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An interesting subject; connected with the history of practical godliness,
is the recurrence of reviving power after long seasons of deadness. Occasions
of this kind are most noticeable when confined to particular churches
or counties; but they are more wonderful when they occur in churches and
counties widely apart. It seems, on such occasions, as if the voice of
the Bridegroom were heard, saying to the church at large, "Rise up,
my love, my fair one, and come away; for, lo, the winter is past, the
rain is over and gone: the flowers appear on the earth; the time of the
singing of birds is come, and the voice of the turtle is heard in our
land; the fig tree putteth forth her green figs, and the vines with the
tender grape give a good smell. Arise, my love, my fair one, and come
away." (Cant. 2:10-13) About the end of the seventeenth and
beginning of the eighteenth century most of the churches, whether in the
United Kingdom or the American colonies, were in a comparatively low state.
Arianism and Deism prevailed in England. In Scotland, the old style of
preaching was being fast laid aside, and cold formal addresses, verging
towards a kind of Socinianism, were becoming fashionable. Old Mr. Hutchison,
minister of Kilellan, in Renfrewshire, who saw but the beginning of this
progress, used to say to Wodrow the historian: "When I compare the
times before the restoration with those since the revolution, I must own
that the young ministers preach accurately and methodically; but there
was far more of the power and efficacy of the Spirit and of the grace
of God went along with sermons in those days than now. For my own part
(all the glory be to God), I seldom set my foot in a pulpit in those days,
but I had notice of some blessed effects of the word." The Arianism
of England was carried to the North of Ireland, and finding a state of
feeling suited to its reception, it took root and grew up so as to characterize
a distinct section of the presbyterian church, arid now distinguished
by the name of the Remonstrant Synod. The south and west of Ireland were
subjected to a blight not less withering, though of a different kind,
and which continued much longer--continued, to a great extent, throughout
the whole of the last century. The following extract is from a letter
now before us, written in 1838 by a highly honoured servant of God in
the Irish establishment, and who, perhaps more than any one else, is able
to speak of what God has since done in these parts: "The state of
the south and west of Ireland is very peculiar. The counties have twice
changed their landholders. In the time of Cromwell and of king William
there were forfeitures, and these continued till the reign of George I.
The principal lands were given to military officers and soldiers connected
with the two armies; but some of the estates were purchased by English
adventurers--all, however, protestants. In some places the original land
tenants were driven out, in others they were allowed to remain, but nearly
all the original proprietors went to the continent, most of them to France.
The gentry were now all soldiers, and utterly regardless about religion
education, morality, or anything tending to the instruction or improvement
of the people. They gave themselves to sporting and carousing, leading
a kind of half-savage life. Many noblemen and gentlemen rose above this;
but as their manners got more refined, they generally went to England,
leaving the country at the disposal of mere foxhunters, few of them remaining
longer than during the sittings of the Irish parliament. As agriculture
extended, benefices became more valuable, unions were multiplied, and
large districts of country were in consequence severally placed under
one clergyman. The clergy were usually all sons of the gentry, and accustomed
to their sporting, drinking, and riotous habits. They had no preparation
for ministerial duties but a college degree; and no education, either
literary or moral, which had not been obtained among wild young men at
college. According to the interest which they happened to have, they passed
at once from college to ministerial charges, and again mixed in all the
dissipation of the districts where these lay. Ignorant of the truth, they
and their congregations were satisfied with some short moral discourse.
The people were very generally as ignorant of the Scriptures and Scripture
truth as the inhabitants of Hindostan. The priests were meanwhile at work
among the people, and they had many helping them. The sick and dying were
watched; their fears were wrought upon. They were told of the power which
the priests had--of the influence possessed by the Virgin, and much about
the OLD CHURCH; and as soon as any seemed to give way, on whatever point
the priest was sent for--he plied them anew, and seldom failed in succeeding
with the poor ignorant people. They were now ready to receive absolution;
but he had farther conditions to propose. The whole family must submit
to be rebaptized, or at least promise to attend mass; and this, also,
was not infrequently gained--the protestant clergyman being all the while
at a distance, neither knowing nor caring much about what was going on.
In this way more than two-thirds of the lower and middle classes of protestants
went over to the church of Rome. Throughout whole districts our churches
were almost emptied, and many in country places were allowed to fall into
ruins." In New England, the visitation of barrenness was much
more of the kind common to most of the other countries, and its continuation
was, like theirs, temporary. Dr. Increase Mather, writing towards the
end of the seventeenth century, says: "Prayer is necessary on this
account that conversions have become rare in this age of the world. They
that have their thoughts exercised in discerning things of this nature,
have sad apprehensions that the work of conversion has come to a stand.
During the last age scarcely a sermon was preached without some being
apparently converted, and sometimes hundreds were converted by one sermon.
Who of us now can say that we have seen anything such as this? Clear,
sound conversions are not frequent in our congregations; the great bulk
of the present generation are apparently poor, perishing, and, if the
Lord prevent not, undone; many are profane, drunkards, lascivious, scoffers
at the power of godliness, and disobedient; others are civil outwardly,
conformed to good order, because so educated, but without knowing aught
of a real change of heart." The same esteemed writer says, in 1721:
"I am now in my eighty-third year, and having had an opportunity
of conversing with the first planters of this country, and having been
for sixty five years a preacher of the gospel, I feel as did the ancient
men, who had seen the former temple, and who wept aloud as they saw the
latter. The children of New England are, or once were, for the most part,
the children of godly parents. What did our forefathers come into this
wilderness for? Not to gain estates as men do now, but for religion, and
that they might have their children in a hopeful way of being truly religious.
There was a famous man who preached before one of the greatest assemblies
that ever was addressed--it was about seventy years ago--and he said to
them, 'I lived in a country seven years, and all that time I never heard
a profane oath or saw a man drunk.' And where was that country? It was
New England! Ah, degenerate New England! What art thou come to at this
day? How are those sins become common that were once not even heard of!"
It was amidst circumstances such as these that the revivals of the eighteenth
century took their rise. There is perhaps no time during which the natural
tide is not either ebbing or flowing, and yet there is a period during
which it would be difficult to say, from observation, whether the one
has ceased or the other begun. In this case our difficulty is dependent
on our judging from appearances, instead of observing the relation of
the heavenly bodies. The same thing occurs in those changes which affect
the state of religion. Judging from appearances, it is often difficult
to say whether a progress for the better has begun, or whether matters
are not still growing worse; but we know that in the purposes of God there
is nothing doubtful; and even the observer may sometimes detect, in the
undercurrent, a change in the flow of the stream, although not yet perceptible
to all. Early in the eighteenth century there were, in many places all
over the countries referred to, a feeling of the evil, inquiries as to
the remedial means which should be employed, and an enlarged measure of
the spirit and exercise of prayer; not a few of the pious were stirred
up to unusual wrestlings with God. Societies were formed in various places,
but especially in London, for discouraging vice and instructing the ignorant;
missionary societies were formed, and missions sent forth to the heathen--the
Danish missionaries set sail for the East Indies in 1705; and as regarded
societies, something like what occurred towards the end of the last century,
though far less in amount, made its appearance; in 1701, the society for
the propagation of the gospel in foreign parts was established, under
the auspices of King William, and towards the end of the same year, a
society was formed for promoting Christian knowledge at home; in Scotland,
also, a society for propagating Christian knowledge in the highlands and
islands, and in foreign parts, began to be formed in 1704, and in 1709
received, according to the fashion of the times, a charter from the crown.
In the course of a few years, these and many similar undertakings began
to lay hold of the religious mind; and this was, no doubt, indicative
of divine power, though as yet apparent only, or chiefly, in what concerned
others. But it was not bug after this, when the power of the Spirit became
manifest and it appeared, not merely in the doings of men, but on men
themselves, even the disobedient. To begin where we stopped--in reviewing
the preceding period, and passing over loss remarkable manifestations
of divine power, so early as 1734, a very wonderful revival took place
in Northampton, New England, under the ministry of the celebrated Jonathan
Edwards, a man of deep thought and guarded language, and not at all likely
to be either himself carried away with strong feelings, or to be the instrument
of mere excitement among others. His own narrative of what took place
is so generally known as to render any notice of it here unnecessary.
But we ought not to take leave of the labours of Edwards without reminding
the reader of that blessed work, some ten years later, among the poor
Indians, under the ministrations of the holy and self-denied Brainerd--a
work brought before the public through Edwards, and connected also with
the society in Scotland. But on casting our eye across the white harvest
fields, which were from 1734 downwards heard rustling and falling beneath
the gospel sickle, all over New England, and other parts of the colonies,
south and north, we are at a loss where to begin or how to shape our way.
The vast number of publications issued about the middle of the last century
on American revivals, greatly injure the effect which fewer would have
produced. On the history of revivals, whether here or in other parts of
the world, we know of no single work, on the whole, better than Dr. Gullies'
Historical Collections. But the letters and journals of Whitefield shed
a strong, though rapidly passing light, over the whole of that interesting
scene. And as some very naturally call in question strong statements made
under strong feelings, they will find a calm and judicious review of the
whole in the Constitutional History of the Presbyterian Church, by Professor
Hodge of Princeton college--a living author, equally distinguished for
talents and orthodoxy. As this work is, we fear, but little known in this
country, we shall extract from it the more largely. After describing the
general deadness which prevailed on both sides of the Atlantic at an earlier
period, he adds: "The earliest manifestation of the presence of the
Holy Spirit, in our portion of the church (meaning the presbyterian),
was at Freehold, New Jersey, under the ministry of the Rev. John Tennent,
who was called to that congregation in 1730, and died in 1732." "The
settling of that place," says his brother, the Rev. William Tennent,
"with a gospel ministry, was owing, under God, to the agency of some
Scotch people that came to it; among whom there was none so painstaking
in this blessed work as one Walton (Walter?) Ker, who, in 1685, for his
faithful and conscientious adherence to God and his truth, as professed
by the church of Scotland, was there apprehended and sent to this country,
under a sentence of perpetual banishment. By which it appears that the
devil and his instruments lost their aim, in sending him from home, where
it is unlikely he could ever have been so serviceable to Christ's kingdom
as he has been here. He is yet alive (in 1744), and, blessed be God, flourishing
in his old age, being in his eighty-eighth year." This incident
is full of interest. In 1685 there was much blood shed in Scotland, many
wanton cruelties were practised, and many hundreds were banished to the
colonies; and among these New Jersey is particularly mentioned. The name
of "Walter Ker" also occurs as "banished to the plantations,
September 3, 1685." (Wodrow.) What wisdom but that of God could so
overrule, that the puritans driven from England, and the presbyterians
from Scotland, should be as the sowing of that glorious harvest which
was to be so largely reaped towards the middle of the following century;
and that this should be a chief means of reviving the cause of God, both
in England and Scotland? Yet so it was, as might be shown from other and
detailed evidence. "O the depth of the riches, both of the wisdom
and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways
past finding out!" (Rom. 11.33) After detailing,
to some extent, this work of God, not only among the presbyterians, but
also the congregationalists and others, the author goes on to remark respecting
its character, as genuine or otherwise: "We can compare the doctrines
then taught, the exercises experienced, and the effects produced, with
the word of God, and thus learn how far the work was in accordance with
that infallible standard. The first of these points is a matter of primary
importance. How will the revival under consideration abide this test?
Is there any doubt as to the doctrines taught by Whitefield, the Tennents,
Blair, Dickinson, and the other prominent preachers of that day? They
were the doctrines of the reformation, and of the standards of the presbyterian
church. The doctrines preached," says Turnbull, "by those famous
men, who were owned as the principal instruments of this remarkable revival
of God's work, were the doctrines of original sin, of regeneration by
the supernatural influences of the Divine Spirit, and of its absolute
necessity; of effectual calling, of justification by faith, wholly on
account of the imputed righteousness of Christ; of repentance towards
God, and faith towards our Lord Jesus Christ; of the perseverance of the
saints, of the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in them, and of its divine
consolation and joy." The second criterion is the nature of the experience
professed by its subjects. When we come to ask, What was the experience
of the subjects of this revival? We find, amidst much that is doubtful
or objectionable, the essential characteristics of genuine conversion.
In a great multitude of cases, the same feelings were professed which
we find in the saints whose spiritual life is detailed in the Bible, and
which the children of God, in all ages, have avowed; the same sense of
sin, the same apprehension of the mercy of God, the same faith in Christ
the same joy and peace in believing, the same desire for communion with
God, and the same endeavours after new obedience. Such, however, is the
ambiguity of human language, such the deceitfulness of the human heart,
and such the devices of Satan, that no mere detail of feeling, and especially
no description which one man may give of the feelings of others, can afford
conclusive evidence of the nature of those feelings in the sight of God.
We must, therefore, look farther than mere professions or detail of experiences
for evidences of the real character of this work. We must look to its
effects. What, then, were the fruits of this revival? Mr. William Tennent
says, that the subjects of this work, who had come under his observation,
were brought to approve of the doctrines of the gospel, to delight in
the law of God, to endeavour to do his will, to love those who have the
divine image: that the formal had become spiritual; the proud, humble;
the wanton and vile, sober and temperate; the worldly, heavenly-minded;
the extortioner, just; and the self-seeker, desirous to promote the glory
of God. The convention of ministers, that met at Boston in 1743, state,
that those who were regarded as Converts confirmed the genuineness of
the change which they professed to have experienced, by the external fruits
of holiness in their lives, so that they appeared to those who had the
nearest access to them, as so many epistles of Jesus Christ, written not
with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God. And after rehearsing
the opinion of president Edwards, which we need not copy, he adds: "Turnbull,
a later witness, says, 'The effects on great numbers were abiding and
most happy. They were the most uniformly exemplary Christians with whom
I was ever acquainted. I was born, and had my education in that part of
the town of Albany, in which the work was most prevalent and powerful.
Many, who at that time imagined that they were born of God, made a profession
of their faith in Christ, and were admitted to full communion, and appeared
to walk with God. They were constant and serious in their attendance on
public worship, prayerful, righteous, and charitable, strict in the government
of their families; and not one of them, so far as he knew, was ever guilty
of scandal. Eight or ten years after the religious excitement, there was
not a drunkard in the whole parish. It was,' he adds, the most glorious
and extensive revival of religion and reformation of manners which this
country has ever known. It is estimated, that in two or three years, thirty
or forty thousand souls were born into the family of heaven in New England,
besides great numbers in New York, New Jersey, and the more southern provinces.'" |