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YALE UNIVERSITY
LIBRARY

A
History of
American Revivals

By
Frank Grenville Beardsley, s.t.d.

REVISED AND ENLARGED

THIRD EDITION

AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY
Seven, West FoRTy-FiFTH Street
NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT, 1904 AND I912
BY AMERICAN TRACT SOCIETY

PREFACE.
It is the purpose of the present volume to furnish
within modest limits a simple and straightforward
account of the great revivals and revival movements
characteristic of our national religious history. For
obvious reasons every revival and every individual
associated with revival history could not receive men
tion. An effort has been made to give as complete
a narrative of our revival history as possible.
In getting out a new edition of this work two
chapters have been added on "Recent Revivals" and
"Forward Movements." It is hoped that the value
of the book may be enhanced by these additions.
Fr.\nk G. Beardsley.
Kansas City, Kansas, June i, 19 12.

CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I. PAGE
Introductory — ^The Genesis of Revivals .... 1
CHAPTER II.
Religious Declension and Attempts at Reform . . 8
CHAPTER III.
The Great Awakening  20
CHAPTER IV.
The Period of the Revolution  71
CHAPTER V.
The A^wakening of 1800  84
CHAPTER VI.
Denominational Movements — The Congregationalists and
Presbyterians  108
CHAPTER ¦VII.
Charles Grandison Finney  118
CHAPTER vm.
Denominational Movements — The Congregationalists and
Presbyterians — Concluded  152
CHAPTER IX.
Denominational Movements — The Baptists . . .163
CHAPTER X.
Denominational Movements — The Methodists . . . 181
CHAPTER XI.
Denominational Movements — Concluded . , . 205
CHAPTER xn.
The Great Revival of 1857  213
CHAPTER Xni.
The Period of the Civil War  240
CHAPTER XIV.
The Lay Movement in Revivals  254
CHAPTER XV.
Organized Movements  296
CHAPTER XVI.
Recent Revivals . . . '  308
CHAPTER XVII.
Forward Movements  333
CHAPTER XVIII.
Conclusion  341

CHAPTER I.
introductory.
The Genesis of Revivals.
The history of revivals is the history of the
church. The great epochal movements which have
characterized the development of religion may
without impropriety be designated as revivals. In
accordance with customary usage the term is gener
ally applied to special religious services protracted
for a term of days or weeks, when unusual efforts
are put forth to reach the unconverted for the pur
pose of bringing them to repentance and winning
them to lives of faith and obedience. Revivals in
this sense of the word are of comparatively recent
origin and date their beginnings a little more than
a century and a half ago. It has been suggested,
however, that the annual feasts of ancient Judaism
corresponded in some respects to our modern
revivals and were a means of promoting vital
religion.

2 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
According to the generic significance of the word,
it means to re-animate, to awaken new life, and
hence it presupposes a state of declension. But
since an awakened church is always a converting
agency, any religious awakening is a revival,
whether the term be applied to the work of con
verting the unregenerate or to the task of bringing
new life to a dead and decaying church. With this
understanding of the terra ample justification may
be found for the statement that revivals are as old
as human history. It will be interesting, therefore,
if not profitable, before proceeding to a delineation
of American revivals, to consider briefly and some
what cursorily the great revivals which have char
acterized the growth and development of religion.
For our earliest information upon this subject we
must have recourse to the sacred scriptures. The
Bible is a manual of revivals in so far as it is a
record of the successive efforts which were made
by patriarchs and kings, by prophets and apostles,
for the redemption and religious betterment of a
sinning world. The earliest awakening of which
it speaks is that tersely described as occurring in
the days of Enosh when men began to call on the
name of the Lord. Of the character and extent of
this revival we can only conjecture, but it was an
event of deepest significance, since it marks the
beginnings of revival history.

THE GENESIS OF REVIVALS. 3
Passing on to the history of Israel we discover
that the Exodus, in its purpose and aims, as a
mighty spiritual quickening, was essentially a
revival. It marks an epoch in the development of the
chosen people, whence they were to emerge from
the Egyptian bondage, not only as the conquerors
of Canaan, but as the pioneers of a world-wide
religion. It was no easy undertaking, however, to
discipline this army of slaves and fit them for the
responsibilities of self-government under the the
ocracy. Backslidings were frequent and periodic.
God's providences were soon forgotten and it often
became necessary to admonish and rebuke Israel
for hdr rebellion and her sins. The periods of
deeper religious life which followed were in reality
revivals. As we study further the development of
this people we learn that such awakenings were
characteristic of their national life. Interesting
accounts are given of spiritual quickenings in the
times of Joshua, Samuel, David, Elijah, Hezekiah,
Josiah and Ezekiel. It is difficult to conceive how
the Jewish nation could have been saved from
utter apostasy and ruin had it not have been for
these gracious visitations. Even these did not save
the chosen people from the calamity which befell
them in consequence of the Assyrian invasion.
After the captivity there were extensive revivals
under Ezra and Nehemiah. The awakening under

4 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Ezra resembled more closely our modern revivals
than any of the recorded awakenings which took
place during the pre-Christian dispensation. It was
a protracted meeting in which unusual interest was
displayed. Ezra preached from a pulpit of wood,
while the people gave heed to readings and expo
sitions of the law. The effects of this revival were
lasting and beneficial.
With the inauguration of Christianity we find
that Pentecost is the emphatic date in the commence
ment of the new era. The ministry of Jesus together
with the influence of his character upon the
minds of his disciples had been a work preparatory
to the inception of that movement which had for
its object the evangelization of the world. But the
disciples were not yet fully prepared for that work.
They needed the enduement with power. The gift
of power accompanied the advent of the Holy Spirit
at Pentecost. That they were then ready for their
great work is evident from the fact that after they
had received the enduement of power, under the
preaching of a single searching sermon by the Apos
tle Peter, three thousand souls were converted to the
Christian faith.
By this great and notable event the Apostolic age
was ushered in as a great missionary and evan
gelistic era. The book of Acts is a manual of the
revivals of that age and is replete with accounts of

THE GENESIS OF REVIVALS. 5
awakenings and ingatherings under the labors of
Peter and Paul and other members of the apostolic
band. Dr. Kirk, in speaking of the influence of Pente
cost, says : "The impulse of this revival continued to
be felt through four centuries, swelling like a wave
of the sea, steadily onward, until the battle of the
Milvian Bridge put the scepter in the hands of
Constantine, and destroyed thus the power of Pagan
persecution; and then the decree of Milan pro
nounced the religion of the cross the religion of the
empire." *
The Christianization of the Roman Empire did
not eliminate certain elements of paganism, the
reflex influence of which proved disastrous to the
new faith. As a consequence a night of spiritual
darkness settled down upon Christendom, in which
the church slumbered on in contented indifference
to the pagan ideas and corrupt practices which were
destroying her spiritual power. Voices of protest
were raised now and then, but no sweeping results
were attained until there came a mighty awakening
through the Protestant Reformation.
The Reformation was not an event unheralded or
unprepared for. The Crusades, resulting in the
commercial expansion of Europe and the revival of

?Kirk's Revival Lectures, p. 115.

6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
learning, the preaching of Wyclif, Huss, and Savon
arola, and the invention of printing, were potent
factors in preparing the way for that tremendous
movement which convulsed all Europe and shook
to its foundations the papal throne. To Martin
Luther belongs the credit for having precipitated
the crisis which was bound to come. The hour
was struck when he nailed his theses upon the portal
of the church at Wittenberg, and that incident,
insignificant as it was, became one of the supreme
events in the world's history. Zwingli, Calvin,
Knox, and a host of lesser lights helped to complete
the work which he had begun and which resulted
in the spiritual quickening of Christendom.
In England the cleavage with Rome was chiefly
along political and ecclesiastical lines. Henry VIII.
through whom it was effected had been an ardent
Romanist, but when the pope refused to grant
him a divorce from Catherine of Arragon, he took
matters into his own hands and proclaimed himself
the head of the English Church. This never could
have been done, had there not have been a strong
undercurrent of Protestantism in the popular senti
ment of the day. The efforts of Wyclif and his suc
cessors, the humble Lollards, together with the work
of the Oxford Reformers, were not in vain. The
fruit of their labors was now manifest in the sub
mission and support of the people to the reforms

THE GENESIS OF REVIVALS. 7
of Henry. These reforms were not violent. A
change in the headship of the church was all that
was at first contemplated. Other changes were
inevitable, but the Protestantism of England partook
more of the character of an evolutionary process
rather than the more violent form of revolution.
In consequence of the persecutions of Mary, many
of the clergy fled to the continent, where they came
into contact with a type of Protestantism much more
radical than that of England. Especially was this
true at Geneva where the stern genius of Calvin
presided in ascetic simplicity. On their return to
England after the accession of Elizabeth, they car
ried with them a desire for further reform. As a
consequence the Puritan revival was inaugurated,
which subsequently peopled New England with
colonists and thus prepared the way for the intro
duction of that more vital form of religion which
has characterized the history of American Christian
ity.

CHAPTER IL
RELIGIOUS DECLENSION AND ATTEMPTS
AT REFORM.
The Pilgrims and Puritans, who founded the
New England settlements, were men of sturdy faith
and character. They would have gained pre-emi
nence in any age. The Old World was impover
ished by their departure, but it required men of
such faith and such character to lay the foundations
of a great republic on the bleak and rugged shores
of New England. They were possessed of pro
found convictions, — convictions which if necessary
would have caused them to have suffered martyrdom
for the principles which they avowed, — convictions
moreover which enabled them to lay aside their
ancestral traditions and the comforts of the mother
country to engage in the hardships of a pioneer
enterprise. They were men of fervid piety and
intense moral earnestness. But with the passing
away of the first generation of these men, the spirit
of self-sacrifice and devotion to sublime moral

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 9
ideals was not transmitted unimpaired to their
immediate posterity. In fact, as time elapsed a
decline in religion and morality became very
apparent. To the causes which were operative in producing
this state of declension, the church life of the period
contributed somewhat. Public worship consisted
of morning and afternoon preaching services on the
Lord's day, and in many places a mid-week lecture
was conducted on Wednesday or Thursday, which,
however, was not a gathering for social worship,
such as is our modern prayer-meeting, but was
similar in character to the services of the Sabbath
day. These services were cheerless and unattrac
tive. Instruments of music were unknown. The
singing was confined to the chanting of Psalms
metrically arranged, and the number of tunes made
use of for this purpose was seldom to exceed five
or six. The sermons, often highly metaphysical in
character, not infrequently required two and three
hours for their delivery. The type of religious
experience inculcated was harsh and unsymmetri-
cal. There was nothing to lead men to an appre
ciation of the beauty of religion or to set forth the
desirability of communion with God. The idea of
loving service received little or no emphasis, while
the religious life of the individual conformed to
the stern precepts of duty and fear as the ultimate

IO AMERICAN REVIVALS.
standards of conduct. The doctrines taught by the
church were ultra-Calvinistic in character arid led to
a practical denial of human freedom. Not yet had
the divines of New England learned to blend har
moniously the doctrines of divine sovereignty and
man's free agency. With an insistence upon man's
absolute inability to do anything towards securing
salvation, there is small cause for wonder that con
versions were few, and that men were coming to
look upon themselves as in no wise responsible for
their impenitence and rebellion towards God.
More potent still in its deteriorating influence
upon the religious life of the people was the -union
of church and state. Church membership was
i requisite to citizenship, churches were supported by
taxation, and church attendance was made com
pulsory by law. Well meaning as were such pro
visions, it was a fatal mistake. State churches are
seldom conducive to vital religion, but, this was a
fact which New England was to learn ,from long
and bitter experience. Men cannot be m^de pious
by law, and the attempt to do so has ofte^h led to
serious if not arnusing difficulties. Thejce were
times in the history of New England when men
who were not in a state of grace were sorely needed
in public affairs, and the story is told of one saint,
who had been excommunicated, who "was actually
arrested and commanded for the love of God to

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. ii
repent, because he was the only man competent to
lead their forces against the Indians."
Non-church members suffered keenly from ecclesi
astical disabilities. According to the principles of
the Puritans, only the regenerate were eligible to
church membership. The baptized children of such
were in covenant relations with the church and were
entitled to its watch-care, but they were not admitted
to the full privileges of church membership until
they had made a public profession of regenerate
faith. Until such a profession was made their chil
dren could neither be baptized nor enjoy the watch-
care of the church. Moreover only those who were
in full membership had any voice in the affairs of
the church. Truly, a strange anomaly was this!
Multitudes there were in New England who by
taxation were compelled to contribute to the sup
port of the church, and by law were forced to
attend its services, but who could have no voice
either in public affairs or in the choice of a relig
ious teacher, and whose children were debarred
from all of the privileges of the church.
To relieve the disabilities of such the famous
Half- Way Covenant was adopted by a "Synod of
elders and messengers, froih all the churches in
the Massachusetts Colony," which convened at Bos
ton in 1662, by order of the General Court of Massa
chusetts, to discuss among other questions "who

12 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
are the subjects of baptism?" For some time there
had been a growing liberalism upon the subject.
When the Cambridge Platform (an elaborate
declaration of the principles and practices of the
New England churches) was adopted in 1648 there
had been a strong sentiment in favor of lowering
the standards of the baptismal requirement, but out
of deference to a powerful minority, no decisive
action was taken. From this time the discussion
waxed warm. Many of the ablest divines of New
England stoutly opposed any departure from the
principles of their fathers, but the action of the
Boston Synod in 1662 was final. In accordance
with its provisions, persons baptized in infancy,
"understanding the doctrines of faith, and publicly
professing their assent thereto; not scandalous in
life, and solemnly owning the covenant of the
church, wherein they give up themselves and their
children to the Lord, and subject themselves to the
government of Christ and the church, their children
are to be baptized." The Half- Way Covenant made
no provision for any change in the civil status of
those who came within the scope of its action. This
was to remain as it was. While it relieved some
of their ecclesiastical disabilities, those who owned
the Covenant were not admitted to the Lord's table,
nor could they have any voice in the affairs of the
church.

RELIGIOUS DECLENSION. 13
The Half- Way Covenant elicited a vigorous pro
test on the part of its opponents, but the General
Court of Massachusetts "judged it meet to commend
the same unto the consideration of all the churches
and people," and thus it became a part of the church
discipline of the colony.
The effect of the Half- Way Covenant was not
altogether salutary. Instead of promoting vital
religion its tendency was to encourage moralism.
Those who were affected by it, instead of qualify
ing themselves for church membership, were rather
encouraged by its provisions to rest content with
the privileges which it conferred. Moreover it was
not kept within the bounds of its original provisions.
"Originally its provisions applied only to church
members who were admitted in minority, but before
many years churches which adopted it construed it
as admitting those non church members by baptism
and even men of lax personal morality who might
desire baptism for their children." * Gradually the
Lord's table was opened to such as owned the
Covenant. By some churches it was voted that
"those who wish to offer their children in baptism
join with the church, and have a right to all the
ordinances and privileges of the church;" and "if
any have any doubts with regard to their preparation

* Dexter's Congregationalism in Literature, p. 475.

14 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
for the Lord's supper, they may have the liberty to
stay away from that ordinance until their doubts
shall be removed." At a later time advocates were
not wanting for the theory that the Lord's supper
was a converting ordinance and a means of grace
for the unregenerate.
A general lapse in morals was the logical con
sequence, and this followed by a series of disasters
on land and sea, in accordance with the stern ideas
of that age, was interpreted as a visitation from the
Almighty because of the iniquities of the people.
Early in the history of New England, an unusual
degree of prosperity had been enjoyed, but now
crops had failed repeatedly, smallpox and other epi
demics had prevailed in the colonies, disastrous fires
had visited Boston, and violent storms at sea had
done great damage to shipping and had occasioned
the loss of many lives. King Philip's War, 1674-
1676, seemed to fill their cup of desolation to over
flowing. One out of every twelve men of military
age had met death at the hands of bloodthirsty
savages, property was destroyed and some entire
towns wiped out of existence, while the debts which
had been incurred had brought the colonies to the
verge of bankruptcy.
These conditions provoked thoughtful minds to
serious contemplation. The General Court was
petitioned to order a synod. The Court responded

ATTEMPTS AT REFORM. 15
and in September, 1679, a synod, which was known
as the Reforming Synod, convened at Boston to
consider (1) What are the evils that have pro
voked the Lord to bring his judgment on New Eng
land? (2) What is to be done that those evils may
be reformed?
After a careful consideration of these problems,
thirteen evils were specified as being the causes of
the disasters and calamities which had come upon
them. They were as follows : decay of godliness on
the part of professing Christians ; pride and extrava
gance in dress ; neglect of baptism and church fellow--
ship together with a failure to testify against Quak
ers and Baptists; profanity and irreverent behavior
in the sanctuary; absence of Sabbath observ
ance ; lack of family government and worship ; back-
bitings, censures, revilings and litigations between
church members ; intemperance, tavern haunting and
putting the bottle to the lips of Indians, besides
adultery, lustful dress and behavior, mixed dancings,
gaming and idleness; dishonesty; covetousness and
a love of the world ; opposition to reformation and
leniency towards sin ; a want of public spirit in caus
ing schools and other common interests to languish ;
and finally a general unfruitfulness under the means
of grace and a refusal to repent.
To remedy these evils it was recommended that
the chief persons in church and state be careful to set

i6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
a godly example; that the Cambridge Platform be
re-affirmed; that none be admitted to communion
who had not made a full profession of saving faith ;
that discipline in the churches be diligently enforced ;
that the churches be fully officered; that the magis
trates, attend to the support of such officers; that
righteous laws should be established and enforced;
that churches renew their covenants with God; that
the sins of the times be engaged against; that the
churches agree in covenanting to promote holiness
and a closer walk with God; that provision should
be made to support Harvard College and all schools
of learning; and that all should "cry mightily unto
God, both in ordinary and extraordinary manner,
that he would be pleased to rain down righteous
ness." The results of the Reforming Synod were salu
tary but not lasting. Many of the churches solemnly
renewed their covenants, days of fasting and prayer
were appointed and in some places there were large
accessions to the number of communicants. Accord
ing to Cotton Mather, it was followed "not only by
a great advancement of holiness in the people but
also by a great addition of converts to their holy
fellowship." But in most instances these additions
consisted of such as owned the Half- Way Covenant
and gave their assent thereto, so that the way was
opened for a repetition of those very evils

ATTEMPTS AT REFORM. 17
which the Reforming Synod was designed to
correct.
The disasters moreover which had visited the peo
ple were not averted, and in so far as they occupied
the public mind to the exclusion of religion they
served to aggravate the demoralizing tendencies of
the time. The loss of the old charter in Massachu
setts, the seizure of the Old South meeting-house for
an Episcopal service, and the witchcraft delusion
at Salem added to the political and religious dis
turbances of the day. A combination of such evils,
together with the spiritual desolation prevalent in
the New England churches, gave a gloomy aspect to
the closing years of the seventeenth century.
The opening years of the new century were no
less gloomy than the closing years of the old. In
1702 Increase Mather exclaimed: "Oh New Eng
land, New England ! tremble, for the glory is going ;
it is gradually departing." In 1721 he said: "Oh
degenerate New England ! what art thou come to at
this day? How are those sins become common in
thee that once were not so much as heard of in this
land?" Election and fast day sermons of the time
abound in similar allusions to the prevailing declen
sion in religion. The leaven of the Half- Way Cove
nant was performing its deadly work. During the
early part of the eighteenth century what was known
as Stoddardeanism (so named because advocated

i8 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
by Rev. Solomon Stoddard of Northampton, Mass. )
became widely prevalent. He maintained "that
sanctification is not a necessary qualification to par
taking of the Lord's Supper," "that the Lord's sup
per is a converting ordinance," and wrote a treatise
in defense of the same. There was some opposition
to be sure, but on account of Mr. Stoddard's com
manding influence his views received wide accept
ance throughout New England.
With the ebb-tide in religion there had been a
steady decline in the morals of the people. Jonathan
Edwards, writing of the conditions prevalent in
his own parish about 1730, said: "It seemed to be
a time of extraordinary dullness in religion; licen
tiousness for some years greatly prevailed among
the youth of the town; there were many of them
very much addicted to night walking and frequent
ing the tavern, and lewd practices, wherein some
by their example exceedingly corrupted others. It
was their manner very frequently to get together
in conventions of both sexes, for mirth and jollity,
which they called frolicks; and they would often
spend the greater part of the night in them, without
any regard to order in the families they belonged
to; and indeed family government did too much
fail in the town." * Northampton furnishes a mild

* Works, Vol. in., p. 232.

ATTEMPTS AT REFORM. 19
example of the conditions which were prevalent
throughout New England. The situation so far
as we are able to learn presents an ever-darkening
picture of the state of society and the moral condi
tion of the people.
Was this state of affairs to continue ? Were con
ditions to wax worse and worse ? Had God forsaken
New England? For a time it appeared to many
as if he had. But the darkness of the period was
the darkness which precedes the dawn, a dawn that
was to usher in the Great Awakening, an awaken
ing which was to result in the ingathering of thou
sands and the spiritual regeneration, not only of
New England, but of the entire colonial system
bordering on the Atlantic, and which was to give
spiritual strength for the struggle for independence.

CHAPTER IIL
the great awakening.
Dark as were the- conditions which preceded the
Great Awakening, there were not wanting rays of
light to give promise of brighter days. Rev. Solo
mon Stoddard, whose practices evidently were bet
ter than his theories, had been blessed in his pastorate
at Northampton, with special ingatherings which
he called harvests, during the years 1679, 1683,
1696, 1712, and 1718. Revivals were also reported
at Hartford, Conn., in 1696, at Taunton, Mass., in
1705, and at Windom, Conn., in 172 1.
The great earthquake of 1727 profoundly affected
the public mind and led many to inquire seriously
concerning the way of salvation.
That same year Rev. Gilbert Tennent, who was
destined to play no inconspicuous part in the Great
Awakening, was called to the pastorate of a Presby
terian Church at New Brunswick, New Jersey.
There he came in contact with the fruitful ministry
of Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen, who for seven
years had been pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church
in the vicinity, and whose success together with

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 21
his fraternal counsel incited the young minister to
a spirit of inquiry concerning his own lack of fruit
fulness in ministerial labors. A sickness which
visited him about this time deepened these impres
sions to such an extent that he resolved to be more
faithful and earnest in his ministry should he
recover. Upon his restoration to health he sought
both by personal work and the faithful presentation
of gospel truth to awaken the indifferent and arouse
the impenitent to a sense of their spiritual needs,
"which method," he said, "was sealed by the Holy
Spirit in the conviction and conversion of a con
siderable number of persons at various times and
in different places in that part of the country as
appeared by their acquaintance with experimental
religion and good conversation." *
These various spiritual quickenings, which were
as mercy drops before the showers of refreshing,
would seem to indicate that the country was not
altogether unprepared for that tremendous wave of
religious influence which swept over the colonies
and which has become known in history as the
GREAT AWAKENING. So far as the human
origin of this Awakening is concerned, it commenced
in the quiet rural parish of Northampton, Mass.,
about 1734.

* Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 35.

22 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Rev. Jonathan Edwards, under whose preaching
appeared the first manifestations of revival power,
was born at East Windsor, Conn., October 5th,
1703. His father was a Congregational minister
and his mother was a daughter of the celebrated Sol
omon Stoddard. As a child Edwards was preco
cious. At six he commenced the study of Latin, at
ten he wrote an essay denying the materiality of the
human soul, and at thirteen he entered Yale College,
from which he graduated in September, 1 720, before
he had quite reached the age of seventeen. During
his second year in college he read Locke on the
"Human Understanding," of which he said that he
was inexpressibly pleased and entertained; more so
than the most greedy miser, when gathering up hand-
fuls of silver and gold from some newly discovered
treasure. After graduation he remained two years
at college, studying and preparing himself for the
gospel ministry to which he had already committed
himself. In August, 1722, he accepted an invitation to the
English Presbyterian Church in New York City,
where he labored for a space of eight months. A
permanent call was extended him, but the church
was so small and the future so unpromising that
he declined. During this pastorate he began a
markable series of resolutions for the guidance of
his conduct, pledging himself to do nothing which

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 23
did not tend to the glory of God. Upon relinquish
ing his pastoral duties he repaired to the home of
his father, where several months were spent in a
further study of theology. In June, 1724, he re
ceived an appointment as tutor in Yale College,.
which position he filled for two years with honor
to himself and credit to the institution. The infirm
ity of years was now resting upon his grandfather,
the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, so that he felt the need
of an assistant in his pastorate at Northampton.
To this position young Edwards was called, and
he was duly ordained as colleague with his grand
father on the 15th of February, 1727. Two
years later, upon the death of the latter, he succeeded
to the full pastoral office in what was then the
strongest church in Massachusetts outside of Boston.
A short time after his ordination he was joined
in marriage to Miss Sarah Pierrepont of New
Haven, who was then but seventeen years of age.
The daughter of a minister, she was a young woman
of accomplished education and marked personal
beauty. The home life of this couple bordered
closely upon the ideal. When he visited them
George Whitefield was so impressed by their con
jugal felicity that he wrote, "She is a woman
adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked
so feelingly and solidly of the things of God, and
seemed to be such a helpmeet to her husband, that

24 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
she caused me to renew those prayers which for
some months I have put up to God, that he would
send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife."
For some months Edwards labored at Northamp
ton without success, but in 1733 a change in the
attitude and demeanor of the youth was apparent.
There was a disposition to be guided by pastoral
teaching and advice, and a few months later the
revival commenced. 1 740 is the commonly accepted
date for the Great Awakening, but in reality it
commenced in New England in 1734 and continued,
with some intermissions to be sure, for a period
of eight years.
In the spring of 1734, the minds of the people
were seriously turned towards the consideration of
eternal things by the untimely deaths of two young
persons in the community. Certain sermons also,
which Mr. Edwards preached about that time on
justification by faith, the justice of God in the dam
nation of sinners, the excellency of Christ, and the
duty of pressing into the kingdom of God, greatly
deepened the religious impressions of his hearers.
In these sermons the doctrine of God's sover
eignty was strongly insisted upon. Through the
fall in Adam man had lost God's favor and hence
forth had no claim upon his mercy. Man is a
sinner by birth as well as by choice and is possessed
of no moral power of his own wherewith he may

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 25
turn to God or please him. God is under no obli
gation to save anyone. "His sovereignty is involved
in his freedom to take whom he pleases, and to
leave whom he pleases to perish." Special grace
is communicated to such as he has chosen to salva
tion, but all others are left to die in their sins.
Satisfaction must be made for the sins of those who
are foreordained to eternal life. Such satisfaction
was made in the vicarious sacrifice on the cross
by Jesus Christ, who suffered thereby a penalty
equivalent to the eternal sufferings of the elect,
and thus their debt was literally paid. By the
imputation of Christ's righteousness to the believ
ing soul salvation was effected.
Such in brief were the elements of Edwards'
theology. The influence of such doctrines upon
the minds of those who had contented themselves
with a barren morality can better be imagined than
described. Men were brought face to face with
their sins and their indifference to the claims of
religion. False hopes were brushed aside, and the
unconverted were made to realize that works alone
would never save them. They were impressed with
the idea that their only hope of salvation was in
the mercy of God. As a result the hearts and
consciences of men were deeply moved. Within
a comparatively short space of time evidences of
converting grace began to appear. In the latter

26 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
part of December, 1734, five or six persons in
Edwards' congregation were converted. Among
them was a gay young woman of somewhat ques
tionable character, who had been a leader in fri
volity among the young. On account of her past
reputation Edwards was fearful lest her conversion
should create prejudice and bring the work into
disrepute, but his fears were groundless and quite
the reverse took place.
"Presently upon this," wrote Mr. Edwards, "a
great and earnest concern about the great things of
religion, and the eternal world, became universal
in all parts of the town, and among persons of
all degrees and all ages; the noise among the dry
bones waxed louder and louder; all other talk but
about spiritual and eternal things was soon thrown
by; all the conversation in all companies, and upon
all occasions, was upon these things only, unless
so much as was necessary for people carrying on
their ordinary secular business. Other discourse
than of the things of religion would scarcely be
tolerated in any company. The minds of the peo
ple were wonderfully taken off from the world; it
was treated amongst us as a thing of very little
consequence; they seem to follow worldly business
more as a part of their duty than from any dis
position they had to it. . . . But though the
people did not ordinarily neglect their worldly busi-

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 27
ness, yet there was the reverse of what commonly
is: religion was with all sorts the great concern
and the world was only a thing by the by. The
only thing in their view was to get the kingdom
of heaven, and every one appeared pressing into it.
. . . There was scarcely a single person in the
town, either old or young, that was left uncon
cerned about the great things of the eternal world.
Those that were wont to be vainest and loosest,
and those that had been most disposed to think
and speak slightly of vital and experimental relig
ion, were now subject to great awakenings. And
the work of conversion was carried on in a most
astonishing manner, and increased more and more;
souls did, as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ.
From day to day, for many months together, might
be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of
darkness into marvelous light, and delivered out of
a horrible pit, and from the miry clay, and set upon
a rock, with a new song of praise to God in their
mouths."* The results of this revival were most gracious.
Northampton then had a population numbering
about eleven hundred. Mr. Edwards expressed the
hope that above three hundred souls had been con
verted in half a year. Persons of all ages, from
children of tender years to those who had reached
* Edwards' Works, Vol. III., pp. 233-235.

28 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
extreme old age, were gathered into the fold. More
than a hundred were received into the church before
one communion. Eighty were received at one time,
"whose appearance, when they presented themselves
together to make an open, explicit profession of
Christianity, was very affecting to the congrega
tion." Sixty more were received before the next
observance of the Lord's supper. All these gave
"sufficient evidence of the conversion of their souls,"
although a credible confession of their faith was
not then required for admission to the Lord's table.
Such a work could not be hid. The revival spread
to other communities, and many came to examine
personally this remarkable work of grace. Even
tually the revival extended to South Hadley, Suf-
field, Sunderland, Deerfield, Hatfield, West Spring
field, Long Meadow, Enfield, Hadley Old Town,
and Northfield, in Massachusetts. In Connecticut
the revival commenced at Windsor not far from the
time that it began at Northampton. Thence it
spread to East Windsor, Coventry, Lebanon, Dur
ham, Stratford, Ripton, New Haven, Guilford,
Mansfield, Tolland, Hebron, Bolton, Preston,
Groton and Woodbury. Communities in New York
and New Jersey were also visited with spiritual
quickenings. Before the revival wave had spent
its force it was estimated that more than a hundred
towns had been blessed.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 29
As the news of this revival was circulated it
awakened a lively interest on the part of the friends
of vital religion. Many wished to learn an authentic
account of it, and in response to a request from
Dr. Colman of Boston, Jonathan Edwards wrote
a "Narrative of Surprising Conversions." Dr.
Colman forwarded the manuscript to Drs. Watts
and Guise of London, by whom it was published.
This little volume received an extensive circulation
on both sides of the Atlantic. A copy fell into
the hands of John Wesley, who read it on a walk
from London to Oxford. He wrote in his Journal,
"Surely this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous
in our eyes."
In 1 739-1 740 there were manifestations of revival
power, on a less extended scale, among the Presby
terians of New Jersey. Rev. Jonathan Dickinson,
who afterwards became president of Princeton,
wrote of hopeful awakenings at Newark and in his
own parish at Elizabethtown. Of the latter he
said: "Numbers daily flocked to their pastor for
advice in their eternal concerns. More came to
see him on this errand in three months than in
thirty years before."*
Not long afterwards a revival of unusual power
commenced among the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians
at New Londonderry, Pennsylvania, under the min-

* Sprague's Revival Lectures, Appendix, p. 284.

30 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
istry of Rev. Samuel Blair. This revival was
entirely independent of any which had hitherto
occurred. During an absence of Mr. Blair in East
Jersey, in March, 1740, and under the preaching of
a neighboring minister there were such manifesta
tions of concern that the people could not restrain
their tears, and audible groans were heard through
out the house. Upon the return of their pastor
similar manifestations took place, so that he was
obliged to request them to restrain themselves, as
much as possible, from making any noise that
would hinder others from hearing what was spoken,
and afterwards he often had occasion to repeat the
same counsel. The number of awakened increased
rapidly, and he wrote that "there was scarcely a
sermon or lecture preached here through that whole
summer but there were manifest evidences of
impressions on the hearers; and many times the
impressions were very great and general. . . .
In some time many of the convinced and distressed
afforded very hopeful, satisfying evidence that the
Lord had brought them to true closure with Jesus
Christ, and that their distresses and fears had been
in a great measure removed in a right gospel way
by beheving in the Son of God."*
A preparation for the Great Awakening in the
Middle Colonies, and a potent factor in promoting
* Tracy's Great Awakening, pp. 26-29.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 31
revivals, was the famous "Log College" at Nesham-
iny. Pa. This institution, which was the legitimate
forerunner of Princeton, afforded ministerial train
ing for the Tennents (Gilbert and his three broth
ers), Samuel Blair, John Rowland, Samuel Finley,
William Robinson and other influential revival
preachers. The "Log College" was founded about
1730 by William Tennent, Sr., who had emigrated
from Ireland to America in 1716. He was origi
nally an Episcopalian, but in 1718 he united with
the Presbyterian Synod, and within a few years had
come to exert a far-reaching influence in that denom
ination. Tennent and his four sons were ardent
friends of the revival. So active were they in its
promotion, and so powerful was their influence,
that in the region in which they labored it was
known as the Tennent Revival.
The revivals occurring in New England and the
adjoining colonies served as a preparation for the
coming of the great English evangelist and prince
of pulpit orators. Rev. George Whitefield, so that
the minds of men were as soil for the sower, when
he came to scatter the seeds of gospel truth, which
were destined to bring forth fruit, "some thirty,
and some sixty, and some an hundred-fold."
The life of Whitefield reads like a romance. He
was born at Bell Inn, in the city of Gloucester,
England, December i6th, 1714. His father, who

32 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
had been a wine merchant and afterwards an inn
keeper, died when the future evangelist was but
two years of age. Notwithstanding her limited
resources his mother determined to give him every
advantage within her power. As a youth he was
sent to the Grammar School of St. Mary de Crypt,
and at the age of eighteen he entered Oxford Uni
versity, where he secured a position as servitor
in Pembroke College. With the assistance thus
afforded and through the kindness of friends he was
enabled to reach the end of his three years' residence
at college with but twenty-five pounds indebtedness.
Up to the time of his entrance at Oxford he
was inclined to be wayward and careless, but upon
commencing his college duties he altered his mode
of life and refusing to join in the revelry, which
was all too prevalent, he won for himself the repu
tation of being a "singular, odd fellow." Circum
stances brought him into contact with the "Holy
Club," or "Methodists," as they were called by their
fellow students. A congenial companionship was
thus afforded, and although he was as yet uncon
verted he hoped through the influence of these asso
ciations to enter upon a more satisfying religious
experience. For the want of better instruction he
indulged in such austerities as to bring upon him
self a severe illness. But at length the light came,
and he was the first of the Oxford Methodists to

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 33
experience conversion. Soon after he left the Uni
versity, and on June 20th, 1736, was solemnly
ordained to the work of the ministry by Bishop
Benson. From his very entrance upon the ministry White-
field distinguished himself as an orator of unusual
power. Of his first sermon a complaint was car
ried to his bishop that it had driven fifteen persons
mad, whereupon that worthy replied that "he hoped
the madness might not be forgotten before the next
Sunday." This early effort was an earnest of the
mighty triumphs he was to win during his more
than thirty years of gospel "ranging," as he was
wont to term his itinerary labors. His sermons
appealed to all classes. The effects of his preaching
could be seen in the white gutters made by tears
coursing down the cheeks of the colliers who flocked
to hear him at Moorfields, while in after years such
critics as Franklin, Garret, and Hume testified to
the wonderful power of his oratory.
While Whitefield was yet a student at Oxford,
the Wesleys had gone to the infant colony of
Georgia. The glowing accounts which they gave
of their missionary labors fired him with a desire
to join them. He declined a lucrative curacy which
was offered him in London. Charles Wesley in
the meanwhile had returned to England to seek
additional laborers for that field and through further

34 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
correspondence with John Wesley, Whitefield was
influenced to go to that distant mission. Judged
from a purely human standpoint such a course
seemed exceedingly ill-advised. On embarking for
Georgia he was detained at the Downs by contrary
winds, and it so happened that the very wind which
carried Whitefield out of the Downs brought John
Wesley in. While his vessel was still in the offing
he received the following message from Wesley:
"When I saw God by the wind which was carrying
you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God.
His answer you have enclosed." Wesley decided
the question by lot, and the answer enclosed was
a slip of paper bearing the words "Let him return
to England." Believing, however, that his mission
was a divine one Whitefield continued his journey
to Georgia.
Before leaving England, Charles Wesley had
broached to him the propriety of establishing an
orphan house at Savannah. The unwisdom of such
a project for a colony barely in its infancy would
seem to have been apparent, and yet had it not
been for this orphanage Whitefield doubtless never
would have made America the chief scene of his
labors, nor' is it at all likely that his remarkable
evangelizing tours ever would have been under
taken, since they were made chiefly for the purpose
of raising funds for the orphan house at Savannah.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 35
After remaining three months in Georgia he
returned to England to seek priest's orders and to
collect funds for his orphanage. The interest which
his preaching awakened, provoked certain of the
clergy to hostility. The bishop of London wrote
a pastoral letter warning the people against him.
Notwithstanding the growing opposition he went
forward in the path of duty, proclaiming the tid
ings of salvation wherever opportunity was afforded.
Once while preaching at Bermondsey Church, with
an audience of a thousand on the outside who were
unable to gain admittance,, he said, "I had a strong
inclination to go out and preach to them froiti one
of the tombstones. This first put me upon thinking
of preaching out doors. I mentioned it to some
friends, who looked upon it as 'a mad notion.'
However, we knelt down and prayed that nothing
might be done rashly." The churches being closed
against him at Bath and Bristol, his heart went
out to the neglected colliers of Kingswood.
Although the churches were denied him, the com
mons were open. On February 17, 1739, he
preached to two hundred colliers on Rose Green.
He said, "I thought it might be doing the service
of my creator, who had a mountain for a pulpit
and the heavens for a sounding board; and who,
when his gospel was refused by the Jews, sent his
servants into the highways and hedges." Hence-

36 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
forth field-preaching was to be a feature of his
work, and in this way he was able to reach throng
ing multitudes whom no church could accommodate.
Having collected a thousand pounds for his
orphanage and having been ordained to the priest
hood, Whitefield returned to America, reaching
Lewiston, Pa., October 30, 1739. Thence he jour
neyed to Philadelphia. This was his first visit to
the Northern Colonies. Great multitudes flocked to
hear him. No building being sufficiently large to
accommodate the people, he frequently preached
from the gallery of the court house on Market
Street. It was said that "his voice was distinctly
heard on the Jersey shore, and so distinct was his
speech that every word was understood on board
of a shallop at Market Street wharf, a distance of
upwards of four hundred feet from the court house.
-All the intermediate space was crowded with his
hearers."* From Philadelphia he was invited to
New York. Here he found all the churches closed
against him, except the Presbyterian Church. By
day he preached to great multitudes in the fields,
and at night to crowded auditories in the church.
It was said that "he left New York under a deep
and universal concern. Many were greatly
affected."

* Gillies' Memoirs of Whitefield, p. 43.

THE GREAT AWAKENING 37
On his trip to and from New York, he preached
at Elizabethtown, Maidenhead, Abington, Nesham-
iny, Burlington and New Brunswick. An incident
of this journey was his meeting with Rev. Gilbert
Tennent, the stern revival preacher of New Bruns
wick. On his return he resumed his labors in
Philadelphia. Prayer meetings were instituted in
various parts of the city and daily preaching ser
vices were sustained for many months.
From Philadelphia Whitefield journeyed over
land to Savannah, preaching at Wilmington, New
castle, Annapolis, Williamsburg, Charlestown and
other points along the way. After having laid the
foundations of hjs orphan house, he returned to the
city of brotherly love, preaching there and at the
surrounding communities with remarkable results.
The citizens of Philadelphia proposed to build for
him a large church, but he declined the offer, pre
ferring to devote his energies to itinerary evan
gelistic labors. Of the effects of this visit Benjamin
Franklin said : "The multitudes of all sects and
denominations that attended his sermons were enor
mous, and it was a matter of speculation with me
to observe the influence of his oratory on his hearers
and how much they respected him, notwithstanding
his common abuse of them, assuring them that they
were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was
wonderful to see the change soon made in the man-

38 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless
and indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all
the world was growing religious; so that one could
not walk through the town in an evening without
hearing, psalms sung in different families in every
street."* Whitefield's next journey northward was to New
England, whither he had been invited by several
prominent ministers and laymen. It was confidently
expected that his coming would be attended with
showers of refreshing grace. Says Tracy: "There
is even reason to suspect that the manifestation of
a revival, which was already secretly at work in
men's hearts, was kept back for several months,
by the general feeling that it would take place when
Mr. Whitefield came and not before." It was not
strange therefore that his labors should have been
attended with results of unusual magnitude.
Whitefield reached Newport, September 14, 1740,
and proceeded by way of Bristol to Boston, where
he remained four weeks, preaching in the churches
of Drs. Colman and Sewall, and also upon the
common, where vast throngs of people flocked to
hear him. During his stay at Boston, he visited
many of the surrounding towns, including Cam
bridge, where he preached before the students of
Harvard College. He also made a trip eastward as
? Billingsley's Life of Whitefield, p. 152.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 39
far as Portsmouth, N. H., and York, Me., preaching
at several points along the way.
Of the manner of Whitefield's preaching at this
time a contemporary writer has given the follow
ing description: "He loudly proclaims all men by
nature to be under sin, and obnoxious to the wrath
of God. He maintains the absolute necessity of
supernatural grace to bring men out of this state.
He asserts the righteousness of Christ alone the
cause of justification of a sinner; that this is
received by faith; that faith is the gift of God; that
where faith is wrought it br-ings the sinner under
the deepest sense of unworthiness, to the footstool
of sovereign grace to accept of mercy as the free
gift of God only for Christ's sake. He asserts the
absolute necessity of the new birth; that this new
production is solely the work of God's blessed spirit;
that wherever it is wrought it is a permanent, abid
ing principle, and that the gates of hell shall never
prevail against it."*
The effect of his preaching began at once to be
felt. Inquirers flocked to the great preacher in such
numbers that he scarcely had time to eat or sleep,
and a revival was inaugurated that continued for
eighteen months and the influence of which was
felt throughout New England and the Northern
Colonies. On October 12, Whitefield preached

* Quoted from Dunning's Congregationalists, p. 247.

40 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
his farewell sermon to an audience of nearly thirty
thousand. Belcher, the royal governor, kissed him
farewell, and with tears in his eyes begged an inter
est in his prayers.
From Boston he proceeded by way of Concord,
Worcester, Brookfield, and other towns to North
ampton, whence he journeyed to New York through
Connecticut, preaching, as was his custom, at various
points along the way. At New Haven he tarried
three days. In an address before the students of
Yale College, he warned them of "the dreadful
ill consequences of an unconverted ministry."
Among those who were deeply impressed by his
words was Samuel Hopkins, who in after years
became one of the most noted advocates of the
Edwardean or New England theology and who
affected profoundly the theological thinking of this
country. Both houses of the legislature adjourned
to hear the noted preacher. Governor Talcott
embraced him, and gave God thanks for such
refreshings on the way to his rest.
Having preached three days in New York he
resumed his journey southward, reaching Charles-
town, December i, 1740. At New Brunswick,
where he had conferred with William Tennent and
others, it was decided that Gilbert Tennent should
go to Boston to carry on the work which had there
begun. Tennent at first demurred because of his

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 41
incompetency for the work, but finally after prayer
ful consideration consented to undertake the task.
Gilbert Tennent was a powerful but less polished
preacher than Whitefield. Prince said of him : "He
seemed to have no regard to please the eyes of his
hearers with agreeable gesture, nor their ears with
delivery, nor their fancy with language; but to
aim directly at their hearts and consciences, to lay
open their ruinous delusions, show them their
numerous, secret, hypocritical shifts in religion, and
drive them out of every deceitful refuge wherein
they made themselves easy with the form of godli
ness without the power."* He remained in Boston
and the vicinity two months and a half. Multi
tudes of all ages and conditions were awakened
under his powerful preaching. Large numbers
united with the various churches, and many more
would have done so had he not discouraged them
from approaching the Lord's table without satis
factory evidences of conversion.
After his departure the religious interest still
further increased. In three months' time six hun
dred inquirers went to Mr. Cooper for spiritual
consolation, and more than a thousand visited Mr.
Webb on a like errand. For many months the
religious interest was at its highest tension, not
only in Boston, but throughout New England.
During the years 1741 and 1742 powerful revivals
?Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 115.

42 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
were experienced at Natick, Wrentham, Bridge-
water, Taunton, Middleborough, Halifax, Glouces
ter, and Reading in Massachusetts; at Lyme, En
field, New Haven, and other towns in Connecticut;
at Portsmouth and Newcastle in New Hampshire;
and at Westerly, Rhode Island. Multitudes of other
places throughout the Northern Colonies were
visited with revivals of more or less power.
In some of these places the revivals were occa
sioned by the visits of Tennent and Whitefield, but
elsewhere such awakenings seem to have been
brought about independently of the efforts of visit
ing ministers or evangelists.
The scope of this work will not admit of a con
sideration of these numerous revivals, but the char
acteristics and physical manifestations of the revival
in the West Parish of Lyme, Conn., were so notable
as to deserve special mention. Rev. Jonathan Par
sons, who was pastor at that time, was an ardent
friend of the Awakening and one of its most effi
cient promoters. Gilbert Tennent had preached at
Lyme on his journey from Boston, but with scarcely
any visible results. Soon, however, there were indi
cations of deep concern and a revival of unusual
power commenced. Mr. Parsons, under whose
ministrations the work was carried on, in describing
the effects of his preaching, wrote that "Many had
their countenances changed; their thoughts seemed

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 43
to trouble them, so that their loins were loosed,
and their knees smote one against another. Great
numbers cried out aloud in the anguish of their
souls. Several stout men fell as though a cannon
had been discharged, and a ball had made its way
through their hearts. Some young women were
thrown into hysteric fits. ... I was commonly
obliged to make several stops of considerable length,
and entreat them, if possible, to restrain the flood
of affection, that so they might attend to further
truths which were to be offered, and others might
not be disaffected. Some would after a while
recover themselves, and others, I am satisfied, could
not."* Revs. Jonathan Edwards of Northampton, Mass.,
Jonathan Parsons of Lyme, Eleazar Wheelock of
Lebanon, Benjamin Pomeroy of Hebron, Joseph
Bellamy of Bethlehem, and John Graham of South-
bury in Connecticut, and others did not confine
their labors to their own parishes, but were often
called upon to assist other pastors in special ser
vices, and went from place to place, much after the
manner of modern evangelists, arousing the impeni
tent, awakening the indifferent, causing formal
church members to experience great searchings of
heart, instructing multitudes in the way of salva
tion, and otherwise promoting the revival until
* Tracy's Creat Awakening, p. 138 flf.

44 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
through their efforts and the efforts of a host of
faithful pastors, all New England was aflame with
a revival fervor, the far-reaching results of which
no one can estimate. Suffice it to say that by the
end of 1742 there was scarcely a parish which had
not in some measure enjoyed a share in the fruits
of the Great Awakening.
In the Middle Colonies, under the preaching of
the Tennents, Blair, Rowland, Finley, Dickinson,
and others, similar results were accomplished. In
these Colonies, the revival was carried on and pro
moted chiefly by the Presbyterians, as a consequence
of which the churches of this denomination multi
plied with great rapidity and received continual
accessions to their membership.
In the South the revival did not commence until
1743, and in Virginia the work was carried on
principally by laymen in the face of more or less
opposition from the Established Church. Here and
there throughout the province were to be found
men and women hungering for the bread of life,
who had become dissatisfied with the abuses of the
state church.
At Hanover there was a small company of such,
who, when they learned of the effects of Mr. White-
field's preaching at Williamsburg in 1740, were
very desirous of hearing him, but since he had
already left the colony no opportunity was afforded

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 45
them. During the year 1743, Mr. Samuel Morris,
one of their number came into possession of a small
volume of Whitefield's sermons. He invited his
neighbors to his home and read them in their hear
ing. Meeting from Sabbath to Sabbath in this man
ner, their numbers gradually outgrew the dimen
sions of a private dwelling and they resolved to
build a meeting-house suited to their purpose. Mr.
Morris received invitations from several communi
ties in the surrounding country to read from the
precious volume. Thus the revival was propagated
to the spiritual quickening of many throughout that
region. At length they were visited by Rev. Wil
liam Robinson, a graduate of the "Log College,"
who devoted his labors to the neglected districts
among the new settlements of Pennsylvania, Vir
ginia, and North Carolina. Under his ministrations
a fresh impetus ¦was given to the revival and num
bers were converted. After Robinson's departure
Morris continued his practice of reading sermons.
The communities in the vicinity, to which he made
occasional visits, were greatly profited thereby, and
they in tum erected meeting-houses and chose
readers from among themselves.
Such in brief was the rise of English Presby
terianism in Virginia. From time to time brief
visits were paid them by other ministers, among
whom were Revs. Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Finley,

46 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
William Tennent, Samuel Blair, and finally the
noted evangelist George Whitefield. These visits
were attended with excellent results and many were
added to their numbers. But persecutions and
seasons of trial awaited them. Presbyterianism had
been tolerated among the Scotch-Irish along the
frontier, but no such leniency was extended to those
who had renounced Episcopalianism in the heart
of the English settlements of the province. They
were brought into conflict with civil authority and
harassed in many ways. Notwithstanding these
embarrassments, the feeble companies of believers
grew and churches multiplied, until at length Sam
uel Davies came to them to minister statedly.
Within a short time, through his influence, seven
churches were granted licensure by law, to all
of which he ministered, dividing his time be
tween them. Thus the revival was promoted,
Presbyterianism was caused to flourish, and the
work went forward with uninterrupted successes
until the commencement of the Revolutionary
struggle. In Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, the
revival received its impulse largely through the
visits and preaching of George Whitefield.
Throughout the scattered settlements of these col
onies, conversions in proportion to the population
were numerous, and as in Virginia, the revival con-

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 47
tinned for several years until it was brought to
a close by the War for Independence.
In the various revivals which combined to make
the Great Awakening, there was little or no depen
dence upon external measures as a means for pro
moting a work of grace. Indeed, any great reliance
upon means and measures would have been esteemed
inconsistent with the prevailing conceptions of God's
sovereignty, by which he was believed to accomplish
his ends and purposes independently of man's agency
or co-operation. This, however, did not preclude
the idea of prayer or its importance. In searching
the records of the Great Awakening, we find that
its leaders were not only men of prayer, but that
their hands were stayed up by the prayers of a pray
ing people. There were no protracted efforts to get
up a revival. Except in rare instances the services
were confined to the Sabbath day and the mid-week
lecture. Occasionally when the interest seemed to
demand, special services for giving religious instruc
tion were appointed. "Anxious seats" were
unknown and inquiry meetings as we now know
them were unheard of. Preaching was practically
the only means employed for quickening the con
sciences of the impenitent and for giving such
instruction as seemed suitable to the needs of those
who were inquiring the way of life and salvation.
The trend of the preaching was decidedly Calvin-

48 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
istic. The sovereignty of God was the central
theme about which all else revolved. Jonathan
Edwards wrote : "I think I have found that no dis
courses have been more remarkably blessed than
those in which the doctrine of God's absolute sover
eignty with regard to the salvation of sinners, and
his just liberty, with regard to answering the
prayers or succeeding the pains of mere natural
men, continuing such, have been insisted on."*
Of the extremes to which the doctrine of divine
sovereignty was sometimes carried we have evi
dence in a sermon which Edwards preached at
Enfield, Conn., from the subject "Sinners in the
hands of an angry God." Among other things,
he affirmed that "God has laid himself under no
obligation, by any promise, to keep any natural man
out of hell one moment. . . . The bow of
God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready
on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your
heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but
the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry
God, without any promise or obligation at all, that
keeps the arrow one moment from being drunk with
your blood. . . . The God that holds you over
the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some
loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you and is
dreadfully provoked; . . , You hang by a
* Works, Vol. III., p. 245.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 49
slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath
flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe
it and burn it asunder; and you have no interest
in any mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save
yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath,
nothing of your own, nothing that you have ever
done, nothing that you can do to induce God to
spare you one moment."
Abhorrent as such doctrines are to this age, when
presented by a mind of such logical force and acumen
as that of Mr. Edwards, they were calculated to
be tremendously effective. There is small cause
for wonder that under such preaching men and
women were sometimes seen clinging to their seats
as though fearful of sliding into the pit, or that
there were physical manifestations at times of an
unusual character.
The manner in which the syb jects of the Awaken
ing were affected has been described by Edwards in
his Narrative of Surprising Conversions. First
they were filled with an "awful apprehension" of
their condition by nature and the danger they were
in of perishing eternally, so that they often suffered
painful physical effects in consequence of the agony
of spirit which they underwent. This was followed
by a sense of God's justice in their condemnation,
that he might justly bestow his mercy upon every
other person in the world and damn them to all eter-

50 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
nity. Many were led to wonder that God had "not
cast them into hell long ago." These profound con
victions were succeeded, sometimes suddenly, by a
"holy repose of soul in God through Christ, and a
secret disposition to fear and love him" and often by
such a sense of the greatness of God's grace and the
fulness of Christ as to lead to hysterical weeping
and laughter; "and sometimes they have not been
able to forbear crying out with a loud voice, express
ing their admiration."
The morbid fears which preceded a hope of con
version often lasted for many weeks and months,
sometimes leading to consequences that were disas
trous. Edwards cites one instance in which despair
drove the individual to suicide and others, he says,
were tempted to do likewise. Yet no encourage
ment was offered to these perplexed and despair
ing souls. To have done so, according to current
theological conceptions, would have put an end to
their convictions, would have created contention and
strife with God because he accepted some and
rejected others, and would have stood in the way
of that humiliation before his sovereign majesty,
which was regarded as the first step towards sal
vation. Consequently those who had become
impressed with their need of salvation were left
to wander about in spiritual darkness, groping after
the light, until relief came unaided, and their fears

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 51
were dissipated by hopes of God's omnipotent
grace. The general effects of the Awakening were salu
tary and gracious. Jonathan Parsons in writing of
its effects in his parish said: "Rough and haughty
minds became peaceful, gentle, and easy to be
entreated. Lowliness, long-suffering, forbearance,
a courteous deportment, beneficence, and tender
heartedness, meekness, and moderation, to all
appearance, seemed to increase abundantly. And
to all these we observed a delight in Christian fel
lowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayer. I
think it cannot be expected that men, in their gen
eral course, should give clearer evidences of Chris
tian temper formed in them, than many did in that
season. Their faith worked by love and discovered
itself in acts of piety towards God, charity and
righteousness towards men, and sobriety towards
'themselves."* Jonathan Edwards bears similar testimony to the
great work of grace at Northampton: "This work
of God, as it was carried on, and the number of
true saints multiplied, soon made a glorious altera
tion in the town ; so that in the spring and summer
following. Anno 1735, the town seemed to be full
of the presence of God : it never was so full of love,
nor so full of joy; and yet so full of distress as

?Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 142.

52 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
it was then. There were remarkable tokens of God's
presence in almost every house. It was a time of
joy in families on account of salvation's being
brought unto them; parents rejoicing over their
children as new born, and husbands over their wives,
and wives over their husbands. The goings of God
were then seen in his sanctuary, God's day was a
delight, and his tabernacles were amiable. Our
public assemblies were then beautiful; the congre
gation was alive in God's service, every one ear
nestly intent on the public worship, every hearer
eager to drink in the words of the minister
as they came from his mouth; the assembly in
general were, from time to time, in tears while
the Word was preached; some weeping with
sorrow and distress, others with joy and love,
others with pity and concern for the souls of their
neighbors."* Throughout New England a remarkable trans
formation had been wrought. Young people had
been led to forego their frolics, night walking,
impure language and lewd songs. Both old and
young alike had abandoned drinking habits, tavern
haunting, profane language, and extravagance in
dress. The vicious had been reformed, and the
fashionable, great beaus and fine ladies, had for
saken their vanities. The Bible and books of devo-
Works, Vol. III., p. 235.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 53
tion had come into greater esteem, the Lord's day
was observed more religiously, old grudges and
differences had been put away, and there was a
general disposition to confess sins and make resti
tution for wrongs that had been committed. Such
in substance were the effects of the revival in New
England as described by Edwards in his Thoughts
on the Revival of Religion.
In the accounts given of the revivals at New
Londonderry, Pa., and at Lyme, Conn., we have
seen that there were marked physical effects, such
as weeping, emotional outbreaks, hysterics and the
like. As the Awakening progressed these physical
manifestations became so marked as to create an
unfavorable reaction and brought the revival into
disrepute. In many instances the disorders which
had arisen were greatly magnified and malicious
reports were circulated to the great detriment of
the revival.
Writing of such reports. Rev. John Cotton of
Halifax, Mass., said: "Some I found to be wholly
groundless; others were gross misrepresentations;
the bad circumstances of a story were picked up
and related and all the good suppressed ; and some
times when only one was guilty, the whole body
were charged; and when any particular person had
really done or said amiss, and was soon brought
to a sense of it and repentance for it, I found that

54 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the repentance did not fly an hundredth part as
fast as the sin."*
While this view of the situation is in the main
correct, it cannot be denied that the evil reports
were often only too true. Some of the leaders of
the Awakening had not always acted circumspectly,
and by their example had encouraged the excesses
and abuses which had arisen. Whitefield's con
duct sometimes savored of fanaticism. His Journal
abounds in descriptions of the emotional effects
of his preaching. "Shrieking, crying, ¦w;eeping and
wailing were to be heard in every corner." "In
almost every part of the congregation somebody or
other began to cry out, and almost all melted into
tears." "Some were struck pale as death, others
wringing their hands, others were lying on the
ground, and most lifting their eyes towards heaven,
and crying to God for mercy." He was greatly
influenced moreover by impulses and impressions.
Jonathan Edwards took him to task for this and for
judging others to be unconverted, but Whitefield
apparently did not take kindly to the wholesome
advice of Edwards and, as the latter thought, "liked
him not so well for opposing these things."
The emotionalism now prevalent in the Awaken
ing led to conflicting opinions as to its value, while
the unguarded expressions of certain of the leading
* Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 178.

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 55
lights of the revival created more or less acerbity of
feeling. Both Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent had
declared that many ministers of the Gospel were
unconverted men. While there might have been an
element of truth in their statements, the severe
arraignments and unjust recriminations to which
they resorted were too general and too sweeping to
accord with the actual state of facts. There can be
no question that the ministry is no fit calling for un
regenerate men, but Whitefield in his dependence
upon impulses and impressions was apt to think that
unless ministers met with results similar to those
which he witnessed in his labors, and had ex
periences quite like his own, they were unconverted,
and he did not hesitate to pronounce them such.
The disorders which had already brought a re
proach upon the revival appeared in an aggravated
form in connection with the labors of Rev. James
Davenport of Southold, Long Island. Whitefield
had warmly commended him and pronounced him to
have a closer walk with God than any man he had
known. Davenport went from place to place with
out invitation, and depending upon impulses and
impressions, denounced as unconverted such minis
ters as disagreed with him and exhorted their
flocks to desert them and follow him. Confu
sion and bitterness resulted in almost every parish
which he visited. Congregations were divided.

56 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
alienation and strife were created, the evil effects of
which continued for many years.
In order to suppress these evils the Connecticut
legislature in 1742 passed an act forbidding any
minister or licentiate to preach in any church not his
own, without the consent of its pastor and the major
portion of its membership, under penalty of forfeit
ing the right to collect his legal salary, if a resident
of the colony, and liability to expulsion from the
colony if not. Davenport was accordingly arrested
and brought before the assembly, by whom he was
adjudged insane and sent to his parish on Long
Island. Not long afterwards he appeared in Boston,
where in accordance with his custom he denounced
the ministers as "unconverted" and "leading their
people blindfold to hell." He was arrested for utter
ing slanderous statements against the ministry, and
although the charge was sustained by the grand
jury, he was pronounced non compos mentis and
therefore not guilty.
The following March he went to New London to
assist in the formation of a Separatist Church. In
response to intuitions which he declared he had re
ceived from above, he at once began to purify them.
To that end he ordered wigs, cloaks, breeches,
hoods, gowns, rings, etc., to be brought to him that,
in a.ccordance with his solemn decree, they might be
consigned to the flames. On Sabbath afternoon the

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 57
pile was burned, including many books which he had
condemned, among them the works of such authors
as Flavel, Beveridge, Matthew Henry, Increase
Mather, and even the writings of Jonathan Parsons,
the fervid revivalist of Lyme, Conn. As the smoke
of these books ascended upwards, so affirmed
Davenport, was ascending in hell the smoke of
the torments of such of their authors as had
died in the same belief in which the books had been
written. This was the last recorded appearance of Daven
port's fanaticism. A year later, having recovered
his reason, he published a retraction of his errors,
humbly confessing the wrongs of which he had been
guilty and acknowledging that he had been "led
astray by following impulses or impressions as a
rule of conduct" and had neglected also "duly to ob
serve the analogy of the Scripture." His retraction
produced but little effect upon his followers. They
simply denounced him and went on in the courses
in which he had initiated them. His chief influence
had been in Connecticut, where the civil authorities
unwisely attempted to correct by legislation and
civil penalties the abuses and evils which had arisen.
But little permanent good was accomplished in this
way, while the feelings on both sides of the con
troversy were only intensified. The Separatist
churches which had been formed continued to exist

58 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
for many years, until they were finally absorbed by
the Baptists or had returned to the denomination
whence they had come.
These unhappy consequences served but to aggra
vate the controversy which had already arisen about
the revival. The agitations of the public mind over
questions pertaining to the Awakening were such
that the religious interest soon waned and the re
vival was at an end. Jonathan Edwards was fore
most among those who defended the Awakening,
and he published in its defense "Thoughts on the
Revival of Religion in New England," to which Dr.
Charles Chauncey, an able but "liberal" opponent of
the revival, published a rejoinder entitled "Season
able Thoughts on the State of Religion in New
England," in which he had gathered a mass of evi
dence testifying to the extravagances practised in
various places in connection with the Awakening,
and for which he condemned the work as a whole.
In 1743, at the General Convention of Congrega
tional Ministers in Massachusetts, a "Testimony"
was published against certain "errors in doctrine"
and certain "disorders in practice" that had "of late
obtained in various parts of the land." Thirty-eight
votes, comprising but a small minority of the min
isters in Massachusetts, were recorded in its favor.
As it was intended to cast discredit upon the Awak
ening, it wa? very irritating to the friends of the

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 59
same. Accordingly the latter, under the leadership
of Revs. Joshua Gee, Benjamin Colman, William
Cooper, Thomas Prince, and Joseph Sewall, all of
Boston, gathered another convention at Cambridge
the following July. A counter "Testimony" was
published affirming "that there has been a happy and
remarkable revival of religion in many parts of this
land, through an uncommon divine influence." —
remarkable "on account of the numbers wrought
upon, the suddenness and quick progress of it,
. . . also in respect of the degree of operation,
both in a way of terror and in a way of consolation ;
attended in many with unusual bodily effects." It
was admitted that "in some places many irregulari
ties and extravagances have been permitted . . .
but who can wonder if at such a time as this Satan
should intermingle himself to hinder and blemish a
work so directly contrary to the interests of his own
kingdom ?"
Much has been made of the opposition to the re
vival, as if it represented the better elements in the
churches of New England, and indeed it has been
asserted that the majority of ministers in Massachu
setts were unfriendly to the Awakening, but if num
bers are at all indicative of the true state of feeling,
it need only be said that the names of one hundred
and thirteen ministers were appended to the latter
document as against the thirty-eight who had placed

6o AMERICAN REVIVALS.
themselves on record as discrediting the Great
Awakening. On October 19, 1744, George Whitefield, accom
panied by his wife, landed at York, Me., on his sec
ond visit to New England. His arrival only added
fuel to the controversy which was now raging, so
that the results of his labors were slight in com
parison with his former visit. He was obliged to
suffer not only the ill consequences of his own in
discretions, but those of his followers as well, many
of whom had gone far beyond him in the excesses
of which they had been guilty.
On account of certain unguarded expressions
which had been published in his Journal, many who
formerly had been friendly towards him became
alienated, and were not disposed to favor his pres
ence. Associations of ministers in Massachusetts
openly opposed him by public declarations and
otherwise. Harvard and Yale Colleges published
"testimonies" against him, and in June, 1745, the
General Association of Connecticut voted that "it
would by no means be advisable for any of our min
isters to admit him into their pulpits or for any of
our people to attend his ministrations."
Former experience, however, had taught White-
field some lessons, and his deportment on this visit
was above criticism. He acknowledged some of his
former errors, and in spite of the opposition which

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 6i
he encountered, his visit was attended with excellent
results. He remained in Boston for several months
and was persuaded to establish a course of six
o'clock morning lectures on Genesis. Multitudes
flocked to hear them, and his Boston friends pro
posed to build for him "the largest place of worship
ever seen in America," but he declined the offer in
order to devote his energies to itinerary evangelistic
labors. Although in New England, the results of
this visit were proportionately smaller, in Pennsyl
vania, Maryland and the south, his efforts had never
been more successful.
In the Middle Colonies the opposition to the revi
val had created a schism among the Presbjrterians,
severing the denomination into two rival factions, be
tween whom a bitterness of feeling was engendered
for many years. Finally in 1758, through the efforts
of Gilbert Tennent and others, the "Great Schism,"
as it had been called, was healed by the mutual sur
render of differences, and American Presbyterian
ism went forsvard as a united body in its work of
conquest and of victory.
No narration of the events of the Great Awaken
ing would be complete without a further considera
tion of its chiefest actors, Edwards and Whitefield.
The close of Edwards' pastorate at Northampton
was pathetic if not tragic Gradually coming to
realize the evils of the Half- Way Covenant, he in-

62 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
sisted upon a credible evidence of conversion, as the
ground for admission to church membership. This
provoked a controversy between himself and the
church. An attempt also to discipline certain
younger members of his church for reading books
which he esteemed obscene reacted unfavorably
against him. Confident of the justness of his posi
tion, he proposed to preach a series of sermons upon
his views as to the qualifications for church mem
bership, but this the church refused to permit. An
ecclesiastical council, "convened not without ele
ments of unfairness," voted "that it is expedient that
the pastoral relation between Mr. Edwards and his
church be immediately dissolved, if the people shall
persist in desiring it." The action of the council
was ratified by the church by a majority of two hun
dred and fifty votes. July i, 1750, he preached his
farewell sermon. For some time he preached occa
sionally, until prohibited from so doing by the town
meeting. Later in the same year with his wife and
ten children he removed to Stockbridge, Mass.,
whither he had been sent as a missionary to the
Housatonic Indians.
The next few years were spent in self-denying
effort on behalf of those who came within the prov
ince of his ministry. If not attended by any remark
able success, his pastorate afforded greater leisure
for literary labors, which was improved in the prep-

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 63
aration of several volumes, the most important of
which was his celebrated treatise on the "Freedom
of the Will." In the fall of 1757, President Burr of
Princeton having died, Edwards was invited to be
come his successor, but it was not until the follow
ing January that he gave his reluctant consent to
assume the responsibilities of that office. He
soon removed to Princeton, and shortly after his
inauguration was inoculated for smallpox, an
operation which terminated fatally, March 22,
1758- Whitefield gradually outlived the malignant oppo
sition which had been aroused against him in New
England, to which he made subsequent visits, in
1754, 1764, and 1770, when he died at Newbury-
port, Mass., September 30. For more than thirty
years he had done the work of an evangelist, "post
ing o'er land and ocean without rest," and had been
listened to with breathless interest by thronging mul
titudes on both sides of the Atlantic. Although he
had made mistakes, he had been wise enough to cor
rect them, and at the time of his death was loved
and honored as an apostle to the English-speaking
world. Even his death was not without its fruits.
Benjamin Randall, a godless young sailor of Ports
mouth, N. H., had been an interested listener, but
the news of the great evangelist's death so affected
him that it led to his conversion. He afterwards

64 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
became a minister and founded the Free- Will Bap
tist denomination.
The results of the Great Awakening were mo
mentous and far-reaching. Prior to this mighty
religious upheaval, the churches were devoid of
spirituality and power. Their membership in large
measure was composed of unregenerate persons
who had been drawn thither by the social and
political influence thus afforded, and instances are
on record of unconverted men who were filling the
pulpits of churches. Outside of the church, indif
ference and irreligion were on the increase. Pro
jected into these conditions, the Great Awakening
resulted first in the Spiritual Quickening of the
Churches. In the aggregate the Congregational
churches of New England shared most largely in
I the fruits of the revival. According to Rev. Ezra
Stiles, afterwards President of Yale College, during
the twenty years following 1740 "an augmentation
of above 150 new churches has taken place, founded
i' not on separations but on natural increase into new
towns and parishes," bringing the whole number of
Congregational churches up to 530. Careful his
torians have estimated that from 25,000 to 50,000
were added to the churches of New England in con
sequence of the Awakening. The population of the
New England Colonies in 1750 was 340,000.
Assuming the smaller number of additions, which

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 65
is a conservative estimate, to be correct, more than
seven per cent, of the entire population of these colo
nies would have been gathered into the churches as
a direct result of the revival. A national awaken
ing of similar power at the present time would re
sult in the ingathering of more than five million
souls. The increase in the Presbyterian Church was pro<
portionately greater. From 1740 to 1760 the num
ber of Presbyterian ministers in the American
Colonies had increased from 45 to over 100. The
churches had multiplied with even greater rapidity,
and at this time there were 41 pastor less churches
in Pennsylvania and Delaware alone. Although the
Middle Colonies were the principal seat of Presby
terianism, substantial gains, as we have seen, had
been made in Virginia and the South.
Notwithstanding a certain amount of prejudice, i
the Baptists had shared materially in the results of
the Awakening. During this period their churches
in New England had increased from 21 to 79. This
in part has been accounted for by accessions from*
Separatist churches; but as these were chiefly in
Connecticut, and only eight new Baptist organiza
tions were reported in that Colony, it can readily be
seen that the increase of the Baptists from the Sepa
ratists has been greatly overestimated. The rapid
extension of the denomination must be accounted

66 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
for through the influence of the revival, indirect
though it may have been. New churches were also
formed at the South and the foundations laid for the
tremendous influence afterwards exerted by the de
nomination in that section.
The Episcopalian Church was logically forced
into an attitude of opposition to the Awakening, so
that it shared but little in the results. Indirectly,
however, the denomination was benefited by the
movement. In Virginia, Devereaux Jarrat was con
verted during the revival. He went to England and
received ordination at the hands of the bishop of
Chester. Returning to this country he labored dili
gently for the revival of his own denomination.
"To him, and such as he, the first workings of the
renewed energy of the church in Virginia are to be
traced." An impetus was given to the churches of various
denominations which continued to be felt down to
the very threshold of the Revolutionary War.
Whitefield's visit to New York in 1764 was attended
with greater results than any of his preceding visits.
That same year there was a remarkable revival at
East Hampton, Long Island, under the ministry of
Rev. Samuel Buell. Large numbers were converted,
and at one communion ninety-nine persons united
with the church.
From the time of the Great Awakening to the

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 67
present day, revivals have been a characteristic of
American Christianity. The spiritual power and
the remarkable influence exerted by the American
churches are attributable in no small degree to these
mighty quickenings, which like tidal waves have
swept over this country, gathering multitudes into
the church of God.
A Second Result of the Awakening was a Quick
ening along Missionary and Educational Lines. At
Stonington, Conn., and at Westerly, R. I., there
were extensive revivals among the Indians, which
resulted in the extinction of heathenism among
them. In 1743, David Brainerd, a convert of the
revival, began his extensive missionary labors
among the Indians, which were interrupted by his
early death. Jonathan Edwards, at whose home the
last days of the saintly Brainerd were spent, wrote
his memoirs under the title of "An Account of the /
Life of David Brainerd." A perusal of this "Life" /
so affected Henry Martin, that he became the first f
modern missionary to the Mohammedans, and thus'
modern missions, in part at least, are a fruit of the
Great Awakening.
Among the early converts of the revival at Nor
wich, Conn., was Samson Occum, a Mohegan In
dian boy, aged seventeen years. A promoter of the
Awakening, Rev. Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon,
Conn., received him into his home in 1743 for the

68 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
j purpose of educating him. This was the beginning
lof a school for Indians, which developed into Dart-
5 mouth College, which was endowed in part with
I funds secured by Occum in England.
Princeton College also owes its origin to the
Great Awakening. The Presbyterian party in the
Middle Colonies, opposed to the revival, secured an
enactment from the Synod, requiring a diploma
from a British or New England college, as a re
quirement for licensure to preach. As this was
intended as a blow at the "Log College" of William
Tennent, the friends of the revival established
Princeton, and through the influence of Whitefield
considerable funds were secured in England for its
maintenance. It is a significant fact also that the
charter of the institution was granted by White-
field's friend. Governor Joseph Belcher. Born as it
was in a revival, it is not strange that Princeton
should have been blessed with remarkable revivals in
1757 and 1762.
. A third Result of the Great Awakening was its
'Jn-flue-nce upon Religious and Political Liberty. In
New England, excepting the Colony of Rhode
{Island, Congregationalism was established by law.
|ln New York, Virginia and the South, Episco-
jpalianism was the established religion. The expan-
iSion of the newer denominations, particularly the
fBaptists and Presbyterians, which the Awakening

THE GREAT AWAKENING. 69
fostered, paved the way for the tolerance of conflict-|
ing opinions and a broader conception of liberty of
conscience. Rival sects existing side by side andl
openly propagating their peculiar tenets, togethei|
with the following which they rallied about themj
led to the introduction of those principles of toleraW
tion, which guaranteed religious liberty to all, in so\
far as it did not interfere with the welfare of j
society or disturb the peace of the State. With thisl
tendency to diversity, a unifying influence was also?
at work. The apostolate of Whitefield, the itinera-'
tion of evangelists, while it did not conflict with
denominational loyalty, served to emphasize that
broader view of Christian fraternity, which, rising
above name and sect, enabled men to catch a glimpse
of our universal brotherhood in Christ, which has
been so characteristic of modern American Christi
anity. Only indirectly did the Great Awakening affect
the political liberties of the colonies. The religious
convictions of the American people, however, which
so largely were called into being through the revival,
served as a balance to the political revolution which
resulted in independence and prevented it from
being hurled into that vortex of anarchy and min,
in which the French Revolution was swallowed up.
War at its best is but a species of savagery, and it
was the results of this Awakening which conserved

70 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the principles of the Pilgrim Fathers and insured
their perpetuity amid the desolations and horrors of
the Revolutionary struggle.

CHAPTER IV.
THE PERIOD Oif THE REVOLUTION.
Controversy had brought a speedy end to the
Great Awakening in New England. The political
agitations which followed prevented a renewal of
the revival spirit, so completely absorbed was the
public mind in the questions of the day. The year
1744 was marked by the commencement of King
George's War, and this was followed a few years
later by the French and Indian War. From the
events growing out 'of the latter there culminated
that agitation which resulted in the American Revo
lution. In the struggle for liberty the clergy bore no
inconspicuous part. The pulpit, especially in New
England, was a forum for the consideration of such
subjects as affected the public good. Election and
fast day sermons were trumpet calls to resist the
tyranny of parliament and king. Throughout the
colonies the ministry as a class were noted for their
ardent attachment to the cause of liberty. Many of
these ministers entered the army as chaplains or sol
diers, and not a few of them held commissions as
officers in the patriot army.

72 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
The all-absorbing interest of clergy and people in
the causes and progress of the war proved disastrous
to the spiritual life of the churches. Revivals were
practically unknown in many parts of the country.
In places there were occasional quickenings to be
sure, but for the most part they were exceptional.
In connection with the founding of Dartmouth Col
lege a series of revivals commenced which extended
to several communities in that vicinity and con
tinued for several years. In 1771 and 1772 there
was a remarkable revival at Princeton, N. J., which
affected profoundly the religious life of the college
and resulted in the conversion of many students. In
1772, there were revivals at Elizabethtown and
Newark, N. J., at Stockbridge and other points in
Berkshire County, Mass. At Vance's Fort in West
ern Pennsylvania, through the efforts of Joseph
Patterson, a layman, an extensive revival occurred
in 1778, which resulted in the formation of the
Cross Creek Presbyterian Church. A portion of
Lyme County, Conn., was visited with a season of
refreshing in 1780. Awakenings were reported at
Thetford, Vt., and Brentford, N. H., in 1781, and
at Boscawan, N. H., in 1782. Yale College Church
at New Haven, Conn., was visited in 1783 with a
gracious revival, as a result of which a score or more
of the undergraduates united with the College
Church. That same year witnessed revivals at West

THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 73
Simsbury, Mass., and at several towns in Litchfield
County, Conn. During the year 1784 there were
quickenings at Concord, S. C, Elizabethtown, N. J.,
Berlin, Conn., Medway and Franklin, Mass. In
1785 there was an extensive awakening at East
Hampton, Long Island, under the ministry of Dr.
Samuel Buell; more than one hundred united with
the church within six or eight months after its com
mencement. From 1 781-1787 there was a revival
movement in the churches of Cross Creek, Upper
Buffalo, Chartiers, Pigeon Creek, Bethel, Lebanon,
Ten Mile, Cross Roads, and Mill Creek, Pa. More
than a thousand members were added to these
churches. The foregoing list is not intended to be
exhaustive. There doubtless were other communi
ties which were visited with awakenings of greater
or less extent.
Both the Baptists and Presbyterians in their mis
sionary zeal had pushed out into the frontier bor
ders and in the regions not visited by the ravages of
war, were meeting with marked success. As early
as 1765 the first Baptist churches were organized in
Tennessee, and in 1782 in Kentucky. The Presby
terians penetrated to these regions somewhat later,
but by the close of the eighteenth century both de
nominations were well represented on the frontier.
By far the most remarkable religious and revival
movement of the period was the rise and growth of

74 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Methodism. As early as 1760 a party of German
refugees from the Palatinate had landed at New
York. For a time they had sojourned in the North
of Ireland, where some of their number had been
converted to the tenets of Methodism. Among
them were Barbara Heck and Philip Embury, the
former a woman of devout 'piety and marked re
ligious personality, the latter a class leader and local
preacher. For some years no attempt was made to
conduct religious services. Finally in 1 766, through
the importunities of Barbara Heck, who had become
alarmed on account of the dangers of apostasy,
Philip Embury was impelled to stir up the gift that
was in him. A more inopportune time for the in
auguration of such an enterprise could hardly have
been conceived. The Stamp Act had been passed
the preceding year and the Colonies were convulsed
in the throes of that agitation which was to culmi
nate in the Revolution. However, the labors of
Whitefield had to some extent paved the way for the
pioneers of Methodism. The first services were held
at Embury's home, but within a short time a larger
room became necessary. Early ' in 1767 Capt.
Thomas Webb of the British Army appeared among
them and introduced himself as an authorized local
preacher. He rendered invaluable assistance to this
infant society and was instrumental in introducing
Methodism elsewhere. Larger quarters soon be-

THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 75
came necessary, and the "rigging loft," celebrated as
the birthplace of American Methodism, was hired.
Services were conducted three times a week, Em
bury and Webb preaching alternately. In 1768
Wesley Chapel was erected on John Street. In the
meanwhile Robert Strawbridge, an emigrant from
Ireland, had begun preaching in Maryland and a log
chapel was constructed at Sam's Creek in that
colony. In 1769, in response to earnest entreaties for more
laborers, two itinerant preachers, Richard Board-
man and Joseph Pilmoor, were sent over to push the
work in what was proving an amazingly fruitful
field. In 1 77 1 Francis Asbury, who contributed
more than any other to the success of American
Methodism, came to engage in missionary and evan
gelistic activity throughout the infant settlements of
the New World. At the first annual conference in
1773 a force of ten preachers and a membership of
II 60 were reported. By 1775 the preachers had in
creased to nineteen and the membership to over
three thousand, most of whom resided in the South,
which was proving remarkably well adapted to the
growth of this new fold.
The revolutionary contest reacted unfavorably
against the Methodists. Many of their preachers
were Englishmen, and as might have been expected
were loyal to the interests of the mother country, but

-je AMERICAN REVIVALS.
by 1779 most of them, with the exception of Francis
Asbury, had left for England or Canada. Notwith
standing his American sympathies, Asbury was
obliged to spend several months in retirement. On
account of their supposed attachment to the royalist
cause many of the American preachers were roughly
handled, and in some instances treated with great
brutality. In Maryland especially the persecutions
were severe. Several of the preachers were arrested
and fined, while others were committed to jail. At
length the Maryland legislature becoming convinced
that the advocates of Methodism had no treasonable
intentions, granted them permission to prosecute
their labors without interference.
In spite of these difficulties and embarrassments,
the progress of Methodism was remarkable. Dur
ing only two years, 1778 and 1780, did the reports
show any decrease in numbers, and both of these
years were followed by a marked increase. The
societies in Philadelphia and New York flourished
under British occupancy. In the latter the John
Street Church was the only one where divine wor
ship was conducted, and to its services all classes
flocked to hear the gospel preached in simplicity and
with power. At the close of the war in 1 783 Asbury
was able to write in a triumphant strain : "We have
about fourteen thousand members, between seventy
and eighty traveling preachers, between thirty and

THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION, yy
forty circuits. ... I admire the simplicity of
our preachers. I do not think there has appeared
another such company of young devoted men. The
gospel has taken a universal spread. . . . O
America ! America ! It will certainly be the glory
of the world for religion."
All other denominations had suffered seriously
from the effects of the war. Congregations were
scattered, churches had been left pastorless and in
many instances entirely destitute of religious ser
vices. Church buildings had frequently been dis
mantled and used as stables, hospitals, or barracks.
The British soldiery seemed to have had an especial
spite against houses of worship, on account of the
influence there exerted in precipitating the struggle
for independence. Church organizations, moreover,
had settled down into a state of apathy and active
efforts for the propagation of religion had ceased.
Worship was universally neglected while im
morality, intemperance and vice increased alarm
ingly on every hand.
To complete the moral degradation of the infant
republic, a wave of French infidelity swept over the
land. At that time the American mind was pecu
liarly susceptible to this form of unbelief. The
friendly relations, which had existed between the
colonies and France during the revolutionary strug
gle, were favorable to the introduction of the skep-

78 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ticism then prevalent in that country. The very
success of the American cause predisposed the minds
of many to that which was a departure from tradi
tional and accepted beliefs. It soon became fashion
able to adopt views which avowed a disbelief in the
Bible, scoffed at the divinity of Christ, and looked
upon religion as a superstition of the past. Espe
cially was this true of scholars, men who had trav
eled abroad, and those who had embraced extreme
republican views.
The country was literally flooded with infidel
literature. Dr. Timothy Dwight wrote: "From
France, Germany and Great Britain, the dregs of
infidelity were vomited upon us. From the Systerne
de la Nature, and the Philosophical Dictionary to
the Political Justice of Godwin, and the Age of Rech
son, the whole mass of pollution was emptied upon
this country. An enormous edition of the Age of
Reason was published in France and sent over to
America to be sold at a few pence per copy, and,
where it could not be sold, to be given away."*
The colleges of the land became infected with the
deadly contagion of unbelief. Lyman Beecher, in
describing the condition of Yale College prior to the
presidency of Dr. Dwight, said: "Before he came,
the college was in a most ungodly state. The college
church was almost extinct. Most of the students

? Quoted from Dorchester's Christianity in the U, S., p. 315,

THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 79
were skeptical and rowdies were plenty. Wines and
liquors were kept in many rooms; intemperance,
profanity, gambling and licentiousness were com
mon. . . . Most of the class before me were
infidels, and called each other Voltaire, Rousseau,
D'Alembert, etc."
Dr. Ashbel Green, who entered Princeton in
1782, described a similar state of affairs in that col
lege : "While I was a member of college, there were
but two professors of religion among the students,
and not more than five or six who scrupled the use
of profane language in common conversation, and
sometimes it was of a very shocking kind. To the
influence of the American war succeeded that of the
French revolution, still more pernicious, and I think
more general."*
Transylvania University in Kentucky, which was
founded by the Presbyterians, passed over into the
hands of infidels. Thomas Cooper, a rank free
thinker, taught in Dickinson College, the University
of Pennsylvania, and in Columbia College, S. C. In
all of these institutions he scattered the seeds of un
belief in the minds of his pupils. At a later time
there was but a single professed Christian among
the students of Bowdoin College. Bishop Meade of
Virginia said : "Infidelity was rife in the State, and
the College of William and Mary was regarded
? Sprague's Revival Lectures, Appendix, p. 343.

8o AMERICAN REVIVALS.
as the hot-bed of French politics and religion.
I can truly say that then and for some years
after in every educated young man in Virginia
whom I met I expected to find a skeptic, if not an
avowed unbeliever."*
Multitudes of men, prominent in public affairs
and the councils of state, embraced the new views.
Washington, Patrick Henry, John Adams and
many others, to be sure, never had any sympathy
with this manifest trend of the times. Edmund
Randolph for a time became an avowed deist, but
was reclaimed to the Christian faith through the
prayers of a pious wife. Jefferson was a deist and
quite liberal in his views. His secretary of war.
Gen. Dearborn, was a rank infidel, and once in
alluding to the churches said, "So long as these
temples stand we cannot hope for good govern
ment." Gen. Charles Lee was so violent in his op
position to Christianity, that in his will he requested
his survivors not to bury him "in any church or
church-yard, or within a mile of any Presbyterian
or Anabaptist meeting-house." So widespread was
this contagion that Chancellor Kent said: "In my
younger days there were few professional men who
were not infidels, or at least were so far inclined to
infidelity that they could not be called believers in
the truth of the Bible."

* Dorchester's Christianity in the U. S., p. 316.

THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 8i
Infidel clubs, societies of the Illuminati, with the
avowed purpose of propagating infidel and revolu
tionary views, were instituted in various parts of
the country. These societies were in communica
tion with similar organizations in France and en
couraged a shocking immorality.
The evils which prevailed throughout the coun
try appeared in an aggravated form in the West and
South. Many of the early settlers of Kentucky
named their towns after eminent Frenchmen, as
Altamont, Bourbon, La Rue, Rousseau, and others
testify. In 1793 the Kentucky legislature voted to
dispense with the services of a chaplain as being no
longer necessary. Lawlessness seemed to be the
order of the day. Religion was disregarded and
morals were low. In many towns of considerable
size, no places of worship were to be* found, and re
ligious services were of rare occurrence.
Dark indeed were the closing years of the
eighteenth century. Religion was at a standstill
and churches were declining. Infidelity in its most
coarse and brutal form sneered at religion and
scoffed at morality. The predominant sentiment of
the people seemed to be: "We will not have God
to reign over us." Even the Methodist Episcopal
Church with all of its religious fervor, its apostolic
spirit, and its evangelistic zeal was suffering a state
of decline. During the three years which preceded

82 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
1796 that denomination had suffered an average loss
of four thousand members annually.
In 1794 Devereaux Jarrat of the Episcopalian
Church wrote: "The present time is marked by
peculiar traits of impiety and such an almost uni
versal inattention to the concerns of religion that
very few will attend except on Sunday, to hear the
word of the Lord. . . . The state of religion is
gloomy and distressing; the church of Christ seems
to be sunk very low."*
The Pastoral Letter of the Presbyterian General
Assembly in 1798 described the situation in the fol
lowing language :
"Formidable innovations and convulsions in
Europe threaten destruction to morals and religion.
Scenes of devastation and bloodshed unexampled in
the history of modern nations have convulsed the
world, and our country is threatened with similar
calamities. We perceive with pain and fearful ap
prehension a general dereliction of religious principle
^nd practice among our fellow citizens, a visible and
prevailing impiety and contempt for the laws and
institutions of religion, and an abounding infidelity
which, in many instances, tends to atheism itself.
The profligacy and corruption of the public morals
have advanced with a progress proportioned to our
declension in religion. Profaneness, pride, luxury,
* Dorchester's Christianity in the U. S., p. 348.

THE PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION. 83
unjustness, intemperance, lewdness and every
species of debauchery and loose indulgence abound."
It was the critical period in the history of Ameri
can Christianity. Never since the landing of the
Pilgrim Fathers had the institutions of religion been
put to a sorer test. The result was not only to affect
the destinies of this nation, but of the world.
Should Christianity or skepticism triumph? Should
faith or unbelief prevail ? Christianity did triumph
and faith did prevail. The Awakening of 1800
swept back the tide of infidelity, gave strength
and power to the churches and made possible the up
building of a great Christian nation, whose insti
tutions have become the glory of the world.

CHAPTER V.
THE AWAKENING OS' 180O.
At no time since the Great Awakening had re
vivals wholly ceased. There were occasional quick
enings here and there throughout the country; but
none of them were far-reaching in their influence,
and in most instances they were exceptional.
Throughout the greater portion of the country a re
ligious indifference, coupled with the growth of
French infidelity, had settled down like a great pall
over the land. But about 1790 in various portions
of the country, and entirely independent of one an
other, signs of reviving grace began to appear.
As early as 1787 there were revivals of marked
power in various parts of Virginia and Georgia.
Among the earliest of these was that at Hampden
Sydney College, Va., resulting in the conversion pf
more than half of the students. From this center
the revival extended throughout Prince Edward,
Cumberland, Charlotte, and Bedford Counties and to
the Peaks of Otter. Archibald Alexander and
others visited Prince Edward County for the pur
pose of attending these revivals. On their return a

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 85
"revival of great power commenced, which extended
to almost every Presbyterian church in the valley of
Virginia." Under the quickening influence of this
revival Alexander entered the ministry, and later
left the impress of his personality upon Princeton
Theological Seminary in the missionary and revival
spirit that has long characterized it.
The revival movement did not manifest itself in
New England until some time later; 1792 is the
commonly accepted date for the commencement of
the Awakening in this section of the country,
although there was a revival at North Yarmouth,
Me., the year previous, and one in 1790 at the First
Baptist Church of Boston, which continued for some
years. It is possible that there were similar mani
festations in other communities, but in 1792 there
was an awakening of far-reaching influence at Lee,
Mass., under the ministry of Rev. Alvin Hyde.
Within a comparatively brief period of time the
revival spirit had extended to various portions of
New England, as a consequence of which many com
munities and churches were quickened and refreshed.
In some respects these New England revivals were
peculiar. There were no great names connected
with them, such as the names of Edwards or White-
field. There were no evangelists going to and fro
in their burning zeal to arouse the impenitent or to
incite the churches to activity. The services were

86 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
carried on chiefly by the pastors in their respective
parishes. Sometimes neighboring ministers would
assist one another in such services so far as was con
sistent with their own duties. Notwithstanding
this phase of the awakening there are two names de
serving of special mention, because of the important
role which they played during this interesting epoch
of American religious history. I refer to Dr. E. D.
Griffin and Dr. Timothy Dwight, president of Yale
College. Edward Dorr Griffin, a preacher of winning per
sonality and persuasive power, exerted a far-reach
ing influence over the churches of New England. At
the time of which we write he was in the full bloom
and vigor of his early manhood and threw himself
with all the ardor of his youthful spirit into the work
of saving souls. Griffin was born in 1770 at East
Haddam, Conn., and graduated at Yale in 1790,
after which he studied theology under Jonathan
Edwards, the younger. His earliest efforts in re
vival work were at the home of his father, where he
was tarrying in the latter part of the year 1792.
Finding himself the only professor of religion in a
family of ten, he began at once to labor for their
conversion. As a consequence a revival commenced
in that neighborhood, which resulted in the conver
sion of about one hundred persons. The following
January he began preaching at New Salem, nearby,

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 87
where a church was gathered where there had been
none for more than forty years, and "about one
hundred were hopefully added to the Lord."
Of the revivals of the period Dr. Griffin has left
on record the following: "About the year 1792 com
menced three series of events of sufficient im
portance to constitute a new era. That year the
blood began to flow in Europe, in that contest which,
with short intervals, was destined to destroy the
'man of sin' and to introduce a happier form of
society and the glorious state of the church. That
year was established at Kettering in England the
first in the continuous series of societies which have
covered the whole face of the Protestant world and
introduced the age of missions and of active benevo
lence. And that year or the year before began the
unbroken series of American revivals. There was
a revival in North Yarmouth, Me., in 179 1. In the
summer of 1792 one appeared in Lee, in the county
of Berkshire. The following November, the first
that I had the privilege of witnessing showed itself
on the borders of East Haddam, and Lyme, Conn.,
which apparently brought to Christ about a hundred
souls. Since that time revivals have never ceased.
I saw a continued succession of heavenly sprinklings
at New Salem, Farmington, Middlebury, and New
Hartford, Conn., until, in 1799, I could stand at my
door in New Hartford, Litchfield County, and num-

88 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ber fifty or sixty congregations laid down in one
field of divine wonders, and as many more in differ
ent parts of New England. By 1802 revivals had
spread themselves through most of the western and
southern States ; and since that time they have been
familiar to the whole American people."*
Through the influence of President Dwight, the
tide of infidelity described in a preceding chapter
was turned backwards. Timothy Dwight, a grand
son of Jonathan Edwards through his mother, was
born at Northampton, Mass., in 1752. He was edu
cated at Yale, graduating in 1769. From 1771 to
1777 he served his alma mater as a tutor. During
the revolutionary struggle he was appointed to a
chaplaincy in the American Army, in the service of
which he remained for more than a year. In 1783
he was ordained to the ministry and spent the next
few years at the head of an academy in Greenfield,
Conn., whence he was called in 1795 to the presi
dency of Yale College, a position which he continued
to fill up to the time of his death in 1817.
When he entered upon the duties of his office, the
college was infected with the prevalent French infi
delity, and there were but few students who were
not contaminated by it. "The degree to which it
prevailed may be judged from the following fact:
A considerable portion of the class which he first
? Sprague's Lectures, Appendix, p. 359.

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 89
taught had, assumed the names of the English and
French infidels and were more familiarly known by
them than their own."* Dr. Dwight invited the
freest discussion on the part of his students, and hav
ing listened to their doubts and arguments, he
preached a series of sermons in the college chapel in
which the whole philosophy of skepticism was an
swered and overthrown. Through the influence of
his earnest and logical preaching, a marked change
was soon manifest in the life of the institution.
This was followed in the spring of 1802 by a power
ful revival during the progress of which seventy-five
out of about two hundred and thirty students were
converted and united with the church. Nearly half
of these gave themselves to the work of the gospel
ministry. The importance of such a factor in the
religious life of the nation cannot be overestimated.
As Bishop Hurst has well expressed it : "From the
day that the young president faced his students in
the chapel of Yale College, infidelity has been a van
ishing force in the history of the American people."
A marked characteristic of the revivals of the
period, which by this time had extended throughout
all of the States of New England, was their per
manency and their freedom from abnormal excite
ment. The revival wave did not soon spend its
force. In addition to the extensive revivals inaugu-
? D'wight's Theology, Vol. I., p. 20.

90 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
rated about 1792, "within a period of five or six
years, commencing with 1797, not less than one hun
dred and fifty churches in New England were
visited with 'times of refreshing from the presence
of the Lord.' "*
In Western Pennsylvania, where apparently there
had been no diminution of the revival spirit during
the Revolutionary War, another manifestation of
divine power occurred in 1795, extending to the new
settlements north of Pittsburg. From 1802- 1804
the same section was visited with powerful revivals
which extended throughout Western Pennsylvania
and Northeastern Ohio.
From 1 798- 1 800 there were extensive revivals in
the western portion of New York. Palmyra, Can-
andaigua and other towns in that portion of the
State were visited, the revival extending throughout
the counties of Delaware, Otsego, Oneida and else
where. The Presbyterian churches shared chiefly in
this work.
In Kentucky and the Southwest the great deeps
were broken up through the joint efforts of the
Methodists and Presbyterians, although the revival
soon became so extensive as to include nearly all of
the religious denominations in the State. Among
the earliest outpourings of which we have any ac
count were those which visited Logan County, Ky.,
* Tyler's New England Revivals, p. 5.

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 91
during the month of July, 1800. The services, con
ducted by Rev. James McGready of the Presbyterian
church, were held in the open air and were attended
by all classes, both black and white, from within a
radius of more than sixty miles. A revival was in
augurated, the influence of which extended far and
wide, for the fame of it spread abroad throughout
all that country. Rev. Barton W. Stone, who after
wards became one of the leading lights in the sect
known as the Disciples of Christ, at that time was a
Presbyterian minister in Bourbon County, Ky., and
having heard of this wonderful work of grace went
clear across the State in the spring of 1801 to attend
a camp-meeting in that vicinity and to behold for
himself the marvelous things that God had
wrought. He wrote a narrative describing as fol
lows the scenes which he witnessed :
"There, on the edge of a prairie in Logan County,
Ky., the multitudes came together and continued a
number of days and nights encamped on the ground,
during which time worship was carried on in some
part of the encampment. The scene was new to me
and passing strange. It baffled description. Many,
very many, fell down as men slain in battle, and con
tinued for hours together in an apparently breathless
and motionless state, sometimes for a few moments
reviving and exhibiting symptoms of life by a deep
groan or piercing shriek, or by a prayer for mercy

92 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
fervently uttered. After lying for hours they ob
tained deliverance. The gloomy cloud that had cov
ered their faces seemed gradually and visibly to dis
appear, and hope, in smiles, brightened into joy.
They would rise, shouting deliyerance, and then
would address the surrounding multitude in lan
guage truly eloquent and impressive. With aston
ishment did I hear men, women, and children de
claring the wonderful works of God and the glori
ous mysteries of the gospel. Their appeals were
solemn, heart-penetrating, bold, and free. Under
such circumstances many others would fall down
into the same state from which the speakers had just
been delivered.
"Two or three of my particular acquaintances
from a distance were struck down. I sat patiently by
one of them, whom I knew to be a careless sinner,
for hours, and observed with critical attention every
thing that passed, from the beginning to the end.
I noticed the momentary revivings as from death,
the humble confession of sins, the fervent prayer,
and the ultimate deliverance ; then the solemn thanks
to God, and affectionate exhortation to companions
and to the people around to repent and come to
Jesus. I was astonished at the knowledge of gospel
truth displayed in the address. The effect was that
several sank down into the same appearance of
death. After attending to many such cases, my con-

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 93
viction was complete that it was a good work — ^the
work of God; nor has my mind wavered since on
the subject. Much did I see then, and much have I
seen since, that I consider to be fanaticism ; but this
should not condemn the work. The devil has
always tried to ape the works of God, to bring them
into disrepute; but that cannot be a Satanic work
which brings men to humble confession, to for
saking sin, to prayer, fervent praise and thanks
giving, and to a sincere and affectionate exhorta
tion to sinners to repent and come to Jesus the
Saviour." Returning to his congregations at Cane Ridge
and Concord in Bourbon County, he narrated the in
cidents of his visit, and so profound was the impres
sion thus made that in the course of a few weeks a
revival commenced, during the progress of which
similar scenes were enacted. He wrote of this re
vival: "A memorable meeting was held at Cane
Ridge in August, 1801. The roads were crowded
with wagons, carriages, horses, and footmen mov
ing to the solemn camp. It was judged by military
men on the ground that between twenty and thirty
thousand persons were assembled. Four or five
preachers spoke at the same time in different parts
of the encampment without confusion. The Metho
dist and Baptist preachers aided in the work, and
all appeared cordially united in it. They were of

94 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
one mind and soul : the salvation of sinners was the
one object. We all engaged in singing the same
songs, all united in prayer, all preached the same
things. . . . The numbers converted will be
known only in etertiity. Many things transpired in
the meeting which were so much like miracles that
they had the same effect as miracles on unbelievers.
By them many were convinced that Jesus was the
Christ and were persuaded to submit to him. This
meeting continued six or seven days and nights, and
would have continued longer, but food for the sus
tenance of such a multitude failed.
"To this meeting many had come from Ohio and
other distant parts. These returned home and dif-.
fused the same spirit in their respective neighbor
hoods. Similar results followed. So low had re
ligion sunk, and such carelessness had universally
prevailed, that I have thought that nothing common
could have arrested and held the attention of the
people."* After this fashion the revival extended through
out the borders of Kentucky, and through Tennessee
into Georgia and the Carolinas, visiting the South
and Southwest with veritable showers of refreshing
grace. In this section of the country the work was at
tended with many extravagances and vagaries,
?Tyler's Disciples, pp. 14, 15, 16.

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 95
which the preachers, for the most part ignorant and
unlearned men, did not attempt to suppress. En
thusiasm ran wild. The excitements of such large
religious gatherings engendered physical manifesta
tions" of an unusual order. The preaching services
were attended with outcries, faintings, convulsions,
"falling under the power of God," hysterical weep
ing and laughter, and a peculiar species of exercise
called the '"jerks," of which more shall be said in a
subsequent chapter. These strange features did not
produce the disastrous results that they would have
produced in more cultured communities. Instead of
hindering the revival they seemed to aid it, for in
the regions where such manifestations took place
they were looked upon as the undoubted works of
God. As to the genuineness of the revival, notwith
standing these extravagances, there can be no
question. Communities were transformed, while
the godless and profane were influenced by
divine grace to enter upon lives of holiness and
prayer. Rev. George A. Baxter, who visited this section,
has left on record the following testimony : "On my
way I was informed by settlers on the road that the
character of Kentucky travelers was entirely
changed, and that they were as remarkable for
sobriety as they had formerly been for dissoluteness
and immorality. And indeed I found Kentucky to

96 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
appearances the most moral place I had ever seen.
A profane expression was hardly ever heard. A re
ligious awe seemed to pervade the country. Upon
the whole, I think the revival in Kentucky the most
extraordinary that has ever visited the church of
Christ; and all things considered, it was peculiarly
adapted to the circumstances of the country into
which it came. Infidelity was triumphant and re
ligion was on the point of expiring. Something
extraordinary seemed necessary to arrest the atten
tion of a giddy people who were ready to conclude
that Christianity was a fable and futurity a delu
sion. This revival has done it. It has confounded
infidelity and brought numbers beyond calculation
under serious impressions."
Having traced the beginnings of this remarkable
awakening, which appeared quite simultaneously in
various remote and widely separated localities,
spreading until it had practically embraced the
whole country, it will be of interest to consider the
means which were employed, the services which
were conducted, and the doctrines that were
enforced to promote this work of grace, the influence
of which was so far reaching upon the religious life
of tJie nation.
yn.n New England the measures made use of were
comparatively few and simple. There were no
evangelists or protracted meetings, nor were ex-

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 97
traordinary methods of any character resorted to.
The ministers as a rule did their own preaching, ex
cept in a few instances where neighboring pastors
were invited to assist. In addition to the Sabbath
services and the mid-week lecture, prayer meetings
were conducted occasionally on Sabbath evenings or
at some convenient time during the week. In these
prayer meetings the laity often rendered helpful as
sistance to their pastors. There were no anxious
seats, nor was there any attempt to influence the un
converted to commit themselves in public as seekers
after religion. On the contrary the subjects of this
work were urged to make certain their hopes before
uniting with the church or engaging in any public
exercise. The principal means relied upon was the
preaching of the WorcL/The doctrines especially
emphasized were God's sovereignty, the immutabil
ity of the moral law, human depravity, the sufficiency
of the atonement, the freeness of pardon through
Christ, the necessity of regeneration, and the duty of
submitting to God.
The manner in which the subjects were affected -
corresponded to the doctrines that were preached,
and was not unlike that in which the converts were
affected during the Great Awakening, as described
by Edwards. In most instances there was a period
of distress during which the persons affected were
sensible of the depravity of their hearts, their un-

98 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
worthiness before God, and a conviction that it
would be just in God were he to cast them off for
ever. The transition from this state to one of joy
and peace in believing would sometimes be sudden,
but in other instances the convicted would be dis
tressed for months before relief came. When the
converts began to hope in Christ it was generally
with much trembling, and "they gradually advanced
to a steady comfortable hope with great caution and
much self-examination."
In the Southwest, on account of a lack of suitable
edifices, protracted meetings lasting some days or
weeks were conducted in groves or in the open air.
These were largely attended by the settlers from
miles around; For the want of better accommoda
tion the attendants would camp in the grove where
the meeting was held or in the woods near by, which
accounts for the rise of the American camp-meeting
about this time. Several ministers of perhaps dif
ferent denominations would assist in the preaching
exercises, which were conducted several times daily
and by the light of fagots at night.
Of the character of the preaching Rev. E. B.
Crisman says : "The ministers dwelt, with great
power, continually on the necessity of repentance
and faith, the fullness of the gospel for all, and the
necessity of the new birth. They earnestly pre
sented the purity and justice of God's law, the

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 99
odious and destructive consequences of sin, and the
freeness and sufficiency of pardon for all."*
In Kentucky and the West this Awakening was
preceded by seasons of earnest prayer. Christians
entered into a solemn covenant to spend a definite
portion of their time in prayer for an outpouring of
the Spirit of God for the salvation of men. A half-
hour at sunset Saturday and a half-hour before
sunrise on Sunday was the time generally agreed
upon for this purpose.
The results of the Awakening were three-fold:
First, the overthrow of infidelity; second, the spir
itual quickening of the churches ; third, the inaugu
ration of the great philanthropic and missionary
enterprises. First — The Overthrow of Infidelity. The Awak
ening came at the critical period in the history of the
American republic. It was a time of beginnings in
the life of the nation, a time moreover when the re
ligious character of our country was suspended in
the balances and the 4^tinies thereof were to be de
cided for generations to come. For a while the
overthrow of Christianity seemed to be complete.
Churches were declining. Revivals were few. The
educated and influential almost universally regarded
Christianity with indifference, if not with open con
tempt. Infidelity was rife and was increasing
?Tyler's Disciples, p. 13.

loo AMERICAN REVIVALS.
alarmingly on every hand. In fact, all indications
seemed to point to a decline in that faith which had
animated the Pilgrim Fathers and inspired the hopes
of the early settlers of our country. The inception
of this revival at such a time cannot but be regarded
as one of the signal manifestations of God's provi
dential dealings of which our national history
affords so many illustrious examples. By means of
its gracious influences the weak churches grew
strong and all the Christian activities of the land
throbbed with the pulsations of a new life. Every
condition of society was reached from the cultured
classes of staid New England to the untutored set
tlers on the frontier of what then constituted the
remote West. Infidelity became a vanishing force,
while the religious character of the United States
was assured for generations to come.
One of the most important results of this revival
was the reclamation of the colleges of the land from
infidelity. As we have already seen. President
Dwight's masterful and discriminating survey of the
philosophy of unbelief and his complete refutation of
the same was followed in 1802 by a powerful and
far-reaching revival in the college over which he
presided. Similar awakenings occurred at Dart
mouth, Williams, and various other institutions of
learning throughout the land, in consequence of
which the colleges of this country have never ceased

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 101
to be centers of Christian influence, whence have
flowed streams of living water to quicken and re
fresh the world.
Second — The Spiritual Quickening of the
Churches. This revival was practically co-extensive
with the populated territory then embraced within
the United States. Commencing simultaneously in
several remote centers the work extended, until the
intervening portions of the country were embraced
within its scope. Besides the renewed life and ac
tivity of church members, numerous additions were
made to the various churches throughout the coun
try. It is impossible to determine with any degree
of accuracy the number of converts who were won to
the faith and gathered into the churches. The re
vival was so long in its continuance, and so lasting
in its influence, that numerical estimates would be
confusing and perhaps misleading. Certain figures,
however, are significant. In Kentucky alone it was
estimated that ten thousand persons were added to
the Baptist churches of that State as a result of the
revival. From 1800 to 1803 the Methodist Epis
copal Church received about forty thousand acces
sions to membership throughout the country, and
there was scarcely a religious denomination which
did not share in the fruits of this remarka
ble revival.
More remarkable than numbers were the evi-

X02 At(iERICAN REVIVALS.

dences of renewed spiritual life throughout the coun
try. In the West the reformation in the morals of
the people attracted widespread attention. In a ser
mon preached before the synod of Kentucky in 1803,
Rev. David Rice said: "Neighborhoods noted for
their vicious and profligate manners are now as
much noted for their piety and good order. Drunk
ards, profane swearers, liars, quarrelsome persons,
etc., are remarkably reformed."
In New England the revival was attended with
consequences of abiding significance. The last rem
nants of the ill-advised Half-Way Covenant were
swept away. The perilous transition of the
churches from State aid to self-support was success
fully made. A crisis was reached between the liberal
and evangelical wings of Congregationalism, which
resulted in the Unitarian schism. The cleavage be
tween the orthodox and liberal elements in the
church dates back to pre-Revolutionary times, and
by many has been supposed to have been an out
growth of the movement which produced the Half-
Way Covenant. Be this as it may, certain it is
that during the middle of the eighteenth century
several prominent ministers in Massachusetts were
avowedly Arian in their sentiments. The Awaken
ing of 1800 resulted in the permanent separation of
these parties, thus permitting each to perform its
own mission without being hampered by what other-

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 103
wise would have been an irrational element in its
activity. More important still was the institution of
the mid-week prayer meeting and the establishment
of Sunday schools, which, having originated with
Robert Raikes in England, were now introduced
into this country, and were destined to become a
source of fresh life and power not only to the
churches of New England but to the various de
nominations throughout the country.
Although the immediate consequences of the re
vival differed somewhat in different localities, the
general results were everywhere the same. The
morals of the country were reformed, the churches
were quickened, and their influence flowed forth in
new channels of spiritual power, so that religion be
came a more potent factor in our national life, while
the church as an organized force was girded with
strength sufficient to enter the arena and engage in
deadly combat with the flagrant public evils of the
day — duelling, intemperance and slavery.
Unlike the Great Awakening, this revival was
long in subsiding, and was not' attended, by dis
astrous consequences, which were calculated to pro
duce strife and dissension. In the West, to be sure,
there had been outcries, faintings, "falling under the
power of God," etc., which would not have com
mended themselves to the more sober-minded
brethren of the East, but, occurring as they did in

104 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the newer communities and among unlettered and
uncultured people, these exercises not only produced
no ill effects but rather seemed to promote the re
vival. In the East the work was characterized by
an entire absence of these objectionable features
which, in the Great Awakening, had brought about
an unfavorable reaction and had caused that revival
to come to a speedy end.
The work of grace wrought in this Awakening
was deep and lasting, the influences of which ex
tended down to the middle of the nineteenth cen
tury, and were manifest in the numerous and wide
spread revivals which prevailed throughout that
period. Rev. Gardiner Spring, D.D., speaking of
this phase of the revival, said : "From the year 1800
down to the year 1825 there was an uninterrupted
series of these celestial visitations spreading over
different parts of the land. During the whole of
these twenty-five years there was not a month in
which we could not point to some village, some city,
some seminary of learning, and say, 'Behold, what
hath God wrought!'"*
Third — The Inauguration of Great Missionary
and Philanthropic Enterprises. American foreign
missions are indebted for their origin to Samuel J.
Mills. Entering Williams College in 1806, in com
pany with other students he instituted a missionary
? Memoirs, Vol. I., p. 160.

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 105
prayer meeting, and from this humble beginning the
American Board of Commissioners for Foreign
Missions was evolved in 1810. Mills was a convert
of the Awakening and his father was an active pro
moter of the same. Judson, Rice, Nott, Newell,
Hall, and others who were associated with him and
who became the first missionaries of the American
Board, with scarcely an exception were converted in
the revival. Other missionary societies were organ
ized about this time, the Baptist in 1814 and the
Methodist Episcopal in 18 19.
Home missions received a fresh impetus through
this awakening. As early as 1798 the Connecticut u-
Missionary Society was formed, the purpose of
which was "to Christianize the heathen in North
America, and to support and promote Christian
knowledge in the new settlements within the
United States." The revivals in Tennessee and
Kentucky gave a mighty impulse to home mission
ary activity which found expression in the efforts of
various denominations to evangelize the growing
territories in the West. For the furtherance of this
work Bible and Tract societies were formed that the
light of the Gospel might be made to shine in the
dark places.
The American Bible Society was founded in
New York City in 18 16, chiefly through the efforts
of Samuel J. Mills, the founder of the American

io6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Board. Since its organization the American Bible
Society has sent out Bibles, literally by the millions,
to all parts of the world. In 1 8 14 the New England
Tract Society was formed, and in 1823 changed its
name to the American Tract Society of Boston,
which afterward was amalgamated with the Ameri
can Tract Society of New York, organized in 1825.
During the eighty-six years of its history the Ameri
can Tract Society has published 34,206,914 volumes,
and 456,154,267 tracts in English and foreign lan
guages, besides 287,341,468 copies of periodicals,
making a grand total of 777,702,649 publications
issued by this one Society. Hundreds of colporters
have been employed, and into millions of homes the
literature of the American Tract Society has gone
with its message of light and salvation. No other
agency has done more for the evangelization of our
country than this Society.
Greater attention was now devoted to ministerial
education. Theological seminaries were instituted
and educational societies were organized to give
financial assistance to pious youths who were pre
paring themselves for the work of the gospel min
istry. The Congregationalists, who were the
pioneers in Christian education, founded Andover
Theological Seminary in 1808 and the American
Education Society in 1815. Other denominations
were not long behind them, and by 1827 seventeen

THE AWAKENING OF 1800. 107
theological seminaries, under the auspices of several
different denominations, had been instituted in
various parts of the country.
The quickened spiritual life of the period gave
impulse to religious journalism, which has affected
profoundly the religious life of our country. About
the year 1800 numerous monthly periodicals ap
peared, and in 1816 the Boston Recorder, the first
weekly religious newspaper in the world, was
founded in the interests of Congregationalism. The
same year the ReUgious Intelligencer was published
at New Haven. Others soon followed: The
Watchman (Baptist), at Boston in 1819; Zion's
Herald (Methodist), at Boston in 1822; The Morn
ing Star (Free Will Baptist), Dover, N. H., in
1826, etc. By 1830 nearly all of the different re
ligious denominations in the country had one or
more weekly journals to represent their respective
interests. In view of the remarkable results which attended
the Awakening of 1800, its salutary and long-con
tinued influence upon the religious life of the Ameri
can republic, the wide scope of territory covered and
the numbers which were reached by its quickening
power, this revival was fully as remarkable as any
which has ever refreshed the life of the churches on
the American continent.

CHAPTER VL
DENOMINATIONAL MOVEMENTS: THE CONGREGA
TIONALISTS AND PRESBYTERIANS.
The revival movements of the first half of the
nineteenth century were chiefly along denomina
tional lines. It was an era of denominational
growth and development. While sectarian lines
were not always tightly drawn, in the main, each de
nomination sought to promote and perpetuate its
own interests. The Congregationalists and Presby
terians had much in common, both in their history
and in their doctrines. Both were the products of
Puritanism, and both adhered pretty closely to the
theological system of John Calvin.
It seemed logical, therefore, that they should en
ter into still closer relations in what was known as
the "Plan of Union," an agreement entered into in
1 80 1 on the part of the Congregational Association
of Connecticut and the General Assembly of the
Presbyterian Church, whereby churches and mem
bers of both denominations should co-operate in
their home missionary work throughout the new set
tlements and new States, which were then springing

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 109
into existence west of the Allegheny Mountains.
The ultimate outcome of this "Plan of Union" was
the Presbyterianizing of hundreds of churches in
these regions, which otherwise would have been
Congregational. It must not be supposed, however,
that the Presbyterians took an unfair advantage of
this "Plan of Union." As a real matter of fact, the
stronger polity of the Presbyterians seemed better
adapted to meet the needs of these new settlements,
and this coupled with an indifference to their own
polity on the part of the Congregationalists,
wrought havoc to the denominational interests of
the latter.
The real value of this "Plan of Union" was its
purpose to promote a mutual understanding and a
mutual co-operation of these two denominations, a
purpose which for many years was admirably ful
filled, and if in the end it worked disastrously to the
Congregationalists, it displayed a magnanimity on
their part which stands unparalleled in religious his
tory. Aside from their home missionary activity, the
distinctively revival movements of these denomina
tions center about certain noted men, whose services
were expended in behalf of the churches of both de
nominations. Since the time of Whitefield there had
been in this country no evangelist of national reputa
tion. The Awakening of 1800 had been brought

no AMERICAN REVIVALS.
about and had accomplished its results indepen
dently of such workers. But during the first half of
the new century three evangelists of national and
even international renown, Asahel Nettleton,
Charles G. Finney, and Edward N. Kirk, labored in
Congregational and Presbyterian circles.
The earliest of these, Asahel Nettleton, was born
in North Killingworth, Conn., April 21, 1783. His
parents were members of the church on the Half-
Way Covenant plan, in accordance with which he
was baptized and as a child received instruction in
the Westminster Catechism, which he was required
to commit to memory.
In his youth he was often subject to religious im
pressions, but these were not lasting. His first real
seriousness occurred in November, 1800, on the
morning following a Thanksgiving ball. While re
flecting on the pleasures of the preceding evening,
the thought struck him "we must all die, and go to
the judgment, and with what feelings shall we then
reflect upon these scenes !" The impression was over
whelming. His pleasures were robbed of their fas
cination and he was overcome with a sense of his
lost condition. The world ceased to be attractive
and he turned his attention to a study of the Bible
and other religious books. This pursuit served only
to deepen his convictions, and at times he gave way
to doubt and black despair. After a period of ten

PRESBYTERIANS. in
months, during which he passed through a religious
experience as profound as that of an Augustine or
a Luther, he found joy and peace in believing. Said
his biographer : "This protracted season of convic
tion gave him a knowledge of the human heart
which few possess; and which was doubtless in
tended by God to prepare him for that pre-eminent
success which attended his labors as a minister of
Christ."* After his conversion it became Nettleton' s pur
pose to go as a missionary to the heathen. To ac
complish this purpose he mastered the preparatory
studies, privately, and in 1805 entered the freshman
class at Yale College. As a student he never evinced
any special brilliancy of mind, but such was his de
vout spirit and such was his devotion to duty that
President Dwight said of him : "He will make one
of the most useful men this country has ever
seen." During the winter of 1807- 1808 New Haven and
the college were visited with a revival, which awak
ened a lively interest on the part of Nettleton, who
labored for the conversion of his fellow students
with no small degree of success.
In his junior year he became acquainted with
Samuel J. Mills, who was then a student at Willams
College. The year following Mills was a resident
* Memoirs, p. 23.

112 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
graduate at Yale, thereby affording an opportunity
for mutual acquaintanc and fellowship. It was the
intention of both to go to Andover Theological
Seminary at the expiration of the year, after which
they purposed to enter the missionary field as soon
as the way should open. Financial embarrass
ments prevented Nettleton from carrying this plan
into execution. Having graduated at Yale he re
mained a year as butler of the college, after which he
pursued his theological course privately at Milton,
Conn., under the direction of Rev. Bezaleel Pinneo.
Not long after he was licensed to preach by the West
Association of New Haven County. It was still his
purpose to spend his life as a missionary to the
heathen, but so conspicuous was his success in the
ministry that he was persuaded to defer his purpose
for a while, and it was not until the failure of his
health in 1822 that he finally relinquished all hope
of going to a foreign field.
For a time after his licensure to preach Nettleton
was engaged in missionary and evangelistic labors
in desolate and neglected districts in Eastern Con
necticut and Rhode Island. This region had been
the scene of Davenport's distractions during the
Great Awakening. The evil results of fanaticism
were still apparent. If the young evangelist's labors
were not so successful as his subsequent eflforts, the
experience was a valuable one and served to put him

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 113
on his gTiard against those extravagances to which
youth is susceptible and was an impressive object
lesson against the innovations which had wrought
ruin to Davenport and his deluded followers.
From 181 2-1 81 5 he labored with excellent results
at various places in Connecticut and New York. In
the summer of 181 5 he went to SaHsbury and of the
revival there he wrote as follows :
"In 1815, in the town of Salisbury, Conn., after
laboring awhile under great discouragement, there
were some favorable appearances. A number were
anxious, and a few were in awful distress of soul in
one village. It was taken hold of by some ignorant
officious hands; and they were set to groaning and
screaming, and alarmed all the village in my ab
sence. Having heard the tidings, I hastened to the
spot, and with kind, but decided severity called them
to order. Aly attempts by those who had given the
work that turn, were considered as very obtrusive
and daring. It was reported all over town that a
revival had begun in Salisbury, and that I had put
a stop to it. They seemed to be much grieved and
shocked at my conduct. It took a number of days
to restore order, but when it was done, the work of
God advanced silently and powerfully, until all
classes, old and young, were moved all over town.
The language was, 'the fountains of the great deep
are broken up.' Not far from three hundred were

114 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
numbered as the hopeful subjects of divine grace in
that revival."*
So great was the interest and so deep the concern
that religion became the all-absorbing topic of the
day. When Mr. Nettleton in his visitations was
seen to enter a house, the whole neighborhood would
flock thither. Mechanics would leave their shops,
farmers would forsake their fields, and housewives
would abandon their domestic duties to inquire the
way of salvation.
Having spent the winter at Salisbury, in the
spring he labored at Bridgewater, where a dead
church was revived and numbers were converted.
From 1816-1819 he visited successively Torring-'
ton, Waterbury, Upper Middletown, Rocky Hill,
Ashford, Eastford and Bolton. In July, 1819, worn
out with his labors, Nettleton repaired to Saratoga
Springs, N. Y., in the hope of recovering his health.
A few weeks later he was induced to engage in re
vival work in that vicinity. The whole region was
profoundly moved and fully two thousand souls
were converted. While the revival was still in prog
ress Mr. Nettleton wrote an account of this work,
which in part was as follows :
"This region, and especially the county of Sara
toga, has heretofore been as destitute of revivals of
religion as any part of the State. The commence-
? Memoirs, p. 71.

PRESBYTERIANS. 115
ment of this work was at Saratoga Springs last
summer. At that place about forty have made a
profession of religion. These include some of the
most respectable characters in the village. Directly
south is the town of Malta. For a number of years
there has been no Presbyterian church in that place.
But for the year past there has been an interesting
revival among that people. A church has been re
cently organized, which now consists of one hundred
and five members. . . . South from Malta, about
twelve miles, is the city of Schenectady, and Union
College, where I now reside with Dr. McAuley.
About thirty of the students have been
brought to rejoice in hope. Besides these we had
more thaii two hundred in our meeting of inquiry,
anxious for their souls. We met in a large upper
room called the Masonic Hall. The room was so
crowded, that we were obliged to request all who
had recently found relief to retire below and spend
their time in prayer for those above. This evening
will never be forgotten. The scene is beyond de
scription. Did you ever witness two hundred sin
ners with one accord in one place weeping for their
sins? Until you have seen this, you can have no
adequate conceptions of the solemn scene. . . .
Within a circle whose diameter would be twenty-
four miles, not less than eight hundred souls have
been hopefully born into the kingdom of Christ,

ii6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
since last September. The same glorious work is
fast spreading into other towns and congrega
tions."* Leaving the region where he had labored with
such conspicuous success, in the spring of 1820 Net
tleton conducted revivals at Nassau and New
Haven, whence the work extended to the regions
round about, resulting in the conversion of nearly
two thousand persons.
From 1 820- 1 822 he labored at North Killing-
worth, North Madison, Wethersfield, Newton,
Farmington, Pittsfield, Litchfield, and again at New
Haven. Numbers were converted at these various
places and great good was accomplished.
On May 22, 1822, he commenced evangelistic
services in Sommers, preaching alternately at South
Wilbraham, and visiting in the meanwhile Tolland
and other places in the vicinity. As a result of the
work thus inaugurated a revival visited this section
of Connecticut resulting in the conversion of more
than fifteen hundred souls. While the revival was
still in progress, a serious attack of typhoid fever
compelled his retirement for two years, during
vi^hich he compiled his Village Hymns, which had a
wide sale throughout the country. Dr. Nettleton
never fully recovered from this illness. His health
was left in such a shattered condition that he could

* Memoirs, pp. 95-97.

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 117
endure but little excitement or fatigue, although he
labored in various parts of the country, as much as
his enfeebled condition would allow, until his death.
May 16, 1844.
Dr. Nettleton' s methods were remarkably sane
and discriminating. He had an abhorrence of any
thing that savored of fanaticism. His doctrines
conformed to the Calvinistic standards of the age in
which he lived. He emphasized a dependence upon
the Holy Spirit as the indispensable condition of a
revival. Ministers and churches were not en
couraged to try and get up a revival, but when
sovereign grace gave indications that the set time
to favor Zion was come he believed in a wise and
faithful use of means. To this end he made use of
preaching, house-to-house visitation, and inquiry
meetings for enforcing the truth and instructing
seekers. The results of his work were invariably
lasting. Of the thousands converted under his
preaching, so well were they grounded in the funda
mentals of the Christian faith, that very few after
wards fell away into apostasy.

CHAPTER VII.
CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY.*
Charles Grandison Finney, the greatest of
American revivalists, was born in Warren, Litch
field County, Conn., August 29, 1792. Two years
later his parents removed to the State of New York,
where his boyhood was spent in Oneida and Jeffer
son Counties. He received a common school educa
tion and at the age of twenty returned to his native
town in Connecticut to attend an academy or high
school. He afterwards studied law at Adams, N. Y.,
where in due time he was admitted to the bar.
At Adams, for the first time in his life, he was
brought under religious influences. Hitherto his
religious privileges had been meager. He said:
"When I went to Adams to study law, I was almost
as destitute of religion as a heathen. I had been
* The subject of this chapter labored chiefly in Presbyterian
and Congregational circles, but so epoch-making -was his -work,
and so far-reaching -was its influence that it could not with
propriety be regarded as denominational, and for that reason a
separate chapter is devoted to his life.

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 119
Drought up mostly in the woods. I had little regard
to the Sabbath, and had no definite knowledge of
religious truth."
Here he was brought under the preaching of Rev.
George W. Gale, a Presbyterian of an ultra-Calvin
istic type. He was an educated man and a graduate
of Princeton, but to Finney his discourses were a
source of perplexity rather than of edification. He
would frequently call upon the young lawyer to en
gage him in religious conversation, but such were
the objections which the latter raised to his theology
that the minister reached the conclusion that he
must be thoroughly hardened, and when some of the
members of his congregation proposed making.
Finney the subject of prayer he discouraged the idea
because he believed it would be useless.
About this time Finney purchased his first copy of
the Bible. In his law studies, he had found frequent
reference to the Mosaic Institutes as an authority for
many of the principles of common law. His curi
osity having become aroused he purchased a copy of
the Sacred Scriptures. A perusal of its contents
convinced him that it was what it claimed to be —
the Word of God.
The question soon came up for serious considera
tion, whether he should accept Jesus Christ as his
Saviour, or continue the pursuit of a worldly life.
On a Sabbath evening in the autumn of 1821, he

I20 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
reached the conclusion that he would at once settle
the question of his soul's salvation, and if possible
make his peace with God. The pursuit of this ob
ject served but to deepen his convictions and by
Tuesday night he had been brought to a condition
well-nigh verging on despair. The following
morning, as he was going to his office, an inward
voice seemed to reprove him with these admoni
tions: "What are you waiting for? Did you not
promise to give your heart to God? And what are
you trying to do? Are you endeavoring to work
out a righteousness of your own?"
A consideration of these problems led to the con
viction that salvation was a gift, not to be wrought
out by works, but to be appropriated through faith
in Jesus Christ. The question then seemed to be
put to his mind, "Will you accept it now, to-day?"
He replied, "Yes : I will accept it to-day, or I will
die in the attempt." As a place suited to his purpose
he sought the cover of a forest, north of the village,
where he had been in the almost daily habit of walk
ing in pleasant weather. To escape observation he
skulked along under the fence, but when he reached
a secluded spot and tried to pray he could not. His
heart refused to pray, and after repeated attempts,
he fancied that he heard a rustling in the leaves, and
opening his eyes to see if any one were present, he
was overwhelmed with a sense of his wickedness in

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 121
being ashamed to have any human being see him on
his knees before God. In an agony of spirit he cried
aloud to God for mercy. At this juncture a passage
of Scripture was suggested to him : "Then shall ye
go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you.
Then shall ye seek me and find me, when ye shall
search for me with all your heart." Other passages
came to his mind, and for a long time he continued
to pray and appropriate promises continued to corae
to his mind until with a light heart he started back
to his office with this thought uppermost in his
mind : "If I am ever converted, I will preach the
gospel." On reaching town he found that the whole fore
noon had passed, but having no appetite for dinner
he went to his office and taking down his bass viol
he began to play and sing some sacred songs. His
heart seemed so melted at the words and so freely
did the tears flow that he was obliged to desist.
The afternoon was occupied with some work in
moving the office and in conversation with a few
who came in. That evening as he sat alone in the
office a vision of the Lord seemed to corae before
him, and it seemed as if he met the Saviour face to
face. So real did the vision appear that Finney
wept aloud like a child. Shortly there came upon
him a "mighty baptism of the Holy Ghost" and
wave after wave of divine influence swept over him.

122 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Finally he cried out, "I shall die if these waves con
tinue to pass over me." "Lord, I cannot bear any
more." On the following morning, although he had not
yet received an assurance of sins forgiven, he re
ceived a similar baptism. All his doubts were swept
away and the doctrine of justification by faith was
taught him as a present experience. He realized
that through faith in Jesus Christ, the consciousness
and guilt of sin were gone, and he felt as free from
condemnation as though he had never sinned.
From the moraent of his conversion Finney's life
commenced to flow in a new channel. The practice
of law suddenly lost all of its attractions. That very
morning a deacon of the church, who had employed
him as his attorney in a suit, came into the office to
remind hira that the case was to be tried at lo
o'clock. Finney replied that he had enlisted in the
service of Christ and had a retainer to plead his
cause, so that he must seek another attorney to at
tend the suit. The deacon dropped his head, and
immediately went out and settled the case. He then
gave himself to prayer and soon entered into a
deeper religious experience than he had ever en
joyed before.
Finney's conversion was the occasion for great
surprise to his acquaintances at Adaras. In fact,
one man had said to his wife who was a praying

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 123
woraan: "If religion Is true, why don't you con
vert Finney ? If you Christians can convert Finney,
I will believe in religion."
The report of his conversion created such excite
ment that in the evening, without any appointment
having been made, with one accord the people
flocked to the church. The building was packed,
but no one seemed ready to open the meeting, where
upon Finney arose and narrated his experience.
The man who had asked his wife why they didn't
convert Finney was present and so agitated did he
become that he went home leaving his hat. An old
lawyer, who during the day had declared that the
report of Finney's conversion was a hoax, said, "He
is in earnest, there is no mistake ; but he is deranged,
that is clear." After Finney had finished his narra
tive. Rev. Mr. Gale, the pastor, arose and made con
fession for having discouraged the church in the pur
pose of raaking Finney a subject for prayer, and for
having said on hearing of his conversion that he
did not believe it.
Frora that meeting a revival broke out, extending
in various directions and visiting many coramunities.
It is a significant fact also that the young people
with whom Finney had associated, with but a single
exception were converted.
True to his purpose to preach the gospel, Finney
entered the horae of Mr. Gale, and after a pro-

124 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
tracted season of study was licensed to preach by
the Presbytery in March, 1824.
Soon after he was coraraissioned by a Woman's
Missionary Society to labor for six months in the
northern part of Jefferson County, N. Y. He began
his labors at Evans' Mills, where there was a Con
gregational and a Baptist Society, but there being
no church edifice in the place, each society occupied
a large stone school-house on alternate Sabbaths.
For this reason he divided his labors between Evans'
Mills and Antwerp, a town thirteen miles distant.
Having preached to large congregations at Evans'
Mills without results, at the close of one of his Sab
bath evening services he informed the people that he
could remain there no longer unless they would
receive the gospel. After explaining his position
somewhat, he asked all who would accept the
Saviour to arise, while the remainder should keep
their seats. As he had expected all kept their seats,
and after looking the audience over for a brief space
of tirae, he addressed them thus: "Then you are
committed. You have rejected Christ and his gos
pel ; and ye are witnesses one against the other, and
God is witness against you all. This is explicit, and
you may remeraber as long as you live, that you have
publicly coraraitted yourselves against the Saviour,
and said, 'We will not have this man, Christ Jesus,
to reign over us !' "

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 125
The people were angered and rose, en masse, to
leave the building. He paused and they halted to
see why he did not go on, whereupon he informed
them that he was sorry for them, and would make
one more appointment to preach to them, the follow
ing night. All then retired except a Baptist deacon,
who approved Finney's course and told him that he
had done the very thing that needed to be done in or
der to bring the people face to face with their sins.
Conferring thus together, they agreed to spend the
following day in fasting and prayer — "separately in
the raorning and together in the afternoon." The
people were greatly enraged at what they con
sidered an unfair advantage, and threats of vio
lence against Finney's person were heard during the
day. According to agreeraent, the afternoon was spent
in prayer by Finney and the deacon together. As
they prayed they were inspired with assurances of
victory. That evening the house was packed. Fin
ney preached a powerful gospel sermon in which he
seemed to take it for granted that the people were
committed against the Lord. No reversal of their
former action was asked. Another appointment was
given out for the next evening. So deep was the
conviction of the people that Finney was sought
after several times during the night, but as he was
spending the night away from his customary lodg-

126 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ings and could not be found, his absence served to
intensify the convictions of those who were seeking
him. The day following he spent in visiting from
house to house and conversing with the people
about the claims of the gospel. The revival which
followed was a powerful one, changing the entire
current of the community. Almost every one was
converted. The tavern keeper of the village, an infi
del and an outbroken sinner, was brought into the
fold and his place was transformed into a house of
prayer. The influence of this revival was felt in sur
rounding neighborhoods and produced a lasting
effect for good.
In July, 1824, the St. Lawrence Presbytery met at
Evans' Mills, and among other things considered the
advisability of ordaining Finney. He was asked to
preach, which he did without preparation from the
text "Without holiness no raan shall see the Lord."
The sermon seemed acceptable to those present,
although it was the opinion of some that Finney
ought to confine his efforts to school-houses and
country districts. Little did the members of that
presbytery dream that this young lawyer, who had
lately forsaken the practice of law, was God's chosen
vessel to bear the tidings of salvation not only to
rural peoples but to the cultured and refined, that
they raight be gathered into his kingdom. How
ever, it was voted tg ordain him, and in accordance

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 127
with customary usages he was solemnly set apart to
the work of the gospel ministry.
The first three months of his missionary, labors
were devoted chiefly to Evans' Mills and vicinity,
although tokens of good -were not wanting at Ant
werp. Apparently the larger portion of his tirae
during the second three months was spent at the lat
ter place, where a powerful revival was experienced.
In the outskirts of this place was a neighborhood,
nicknamed "Sodom," so called on account of its
resemblance to Sodora of old. But a single praying
man resided in the comraunity, and he had been
nicknamed "Lot." Finney was invited to preach at
"Sodora" and without knowing the circumstances,
by a strange coincidence he selected . as his text,
"Up, get you out of this place; for the Lord will
destroy the city." He vividly described the condi
tion of Sodom, its wickedness and the urgency with
which Lot was entreated to escape. His auditors
supposing him to be offensively personal were bit
terly enraged against him. In concluding his dis
course he said that he understood that they had
never had a religious meeting in the place before,
so he inferred that it must be a very ungodly cora-
munity. Taking this as the ground for his appeal
and urging iraraediate repentance, his remarks trans
formed their anger into conviction, which became
so intense and powerful that the congregation began

128 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
to fall on their knees and cry for mercy. This, of
course, brought an end to the sermon. Finney asked
the old man called "Lot" to lead in prayer, but his
stentorian voice was lost amid the cries and groans
of agony on the part of the distressed congregation.
Every one seemed to be praying for hiraself. Hav
ing an appointment elsewhere that evening, the
preacher gave such directions as he could and left
the service in the hands of "Lot." So deep was the
interest that the raeeting lasted all night and in the
raorning some who had not yet found peace
were removed from the school-house to a private
dwelling. The revival was as powerful as it was
remarkable, and from that day "Sodom" was a trans
formed community. The work was permanent and
genuine, never to Finney's knowledge having been
followed by any unfavorable reaction. Other neigh
borhoods were visited with gracious revivals and a
strong church was built up at Antwerp, which has
enjoyed a prosperous history down to the present
day. In the spring of 1825, while on his way to White-
stone, Oneida County, to get his wife whom he had
married the October previous and frora whom he
had been separated all winter on account of the
stress of his work, he stopped at Le Rayville to have
his horse shod. The people on learning of his pres
ence begged hira to make an appointment to preach

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 129
at one o'clock that afternoon in the school-house as
there was no church edifice in the place. This he
consented to do and arrangements were made for the
service. The house was packed and such was the
interest that he decided to remain that night and
preach again. The interest increasing at this ser
vice, he made arrangements with one of the brethren
to take his horse and cutter and go after his wife,
while he continued the services at Le Rayville, where
a remarkable work of grace was wrought, which
extended over into the adjoining town of Rut
land. Some time previous to this Finney had had a pre
monition that it was his duty to visit Gouverneur,
where considerable opposition had been manifested
towards his work at Antwerp. This conviction
having deepened, at the close of his labors at Le Ray
ville he decided to go to Gouverneur, where a
remarkable revival resulted from his earnest presen
tation of gospel truth.
Associated with Mr. Finney at Gouverneur was
the celebrated "Father" Nash, a Presbyterian
clergyman, whom he had first met at the presbytery
which granted him license to preach. Father Nash
was in a low spiritual state at that time, but in a
subsequent illness, to use Finney's language, the
Lord had given bim "a terrible overhauling in his
whole Christian experience." Upon recovery he de-

I30 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
voted himself with great earnestness to the salvation
of souls. He possessed reraarkable power in prayer.
It was his habit to make a "praying list," consisting
of the names of those for whose salvation he prayed
daily and often several times during the day. The
answers to these prayers were sometiraes almost
miraculous, for he did not confine his list to those
whom he thought would be reached by the revival,
but the most obdurate and unlikely cases were often
made the subjects of prayer, with results that were
truly astounding. He frequently accompanied Fin
ney in his labors for the purpose of sustaining him
in prayer.
De Kalb was next visited. Here a bitter feeling
had long existed between the Methodists and the
Presbyterians. It seeras that a few years before
the Methodists had enjoyed a revival in which there
were several cases of "falling under the power of
God." This had awakened an opposition on the part
of the Presbyterians. After Finney had coraraenced
his labors, there were a number of instances of
"falling under the power of God." Strange as it
may appear all who fell "under the power" were
Presbyterians. This led to such confessions and ex
planations that a mutual conciliation was effected.
Numbers were converted during this revival, and so
powerful was its influence that it extended as far
as Ogdensburg, sixteen railes distant.

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 131
Leaving De Kalb, Mr. Finney, accompanied by
his wife, went early in October, 1825, to Utica to
attend the synod of which he was a raeraber. On his
return to St. Lawrence County, he was raet by
Rev. G. W. Gale, his forraer pastor and theological
instructor, who on account of ill health had retired
teraporarily frora the ministry and was then residing
on a farm in the town of Western, Oneida County.
He importuned him to turn aside and visit him. He
was also urged to remain and preach the following
Sunday, to which he gave consent. The Presby
terian church was pastorless and in a low state
spiritually. The interest was so great on Sunday
that various meetings were appointed at surround
ing school-houses during the week. In the mean
while the evangelist was greatly exercised in prayer.
Others, he found, were in the same state of mind.
A Mrs. H  , a frail delicate woman, was so exer
cised that her husband becarae alarmed about her
condition. The following week Mr. Finney called,
and at the sound of his voice she entered the room
and with a face lit up with a heavenly radiance, ex-
clairaed, "Brother Finney, the Lord has come ! This
work will spread over all this region! A cloud of
mercy overhangs us all; and we shall see such a
work of grace as we have never yet seen." To her
husband this was unintelligible, but to Finney it was
an evidence of the victory of prevailing prayer. The

132 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
revival spread in all directions to the outlying dis
tricts and extended towards Rome and Utica.
While the revival at Western was still in progress.
Rev. Moses Gillet, pastor of the Congregational
church at Rorae, proposed an exchange with Mr.
Finney, who gave a reluctant consent. As the Sab
bath approached, he regretted the arrangeraent, fear
ing lest the work at Western should be retarded
thereby. He went, however, and preached three ser
mons on the Sabbath day with marked effect. The
following day, Mr. Gillet appointed an inquiry
meeting, without announcing that Mr. Finney would
be present, although it was privately arranged that
he should be in attendance at the service. The meet
ing was largely attended, many of the most intelli
gent and influential persons in the community
being present. The interest was so deep that there
was imminent danger of an outburst of feeling.
This Mr. Finney sought to avoid. In language
plain but forcible he directed them to Christ as their
only Saviour. Following his remarks he prayed in
a low, unimpassioned voice, and then dismissed them
with the caution that all should go home in silence.
At this juncture a young man who was present
fainted and there was danger of others doing the
same. Finney thereupon requested that the door
should be thrown open and that all should retire at
once. Shrieking was thus avoided, but the sighs

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 133
and sobs of the convicted could be heard until they
reached the street.
The next morning at daybreak there were numer
ous calls for Mr. Finney and Mr. Gillet. After
breakfast they set out, and whenever they would
enter a house, the neighbors would rush in frora all
sides to inquire the way of salvation. So great was
the interest that it seemed best to appoint a public
meeting of inquiry that afternoon. The house was
filled to overflowing. That night Finney preached
again and for a space of three weeks the services con
tinued. Outlying districts were reached and large
numbers were converted. In the village of Rome
nearly every one of the lawyers, physicians, mer
chants and principal men were brought into the
churches and it was estimated that five hundred per
sons were converted during Mr. Finney's stay.
Up to this time Mr. Finney's work had only at
tracted a local attention. But the revival at Rome;
may be regarded as the commencement of a new era.
His earlier labors had been in "home raissionary"
territory, but frora this tirae he was to assurae the
more iraportant role of a general revivalist. For this
work he was eminently fitted by nature, and his
earlier labors had served as a providential prepara
tion to introduce him to larger spheres of usefulness.
While the revival at Rome was still in progress
Mr. Finney received an invitation from Dr. Aiken

134 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
of Utica to attend the funeral of a prominent elder
in his church. Such an interest manifesting itself
on this occasion he was invited to remain. A spirit
of prayer had come upon some of the raembers of the
congregation, one woman in particular being so ex
ercised that she could not rest unless she was praying
for the conversion of her friends and neighbors.
This the revivalist took as an indication that the
revival had already commenced in this good
woman's heart, and as soon as he could, he made
arrangements to trapsfer the field of his operations
frora Rorae to Utica. Within a short tirae a power
ful revival was effected, during the progress of
which more than five hundred persons were con
verted. From Rorae and Utica the influence of the
revival extended to surrounding places, to many of
which Mr. Finney paid brief visits. In a report to
the presbytery it was estimated that there had been
three thousand conversions as a result of these
revivals. Two noteworthy incidents characterized the work
at Utica. While the revival was in progress, the
Oneida Presbytery convened with the church in that
city. Among its merabers were some who strongly
opposed revivals. An aged Scotch minister in
particular made a violent speech, denouncing such
efforts. His untimely words greatly shocked many
who were present. Fearing the ill-consequences

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 135
which might arise, several gave themselves to prayer
that God might counteract the effects of that speech.
The next morning the man was found dead in
his bed.
On visiting a neighboring village to preach one
evening, the following morning Mr. Finney was
invited to look through a large cotton manufactory
in the place. The operatives seemed greatly agi
tated. On entering a large room where a number of
young women were employed, a girl who was trying
to mend a broken thread burst into tears as he
passed by. At the sight of her tears others were
similarly affected, whereupon the proprietor, al
though not a Christian himself, gave orders to the
superintendent to "stop the raill, and let the people
attend to religion ; for it is more important that our
souls should be saved than that this factory run."
Within a few days nearly all in the mill were con
verted. During the sumraer of 1826 Mr. Finney was in
vited to preach at Auburn. Notwithstanding a
great deal of opposition a revival was effected which
was quite as reraarkable as any yet recorded. The
work spread in various directions, extending as far
as Skaneateles and Cayuga. The opposition at
Auburn, however, took such a violent turn, that
many of the prominent men in Dr. Lansing's church,
where Mr. Finney was laboring, withdrew from the

136 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
congregation and organized a new church. Most of
thera were unconverted, and it is interesting to note
that in 1831, while Mr. Finney was temporarily de
tained at Auburn on account of illness, a petition
was signed by these very raen, requesting hira to
reraain at Auburn and conduct a revival in their
church. In the petition a note was made of their
former opposition, but they besought him to over
look it and preach the gospel to them. In response
to their request he remained, with the result that
nearly all who forraerly had so violently opposed
hira were converted.
Frora Auburn the revivalist went to Troy and
thence to New Lebanon. For sorae time there had
been a growing opposition to the methods and work
of Mr. Finney. This had resulted chiefly from the
exaggerated statements sent to the religious press
by his enemies. On account of these exaggerations,
many of the eminent friends of revivals in New Eng
land, such as Dr. Lyman Beecher, Dr. Asahel Net
tleton, Dr. Joel Hawes of Hartford, President
Heman Huraphrey of Amherst College and others,
became outspoken in their opposition to Mr. Finney,
for they believed in all sincerity that the methods and
measures attributed to him would work serious
injury to all genuine religious awakenings. As a
matter of fact the allegations which had been
brought against Mr. Finney and his work were un-

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 137
true. The opposition, however, culrainated in a
convention held at New Lebanon, N. Y., in July,
1827. A series of resolutions were passed con
demning the measures of which Mr. Finney and his
friends had been accused. In view of the fact that he
had never used such measures, Mr. Finney inquired
the purpose of the resolutions. Dr. Beecher replied
that they were merely prospective and calculated to
guard against possible abuses in the future. With
this understanding Mr. Finney gave approbation to
the resolutions, which were unanimously adopted.
Not satisfied, however, some of his enemies endeav
ored to construe this action as a triumph over him.
The opposition, which did not at once subside, prob
ably interfered somewhat with Mr. Finney's useful
ness for a time, but in the end it brought him into
greater prorainence before the church as a revivalist
and tended no doubt to prevent excesses which
raight have arisen.
Although the convention was characterized by
raore or less acerbity of feeling, it did not seriously
affect the work then in progress. Frora New
Lebanon the revival extended to Stephentown,
which for a tirae engrossed the attention of the revi
valist. In all of these places — at Troy, at Lebanon,
and at Stephentown, conversions were numerous
and lasting effects for good were accomplished.
While Mr. Finney was laboring at New Lebanon,

138 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Rev. Mr. Gilbert of Wilmington, Del., paid a visit to
his father at that' place. So deeply impressed was
he with Mr. Finney's work, that he gave him an
urgent invitation to assist him in similar efforts at
Wilmington. As soon as he could terminate his
labors at Stephentown he accepted the invitation.
From Wilmington he was invited to Philadelphia.
At first he preached there twice a week, but the
interest was such that he decided to devote his whole
time to that place. After preaching at nearly all of
the Presbyterian churches in the city it was thought
best to concentrate his efforts in sorae one church
centrally located. For this purpose a large German
church was placed at his disposal' in the heart of the
city. Here he labored for many months, his congre
gations often numbering three thousand persons or
more. Multitudes were converted and the influence
of his work was felt in every quarter of the city.
Mr. Finney was thus employed in Philadelphia, un
til the winter of 1829- 1830, having spent in all a
year and a half in the city.
In the spring of 1829, while the revival at Phila
delphia was still in progress, some lumbermen, who
had come down the Delaware River with their rafts
of lumber, attended Finney's meetings. Several of
these men were converted and on their return to the
v^lumber regions they raade known the saving power
of the gospel. As a consequence a revival com-

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 139
menced which extended along the river for eighty
miles, and although there was no minister among
them, within a space of two years fully five thousand
conversions were reported.
Upon leaving Philadelphia, Mr. Finney visited in
succession Reading and Lancaster, Pa., and Colum
bia, N. Y. Showers of refreshing grace attended
his labors and conversions multiplied on every hand.
During the autumn of 1830, while on a visit to
Whitestone, N. Y., he was invited by Anson G.
Phelps, the philanthropist, to labor in New York
City. With a great deal of reluctance he accepted
the invitation. A vacant Presbyterian church was
rented on Vandewater Street, at Mr. Phelps' ex
pense, but as it could be procured but for three
months, at the expiration of that time a Universalist
church on Prince Street was purchased for his use
by Mr. Phelps. Here he labored for raany raonths
with raarked success, and as the outgrowth of his
eflforts the First Free Presbyterian Church (so-
called because of its free pews) was organized.
In the summer of 1831, while again visiting
Whitestone, Mr. Finney received an urgent invita
tion to supply for a tirae the Third Presb)d;erian
Church at Rochester, At first he was indisposed to
accept the invitation. The church was in a low state
spiritually and a spirit of dissension seemed to pre
vail among the Presbyterian churches of the city.

I40 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
On consulting some of his friends at Utica, in whose
judgment he had great confidence, he found that
their views coincided with his own and he resolved
not to go. A further and more mature considera
tion of the project convinced him that the very
reasons for which he held back, after all were the
very reasons why he should go. So he went against
his own earlier impressions and the wishes of his
friends at Utica. A most reraarkable awakening
followed. At that time Rochester numbered but ten
thousand inhabitants and yet in the neighborhood of
a thousand conversions were enumerated. All of
the churches in the city shared in this gracious visi
tation. During that year more than twelve hun
dred merabers were added to the churches within
the boilnds of the Rochester Presbytery, and other
denominations shared in the results of the re
vival. Mr. Finney conducted two subsequent series of
meetings in Rochester. In 1842 while on his way to
Oberlin from Providence, R. I., he stopped in the
city for a day or two's rest before proceeding fur
ther. As soon as it became known that he was in
the city he was besieged with nuraerous invitations
to preach. Araong the earliest to approach him was
a judge of the highest court in the State, who as yet
was not converted. A little later the leading lights
of the legal fraternity united in a petition, requesting

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 141
him to give a course of lectures adapted to the needs
of lawyers. This Finney readily consented to do.
As a result this prominent judge was converted, and
so great was the influence of his exaraple in going
to the anxious seat that the lawyers rose up alraost
en masse, crowded into the aisles and made use of all
the available space at the front, kneeling wherever
they could. The influence of this revival was far-
reaching, extending to the various churches in the
city. In one of the leading Episcopalian churches,
seventy prominent merabers of the congregation were
eonfirraed, nearly all of whom had been converted
under Mr. Finney's preaching. During Mr. Fin
ney's labors, another revival was in progress under
the leadership of Rev. Jedediah Burchard, but as
greatly diflferent classes were reached by these raen,
the results of this double spiritual visitation were
highly beneficial to the city.
During the winter of 185 5- 1856 Mr. Finney was
again invited to Rochester. A short tirae after his
arrival he was petitioned to give another course of
lectures to lawyers. He coraplied with the request,
with results similar to his preceding visit. This
revival was quite as marked as the two forraer ones.
There were many notable conversions, including
some of the most prominent personages of the city.
Of these revivals Mr. Finney said: "What was
quite remarkable in the three revivals that I have

142 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
witnessed in Rochester, they all commenced and
made their first progress araong the higher classes
of society, which was very favorable to the general
spread of the work, and to the overcoraing of oppo
sition." But of these three revivals none was more re
markable than that first great revival of 1831. The
raoral atraosphere of the city was greatly changed.
Grog shops were closed. Crime decreased and for
years afterwards the jail was nearly empty. The
only theater in the city was converted into a livery
stable and the only circus into a soap and candle
factory. A large number of men prorainent in busi
ness and social life were brought into the churches.
It was estiraated that forty promising young men,
who had been converted in that revival, entered the
ministry. Not only was Rochester and the sur
rounding country greatly moved, but the influence
of that revival was felt throughout the length and
breadth of the land, even extending across the water
to England. One of the most widespread revivals
that this country has ever witnessed was inaugurated
thereby. Dr. Lyman Beecher afterwards spoke of
this revival as "the greatest work of God, and the
greatest revival of religion that the world has ever
seen in so short a time. One hundred thousand
were reported as having connected themselves with
the churches, as the result of that great revival, and

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 143
this is unparalleled in the history of the church, and
of the progress of religion."*
After leaving Rochester, as heretofore stated, Mr.
Finney conducted a second series of meetings at
Auburn, in the course of which raore than five hun
dred persons were converted. Both at Rochester
and at Auburn, Mr. Abel Clary, a rainisterial licen
tiate, was present to aid in the work. Like Father
Nash, Clary was a raan raightily given to
prayer. He never attended the public services,
but while Finney was preaching, he was apart
by hiraself agonizing and praying for an out
pouring of the Spirit of God and the salvation of
souls. Buffalo and Providence were next visited with
showers of blessing under the great revivalist's work.
While laboring at Providence he received an invita
tion frora the Congregational rainisters of Boston,
Mass., to conduct services in that city. It is interest
ing to note that Lyman Beecher who four years
before had said : "Finney, I know your plan, and
you know I do; you mean to corae to Connecticut
and carry a streak of fire to Boston. But if you
attempt it, as the Lord liveth, I'll meet you at the
state line, and call out all the artillerymen, and fight
every inch of the way to Boston, and then I'll fight
you there," now received him with great cordiality.
* Finney's Autobiography, p. 300.

144 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
The opposition which had culminated in the New
Lebanon Convention was now a thing of the past
and Mr. Finney's services were sought on all sides.
In Boston, on account of the influence of Unitarian-
ism, the revival was not so extensive as elsewhere,
notwithstanding which there were many notable con
versions. Mr. Finney conducted four subsequent
revivals in Boston, in 1842, 1843, 1856 and 1857.
The first and second of these were conducted in
Marlborough Chapel and the last two in the Park
Street Church. All of these revivals were quite ex
tensive and conversions were numerous.
In 1832 Mr. Finney again went to New York
City, where he labored at the Chatham Street Thea
ter, which had been fitted up by Mr. Lewis Tappan
and others for church purposes, and Mr. Finney was
installed as its pastor. On recovering from a serious
illness, he inaugurated a revival movement, preach
ing nightly for twenty evenings, during which more
than five hundred persons were converted. Owing
to ill-health, the nuraber of raeetings was then
diminished, but the revival continued for a space of
two years, and as a result seven new churches were
organized. A growing dissatisfaction with the cen
tralized polity of the Presbyterians induced Mr.
Finney and his friends to organize a Congregational
Church, for which the Broadway Tabernacle was
constructed.

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 145
In 1834 on account of continued ill-health, Mr.
Finney took a trip to the Mediterranean. An ab
sence of six months found hira but little iraproved.
On his homeward voyage he was greatly exercised
in mind over the question of revivals in America.
After wrestling long in prayer he was coraforted
with the assurance that the Lord would strengthen
him and that all would yet be well. On his arrival at
New York he resumed his labors at Broadway Tab
ernacle, with the result that alraost iraraediately a
revival of great power commenced, which continued
during the remainder of his pastorate.
It was after his return to New York that he
delivered his celebrated lectures on revivals. These
lectures were first published in the New York
Evangelist, which had been established in 1830 to
promote and extend the revivals in which he had
engaged. During his absence abroad, its editor had
well-nigh destroyed the usefulness of the paper by
his injudicious attacks upon slavery. Mr. Finney
was an anti-slavery man, but he did not sympathize
with extrerae or ultra-radical views. In order to
strengthen the paper these lectures, as delivered to
his own congregation, were reported and printed in
the Evangelist. Almost like magic the subscriptions
began to pour in and the paper soon regained its
former influence. The lectures were then published
in book form and received an enormous circulation,

146 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the first American edition of 12,000 copies being
sold as rapidly as they could be printed. Large edi
tions were published in England and the work was
translated into foreign languages, and thus it be
came instrumental in promoting revivals throughout
the world.
In 1835 Mr. Finney accepted the professorship of
theology at Oberlin. It was his purpose to spend
but a portion of his time at Oberlin, devoting the
balance to Broadway Tabernacle and to revival
work. For two or three winters he returned to New
York and on other occasions labored elsewhere.
Reference has already been raade to his subsequent
efforts in Rochester and Boston. It also remains
to be said that in connection with his duties at Ober
lin, he conducted extensive revivals in Providence,
R. I., Cleveland and Cincinnati, Ohio; Detroit and
elsewhere in Michigan; Western, Rome and Syra
cuse, N. Y. ; and at Hartford, Conn. During the
years 1849-185 1 he spent eighteen months in Eng
land, devoting nine months to London alone. In
1858 he again went to England, visiting Scotland
also. Both of these visits were the occasion of ex
tensive revivals. After i860 his health would not
perrait him to engage in evangelistic labors away
from Oberlin, but in the First Church, of which he
continued to be pastor until within three years of
his death, his labors were attended with gracious

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 147
quickenings, the years i860, 1866, and 1867 being
characterized by notable ingatherings.
Mr. Finney's death took place August 16, 1875.
He retained his faculties in a remarkable degree to
the end. His last day on earth was a quiet Sabbath.
At sunset he walked out with his wife to listen to the
music at the opening of the evening service in the
church nearby. The worshipers were singing,
"Jesus, Lover of my Soul." He took up the words
and sang with the invisible congregation to the end.
That night upon retiring he was seized with pains
in the heart and when morning dawned he had
joined the choir invisible above.
Notwithstanding the hue and cry that at one time
was raade over the raethods and measures of Mr.
Finney, the means of which he made use for the pro
motion of revivals were neither extravagant nor ex
traordinary. He did not favor multiplying meetings {
unnecessarily, and advised adding to the Sabbath
services only "as many meetings during the week as
could well be attended, and yet allow the people to
carry forward their necessary worldly business."
During his first revival at Rochester he first made
use of the "anxious seat" as a means to bring out
inquirers. The purpose of this measure was to
bring the unconverted to an immediate decision as
well as to commit themselves publicly to the service
of Christ. During his six years' experience as an

148 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
evangelist, he had often felt the need of sorae such
measure, and after the employment of various ex
pedients, the "anxious seat" comraended itself to his
judgment as a means for the accomplishraent of the
end desired. Thereafter he raade use of the "anx
ious seat" in his services, except in rare instances,
where through deference to local usages, it seemed
advisable to do otherwise.
Mr. Finney's preaching was peculiarly adapted to
meet the requirements of the age in which he lived.
The Calvinistic teachings of God's sovereignty,
man's inability, divine election, etc., had been so
emphasized as to lead to a sort of fatalism. Men
were taught that they could do nothing to save them
selves, they must wait God's time; if he chose to save
them he would do so, otherwise they would perish.
If they were of the elect, in due time the Holy Spirit
would convert thera, but if they were of the non-
elect, nothing they could do of themselves, nothing
any one else could do for them would avail for their
salvation. In consequence of such teachings an
alarming indiflference to religion was prevalent. The
current doctrines were made a pretext for neglecting
the claims of the gospel. When approached upon
the subject of religion, the unconverted would reply :
"If we are to be saved, we shall be saved; but if we
are to be lost, we shall be lost." Sin, moreover, was
taught as an inheritance of Adam. Men were not

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 149
sinners by choice but by birth, and hence in many
quarters sin came to be regarded as a calamity, for
which man was in no wise responsible, and sinners
consequently were to be pitied rather than blamed.
In contradistinction to these conceptions Mr. Fin
ney taught that men were responsible for their sins ;
-^ they were sinners because they chose to be ; the con
sequences of sin would overtake them, not on account
of any inherited predisposition to sin, but because of
their self-determined transgression of God's law,
and their rebellion towards him and his governraent ;
instead of waiting God's tirae he exhorted men to
immediate repentance ; God had comraanded thera to
repent, and God's coraraand iraplied raan's ability to
do so; instead of being unable to do anything of
themselves, sinners were required to make for thera
selves new hearts by meeting the requirements of the
Scriptures and making use of the provisions of the
gospel. In all of these teachings Mr. Finney did
not overlook the agency of the Holy Spirit. It was
the work of the Spirit to reprove the world of sin,
of righteousness, and of judgment. But, he insisted,
the Holy Spirit works through means and instru
mentalities, and if these are made use of as pre
scribed by the Word of God, the Holy Spirit will
use them in the conversion of men.
The enemies of Mr. Finney industriously sought
to give the impression that the revivals identified

ISO AMERICAN REVIVALS.
¦with his name were neither deep nor lasting, but
those who were best acquainted with his work have
given ample proof of its permanency and power.
While there were doubtless sorae among the vast
numbers who were converted under his ministry who
made a shipwreck of faith, and it would have been
strange if there were not, it is nevertheless true that
the vast majority who were converted under his
preaching were true to their profession, and gave
abundant evidence in their subsequent lives of a
thorough change of heart.
It is impossible to estimate with accuracy the
results of such a life as that of Charles G. Finney.
As a revivalist, as a theologian, and as president of
Oberlin College, he left the impress of his character
upon thousands of lives and contributed not a little
towards fashioning and shaping the Christianity of
the American Republic, especially in the northern
States, east of the Mississippi River. Dr. Cuyler
said of him, that he probably led more souls to Jesus
than any man of the nineteenth century. In round
numbers it has been estimated that five hundred
thousand persons were converted through his instru
mentality. In addition to his personal labors, his
published sermons. Revival Lectures, Autobiog
raphy, and other works were not only effective in the
promotion of revivals but in the conversion of many.
As a theological professor his influence was felt far

CHARLES GRANDISON FINNEY. 151
and wide through the young theologues whora he
had helped to equip for their work and who went out
from the halls of Oberlin to preach the gospel and
promote revivals in the fields whithersoever they had
been called. During his long connection with the
college as president and professor, Mr. Finney had
helped to mould the lives and characters of fully
twenty thousand students, who went forth to influ
ence society and bless the world. Thus we see how
impossible it is to estimate the influence of such a
life, an influence which is likely to abide for all tirae
to corae, and the full measure of which eternity alone
can reveal.

CHAPTER VIII.
DENOMINATIONAL MOVEMENTS: THE CONGREGA
TIONALISTS AND PRESBYTERIANS  CONCLUDED.
Edward Norris Kirk, the Chrysostom of Ameri
can evangelists, was born in New York City, August
14, 1802. His father was a merchant in moderate
circumstances, and Edward's boyhood alternated be
tween his father's home in the city and the horae of
an aunt at Princeton, N. J. The early influences
with which he was surrounded were decidedly relig
ious, but the temptations of a great city were attrac
tive, and although he was by no means vicious, the
boy was inclined to be wayward and intractable. In
later years the memory of his youthful follies was
invariably accorapanied with the pangs of reraorse.
At the age of fifteen he entered the sophomore class
of Princeton College. As a student he was distin
guished neither for his scholarly attainments nor
for his devotion to the pursuit of knowledge, but in
due time he graduated at the early age of eighteen.
On his return to New York he entered the office
of Radcliffe and Mason, where for two years he

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 153
engaged in the study of law. During this period he
was a member of a debating club, the purpose of
which was the cultivation of public speaking, and
which numbered among its members William H.
Seward, Richard V. Dey, and others who subse
quently attained to prorainence in public life.
This debating club was the only incident in his
life as a law student which seemed to give any
promise of the future. Otherwise his life was
wasted in dissipation and sin. He said: "Creed,
political, social, religious, I had none; whatever I
had might be thus expressed — 'Man's chief end is
to have a good time;' and I carried out my creed
with great consistency." If anything he seemed to
have an aversion to religion and was displeased at
the mere mention of it. The conversion of sorae of
his college friends, however, affected him pro
foundly, but it was not until the coraraencement of
the year 1822 that his raind was seriously drawn to
the things of God. A copy of John Foster's "Essay
on Decision of Character" placed in his hands by a
friend, led to serious contemplation, and a few
months later, through the influence of some young
raen's meetings conducted by Jared Waterbury, he
was led to give his heart to God.
His conversion became the turning point of his
career. The following fall he entered Princeton V
Theological Seminary, where for four years he gave \

154 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
himself to earnest work in preparation for the
Christian ministry. In June, 1826, he was licensed
by the Presbytery to preach the gospel, and the next
two years were spent as an agent of the American
Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions. In
the prosecution of his duties he visited the Southern
and Middle States, meeting with considerable oppo
sition, because the real value of missions was not yet
appreciated and they were often looked upon as
needless and useless. The experience was a valuable
one, however, although he afterwards had occasion
to regret the lack of settled habits which this work
fostered. In May, 1828, Mr. Kirk accepted an invitation to
supply the pulpit of the Second Presbyterian Church
at Albany, N. Y., for the summer while its pastor.
Dr. Chester, was seeking the recovery of his health.
Large and interested congregations flocked to listen
to the eloquent young preacher. A few weeks later,
when he was obliged to discontinue his labors, be
cause his fidelity to the truth and searching presen
tations of the gospel were not acceptable to certain
unconverted raerabers of the congregation, a colony
of the spiritually rainded withdrew from the mera-
bership of the church and formed the Fourth Pres
byterian Church, to the pastorate of which Mr. Kirk
was at once called. Revivals crowned his ministry
and he became noted far and wide as a revival

PRESBYTERIANS. 155
preacher, so that his services were frequently called j
into requisition by neighboring pastors to assist j
them in protracted eflforts. In 1837, after a ministry
of more than eight years, Mr. Kirk resigned his pas
torate. During these years there had been more
than a thousand accessions to his church, while he
had found time also to assist other churches in sus
taining raore than thirty revivals, during the prog
ress of which multitudes were converted.
In 1839, after an absence of two years abroad, Mr.i
Kirk entered the evangelistic field. During the suc
ceeding months he labored at many of the principal ]
cities of the Eastern and New England States, in
cluding Baltimore, New York, Philadelphia, New,
Haven, Hartford, and Boston. In the latter place
he conducted three different revivals during the two
years in which he labored as an evangelist. In this
work he was eminently successful, and many were
converted under his labors.
Early in 1842 Mr. Kirk accepted a call to the
newly forraed Mt. Vernon Church of Boston and
coraraenced an evangelistic rainistry which continued
for raore than thirty years. Not a year passed dur
ing all that time but what additions were made to
the church on confession of faith, amounting in the
aggregate to nearly seven hundred persons. Among
those who united on confession of faith was one
destined in after years to lead multitudes in this and

156 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
other lands to a knowledge of salvation — ^Dwight
Lyman Moody — who was won to Christ through the
faithful efforts of his Sunday School teacher, and
who after a period of probation was admitted to the
raembership of the church.
Dr. Kirk never lost his interest in revivals and re
vival moveraents. During the winter of 1868 he
delivered a series of lectures upon revivals before the
students of Andover Theological Seminary. These
lectures were afterwards published in book forra and
received a wide circulation.
On March 27, 1874, Dr. Kirk passed on to his
reward, in the seventy-second year of his life and
after a ministry of nearly fifty years. Dr. Kirk was
an ideal evangelist for a cultured coraraunity. His
sermons, while scholarly and polished, were search
ing in their analysis and powerful in their appeal to
the human heart. Early in life he preached extem
poraneously and with great fervor, but on assuming
the duties of his Boston pastorate, he adopted the
written style, which he continued to the last. But
whether his language was formed in the glow of
delivery or in the quiet of his study, he was the same
man of power, the sarae raan of prayer.
Rev. Daniel Baker, D.D., an eminent evangelist
of the Old School Presbyterians, was born of Con
gregational parentage at Midway, Ga., August 17,
1 79 1. His mother dying in his infancy, he was left

CONGREGATIONALISTS. 157
an orphan at the age of eight by the death of his
father. As a child he was subject to profound relig
ious irapressions and at an early age was converted.
Soon afterwards he found employraent at Savannah,
but under the stress of teraptations which he there
met, for a time his religious experience underwent a
cloud, although he often suflfered frora the stings of
conscience and the pangs of bitter remorse. Learn
ing that provision had been raade at Hampden Syd
ney College for the support of young men having
the ministry in view, he determined to avail himself
of its privileges and prepare himself for that high
calling. In the summer of 181 1 he matriculated and
soon after united with the college church. Owing to
the distractions of the War of 18 12, he remained at
Hampden Sydney but a short tirae, going thence
with other students to Princeton, where he entered
the junior class in the winter session of 1813.
For a period of forty years Nassau Hall had been
without a revival. Young Baker with three pious
companions, thinking that something ought to be
done for their unconverted fellow-students, estab
lished a weekly prayer-meeting to offer up special
prayer for a revival of religion in the college. This
was kept up for some time without results. Finally
upon a fast day. Baker proposed to his room-mate
that they go from room to room and endeavor to
"break the bands of wickedness," which at length

158 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
was agreed upon. That very day some six or eight
of the students thus visited were converted and a
revival of religion was inaugurated, which in the
course of a few weeks resulted in the conversion of
nearly half of the students then at Princeton. When
the report of this quickening was noised abroad it
gave a powerful impulse to revivals elsewhere.
In 1815, having graduated from Princeton with
honors, he decided to study theology privately at
Winchester, Va., assisting in a Female Academy at
the sarae time. The next few years thereafter were
spent in the pastorate at Harrisonburg, Va., Wash
ington, D. C, and at Savannah, Ga., in all of which
there were fruitful revivals under his ministry.
During a great revival at Beaufort, which he con
ducted while pastor at Savannah, and during the
progress of which more than three hundred persons
were converted, he decided to enter the evangelistic
field and was accordingly appointed a missionary by
the Synod of South Carolina and Georgia. He
entered upon his new duties in 1831, conducting pro
tracted raeetings at various places in the States men
tioned and also in North Carolina and Florida. The
year following was spent in similar work in Vir
ginia, after which he took up his residence in Ohio,
where he expected to find a permanent home. Al
though he was not a pro-slavery man, nor at the
same time an abolitionist, the distractions over the

PRESBYTERIANS. 159
slavery question were so irritating to him that
he abandoned his purpose and removed to Ken
tucky. After spending some time in the pastorate at
Frankfort, Ky., and Tuscaloosa, Ala., in the autumn
of 1839 he accepted an appointment as missionary
to the Republic of Texas. Along the line of his
journey he conducted protracted raeetings at several
places with happy results. Reaching Texas early in
1840 he spent several raonths in missionary labors,
which while of a pioneei character were not unpro
ductive of good.
Later that same year he accepted a call to the
church at Holly Springs, Miss., where he remained
until June, 1848, when he again went to Texas, for
the spiritual upbuilding of which he devoted the re
mainder of his life. While traveling as general mis
sionary he visited Huntsville in August, 1849. So
favorably was he impressed with the location that
he broached to the citizens the propriety of establish
ing there a Presbyterian College. Eight thousand
dollars were at once subscribed and the enterprise
was inaugurated. The institution was named Aus- ^
tin College in honor of the great Texan pioneer.
During the balance of his life, until his death,
December 10, 1857, Dr. Baker was identified with
Austin College, either as its president or financial
agent. He visited various portions of the country in

i6o AMERICAN REVIVALS.
its behalf, soliciting funds for its maintenance and
endowment. In the midst of these arduous labors
he always had the salvation of men at heart, and in
his visits to various coraraunities, it was no infre
quent thing for hira to tarry a few days and engage
in revivalistic labors, which invariably were produc
tive of good.
Although Dr. Baker's distinctively evangelistic
work was confined to but a short period of his life,
his energies at all tiraes were devoted to the conver
sion of raen. Whether laboring as pastor, revivalist,
missionary, college agent or president. Dr. Baker
was a soul winner. During his long public life it was
estimated that twenty thousand persons were influ
enced through his instrumentality to embrace the
Christian faith, including many who afterwards be
carae rainisters of the gospel in various religious de-
norainations. Doctrinally Dr. Baker was an Old School Presby
terian and emphasized the distinctive doctrines of
the Calvinistic theology, such as the divine sover
eignty, gracious election, total depravity, man's ab
solute inability, vicarious atonement, efficacious
grace, and the final perseverance of the saints.
In his revivalistic labors. Dr. Baker was never ob
trusive, never sought to take the pastor's place, or
to set him aside. He always labored under the pas
tor's direction and with his co-operation. It was

CONGREGATIONALISTS. i6i
said of hira that he endeavored to follow but not to
outrun the indications of the Spirit of God. In his
eflforts he raade use of the custoraary methods of the
time, such as the anxious seat, inquiry meetings, etc.,
and strongly insisted upon the prayer of faith.
Of others who labored in Congregational and
Presbyterian circles raention raust be raade of Jede
diah Burchard, an eccentric evangelist, who was
popular for sorae years in New York and New Eng
land, and Orson Parker, a wise and discriminating
evangelist, who did a pioneer work throughout the
newer States of the Middle West, besides numerous
evangelistic pastors, such as Lyman Beecher, Albert
Barnes, Edward Payson, Joel Parker and a host of
others, who labored diligently to proraote revivals in
their respective fields of labor.
As a result, during the first half of the nineteenth
century revivals were nuraerous, especially after the
War of 1 8 12. In 183 1 through the influence of the
great revival conducted at Rochester, N. Y., by
Charles- G. Finney, a revival swept over the United
States, in which more than fifteen hundred towns
were blessed with showers of refreshing grace and
as many raore felt the impulse of the movement.
The great cities especially were moved, and during
the first five raonths of the revival raore than fifty
thousand persons were converted. Before the raove-
raent had spent its force it was estimated that over

i62 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
one hundred thousand raerabers had been added to
the churches.
During the closing years of the half century reviv
als were less nuraerous and a period of spiritual
stagnation followed, which continued until the Great
Revival of 1857.

CHAPTER IX.
• denominational MOVEMENTS : THE BAPTISTS.
Although the Baptists had shared somewhat in
the results of the Great Awakening and to no incon
siderable extent in the Awakening of 1800, as a class
they did not favor special efforts to proraote revivals
of religion. The cause is not far to seek. With the
exception of the Freewill Baptists, who were Arrain-
ian in theology and the ardent friends of revivals, the
Baptists as a rule were tinctured with the hyper-Cal
vinism of the period, which looked askance upon all
human attempts to eflfect the regeneration of men.
God's sovereignty rendered inconsistent any man-
raade attempts for the salvation of others. It was pre
sumptuous to undertake anything of the kind. Re
generation was a divine work to be wrought inde
pendently of any human agency. The salvation of
sinners being determined by God's electing grace,
human eflforts looking to that end were not only
needless but useless. God knew who would or
would not be saved, and in his own good time, and
in accordance with his own good purposes he would
gather the elect into his kingdom. The strength of

i64 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the church was to "lie still." As might have been
expected where such views gained wide acceptance,
as they had among many of the Baptists at the com
mencement of the nineteenth century, the churches
were at a standstill and in raany instances were
dying out. Sunday Schools were unknown, mis
sionary activity for the conversion of the heathen
was scouted, and schools of theology were looked
upon as "minister-making machines." Exceptions
there were to be sure, ministers and laymen too who
favored missions and revivals, but it was not until
the first third of the century had passed that Bap
tists as a class began to be aroused from this state
of apathy and opposition to huraan efforts for the
conversion of men. Elders Jacob Knapp and Jabez
S. Swan were the pioneer evangelists of the denomi
nation, and through their earnest efforts, greater
attention was given to revivals, and the denomina
tion entered upon a new era in the work of evangeli
zation. Elder Jacob Knapp was born in Otsego County,
N. Y., December 7th, 1799. His parents were
Episcopalians, and he was reared in accordance with
the principles of that faith. Bereaved of his mother
at the age of seventeen, he was led to thoughtful con-
teraplation as to his spiritual state. After a period
of introspection followed by profound conviction
which threatened his health, he at length found joy

THE BAPTISTS. 165
and peace in believing. A short time afterwards he
witnessed the iraraersion of sorae persons who had
been converted at a Baptist raeeting. Deeply im
pressed by the ceremony, he reached the conclusion
that immersion was none other than the baptism of
the apostles, but as he was still under age he did not
feel at liberty to be iraraersed against the wishes of
his father. Not being able, therefore, to live up to
the light as he believed it, his religious experience
went under a cloud, frora which he did not eraerge
until his iraraersion two years or more later.
From this time his religious life became more
Stable, and on reaching his majority, he resolved to
prepare himself for the Baptist rainistry. Receiv
ing small encouragement, and attended with difficul
ties and hardships, which would have discouraged a
less determined soul, the way was finally opened for
him to attend the Hamilton Literary and. Theologi
cal Institute, from which he graduated in 1825.
During the next eight years he preached at Spring
field and Watertown, N. Y. Numerous conversions
attested the faithfulness of his ministry, but he was
not satisfied, and as the news of successful protracted
efforts reached his ears, he was led to look upon the
first eight years of his ministry as comparatively
wasted. Duty seemed to be calling elsewhere and he
became convinced that he ought to enter the evangel
istic field.

1 66 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
This decision was not reached without a struggle,
but finally yielding to the call of duty he bade fare
well to the pastorate in Septeraber, 1833, and en
tered his new field of labor. For eighteen months he
labored at various places in Jefferson and Lewis
Counties. The churches were revived and upwards
of two thousand persons were converted. At this
time he did not confine his efforts to any particular
denomination, but loyalty to Baptist principles led
him thereafter to labor with Baptist churches only,
although he never discouraged the co-operation of
others in his revival eflforts.
Frora 1835 to 1839 Elder Knapp conducted suc
cessful revivals in Ithaca, New York City, Utica,
Schenectady, Brooklyn, Rochester, and various
other places in the State of New York. In sorae
places he encountered great opposition because of .his
stern denunciation of sin and his invectives against
certain of the prevailing evils of the day, such as
intemperance, galmbling, and the like. Notwith
standing this opposition conversions multiplied and
lasting eflfects for good were accomplished.
On the 3d of October, 1839, Elder Knapp com
menced a series of raeetings in Baltimore, Md., -at'
the Sharp Street Church. The Baptist cause in Bal
timore and the State at that time was at rather a low
ebb, churches were weak, merabers were few, and
but feeble efforts were being put forth to promote

THE BAPTISTS. 167
the extension of the Kingdom. Shortly after the
commencement of these meetings evidences of con
verting grace began to appear, and for seven weeks,
wave after wave of salvation seemed to sweep over
the city. The Sharp Street Church was strength
ened by the addition of more than four hundred
merabers, an indebtedness of twenty thousand dol
lars was liquidated, while the other churches and
denominations shared in the results of this great
revival. The work extended in various directions
and it was estimated that fully ten thousand persons
were converted. The Baptist cause throughout the
State was strengthened and the number of communi
cants doubled.
The Washingtonian temperance movement was an
indirect result of this revival, concerning the origin
of which Elder Knapp wrote :
"During the progress of the revival several well-
known drunkards had been converted. This fact
had enraged the rum-sellers. On the evening on
which I preached on temperance, two men, named
Mitchel and Hawkins, together with other hard
drinkers, were present. From the church they went
to the grog-shop, whose proprietor began to indulge
in outbursts of rage and cursing against me and my
preaching. After a while Mitchel got up and de
clared that he could not hear Mr. Knapp abused any
longer; that he believed he was doing a great deal of

i68 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
good in the city ; and turning towards the rum-seller,
he remarked, 'If you keep up this abuse any longer,
I will never drink another drop in your house, nor
anywhere else, as long as my narae is Mitchel.' But
the enraged proprietor continued to deal out his
anatheraas ; whereupon Mitchel, true to his word,
then and there soleranly pledged himself to absolute
and total abstinence thenceforth through life.
Hawkins and others joined wilh him in the pledge.
This was the origin of the Washingtonian temper
ance raovement, which swept over the country with
such wonderful power, and by which tens of thou
sands of drunkards were reforraed, and thousands of
farailies were made happy for this life and the life to
come."* Frora Baltiraore Elder Knapp went to Albany,
where fifteen hundred persons, including many of
the wealthy and influential, were converted. Thence
he went to the Tabernacle Baptist Church, New
York City. The attendance soon filled the church
to overflowing, and the sidewalks were often over
run with people. As a consequence the revival be
came a topic of the day. A reporter of the New
York Herald wrote up burlesque accounts of the
raeetings, caricaturing the sermons of the revivalist
and distorting his expressions. This served only to
advertise the meetings more widely, so that scores
* Autobiography, p. ioq.

THE BAPTISTS. 169
who otherwise would have raanifested no interest in
the work, were attracted to the services, and many
of these were led to embrace the gospel. Thousands
from all classes, including the most godless and pro
fane, were converted under the influence of these
meetings. There were four hundred accessions to
the Tabernacle Church, while numbers swelled the
merabership of churches of every denoraination
throughout the city.
In December, 1840, Elder Knapp conducted a
successful revival at Hartford, Conn., going thence
to New Haven. Here the Christians of the city,
irrespective of denomination, co-operated with the
revivalist in his work. Sorae hundreds, includ
ing seventy students of Yale College, were con
verted. In December, 1841, after having labored with ex
cellent results in Providence, R. I., Elder Knapp
went to Boston in response to an invitation from
nearly all of the Baptist pastors in the city. The
revival spirit had been enkindled to sorae extent
through the labors of Charles G. Finney, so that the
fields were already white unto the harvest, when
Elder Knapp commenced his labors. As a result one
of the most remarkable spiritual quickenings in all
the annals of American revivals visited Boston and
vicinity. As in other places, on account of his
scathing animadversions of Unitarianism, Univer-

170 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
salism, gambling and intemperance, a great deal of
opposition was encountered, and on several occa
sions the preacher narrowly escaped being mobbed.
But the opposition was overruled and the revival
went on to the conversion of multitudes.
Of the influence of the revival Elder Knapp said :
"Several of the places of amusement were closed;
billiard tables and bar-rooms were neglected; and
you could scarcely meet a raan in the market or on
the street whose countenance did not indicate
seriousness, and whose language was not subdued.
The streets at midnight were deserted, and the still
ness of the hour was disturbed only by the voice of
prayer or the song of praise, as they were wafted
from counting-house, garret, or parlor."*
As a result of the Great Boston Revival, as it was
called at the tirae, upwards of four thousand persons
were added to the churches, the Baptist churches of
the city and vicinity being strengthened by about two
thousand accessions. Elder Knapp was not alone in
conducting the services of this raighty spiritual
quickening. He had been preceded by Charles G.
Finney and was followed by Edward N. Kirk, who
labored among the Orthodox Congregationalists,
while John N. Mafifit, the eloquent Methodist divine,
labored for a time in the principal Methodist Church
of the city. The labors of all of these men were
* Autobiography, p. 129.

THE BAPTISTS. 171
highly successful, and all things seemed to combine
to raake this revival the most reraarkable, perhaps,
which had ever visited Boston.
After the Boston revival. Elder Knapp conducted
successful raeetings in Lowell, Concord, Marblehead,
and Salem, Mass., but about this time his ministry as
a great revivalist culminated. He had already en
countered the opposition of "lewd fellows of the
baser sort," but now he was obliged to suffer from
"perils among false brethren." A man of raarked
views and of unswerving fidelity to what he be
lieved to be the truth, it was not strange perhaps that
he should have awakened antagonism on the part of
certain of his contemporaries.
It was charged in the first place that his work was
lacking in permanency. It was true that a reaction
followed the revival in Boston, but it was neither so
disastrous as to be unusual, nor could it in any sense
be attributed to the indiscretions of Elder Knapp.
The overwhelming majority of those who had pro
fessed conversion remained true to their vows.
Deacon Asa Wilbur of Boston made an exhaustive
study of the facts, and proved that the five Baptist
churches in Boston under whose auspices the revi
valist had labored, in the four succeeding years bap
tized 1,058 persons, and excluded during the same
period 158, thus making a net gain of 51 per cent.,
while the percentage of those excluded was but 15

172 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
per cent, of the baptisms. The two remaining
Baptist churches in the city which did not co-operate
in the revival received during the same period 122
by baptism and excluded 36, the percentage of those
excluded to those received being 29 per cent. The
exclusions in all of these churches during these years
being but one and one-fourth per cent, annually of
their entire membership, disproved completely the
complaint of "spurious converts," "numerous ex
clusions," etc.
Dr. Edward N. Kirk in speaking of the thorough
ness of Elder Knapp's ministry said : "Complaints
were heard of the superficialness of the conversions
under his rainistry. But following him as I did, in
1839 and 1840, in Baltimore, New Haven, and
Hartford, I ara able to testify that in all those
places men's religious sensibilities had been deeply
moved. I found the ground ploughed for the seed,
and the harvest ripe for the sickle."*
The second charge was that of avarice. It was
alleged that he dressed and appeared so as to give the
impression that he was very poor in order to in
crease the contributions of the benevolent rainded
towards his support. At Elder Knapp's own
request the charge was investigated by his rainiste
rial brethren, and their verdict was that there "was
nothing in the case which ought to interrupt Elder
* Lectures, p. 142.

THE BAPTISTS. 173
Knapp's connection with the church, or his labors as
a minister of the gospel."
Groundless as these charges were, they interfered
no doubt with his usefulness for a time, but he did
not suffer himself to be set aside thereby. Up to the
time of his death at Rockford, III, in 1874, he con
tinued to do the work of an evangelist, especially
among the weaker churches of the West, laboring
through evil as well as good report for the salvation
of men. If other evidence were wanting, his long
and faithful subsequent career as an evangelist
furnished a sufficient refutation of the charges
which had been named against hira.
In its doctrinal aspects. Elder Knapp's preaching,
was a sort of an Arrainianized Calvinisra. While
he recognized the work of the Spirit in the conver
sion of men, he exhorted sinners to immediate re
pentance and faith in Jesus Christ. In dealing with
inquirers he made use of the anxious seat, since it
served not only as a test of character, but also
enabled the individual to publicly commit himself to
the service of Christ, and was a source of encourage
ment to others who might be seeking salvation.
Of the general results of his labors. Elder Knapp
said : "For a time I endeavored to keep an approxi
mate account of the persons who professed conver
sion in my meetings, but after my reckonings took in
more than one hundred thousand cases I gave up

174 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the attempt. They came in such crowds, from all
denominations ; so many united with other churches,
and so many were reported in meetings commenced
by me after I had left, and so many were strangers
from distant towns and States, sojourning for a few
days or weeks where I was preaching, and so many
other meetings sprang up from those I was holding,
that I found the attempt to number Israel an impos
sibility, and suspected that it might be sin."*
Elder Jabez S. Swan with Elder Knapp shared
the distinction of being a pioneer evangelist among
the Baptists. He was born in Stonington, Conn.,
February 23, 1800. In his youth he was subject to
serious impressions, but it was not until he reached
his majority that he became a Christian. After his
marriage he felt called of God to enter the ministry.
Accompanied by his wife he went to Hamilton,
N. Y., to pursue a course of study in the Literary
and Theological Institute, from which he graduated
in 1827.
After a three years' pastorate at Stonington,
Conn., he accepted a call to the church at Norwich,
N. Y. About two years after his settlement he at
tended a four days' meeting some miles distant,
where there was a remarkable revival, in which a
hundred or more persons were converted. Im
pressed doubtless with a sense of his fruitlessness in
* Autobiography, p. 190.

THE BAPTISTS. 175
ministerial labors, on, his return to Norwich he con
fessed to his congregation his want of earnestness
and faithfulness in the work to which he had been
called. He begged the church and the unconverted
to forgive him. A profound impression was thus
made. The church was aroused and the uncon
verted were deeply moved. A revival followed, in
which nurabers were converted. From this time
Elder Swan was abundant in revival labors, preach
ing at various places in the vicinity with excellent
results. Hardened sinners were converted and the
waste places were built up. In one of the meetings
not far from Norwich a whiskey distiller was con
verted, and he advised with Elder Swan as to what
he should do. He was promptly told to "sign the
pledge and put out the fires." He did so and was
baptized, twenty-one others being baptized with him.
Swan remained at Norwich eight years, during
which more than three hundred united with his
church, mostly by baptism. In his revival labors,
moreover, he had ranged north as far as Utica,
south as far as Binghamton, and west to Oswego.
After the close of his pastorate at Norwich, Elder
Swan served brief pastorates in Preston, and
Oxford, N. Y.
In order that he might do the work of an evan
gelist. Elder Swan resigned the pastorate in the fall
of 1 84 1 and for the next two or three years devoted

176 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
his whole time to the work of conducting revivals.
He visited Owego, New York City, Auburn, and
Wellsport, N. Y., Stonington, Mystic, and New
London, Conn., and Albany, N. Y. In all of these
places he was very successful and conversions were
numerous. While he was laboring at Albany the Millerite
excitement was at its height. Besides this he met
with much opposition frora the Universalists. Not
withstanding these hindrances a great revival com
menced which went on until fourteen other pro
tracted raeetings were in progress at the sarae time,
as a result of which upwards of three thousand per
sons were converted.
At the close of his labors at Albany Elder Swan
returned to the pastorate, in which he continued at
various places up to the time of his death, with the
exception of a few years as a horae raissionary
evangelist in Connecticut. In his rainisterial labors
as pastor and evangelist, he baptized ten thousand
persons with his own hands, besides great nurabers
who were baptized by other ministers or who affil
iated themselves with other religious denorainations.
Eraerson Andrews^ an evangelist of considerable
prominence araong the Baptists, was born in Mans
field, Mass., Noveraber 24, 1806. While a student
at an acaderay in Plainfield, N. H., he was converted
through the preaching of Asahel Nettleton. At a

THE BAPTISTS. 177
later time, while a student at Union College, Sche
nectady, N. Y., he united with the Baptist Church.
He was brought up in the Congregational Church,
but becoming convinced that immersion was the
form of baptism practised by the early followers of
Jesus, he went into the Baptist denomination.
In 1835 he accepted a call to the church at Lan-
singburg, N. Y., where he was ordained as an
evangelist. Not long after he was called to Rorae,
N. Y. During a stay of two years the membership
of the church was doubled and he was persuaded to
relinquish the duties of the pastorate to enter the
evangelistic field. For a period of more than thirty-
five years with the exception of a brief pastorate at
Reading, Pa., he did the work of an evangelist, con
ducting more than three hundred protracted raeet
ings, in which forty thousand persons professed con
version. The labors of these evangelists and others, such
as A. C. Kingsley, Lewis Raymond, etc., who had
entered the fields already whitened to the harvest,
together with the eflforts of scores of faithful pas
tors, had by the close of the first half of the nine
teenth century brought about a wholesome revolu
tion throughout the Baptist denomination, so that
revivals were coming to be quite as comraon among
the Baptists as in other evangelical denominations.
Not only was there a quickening along evangelistic

178 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
lines, but the Baptists had entered upon an era of
expansion in raissions, in benevolences, in education
and in the religious training of the young. As a
result of which the denomination had corae to exer
cise a profound influence upon the religious life of
our country and the world.
Associated in their early history with the Bap
tists were the Disciples of Christ, or Campbellite
Baptists, as they were sometiraes called. The body
owes its origin to the labors of Thoraas Campbell
and especially to his son, Alexander Campbell, both
of whom had been connected with the Irish
"Seceder" Presbyterian Church, and who emigrated
to this country in 1807 and 1809, respectively. They
formed what they termed a "Christian Association"
in Washington County, Pa. For this organization
they disclairaed the character of a church, but
sought admission for it into the Synod of Pittsburg,
which was denied. Being deprived of ecclesiastical
standing, the "Association" was eventually trans
formed into a church which was founded upon the
fundamental propositions of the Campbells, in
which they advocated the union of all Christians on
the basis of the overthrowal of huraan creeds and
confessions of faith, and the refusal to adopt any
doctrine or observance which was not expressly en
joined in the New Testaraent. Prior to this they
had aflfirraed "Where the Scriptures speak, we

THE BAPTISTS. 179
speak; where the Scriptures are silent, we are
silent," a principle which led to the rejection of
infant baptism, and the acceptance a little later of
immersion as the only form of baptism recognized
by the primitive Christian church. The Campbells
were accordingly immersed, and the members of
their church soon after followed their example.
Having practically become Baptists, they were in
vited to unite with the Redstone Baptist Association,
which they did and continued fellowship therewith
until the controversies over their distinguishing
views became so heated that they withdrew. They
then united with the Mahoning Baptist Association,
but this Association adjourned sine die in 1827,
leaving the Campbells and their churches without
ecclesiastical affiliations. Accordingly their work
about this time assumed the form of an independent
religious body. Others entertaining similar views
rallied about their standard, and the churches of
their order entered upon a career of prosperity which
has been uninterrupted from that day to this.
During the early period of their history the Disci
ples were inclined to be belligerent towards other
sects. With their platform of Christian union on
the basis of the overthrowal of human creeds, they
regarded other religious denominations as the legiti
mate fields of their endeavor, and by a system of
proselytism they multiplied with great rapidity

i8o AMERICAN REVIVALS.
through the Middle- West and South- West. Not
withstanding their belligerent attitude towards
other denominations, and the number of proselytes
therefrom that they succeeded in making, the Disci
ples did a great work in the evangelization of the
unchurched and unconverted throughout the regions
in which they labored, so that by the close of the first
half of the nineteenth century they had come to be
recognized as one of the important factors in the
religious life of our country.

CHAPTER X.
DENOMINATIONAL MOVEMENTS : THE METHODISTS.
In many respects the Methodists have contributed
more to the revival history of our country than any
other religious denomination. Although there were
as yet no professional evangelists araong them, they
were emphatically evangelistic in their spirit and
aims. Every Methodist minister was a flaming
evangel to bear the gospel message, and the system
under which he labored afforded the widest opportu
nity for the developraent of evangelistic gifts. The
circuit to which he received appointment was large
enough to occupy his entire time and strength,
otherwise he might be called upon to assist brother
ministers in the promotion of revivals.
The early Methodists devoted their attention
chiefly to the neglected classes, and to those sections
of country which were destitute of religious privi
leges. They followed in the wake of pioneer settlers
to the frontier regions and to the very outskirts of
civilization. Wherever raen and woraen were to be

1 82 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
found who needed the gospel, thither these earnest
preachers went to inaugurate the work of evangeli
zation. The conditions of pioneer life were uninviting.
Log cabins or huts, warraed by fire-places and illy
furnished with the conveniences of life, constituted
the homes of the people. Deerskin and coarse home
spun cloth furnished the principal materials for
wearing apparel, while the food was of the most
simple variety and prepared in the most primitive
raanner. The hardships of such life were cheerfully
entered into by these pioneers of the gospel. The
only roads were bridle-paths, and often the only
guides for the venturesorae traveler were trees
"blazed" with a hatchet blow to prevent him from
being lost amid the interminable mazes of the forest.
The bridgeless streams could only be crossed by
fording. With a spirit of self-sacrifice which
rivalled that of the apostolic age, the early advocates
of Methodisra resolutely set their faces to the task
and plunged into the wilderness to carry the gospel
light to these distant and scattered settlements.
Not only were these pioneer evangelists con
fronted with the hardships of frontier life, but they
were brought face to face with a religious destitu
tion, which has since known no parallel in American
history. As widespread in its influence as was the
Awakening of 1800, many of the remote settlements

THE METHODISTS. 183
were entirely destitute of the stated services of
religion. Exceptions there were to be sure, in those
communities which had been settled by colonies
from New England or the Middle States, where the
colonists had brought with them the customary and
time-honored institutions of religion. These excep
tions, however, but emphasized the needs and made
apparent the raoral destitution, which prevailed over
wide areas of territory within the interior of a grow
ing empire. A glirapse only at these conditions is all
that we can atterapt. (
Rev. Jacob Young who went to Illinois in 1804
said, "The bulk of the people are given up to wick
edness of every kind. Of all places this is the worst
for stealing, fighting and lying."
Detroit, Mich., was spoken of in 1804 as a raost
"abandoned place." That sarae year Rev. Nathan
Bangs, who afterwards rose to prorainence in the
M. E. Church, preached there. A Congregational
missionary, who had preached in the city until only
a few children came to hear him, bade him God
speed and wished him success saying, "If you can
succeed, which I very much doubt, I shall rejoice."
But he did not succeed, nor was any Protestant
church organized in the territory of Michigan until
1810, when a Methodist Church was organized at
Monroe, but it had a short existence, and no perma
nent organization was eflfected until 18:5.

1 84 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Rev. E. B. Bowraan, who went to New Orleans
in 1805, said of Baton Rouge and the country along
the way: "When I reached the city I was ranch
disappointed in finding but a few American people
there, and a majority of that few may be truly called
beasts of men. — The Lord's day is the day of gen
eral rant in this city. Public balls are held, traflfic
of every kind is carried on, public sales, wagons run
ning, and drums beating; and thus is the Sabbath
spent. — I reached the Opelousas country, and the
next day I reached the Catholic Church. I was sur
prised to see race-paths at the church door. Here I
found a few Americans, who were swearing with
almost every breath ; and when I reproved them they
told me that the priest swore as hard as they did.
They said he would play cards and dance with them
every Sunday evening after mass ; and strange to
tell, he keeps a race-horse and practices every abomi
nation."* In 181 3 Rev. Samuel J. Mills, the father of
American missions, spent Sunday in a Kentucky
town having a population of two or three thousand
without being able to gather a congregation to listen
to a serraon from the Word of God.
In 1820 Rev. Jesse Walker visited St. Louis in
the interests of Methodism, and with two compan
ions was unable to find lodgings. Some laughed at

? Dorchester's Christianity in the U. S., p. 381.

THE METHODISTS. 185
them, while others cursed them. Leaving the city
in despair and having bidden adieu to his compan
ions, he thus soliloquized: "Was I ever defeated
before in this blessed work? Never. Did any one
ever trust in the Lord Jesus and get confounded?
No; and by the grace of God I will go back and
take St. Louis." He went back, but it proved no
easy task to "take" the city. There were but a
handful of Protestant Christians, mostly Baptists, in
the city. The inhabitants were wicked and dis
sipated, and it was a well-nigh hopeless problera to
reach them.
As late as 1830, of sorae portions of the West it
was said that a person "raight travel hundreds of
railes and in vain look for a teraple dedicated to
Jehovah, or a preacher of the gospel to break the
bread of life to its perishing inhabitants. The con
sequence is that many of them, in regard to religious
information, are approaching a state but little better
than heathenism." The Middle West and South
especially were in a destitute condition. A Baptist
minister in Ohio wrote, "We visit whole neighbor
hoods sometimes where there has not been a serraon
preached for ten or fifteen years."
Truly the Methodist Church "had come to the
kingdom for such a time as this." "The Metho
dists," says Bancroft, "carae in an age of tranquillity
when the feeling for that which is higher than man

1 86 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
had grown dull; and they claimed it as their mis
sion to awaken conscience, to revive religion, to sub
stitute glowing aflfections for the calm of indiffer
ence. They stood in the raountain forests of the
Alleghenies and in the plains beyond them, ready to
kindle in the emigrants, who might corae without
hyran book or Bible, their own vivid sense of
religion."* The genius of the denomination was remarkably
well adapted to the conditions then prevailing. By
means of its itinerant system several communities
could enjoy the ministrations of a single preacher.
Beyond all question, the circuit system was the
strength of early Methodism. From his conference
the preacher would receive an appointment to a cir
cuit with perhaps no meeting house nor any of the
adjuncts of worship. The circuit was composed of
classes and preaching appointments. These classes
met from time to time under the leadership of a lay
man, and together with the stated visits of the cir
cuit-rider, as the preacher was called, often consti
tuted the only religious privileges of the coraraunity.
At some of his preaching appointments the preacher
possibly would find no professors of religion, but
this would be considered no insuperable obstacle.
Under the influence of his plain and pungent preachr
ing he would expect soon to have an "interest" and
* Bancroft's History of the Constitution, p. 164.

THE METHODISTS. 187
realize the fruitage of his labors in the conversions
which were almost sure to follow. The converts
were enrolled in classes and the raost capable per
sons were selected as class-leaders, whose duty it
was to conduct class raeetings at stated tiraes and to
exercise the oversight of the infant organization
during the absence of the "preacher-in-charge."
On alraost every circuit were to be found "ex-
horters," who were authorized to exercise their gifts
in public speaking, and "local preachers," the latter
of whom either were so licensed on account of their
gifts or else they had forraerly been circuit-riders,
who had retired from the active service. Early in
the nineteenth century a circuit-rider's salary was
limited to eighty dollars per year, but the great
majority of preachers were seldora able to. collect
their full allowance and raany considered them
selves fortunate if they received one-half of the stip
ulated amount. Thus it came about that the early
preachers of Methodisra were chiefly young and
unraarried men. Few of them cared to devote them
selves to a life of celibacy. When, therefore, they
took unto theraselves helpmates and children be
gan to multiply, the itineracy was too unremuner-
ative to furnish adequate support, in consequence
of which many retired from the active service
and becarae "local preachers," among whom were
some of the most able men in the denomina-

i88 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
tion. They did not consider themselves relieved
thereby from th'^ duty of preaching, but held them
selves in readiness to respond to the call of the
church, without compensation, for the discharge of
such duti- s as they, in conjunction with their custom
ary occupations, were able to perform. Thus
within the bounds of almost every circuit was to be
found a supply of lay-workers, upon whora the
"preacher-in-charge" could depend for assistance in
protracted efforts or to fill his appointraents when
the interest constrained him to concentrate his ener
gies for a time in a particular locality. The assistance
thus rendered was often of the most efficient char
acter. The circuits of the early preachers were often
large, sometimes extending over hundreds of railes
of territory and requiring frora four to six weeks of
almost incessant traveling, generally on horseback,
to make the rounds of the circuit and to preach at
the various appointments. The following descrip
tion of one of these early circuits traveled by Rev.
Alfred Brunson, in 1822-1823, will aflford a fair
idea of the arduous tasks iraposed upon the early
itinerants :
"It extended to all the white settlements of the
territory (Michigan), except the one at St. Mary's,
the outlet of Lake Superior, which was perhaps
hardly white. From Detroit we went north to Pon-

THE METHODISTS. 189
tiac, then but a small village. From thence we went
down the upper Huron, now the Clinton River, to
Mount Clemens, and thence down Lake St. Claif
and river to Detroit, and thence again to the river
Rouse, and up that stream some seven m-?e:s to the
upper settlement, thence back to the river alid lake
road, and on to the Maumee at the foot of the
rapids, and thence right back on the lake road fifty-
eight miles to Detroit. It required four weeks to get
round, though we had but twelve appointments."*
As early as 1792 these circuits had been grouped
together into districts, which were placed under the
supervision of presiding elders. The presiding
eldership is a function peculiar to Methodism and
was practically indispensable to the early growth of
the church. When it is remembered that large nura
bers of the early preachers of Methodisra were
young and inexperienced men without the advan
tages of a theological education, numbers of whom
were unordained and too often with a zeal "not
according to knowledge," we can see how essential
it was to the success of the denomination, that they
should be placed under the supervision of judicious
and experienced raen, who could teraper their zeal,
correct their mistakes and help them in the develop
ment of those capacities which would be of the
largest usefulness in the evangelization of the com-
* Dorchester's Christianity in the U. S., p. 389.

I90 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
munities to which they had been sent. Moreover
had it not been for the presiding eldership,
raany of the infant churches of Methodism would
have been destitute of the sacraments and ordinances
of religion. The presiding elders were expected to
visit the circuits under their charge quarterly, for
the purpose of administering the Lord's supper and
exercising ecclesiastical supervision over the same.
If the preacher-in-charge was an unordained man,
as was not infrequently the case, the presiding elder
was expected to baptize any recent converts who had
been made and receive them into the church. The
services conducted on these visits were called
"Quarterly Meetings" and not infrequently became
the occasion for evangelistic effort under the direc
tion of the presiding elder.
At the head of the entire itinerant system were
the bishops or superintendents, as they were at first
called. Of these there were originally two, Francis
Asbury and Thomas Coke, D.C.L., who were ap
pointed to this office by John Wesley. Bishop Coke
did not remain permanently in this country, and
although others were subsequently elected to the
episcopate, up to the time of his death Asbury was
not only the leading spirit of his denomination, but
the entire oversight of the church was practically in
his hands. He was the typical evangelist of early
Methodism in America. For more than forty years,

THE METHODISTS. 191
both before and including his bishopric, he raade
lengthy itinerations throughout the country. The
whole region then embraced within the United
States coraprised his parish. From Maine to
Georgia on the seacoast, and across the Alleghanies
into Ohio. Kentucky, Tennessee, and even to In
diana he traveled in the discharge of his duties, in
volving an aggregate of over six thousand railes on
horseback every year. He presided over confer
ences, annual and general, ordained ministers, and
with the aid of presiding elders, appointed them to
their circuits. Like a skillful general he marshalled
his hosts to victory. Much of the success of Metho
dism in this country is attributable to his conspicu
ous abilities as an administrator and leader of men.
In addition to administrative abilities he was a
preacher and evangelist of unusual power. To the
multitudes in the shady groves of pioneer settle
ments he proclaimed the "unsearchable riches of
Christ," and to crowded auditories in the cities he
"shunned not to declare the whole counsel of God."
All classes alike were moved by his preaching and
it was said of him that perhaps no other raan in the
country ever received so raany into the church on
confession of faith as he. During the later years of
his life his enfeebled condition corapelled hira to
travel by carriage, but he still continued to preach
daily. When unable to stand, his attendants would

192 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
carry him in their arms from his carriage to the
waiting asserably and he would preach in a sitting
posture. March 24, 18 16, he preached his last ser
raon at Richmond, Va., while on his way to Balti
more to attend the general conference, which he
hoped once more to meet, but his desire was never
realized. He journeyed on to Spottsylvania, where,
literally worn out with his long and arduous labors,
he passed away, at the age of seventy-one, on
March 31.
It was this distinctly articulated system of church
government, with its sharply defined functions frora
class leader to bishop, that enabled the apostles and
evangelists of Methodism to push their conquests
and gather their harvests in such a way as to make
permanent and lasting the results of their work. Of
course it was not the system alone that produced
these tremendous results. The system alone would
have been a vain thing. But it was the system com
bined with a religious fervor and an evangelistic
zeal, such as no age since the apostolic has wit
nessed, that raade possible the marvellous triumphs,
the rapid growth and the wonderful progress of the
Methodist Church.
During this early period camp-meetings were of
frequent occurrence. 1799 is the commonly ac
cepted date for the origin of camp-meetings. This
camp-meeting, held on the bank of the Red River,

THE METHODISTS. 193
Ky., was under the joint auspices of the Methodists
and Presbyterians. Two brothers. Rev. John
Magee and Rev. William Magee, the former a
Methodist and the latter a Presbyterian, and Rev.
Mr. Hodges, also a Presbyterian, united in a sacra
mental raeeting. So large was the attendance and
so great was the interest that the assembly adjourned
to a grove near by, where a rude pulpit and stand
were erected from which the rainisters preached
alternately. While this doubtless was the origin of carap-
raeetings west of the raountains, there is evidence of
sirailar raeetings in North Carolina at an earlier
period. In 1791 and 1794 there were camp-meet
ings in Lincoln County, N. C, attended both by
Presbyterians and Methodists. In 1795 a union raeet
ing was conducted at Bethel, N. C, where hundreds
were converted. These carap-meetings grew in
favor araong the Methodists, but soon were repu
diated by the Presbyterians on account of the excite
ments which they engendered. There were abuses
no doubt, but as a means for bringing out a scattered
pioneer population, it is difficult to conceive how a
raore eflfective measure could have been designed.
For railes around the whole population would turn
out to the number of thousands, and brought thus
within the influence of plain and pungent preaching
conversions were numerous. Not only in the

194 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
western settlements and the South, but in staid New
England and the Eastern States, carap-raeetings
found favor with the friends and advocates of
Methodism. From 1810 to 1830 such gatherings
multiplied rapidly, resulting in the addition of
thousands of members to the denomination in
various parts of the country. In 1820 a series of
remarkable carap-meetings was conducted in Ten
nessee and the West. That year nearly two thou-
^sand raerabers were added to the Nashville district
as the result of such efforts. These meetings
brought out the most able of evangelistic preachers,
while the novelty of such services awakened the
curiosity of the people and drew an attendance from
all classes, including the most godless and irreligious.
As not infrequently happens under such circum
stances, many "who carae to scoflf reraained to pray."
The Methodists were the first to raake use of the
"anxious seat," as a raeans of bringing out inquir
ers. During the winter of 1806- 1807 there was a
remarkable revival in New York City, which resulted
in the accession of more than four hundred raembefs
to the M. E. Church. So large were the congrega
tions and so difficult did it becorae to pray and con
verse with seekers, that it becarae necessary to invite
them forward to the front seats, which were vacated
for the purpose. The measure commended itself to
many, so that it not only came into general usage

THE METHODISTS. 195
among the Methodists, but was widely employed by
other evangelical denominations and continues to be
an effective revival measure to the present day.
The early Methodist revivals, especially the
camp-meetings, were often very demonstrative and
were attended with physical eflfects the psychology
of which is diflficult of explanation. Outcries, faint
ings, trances, hysterical laughter and weeping,
shrieking, and "falling under the power of God"
were not unusual. A widespread form of such man
ifestation was known as the "jerks," which Peter
Cartwright described as follows :
"No matter whether they were saints or sinners,
they would be taken under a warm song or sermon,
and seized with a convulsive jerking all over, which
they could not by any possibility avoid, and the
raore they resisted the raore they jerked. If they
would not strive against it and pray in good earnest,
the jerking would usually abate. I have seen more
than five hundred persons jerking at once in my
large congregations. Most usually persons taken
with the jerks, to obtain relief, as they said, would
rise up and dance. Some would run, but could not
get away. Some would resist; on such the jerks
were generally very severe."
"To see those proud young gentlemen and young
ladies, dressed in their silks, jewelry, and prunella,
from top to toe, would often excite ray risibilities.

196 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
The first jerk or so, you would see their fine bonnets,
capes, and combs fly; and so sudden would be the
jerking of the head that their long loose hair would
crack almost as loud as a wagoner's whip. . . .
There is no doubt in ray mind that, with weak-
minded, ignorant, and superstitious persons, there
was a great deal of sympathetic feeling with many
that claimed to be under the influence of this jerk
ing exercise; and yet, with raany it was perfectly
involuntary. It was on all occasions my practice to
recoraraend fervent prayer as a reraedy, and it
alraost universally proved an effectual antidote."*
Dr. Buckley finds the psychological key to such
phenoraena in concentrated attention accompanied
by strong religious emotion, which finds expression
in various ways according to the constitution of the
subject. Some find relief in tears or hysterical
laughter, others by becoraing unconscious or losing
control of the muscles of the body, while still others
become possessed of an unusual calmness. The prev
alence of any of these types in a particular locality
at a given tirae he ascribes to a sympathetic feeling
and also to the fact that their subjects often attribute
to them a divine or necessary origin.f
In order to coraprehend the success of early
Methodism, we raust not only be familiar with the
* Autobiography, pp. 48-51.
t Cf. Buckley's History of the Methodists, pp. 218, 219.

THE METHODISTS. 197
system under which the denoraination labored, the
raeans employed, and the raanner in which the sub
jects of their revivals were aflfected, but we raust also
have sorae understanding of the men, who were the
instruments of this mighty work and these mighty
results. The early Methodist pioneers, who carried the
message of salvation to the Western and Southern
wilds were destitute of the advantages of college or
theological training. The settlers into whose cabins
they went, themselves were without the advantages
of schools or education, so that liberally educated
men were not absolutely necessary to reach them,
nor would they have reached them unless they had
entered sympathetically into the conditions amid
which the pioneers lived. The early itinerants ad
justed themselves to the conditions of the people, so
that they were fitted, although illiterate, to save and
uplift the hardy pioneers on the outskirts of civiliza
tion. Experience was their chief teacher and their
eflforts were under the direction of a presiding elder.
Often a young preacher would be placed on a large
circuit to assist a man of extended experience. In
this way the young preachers had the personal over
sight and sympathy of men of large and varied ex
perience. In this manner also the young minister
would receive the most valuable help in the develop
ment of those powers which would raake hira in-

198 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
creasingly useful in the work of the ministry. The
lack of education was thus supplied, imperfectly per
haps, and yet many of these self-trained and self-
educated men would have been a credit to any
denomination, not only on account of their soul-win
ning capacities, but because of the truly conspicuous
abilities which they displayed.
The one indispensable characteristic, which more
than all else contributed to make these men what
they were, was a consuming zeal for the salvation of
men. It was this passion for souls which influenced
them to withstand peril and suffer hardship, frora
which raost men would have shrunk. Wherever
they went they considered it a priceless privilege to
proclaim the gospel of Christ. If they were
cordially received it was taken as an evidence of
God's favor. If, on the other hand, they were sub
jected to ridicule and unkind treatment, it was
esteeraed as a token that God was with thera, for
were they not taught that they that will live godly
in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution? A single
ambition inspired thera and that was to lead sin
ning raen to One who had power to blot out their
transgressions and enkindle within thera the divine
ideals of a hew life. They preached the cardinal
doctrines of Christianity, emphasizing repentance,
regeneration, justification by faith, and "holiness
without which no man should see the Lord." The

THE METHODISTS. 199
prevailing type of their theology was Arminian, but
as Professor Fisher has said, it was Arminianisra on
fire. Through it all burned this unquenchable zeal
for the salvation of raen. Every possible opportunity
was embraced that this end might be attained, with
results which often were astounding.
Of this we have a remarkable example in an ex
perience of Peter Cartwright, the pioneer preacher.
He was returning frora a session of the General
Conference and night had overtaken hira in the
Curaberland Mountains. He arrived at an inn and
sought entertainraent, but was told that they were
to have a dance there that evening. On receiving
assurance of civil treatment he decided to remain.
He sat quietly musing as the dance went on and
longed for an opportunity to preach to the people.
Finally he was approached by a mountain beauty
and invited to become her partner in the dance.
Without consideration he resolved on a desperate
experiment, and together they took the floor. As
the fiddler started to put his instrument in order,
Cartwright requested him to hold a moment and
then stated to the corapany that for years he had
never taken a step of any iraportance without first
asking the blessing of God upon it, and he desired
to ask God's blessing upon the beautiful young
woraan and upon all that company for the kindness
shown to an entire stranger. Grasping the young'

200 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
lady's hand and dropping on his knees he began to
pray in real Methodist fashion for the conversion
of that company. Some fled, others wept and still
others fell upon their knees. The young woraan
tried to get away, but so tightly did he hold her in
his grasp that she fell upon her knees also. Having
finished his prayer he arose and coraraenced to
exhort, after which he sang a hyran. The young
woman who had invited him to dance lay prostrate
crying for raercy. Thus he continued to pray, sing
and exhort all night, and a number were converted.
He reraained a day or two longer with remarkable
results. On his departure he organized a society,
receiving thirty-two into membership, and made
arrangeraents to send thera a preacher. The land
lord was appointed class leader, and a powerful
revival which spread throughout all that region
grew out of this singular circumstance. Said Cart
wright : "Several of the young men converted at
this Methodist preacher dance became useful rainis
ters of Jesus Christ."
The raerabership as well as the rainistry were
intensely interested in the proraotion of revivals.
Converted as they were in revivals it was but natural
that they should labor for such seasons of refresh
ing. They rendered the most loyal and faithful
assistance to their pastors at such times, and in
stances are not wanting where revivals commenced

THE METHODISTS. 201
and were carried on through the unaided eflforts of
the laity. This intense interest in revivals raade the
early history of Methodism one continuous record
of revival. Each revival, as the news spread, would
give an impulse to revivals elsewhere, so that the
work would extend frora community to comraunity
and frora settleraent to settlement until a wide scope
of territory would be embraced by the movement.
In addition to the revivals which were the outcome
of their own efforts, the Methodists shared in the
great revival movements of the period. For exam
ple, during the great Boston revival of 1841-1842,
when under the preaching of Knapp, Finney, Kirk
and others, more than four thousand raerabers were
added to the evangelical churches of the city, the
Methodists received over twelve hundred merabers
on probation. But if the Methodists shared in the
great revival movements of the period, it raust be
said that other denorainations shared in the revivals
of Methodism. In all probability the accessions to
the various denominations frora this source were
raany times larger than the accessions to the Metho
dist churches from the other great revivals of the
time. Unless we except the eccentric Lorenzo Dow, dur
ing the first half of the nineteenth century there was
but a single evangelist in the comraon acceptance of
the terra throughout the Methodist comraunion. In

L

202 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
1840 Rev. James Caughey, a raeraber of the Troy
Conference, believing that he had been called to do
the work of an evangelist, asked to be relieved from
the duties of the pastorate. After laboring in Mon
treal and the Province of Quebec, he went to Great
Britain, where he spent several years in the chief
cities of Ireland and England. It was during this
campaign that there came under his influence a
young lad who was led thereby to become a soul
winner hiraself, and that young lad has since been
known to the world as General WiUiara Booth of
the Salvation, Army. In the revivals conducted by
Caughey in Great Britain it was estimated that
twenty thousand persons were converted. Return
ing to America in 1848, he labored in New York
City, Albany, Providence, Lowell, Fall River, and
many other places throughout the United States and
Canada, with excellent results. Mr. Caughey was
described as plain in appearance, siraple in manner,
straightforward in action — never presuming and
never out of place. He was not a great orator in the
usual acceptance of the term, but there was some
thing about his siraple and direct presentation of the
truth that riveted the attention of raen and turned
their thoughts to the iraportant concerns of the soul,
so that wherever he went men were soon led to
inquire the way of salvation. He was a man of
prayer and intense earnestness. He presented not

THE METHODISTS. 203
only the invitations of the gospel but the threaten
ings of the law. Holiness or sanctification was one
of his fundaraental teachings, the necessity of which
he sought to impress upon all Christian hearts. The
methods which he employed and the doctrines which
he enforced were not dissimilar to those which pre
vailed throughout his denomination.
At a little later period Rev. William Taylor,
afterwards Bishop, after a thrilling experience as 3.j
missionary in the newly discovered gold fields of
California, entered the evangelistic field and was
successful in winning multitudes to Christ. Since
that tirae evangelists have by no raeans been uncom
mon araong the Methodists. Of evangelistic
preachers there never has been any lack and these
raen, in the early days of the denomination, were
instrumental in the conversion of a great multitude,
whom no raan can nuraber. Of Peter Cartwright it
was said that during his more than sixty years' ex
perience as a circuit rider and presiding elder, ten
thousand souls were converted under his ministry
and more than twenty thousand were received into
the church. Other examples, less conspicuous per
haps, might be mentioned but space forbids.
As a result of the numerous revivals of early
Methodism the growth of the denomination during
this period was truly marvelous. Much of the West
and South was saved to Christianity. Other de-

204 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
nominations to be sure had a share in the evangeliza
tion of these sections, but the chief glory, beyond all
question, belongs to the Methodists.
During the latter portion of the first half of the
century, the M. E. Church became divided, chiefly
on account of the slavery question. The controver
sies and bitterness thus engendered, retarded the
work of the church and added to the religious stag
nation which had settled down upon the country.

CHAPTER XI.
DENOMINATIONAL MOVEMENTS — CONCLUDED.
In the great revivals which swept over the coun
try during the first half of the nineteenth century,
there was scarcely a denomination which did not
share in the quickened spiritual life of the period.
Said Dr. Gardner Spring : "The period, coraraenc-
ing with the year 1792, and terminating with 1842,
was a memorable period in the history of the
American church. Scarcely any portion of it but
was visited by copious effusions of the Holy Spirit.
From north to south, and from east to west, our
male, and more especially our female academies, our
colleges, and our churches drank largely of this
fountain of living waters."*
Bishop Mcllvaine of the Protestant Episcopal
Church, speaking of the influence of revivals in his
own denomination, said : "During this period, our
Episcopal churches, under a greatly extended and
more earnest and evangelical ministry, were in raany
places favored of God with raarked manifestations
? Humphrey's Revival Sketches, p. 214.

2o6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
of the power of the Spirit; bowing the hearts of
many persons, within a short space of time, to the
obedience of Christ. I have nowhere seen raore
fruitful 'revivals of religion,' in which conversions
were more marked, the spiritual results more benefi
cial and permanent. How many of our clergy can
tell of such moveraents under their labors, and bless
God for their issues of life. And how many can
point to revivals in Episcopal churches as marking
their spiritual birthdays."*
Three denominations of niinqr importance — ^the \
United Brethren in Christ, the Evangelical Associa
tion, and the Cumberland Presbyterians, all of
which came into existence about the beginning of
the century, are deserving of special raention on
account of the influence which they have exerted
upon the revival history of our country.
The earliest of these, the United Brethren in
Christ, owe their origin chiefly to the labors of
Philip William Otterbein, whora Asbury character
ized as "the holy, the great Otterbein." He was
born June 3, 1726, at Dillenburg in the duchy of
Nassau, Gerraany, was educated at Herborn, and
carae to America as a German Reformed missionary
in 1752. His first settleraent in this country was at
Lancaster, Pa., which then had the second largest
Gerraan Reformed Church in the colonies. He

*Ibid., pp. 221, 232.

THE UNITED BRETHREN. 207
afterwards preached at various other places in
Pennsylvania and Maryland, but for nearly twenty
years prior to his death in 18 14 he was pastor of an
independent German congregation in Baltimore.
During Otterbein' s Lancaster pastorate he met
with a deeper religious experience, which led him to
enter upon revivalistic labors with great fervor. Not
alone to the congregations of which he was pastor
did he thus minister, but to the surrounding neigh
borhoods he made frequent visits, conducting
evangelistic services and enlisting the co-operation
of the spiritually minded in these eflforts for the
regeneration of men.
In this work he early became associated with
Martin Boehme, a pious Mennonite, whom he had
met at a great barn meeting near Lancaster. Boehme
was engaged in a similar work and after hearing
hira preach, Otterbein was so irapressed with the
similarity of their views and purposes, that he em
braced him, exclaiming : "We are brethren," whence
the denomination at a later time is supposed to have
taken its name.
The labors of Otterbein and Boehme resulted in
the formation of a nuraber of societies of pious be
lievers in various parts of Pennsylvania and Mary
land, who were not encouraged to leave the churches
of their birth. For their spiritual guidance and
instruction, teachers or preachers were appointed

2o8 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
who visited thera from tirae to time. Eventually
some form of organization becarae necessary, and
conferences were forraed, the first one raeeting in
1789. In 1800 these scattered societies were united
into one body which was denorainated "The United
Brethren in Christ." An itinerant systera and a
forra of church governraent sirailar to that of the
Methodists were adopted, and during the period this
denomination did a great work in the evangelization
of the scattered German pioneers, though in subse
quent tiraes the work of the church has been chiefly
araong an English-speaking population.
Although there never was any organic connection
between the Methodists and the United Brethren,
there always was the warmest sympathy and the
heartiest co-operation between thera. A lasting
friendship sprang up between Asbury and Otterbein,
the former of whom used his influence to cause the
latter to accept the work with which he was so long
identified at Baltimore. When Asbury was set
apart to the office of bishop, at his request, Otter
bein assisted in the ordination service, and when the
latter died Asbury wrote in his journal : "Forty
years have I known the retiring modesty of this man
of God, towering majestic above his fellows in
learning, wisdora and grace, and yet seeking to be
known only to God and the people of God.'
Similar in origin and purpose was the Evangeli-

THE EVANGELICAL ASSOCIATION. 209
cal Association. In 1790 Jacob Albright, a success
ful manufacturer of brick and tile in Lancaster
County, Pa., raet with a sore bereaveraent in the
death of several of his children. By this providence
and the funeral serraons which were preached, he
carae into a sense of conviction for sin, frora which
he ultimately found relief through the prayers and
exhortations of one Adam Riegel, an independent
lay preacher. Upon conversion Albright united
with the M. E. Church. Eventually he was led to
believe that God had called him to the evangelization
of the Gerraan-Araericans in the country round
about. But the Methodists did not then contera-
plate a work araong a foreign-speaking population,
and so meeting with no encouragement from the
church of his choice Albright was compelled to
organize his converts into independent societies, but
along lines for which the Methodists served as a
model. These societies eventually becarae known
as the Evangelical Association, of which Albright
was the first bishop, an office which he did not long
fill, owing to his death in 1808. But the work which
he inaugurated lived and was instruraental in lead
ing raany thousands of Gerraan-Araericans to era-
brace the gospel of Christ
The Cumberland Presbyterians originated in the
great revival which visited Kentucky and Tennessee
about the beginning of the century. This work, as

2IO AMERICAN REVIVALS.
we have seen, commenced with the labors of Rev.
James McGready in Logan County, Ky. The work
soon spread and the necessities became such that un
educated raen were ordained to the ministry to enter
the fields which had already whitened to the harvest,
and for the demands of which the laborers were far
too few. On this account and also because it had
.permitted candidates for ordination to except certain
of the doctrines of the Westminster Confession, the
Cumberland Presbytery was dissolved by the Synod
of Kentucky in 1806.
After seeking in various ways for redress but in
vain, certain raerabers of this exscinded Presbytery
reorganized the Cumberland Presbytery in 1810
as an independent Presbytery, elirainating those
doctrines which savored of what they regarded as
fatalism. By 181 3 the growth had been so great
that the work was divided into three Presbyteries
and the Cumberland Presbytery was resolved into
the Curaberland Synod. By 1829 this Synod had
become a General Asserably, which accounts for the
origin of the church and its name.
The outgrowth of a revival, as might be expected,
the Curaberland Presbyterians were essentially
revivalistic. Camp-raeetings and circuit preaching
were the principal means employed to reach the
people. The early preachers -manifested an unusual
activity for the evangelization of the frontier settle-

CUMBERLAND PRESBYTERIANS. 211
ments of the south and southwest. But the evangel
istic zeal of the church far exceeded its ability to care
for those converted under its labors, as a conse
quence of which large numbers of its converts be
came absorbed in other denominations. The work
accomplished by this denomination in the salvation
of men was a worthy one, and one for which the
Cumberland Presbyterians are deserving of honora
ble raention in the annals of American revivals.
Having devoted considerable attention to the de
nominational moveraents of the first half of the
nineteenth century, we are prepared to sura up the
results of the period. The Awakening of 1800
turned back the tide of infidelity, aroused the
churches from the lethargy into which they had
fallen, and gave to thera a profound irapulse towards
the work of evangelization. But ranch still reraained
to be accoraplished, "and there remained yet very
much land to be possessed." The frontier settle
ments needed to have the gospel preached to thera,
while raultitudes in various portions of the country
were as yet uninfluenced by the churches. As a
result of the reraarkable revivals and revival move
ments from 1 800- 1 850 the religious character of the
country was greatly changed. At the coramence
ment of the century only one out of every fifteen
persons was connected with an evangelical church,
and there was but one church organization to every

212 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
1740 inhabitants, but by 1850 one out of every
seven persons was a raeraber of an evangelical
church, while there was a church organization to
every 895 inhabitants. The frontier settleraents had
been evangelized and the colleges of the land had
been blessed with showers of refreshing grace.
Truly a raarvelous record for so short a time. But
as the period came to a close the darkening shadows
were beginning to gather. Worldliness and indiffer
ence were robbing the churches of their power and
revivals were rare. Happily these conditions did
not long prevail, but were overcome by that remark
able awakening, known as the Great Revival of
1857-

CHAPTER XII.
THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857.
The Great Revival of 1857-1858 was preceded by
a combination of circumstances, which frora a
purely human standpoint would have been regarded
as an unfavorable preparation for an extensive
religious awakening. A consideration of these cir
cumstances is necessary to an understanding of the
providential character of this remarkable work of
grace. It was a tirae of intense political exciteraent. Al
ready were heard the distant rautterings of that
fearful storm which, in all its direful fury, was des
tined to burst over this fair land of ours, visiting
north and south alike with the desolations of an
internecine war. As early as the Presidency of
Andrew Jackson, the slavery question had begun to
assume proportions of national importance. The
rapid march of events — the founding of the "Libera
tor" by William Lloyd Garrison, the assassination of
Lovejoy, the work of Wendell Phillips and his co
adjutors, the passage of the Fugitive Slave Law, the

214 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
publication of "Uncle Tom's Cabin," the Kansas-
Missouri warfare, and the Dred Scott decision of
the Supreme Court — had served to keep the slavery
question before the minds of the people, so that by
the autumn of 1857 public feeling was at fever heat
upon the subject.
It was a time of spiritual declension. From 1840
to 1845 much exciteraent was aroused in various
parts of the country on account of the views propa
gated by WiUiara Miller and others in syrapathy
with hira concerning the second advent of our
Saviour and the end of the world. , Frora a study
of Daniel and the Book of the Revelation, April 23,
1843, was the date agreed upon for our Lord's ap
pearing. As the tirae drew near the excitement in
numerous portions of the land became intense.
Great meetings were held and extensive prepara
tions were made for the coraing of the Lord. Ascen
sion robes were prepared. Multitudes neglected
their work, and raany who were rich generously sold
their goods and gave to the poor. The day arrived,
but it brought with it no remarkable phenomena.
Nothing daunted, the leaders of the movement con
cluded that the time of the advent was to be March
22, 1844, and their deluded followers again made
ready for the coming of the Son of man. "The
specified day came, as calm and bright a harbinger
of spring as ever shone upon the earth. The Son of

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 215
man did not appear in the clouds of heaven." Other
dates were set, but the results were equally disap
pointing. Finally the confidence of the public be
came shaken and the excitement was at an end. The
faith of many was staggered, not a few became
infidels, others passed over to materialistic views,
while those who returned to the churches were for
a time unfitted for Christian service. As a conse
quence public confidence in religion became im
paired, and churches were raade the subject of ridi
cule and abuse. Revivals were few. Frora 1843
to 1857, there were several years during which the
accessions to the churches scarcely equalled the
losses sustained by death and discipline.
The Great Revival, raoreover, was preceded by aj
period of financial and coraraercial prosperity unpre- 1
cedented in the history of our country. The dis
covery of gold in California, the accessions of
territory by conquest in the Mexican War, the open
ing up for settleraent of vast tracts of arable land
throughout the west and northwest stimulated trade
and immigration. A great impetus was given to
the latter by the famine in Ireland and the revolu
tions which had taken place in nearly every
European state. Multitudes flocked to this country,
drawn hither by the promise of cheap and fertile
lands. Thus the great west became peopled and
developed. Cities, territories and states grew up in

:i

2i6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
rapid succession. Population increased at an enor-
raous ratio. Railroad building almost assumed the
forra of a craze. Within a few years the railroad
mileage of the country increased fourfold. Specula
tion was rife. Gigantic schemes were proposed for
the internal improvement of the country and
projects for speedy enrichment multiplied on every
hand. Thus it was that the "cares of this world, and
the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other
things" so preoccupied the minds of men that they
became utterly indiflferent to the clairas of religion.
These conditions, however, were suddenly re
versed. In the autumn of 1857 the country was
visited with a severe financial panic, caused by exces
sive railroad building, over-speculation and a wild
cat currency system. Each state regulated its own
banking system. Sorae of the banks were good,
others were not, and as they issued their own notes
in accordance with the respective state laws, the
country became flooded with bank-notes of uncertain
value. Speculation in land was bolstered up by
means of mortgages. A crash was inevitable.
When it came, merchants by the thousands all over
the country were forced to the wall, banks failed,
and railroads went into bankruptcy. The financial
ruin of the country seemed coraplete. Interest on
first-class securities rose to 3%, \fo, and even 5%
a raonth. Upon ordinary securities no money

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 217
was obtainable. Specie payraents were sus
pended. Manufactories were shut down and vast
raultitudes were thrown out of employment. In
New York City alone thirty thousand lost employ
ment on account of these stringent conditions. All
classes were confronted by hard times. In the
midst of these disasters raen had time to think, and
when ruin stared them in the face they could find W
refuge in God.
It raust not be supposed, however, that the finan- •
eial panic of 1857 was a cause of the Great Revival.
Adversity does not always drive raen to God. "In
the year 1837 there was a coraraercial revulsion,
quite as widespread and unexpected as that of 1857,
and ten-fold raore disastrous ; yet there was no un
usual turning to religion, no mighty moveraent of
the popular raind, no upheaving of the founda
tions."* Notwithstanding these unfavorable conditions a
revival coraraenced, which was so unpretentious in
its origin, but so mighty in its influence and results
as to be the undoubted work of God. If ever a ?
season of grace was providential in its inception, 1
pre-eminently so was the Revival of 1857-
1858. The down-town church problem was then a
pressing one in raany of the churches in New York j
City. The increasing deraands of trade made heavy
? Chambers' Noon Prayer Meeting, p. 284.

2i8 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
encroachments upon the early residence section of
the city. "Streets once filled with the farailies of
V substantial and opulent citizens were invaded by
shops and warehouses, and in a short time entire
rows of houses, which forraerly had served their
occupants at once for a place of business and a
dwelling, were replaced by stately blocks adapted
solely to business purposes." There seeraed to be
no dirainution of population in these down-town dis
tricts, but now it was coraposed of a large foreign
element and consisted chiefly of the submerged
classes who apparently were beyond the reach of
religious influences. Consequently church attend-
/ ance decreased at an alarming ratio, and becarae
i scarcely a tithe of what it had been in forraer days.
j In view of these circurastances the Brick Presbyte
rian Church and the Broadway Tabernacle had been
forced to raove to more inviting districts. A similar
situation confronted the old North Dutch Church
located at the corner of Fulton and William
Streets. For many years it had served a purpose
of eminent usefulness, but at the tirae of which we
write it was suflfering a state of decline. Instead
, of removing to some other portion of the city the
church decided to secure the services of a lay mis-
¦jsionary, and if possible reach the unchurched masses
¦'which had gathered about it.
Mr. Jeremiah C. Lanphier was employed for this

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 219
purpose. He was born at Coxsackie, N. Y., in 1809,
and for a period of more than twenty years had
been engaged in mercantile business in New York
City. In 1842 he had raade a public profession of
religion and had united with the Broadway Taber
nacle. Later he becarae affiliated with the Brick
Presbyterian Church, of which he was a raeraber
when he entered the service of the North Dutch
Church as a lay-raissionary. An eastern journal of
the period described hira as "tall, with a pleasant
face, an aflfectionate raanner, and indomitable
energy and perseverance; a good singer, gifted in
prayer and exhortation, a welcome guest to any
house, shrewd and endowed with much tact and
common sense." Relinquishing at once his secular
affairs, Mr. Lanphier entered heartily upon the
duties of his new position July i, 1857.
It was his first effort to reach the unchurched
masses in that section of the city. The field was
divided up into districts into which Mr. Lanphier
went, calling upon every family and where it was
possible upon every individual. A neat folder, com
mending the lay-missionary, giving a brief history
of the church and containing a description of its
services, was placed in the hands of those visited.
Bibles and tracts were distributed, and by the em
ployment of all justifiable means, the missionary
sought to attract the masses to the church and to

220 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
their Saviour. Especial attention was devoted to
the hotels and boarding-houses in the vicinity.
Pews were set apart for the use of such; the pro
prietors were informed that they and their guests
would be welcome at the services, notices of which
were displayed in these places, and sraall cards bear
ing announcements of the same were put into the
hands of the chambermaids for distribution among
the guests on the Sabbath day.
Amid the diflficulties and discouragements which
Mr. Lanphier met, he found comfort and strength
in prayer. It occurred to him that it might be
profitable for others, especially those engaged in
business pursuits, to retire frora their activities for
a brief communion with God. The noon hour
'< seemed the raost feasible one, and by making the
services sufficiently varied in character, with the
understanding that persons might come or go at
pleasure, it was thought that such a service raight
prove to be a source of helpfulness to all who could
attend. At twelve o'clock on Wednesday, September 23,
1857, the room on the third floor of the Consistory
Building, in the rear of the North Dutch Church on
Fulton Street, was opened for a noon prayer meet
ing. In his raissionary visits Mr. Lanphier had an
nounced the fact of such a meeting. Hand-bills
were also liberally distributed in hotels, shops, fac-

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 221
tories, mercantile establishments, counting-rooms,
and private residences in the neighborhood. At the
appointed hour, Mr. Lanphier was the only one
present. Thirty minutes slowly passed away, when
finally the first attendant appeared. Others carae in
one by one until the whole gathering numbered six
persons. Wednesday, September 30, at the second
meeting, twenty persons were present. The
week following, on October 7, the number had
increased to forty. It was not the original purpose
to conduct these meetings daily, but on Wednesday
only of each week. Between the second and third
meetings, after due consideration, it seemed advisa
ble to make the raeeting serai-weekly or daily.
Strange to say the purpose of so doing was antici
pated at the third meeting itself, when a proposition
was made and carried to have the services daily.
During the weeks that followed, the increase in
attendance was slow but sure. Men of all classes
and conditions attended the service. Capitalists and
laborers, manufacturers and artisans, professional
men, merchants and clerks, butchers and bakers,
men from every walk in life were represented from
day to day. Draymen would drive up to the curb
stone and securing their teams, would enter the ser
vice long enough for the singing of a hyran or a
season of prayer, and then be oflf to their work.
At first the attendance was composed of men, but

222 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
gradually the gentler sex began to drop in one by
one until a fair proportion of the attendants were
women. By the middle of January, the attendance had in
creased until all three of the lecture rooras in the
Consistory Building were filled to overflowing, and
siraultaneous meetings under diflferent leaders were
there conducted.
As the interest increased other places were opened
for prayer throughout the city and Brooklyn, where
a daily prayer raeeting had been instituted at Ply
mouth Church, nearly if not quite simultaneously
with the Fulton Street meeting. By spring more
than twenty diflferent prayer meetings had been
established in New York City alone. Sorae of the
largest churches in the city were filled to overflow
ing, multitudes crowded into the Free Academy, and
the fire and police departments opened their doors
for the service of prayer. Merchants opened rooms
in their stores where their clerks could raeet at
stated tiraes for comraunion with God. In addition
to the noon prayer meetings, sirailar gatherings
were held at nearly all hours of the day to accommo
date the convenience of every one.
Not only were these prayer raeetings held in
different parts of the city, but preaching services at
unwonted tiraes and in unaccustoraed places were
conducted to further the interests of this great

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 223
revival. Burton's Theater, on Chambers Street, in
the very center of New York's commercial activity,
was employed for this purpose. Here the thronging
multitudes listened to the stirring serraons and ring
ing appeals of Henry Ward Beecher, Theodore L.
Cuyler, Robert M. Hatfield, and other erainent
divines of the day. Everywhere religion seemed to
be the coraraon topic of conversation. An unwonted
activity raanifested itself in all the churches of the
metropolis. Clergy and laity alike seemed to be en
gaged in the all-important task of enforcing the
claims of religion and placing before men the duty
of repentance and the necessity of faith in Jesus
Christ. The publicity given to the movement in the pub
lic press was an efficient means in promoting the
revival. Reporters were detailed to narrate the
progress of the meetings. Startling headlines called
the attention of the public to the latest "Revival
News" of the day, and for the tirae being, criminal
trials, politics, casualities, etc., were overshadowed
by the remarkable religious interest which had been
awakened. At one time the New York dailies pub
lished several extras filled with accounts of the
progress of the work in various parts of the land.
For such a movement could not long remain local.
On the wings of lightning the revival spirit spread
to the various cities throughout the Northern States,

224 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
and "daily union prayer meetings" were at once
established to promote the interests of religion and
reach the hearts of men. Brooklyn, Philadelphia,
Albany, Boston, Cincinnati, and Chicago, soon were
brought under the influence of the Great Revival.
Philadelphia was one of the first cities to be
reached by the revival moveraent. The winter pre
ceding. Rev. Jaraes Caughey, the eminent Methodist
revivalist, conducted a notable series of meetings in
the city, during the progress of which some five
hundred persons or more were converted. This
served no doubt as a gracious preparation, but the
, revival itself was a direct result of the work in New
York City. A young raeraber of the Philadelphia
Young Men's Christian Association had attended
some of the early meetings at Fulton Street, and
thinking that a similar service might be of profit in
his own city, he broached the subject to some of his
fellow merabers in the Association. The proposi
tion raet with favor, and on Noveraber 23, 1857, a
noon prayer raeeting was inaugurated at the Union
Methodist Episcopal Church. The attendance was
at first discouraging, never exceeding thirty-six. At
length it was thought best to secure a room more
centrally located, and the anteroora of Jayne's Hall
was engaged for that purpose, early in February,
1858. Little by little the interest and the attendance
increased until it became necessary to hold

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 225
the service in the large hall. Within an
incredible space of tirae the seats and gal
leries were filled to overflowing. For weeks there
was an attendance of three thousand daily at the
Jayne's Hall meeting. Similar meetings were in
stituted at the Handel and Hayden Hall, American
Mechanic's, and various other places throughout the
city. Daily preaching services were sustained and
a special prayer meeting was established for the
firemen of the city. Early in May a big tent was
purchased at a cost of two thousand dollars, and dur
ing the four months that it was pitched in the city it
had an aggregate attendance of more than one
hundred and fifty thousand persons. The spirit of
prayer seemed to pervade the city, and as a result of
the various services, it was estiraated that ten
thousand persons had been converted during the
year, one denoraination alone receiving three
thousand accessions and another eighteen hundred.
At Boston, where Charles G. Finney was laboring,
a daily business men's prayer raeeting was instituted
at the Old South Church, but from the very first the
place was too strait for them and numerous other
daily prayer meetings were established throughout
the city. Ladies' meetings were conducted daily by
Mrs. Finney in the vestry of the Park Street
Church. The whole city was moved and the revival
becarae so general that it was irapossible to raake an

226 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
estiraate of the nuraber of conversions that would
approximate the truth. Unitarians and orthodox
alike became interested and attended the various
meetings in large numbers.
In Chicago, the Metropolitan Theater was daily
crowded with two thousand attendants and upwards,
while various churches opened their doors for the
service of prayer. Thus the revival went on, ex
tending from city to city and from state to state,
increasing in momentum and power as the months
passed by.
Besides the influence of the noon prayer raeeting
there were other forces at work for the proraotion
of the revival. In the late autumn of 1857 a revival
convention was called at Pittsburg, which was
largely attended by ministers and influential laymen.
Such topics were discussed as the obstacles in the
way of revivals, the raeans of proraoting thera, the
encourageraents to seek thera. A ringing appeal to
the churches was formulated with the request that it
be read from the various pulpits. It was recom
mended that the ofificial merabers of churches raeet
and discuss such topics as had received considera
tion at the convention, and that plans be adopted for
systeraatic visitation, in order to eflfect a general
revival. Accordingly the first Sabbath in January,
1858, was observed by raany Presbyterian and other
pastors in preaching upon the necessity for a revival,

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 227
and the following Thursday was set apart as a day
of humiliation and prayer. Soon after the Pitts
burg convention, a sirailar gathering assembled at
Cincinnati with the same object in view. The influ
ence of these conventions was highly beneficial and
an added impetus was given to revivals throughout
the country.
Not only did the great cities feel the throbbings
of this raighty raoveraent, but there was scarcely a
village, or haralet, or coraraunity throughout the
Northern States that was not visited with showers
of refreshing grace. A divine influence seeraed to
pervade the land. The rainds of raen were wonder
fully moved and their hearts were strangely soft
ened. Those who were unaccustomed to pray or
attend divine worship became deeply interested and
could be reached with little difficulty. It was said
that there were towns in New England where
scarcely an unconverted person remained. In one
of Mr. Finney's Boston raeetings a gentleman arose
and said, "I am from Omaha, in Nebraska. On my
journey East I have found a continuous prayer
meeting all the way. We call it two thousand miles
from Omaha to Boston ; and here was a prayer meet
ing about two thousand railes in extent."
One section of the country alone was not power
fully affected by this revival. Slavery seemed to
rest like a great pall upon the Southern States and

228 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
apparently prevented this divine visitation frora ex
tending thither to any reraarkable degree. The con
tentions about the "peculiar institution" were so
numerous, and the public raind seeraed to be so occu
pied with questions relating thereto that the opera
tions of the Holy Spirit were shut out and no great
results were realized.
If the South did not profit to any great extent in
this movement, its influence was felt abroad. There
can be no question that the great revival, which
visited Ireland in 1859 and extended to England
and Scotland, received its impulse in part from the
revival in America. By steamer and packet, in letter
and tract and newspaper, the tidings were carried
until a general expectancy and desire were awakened
on the part of the British public for a similar visita
tion on that side of the water. Moreover in 1858
the Fulton Street prayer raeeting was visited by a
delegation from the Presbyterian Synod of Ireland
for the purpose of studying this remarkable move
ment that the way raight thereby be prepared for a
work of grace among their own countrymen. The
following year a great revival, resembling in many
respects the one in America, swept over the British
Isles, producing similar results for good.
The characteristics of the Great Revival were
such as to make it absolutely unique. It stands apart

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 229
both in its method and its aims from every other
great awakening. TTherewere no efforts to get up a
revival or to arouse great public interest upon the
subject. None of the elaborate machinery of
modern revivals was made use of. There was no
concerted action and there seemed little likelihood
that the principal means used should produce results
of unusual magnitude. Frora its very inception this
revival was the work of God. A humble layman, an
ordinary man, who was laboring for the spiritual
welfare of others, cried out in his supplications:
"Lord, what wilt thou have rae to do?" and a busi
ness men's prayer meeting at the noon-tide hour was
the result. An inopportune tirae, some would have
said, but it became a source of blessing to thousands
and tens of thousands. Its influence was felt
throughout this broad land of ours, and tidings
thereof were wafted abroad to other shores to in
spire raen in lands afar with hope and faith that God
would bless thera and pour out his Spirit for the
salvation of the people.
Providential in its origin, it was providential in
its continuance. Bishop Mcllvaine, in his annual
address before the Diocesan Convention of Ohio,
said : "As for myself, I desire to say that I have no
doubt 'whence it cometh.' So far as I have had per
sonal opportunities of observing its means, and
spirit, and fruits ; so far as I have had opportunity

230 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
of gathering information about it, frora judicious
rainds, in various parts of my own Diocese, and of
the country at large, I rejoice in the decided con
viction that it is 'the Lord's doing;' unaccountable
by any natural causes, entirely above and beyond
what any human device or power could produce ; an
outpouring of the Spirit of God upon God's people,
quickening thera to greater earnestness in his ser
vice; and upon the unconverted, to make them new
creatures in Christ Jesus."
This divine visitation, providential in its charac
ter, was emphatically a lay revival. There was no
evangelist of national reputation, no minister, how
ever influential, to whom credit could be given for
this mighty work of grace, even as the indirect
instruraent of its accoraplishment. The revival was
carried on independently of the ministry and almost
without their aid. The ministry were not ignored,
nor was there in any sense an opposition to them.
They carried on their regular services, but to greatly
increased congregations, which were the immediate
fruits of the revival, and by their preaching and
prayers they gave encouragement to the work and
co-operated in it. The laity were especially active.
The moveraent commenced with the eflforts of a
layman, it enlisted the sympathies and energies of
other laymen throughout the country and was car
ried on chiefly through their instrumentality.

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 231
The methods eraployed for the furtherance of this
work were the distribution of tracts, personal work,
and the daily union prayer raeetings. In some in
stances, as at Burton's Theater, New York, and
elsewhere, preaching was employed to proraote the
revival after it had commenced, but this was excep
tional and in most cases there was but little preach
ing aside from that of the regular Sabbath services.
The principal means relied upon were the daily
union prayer raeetings. Said Finney : "There was
such a general confidence in the prevalence of prayer,
that the people very extensively seeraed to prefer
meetings for prayer to meetings for preaching. The
general impression seemed to be, 'We have had in
struction until we are hardened; it is time for us
to pray.' The answers to prayer were constant, and
so striking as to arrest the attention of the people
generally throughout the land. It was evident that
in answer to prayer the windows of heaven were
opened and the Spirit of God poured out like a
flood."* The purpose of the original noon prayer meeting '
on Fulton Street was not the conversion of sinners.
It was designed for those engaged in the active pur
suits of life, that, in the midst of their cares and
activities, they might withdraw their rainds from '
their duties and per£lexi^es_and find spiritual re- '
* Autobiography, p. 444.

232 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
freshraent in a brief communion with God. In the
first instance it was simply a revival of prayer. Men
carae together to pray and wait before the Lord. It
was but natural for raen who pray to work and put
forth eflforts for the conversion of their fellows.
However ranch we may expatiate upon the innate
selfishness of men, it is none the less true that on
great occasions, at unusual crises, there is a higher,
nobler altruistic instinct which manifests itself in
active endeavors for the welfare of others. As the
interest at the Fulton Street meeting deepened, it
proved no exception to this general rule. Requests
for prayer, either on the part of unconverted persons
themselves or in their behalf on the part of inter
ested friends, soon began to raultiply, and as the
work went on these requests becarae raore importu
nate and raore earnest. To pray and not to work
was impossible. As men prayed for others they
raanifested an unwonted activity in their behalf.
They dealt personally with the unconverted. They
invited thera to the raeetings. They distributed
handbills and tracts. Time and eflfort were ex
pended to further the interests of the revival. But
underlying the use of all external raeans and
agencies was the predorainating spirit of prayer.
The recorded instances of answered prayer were
remarkable and volumes have been written upon the
subject. Throughout this work of grace the daily

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 233
union prayer meetings continued to be the principal
means for its promotion.
A conteraporary description of one of these
prayer raeetings, that at Philadelphia, will aflford
sorae idea of the chief means employed for the fur
therance of this mighty revival : "There is no noise,
no confusion. A layman conducts the meeting.
Any suitable person may pray or speak to the audi
ence for hve minutes only. If he does not bring his
prayer to a close in that tirae, a bell is touched and
he gives way. One or two verses of the most
spiritual hymns go up, 'like the sound of raany
waters ;' requests for prayer for individuals are then
made, one layman or rainister succeeds another in
perfect order and quiet, and after a space which
seeras a few rainutes — so strange, so absorbing, so
interesting is the scene — the leader announces that
it is one o'clock, and punctual to the raoraent a min
ister pronounces the benediction, and the imraense
audience slowly, quietly and in perfect order, pass
from the hall ! Sorae minister remaining to converse
in a small roora oflf the platforra with any who may
desire spiritual instruction."*
There was nothing about this revival which led
to flagrant evils or violent abuses. There were none
of the exciting agitations or lamentable disorders,
which had characterized some of the earlier Ameri-

? The Noon Prayer Meeting, p. 273.

234 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
can revivals, particularly the Great Awakening.
Excitements there were to be sure, but not of an
unhealthy character. The excitement, or more
properly the deep interest, of the Revival of 1857
was brought about by the publicity given to the
movement through the columns of the public press
and in topics of conversation, all of which had a ten
dency to draw the attention of the unconverted, with
a compelling force, to a consideration of the con
cerns of the soul. Revivals have been compared to
spring freshets, but this revival could be compared
raore appropriately to a May shower, gentle in its
influence, but refreshing and far-reaching in its con
sequences. Iraperceptibly alraost the revival cora
raenced, gradually it increased in interest and power
until the whole nation and even foreign lands had
felt its gracious influence. It did not subside with
any unfavorable reaction or as the result of an un
healthy excitement. It reached the height of its
influence and then quietly, almost imperceptibly it
waned, leaving the churches and communities which
it had visited more spiritual, stronger in their influ
ence for good, and richer in countless ways, having
a more abiding confidence in God who reigns above,
and with a more hopeful view for the ultiraate con
version of the world.
In every great awakening there is a tendency to
exalt the raeans eraployed above the instrument who

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 235
makes use of such means. Such a tendency appeared
in this revival. There was a disposition on the part
of sorae to overlook the sovereign workings of the
Lord and to attribute the results to the daily union
prayer raeetings, to the zeal of the laity and their
active endeavors for the salvation of raen. The
story is told of one who said that in his estimation
"the great power of the church for the salvation of
souls, now, consisted in the union prayer meetings
and the union Sunday School." Another expressed
the opinion that the "Young Men's Christian Asso
ciation had come to take religion out of the church
and ventilate it." Such views, if persisted in, might
have wrought incalculable injury to the cause of
Christ, but they were wisely discountenanced, so
that the revival carae, exerted its powerful and far-
reaching influence, and quietly passed away, without
having been impaired by any appreciable ill-eflfects.
Four notable results mark the achievements of the
Great Revival. First, The number added to the
Churches. Speaking in his diocesan address of the
extent of the revival. Bishop Mcllvaine said : "There
have been, in the American churches, revivals as
pure and simple, and in their sphere as eflfective for
good. But we read of none of such extent ; reaching
at the sarae time so many people ; scattered over such
a length and breadth of territory; appearing in so
many denorainations of Christians, of widely sep-

236 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
arated ecclesiastical institutions; leavening so many
colleges and other institutions of education; so
penetrating with one and the same influence all
gradations of society, frora the most cultivated to
the most unlettered; in cities and villages, in the
counting-house of the merchant, in the work-shop
of the mechanic, in factories, in printing-offices,
among classes of persons usually regarded as pecu
liarly removed from and fenced against the influence
of gospel truth. How can we witness all this, and
not see the hand of God and take courage, and de
sire and pray for more and more of such manifesta
tions of his grace?"
There was scarcely a religious denomination
which did not share in the gracious fruits of this
revival. Various estimates of the number converted
range from three hundred thousand to one million
persons. It is impossible to estimate with accuracy
the numerical results, but an innumerable host whom
no man can number were converted, most of whom
united with some branch of the church of Christ. In
the city of Philadelphia alone there were ten thou
sand conversions. For a period of six to eight
weeks, when the revival was at its height, it was
estimated that fifty thousand persons were converted
weekly throughout the country, and as the revival
lasted for more than a year it becomes evident that
the sum total of conversions reaches a figure that is

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 237
enormous. Conservative judges have placed the
number of converts at five hundred thousand, and
this estimate in all probability is approximately
correct. A second result of the Revival was the Organisa
tion of the Laity for aggressive service. Formerly
the idea had found wide acceptance that the work of
the church was to be done by the pastor in conjunc
tion with his church oflficiary. In this respect the
influence of the revival was quite revolutionary, but
it was a wholesome revolution which tended to
magnify the usefulness of the church many-fold and
raake it a more eflfective agency for good. The laity
were aroused as to the possibilities of their useful
ness. Having witnessed the fruits of their labors in
this moveraent layraen carae to realize that they had
a part, and by no raeans an uniraportant part, in the
extension of Christ's kingdom. An awakened laity
infused new energy and new life into the, various
activities of the church. Their energies became en
listed to a greater extent in all phases of Christian
work and now found expression in the Young Men's
Christian Association, the Sunday School, City Mis
sionary organizations, and kindred forms of activity.
The revival, moreover, served as a great training
school for laymen, and brought to light the abilities
of such men as D. L. Moody, who has left a lasting
impress upon the history of American Christianity,

238 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
and whose life and public services will receive ample
consideration at its appropriate place in this narra
tive. One of the great lessons which this revival was
calculated to teach was that the work of the church
was not committed to the clergy alone nor to the
laity, but that both have their appropriate sphere in
the church and by their mutual co-operation the
largest results are accomplished and the greatest
usefulness of the church is conserved.
A third result of the Revival was the Promotion
of Interdenominational Fellowship. Hitherto the
various denorainations had viewed one another with
feelings of mutual suspicion and distrust. But in
this work of refreshing there was no roora for sec
tarian strife or jealousy. Arrainian and Calvinist,
Baptist and Psedo-Baptist, Congregationalist and
Episcopalian, the Methodist in his glowing zeal and
the Friend in his quiet conservatism, all had been
blessed. Sharing thus in the fruits of the revival,
they could not but magnify the things which they
held in common, in contrast to the diflferences which
kept them apart.
The fourth result of the Revival was a Providen
tial Preparation for the Civil War. As the Great
Awakening enabled the feeble colonies to pass
through the baptismal fires of the American Revolu
tion and preserved the religions institutions of the

THE GREAT REVIVAL OF 1857. 239
country frora complete impairraent in that struggle,
so the Great Revival of 1857-1858 served to prepare
the people and sustain thera in the fearful cataclysm
which swept over our country in the early sixties
and threatened to blast forever our free institutions.
It is interesting to raise the question how this nation
could have passed through the dark and trying tiraes
of war had it not been preceded by the "raost extraor
dinary and widespread revival ever known on
this continent." It was the religious influences gen
erated by this revival which served to give strength
to the wearied soldier on his long forced raarches;
which inspired him with courage amid the perils and
carnage of battle; which brought corafort and sup
port to the sufferer in the hospital or the grewsome
prison-pen; and which gave dying peace to many a
youth who sacrificed life upon the altar of his
country. The revival nerved and fortified the church for
this fearful stmggle. The church sent forth her
sons to the conflict, and while she gave much,
ofttimes her all, yet as the war progressed, there was
no diminution in her zeal. Her resources seemed to
be inexhaustible. Instead of retrenching in her mis
sionary gifts and activities, notwithstanding a depre
ciating currency, the power of the church to give
seemed only to be multiplied, while her activities dur
ing the long struggle suflfered no serious irapairraent.

CHAPTER XIIL
THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR.
The Great Revival did not allay the sharpness of
the controversy over the slavery question. In the
fall of 1859 the famous raid of John Brown
occurred, and a year later the election of Lincoln to
the Presidency brought the issue to a crisis. The
Southern States seceded soon after and formed the
Confederacy. The North still hoped for a peaceful
adjudication of the difficulties which irhperiled the
life of the nation, but that hope was dissipated by
the attack on Fort Surapter. From that time until
the fall of Richmond and Atlanta, war with its
scenes of carnage and disaster raged between the
two sections.
Such conditions could not fail to aflfect pro
foundly the religious life of the nation. In some
communities every male church member capable of
bearing arras was at the front fighting for his
country. Many who were thus called away perished
in battle, while others became demoralized through

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 241
the deleterious influences of camp and army life, and
were lost to the churches. The war was the topic of
the day, the theme of conversation, and its items
filled the columns of the public press. Stirring news
of battle and tidings from the front absorbed the
attention of the people. But the excitements of the
time did not cause any appreciable decline in the life
of the churches. Multitudes of church records
throughout the Northern States testify to the fact
that there was not only no dirainution in religious
interest, but that on the contrary church and Sunday
School attendance greatly increased. Where able-
bodied men had gone to the front, the aged, the
women, and the children filled their places and main
tained the work of the church with unflagging
energy and undiminished zeal.
Not only were the churches at home well cared
for, but earnest eflforts were put forth for the
religious welfare of those who were at the front,
endangered not only by the perils of war, but by
the temptation to immorality, laxity, intemperance
and vice, raore or less incident to array life. Among
the important agencies for this purpose was the
Christian Coraraission, forraed in New York City,
Noveraber 14, 1861, at the call of the Young Men's
Christian Association. The work of this Corarais
sion has been summed up as follows: "From
November, i86i, to May, 1866, this Commission

242 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
disbursed, both for the benefit of the patriot soldiers
of the Union and for the Confederate wounded that
fell into our hands, the sum of $6,291,107. We em
ployed 4,859 agents, working without recompense,
an aggregate of 185,652 days. These agents held
136,650 religious services and wrote 92,321 letters
for the soldiers. They gave away 1,466,748 Bibles
(in whole or in part), 1,370,953 hymn-books,
8,603,434 books or paraphlets, 18,189,863 newspa
pers and magazines, and 30,368,998 pages of relig
ious tracts. They also greatly assisted in the opera
tions of the Sanitary Coraraission, which expended
in the sarae time $4,924,048, making an aggregate,
by the two, of $11,215,155, poured out as a free-will
offering by a grateful country for the moral and
physical welfare of its brave defenders."*
In religious zeal the South was not one whit
behind the North. In July, 1861, the Evangelical
Tract Society, corresponding to the American Tract
Society, was organized at Petersburg, Va. It pub
lished a religious paper for soldiers, and put into
circulation during the war 50,000,000 pages of
tracts. The various denominational publishing
houses, private individuals, and the Bible Society of
the Confederate States, formed in March, 1862,
engaged in the work of circulating tracts, religious
papers. Bibles, etc. There is no means of obtaining
? Dorchester's Christianity in the U. S., p. 688.

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 243
accurate statistics of this work, but thousands of
dollars were expended, and millions of pages of
religious literature were put into circulation. Mis
sionaries and colporters were employed to assist the
chaplains in ministering to the religious needs of
the soldiers.
By the use of such means and the co-operation of
praying officers a revival commenced, which became
so extensive and powerful as to be termed the
"Great Revival in the Southern Armies."
The battle-field and camp may seem a strange
place for a revival of religion. Instances there are
on record of a praying soldiery. Many eminent
commanders, like Washington, Wellington, Have
lock and others, have been devout and earnest
Christians. Cromwell's "Old Ironsides" who went
into battle praying and chanting Psalms are often
referred to. But a revival in an army actually en
gaged in deadly warfare was an occurrence hitherto
unknown in history. The influences of the camp are
not favorable to the cultivation of the virtues and
graces of religion. There is little disposition to pro
mote meekness, humility, faith, and love, which con
stitute the chief elements of the Christian faith. The
tendency is in the opposite direction. Young men
entering the army are withdrawn from the restraints
of home, the presence of praying parents, the influ
ences of church and Christian society, and are sub-

244 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
jected to the temptation of a thousand vices.
Gambling, drunkenness, lewdness, profanity, and a
spirit of recklessness are the besetting sins of army
life. The dangers incident to warfare and the car
nage of battle, instead of being aids to sober reflec
tion, often promote an indiflference to religion and
a spirit of recklessness respecting this present world
and that which is to corae. Religion, soldiers often
adrait, may be adapted to the pursuits of peace, but
not to the murderous arts of war, and so the drift is
towards godlessness and irreligion.
In spite of these unpromising conditions a revival
of unusual power broke out, and extended from post
to post, and from camp to camp, until there was
scarcely a regiment or company in the Southern
Army which was not affected by its gracious influ
ences. The first tokens of this work appeared in the
/ autumn of 1861 in the arraies encamped about Rich
mond. The scenes of battle often served as impres
sive lessons and from the hospitals there came ex
pressions of deepening interest on the part of those
who had been wounded. Frora the hospital the
revival spirit was carried back to the camp and each
new convert becarae an evangel to bear the gospel
tidings to others. The story is told of one who had
been converted in the hospital and on his return he
invited any who might be interested to join him in
a prayer meeting. Five were present, and from that

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 245
little gathering a work was inaugurated which
resulted in more than a hundred conversions.
As the revival extended from company to com
pany, from regiment to regiment, frora brigade to
brigade, and frora carap to camp, it increased in
intensity and power. After Lee's invasion of Mary
land and the battle of Sharpsburg, there was a mani
fest increase in the religious interest of his array,
occasioned no doubt to some extent by a sense of the
perils which they had so narrowly escaped.
The first glimpses of the revival in the West were
seen in the year 1863, in the army of the Tennessee,
where a work was inaugurated, during the progress
of which sorae thousands were converted. By raid-
suraraer the awakening had become general
throughout the Confederate armies. At Freder
icksburg and in the armies encamped in its vicinity
there were gracious quickenings. Even the troops
in beleaguered Vicksburg were visited with seasons
of converting grace.
Christian Associations and Associations of Chap
lains were organized in various parts of the field to
promote the religious interests of the soldiers. Such
organizations were of great value in furthering the
revival. But the crying need of the hour was more
workers. "Truly the harvests were plenteous but
the laborers were few." The bishops of the Metho
dist Episcopal Church, South, issued an appeal to

246 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
their churches for men and raeans to carry forward
this work. The response to this and sirailar appeals
was prompt and hearty. The missionary boards of
the various churches were enabled to employ mis
sionaries and colporters to assist the regimental
chaplains in the work of evangelization. Sermons
were preached, tracts were distributed, inquiry
meetings were held, and the soldiers were dealt with
personally in regard to their spiritual welfare. To
this work the Presbyterians sent fifty-three mission
aries, the Baptists about sixty, and the Southern
Methodists a score or more.
So general did the revival become that there was
scarcely a position in which the soldiers might be
placed where its spirit was not felt. In the camp,
on the march, and on field of battle, tokens of con
verting grace appeared. The entire atmosphere of
the army was greatly changed. In place of the
oaths, coarse jests, and irapure songs, so coraraon to
the camp, prayers and praises and songs of Zion
were heard.
The Richmond Christian Advocate in describing
the work said : "Not for years has such a revival
prevailed in the Confederate States. Its records
gladden the columns of every religious journal. Its
progress in the army is a spectacle of moral
sublimity over which men and angels can rejoice.
Such camp meetings were never before seen in

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 247
America. The bivouac of the soldier never wit
nessed such nights of glory and days of splendor.
The Pentecostal fire lights the camp, and hosts of
armed men sleep beneath the wings of angels rejoic
ing over many sinners that have repented."
The revival eventually extended to the reraote
Southwest, to the armies encamped in Arkansas. It
was in this section of the field that Array Churches
were established by Rev. Enoch Marvin, who after
wards becarae a bishop of the M. E. Church, South.
The plan and purpose of such churches is learned
from the following:
Articles of Faith and Constitution of the
Church of the Army, Trans-Mississippi.
The Christian raen of the array, believing that the
habitation of God by his Spirit constitutes the
Church, agree, for the edification and conversion of
their fellow-raen, to organize the Church of the
Array, with the following articles of faith and con
stitution :
I. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New
Testament to be the Word of God, the only rule of
faith and obedience.
II. We believe in God, the Father, the Son, and
the Holy Ghost; the same in substance; equal in
power and glory.
III. We believe in the fall of Adam, the redemp
tion by Christ, and the renewing of the Holy Spirit.

248 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
IV. We believe in justification by faith alone, and
therefore receive and rest upon Christ as our only
hope. V. We believe in the comraunion of saints, and in
the doctrine of eternal rewards and punishraents.
The Christian raen who have been baptized,
adopting these articles of faith and constitution, in
each regiment shall constitute one church ; who shall
choose ten officers to take spiritual oversight of the
sarae. Of the officers so elected the chaplain, or one
chosen by thera for that purpose, shall act as mod
erator. The officers will raeet once a raonth, and oftener
if necessary; and in the exercise of discipline will
be guided by the direction of Christ. They will keep
a record of the naraes of all the merabers and the
manner in which their ecclesiastical connection with
this church is dissolved.
The institution of these army churches proved a
source of great good. A Methodist presiding elder,
who was an associate chaplain, in writing of their
value said: "Soon after the organization of these
army churches in the various regiraents, we were
visited by a gracious revival, in which hundreds
were converted and gathered into these army
churches. My position as presiding elder on two
large districts since the war has given me large

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 249
opportunity to compare the results of the work in
this organization. My conviction is that a much
larger percentage of the converts in these array
churches have reraained faithful than is usual in
ordinary revival raeetings."*
By January, 1865, it was estimated that 150,000
soldiers in the Southern Army had been converted
during the progress of the war. At this tirae it was
believed that raore than one third of all the soldiers,
both officers and privates in the Confederate arraies,
were praying raen. In tiraes of peace this revival
would have been accounted an extraordinary work
of grace. The occasion, the circumstances, the
events, combine to raake it one of the most remark
able religious awakenings in the history of Araerican
Christianity. The subjects of the work were raen,
soldiers under arras, engaged in one of the raost
deadly and calamitous wars of all history. Under
ordinary circumstances the camp and battle-field
would have been considered the raost unfavorable
conditions for a revival of religion, but in this
revival the very influences which otherwise would
detract seemed to be used by Providence for the
promotion of this truly wonderful work of grace.
The surrender of Lee at Appomattox, and Johns
ton at Greensboro, put an end to the war and also to
the Confederate Republic.
? Bennett's Great Revival in the Southern Armies, p. 378.

250 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
As the Great Revival of 1857 had prepared the
Northern States for this struggle which convulsed
the nation and threatened its overthrow, so too we
may look upon the revival in the Southern armies as
a providential preparation for the defeat which over
whelmed them. The South had staked its all and
had lost. Plantations were laid waste, homes were
broken up, educational institutions had been sus
pended, their buildings destroyed and their endow
ments swept away, churches had been desecrated and
their services discontinued, fortunes had vanished, in
fact the ruin and desolation of the South seemed com
plete. It is difficult to conceive how the South could
have borne up under the dire calamities which had
visited it had it not been for the influence of this
revival, since men never stand so much in need of
the consolation and sustaining power of religion as
in the dark hours of adversity. Were it not for the
hope which faith inspires they would be plunged
into the abyss of despair. But reconstruction carae
and from the ashes of the old a new South has
arisen to fulfill its destiny and carry out its divinely
appointed mission.
During the war Rev. A. B. Earle, D.D., came
into prorainence as an evangelist of national reputa
tion. He was born at Charlestown, N. Y., in 1812,
and coraraenced preaching at the age of eighteen,
continuing in the active ministry almost to the time

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 251
of his death in 1897. After a brief experience in the
pastorate he entered the evangelistic field. Although
he was a Baptist by choice he labored chiefly in
union revival services. During the war he con
ducted successful revivals in Boston, Fall River, and
Springfield, Mass. ; Concord, N. H. ; Biddeford and
Saco, Me. ; New Haven, Conn. ; Washington, D. C,
and at various other places in New England and the
East. The winter of 1866- 1867 was spent on the Pacific
coast, where it was estimated that five thousand per
sons were converted under his labors. Frora the
various cities visited, expressions carae of the great
good which had been accomplished and the marked
changes wrought in the morals and habits of the peo
ple through these revivals.
In his use of methods Dr. Earle was eminently
judicious. His preaching was directed to the intel
lect and will, rather than to the emotional elements
of man's nature. As a consequence his labors were
seldora if ever followed by any unfavorable reaction,
which is so often the case with perfervid revivalists.
He insisted upon the prayer of faith as the indispen
sable condition to a revival. During his earlier labors
he eraployed the "anxious seat," but afterwards used
the "inquiry raeeting," in dealing with seekers. Dur
ing his long career as an evangelist Dr. Earle wit
nessed the conversion of more than 1 50,000 persons.

252 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
During the war Rev. E. Payson Hamraond, D.D.,
also attained to prominence in the evangelistic field.
After his graduation from Williams College in
1858, and a partial course of study at Union Theo
logical Seminary, he went abroad and for a time
prosecuted his studies at Edinburgh. In connection
with his student life he supplied a church at Mussel
burgh, where a revival of considerable power at
tended his labors, as a consequence of which his
services were called into requisition in various por
tions of England and Scotland.
In 1 86 1 Mr. Hammond returned to America and
while the war was in progress conducted notable
revivals in various cities throughout the Northern
States. In each of the following cities — Rochester,
Newark, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia — there
were raore than a thousand conversions. Often the
interest was so great as to overshadow the news of
war. Mr. Hammond was ordained as an evangelist
by the Presbytery of New York in January, 1863.
Since the war Dr. Hamraond has prosecuted his
evangelistic labors with untiring energy. Besides
several trips abroad, he has visited nearly every
important city in the Union, preaching the gospel
with the fervor of an apostle and winning multitudes
to Christ. He has been especially successful in
reaching children and has written several small vol
umes on the subject.

THE PERIOD OF THE CIVIL WAR. 253
In the North and South alike the war had drawn
the diflferent churches closer together. Since the
war the trend has continued towards Christian
unity, not organic unity, to be sure, but that mutual
fellowship and rautual toleration of differences
which makes possible great Christian enterprises
and causes the Kingdom of Christ to draw nigh
apace. The return to peace was accompanied by evils of
no small magnitude. Imraorality, luxury, extrava
gance, speculation, interaperance, and crirae became
so frequent and so violent that the periodicals of
the day referred to these conditions as the Carnival
of Crime. But with the readjustments which fol
lowed the return to peace, a new era was inaugu
rated, which has been characterized by Christian
activity, church extension, and revivals of great
depth and power in which the laity have borne no
inconspicuous part.

CHAPTER XIV.
the lay movement in revivals.
The lay raovement in revivals, which swept over
this country during the years 1875- 1877 and the
influence of which continues to the present day, was
the logical consequence of the dawning conscious
ness of the importance of lay work, which had found
expression in the Great Revival of 1857, in the
growth of the Young Men's Christian Association,
and in the work of the Christian and Sanitary Com
missions during the Civil War. The manner of car
rying on the Revival of 1857 was characterized as
the "raass-meeting raethod of evangelization." In
the lay raovement of 1875- 1877 the "mass-meeting
methods" were abandoned and in their place was
substituted the most thorough organization of all
the activities which would make possible the con
version of men. Methods were also adopted to
gather the fruits of these revivals and give perma
nency to the results accomplished.
Identified with this movement as its chief repre-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 255
sentative and prime mover stands the narae of D. L.
Moody. Reared in the raidst of the raost unfavor
able circurastances, rising frora obscurity, and pos
sessed of few advantages for self-improvement he
rose to a position of comraanding influence through
out the Christian world. So closely has he been
identified with the movement under considera
tion that no characterization of it would be
complete without a comprehensive survey of his
life. Dwight Lyman Moody was born at Northfield,
Mass., February 5, 1837. When the future evangel
ist was but four years of age, his father, who had
combined the trade of masonry with that of brick-
making, suddenly passed away. His financial
aflfairs were in such a condition that the creditors
took even the kin41ing from the shed. To add to
the embarrassraents of the household, a raonth after
his decease, twins were born, increasing the children
of the faraily to nine, the eldest of whora was but
thirteen years of age. Many a woman would have
sunk beneath a burden so heavy, but Mrs. Moody
bore up as best she could and sought to train her
children in the fear of God. She was a Unitarian,
and the only baptism which Dwight ever received
was at the hands of the Unitarian minister of the
parish. Rev. Mr. Everett, who was very kind
towards this fatherless faraily, and for a time

256 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
¦ Dwight was in his home, where he did the chores
for his board.
At the age of seventeen, young Moody, wearied
with the dull routine of such work as could be found
in the neighborhood of a country village, set out for
Boston in search of employment. In the city he had
two uncles who were engaged in the boot and shoe
business, but fearing the conceit and headstrongness
of the country youth, they gave him no encourage
ment. After days of fruitless search and somewhat
hurabled by his experiences, he again applied to his
uncles for eraployment. It was given on condition
that he should be guided by their advice and should
) attend church and Sabbath School every Sunday.
I He soon proved a valuable assistant in their busi
ness, and within a short time was selling more goods
than any other clerk in the establishment. His re
ligious ventures were not so promising. He attended
the Mount Vernon Congregational Church, in which
the revival fires, under the ministry of Dr. Kirk,
were ever glowing. As bracing as the spiritual
atmosphere was, the discourses to which he listened
were quite above the limited attainments of young
Moody, and he often fell asleep in his fruitless
eflforts to follow the sermon. His experience in the
Sunday School was not a little discouraging. He
was placed in the class of Edward Kimball. The
lesson was in the Gospel of John. A Bible was

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 257
given hira, and to the no small amuseraent of the
other merabers of the class, he hunted the Old Testa
ment through for the book of John. The teacher see
ing his erabarrassraent, found the place for hira.
Moody said: "I put ray thurab in the place and
held on; I said then if ever I got out of that
scrape, I would not be caught there again." Mr.
Kiraball succeeded in holding the lad's attention
and later becarae instruraental in his conver
sion. Mr. Moody told the story of this spiritual change
as follows : "When I was in Boston I used to attend
a Sunday School class, and one day I recollect ray
teacher carae around behind the counter of the shop
I was at work in, and put his hand on my shoulder, j
and talked to me about Christ and ray soul. I had
not felt that I had a soul till then. I said to rayself :
'This is a very strange thing. Here is a raan who
never saw me till lately, and he is weeping over my
sins, and I never shed a tear about them.' But I
understand about it now, and know what it is to
have a passion for raen's souls and weep over their
sins. I don't reraeraber what he said, but I can feel
the power of that raan's hand on my shoulder to
night. It was not long after that I was brought
into the kingdom of God."
Soon after his conversion he applied for raeraber
ship at the Mount Vernon Church. In accordance

258 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
with the usages of that day no person could be
received into a Congregational Church without first
giving credible evidence of conversion. Moody's ex
amination did not satisfy the committee. The prin
cipal question asked was, "What has Christ done
for you, and for us all, that especially entitles him
to our love and obedience?" He replied: "I think
he has done a great deal for us all, but I don't know
of anything he has done in particular." The com
mittee deferred recommending him to raembership,
and three persons were appointed to instruct him
further in the way of salvation. This action has
often been criticised, but to Mr. Moody's credit be
it said, he always approved the course taken by the
church. Ten months later he was admitted to raem
bership. In September, 1856, Mr. Moody bade farewell to
Boston and took his departure for Chicago, which
at that time was a young, but rapidly growing city,
and afforded well-nigh limitless opportunities for
Christian work. Moody had no difficulty in secur
ing a position in the boot and shoe business, into
which he entered with the same zest which had
characterized bin at Boston. He carried a letter to
the Plymouth Congregational Church, with the
interests of which he at once identified himself. He
hired four pews, which he filled every Sabbath with
young raen whom he had invited to the services. He

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 259
also joined a Young Men's Mission Band at the
First M. E. Church, the object of which was the
distribution of tracts at hotels and boarding places
on Sunday mornings, and also the inviting of the
guests to attend divine worship.
Even these activities did not satisfy his tireless
energy, and he soon sought a class to teach at a
Mission School on Wells Street and Chicago Ave
nue. The superintendent told him that they already
had twelve teachers and only sixteen pupils, but if
he would gather a class of his own, he raight have
the privilege of teaching it. The next Sunday
Moody appeared with eighteen of the raggedest,
dirtiest street Arabs to be found in the city. He next
directed his attention to "drumming up" recruits for
the school, with the result that it was soon filled to
overflowing. In a short time he started a mission
of his own in North Chicago, an abandoned saloon
building being used for the purpose. The school
soon outgrew its limited quarters, and Moody ap
plied to the mayor for the use of North Market Hall
for Sabbath School work. Frequently the hall was
used Saturday nights for balls, which necessitated
considerable work on the part of Mr. Moody and
his helpers Sunday forenoons in order to get the
building in readiness for the afternoon session. The
school grew and prospered, numbering in a short
tirae hundreds of pupils. The average attendance

26o AMERICAN REVIVALS.
soon reached over six hundred, for the instruc
tion of whora raore than sixty teachers were era
ployed. The Great Revival of 1857 resulted in the forma
tion of the Chicago branch of the Young Men's
Christian Association. Noon prayer meetings were
instituted early in January, 1858. Eventually these
raeetings, which had greatly decreased in attendance,
were placed in charge of the Association. Finally
the exaraple of a determined old Scotchman, who,
one day when he was the only attendant, went
through the exercise of hymn. Scripture reading and
prayer, incited Mr. Moody to action, and by personal
eflfort he induced more than a hundred to join the
praying band.
In the meantirae he had continued in the boot and
shoe business. He was ambitious to become a rich
raan and have $100,000, which was then considered
enough to raake one independent. But in i860 he
decided to give up his business and devote all of his
time to Christian work. When asked by his em
ployer how he expected to live, he replied : "God will
provide for me if he wishes me to keep on; and I
shall keep on until I am obliged to stop." Mr.
Moody reduced his expenses to a rainiraum, by giv
ing up his home and sleeping on a bench in a room
of the Young Men's Christian Association. Friends
were raised up who contributed funds to meet his

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 261
necessities, and later he was appointed city mission
ary, so that he was relieved frora pecuniary erabar
rassraent. At the comraenceraent of the Civil War the Illi
nois volunteers were mobilized at Camp Douglass,
five miles from Chicago. At that time Moody was
chairraan of the devotional committee of the Young
Men's Christian Association. Ever on the alert to
seize an opportunity for Christian work, with a few
others he engaged in active eflforts to reach the sol
diers who were preparing to go to the front. Army
hyran-books, Testaraents, tracts, and religious lit
erature in large quantities were circulated among the
soldiers. Devotional and evangelistic meetings
were started, and so encouraging was the work that
the coraraittee issued a call for helpers. One hun
dred and fifty workers, both clerical and lay, re
sponded. Eight to ten raeetings were conducted
each evening and to raeet the growing demands of
this work a camp chapel was erected. Many through
these efforts were converted. When the Christian
Coraraission was organized, Mr. Moody becarae a
raember of the Western Branch at Chicago. In the
interests of this work he often went to the front to
minister to the wounded, to pray with the dying, and
to preach salvation to soldiers on duty in the service
of their country.
After the capture of Fort Donelson, Carap Doug-

262 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
lass was used as a prison for Confederates, ten
thousand of whora were kept within its con
fines. Eager for the salvation of raen, Mr.
Moody conducted evangelistic services for sev
eral weeks among these captives. Many were con
verted, there being sometiraes thirty and forty seek
ers in a single night. A Young Men's Chris
tian Association was organized, the services
of which were continued until the parole of
the prisoners.
Mr. Moody was on the field to minister to the
wounded after the battles of Fort Donelson, Pitts
burgh Landing, Shiloh and Murfreesboro. He was
also with the array at Cleveland in East Tennessee,
at Chattanooga, and was araong the first to enter
Richraond with General Grant. These array expe
riences were an invaluable training for his future
work and served to bring out the qualities of direct
ness, promptness in meeting emergencies, and a
skill in organization which characterized hira in his
subsequent labors.
Of his work in those days General O. O. Howard
said : "Moody and I met for the first time in Cleve
land, East Tennessee. It was about the middle of
April, 1864. I was bringing together ray Fourth
Army Corps. Two divisions had already arrived,
and were encamped in and near the village. Moody
was then fresh and hearty, full of enthusiasm for the

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 263
t
Master's work. Our soldiers were just about to set
out on what we all felt promised to be a hard and
bloody campaign and I think were especially desirous
of strong preaching. Crowds turned out to hear the
glad tidings from Moody's lips. He showed how a
soldier would give his heart to God. His preaching
was direct and effective, and multitudes responded
with a confession and promise to follow
Christ." In the meantime he had gone right on vdth his
work in Chicago. His Sunday School in North
Market Hall kept increasing, until its attendance
averaged more than one thousand. One of the prob
lems which confronted hira about this tirae was the
care of those who had been converted in his mission
services. He advised thera to unite with existing
churches, but coming as they did from humble
homes, they felt strangely out of place in the more
stately church edifices. They had, moreover, the
warmest attachment for the raan who had been in
struraental in their conversion. Necessity, therefore,
was upon him to make some provision for their
spiritual care. The Illinois Street Church was the
logical consequences. Its first building, erected at a
cost of $20,000, was dedicated in 1864 and was well
adapted to meet the needs of his growing work.
In 1865, not without some opposition, he was
elected president of the Young Men's Christian

264 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Association. Under his efficient leadership, Farwell
Hall, the first Young Men's Christian Association
building in the world, was erected at a cost of $159,-
000, and was dedicated Septeraber 29, 1867. It was
Mr. Moody's prayer that an influence should go
forth from that building which "should extend
through every county in the state, through every
state in the Union, and finally, crossing the water,
should help bring the world to God." Four months
later that building was burned. Nothing daunted,
and while the flames were still at work, he engaged
in the solicitation of funds for the erection of a new
building which was dedicated in 1869.
In June, 1870, at the International Young Men's
Association convention held at Indianapolis, Mr.
Moody first met Ira David Sankey. Sankey was
born at Edinburgh, Pa., August 28, 1840. At an
early age he united with the Methodist Episcopal
Church, where his services were called into requisi
tion in the choir and Sunday School. He was one of
the first to respond to President Lincoln's call for
75,000 volunteers. At the end of his three months'
enlistment he returned to his horae at Newcastle,
Pa., and it is altogether likely that he would have
been content to have spent his life in obscurity, had
it not been for that chance meeting with Mr. Moody
at Indianapolis. He had heard of Mr. Moody's
activity jn Sunday School and Young Men's Chris-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 265
tian Association work and was anxious to see him.
When it was announced that he was to lead a Sun
day morning meeting at 6 o'clock, Sankey deter-
rained to be present. The singing dragged, and at
the solicitation of a friend he arose and sang, "There
is a Fountain Filled with Blood." At the close of
the service he was introduced to Mr. Moody, who
abruptly asked, "Where do you live?" "In Newcas
tle, Pennsylvania." "Are you raarried?" "Yes."
"How many children have you ?" "One." "I want
you." "What for?" "To help me in Chicago." "I
cannot leave my business." "You must ; I have been
looking for you the last eight years. You must give
up your business, and come to Chicago with me."
"I will think of it ; I will pray over it ; I will talk it
over with my wife."
The decision which he reached was favorable and
he commenced his labors with Mr. Moody about six
months before the Chicago fire, in which the Illinois
Street Church was consuraed. Two raonths later
they resumed their labors in the North Side Taber
nacle, which had been built to replace the church.
In 1873 it" was decided to accept an invitation of
three English gentlemen to visit the British Isles.
Plans were raade that their families should accom
pany thera, but the very day that they were to set
out found them without the necessary funds. How
ever, a man was raised up for the emergency, and a

266 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
few hours before train time John V. Farwell, all
unconscious of their needs, placed in their hands a
check for $500. On their arrival in England, they
found that two of the friends who had invited them
had died. They accordingly telegraphed to the
third, who was the secretary of the Young Men's
Christian Association at York. He replied that
three months' preparation would be necessary before
they could commence raeetings there. Undaunted
by this frigid reception they proceeded at once to
York, where they coraraenced their labors. At the
first meeting but eight persons were present. The
clergy were none too cordial and but few of the
churches were opened to them. Notwithstanding
these untoward conditions their efforts were re
warded with two hundred and fifty conversions in
about a month's time. Thence they proceeded to
Sunderland and to other cities. The tide of popular
favor kept rising, but it was not until they reached
Edinburgh, that their work began to attract the at
tention of the whole United Kingdom. Here they
met with a most hearty and cordial reception. Pre
paratory raeetings had paved the way for their ar
rival and a general expectancy for a revival seemed
to pervade the minds of the people. At the opening
service two thousand persons were unable to gain
admittance. After a campaign of two raonths, three
thousand converts united with the various churches

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 267
of the city. Dundee and Glasgow were next visited.
In the latter city Dr. Andrew Bonar said that seven
thousand persons united with the different churches
as the fruits of the revival. After visiting other
places in Scotland they went to Ireland, where they
labored in Belfast and Dublin, in each of which there
were over two thousand conversions. Thence they
returned to England, and after having labored with
remarkable results in Manchester, Sheffield, Bir-
rainghara and Liverpool, they repaired to London,
where a four months' campaign had been mapped
out and where efforts were to be put forth to reach
every quarter of the city. It was estimated that
2,500,000 people attended the various services dur
ing this campaign. All classes of society were
moved as never before, and the converts were num
bered by the thousands. August 6, 1875, Messrs.
Moody and Sankey sailed from Liverpool for their
native country after an absence of two years.
When the evangelists left America they were
coraparatively unknown, but tidings of their success
in Great Britain ^ad reached the country in various
ways, so that on their return to the United States
their naraes were household words. No sooner had
they reached New York than they were besieged
from all quarters with applications to conduct
evangelistic campaigns. The evangelists, however,
deterrained to spend a season in rest and recreation

268 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
before taking up active work again. Mr. Moody
repaired to his boyhood horae at Northfield, where
he spent the reraainder of the suraraer in preparation
for his work. During the latter part of his stay,
assisted by Major Whittle and others, he conducted
services for two weeks in the Congregational Church
and had the joy of seeing his raother and a younger
brother converted.
In the raeanwhile he was visited by representative
rainisters frora various parts of the country, inviting
hira to visit their fields of labor and conduct evangel
istic campaigns. Finally he decided to commence
his first American campaign in Brooklyn, and ser
vices were coraraenced October 24, 1875. The
Brooklyn Rink had been secured, and five thousand
chairs were arranged to accoraraodate the multi
tudes. Dr. Talmage's Tabernacle was used for the
daily prayer raeetings and a choir of two hundred
voices was organized to assist Mr. Sankey in the
service of song. Enorraous crowds attended the
services and "overflow" meetings were necessary.
Two thousand converts were the iraraediate result
of this carapaign.
Frora November 21 to January 16, 1876, Moody
and Sankey conducted a gigantic campaign in Phila
delphia. The old Pennsylvania freight depot was
fitted up for the services at an expenditure of
$40,000. Sittings for 10,000 persons were ar-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 269
ranged and a choir of 650 Christian singers was
organized under the leadership of William S.
Fischer. The meetings opened inauspiciously. The
first day of the services the rain fell in torrents, and
the street cars on the main thoroughfare to the place
were stopped by the burning of the Market Street
Bridge the night before. Notwithstanding these un
favorable circumstances there was scarcely a vacant
seat at the first meeting. An aggregate of 900,000
persons attended the various services during the
campaign, and it was estimated that 4,000 persons
were converted. At the conclusion of the carapaign
a Revival Convention was held frora January 19 to
20. This was attended by hundreds of ministers
and laymen from the city and adjoining towns.
Such subjects were considered as evangelistic
services, how to conduct prayer meetings, inquiry
meetings, training of converts and lay workers, how
to get hold of non-church goers, etc. These revival
conventions, which henceforth were to be a feature
of Mr. Moody's work, were very helpful and did
much to arouse churches and rainisters to activity
along evangelistic lines.
New York City next clairaed the attention of the
evangelists, where they labored for a space of two
months and a half. The principal services were con
ducted in the "Hippodrome," originally built for
Barnura's great show, but which had been recon-

270 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
structed for the use of the meetings. Thousands
were in attendance at the various services, and at the
closing meeting, held exclusively for new converts,
3,500 were present.
The New York Times said: "Whatever philo
sophical sceptics may say, the work accomplished by
Mr. Moody in this city for private and public morals
will live. The drunken have become sober, the
vicious virtuous, the worldly and self-seeking un
selfish, the ignoble noble, the impure pure, the youth
have started with generous aims, the old have been
stirred from grossness. A new hope has lifted up
hundreds of huraan beings, a new consolation has
corae to the sorrowful, and a better principle has
entered the sordid life of the day through the labors
of these plain raen. Whatever the prejudiced may
say against, the honest-minded and just will not
forget these labors of love."
After the New York campaign, Mr. Sankey re
turned to Newcastle, Pa., for the summer, while Mr.
Moody journeyed southward, spending two weeks
in meetings with his friend. Major Whittle, at
Augusta, Ga. Thence he proceeded to Chicago by
way of Nashville, Louisville, St. Louis and Kansas
City, holding brief meetings in these cities, which
were greatly blessed. At Chicago he was present
at the opening of his new church building on Chica
go Avenue, which had just been completed at a cost

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 271
of $89,000. In August he journeyed eastward to
visit his mother, preaching repeatedly at Northfield,
Greenfield and Springfield. In Septeraber he con
ducted services at Brattleboro, Vt., being assisted in
the service of song by P. P. Bliss.
In Chicago, where Messrs. Moody and Sankey
next labored, an iraraense wooden tabernacle had
been erected at a cost of $20,000, aflfording seating
capacity for 8,000 persons and with standing roora
for 2,000 raore. The raeetings were a success from
the very start. Chicago received such a Pentecostal
visitation as it had never experienced before and the
whole Northwest felt the throbbing of a new
religious life.
Dr. E. P. Goodwin, writing of this work in 1894,
said: "The work was in every way most remark
able. For not less than three or four raonths that
building was nightly crowded — and often packed to
repletion — especially on the Lord's day. There were
thousands of professed conversions. Somewhere
from ten to fifteen thousand, as I now recall them,
and a very large proportion of thera raen, united
with the various evangelical churches. If those
joining other churches stood as well as the two
hundred joining my own church, they gave good
evidence of being soundly converted. Very naturally
there were many reclaimed drunkards, and gamblers,
and people of depraved habits, both men and women.

272 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
These are commonly a transient people, and not a
few of them, I dare say — failing of hearty fellow
ship with the Lord's people and the help thus
received — drifted away, and raay have gone back to
the old life. Many, I know, still stand fast and
honor their confession."
January 28, 1877, found the tireless evangelists
in cultured Boston. The evangelical Christians of
the city had long been praying for a revival. The
work preparatory to the coraing of Moody and
Sankey augured success. A huge brick tabernacle
with a seating capacity for 6,000 persons, besides
sittings for the choir and rooms for inquirers, was
constructed. A great chorus choir of 2,000 voices
in five sections was organized under the leadership
of Dr. Tourjee. Several noon prayer meetings were
held throughout the city and a house-to-house visita
tion was undertaken with more than 2,000 visitors
to insure success. The results of the campaign were
highly satisfactory. The evangelical faith received
such a hearing in Unitarian Boston as it had not
had for years. A daily paper. The Tabernacle, was
published to further the interests of the revival.
Not only was Boston deeply moved, but all New
England felt the influence of the new life which
had quickened the chief city of the old Bay
State. These remarkable revivals which had visited sue-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 273
cessively Brooklyn, Philadelphia, New York, Chi
cago, and Boston, caused a wave of evangelism to
sweep over the land which resulted in the ingather
ing of vast multitudes into the church of Christ. In
the cities, in the larger villages, and even in obscure
hamlets, "Union Gospel Meetings" were instituted
at which the farailiar Moody and Sankey hyrans
were sung, and raethods were employed similar to
those which had been so signally blessed in the hands
of these evangelists. This work brought into promi
nence several evangelists, chief araong whora were
Rev. George F. Pentecost and Major D. W. Whittle
and their yoke-fellows, G. C. Stebbins and P. P.
Bliss. Major Whittle was born at Chicopee Falls, Mass.,
Noveraber 22, 1840. When the war broke out he
was eraployed in the oflfice of Fargo & Co.'s Ex
press at Chicago, where he had been converted and
had united with the First Congregational Church
under the ministry of Dr. W. W. Patton. He raised
a company, of which he was chosen lieutenant, and
made for hiraself a brilliant record in the array. He
was wounded at Vicksburg, but upon recovery he re
entered the service, receiving an appointment upon
General O. O. Howard's staflf, and was eventually
mustered out of the service with the brevet rank of
major. At the close of the war he was made business

274 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
manager of the Elgin Watch Company at a salary
of $5,000 per year. He had already become promi
nent in Christian work as the superintendent of the
West Side Tabernacle Sunday School in connection
with the First Church of Chicago. About 1874,
through the influence of Mr. Moody, he was led to
relinquish his lucrative position and enter the
evangelistic field.
Associated with hira in this work was P. P. Bliss,
the sweet gospel singer and the author of such well-
known gospel hymns as "Hold the Fort," "Pull for
the Shore," "Let the Lower Lights be Burning," and
raany others. He was a native of Rorae, Pa., where
he was married to Miss Lucy J. Young. Through
her influence his latent musical powers were devel
oped, and through her prayers he was led to Christ.
Upon removing to Chicago in 1864 he united with
the First Congregational Church, where he served
as chorister and superintendent of the Sunday
School. He was persuaded to accompany Major
Whittle in his evangelistic work, and during 1874-
1876 they conducted successful revivals in the West
and South. They were preparing to follow up Mr.
Moody's great campaign in Chicago, when Mr. and
Mrs. Bliss went to Pennsylvania to spend the Christ
mas holidays. After they had started on their
return to Chicago, they telegraphed to Major Whit
tle, "We are going horae to-morrow." But it was

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 275
to their heavenly home that they went, for they were
aboard the ill-fated train that broke through the
bridge at Ashtabula, O., falling down an embank-
raent of seventy feet and then catching fire. Their
tragic death was a calaraity to the cause of Christ
and a shock to the whole nation.
After this sad disaster George C. Stebbins and at
a later tirae Jaraes C. McGranahan assisted Major
Whittle in the service of song.
In the prosecution of his evangelistic labors
Major Whittle visited nearly all of the states in the
Union besides raaking several trips to Great Britain.
He was very successful and was quite as ranch in
deraand as Mr. Moody. He was a patient student
of the Bible and very tactful in dealing with inquir
ers. During the war with Spain he entered enthu
siastically into the work for the soldiers, but under
the strain he broke down and for raonths suffered
as an invalid to pass on to his reward, March 4,
1901. Mr. Moody's Boston campaign was followed up
by L. W. Munhall. Dr. Munhall was born at Zanes-
ville, O., June 7, 1843. I" ^arly life he went to
Indianapolis, where he was converted and united
with the Methodist Episcopal Church. During the
Civil War he served in the Union army, being pro
moted successively to color-sergeant and regimental
adjutant. At the close of the war he studied and

276 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
practised dentistry, but later became an evangelist
and was ordained by Bishop Harris. He labored
with Mr. Moody for a time, but has since labored
independently. He has conducted evangelistic
services in most of the leading cities of the country.
In this work he has raet with raarked success, often
being recalled to conduct a second, third, and even a
fourth series of raeetings. Upwards of two hundred
thousand persons have been converted under his
rainistrations, in which he has confined himself to no
particular denomination, but has labored along the
line of union revival services.
The impulse thus given to revivals by the cam
paigns of Moody and Sankey together with the
eflforts of a host of workers, both clerical and lay,
was of lasting benefit to the churches throughout the
country and contributed greatly to the enrichment of
the spiritual life of the nation.
The season of 1877- 1878 was spent by Moody and
Sankey in New England, Burlington, Vt., Man
chester, N. H., Providence, R. I., Springfield,
Mass., Hartford and New Haven, Conn., being
visited. Thousands were converted and all New
England felt the impulse of the revivals with which
these cities had been visited.
One of the most important carapaigns yet under
taken was conducted in Baltimore, Md., during
1 878- 1 879. Every evangelical denomination in the

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 277
city united in the work. Noon prayer meetings were
held at the Maryland Institute, and special services
for raen were conducted at 4 P. M. in the Asso
ciate Reforraed Church.
While Mr. Moody was conducting this great cara
paign in Baltimore, Thomas Harrison, the faraous
Methodist "boy preacher" (so-called because of his
slight figure and youthful appearance), labored at
Madison Square in the sarae city and but a few
blocks distant. The nearness of the raeetings, how
ever, did not interfere with each other, and the
diflference in methods appealed to entirely diflferent
classes of people, so that Baltimore was greatly
blessed in this double visitation. Harrison was born
in Boston in 1854, studied at Talmage's Lay College
in Brooklyn, entered the evangelistic field about
1876, and has since labored with raarked success in
various parts of the Union.
On May 26, 1879, Mr. Moody preached his last
serraon in Baltiraore, after a protracted siege, which
lasted nearly eight raonths and during the progress
of which multitudes had been converted.
During the season of 1879- 1880, the evangelists
conducted a similar carapaign in St. Louis. This
city was a stronghold of Romanism and presented
diflficulties of unusual magnitude, but as a result of
the eflfort, the churches were revived, the city was
graciously quickened, and many were led to believe.

278 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
The Pacific coast was visited in 1 880-1881, and
from 1881-1884 revivals were conducted in Great
Britain with happy results. The seasons of 1884-
1885, and 1 885- 1 886, were spent in brief visits to
the smaller cities of America. Three days were gen
erally spent in a place, the services being preceded
and followed by the eflforts of other evangelists and
workers. In this way Mr. Moody was able to visit a
large number of cities having a population of ten
thousand and over in various parts of the
country. In later years, in addition to his widely extended
labors as an evangelist, Mr. Moody devoted a great
deal of attention to his educational institutions and
the various other enterprises in which he was inter
ested. Of his schools, Northfield Seminary was opened,
Noveraber 3, 1879, although the first building was
not corapleted until sorae months later. This school
was designed to furnish a Christian education for
young woraen. To afford sirailar advantages for
boys and young raen. Mount Herraon School was
opened May 4, 1881. Both of these schools are
equipped with raany handsome buildings and annu
ally attract raultitudes of young people frora various
parts of the country.
A feature of the Northfield work has been the
Annual Christian Workers' Conf erence,. which origi-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 279
nated in 1880. To this Conference, raeeting each
summer, Mr. Moody invited from time to time the
foremost Christian workers of this country and
Great Britain to address those who annually
assembled frora all parts of the world. At a later
tirae the Students' Conferences, raeeting a little
earlier in the sumraer, were instituted. To accom
modate the numerous visitors to these gatherings, a
large sumraer hotel was erected in 1890. To have
this building unused during several raonths in the
year did not accord with Mr. Moody's purposes, and
it was utilized during the winter for a Young
Woraan's Bible Training School, in which Bible
study was combined with the art and practice of
domestic science.
More important than any of these, so far as the
revival history of our country is concerned, was the
founding of the Bible Institute for Home and For
eign Missions. The purpose of this institute, which
was founded at Chicago in 1889, was a thorough
and practical study of the English Bible. It did not
aim to compete with theological seminaries in pre
paring men for the ministry, but its object was to
furnish various classes of students with a thorough
understanding of the Bible in the vernacular. Rev.
R. A. Torrey, an evangelist of marked ability, was
placed at the head of the institute, and in accordance
with its original purposes he has developed and con-

28o AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ducted this school until it has attained its present
standing of usefulness in the evangelistic world. In
addition to a two years' course in the Bible, musical
and practical courses are oflfered. The musical de
partment aims not only to give rudiraentary instruc
tion, but to train and fit those who are so qualified
to' lead choirs and conduct singing in evangelistic
work. Perhaps the raost interesting feature of the
institute is the practical work departraent. Students
are assigned to various rescue raissions in the city
to render such services as may be required, acting as
ushers, distributing cards, dealing with inquirers,
conducting the singing, etc. House-to-house visita
tion is a phase of the work. Young women are
assigned to certain districts, which they must visit
regularly, while the raen are assigned to the cheap
down-town lodgings and such places, where they
raust corae in contact with those who frequent them
and if possible lead them to the Saviour. Sabbath
services are held in the jails, and thus students are
brought into touch with all the varied phases of city
evangelization. The location of the institute has
proven strategic, and it has been of great value in
the evangelization of the city. It was especially use
ful during Mr. Moody's great World's Fair Cam
paign in 1893.
This was by far the most remarkable series of
meetings ever planned or carried into execution by

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 281
Mr. Moody. "The idea of making such a carnival
the scene of a widespread evangelistic effort was as
novel as it was daring. But the plan was under con
sideration for months, and was arranged while the
Exposition buildings were still under construction."
Many there were to predict failure for such an un
dertaking. It was asserted that the visitors to Chi
cago at the time would come solely on account of
the Exposition. Discouragements Mr. Moody ex
pected to meet, but the manifest needs of the situa
tion far outweighed any of the discouraging features
that might arise. There would be a vast influx of
strangers into the city. Teraptations of every kind
would lie athwart their paths. The vicious and vile
would ply their nefarious arts with all the enginery
of evil at their coraraand. The forces for wickedness
in the city would be augmented by reinforcements
frora without. While these considerations raagnified
the difficulty of religious work at the time, they but
emphasized the need for a great religious campaign
in which the eraissaries of evil should be outwitted
and the tables turned against them. With faith and
courage undaunted Mr. Moody coraraenced the
carapaign. The Bible Institute served as a base of
operations. The city was divided into three sections
with the following centers — the Chicago Avenue
Church on the north, the First Congregational on
the west, and the Immanuel Baptist on the south.

282 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Great buildings in various sections of the city were
secured, tents were erected for services, and meet
ings were held in the open air.
The Haymarket Theater was first secured. Here
Mr. Moody preached every Sunday until the end of
the carapaign, with the exception of two Sundays
when he was absent in the east. At a later period
other theaters, such as the Erapire, Standard, Co-
lurabia, Hooley' s Opera House, and the Grand Opera
House, were made use of for various services. Sev
eral places in the neighborhood of the Fair Grounds
were secured, and towards the close of the Exposi
tion Mr. Moody had one hundred and twenty-five
meetings under his control. Two months before the
close of the Fair, Central Music Hall was secured
for daily services from ii o'clock until i. The peo
ple flocked in throngs to hear the simple gospel.
Said Dr. Munroe Gibson : "While the Fair Grounds
were quite deserted on Sundays the churches were
full. There was little use trying to get into the
churches where Mr. Moody or Mr. McNeil preached
unless you went an hour or two before the tirae, but
even with only a preacher of ordinary abilities the
church would be filled, not only in the morning but
also at the evening service, and it is no easy thing to
secure a good attendance for evening services in
Chicago." Probably the most remarkable services of the en-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 283
tire campaign were those held in Forepaugh's circus
tent. The circus was in Chicago in June, and Mr.
Moody secured the use of the exhibition tent for
Sunday forenoon, the manager reserving it for the
use of his show in the afternoon and evening. The
great tent had sittings for ten thousand people. A
circus man incredulously asked Moody if he ex
pected to have three thousand hearers. The tent
was filled to overflowing. An eyewitness thus
described the scene: "The surroundings were the
usual circus furniture — ropes, trapezes, gaudy
decorations, etc., while in the adjoining canvass
building was a large menagerie, including eleven
elephants. Clowns, grooms, circus-riders, men,
women, and children, eighteen thousand of thera,
and on a Sunday raorning, too ! Whether the gospel
was ever before preached under such circurastances
I know not, but it was wonderful to ear and eye
alike." For two Sundays the circus tent was rented.
While such throngs crowded into the tent to hear the
gospel, the circus raanager was obliged to cancel his
Sunday exhibitions because they were so poorly
attended. During the progress of the Fair, raeetings were
arranged for Germans, Bohemians, Poles, French,
Jews, and among the Arabs on the Fair Grounds.
Special raeetings for various classes were conducted
from time to time. For the work of carrying on

284 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
these many meetings, Mr. Moody called to his
assistance sorae of the foremost pastors and evangel
ists in this country and Great Britain, such men as
Drs. A. C. Dixon, H. M. Wharton, J. Wilbur Chap
man, John McNeil, Henry Varley, Thomas Spur
geon, besides noted preachers from Europe, to
preach to their countrymen in their native languages.
In this work the Bible Institute rendered inval
uable aid. Said Mr. Moody: "This campaign
could never have been carried on except for the Bible
Institute. If there was any part of the city where
we needed to throw a detachment we had them at
our coraraand. If we only had a few hours' notice
we could send fifty men to that part of the city and
placard and ticket the whole neighborhood and fill a
building." When the war broke out between this country and
Spain, in 1898, the Young Men's Christian Associa
tion at once inaugurated work for the young volun
teers. The Army and Navy Christian Commission
was formed with its work subdivided into three de
partments: the executive, under the direction of
Colonel J. J. McCook; the general work, such as
Bible study, physical training, etc., under charge of
C. W. McAlpine; and the evangelistic under D. L.
Moody. The work of the latter department was four
fold: (a) the placing of eminent preachers and
evangelists in the field to preach the gospel to

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 285
soldiers in the service of their country; (b) the in
stitution of Young Men's Christian Association
tents in each regiment, where good reading would
be available and where writing raaterials, etc., could
be found; (c). the free distribution of Bibles, Testa
ments, and religious literature; (d) the visitation
of the sick and wounded in hospitals.
Under Mr. Moody's direction. Major Whittle,
General O. O. Howard, Rev. A. C. Dixon, D.D.,
Rev. R. A. Torrey, D.D., and others took the field
to minister to the religious welfare of the soldiers.
Some eight thousand soldiers were converted
through these efforts. It was Mr. Moody's inten
tion to take the field in person in the auturan, for the
state of his health was such that it was unadvisable
for him to go south earlier in the summer, but when
autumn came it was unnecessary, for the issues of
the war were such that Spain was ready to sue for
peace long before the suraraer had ended.
Mr. Moody's last campaign was conducted in
Kansas City. The great Convention Hall, which had
a seating capacity of 15,000, was secured for the
purpose. A large choir of nearly a thousand voices
was placed under the leadership of Professor C. C.
Case. The services commenced November 12, 1899,
and were attended by thousands of people who filled
the spacious auditorium. For two or three days Mr.
Moody preached with his old-time vigor and power.

286 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
but within a short time he began to show evidences
of exhaustion. Friday morning a physician was
sumraoned, and under his direction Mr. Moody re
luctantly decided to give up the meetings and return
to Northfield. It was a severe trial for him to do
this. "It's the first time in forty years of preaching
that I have had to give up my meetings," he said,
and a little later in a low tone of voice added, "It is
more painful to give up those audiences than it is to
suflfer from my ailments." Reluctantly he laid aside
the work he loved so well and started on his home
ward journey.
For a time after his arrival at Northfield, the indi
cations seemed to be favorable, but the improvement
was only temporary and on Deceraber 22, in the
presence of his wife and children, he peacefully
passed away. "It is ray coronation day," he ex-
clairaed, as he perceived the end approaching.
Araong his last utterances were : "Earth is receding
and heaven is opening. God is calling rae. Is this
dying? It is sweet! There is no valley here! I
have been within the gates !"
Four days later he was laid to rest on Round Top,
"the Olivet of Northfield," there to await the appear
ing of his Lord, whom he loved so well, and for
whose second coming he so fondly hoped.
There is no means of determining with any
degree of accuracy the results of Mr. Moody's long

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 287
and useful life. Personally he had an aversion to
numbers. With characteristic bluntness he once
replied to a minister who asked him how many
souls he had led to Christ : "I don't know anything
about that. Doctor. Thank God, I don't have to. I
don't keep the Lamb's Book of Life."
It is safe to assume, however, that some hundreds
of thousands of conversions resulted frora his labors
throughout the English-speaking world. He was
the greatest evangelist of his generation, and one of
the most successful soul-winners that the world has
ever known. In addition to his personal labors
account must be taken of his published sermons and
works in a great variety of forms, of his educational
enterprises, the Northfield conferences, etc. No man
can measure Mr. Moody's influence for good in the
world, for it is safe to say that millions have derived
inspiration and help from his life.
Mr. Moody's preaching was plain and scriptural.
He raade large and effective use of anecdotes and
incidents in illustrating the truths which he sought
to irapress, thereby reaching the hearts and con
sciences of raen whom no amount of argumentation
would have touched. He had a profound conviction
as to the truth of the Bible, which he accepted with
out question as the unerring Word of God. It was
this intense conviction as to the truthfulness of the
divine revelation that gave force and power to his

288 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
utterances and made him the effective preacher of
righteousness that he was.
He preached the substitutionary theory of the
atonement, that Christ died for us and took our place
that we might, by believing on hira, escape the pun
ishment which we deserved at the hands of an
offended God. He enforced the doctrines of retribu
tion, repentance, restitution, and regeneration. Be
hind all of his doctrinal ideas was a raarvelous con
ception of the love of God. The central therae of his
preaching, the pivot around which all else revolved,
was God's love for a lost and sinning world, and
his willingness to accept all who would corae to him
by repentance and faith in Jesus Christ. Mr. Moody
did not appeal to men's fears, but insisted upon
God's love as a motive to all right action.
He insisted upon the prayer of faith and the
anointing of the Holy Spirit as the indispensable
elements to true success in winning souls. His
methods, while comparatively few, were systematic
and complete. As a skillful general he planned his
carapaigns. Systeraatic visitation and raeetings for
prayer preceded the advent of the evangelists. In
the public services which followed, the singing and
preaching of the gospel were the principal means
relied upon. Daily prayer meetings were a feature
of the work, and every reasonable effort was put
forth to incite rainisters and layraen to activity in

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 289
the work of saving souls. Inquiry meetings were
conducted at the conclusion of the public preaching
exercises. Seekers were dealt with personally, in
formal talks were given, difficulties were solved and
dangers pointed out. In fact such instructions were
given as would lead penitents to immediate accept
ance of Jesus Christ. Converts were urged to unite
with sorae branch of the church of Christ, and the
churches were charged with the responsibility of
watch care over those who had been brought into
the fold.
It was this earnest preaching and this faithful use
of methods that gave Mr. Moody an influence that
will live. "Sorae day," he had said, "you will read
in the papers that D. L. Moody of East Northfield
is dead. Don't you believe a word of it ! At that
raoment I shall be more alive than I ara now. I shall
have gone up higher, that ia all — out of this old clay
teneraent into a house that is iraraortal ; a body that
sin cannot touch, that sin cannot taint, a body fash
ioned like unto his glorious body. I was born of the
flesh in 1837. I was born of the Spirit in 1856.
That which is born of the flesh raay die. That
which is born of the spirit will live forever."
Closely identified with the lay moveraent in their
use of raethods, and in the developraent of lay
activity, although not laymen themselves, are the
names of B. Fay Mills and J. Wilbur Chapman, ^

290 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
without a consideration of whora this chapter would
not be coraplete.
B. Fay Mills was born at Rahway, N. J., in 1857,
and received his collegiate education at Lake Forest
University, 111. In 1886, after a brief but successful
experience in the pastorate, he entered upon evangel
istic work, and for a period of ten years labored
with great success in nearly all of the leading cities
of the United States and Canada.
Mr. Mills' raanner of working was very syste
raatic. An executive committee of ten or twelve
ministers or layraen had oversight of the campaign.
For several months this coraraittee would be actively
engaged in preparing for the services, by interesting
workers, and arousing the churches ; one of the first
directions of Mr. Mills being, "Get to work; pray
and plan; raake use of every means ordained by
God." The preliminary work was entrusted to
three coraraittees, viz. : a Committee on Finance — to
secure funds to meet the expenses of the meetings,
the evangelists being provided for by free-will offer
ings ; a Coraraittee on Canvassing — to supervise the
work of visitation, the city being divided into dis
tricts, and a personal invitation given to every
family in these respective districts a week before the
raeetings commenced; a Coramittee on Music — to
organize and train as large a chorus choir as possible,
and to arrange for an organist throughout the ser-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 291
vices. For the revival work proper there were also
three committees, viz. : a Committee on Advertising
— to keep the public posted as to the raeetings, mak
ing judicious use of the public press, bulletin boards,
handbills, etc. ; a Devotional Committee — to arrange
for two daily prayer meetings, one for men and the
other for women, to be held in the forenoon and
afternoon respectively ; a Coraraittee on Ushers — to
have oversight of the work for arranging for the
physical corafort of the audiences, the distribution
of decision cards at the conclusion of the preaching
services, and to have supervision of the personal
work with inquirers. This being the work entrusted
to the "Ushers," it was required by Mr. Mills that
they should not only be men of mature minds, but
that the most efficient and consecrated men frora the
various churches should be selected for this work,
since the effectiveness of the raeetings depended
largely upon them.
A feature of Mr. Mills' system was what was
known as the District Combination Plan. The city
in which the carapaign was conducted would be
divided into large districts, in each of which the
meetings would be conducted for a specified time, so
that by the end of the campaign the whole city
would have been reached by the services.
At the conclusion of each discourse, those who
wished to become Christians were invited to arise.

292 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Cards bearing the following inscription were
placed in their hands for signature :
I have an honest desire henceforth to
lead a Christian life.
Narae 
Residence 
Church or Pastor preferred 
Date 
An after meeting followed the public service.
"Ushers" were expected to invite any who had
signed cards, or who seemed interested to remain.
Difficulties were considered, objections met, and
such instructions were offered as would lead to im
mediate decision for Christ.
So perfectly was the campaign planned and so
systematically was it prosecuted, that in the hands
of a wise leader it could hardly fail of success.
Thousands in the various cities visited by Mr. Mills
signed decision cards, although the criticism was
freely offered that there was a lack of permanency
in the results. Be that as it' may, there can be no
question that great and lasting good was accom
plished, and that many of such as should be saved
were led to decision in these meetings.
In recent years Mr. Mills has been identified with
the Unitarians, and although of late he has con-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 293
ducted special services, they have been along lines
that could not be classified as evangelical.
Methods similar to the foregoing have been em
ployed with raarked success by J. Wilbur Chapman,
D.D., who for a time was associated with Mr. Mills
and later with Mr. Moody, as vice-president of the
Bible Institute, and also as a co-worker in the
World's Fair Campaign, and in sorae of his later
efforts in Pittsburgh and New York City.
Dr. Chapraan was born in Indiana in 1859 and
received his collegiate education at Oberlin and Lake
Forest, where he was a classmate of B. Fay Mills.
From 1 879- 1 882 he studied theology at Lane Theo
logical Seminary in Cincinnati, Ohio. In 1883 he
accepted a call to the Dutch Reformed Church at
Schuylerville, N. Y. During this pastorate he at
tended a series of raeetings conducted by Mr. Moody
at Albany, N. Y. So great was the influence of
these raeetings and so deep was the irapression made
upon the mind of the young pastor, that on his
return a revival coraraenced in his church, which
resulted in over a hundred conversions, including
sorae of the leading raen of the town. In 1884 he
was called to the pastorate of the First Reformed
Church at Albany. For five years he ministered to
this aristocratic and conservative church, which
witnessed raore than five hundred conversions dur
ing these years. Early in 1890 Dr. Chapman ac-

294 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
cepted a call to the great Bethany Presbyterian
Church of Philadelphia. Eleven hundred united
with the church on confession of faith in a little less
than three years. In the raeanwhile he had received
numerous calls to assist in evangelistic work, which
he did, so far as the duties of his pastorate would
permit. Finally he was induced to relinquish his
pastorate in order to devote his whole time to
evangelistic labors. For three years he conducted
successful revivals in many of the leading cities in
America. During all of these years the Bethany
Church was without a pastor. Finally after repeated
overtures he accepted a re-call to that church with
the understanding that he should devote half of his
time if he so desired to evangelistic work. In 1899
he accepted a call to the Fourth Presbyterian Church
of New York City. Three years later he was per
suaded to lay aside his pastoral duties to devote his
whole time to the secretaryship of the Evangelistic
Coraraittee, the General Asserably of the Presbyte
rian Church in the United States of America.
In addition to his personal efforts in revival work.
Dr. Chapraan has published several sraall volumes
of sermons, and two or three books upon the subject
of revivals, all of which have received a wide circu
lation and have rendered invaluable service in the
work of evangelism.
Nuraerous other evangelists of national reputa-

THE LAY MOVEMENT IN REVIVALS. 295
tion have labored during this period, such as Mrs.
Maggie Van Cott, C. H. Yatman, E. E. Davidson,
and Sam Jones, the eccentric Southern evangelist,
among the Methodists ; H. G. Dewitt, A. P. Graves,
H. W. Brown, S. H. Pratt, and H. M. Wharton,
among the Baptists ; Harold F. Sayles, Major Cole
and many others in various denominations, of whom
"time would fail rae to tell," besides numerous
evangelistic pastors who have helped to make the
period embraced within the years 1870-1900 one of
the most fruitful periods in the history of American
Christianity.

CHAPTER XV.
ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS.
Contemporaneous with the lay moveraent in
revivals has been the expansion and developraent of
lay organizations, which consciously or uncon
sciously have proven powerful factors in evangelisra.
The earliest of such organizations was the Young
Men's Christian Association. This raoveraent was
founded by George Williaras of London, England,
who instituted a prayer meeting for the clerks in the
establishment of George Hitchcock & Co., drapers,
where he was eraployed. Sirailar raeetings were es
tablished in other mercantile houses, and June 6,
1844, a "Society for Improving the Spiritual Condi
tion of Young Men Engaged in the Drapery and
other Trades" was organized. Four weeks later
the name was changed to the Young Men's Christian
Association. During the earlier years the growth
of the organization was slow, and it was not until
the latter part of 1851 that the first Araerican Asso
ciations were forraed. The earliest association on
this side of the Atlantic was organized in Montreal

ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS. 297'
Deceraber 9, 1851. On the 29th of the sarae month
the first association in the United States was in
stituted at Boston. This association resulted from
an article written by an American student for the
Watchman and Reflector. This article descriptive
of the London Association attracted the attention of
a few Christian young raen who corresponded with
the London secretary about the organization. As a
result the Boston Association was forraed. In 1852
associations were organized in Buffalo, Washing
ton, New York and Baltimore.
The Revival of 1857 gave a great impetus to the
Young Men's Christian Association. The associa
tion rooms became the rallying places for large num
bers of young men who had been converted and
furnished them an effective training school for
Christian work. The Civil War proved disastrous
to many associations on account of the excessive en
listments, which depleted their nurabers and forced
thera to disband. The work of such associations
was not lost, for the presence of their raerabers in the
array had a goodly influence upon their corapatriots.
The work of the Christian and Sanitary Corarais-
sions received the hearty endorseraent of the Young
Men's Christian Association, and local associations
rendered efficient service in this work.
Since 1870 the growth of the organization has
been phenoraenal. New lines of work have been

'298 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
developed — the railroad work, the evening educa
tional classes, college association work, and the
Student Volunteer raoveraent, being sorae of the
phases in which the Young Men's Christian Associa
tion has been especially serviceable.
The Young Woraen' s Christian Association, with
no sraall degree of success, has atterapted work
along similar lines for young women. These organ
izations have not only served as an anchor to multi
tudes of young people, who might otherwise have
drifted, especially amid the teraptations of city life,
but they have been instruraental also in leading
large numbers to embrace the Christian faith.
More potent still has been the influence of the
Young People's Societies. One of the problems of
the church life in the past was how to reach and hold
the young people. A tentative solution was the
young people's prayer meeting, a service of rather
ephemeral character, which was long experimented
with in various parts of the country, and a fair type
of which was described as belonging to "the spas
modic variety that wilted under the heat of summer,
was frequently washed away, for the time being, by
the rains of autumn and was blockaded by the snows
of winter." None of the various experiments
seemed to quite meet the situation until the organiza
tion of the Young People's Society of Christian En
deavor. The first society was forraed by Rev.

ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS. 299
Francis E. Clark at the Williston Church, Portland,
Me. The church had been visited with a gracious
revival, araong the converts of which were a number
of promising young people. In order to bridge the
gap between conversion and church membership,
and for the purpose of giving these young converts
some systematic training in Christian work, they
were invited to meet in the pastor's parlor, Wednes
day, February 2, 1881. A constitution, which h^
had previously drawn up, was presented for an
organization entitled the "Williston Young People's
Society of Christian Endeavor." Thirty-five boys
and girls appended their names to the document
which has become historic. They pledged them
selves to be present and to take sorae part in the
weekly prayer raeetings. Monthly consecration
meetings were a feature of the new organization,
and a "look-out" coraraittee was charged with the
duty of looking after delinquent members and en
listing new recruits.
The first public notice of this organization was
an article by Dr. Clark in the Congregationalist in .,
August, 1 88 1, entitled "How One Church Cares for
its Young People." The idea met with public favor,
and by February, 1882, there were twenty Christian
Endeavor Societies in different parts of the country.
During the earlier years of its history, the growth
of the organization was comparatively slow, but by

300 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
1886 there were reported 850 societies and 30,000
members, "representing eight different denoraina
tions, distributed through thirty-three States, Terri
tories, and Provinces, with seven societies in foreign
lands." In 1885 the United Society was incorporated "to
bind the societies closer together in a coraraon
interest and to provide a responsible central organ
ization, through which the work of the society raay
be carried on in the way of raising, receiving and
paying out money, and giving proper custody for
whatever property the society raay acquire." The
expenses of this society are raet by the sale of litera
ture, badges, etc., no assessments being made on the
local societies for the purpose.
In 1887 Rev. Francis E. Clark, D.D., was chosen
president of the United Society and editor of Chris
tian Endeavor literature. In the interest of all that
pertains to the welfare of this raovement Dr. Clark
has been an indefatigable worker, compassing sea
and land in his efforts to extend and build up the En
deavor cause. In these efforts he has received the
co-operation of a host of consecrated workers
throughout the world.
Since 1886 the growth and expansion of the En
deavor moveraent have been remarkable, and it now
numbers thousands of societies and hosts of mem
bers throughout the world. The work of the organ-

ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS. 301
ization has been developed until it erabraces teraper-
ance, good citizenship, prison work, etc., while the
division of its membership into Active, Associate
and Honorary, and its departments for Junior, In
termediate and Senior work, give the largest scope
to its usefulness.
Although the original purpose of the society was
the training and development of young people for
Christian service, the organization has proven a
mighty evangelistic agency, more than a million of
its associate raembership having gone into the
various evangelical churches, influenced in part at
least through this organization.
In order to provide for a type of young people's
society which should accord with the genius of the
denoraination, the Methodists early favored a de-
norainational form of organization. The earliest
society of this character was the Young People's
Methodist Alliance, which was formed on the Des
Plaines camp ground near Chicago, August 25,
1883, by Henry Date, a young lay evangelist.
Other organizations with a similar purpose sprang
into existence, so that by 1889, in addition to hun
dreds of Christian Endeavor Societies throughout
the denoraination, there were no less than five dis
tinct Methodist young people's organizations. To
raerge these organizations, a convention met at the
Central Methodist Episcopal Church of Cleveland,

302 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Ohio, in May, 1889, and perfected a society to be
known as the Epworth League.
The progress of this organization has been phe
nomenal. At the first meeting of the Board of Con
trol in February, 1890, it was advised that all exist
ing young people's societies in the church become
Epworth Leagues. In 1892, by virtue of an act
passed by the General Conference at Oraaha, the
Epworth League was officially endorsed and became
an organic part of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
It has also found a home in the Methodist Episcopal
Church, South, and other branches of Methodisra.
Other denorainational raoveraents have been or
ganized, such as the Baptist Young People's Union,
the Luther League, the Young People's Christian
Union, etc., in other religious denominations.
An existence of nearly a quarter of a century has
proved the right of the Young People's Society of
Christian Endeavor and kindred organizations to
exist. The young people's movement is no longer
an experiment, but an established fact. Millions
have been effectively trained for service, and vast
multitudes have been gathered into the churches
through their instrumentality.
To the very romance of evangelism belongs the
history and work of the Salvation Army, which was
founded in East London, England, in 1865, by Rev.
William Booth, a former minister of the Methodist

ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS. 303
New Connexion. The work which he inaugurated
prospered, and was known as the Christian Mis
sion until 1878, when with the introduction of
military methods it was changed to the Salvation
Array. The history of the Array in this country dates
back to the year 1880, when Commissioner Railton
with seven "hallelujah" lasses landed at Castle Gar
den and made an "attack" on the city of New York.
Some time prior to this services had been held in
Philadelphia by a family of Shirleys who had been
connected with the Army in England, and had emi
grated to America. Within a few raonths after
Railton' s arrival corps were established in various
other cities, and the Array began its career of pros
perity in this country, which, however, was not unin
terrupted. Comraissioner Railton was succeeded in
the comraand of the Araerican forces by Major
Thoraas E. Moore. For a time all went well, but
soon disturbing rumors reached International Head
quarters at London, and Moore was recalled. He
refused to obey and withdrew from the original
organization, taking nine-tenths of the Army in
America with hira.
Commissioner Frank Smith was appointed to the
command of the remnant which remained. He
rallied about him the scattered forces, and within a
twelve-month the American contingent of the Salva-

304 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
tion Army was stronger than ever. Since that time
the growth of the organization has been substantial
and permanent.
In 1887 Ballington Booth, the second son of Gen
eral William Booth, and his wife, Maude Charles-
worth Booth, a raost accomplished woman and a
splendid platforra speaker, were appointed to the
coraraand of the American forces. They not only
succeeded in winning for themselves the favor of an
appreciative public, but through their influence and
self-denying efforts, the Army raet with that recog
nition from pulpit, press and people which it so
richly deserved.
It has. been the constant aim of the Salvation
Army to reach the unchurched classes and those who
were beyond the ordinary religious influences of the
day. It has sought to rescue the drunkard and the
harlot, to reclaim the outcast of society, and to
bring the "lowest of the low" into personal touch
with the saving message of the gospel. For the ac
complishment of this purpose it not only conducts
religious services, but through its rescue-homes,
work-bureaus, cheap lodging houses, and the era
ployment of every legitimate means, it aims to ele
vate and save raen and women, morally and socially.
Untold thousands have been reclaimed to sobriety
and righteousness through this organization. Mul
titudes of its converts, especially of the more respec-

ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS. 305
table classes, have found a home in the various
churches, while not a few who are now in the gospel
ministry received their first training in Christian
work in the ranks of the Salvation Army.
On account of differences existing between them
and International Headquarters, Coraraander and
Mrs. Ballington Booth were forced to relinquish
their coraraand of the American wing of the Army
early in 1896, and a few months later they were
succeeded by Frederick De Latour Tucker and his
wife, Emraa Booth Tucker, whose recent tragic
death shocked the whole Christian world.
Forced to give up their coraraand, Coraraander
and Mrs. Booth could not give up their work for
lost and fallen humanity. After some deliberation
they decided to inaugurate a new moveraent which
should be known as the Volunteers of Araerica, with
a less autocratic forra of governraent and along
lines slightly divergent from the work of the Salva
tion Army.
A leading feature in the work of the Volunteers
have been their efforts in behalf of prisoners in
various penal institutions of the country, to which
Mrs. Booth has devoted a great deal of attention.
Hope Halls for prison graduates, as released pris
oners are called, have been instituted in several
places to care for these unfortunates and to provide
for their restoration to society and respectability.

3o6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
While other denominations have developed along
the line of lay activity, the Roman Catholics and
Episcopalians have not been idle, but have sought
the conversion of men by raeans of Missions which
are not dissirailar to revivals. Within recent years
the Parochial Missions Society for the United
States has been organized in the Protestant Episco
pal Church with the Bishop of New York as its
president, and some twenty bishops in various parts
of the country as honorary vice-presidents. At the
present time a staff of more than thirty missioners
is employed for conducting evangelistic raeetings or
missions. Efforts have been made in recent years to enlist
the Sunday Schools in the direct work of evangeliza
tion by means of an annual "Decision Day," when
special efforts shall be raade by officers and teachers
to influence their pupils to decide for Christ and
enter upon the duties of the Christian life. Not
infrequently such efforts are under the supervision
of the pastor, in whose care the young converts are
placed for definite instruction and training in the
Christian life before they are admitted to church
membership. The great revivals of the period, and the various
organized movements for evangelization, have raade
the years 1870-1900 emphatically a revival era. The
work on the whole has not only been quiet and

ORGANIZED MOVEMENTS. 307
orderly, b\it deep and lasting. As the century drew
towards its close, however, there was a dirainishing
number of accessions to the churches, and indica
tions were not wanting that the religious life of the
nation was suffering a decline, but with the efforts
now under way in various denorainations, it is hoped
that the opening years of this new century raay be
characterized by a sweeping revival which shall
greatly increase the usefulness and spiritual power
of the churches.

CHAPTER XVI.
RECENT REVIVALS.
The closing years of the nineteenth century, as
has already been intimated, were characterized by
an apparent decline in the interests of religion. The
churches for the most part were at a standstill ; their
growth for the time being seemed to be arrested,
accessions to merabership were less numerous, while
revivals became less frequent and less powerful. In
1899 the Methodist Episcopal Church, one of the
raost aggressive religious bodies in the country,
actually suffered a net loss of 21,934 raerabers and
probationers. A recognition of these conditions on
the part of the churches led to speedy and earnest
efforts to overcome them.
In February, 1900, Bishops C. H. Fowler, W. X.
Ninde, and I. W. Joyce, acting as a coraraittee on
behalf of the Board of Bishops of the Methodist
Episcopal Church, issued a call to the Church in
which the situation was squarely faced, a ringing
appeal was addressed to ministers and laymen, and
every Methodist was exhorted "to take himself or
herself to prayer to call mightily on God for help."
To the rainisters these words were addressed :
"The Church is questioning about our retreat.

RECENT REVIVALS. 309
We raust answer with the bugle call to the front.
We raust emphasize the old and essential doctrines
of the Bible. We must exhibit sin as the one thing
which God hates, which overwhelms the unrepentant
sinner in irretrievable ruin, against which the ocean
of God's wrath flows forever like a shoreless sea of
fire, from which there is but one escape, and that
through faith in Jesus Christ. Men must be raade
to feel that they are lost and need salvation. They
raust be raade to confront the judgment bar of
Almighty God. They must know that a pardoning
Saviour is only for penitent sinners. The old gospel
that has raade its way through all of the brutality of
heathenisra and through all the conceit and pride
of skeptical philosophy for nineteen centuries has
not lost its power. Give it a chance."
The Church was asked to set apart "the days frora
March 25th to April ist, inclusive, as a season of
fasting or abstinence and prayer."
"We ask you to asserable yourselves in your ac-
custoraed places of worship at least once each day,
humble yourselves before God, worship Him, person
ally lay aside every weight and the easily besetting
sin, and make earnest supplication to Him. We
ask, also, that in your private and family prayers
you will daily implore God's mercy for the revival
of His work of grace in each heart throughout all
our borders."

3IO AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Action on the part of other denominations was
not long deferred. In May, 1901, at the meeting
of the Presbyterian General Assembly in Philadel
phia, a resolution was adopted authorizing the Mod
erator "to appoint a special Committee of Twelve,
to consist of six ministers and six elders, whose duty
it shall be to stimulate the Church in evangelistic
work." In accordance with this resolution the Mod
erator appointed the following Coraraittee on Evan
gelistic work : Elder John H. Converse, Chairman ;
Ministers: George T. Purves, D.D. ; J. Wilbur Chap
raan, D.D. ; W. J. Chichester, D.D. ; S. S. Palraer,
D.D. ; John Balcom Shaw, D.D. ; George P. Wilson,
D.D. ; Elders: John Willis Baer, James I. Buchanan,
S. P. Harbison, E. K. Hackett, Charles S. Holt.
At the triennial National Council of the Congre
gational Churches, held at Des Moines, Iowa, Oc
tober 13-30, 1904, a Committee on Evangelism was
appointed, the object of which was "to promote
evangelism araong the Congregational churches of
America, the bringing of men to a definite decision
for Jesus Christ." Upon this coramittee were ap
pointed Newell Dwight Hillis, Frank W. Gunsaulus,
Charles L. Morgan, Herbert C. Herring, Edward N.
Packard, Don O. Shelton, W. T. McElveen, Edwin
L. House, Francis E. Clark, G. R. Leavitt, and
James W. Fifield.
While action on the part of these various denom-

RECENT REVIVALS. 311
inations no doubt did much to stimulate the churches
to greater activity along evangelistic lines, the most
noteworthy events within recent years in American
evangelism have been the great evangelistic cam
paigns of Torrey and Alexander and later of Chap
man and Alexander. These campaigns have not
been confined to this country alone, but have been
practically world-wide in their scope.
The evangelistic tour of Dr. R. A. Torrey and
Charles M. Alexander, beginning in 1901 and con
tinuing for several years, was the first attempt on
the part of any evangelists at world-wide evangel
ism. Whitefield, Finney, Moody and others labored
both in England and Araerica, but never before had
any great revivalist atterapted to preach "the sarae
gospel to the yellow races of Japan and China, the
mixed population of Australia, and the dark-skinned
natives of India."
Dr. Reuben A. Torrey, with whom this novel and
daring idea originated, was born at Hoboken, New
Jersey, January 28, 1858. He was the son of a
New York banker. It was his ambition in boyhood
to become a lawyer, but it was the hope and prayer
of his mother that he might be a minister of the
gospel. At the age of fifteen he was sent to Yale
University, and for a time he led a decidedly worldly
life ; but at the close of his senior year he made a
public confession of faith in the college chapel, and

312 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
the following fall he entered the theological depart
ment of the university to prepare for the ministry.
During his senior year in theology Mr. Moody visited
New Haven, and a number of the theological stu
dents, including Mr. Torrey, perceiving that Mr.
Moody, though an uneducated raan, knew some
things which they did not, asked him to instruct them
in the art of winning souls. He accordingly ar
ranged a raeeting for the purpose, and after giving
thera a few passages of Scripture, said, "You go
at it. The best way to learn is to go at it. How
to do it is to do it."
On completing his theological course young Tor
rey accepted a call to a little Congregational church
in Garretsville, Ohio. Infidelity was rife in the
town, while denominational strife and jealousies had
weakened the influence of the churches. The heart
of the young pastor was greatly stirred by reading
Finney's Autobiography and Revival Lectures. He
began to pray and work for a revival. He ap
pointed a meeting in his church, but after three
weeks of futile effort he went to the Baptist and
Methodist ministers and persuaded them to unite in
a union raeeting. Soon a raighty revival swept over
the community, the influence of which continued
throughout the reraainder of Mr. Torrey's pastorate.
After spending four years in Garretsville he went
to Gerraany for a year's post-graduate study, di-

RECENT REVIVALS. 313
viding his time between Leipsic and Erlangen, and
studying under such teachers as Delitzsch, Luthardt,
Kahnis, and Frank. Up to this time he had leaned
strongly toward the viewpoint of the "higher criti
cism," but during his studies abroad his views
veered back to the old conservative position.
On returning to America he accepted a call to a
newly organized church in Minneapolis. Through
the reading of George Miiller's "Life of Trust"
Mr. Torrey was influenced to refuse a stated salary
and live entirely by faith. Speaking of this. Dr.
Torrey said, "A number of years ago I was brought
to the place where it seemed my duty to give up my
salary, and give up every means of gaining a liveli
hood, and work for God among the poor, never ask
for raoney, and never tell any raan that I needed a
cent. Every penny I got for the support of my
family and for the support of my work, the light,
the rent, every penny came in answer to prayer."
In the fall of 1889 Mr. Torrey was called to the
superintendency of the Moody Bible Institute at
Chicago. Before the Institute was opened Mr.
Moody was talking one day to Dr. E. M. Williams,
and said, "I wish I knew a raan to take the place of
Superintendent of the Institute. It seems to me to
be the largest thing I have ever undertaken, and '^'^
that it is going to accomplish raore than anything
I have yet been permitted to do." He asked Dr.

314 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Williams if he knew of a suitable man for the
position, and the latter told him of the young min
ister who was living by faith in Minneapolis. He
spoke of him in such glowing terms that Mr. Moody
exclaimed, "You raake ray mouth water for him!"
Mr. Torrey was accordingly invited to the Superin
tendency of the Institute, which he at once accepted.
Four years later he was asked to take the pastor
ate of the Chicago Avenue Church in connection
with his duties at the Institute. By a suitable di
vision of labor with his assistants he was able to do
this and to develop the Chicago Avenue Church into
a great soul-saving center. During the World's
Fair Carapaign in 1893 he was Mr. Moody's right-
hand man, and when Mr. Moody was stricken down
in Kansas City Dr. Torrey, on being telegraphed
for, went and carried on the campaign to a suc
cessful close.
The idea of a world-wide evangelistic tour. Dr.
Torrey believes, came as a direct answer to prayer.
In 1898 or 1899, at the close of the Week of Prayer,
Miss Strong, superintendent of the woman's depart
ment at the Bible Institute, went to Dr. Torrey and
said, "Do you not think that we ought to continue
these prayer-meetings throughout the year, meeting
together one night every week to pray for a world
wide revival?" The question was submitted to the
faculty of the Institute, and met with their unani-

RECENT REVIVALS. 315
raous approval. Every Saturday night frora nine to
ten o'clock, at the close of the Union Bible Class,
this meeting was held. After the prayer-raeetings
had been running a few weeks people would go to
Dr. Torrey and ask, "Has the revival begun?"
"No, not so far as we know." "Well, when is it
coming?" "We do not know." "Ho'w long do
you expect to keep praying?" "Until it comes."
After this general meeting, usually attended by
frora 300 to 400 persons, had been running for some
time. Dr. Torrey and a few of his associates were
so burdened one evening that they tarried for a time
in prayer after the main meeting had been dismissed.
Frora that time on these smaller meetings were con
tinued after the first meeting, sometimes until one
and two o'clock Sunday morning. One night in this
smaller meeting. Dr. Torrey says, "I was suddenly
led to pray that God would send rae around the
world preaching the gospel, and that I raight see
thousands of conversions in China, Japan, Australia,
New Zealand, Tasraania, India, England, Scotland,
Ireland, Gerraany, and Araerica. I remember men
tioning these countries.
"Nothing seemed raore unlikely than this. It
seeraed as if I was tied to Chicago for life by the
Bible Institute and the Chicago Avenue Church. It
seemed as if there was no one to whom I could leave
this work; and yet, when that prayer was done, I

3i6 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
knew that I was going around the world and that
God was going to do great things. The prayer was
not ray own. I was quite taken out of myself as I
prayed, and borne along by the Spirit of God."
About this tirae two strangers. Dr. Warren and
Mr. G. P. Barber, of Melbourne, Australia, visited
the Bible Institute, and after attending the classes
and lectures a few days they went to Dr. Torrey and
said, "When we left Australia we were commis
sioned to visit Keswick and other centers in England
and America and select some raan to invite for a
series of evangelistic meetings in Australia. We
have been at Keswick and elsewhere, and both of
us have decided that you are the raan to invite. Will
you go ?"
Dr. Torrey was unable to see how he could leave
his duties at the Institute. For months he revolved
the matter in his mind. Finally, in October, 1901,
while conducting a Bible conference in St. Louis, he
received a letter from Mr. Barber asking hira to
cable at once that he would corae to Australia and
begin meetings in March of the following year.
After laying it before the merabers of the confer
ence for prayer, and wrestling alone with God about
the matter. Dr. Torrey was impressed that the
call carae frora God, and he cabled that he would
go- He was asked to bring with hira a gospel singer.

RECENT REVIVALS. 317
and after looking the field over he selected as his
associate Charles M. Alexander, a graduate of the
Bible Institute, who for several years had been asso
ciated with Evangelist Milan B. Williams. ^'
Mr. Alexander was born in the hills of Tennessee,
and through a magazine article which he read in his
boyhood he became imbued with the ambition to
become a great chorister and musical conductor.
In his youth he attended Maryville College for a
time, and afterward was appointed Director of
Music in the institution. Most of the students were
professing Christians, but not yet had the future
evangelist consecrated himself to Jesus Christ.
Through the death of his father he was led to
Christ, and he soon abandoned all thoughts of a
secular career. About this time he chanced upon
a copy of Finney's "Autobiography," which he read
and reread with consuming interest. Such was the
impression made by the reading of this volume that
he resolved to become a soul-winner.
Hearing of the Moody Bible Institute about this
time, he decided to attend it to prepare himself more
perfectly for his life's work. While at the Institute
the famous World's Fair Campaign was carried on,
and he was brought into contact not only with Mr.
Moody, but with many of the faraous gospel singers
of the day — Sankey, Stebbins, Towner, Burke, and
others.

3i8 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Upon corapleting his course at the Institute, for
several years he was associated with Rev. M. B.
Williaras, a successful evangelist, who labored
chiefly in Iowa and the adjoining States.
When Dr. Torrey was casting about for some
one to accompany him on his world-wide evangel
istic tour it so happened that Mr. Alexander was
without engagement, his associate, Mr. Williams,
having gone upon a three months' vacation to the
Holy Land. Upon receiving an invitation to accom
pany Dr. Torrey, he finally decided to do so.
Dr. Torrey started on his journey to Australia
before Mr. Alexander, going by way of China and
Japan, where hundreds of converts were made dur
ing this brief visit. Finally the evangelists raet in
Melbourne. On reaching their destination they
found that for twelve years a little group of men had
been praying for a revival. Mrs. Warren, the wife
of one of the men who had visited Chicago, had
read a book by Dr. Torrey on "Prayer," in which
she had come across the phrase "Pray through,"
which so irapressed her that she organized her
friends into "prayer circles." This moveraent grew
until by the tirae the evangelists reached Melbourne
1800 prayer-meetings were being held weekly that
the Spirit of God might be poured out in a raighty
religious quickening.
For two weeks meetings were held by fifty differ-

RECENT REVIVALS. 319
ent ministers and evangelists in fifty different centers
throughout the city, and then for two weeks great
meetings were held in Exhibition Hall, where thou
sands gathered nightly and multitudes were turned
away. During the four weeks that the carapaign
was in progress the naraes of 8,642 persons were
reported to the various churches as having been con
verted in the meetings.
From Melbourne the work spread to other parts
of Australasia, and the evangelists were invited to
conduct campaigns in the chief cities of Australia,
Tasmania, and New Zealand.
The report of the remarkable results accomplished
in these campaigns spread to every part of the
world, and invitations were extended to Messrs.
Torrey and Alexander to conduct similar carapaigns
in the British Isles. Before doing so they spent six
weeks in India, where meetings were conducted in
Madura, Madras, Calcutta, Bombay and Benares.
The hearts of the missionaries in that land were
gladdened and thousands were converted as a result
of this visitation.
From India they sailed to England, where a great
welcome meeting, over which Lord Kinnaird pre
sided, was held in Exeter Hall, London. Following
this meeting the evangelists spent three weeks at
the Mildmay Conference Hall, North London, where
large numbers were converted, and Christians stirred

320 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
to greater activity in the work of saving men.
Thence they proceeded to Edinburgh, Glasgow,
Aberdeen, and Dundee in Scotland; to Belfast and
Dublin in Ireland; to Liverpool, Manchester,
Brighton, Birmingham, Bolton, Cardiff (Wales),
Liverpool, for a second campaign, London and
Oxford. Having completed their work in Great Britain,
Messrs. Torrey and Alexander began their labors
on this continent at Toronto, Canada, in January,
1906. Massey Hall, one of the largest auditoriums
in the city, was secured for the services. Hundreds
were converted and lasting good was accomplished.
After a four weeks' campaign in Toronto the
evangelists went to Philadelphia for the first cam
paign in their native land. Extensive preparations
had been made for this campaign. The entire city
was districted and union prayer-raeetings were held
in each of the forty-three wards. A chorus choir
of three thousand voices was organized, six hundred
only of whom sang nightly, there being room to
accoraraodate no more. Noon meetings were held
at the Academy of Music. During the progress of
the carapaign some five thousand persons professed
conversion. The raonth of May was spent in Atlanta, where
there were raany notable conversions. Messrs. Tor
rey and Alexander went thence to Ottawa, Ontario,

RECENT REVIVALS. 321
for an eighteen-day campaign, in which fifteen hun
dred conversions were reported.
Early in 1908 Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman and Mr.
Charles M. Alexander joined forces to conduct re
vival services in Araerica and elsewhere, their cam
paigns to be known as the Chapraan-Alexander
Simultaneous Mission. Dr. Chapraan had met Mr.
Alexander several years before at a convention in
Bloomington, 111., and saw him capture an audience
in a few rainutes with an old-tirae gospel hyran, and
frora that tirae it had been his desire that they raight
co-operate in evangelistic work.
J. Wilbur Chapraan, to whora some reference has
been made in a preceding chapter, was reared in a
Christian horae, his father being a Presbyterian and
his raother a Methodist. In his boyhood he attended
two Sunday-schools, the Presbyterian in the raorn
ing and the Methodist in the afternoon. One after
noon at the latter a stranger addressed the school
and urged the pupils to confess Christ by rising.
Says Dr. Chapraan, "The most of my class of boys
were standing, and I was saying to rayself, 'Why
should I stand? My mother and father are both
Christians. I think I believe in Christ. For me to
stand is not a necessity,' when suddenly I felt a
touch on my shoulder, and my teacher, Mrs. C. C.
Binckley, was saying, 'Hadn't you better stand?'
And somehow she got her hand under my elbow and

322 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
seeraed to lift rae up. I shall never forget my stand
ing that day. Whether I had been accepted of God
before that day or not I cannot say, but I do know
that the deepest impression of my life was made at
that minute, and, under God, ray Sunday-school
teacher was the channel through which the blessing
came." Although he was thus influenced to take a defi
nite stand for Jesus Christ, he was often beset with
doubts and fears, particularly during his student
days. While he was attending Lake Forest Uni
versity he heard that Mr. Moody was to be in Chi
cago, not raany railes distant, and in corapany with
a friend he went to the city to hear hira. Five times
in a single day he listened with rapt attention to
the great lay evangelist. In Farwell Hall he heard
him preach his serraon on "Sowing and Reaping"
to a great corapany of young men, many of them
students like himself.
When Mr. Moody called for an after-meeting,
young Chapman was among the first to respond.
The great evangelist asked him the source of his
difficulty, and he replied, "I am not sure I am
saved." Moody then asked him to turn to John 5 : 24,
and with trembling lips he read, "Verily, verily, I
say unto you, he that heareth my word, and believ
eth on Him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and
shall not come into condemnation; but is passed

RECENT REVIVALS. 323
from death unto life." Said Moody, "Do you be
heve this?" "Certainly." "Are you a Christian?"
"Sometimes I think I am, and again I am fearful."
"Read the passage again." He did so, and Moody
repeated his question, receiving about the same an
swer as he had before. Then the evangelist seemed
to lose his patience, and asked somewhat sharply,
"Whom, are you doubting?" Suddenly it dawned
upon young Chapman that he was doubting Hira
who had given the proraise of everlasting life to such
as heard His word and believed on the Father who
had sent Hira. Still he was inclined to be skeptical,
when for the third tirae he was asked to read the
passage, after which Mr. Moody said very gently,
"Do you believe this?" and he answered, "Yes, in
deed I do." "Are you a Christian?" "Yes, Mr.
Moody, I am." "From that day," said Dr. Chap
raan, "I have never questioned my acceptance with
God." For five years previous to his coalition with Mr.
Alexander in 1908 Dr. Chapraan had conducted
siraultaneous carapaigns in over fifty American
cities. With the co-operation of a staff of assistant
evangelists, raeetings were conducted siraultaneously
in various centers in each city, so that during the
carapaign the whole coraraunity would be stirred.
In Pittsburgh seven thousand conversions were
reported, in Minneapolis three thousand, while

324 AMERICAN REVIVALS
equally notable results were accomplished else
where. The first Chapman-Alexander Siraultaneous Mis
sion was conducted in Philadelphia. Ten of the
leading denominations co-operated in the movement.
Dr. Chapman called to his assistance many well-
known evangelists, including Dr. W. J. Dawson of
London, England; Dr. Charles W. Gordon (Ralph
Connor), the author, of Winnipeg, Manitoba; Dr.
Jaraes M. Gray, of Chicago; W. E. Biederwolf,
Henry Ostrom, John H. Elliot, L. W. Munhall,
J. W. Mahood, and others. The preparations for
this campaign had been most thorough. The city
was divided into forty-two districts with the purpose
of holding a three weeks' series of meetings in each.
Simultaneous meetings were held in twenty-one of
these districts, beginning March 1 2th. The workers
were transferred April ist to the remaining twenty-
one districts. In each district an experienced evan
gelist had charge, assisted by an evangelistic singer,
a chorus choir, and a band of personal workers.
The largest and most centrally located churches in
the districts were selected for the services.
Noonday raeetings, usually conducted by Dr.
Chapraan and Mr. Alexander, were held in the
Garrick Theater. One night a service was conducted
at the Lyric Theater from ii to 12 p.m., after the
close of the play, by request frora sorae of the actors

RECENT REVIVALS. 325
and actresses. Meetings were held at various places,
in hotels and upon the streets. Mr. and Mrs. Asher,
who had had unusual success along such lines, con
ducted services in saloons and in every disreputable
resort to which they could gain access. The Salva
tion Array, under Coraraander Eva Booth, also co
operated in sorae of the meetings during this cam
paign. One of the results of the mission was the organi
zation by Mrs. Alexander of a Pocket Testaraent
League, every raember of which took a pledge to
make it the rule of his life to read at least one chap
ter of the Bible every day, and to carry with him a
Testament or a Bible wherever he went. The
League has since spread to other cities and now
has a considerable following.
During the first half of the mission Dr. Chapman
preached at Bethany Presbyterian Church, of which
he had forraerly been pastor, and during the latter
half at the Baptist Temple, of which Dr. Russell H.
Conwell is pastor. The services in the various districts
throughout the city, as well as in the centers where
Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander labored, were
largely attended and great numbers were converted.
It was the general consensus of opinion that through
this mission the city of Philadelphia had been visited
with one of the greatest revivals in its history.
Following the Philadelphia campaign the evangel-

326 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ists conducted a two weeks' raission in Norfolk, Va.,
where great crowds gathered nightly at Armory
Hall to hear the preaching and singing of the gospel.
One of the features of the raission in Norfolk was a
children's parade, in which seven thousand teachers
and pupils participated, raarching through the prin
cipal streets of the city to the court-house square,
where Dr. Chapraan and others addressed a crowd of
twelve thousand people.
During the latter part of the summer Messrs.
Chapraan and Alexander went to New York to par
ticipate in the closing meetings of the gospel tent
carapaign which had been conducted by Dr. Arthur
J. Smith and his associates. Meetings were con
ducted in the Tent Evangel, in a Bowery Mission, in
Carnegie Hall and the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian
Church. Following this brief stay in the city a series
of conferences were conducted in Toronto, Canada;
Chicago, 111.; Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio;
Berea, Ky. ; Knoxville, Tenn. ; Brantford and Paris,
Ontario ; and New York City.
The season of 1908- 1909 was spent in Burlington,
Vt. ; Richmond, Va. ; Boston, Springfield and Lynn,
Mass. The raeetings in Burlington were a departure
from previous methods. Instead of confining the
mission to that city, it included the whole of North
ern Verraont. For two weeks Dr. Chapraan and a
corps of twenty assistants conducted simultaneous

RECENT REVIVALS. 327
meetings in ten towns and cities in that section of
the State. Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander labored
in the Armory at Burlington, where Major-General
O. O. Howard was the chairman of the local com
mittee. As a result, the city and the surrounding
country were stirred as they had not been since the
visit of Mr. Moody thirty years before.
At Richmond, Va., all denominations co-operated,
Rev. Dr. Thomas Semraes, of the Episcopal Church,
being the chairman of the coraraittee. Two hundred
cottage prayer-meetings, conducted throughout the
city before the raission began, served to prepare the
way for the revival which followed. The central
meetings were conducted in a huge building which
originally had been used as a market, but which had
been converted into an auditorium for this mission
by the city council at an expenditure of ten thousand
dollars. In Boston, Tremont Temple was crowded nightly
with three thousand people, who flocked to hear
Messrs. Chapman and Alexander. Throughout the
city, even in the far-out suburbs, the meetings in the
¦various districts were thronged. The students in the
theological department of Boston University entered
so heartily and enthusiastically into the spirit of the
campaign, dealing with men personally about the
great concerns of the soul and going out into the
highways and hedges, that the dean of the school

328 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
dismissed its sessions for a week to enable the stu
dents to devote their whole time to the salvation of
raen. Dr. Francis E. Clark, President of the United
Society of Christian Endeavor, compared the revival
to those of Finney and Whitefield. He said, "I re
joice more than words can express in the great
religious awakening that has come to Boston. It is
so sane, so sound, so strong, so full of Christ and
the Christ-spirit, that I thank God that I have lived
to see this day in the city of Boston." So deep and
genuine was the work that the criticism of Unitarians
and Roraan Catholics was silenced. Throughout the
city 990 services were conducted, which were at
tended in the aggregate by 720,000 persons. All
classes were moved and conversions multiplied on
every hand.
Following the Boston carapaign, raissions were
conducted in Lynn and Springfield, Mass. After
their labors in these cities Dr. Chapraan and Mr.
Alexander, accompanied by a corps of assistants,
started upon a world-wide evangelistic tour. Brief
conferences were held in Minneapolis, Winnipeg,
and Vancouver, whence they sailed, March 26, for
Austraha, via Hawaii and the Fiji Islands. Two
great meetings were held at Honolulu, where the
boat stopped a few hours. A stop was also made at
Suova, in the Fiji Islands. In Australia missions
were held at Melbourne, Sydney, and elsewhere.

RECENT REVIVALS. 329
Frora Australia the evangelists proceeded to Shang
hai, China, making brief stops en route at Manila
and Hong Kong. A ten days' mission was con
ducted in Shanghai, which reached a large nuraber
of business and professional raen. Nanking, Peking,
Tientsin, and other Chinese cities were visited. Sail
ing to Korea, they visited Pyeng Yang and Seoul,
whence they went to Japan, where raost of their
tirae was spent in Tokio. Wherever Dr. Chapraan
and his assistants went evangelistic raeetings were
conducted both for the natives and for English-
speaking foreigners. These raeetings served as a
great irapetus and inspiration to the missionaries in
those lands. From Japan Dr. Chapman and his
party returned to this country via Vancouver. Since
then Dr. Chapman and Mr. Alexander have con
tinued their work in this and other countries.
During the early years of the twentieth century
numerous other evangelists have been active in this
country, including Dr. W. J. Dawson and "Gipsy"
Smith, both frora England. Dr. Dawson, whose
message appeals particularly to the educated and
cultured, was for a number of years pastor of the
Highbury Quadrant Church, London, but becoraing
deeply imbued with the evangelistic spirit, and being
invited to this country by Newell Dwight Hillis and
others, he was led to relinquish his pastoral labors
and enter upon the work of evangelism.

330 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
The life of Rodney Smith is full of romantic in
terest. He was born in a gipsy tent and spent most
of his early life in a gipsy wagon. He never went to
school a day in his life, and at the time of his con
version could neither read nor write. By self-discip
line he has acquired a graphic and forceful use of
the Anglo-Saxon which rivals that of John Bunyan.
After laboring for a time in WiUiara Booth's "Chris
tian Mission," which developed into the Salvation
Army, he became an independent evangelist and has
been greatly blessed in his labors. Although labor
ing separately and appealing, perhaps, to greatly
different classes. Dr. Dawson and "Gipsy" Smith
have labored acceptably in numerous American
cities, and multitudes have been stirred by their pre
sentation of the gospel.
Rev. W. A. Sunday, or "Billy" Sunday as he is
better known, has labored through the Middle West.
He was formerly a baseball player in the National
League team of Chicago, but one Sunday afternoon
with two or three companions he paused for a few
moments to listen at an open-air meeting conducted
by Harry Monroe and a band of workers from the
Pacific Garden Mission. As he sat on a curbstone,
to the impressions made by the testimonies of men
who had been rescued from lives of sin were added
the memories of a mother's prayers, and when an
invitation was given for any one who wanted prayer

RECENT REVIVALS. 331
to raise the hand he jumped to his feet and said,
"Pray for rae!" When the prayer was ended he
said, "God helping rae, from to-day I will give my
heart to Jesus Christ and live for Him." Not long
afterward he gave up baseball and entered the evan
gelistic field. For a time he was associated with
Dr. J. Wilbur Chapman, and later with M. B.
Williams and his co-laborer, Charles M. Alexander,
but for several years past he has labored indepen
dently. He is often criticised for his sensational
methods and his "slangy" expressions, but judged by
the results of his labors, few men have been raore
successful than he in reaching raen, and especially
sin-hardened raen, with the message of the gospel.
Under his labors thousands have been converted,
communities have been revolutionized, and in many
places saloons have been voted out and obliged to
discontinue their business. Whatever may be the
opinion of men as to the raethods of "Billy" Sunday,
the results which have been accoraplished through
his instrumentality are above criticism.
Of the many evangelists who have labored during
this period mention can only be made of Henry
Ostrom, W. E. Biederwolf, Fred B. Sraith, Ford
C. Ottman, Arthur J. Smith, James M. Gray, C. H.
Yatman, Major J. H. Cole, L. W. Munhall, John H.
Elliot, J. W. Mahood, French E. Oliver, Tillraan
Hobson, J. W. Fifield, Harold F. Sayles, Milford

332 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
H. Lyon, H. C. Hart, Frank A. Miller and Robert
L. Layfield.
Earnest efforts have not been wanting, but pres
ent-day evangelisra is often criticised for the fewness
of its converts and the smallness of the attendance
on the part of the unconverted. Great meetings have
been held, but the attendance has been made up
chiefly of professed Christians. Whether these con
ditions are the result of too great dependence upon
machinery and too little dependence upon the Divine
Spirit, as Dr. A. T. Pierson and others have inti
mated, or whether it is because "the cares of this
world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts
of other things" have so preoccupied the minds of
men that they will not hearken to the gospel, cannot
here be discussed. It should be observed that nura
bers are not the decisive factor in revivals. More
over the revivals at the beginning of the twentieth
century are too close at hand to be studied in their
true perspective. If these revivals, even though the
nurabers converted may be proportionately smaller
than in some of the revivals of the past, shall have
left the churches with a deeper and raore abiding
faith in God, if they shall have a raore hopeful out
look for the evangelization of the world, if men shall
have been stirred by a more consuming passion for
righteousness and the moral uplift of their fellows,
then these revivals will not have been in vain.

CHAPTER XVII.
FORWARD MOVEMENTS.
The test of any revival is not so much the number
of conversions, which are the firstfruits of the re
vival, as it is the after effects, which continue through
the years that follow. Any true revival will result
in a quickening of the Church, which gives a new
impetus to all lines of religious activity. The great
revivals with which our country has been blessed
have left behind them lasting effects for good, and
in reality have constituted epochs in the life of the
Church. The revivals which have visited the vari
ous sections of this country during the opening years
of the twentieth century afford no exception to this
general principle. During these years there has been
a quickening in the activities of the Church, which is
now bringing forth results that seem destined to be
far-reaching in their scope and significance. How
close raay be the relationship between these new
activities and the revivals described in the preceding
chapter cannot easily be determined. Whether the
direct products of the revivals or not, two move-

334 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
ments ha^ye originated in the quickened religious
life of the time which have been exercising a wide
influence, viz : The Laymen's Missionary Movement
and The Men and Religion Forward Movement.
The interdenominational Laymen's Missionary
Moveraent was launched in 1906. It has had as its
purpose the stiraulating of raen in the various re
ligious denominations to greater interest and greater
activity along missionary lines. J. Campbell White,
the Secretary of the Movement, speaking of the re
sults at the Christian Conservation Congress held
in New York, April, 191 2, said:
"We have found that raen can be interested and
enlisted in missionary work if they are approached
in the right way. We have also discovered that mul
titudes of men are glad to have some worth-while
work to do in the Church. Some hundreds of thou
sands of these men have been appointed as merabers
of the raissionary coraraittees in their own churches.
These coraraittees undertake to get an adequate mis
sionary policy into actual operation. In a multitude
of cases they have succeeded in making their
churches do frora two to ten tiraes as ranch for mis
sions as they have ever done before.
"The total increase during the past five years in
contributions to home and foreign missions has not
been less than $25,000,000. At the sarae tirae the
current revenues of the churches have been more

FORWARD MOVEMENTS. 335
easily and adequately provided for. The raovement
has led to the adoption of more thorough systera
in all church finance. The nuraber of systeraatic
contributors is also being raultiplied, for higher
standards of stewardship are being widely accepted.
A ranch larger proportion of laymen are becoraing
active in Christian service. The faith of many men
is being strengthened in the power of Christ to meet
all the needs of the world. The moveraent has also
done much to develop the spirit of co-operation and
unity among the various churches, and there is a
place in the active work of the Laymen's Missionary
Moveraent for every raan at this Congress."
Even broader in its scope and purpose has been
the Men and Religion Forward Moveraent, the aira
of which was to arouse the raen of the churches to
greater activity along all lines of religious work.
No new or perraanent organization was contem
plated, but an answer was sought to the problem,
"How can more raen be brought into the Church,
and how can those who are in the Church be aroused
to such activity that we shall have a raighty crusade
that will result in making this a better world?"
The Men and Religion Forward Movement,
which has been thoroughly loyal to the Church, orig
inated in a conviction on the part of the leaders of
several organizations of Christian men that the time
had come for more aggressive efforts by the men

336 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
of this generation to reach the raen and boys who
were around thera. On May i8, 19 lo, representa
tives of these organizations met in a hotel in New
York City. After spending a full day in delibera
tion and prayer, a committee representing various
churches and organizations was appointed to for
mulate and proceed in the development of plans for
the launching of a great raoveraent. This coraraittee
raet for two days at Niagara Falls in August. As
a result of their deliberations, based upon a wide
consultation and correspondence, a conference was
called to raeet at Buffalo in October. This confer
ence, lasting two days, was attended by 262 dele
gates, who carae at their own expense and who rep
resented 72 cities and 33 States and Provinces of
North America. The following organizations par
ticipated : The International Young Men's Christian
Association, The International Sunday-school Asso
ciation, The Gideons, The Brotherhood of Andrew
and Philip, and the denominational brotherhoods
of the Baptist, Congregational, Episcopal, Lutheran,
Methodist, Presbyterian and United Presbyterian
Churches, the Disciples of Christ and the United
Brethren. At this conference a general plan of campaign
was outlined and a "Coraraittee of Ninety-seven"
was forraed, consisting of representative men from
all communions and from all parts of the United

FORWARD MOVEMENTS. ill
States and Canada. To this committee ¦was given
the responsibility for a great campaign, which was
to cover the entire continent.
In carrying out the progrararae of the Men and
Religion Forward Movement the churches of all de
norainations throughout the country were asked to
set apart three days to the movement, viz : Sunday,
June 1 8, 191 1, as Recognition Day, in which the
aim and purpose of the moveraent should be ade
quately set forth; Sunday, September 24, 191 1,
Rally Day, when efforts were to be made to secure
the co-operation of the men and boys in churches,
Sunday-schools, Brotherhoods and other organiza
tions in the movement; and Sunday, April 28, 191 2,
Conservation Day, when the results of the year's
work were to be gathered up and plans made for
the future.
Between Septeraber 24th and April 28th in some
seventy cities conferences or conventions lasting
seven days each were held. These conferences were
under the general direction of Evangelist Fred B.
Smith, who had been chosen leader of the movement.
To conduct these conferences three teams of experts
on Boys' Work, Bible Study, Evangelism, Social
Service and Missions were sent out. The morning
and afternoon sessions of* the conventions were de
voted to conferences on the subjects enumerated,
while the evenings were given over to platform

338 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
meetings, five such meetings being held, one each on
the various subjects, in different sections of the con
vention city. To each city, moreover, was committed
the task and responsibility of doing for the sur
rounding country what the Committee of Ninety-
seven was doing for the whole continent. At the
Conservation Congress it was reported that there had
been at these various conferences a total attendance
of 1,492,645 persons, 7,062 meetings had been held,
8,332 addresses given, 6,349 persons interviewed,
26,280 men and boys definitely committed to per
sonal service, and 7,580 men and boys committed to
allegiance to Jesus Christ.
Besides these conferences, which were designed
largely to be inspirational in character, with the pur
pose of arousing men to greater activity in religious
work, comraissions were appointed to gather statis
tics and make a carefuf study along the lines of
Publicity, Boys' Work, Evangelism, the Rural
Church, Social Service, Missions, Bible Study, and
Christian Unity.
So far as its existence as a propaganda was con
cerned the Men and Religion Forward Moveraent
was brought to a close by the Christian Conservation
Congress which asserabled in Carnegie Hall, New
York City, April 19, 1912, attended by 1,338 dele
gates from 453 cities and 36 different States.
The commissions which had been appointed raade

FORWARD MOVEMENTS. 339
their reports at this time. Mr. George W. Coleman,
President of the Associated Advertising Clubs of
America, reported for the Publicity Commission,
Rev. Charles W. Gilkey on Boys' Work, Dr. John
T. Stone on Evangelism, Henry Wallace, of Wal
lace's Farm Journal, on the Rural Church, Dr.
Henry S. Coffin on Social Service, Dr. Robert E.
Speer on Missions, President Ozora S. Davis, of
Chicago Theological Seminary, on Bible Study, and
Bishop Hendrix on Christian Unity.
At this Congress a notable series of addresses was
delivered by representative men frora different parts
of the country. Hon. WiUiara Jennings Bryan, the
great Coraraoner, and Mr. John Macdonald, of the
Toronto Globe, spoke on "Christianity and Govern-
raents," Booker T. Washington and ex-Governor
Northen of Georgia on "The Negro Problera," Con-
gressraan Richmond P. Hobson on "The Church and
Temperance," John Mitchell on "The Labor Prob
lera," Jane Addams of Hull House, Chicago, on
"The Social Evil," Professor Edward A. Steiner
on "Iraraigration," John R. Mott and J. Campbell
White on "Foreign Missions," and Dr. Talcott
Williams on "Journalism." Gipsy Smith preached
an evangelistic sermon and Dr. J. H. Jowett brought
the Congress to a close with a sermon on "Thy
Kingdom Come."
As a movement the Men and Religion Forward

340 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
Movement already is a thing of the past, but the
fruits of it are bound to appear in the years that are
to come. Fred B. Smith, leader of the movement,
at the closing raeeting of the Congress said, "If the
Church of this country does not do the raost wonder
ful things in the next ten years it will be the Church's
own fault." To the Brotherhoods of the various de
nominations, to the Federal Council of the Church
of Christ in America, to the International Sunday-
school Association, to the International Young
Men's Christian Association, and to other organiza
tions has been committed the definite task of work
ing out the practical plans and purposes of this move
ment. What the ultimate results may be no raan is
able to forecast, but as we look forward into the
coming years the future seeras bright with proraise
and all indications point to the enlargement and ex
pansion of the Redeemer's kingdom among men.
That this indeed may be realized is the earnest prayer
of every devout Christian heart.

CHAPTER XVIII.
CONCLUSION.
What lessons, if any, are to be derived for com
ing revivals from the revivals of the past? In all
true religious awakenings are to be found elements
which are permanent, while others are but the
products of the occasion. What seeras to meet the
requirements of one age, apparently is of little value
in influencing the next. For example during the
Great Awakening preaching was the chief raeans
relrecl upon for the conversion of raen, but in the
Great Revival of 1857 union prayer jneetings only
seemed to be necessary to reach men with the influ
ences of the gospel, while in the later phases of
revival work, the raost perfect organization and the
mostjgerfectIy~^Taniied~Tampaigns have been the
methods best suited to accomplish the results desired.
There are, however, certain elements of perma
nency which have been characteristic of all true revi
vals from Pentecost down to the present tirae. An
analysis of the great revivals of history shows these
eleraents to be Prayer, the Outpouring of the Holy
Spirit, and the Presentation of the Grospel.
I. Prayer. The first great revival of the Chris-

342 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
tian era was preceded by a ten days' raeeting of
prayer. Of the disciples we are told that "these all
with one accord continued stedfastly in prayer," in
consequence of which "they were all filled with the
Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues
as the Spirit gave them utterance." As a result we
are informed : "there were added unto them in that
day about three thousand souls. And they con
tinued stedfastly in the apostles' teaching, and fel
lowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
"And the Lord added to them day by day those that
were being saved."
Every true revival is preceded by its Pentecost.
It is possible to have revivals without preaching,
without churches, and without ministers, but with
out prayer a genuine revival is impossible. The
great revival at the Kirk of Shotts, in Scotland, when
five hundred were converted under a single sermon
by John Livingstone on the ist of June, 1630, was
preceded by a night of prayer. Whitefield and Ed
wards, the leading lights of the Great Awakening,
were mighty men in prayer. Of the former it was
said: "He triumphed in the pulpit, because he
triuraphed at a throne of grace. He was a powerful
preacher, because he was a powerful supplicator."
Edwards' celebrated sermon at Enfield, "Sinners in
the Hands of an Angry God," was said to have been
preceded by a whole night of prayer on the part of a

CONCLUSION. 343
few faithful disciples. In some portions of the
country, the Awakening of 1800 was prepared for
by days of fasting and prayer. The Revival of 1857
coraraenced with the prayers of a hurable layman,
while the secret of success in the lives of Finney and
Moody is attributable to prevailing prayer. Of his
own experience Finney said: "Unless I had the
spirit of prayer I could do nothing. If even for a
day or an hour I lost the spirit of grace and supplica
tion, I found myself unable to preach with power
and efficiency, or to win souls by personal conversa
tion." II. The Outpouring of the Holy Spirit. It is this
which qualifies the worker, which gives force and
unction to his utterance, which strangely softens the
hearts of men and prepares their minds for the recep
tion of the truths of the gospel. The gift of the
Spirit is needed for :
(a) The offering of an acceptable prayer for a
revival. "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our in-
firraities ; for we know not what we should pray for
as we ought; but the Spirit hiraself raaketh inter
cession for us with groanings which cannot be
uttered." (b) The presentation of the truths of the gospel.
"And I was with you in weakness, and in fear, and
in much trembling. And my speech and my preach
ing was not with the enticing words of man's wis-

344 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
dom, but in demonstration of the Spirit and of
power ; that your faith should not stand in the wis
dom of men, but in the power of God."
(c) The conviction of sin. "And when he is
come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of
righteousness, and of judgment."
The Spirit usually works through huraan instru
mentalities, and it is necessary therefore that the
church or sorae part of the church should receive the
divine anointing that it may successfully accom
plish its raission in reaching and saving the lost.
Before Jesus left them, he gave comraandraent to
his disciples : "But tarry ye in the city of Jerusa
lera, until ye be endued with power frora on high."
This gift of power was to accorapany the advent of
the Holy Spirit. Pentecost and its consequences
witness eloquently to the effects of that power.
Through the gift of the Spirit, the disciples who had
faltered at the betrayal of their Lord were made
strong and becarae treraendously effective in their
work for the evangelization of the world.
If these disciples who for three years had sat at
the feet of Jesus and learned from him the secrets of
success in winning men, needed the baptism of the
Holy Spirit, it were folly for others to hope for suc
cess in the work of saving souls without seeking that
same gift of power which is the accompaniment of
the indwelling of the Holy Spirit.

CONCLUSION. 345
III. The Presentation of Gospel Truth. The doc
trines of retribution, repentance, regeneration, God's
love for a sinning world, his willingness to save,
faith in Jesus Christ as a Saviour, and related
themes must be brought vividly before the minds of
men. This raay be done by preaching alone, as was
the case during the Great Awakening; by personal
work, the distribution of tracts, and personal testi
raony, as was largely the case during the Revival of
1857; or it may be a combination of these various
methods with house-to-house visitation, the service
of song, the free use of the public press, etc., as has
been done with such eminent success in the lay move
ment in revivals. Whatever may be the raethod,
there must be the presentation of the gospel of
Christ, which "is the power of God unto salvation to
every one that believeth."
Christ gave commandment to his disciples : "Go
ye into all the world and preach the gospel to every
creature." Said the Apostle Paul : "Whosoever
shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.
How then shall they call on him in whora they have
not believed? and how shall they believe in him
whora they have not heard ? and how shall they hear
without a preacher?" One thing is essential — the
gospel must be preached, whether it is done frora
the sacred desk, or in a private conversation, or by
a hyran appropriately rendered, or through the

346 AMERICAN REVIVALS.
printed page. If men are ever to be converted the
claims of the gospel must be enforced, "not with the
enticing words of man's wisdom, but in the demon
stration of the Spirit and of power."
These three elements. Prayer, the Outpouring of
the Holy Spirit, and the Presentation of Gospel
Truth, constitute the invariable characteristics of all
true revivals frora Pentecost to the present tirae. It
is safe to presurae therefore that there never will be
revivals of any great value to the Church of Christ,
without relying upon these conditions which seera to
be indispensable.
It has been asserted that revivals are but tera-
poral phenomena of religious life, and must ulti
mately pass away. If we believe in the final triumph
of the kingdom, it follows that there will come a
time when revivals will no longer be necessary.
But while there is a single impenitent child of God,
revivals in some form or other will be a necessity for
bringing such into the fold of Christ. Methods
which, as we have seen, do not constitute the perma
nent eleraents in revivals, must change, in fact are
changing, so that revivals as we now know them
may pass away, but with the passing of the old
\ newer and better methods will be devised, so that
revivals in sorae forra or another will survive so
I long as there are lost raen whora it is possible to
bring under the influences of the gospel.

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Albright, Jacob
Alexander, Archibald
Alexander, Charles M.
Amercan Bible Society .
American Tract Society .
Andrews, Emerson .
Anxious Seats
Army Churches
Army and Navy Christian Commission
Asbury, Francis
Austin College
Awakening of 1800 .

47, 97.

Baker, Daniel ....
Bancroft, George, quoted .
Bangs, Nathan
Baptists, the . . -65, 68,
Baptist Young People's Union .
Barnes, Albert
Baxter, George A., quoted
Beecher, Lyman
Bible Institute, the .
Blair, Samuel ....
Bliss, P. P. .
Boehme, Martin
Booth, Ballington
Booth, Mrs. Maude Chariesworth
Booth, William
Boston, revivals at . 39, 41, 85, 143,
Bowman, E. B., quoted .
Brainerd, David
Brooklyn, revivals at
Brunson, Alfred, quoted .
Buckley, J. M. .
Buell, Samuel .
Burchard, Jedediah .

73

Call to Methodist Churches
Calvin, John .

PAGE
. 209

83.

311,317-329 . los
. 105, 242
. 176
147, 161, 173, 196, 2sr
. 247-249
. 284, 285
• 75,76,190-192 ¦ IS9
,84-107, 182,211, 343

. 156-160 . 186
. 183
, 93, loi, 163, 164, 177, 178
. 302
. 161
. 95
78, 136, 137, 142, 143, 161
279, 280, 284, 313, 314
30,44, 46
. 274, 27s
. 207
• 304, 305
• 304, 305
202, 302, 304
ISS, 169, 201, 225, 272, 327
. 184
. . 67
. 222, 268
. 188
. 196
• 66, 73
. 161

308 7

347

348

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

Calvinism ....
Cambridge Platform
Campbell, Alexander and Thomas
Camp Meetings
Cane Ridge, Ky., revival at
Carnival of Crime .
Cartwright, Peter .
Caughey, James
Chapman, J. Wilbur
Chapman-Alexander Simultaneous
Chauncey, Charles .
Chicago, revivalsat .
Christian Commission
Church and State .
Circuit Preaching .
Civil War, the
Clark, Francis E. . . .
Clary, Abel ....
Coke, Thomas ....
Congregationalists . _ .
Cumberland Presbyterians

10, 47, io8, 117, 148, 160,
¦ 12,

98, 192-194,

284,
Mission

64, 68,

195, 199,
202, 203,
293, 294, 321

241,

102,

226,
, 254, 261,
10, 11,68,
i86, 188,
238, 239, 24off, 261
299,

106, io8, 161,
. 209-

163 16
178
210 93
253 203
224
-329 321 S8
271297 102
210
¦263 300 143190
310
211

Dartmouth College  68, 72, 100
Davenport, James  S5-S7, ii3
Davjdson, E. E  295
Davis, Samuel  46
Davvson, Dr. W. J  324, 329
Decision Day in the Sunday School  306
Dewitt, H. G  295
Dexter, M. H., quoted  13
Dickinson, Jonathan  29, 44
Disciples of Christ  gi, 178-180
Doctrines preached in revivals
24, 39, 48, 97, 98, 148, 173, 198, 288, 345, 346
Dow, Lorenzo  201
—Dwight, Timothy  78,88,89,100, iii
Earle, A. B  . . . 250, 251
East Hampton, Long Island, revivals at . . . 66, 73
Edwards, Jonathan . . . 18,20-29,48-51,58,61-63, 342
Elizabethtown, revival at  29
Embury, Philip  74, 75
Episcopalians  66, 68, 205, 306
Epworth League, the  301, 302
Evangelical Assoication  208, 209
Evangelists  43,85,96,110,181,230

INDEX OF SUBJECTS 349
Exodus, the  2
Ezra  3
Fanaticism in the Great Awakening . . . 53-57
Finney, Charles G. . . . 110-150,169,201,225,231,343
Franklin, Benjamin, quoted  37
Frelinghuysen, Theodore  20
French and Indian War  71
French Infidelity  77,78-81,88,99, 100
Gillies, John, quoted  36
"Gipsy" Smith  329, 330
Goodwin, E. P., quoted  271, 272
Great Awakening, the, 19, 20-71, 103, 104, 234, 238, 308, 312
Green, Ashbel, quoted  79
Griffin, E. D  86-88
Half-Way Covenant . . . 11,13,16,17,61,102, no
Hammond, E. P  252
Hampden Sydney College, revival at . . . .84
Hanover, Va., revival at . . . . . . .44
Harrison, Thomas ........ 277
Harvard College  16,38, 60
Heck, Barbara  74
Holy Spirit in revivals, the  343, 346
Hopkins, Samuel  40
Inquiry Meetings  47,117,161,251289
Jarratt, Devereaux  66, 81
Jerks, the  ¦ -195
Jones, Sam . _  295
Journalism, religious  107
King George's War  7i
King Philip's War  I4
Kirk, E. N. . . . 5,110,152-156,170,172,201,256
Knapp, Jacob  164-173, 201
Lanphier, Jeremiah  2i8ff
Laymen, in revivals .... 230,237, 253, 254
Layman's Missionary Movement .... 334, 335
Lee, Mass., revival at  85
"Local preachers"  i°7
Logan County, Ky., revivals in ... . 90-93
Log College, the  3i,4S, 68
Lyme, Connecticut, revival at  42, S3

350

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

McGranahan, James C  275
McGready, James ....... 91, 210
Mcllvaine, Bishop, quoted .... 205, 229, 235
McNeil, John  284
Mather, Cotton  16
Mather, Increase . . . . . . . I7, 57
Men and Religion Forward Movement . . . 335-340
Methodists, the . 32, 74-77, 81, 90, 93, loi, 183-204, 208, 308
Millerism  176, 214
Mills, B. Fay  290-293
Mills, Samuel J  104, iii, 184
Missions  306
Missions, Foreign  frj, 104
Missions, Home  67, 105
Moody, Dwight L  156, 237, 255-289
Morris, Samuel  45
Mount Hermon School  278
Munhall, L. W  275,276,324, 331
"Narrative of Surprising Conversions" . . .29, 49
Nash, "Father"  129
Nettleton, Asahel  110-117,136, 176
New Brunswick, N. J., revival at  20
New England, church life in the early .... 9
-New Haven, revivals at . . . . . 40, 42, 169
New Lebanon Convention ..... 137, 144
New Londonderry, Pa., revival at . . . .29, 53
New York, revivals at
36, 66, 139, 143, 168, 194, 202, 22off, 269, 270
Noon Prayer Meetings _. . . 220, 224, 225, 231, 260
Northampton, Mass., revival at . . . 21,24-28, 51
Northfield Christian Workers' Conference . . . 278

Northfield Seminary
Oberlin College
Occum, Samson
Otterbein, Philip W.
Panic of 1857 . -
Parker, Joel
Parker, Orson .
Parsons, Jonathan
Payson, Edward
Pentecost, a revival
Pentecost, George F.
Philadelphia, revivals at

278

146, 150, 151
. 67
206, 208
. 216
. 161
. 161
43,51, 57
. 161
• 4
¦ 273
37, 138, 224, 236, 268, 269, 324, 325

42,

INDEX OF SUBJECTS

351

Physical effects, 30, 42, 43, 49, SO, 54, 9i, 92, 95, 103, I9S-I97
' Plan of Union"  108, 109
Pocket Testament League  325
Pratt, S. H. . .  29s
Prayer in revivals, 47, 97, 99, 125, 129, 131, 134, 143, 220, 227,
229, 231, 232, 251, 288, 318, 320, 341-343
Presbyterians . . 45, 46, 61, 65, 68, ^i, 85, 90, 108, 161, 310
Presiding eldership  189
Prince, Thomas, quoted  41
Princeton College  68, 72, 79, 157
Puritan revival, the ......... 7
Randall, Benjamin ......... 63
Reformation, a revival, the ..... 5, 6
Reformation in England, the ... . 6, 7
Reforming Synod, the  15, 16
Religious declension
8, 9, 13, 17, 18, 19, n, 81, 82, 83, 94, 204, 215, 253, 307, 308
Religious destitution at the commencement of the nine
teenth century  182-185
Religious toleration  68, 69
Revival conventions ..... 226,227, 269
Revival in the Southern Army  243-250
Revival measures, 47,96,97,117,147,173,229,231,232,233,254, 288, 289 290-292, 341, 345
Revival of 1857 162, 212, 213-239, 250, 254, 260, 297, 341, 343, 345
Revivals defined ........ i
Revivals during the Revolutionary War
Revivals in Great Britain
Revivals, permanent elements in

Revolutionary War, the
Rice, David, quoted .
Robinson, William .
Rochester, great revival at
Roman Catholics
Salvation Army
Sankey, Ira David .
Slavery .
Spring, Gardiner, quoted
Stebbins, George C. .
Stiles, Ezra
Stoddard, Solomon .
Stone, B. W. .
Sunday, Rev. W. A.

72-77
228, 265-268
. 341-346
46, 47, (£, 69, 70, 71-83, 238
. 102
. 31, 45
I39ff, i6i
. 306
. 302-305
264, 26sff
103, 204, 213, 240
. 104, 20s
• 273, 275
. . 64
18, 20, 2?,
.9iff
¦ 330

352 INDEX OF SUBJECTS
Sunday Schools  103,235,237, 306
Swan, Jabez  174-176
Taylor, William  203
Tennent, Gilbert .... 20,37,40,41,42,45, 55
Tennent, William  3i, 40, 46
"Testimonies" on the Great Awakening . . .58, 59
Theological education  106
Torrey, R. A  279,285,311-321
Union Gospel Meetings  273
Unitarians  102, 144, 226, 272, 292
United Brethren in Christ  206
Van Cott, Mrs. Maggie  295
Volunteers of America  305
Walker, Jesse, quoted  184
Waterbury, Jared  153
Washingtonian Temperance Movement .... 167
Wesley, Charles  33, 34
Wesley, John  29, 34
Wharton, H. M  284, 295
Wheelock, Eleazer  43, 67, 69
White, J. Campbell  334
Whitefield, George, 23, 31-41, 60, 61, 63, 66, 68, 74, 8s, 109, 342
Whittle, D. W  268,273,275, 285
World-Wide Evangelism .... 314-316, 318-321
Yale College . . 22,23,40,60,72,78,88,89,100,111,169
Yatman, C. H  295, 331
Young, Jacob, quoted . . _  183
Young Men's Christian Association
224, 235, 237, 241, 254, 261, 262, 284, 28s, 296-298
Young People's Society of Christian Endeavor, 298-301, 302
Young Women's Christian Association .... 298

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