospel, pre-eminently, un- mistakably diffusive, free as the air we breathe, the water we drink, or the light of heaven. The glad tidings of great joy to all people, all people should have the benefit of it. The moment that it is confined to a favored few, and lea to he aL r u r re-sive, that moment it ceases to be the gospel in all its original power, that moment it no longer goes forth " conquering and to conquer." M It is a maxim in the military art, n said Xapoleon, "that the army which remains in its intrenchments is beaten." It is a maxim, the truth of which is also confirmed in all the past history of the church. Other things being equal, that minister of Christ who preaches the gospel to the most people of all »es and conditions, is mosl like Christ and his apostles, and will have the brightest crown in the day that God will make up his jewels. With these preliminary remarks let us consider, 40 APPENDIX. The field of Union Missions as to the persons to be benefited by them. For some years past, much time and labor have been bestowed upon this subject in the way of statistics, which naturally divide themselves first, as to the great cities and towns; and second, as to the more densely populated dis- tricts of the country. It has been supposed that in the City of New York the number of persons unreached by the ordinary means of grace is 400,000 ; Philadelphia, 200,000 ; Brooklyn, 137,- 000; New Orleans, 100,000; Detroit, 30,000. In thirteen of the principal cities of the United States, 1,200,000. The state of things in the country, all portions of it taken together, is very little, if any, better. In Maine not more than one-third or one-half of those, who might at- tend, are ordinarily found in any house of worship. In New Hampshire not more than one-third. In Vermont one- quarter of the whole population are habitual neglectors of all public worship — one-third who do not attend habitual- ly. In Massachusetts 250,000 persons seldom, if ever, come under the sound of the Gospel. In Connecticut not one-half of the population come under the direct in- fluence of the means of grace. In Ohio only about one- third of the people attend public worship, leaving 1,000,000 who do not attend. In Illinois only one-quarter of the Protestant population can be considered as regular at- tendants. In Pennsylvania, taking the thirty counties east of the Alleghany Mountains, containing 1,200,000, about 400,000 are without any accommodation in a house of worship ; and in the State as a whole, not one-half of the population can be regarded as church-goers. Four and a half millions comprise all, and more than AI'TIMUX. 41 all, tin* average attendance on the places of Protectant worship on the Sabbath day in the whole country. <>r, in other words ire bare lour and • half million-, out of thirty millions, on the Sabbath, under i oo Gospel instruction. When we think of tho charaeter of the remainder, DOW many of these are profane swearers, Sabbath breaker.-, drunkards, adulterers ; how many are in the Penitentiary in consequence of crime, or in the Almshouse if the con- sequence Of vice; and what thai] be the end of their un- godlv career, our eye might well affect our heart ; and, in view of such a va-t Zahara of moral desolation, the inquiry, What can bo done to evangelize the masses of our coun- try ? is not second in importance to any other. u The har- vest truly is plenteous, but the laborers are few/' To answer this Inquiry by a reference to the past, wo think of the declaration, M Wisdom crieth without ; she ut- tereth her voice in the street ; she crieth in the chief places of concourse, in the opening of the gates." We see 44 Ezra the seribe standing upon a pulpit of wood, which they had made for the purpose, and all the people gather- jog them-elves together as one man into the street." We see John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness. We see Jesus himself, going about all Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, and preaching the gospel of the kingdom, now on a mountain top, now on a mountain side, now on the steps of the Temple, and again speaking from a ship to a great multitude that >tood on the shore. We see Peter in the midst of Jerusalem, speaking with a tongue of fire, and the enemies of the truth falling before him like grain before the sickle. We see Paul on Mars Hill, declaring to the men of Athens the true instead of the unknown God, 4* 42 APPENDIX. "We see that little band of disciples, as they hold their farewell prayer-meeting in the upper chamber ; as they once more engage in the breaking of bread; as they sol- emnly commend each other to the care of Him who has said, "Lo, I am with you alway ; " as they find them- selves outside the walls of Jerusalem, and are scattered abroad everywhere preaching the word. Most of them have little education ; they have learned to read and learned to write — perhaps but little more. They never sat at the feet of Gamaliel ; never stud- ied in the schools of eloquence ; never made themselves familiar with the literature of the Greeks and Romans. They are not even colporteurs ; they have no Bibles, no Testaments, or tracts, or religious newspapers to distribute ; no Gospel by Matthew, or Mark, or Luke, or John ; no epistle by Paul, or Peter, or James, for they are yet to be written ; but they are not so poorly off after all. They themselves are living gospels ; the great facts in the his- tory of Jesus are written in their memories ; the spirit of it is written in their very hearts. They are living epistles, manifestly declared to be the epistles of Christ, written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God. Or, to give more definiteness to our conception of the diffusive nature of the gospel, take the case of a single in- dividual — that young man, for example. Already he has borne his testimony to those at home ; for to follow Christ he has left them all. Already he has borne a gen- eral testimony as to his belief in Christ as the Messiah, by receiving baptism in His name in the presence of the mul- titude. And now, leaving father and mother, sister and brother, he is driven out upon the wide world, forsaken and alone. But there is one thought which comforts and sustains \HT\DI\. 4S Mm: In 1 goal not anient I!-' is on i mission to the Ignorant and tlu> lost, Se does no1 go unaccompanied i M Lo, I in whfa you," Is the promise ol bis Master, "always, even unto tin- end of the world." Sis own hearl filled to overflowing with the knowledge and love of Christ ; like the ointment of the right band thai betrayetfa Itself, he Is not content unless he can communicate the Bame love and knowledge to tin 1 heart- of others, He bas good and great news to communicate to the world. He knows what they do not know, but what they must know it' ever they would be saved; and how is he straitened until it Is announced Is lu> on hia journey, and does he meet with a Fellow- traveller, the usual topics of conversation soon exhausted, mis to narrate the wonders of the crucifixion, the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, and his ascension on high ; and closes his description With the unfaltering atlir- ination of his belief that this was indeed the Christ who should redeem, who Jnid redeemed Israel. I wayfaring man, does he tarry for a night at an inn? Ere his companions retire to rest, they are sure to hear the same story, and to he most earnestly and cor- dially invited to believe in Him, for whom there was no room in the inn at Bethlehem, but whose Father's house of many man-ions is always open to receive the wretched and the 1<>m. Does he find himself on board some vessel, and 0:1 a longer or a shorter voyage to a distant port ? If he is the only one who knows of Jesufl Christ ami Him crucified, he is determined that all hi- fellow-p shall know it also. Not one, the least and lowest of the crew, but shall be made acquainted with the power of Ilim who could Bpeak to the winds and the waves, and cause them to be still. 44 APPENDIX. Does he obtain employment in the shop or in the field? it is the same way with his fellow-workmen as with his fel- low-voyagers : they very soon are made to know that he has been with Jesus and learned of Him, and some of them, through the influence of the Holy Spirit, learn the same lesson themselves. Does he enter into a synagogue on the Sabbath ? Greatly is his pity moved on behalf of those who are his brethren, his kinsmen according to the flesh, from whose hearts the veil has not been removed, and who vainly look for a Messiah still to come. He talks to them as Philip did to the Ethiopian eunuch, when seated beside him in the chariot. He tells them that the Messiah has come, and that they are not to look for another, but to believe in Jesus. Does he pass a heathen temple ? his whole soul is stirred within him at such debasing superstition, and, fearless of all consequences, we hear him exclaim: "Whom ye ig- norantly worship, him declare I unto you." That we are not mistaken in giving such a representa- tion of the mode in which the primitive Christians propa- gated the gospel, and in which it must still be propagated, if it is to attain any great and speedy success, will be evk dent, if we consider the meaning of the word preach as they were then accustomed to use it, and as we ought still to use it, in accordance with their example. In the original Greek there are three words translated " preach." The first signifies, to publish or proclaim authoritatively or by commission from another ; and hence the preacher is represented as a herald or messenger of important intelli- gence, one who is charged with an embassy, or to whom AITKNIUX. \-> isted the dut j of proclaiming wit or peace. This fai the term employed in reference t<> the preaching of John ptistas the harbinger of Christ, of Christ Eimsel^ and that of EDa apostles, it i- mainlj an official term : leant one The second word is that from which our English word gdise" conic- ; which liter. illy signifies, to give the first information of any thing pleasant to ■ person or peo- ple ; <»r, in other words, to announce the good news. Thus Joaephns, acquainting us that Titus sent to his lather the good news Of his taking Tarichea, says he u evangelized him 11 — i. e. told his old lather the good news of QIC aon'fl ss, The remaining word is an intermediate term, that has no particular hearing on the case in band. From the example of Christ, of His apostles and disci- d of the early converts generally, as well as from the plain and simple meaning of the word itself, We are . in a definite and most important sense, that it is the duty of every Christian to preach the gospel; every Christian, whether male or female, young or old, whether endowed with much or little intelligence or edu- cation ; every Christian, in every church the world over; it ifl their imperative and unavoidable duty to preach the , to carry it with them as far as they go them- . to make it known to their fellow-men, wi be the reception it may meet, whatever the trying or -ant consequences to themselves Taking it for granted that the gospel is good news to them, that they Ives know what it is to believe and embrace it; is Can there be any doubt whatever as to their duty to communicate this k, good news' 1 to Others? Study as long 46 APPENDIX. as we will, examine as carefully as we will, we can come to no other conclusion than this — that we are to teach every man his neighbor, and every man his brother, say- ing, "Know the Lord." We are to be ; ' witnesses" for God, as Paul exhorts Timothy ; " Those who are not ashamed of the testimony of the Lord." " We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard." u Ne- cessity is laid upon me — yea, woe is me, if I preach not the gospel." This as we have just seen, was unmistakably the spirit of the primitive Christians. So was it with Columba and the Culdees. So was it with Peter Waldo and the u poor men of Lyons ; " with Wickliffe in Great Britain, Martin Luther in Germany; with Zinzendorf and the Moravians; with Whitfield and the Wesleys ; with Lady Huntington and her friends, Berridge, and Romaine, and Howell ; with Edwards, and David Brainerd, and the Tennents ; with Xettleton, and Patterson, and Daniel Baker, and Xorton, and a host of others that might be mentioned in connec- tion with the revival of 1832 ; with Brownlow Xorth, and Rev. H. Grattan Guinness. Merely to mention these names, is to speak volumes as to what can be done, when men are not afraid to lift up holy hands everywhere, with- out wrath and doubting. The more we look at the success of such efforts, the more surprised are we that this mode of effort has been so little recognized and reduced to a practical system. Wise and good men, from time to time, have endeavored to practise it, or lifted up their voices in favor of it, but there has not been equal wisdom on the part of those to whom they appealed to respond to it. Thus, for example, an article on Open-air Preaching appeared in the American APi'i m»i\. i r BapCst Maqcizinc, published | 382, in which the writer, the Rev. Boward Malcolm, 11 Public addresses, delivered In the open sir, have been common in ill tgei for all porpoeea — civil, military, and religions, For the former purpose! they continue common, but for the latter, they hare become too rare* Calvin, not content with the duties of his theological chair, taught the inhabitants of Geneva every week in the open air, in a certain convenient street Wesley went over all England, and Miuok the slumbers of the whole population by field-preaching. In the year 174^ he put this question to his conference I Have we not used field-preaching too sparingly } and then a rule was enacted, that every super- intendent should preach in the open air once a week. Whitfield preached abroad both in England and America. The Hoston Common was one of his regular preaching stations. k The regular service of the sanctuary is necessary and entirely scriptural so far as it goes ; yet the mode for which we contend, being neither less scriptural nor less neces- sary, should not be neglected. Are not Christians bound to use every honorable and practicable mode of diffusing the gospel?" The author, after dwelling on the motives and encouragements to engage in the work, proposed the formation of an Open-air Preaching Society. lie adds : 44 If necessary, a tent, awning, or other slight accommoda- tion could be provided, capable of being easily removed and placed in different situations. Those who officiate ought to be, in general, the well known ministers of the city and neighborhood. Three or four brethren skilled in psalmody, must always be present, to commence with sing- ing, during which time an audience will infallibly be gath- 48 APPENDIX. ered. We cannot continue innocent and leave this great work unattempted. It is not enough that we say there is ample room in our meeting-houses, in all of which pro- vision is made for the poor. We say not only that many poor are scarcely able to attend public worship, but especially we say that the poor form but a small class of those for whom we would institute this mode of preaching. We seek all idlers, all Sabbath-breakers, of every grade, comprising apprentices, journeymen, laborers, and respect- able persons who prefer the recreation of a walk abroad to the spiritual refreshments of the house of God. We go on the presumption that, as far as possible, those who will not come to the sanctuary must be sought in the highways and hedges, and in the streets and lanes of the city. Nor would we confine this mode of preaching the gospel to cities. Let us not go down to our graves so submissive to custom, as to bring upon ourselves the guilt of souls. Let us view each wanderer among the thousands who throng the public walks, as possessing a soul more precious than all material things." How far such suggestions were carried out in our own country, we are not able to say. We know that they were responded to in many individual instances, and often with very marked effect. But; more than a dozen years pre- viously — as early as the summer of 1816 — there was one, who settled the question of open-air preaching, by actual experiment for all time to come. I mean the Rev. James Patterson of this city, who died November 17, 1837. " When he first settled in the northern part of Phil- adelphia," says the Rev. Dr. Carroll, " his church and con- gregation were comparatively small. He preached three times on the Sabbath, besides lecturing and attending APPENDIX, 49 pr ay e r -meetings during the week. Now with this, nay, with loss than this, m the measure of t h» ir labors moat minister! are abundantly satisfied. Not so with Mr. Pat- tenon, Beside the multitude thai crowded tin* place of worship where he preached, there was s masfl of neglected suburb. m population who wont nowhere to hoar the gOS- pel, and had no man naturally to oaro for their souls. They desecrated the Sabbath by collecting in groups round the dram shops, and spending its holy hours in rioting and drunkenness. The benevolent spirit of Mr. Patterson was stirred within him, when he contemplated these dense crowds of ruined yet immortal beings, moving in unbroken srion down the pathway to hell. This concern for them soon ripened into an active, laborious compassion, which led to a series of efforts for their good that have no parallel, as wo believe, in the history of any settled pastor in this country. This remark refers to his preaching on the Sabbath in the fields. With essentially the same spirit that animated Paul, when he stood on Mars Hill, and pro- claimed the gospel to those who were wholly given to idolatry, Mr. Patterson, amidst all his other exhausting la- i ommenced preaching on the Common on Sunday afternoon, after the close of the second service in church. The crowd which he drew round him, and the temporary and permanent effects of these efforts, have not been sur- - -ince the days of Whitfield. The surviving wit- of his exertions in this department, speak of him still with enthusiastic admiration. In the commencement of these labors, he had a little movable platform constructed, which was placed by the side of a building that fronted the Common. In this he stood, and proclaimed the message of God to the prornis- 5 50 APPENDIX. cuous company. But the multitude that flocked to hear him, soon became so great that he had to remove his stand to the open field, where his audience could surround him, and have an opportunity of hearing his spirit-stirring ap- peals. The mass of hearers was as dense and far extended behind him as before him, or on either hand. He was completely encircled by thousands, who stood in silence, and often in tears, wondering at all the gracious words that proceeded out of his mouth. These labors which he commenced on the Common in 1816, he continued through the five following summers ; and to the perfect revolution accomplished in the social and religious condition of the people, a thousand witnesses are still ready to testify, alike as to its thoroughness, and almost incredible extent. Why such an example as this was not more exten- sively followed ; why the mantle of this Elijah did not fall upon some equally-favored Elisha ; why, as the city extended its limits, and the suburban population increased a hundred fold — equally ignorant, equally degraded, equal- ly in need of the helping hand of that holy religion, which has the promise of the life that now is, and of that which is to come — why other Pattersons did not stand forth un- der the broad canopy of heaven, and proclaim, as the angels did, in the open air, " Peace on earth and good- will to men," we would not venture to say in the narrow limits of the present paper. Like Samuel, when he feared to show Eli the vision, we would not wish to hurt the feel- ings of the present generation of ministers, by drawing any unworthy or improper comparisons as to their physi- cal, mental, moral, and religious stamina, and that of many who have preceded them, but the facts in the case lie open to all. " The tendency of the Christian ministry is always Al'l'IAMX. 51 to moTe down from the high and arduous place thai be* Longs to it of .1 remedial function, to the lower rod more grateful position of an efi* of delectation either intellec- tual or spiritual." To preach in our own pnlpiti on the Sabbath, involve* no danger, does not require any special sacrifice; but to L r <» out quickly into the street* and lane.-. of the city, and compel men to conic in, that the Lord's nia\ be filled, this is • kind of work thai will test all that Ifl in a man to the utmoM. Now, we preach to congregations 1 but our commission is to preach to lw the world." Bnt, thank God, my brethren, if, in our own country, 11 open-air missions " have not been reduced to as; they have been in Great Britain and Ireland. "Tw< o, open-air preaching was carried on in than a hundred towns and villages of England; in moerf by ordained ministers, but in some by laymen also, as in Bristol and London. " In Ireland, the Seventh Annual Report on Open-air Preaching, by ministers of the Presbyterian Church, had been made to the General Assembly — full of interesting . and information methodically arranged, by which it appeared thai d iring i B57, had given three hundred and ninety-three open-air sermons. With what subsequent results, is now known to all the world. Challenging them tO gO and do likew Bul it was for London, mighty London, that nation of itself, to give the full solution to this problem. The Chris, ti.m Instruction Society, with their paid ministers ; The City Mission, with their paid mi— The Church Mission, with their miss '••nomi- nation, have at length suggested, and gradually worked 52 APPENDIX. out, what we believe to be one of the greatest ideas of the nineteenth century, viz. : Union Missions. Christians, after a long period of religious divisions, first united to circulate the Bible. Next they united to pray. The Union Prayer-meeting we do indeed believe is now a per- manent institution of the Church universal. It only re- mains that they should unite in preaching the Gospel. The argument is already prepared to our hand. To elab- orate it would only be to weaken it. If it is right for Christians, as Christians, to unite and circulate the Bible, and God has blessed this union — if it is right for Chris- tians, as Christians, to unite for prayer, and God has so unmistakably blessed this union — does it not follow, al- most as a matter of course, that if Christians, as Chris- tians, will unite to preach the Gospel, God will bless this union also ? and that in this union, we shall reap the fruits of both the others ? "With the evidence that is now before us on this sub- ject, we boldly affirm that Union Missions, either in the open-air, in a tent, or in a public hall, as may be most con- venient, can no longer be considered in the light of an experiment. The experiment has been made, and that on no ordinary or limited scale, and has proved successful beyond all peradventure. The open-air mission for all London, with agents of all classes, paid and voluntary, of all Evangelical Denomi- nations, and speaking to all the people, as early as 1855 had held more than two thousand services, the circum- stances attending which were carefully recorded, and their meaning extracted, and the authentic information rendered available for future use. The time has come, when Chris- tians in that city — and why not Christians everywhere ? — AITKNDIX. 53 have begun to find out, that for Christians to refuse to Dllite their cflbrts Tor the >alvation of men, bflCMW they cannot all agree about Paul, and A polios, and Cephas, is, to use their own expression, for the bakers to quit their ovens in the time of the famine, ami to wrangle about the shape of their loa\ , Simply by preachers and people observing the differ- ence between a worshipping congregation and a listening crowd — in other words, by getting men to listen to the gospel outside the churches, in order that they may even- tually worship inside — they have simplified the work as it has never been done before. " An appointed minister," they say, 4< is undoubtedly the best, if not the only man, to lead the former. But it is far too clear to need proof, that a layman may well speak to an assembly of the latter kind. In Sunday and in week- day schools laymen address hundreds of persons on spirit- ual subjects, and there are few men now w.ould dare to say that all sorts of doctrines may be preached by any man under slates, or tiles, or thatch, but that truth may not be spoken by all under the blue arch of heaven. " Receding, then, from the idea of collecting a worship- ping congregation in the streets as a necessary part of our work, we perceive that the singing of hymns may be dispensed with, and prayer very briefly employed, more, in fact, to gather the audience and to show the spirit of the work, than to conduct the praise or the petitions of those who attend. 44 Pulpits are altogether abandoned ; even a chair is not required by the best preachers. The whole operation re- solves itself into this as the essence ; in a crowded alley or thoroughfare, converse with some idle man, or careless 5* 54 APPENDIX. children, or gossipping loungers, read the Word, and be- gin open-air speaking. Don't call it preaching, and if asked by what authority, say, ' By no authority.' " Such efforts should be systematic — time, place, and text arranged — encouragement and advice brought im- mediately within reach, and communion promoted between fellow-believers. Hence it is that a committee is useful, and as a nucleus for others, a few are regularly engaged as preachers. ' Go out quickly,' p. 6. " The numerous open-air services of individual clergy and ministers, it is not attempted to record. These in- stances, and the good results from them, are happily now too numerous to make it doubtful that every parish ought to have some preaching out of doors. " The number of clergy and ministers who preach in the open-air steadily increases, and it is a notable sign of our times that there is held every Sunday an open-air ser- vice on the steps of the Royal Exchange, where a clergy- man preaches with the permission of the incumbent, the sanction of the bishop, and the approval of the Lord- Mayor of London ! The Lord-Mayor himself frequently attends, and when it rained, he admitted the assembly inside the iron gates of the Exchange, to worship in the area within — the centre of the commerce of the world ! " And what London has demonstrated to Great Britain, God in His providence, we trust, has permitted Philadel- phia to demonstrate for the United States. Our Union Tabernacle in 1858, the history of which has been partly published in u Pentecost," and much more fully in a volume of 450 pp., called "The Union Tabernacle," and "Our Tent in 1859," have developed, beyond all contradiction, the following particulars : APPENDIX. DO I. Th;it there is such a thing II :i union Spirit anion:: i'liri-t ians. II. Such i thing ii "Union Preaching" by mini ife III. Such a field II t hat of M Inion \ I i - - i c » 1 1 ^ . " in which it has not only been demonstrated that Christian! ran pray and work together, but that it is for their own mu- tual benefit and the advantage of the oommon came thui to do. 44 Doling the first two months after the erection of the Tahermule, there were fifty-three sermons preached by ministers in connection with eleven different branches of the Church of Christ ; and the aggregate number of those present was 51,000. During the four and a half months that the tent was in the city, there were held in it three hundred and thirty-three meetings, viz. : 12 inquiry meet- v children's meetings, 117 prayer-meetings, and 17*.) services at which there was preaching. The Dumber present during these various [mated in the aggregate at 150,000, to whom the gospel was pro* claimed by ministers in connection with nineteen different branches of the Church of Christ The whole number of sho hoped that they hi I OnneO- tion with the I the Tabernacle during tbea months, was about two hundred, of the mnltitu those irho were convicted there, and professed their faith in various churches we Can farm no estimat The history of the Tent during the last year DM equally satisfactory, afl will appear from the statement of the superintendent, Mr. Mingins. In view, then, of tin- statements as thus pi a further part of their report, your Committee would re- spectfully submit the following outline, as iu all ordinary 56 APPENDIX. cases, almost vitally and essentially connected with the existence and prosperity of their Union Mission : | 1. That there be a Union Prayer-meeting. 2. That a small Union Committee be agreed upon by this meeting, by common consent. 3. That the object of this Committee be to encourage, regulate, and improve the efforts of Christian men in that locality, both ministers and laymen, to carry the Gospel to their fellow-creatures assembled out of doors, or in tents, or in halls, depots, warehouses, and other places frequent- ed by the masses. 4. That #iq Committee be empowered to select and carefully enrol as members of the Union Mission any lay- men whose lives and doctrine are seen to be in harmony with the Word of God, and who are willing to labor in this most ancient, simple, and Scriptural means of making known the Gospel of Jesus to their fellow-men, where- ever they may l>e assembled together, looking to the blessing of God, and to the testimony of a good conscience, as their only reward. 5. That this Committee keep such records, and hold such meetings, monthly or otherwise, as they may find best adapted to promote their great object. P. S. — Since writing the above, we see by the Eighth Annual Report, that, during 1858, fifty-six ministers had held 357 open-air services, and preached the gospel to 58,275 persons; and, by the Ninth Annual Report, that in 1859, four hundred and forty services had been held, at- tended by 288,880! /Lit ^ fu Ui/Lm +/^f£ 0ATLOH0 BROS. MAKERS SYRACUS