| BROTHER Nash returned the next day, and made the appointment as I desired. I had to ride nearly thirty miles. In the morning it rained very hard; but abated in time for me to ride to Antwerp. While I was getting dinner at that place, the rain came on again until quite late in the afternoon. However, the rain abated again, in time for me to ride rapidly to Gouverneur. I found that the people had given up expecting me that day, in consequence of the great rain.
Before I reached the village, I met Mr. S----, one of the principal members returning from the church meeting to his house, which I had just passed. He stopped his carriage, and said, "Is this Mr. Finney?" After my reply in the affirmative, he says, "Please to go back to my house, for I shall insist on your being my guest. You are fatigued with the long ride and the roads are so bad, you will not have any meeting tonight." I replied that I must fulfil my appointment, and asked him if the church meeting had adjourned. He said it had not, when he left; and he thought it possible I might reach the village before they would dismiss.
I rode rapidly on, alighted at the meeting house door, and hurried in. Brother Nash stood in front of the pulpit, having just risen to dismiss the meeting. In a word I informed them that I had come to fulfil my appointment; and, the Lord willing, I would preach.
When the hour arrived, the house was filled. The people had heard enough, for and against me, to have curiosity excited. The Lord gave me a text, the word took powerful effect.
The village hotel was at that time kept by a Dr. S----, an avowed Universalist. The next morning I went out, to call on the people, and converse with them about their souls, and found the village excited. After making a few calls, I dropped into a tailor's shop, where I found a number discussing the subject of the sermon the night before.
Dr. S----, I had never heard of; but I found him at this tailor's shop, defending his Universalist sentiments. As I went in, the remarks made immediately opened the conversation; and Dr. S---- stepped forward to dispute the positions that I had advanced. Somebody introduced him to me; and I said, "Doctor, I should be very happy to converse with you; but if we are going to have a conversation, we must first agree upon the method." I was too much used to Universalists, to expect any good to come of it, unless certain terms were agreed upon and adhered to. I proposed, therefore, first that we should take up one point at a time, and settle it, and then another, and another; confining ourselves the point immediately in debate; secondly, that we should not interrupt, but each one should be at liberty to give his views, and thirdly, that there should be no cavilling, but that we should observe candour and courtesy, and give to every argument due weight. I knew they were all of one way of thinking; and I could easily see that they were banded together, and had come together that morning, for the sake of sustaining each other.
Having settled the preliminaries, we commenced. It did not take long to demolish every position assumed. He really knew but little of the Bible. He had a way of disposing of the principal passages that are generally arrayed against the doctrine of Universalism. But he dwelt mainly on the utter injustice of endless punishment.
I showed him that he had but slender ground to stand on; and he took the position, that whatever the Bible said, endless punishment was unjust; and that therefore, if the Bible threatened men with endless punishment, it could not be true. This settled the question, so far as the Bible was concerned. I could easily see that they were all skeptics, and would not give in because they saw that the Bible contradicted their views. I then closed in with him on the justice of endless punishment. I saw that his friends became agitated, and felt as if the foundations were giving away. Soon one of them went out; and as I proceeded, another went out, and finally they all forsook him, seeing, one after the other, that he was utterly wrong.
He had been their leader; and God gave me an opportunity to use him entirely up, in the presence of his followers. When he had nothing more to say, I urged question of immediate attention to salvation, and very kindly bid him good morning, and went away, feeling sure that I should soon hear from that conversation again.
The doctor's wife was a member of the church. She told me a day or two after, that her husband came home from that conversation apparently greatly agitated, though she did not know where he had been. He would walk the room, and then sit down, but not remain sitting. She said to him, "Doctor, what is the matter?" "Nothing," was his reply. But his agitation increased; and she inquired again, "Doctor, do tell me what is the matter." She suspected that he had somewhere fallen in with me; and she said, "Doctor, have you seen Mr. Finney this morning.?" This brought him to a stand; and he burst into tears and exclaimed, "Yes! and he has turned my weapons on my own head!" His agony became intense; and as soon as the way was opened he surrendered himself up to conviction, and soon after expressed hope in Christ. In a few days his companions were brought in, one after the other, till the revival made a clean sweep of them.
As soon as the revival broke out, and attracted general attention, the Baptist brethren began to oppose it. A set of young men to join hand in hand, to strengthen each. Those young men seemed to stand like a bulwark in the way of the progress of the work. In this state of things,
Brother Nash and myself, after consultation, made up our minds that that thing must be overcome by prayer. We therefore retired to a grove and gave ourselves up to prayer until we prevailed, and we felt confident that no power which earth or hell could interpose, would be allowed permanently to stop the revival.
The next Sabbath, after preaching morning and afternoon myself -- for I did the preaching, and brother Nash gave himself up almost continually to prayer -- we met at five o'clock in the church, for a prayer meeting. The meeting house was filled. Near the close of the meeting, brother Nash arose, and addressed that company of young men who had joined hand in hand to resist the revival.
Brother Nash addressed them very earnestly, and pointed out the guilt and danger of the course they were taking. Toward the close of his address, he waxed exceeding warm, and said, "Now, mark me, young men! God will break your ranks in less than one week, either by converting some of you, or by sending some of you to hell. He will do this as certainly as the Lord is my God!" He was standing where he brought his hand down on the top of the pew before him, so as to make it jar. He sat immediately down, dropped his head, and groaned with pain.
The house was as still as death, and most of the people held down their heads. I could see that the young men were agitated. For myself, I regretted that brother Nash had gone so far. He had committed himself, that God would either take the life of some of them, and send them to hell, or convert some of them, within a week. However on Tuesday morning of the same week, the leader of these young men came to me, in the greatest distress, prepared to submit; and as soon as I came to press him he broke down like a child, confessed, and manifestly gave himself to Christ. Then he said, "What shall I do, Mr. Finney?" I replied "Go immediately to all your companions, and pray with them, and exhort them, at once to turn to the Lord." He did so; and before the week was out, nearly if not all of that class of young men, were hoping in Christ.
There was a merchant living in the village of the name of S----. He was a very amiable man, a gentleman, but a deist. His wife was the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. She was his second wife; and his first had also been the daughter of a Presbyterian minister. He had thus married into two ministers' families. He was a reading, reflecting man. Both of his fathers-in-law were old school Presbyterians, and had put into his hands the class of books that presented their peculiar views. This had greatly stumbled him; and the more he had read, the more he was fixed in his convictions that the Bible was a fable.
His wife urgently entreated me to come and converse with her husband. She informed me of his views, and of the pains that had been taken to lead him to embrace religion. But she said he was so firmly settled, she did not know that any conversation could meet the case. I promised to call and see him, and did so. His store was in the front part of the building in which they resided. She went into the store, and requested him to come. He said it would do no good; that he had talked with ministers enough; that he knew just what I would say, and he could not spend the time; beside, it was very repulsive to his feelings. She replied, "Mr. S----, you have never been in the habit of treating ministers, who called to see you, in this way. I have invited Mr. Finney to call, and I shall be greatly mortified, if you decline to see him."
He greatly respected and loved his wife; and she was indeed a gem of a woman. To oblige her, he consented to come. Mrs. S---- introduced me, and left the room. I then said to him, "Mr. S----, I have not come in here to have any dispute; but if you are willing to converse, it is possible that I may suggest something that may help you over some difficulties, in regard to religion, as I probably have felt them all myself." As I addressed him in great kindness, he immediately seemed to feel at home, and sat down near me and said, "Now, Mr. Finney, there is no need of our having a long conversation on this point. We are both of us so familiar with the arguments, that I can state to you, in a very few minutes, just the objections on which I rest, and which I find myself utterly unable to overcome. I suppose I know beforehand how you will answer them, and that the answer will be utterly unsatisfactory. But if you desire it, I will state them."
I begged him to do so; and he began, as nearly as I can recollect, in this way: "You and I agree in believing in the existence of God." "Yes." "Well, we agree that he is infinitely wise, and good, and powerful." "Yes." "We agree that he has, in our very creation, given us certain irresistible convictions of right and wrong, of justice and injustice." "Yes." "Well, we agree, then, that whatever contravenes our irresistible convictions of justice, cannot be from God." "Yes." "What, according to our irresistible convictions, is neither wise nor good, cannot be from God." "Yes, we agree in that." "Well now," said he, "the Bible teaches that God has created us with a sinful nature, or that we come into existence totally sinful and incapable of any good, and this in accordance with certain pre-established laws of which God is the author; that notwithstanding this sinful nature, which is utterly incapable of any good, God commands us to obey him, and to be good, when to do so is utterly impossible; and he commands this on pain of eternal death."
I replied, "Mr. S----, have you a Bible? Will you not turn to the passage that teaches this?" "Why, there is no need of that," he says; "you admit that the Bible teaches it." "No," I said, "I do not believe any such thing." "Then," he continued, "the Bible teaches that God has imputed Adam's sin to his posterity; that we inherit the guilt of that sin by nature, and are exposed to eternal damnation." "Now, I do not care who says it, or what book teaches such a thing, I know that such teaching cannot be from God. This is a direct contradiction of my irresistible convictions of right and justice." "Yes," I replied, "and so it is directly in contradiction of my own." "But now, where is this taught?"
He began to quote the catechism, as he had done before. "But," I replied, "that is catechism, not Bible." "Why," said he, "you are a Presbyterian minister, are you not? I thought the catechism was good authority." "No," I said; "we are talking about the Bible. Can you say that this is the doctrine of the Bible?" "Oh," he said, "if you are going to deny that it is taught in the Bible -- why, that is taking such ground as I never knew a Presbyterian minister to take." He then proceeded to say that the Bible commanded men to repent; it commanded them to obey and believe, and yet at the same time taught them that this was impossible. I of course closed with him again, and asked him where these things were taught. He quoted catechism; but I would not receive it.
He went on to say that the Bible taught also, that Christ died only for the elect; and yet it commanded all men everywhere, whether elect or non-elect, to believe, on pain of eternal death. "The fact is," said he, "the Bible, in its commands and teachings, contravenes my innate sense of justice. I cannot, I will not receive it!" He became very positive and warm. But I said to him: "Mr. S----, there is a mistake. These are not the teachings of the Bible. They are the traditions of men." "Well then," said he, "Mr. Finney, tell me what you do believe!" This he said with a considerable degree of impatience. I said, "If you will give me a hearing for a few moments, I will tell you what I believe." I then began and told him what my views of both the Law and the Gospel. He was intelligent enough to understand me easily and quickly. In the course of an hour I took him over the whole ground of his objections. He became intensely interested; and I saw that the views were new to him.
When I came to the atonement, and showed that it was made for all men -- dwelt upon its nature, its design, its extent, and the freeness of salvation through Christ, I saw his feelings rise, till at last he put both hands over his face, threw his head forward upon his knees, and trembled with emotion. I saw that the blood rushed to his head, and that the tears began to flow. I rose quickly and left the room without saying another word. I saw that an arrow had transfixed him, and I expected him to be converted immediately. It turned out that he was converted before he left the room.
Very soon after, the meeting house bell tolled for a prayer and conference meeting. I went, and soon Mr. and Mrs. S---- came in. His countenance showed that he had been greatly moved. The people looked around, and appeared surprised to see Mr. S----. He had been in the habit of attending worship on the Sabbath; but to come to a prayer meeting, and that in the daytime, was something new. For his sake, I took up a good deal of the time in remarks, to which he paid the utmost attention.
His wife afterward told me, that as he walked home he said, "My dear, where has all my infidelity gone? I cannot recall it. I cannot make it look as if it had any sense in it. It appears to me as if it always had been perfect nonsense. And how I could ever have viewed the subject as I did, or respected my own arguments as I did, I cannot imagine. It seems to me as if I had been called to pass judgement on some splendid piece of architecture, some magnificent temple; and that as soon as I came in view of one corner of the structure, I fell into disgust, and turned away and refused to inspect it farther. I condemned the whole, without at all regarding its proportions. Just so I have treated the government of God. He had always been bitter against the doctrine of endless punishment; but on this occasion he said that, for the manner in which he had treated God, he deserved endless damnation.
He warmly espoused the cause of Christ, enlisted heartily in the promotion of the revival, joined the church, soon after became a deacon; and to the day of his death was a very useful man.
After the conversion of Mr. S----, I thought it was time to put a stop to the opposition of the Baptist church. I therefore had an interview first with a deacon, who had been very bitter in his opposition; and said, "Now you have carried your opposition far enough. You must be satisfied that this is the work of God.
He confessed that he was sorry; and promised that he would not oppose any more. He said that he had made a great mistake, and had been deceived. He then went after his minister; and I had a long conversation with them together.
I then said to him, "A considerable number of the young people, whose parents belong to your church, have been converted." If I recollect, as many as forty of their young people had been converted in that revival. "Now, if you go to proselytising, that will create a sectarian feeling, and will be worse than any opposition which you have offered. In spite of your opposition, the work has gone on; because the Presbyterian brethren have kept clear of a sectarian Spirit, and have had the spirit of prayer. But will stop the revival immediately."
This was on Friday. The next day, Saturday, was the day for their monthly covenant meeting. When they had gathered he threw the doors of the church open and invited the converts to come forward, tell their experience and join the church. As many as could be persuaded to do so, told their experience; and the next day there was a great parade in baptising them. The minister sent off immediately, and secured the help of one of the most proselytising Baptist ministers that I ever knew. He came in and began to preach and lecture on baptism.
They traversed the town for converts in every direction; and whenever they could find anyone to join, they would get up a procession, march, and sing, and make a great parade in going to the water. This soon so grieved the Presbyterian church, as to destroy their spirit of prayer and faith, and the work came to a dead stand. For six weeks there was not a single conversion. All, both saints and sinners, were discussing the question of baptism.
There was a considerable number of men, and some of them prominent men, in the village, that had been under strong conviction, and appeared to be near conversion, who had been entirely diverted by this discussion; and indeed, this seemed to be the universal effect. Everybody could see that the revival had stopped.
I said to the people on the Sabbath, "You see how it is -- that the work of conversion is suspended, and we do not know that a conversion has occurred for six weeks. Now I do not want to take up a Sabbath in preaching on this subject; but if you will come on Wednesday afternoon at one o'clock, and bring your Bibles, and your lead pencils to mark the passages, I will read to you all the passages in the Bible that relate to the mode of baptism; and I will give you as nearly as I understand them, the views of Baptist brethren on all those passages, together with my own; and you shall judge for yourselves where the truth lies."
When Wednesday came, the house was crowded. I saw quite a number of Baptists present. I read, first in the Old Testament, then in the New, all the passages that had any reference to the mode of baptism. I gave the views that the Baptists had of those texts, and the reasons. I then gave my own views, and my reasons. I saw that the impression was good, and that no bad spirit prevailed; and the people appeared satisfied. The Baptists were quite satisfied that I stated their views fairly, and as strongly as they could state them themselves, and also their reasons. Before I dismissed the meeting I said, "If you will come tomorrow, at the same hour, at one o'clock, I will read to you all the passages in the Bible that relate to the subjects of baptism, and pursue the same course as I have done today."
The next day the house was crowded more than the day before. Quite a number of the principal Baptists were present. After going through with the introductory services, I arose and commenced reading. At this point the elder arose and said, "Mr. Finney, I have an appointment, and cannot stay; but I shall wish to answer you; and how shall I know what course you take?" I replied, "Elder, I have a little skeleton, wherein I quote the passages that I read, and note the order in which I discuss the subject. You can have my skeleton, if you please, and reply." He then went out, and, as I supposed, went away.
I then took up the covenant made with Abraham; and read everything in the old Testament that directly bore upon the question of the relation of families and of children, to that covenant. I gave the Baptist view of the passages, together with my own with the reasons on both sides. I then took up the New Testament, and went through with all the passages, referring to the subject. Tears flowed very freely when I held up that covenant, as still the covenant which God makes with parents and their household.
Just before I was through, the deacon of the Presbyterian church had occasion to go out, with a child. He told me afterwards that, as he went into the vestibule, he found the old elder sitting there with the door ajar, listening, and weeping.
When I was done, the people thronged around me and with tears thanked me for so full an exhibition of that subject. The meeting was attended by the community generally. The question was intelligently settled, and the people ceased to talk about it. In a few days the spirit of prayer returned, and the revival was revived and went on again with great power, the ordinances were administered, and a large number of converts united with the church.
Mr. S---- had a very interesting family; and his wife, -- called "Aunt Lucy" -- had no children, but they had adopted one child after another, until they had ten; and they were so nearly of an age that the family was composed of himself, and his wife, and ten young people, about equally divided, young men and young women. They were all converted, and their conversions were very striking. They were bright converts, and very intelligent; and a happier and more lovely family I never saw.
But Aunt Lucy had been converted under other circumstances; and she had never before seen the freshness, strength, and joy of converts in a powerful revival. Their faith, love, joy and peace, completely stumbled her. She began to think that she was never converted; and although she had given herself, heart and soul, to the promotion of the work, yet, right in the midst of it, she fell into despair, in spite of all that could be said or done. She concluded that she never had been converted, and of course that she never could be.
This introduced into the family a matter of great pain and concern. Her husband thought she would go deranged. The young people, who regarded her as a mother, were filled with concern; and the house was thrown into mourning. Mr. S---- gave his time to converse and to pray with her, and to try to revive hope. I had several conversations with her; but in the great light which the experience of those young converts threw around her, she could not be persuaded to believe, either that she was converted, or ever could be.
This state of things continued, till I began to think that she would be deranged. The street where they lived was thickly settled, almost a village, for three miles in extent. The work had extended in that street until there was but one adult unconverted person left. He was a young man, and was almost frantic in his opposition to the work. Almost the whole neighbourhood gave themselves to prayer for this young man, and his case was in almost everybody's mouth.
One day I found Aunt Lucy taking on much about this B---- H----. "Oh dear!" she said; "what will become of him? Why, Mr. S----! he will certainly lose his soul. What will become of him?" She seemed to be in agony. I listened for a few moments, and then looked gravely at her, and said: "Aunt Lucy, when you and B---- H---- die, God will have to make a partition in hell, and give you a room by yourself." She opened her large blue eyes, and looked with a reproving look. "Why, Mr. Finney!" said she. I said. "Do you think God will be guilty of so great an impropriety, as to put you and B---- H---- in the same place? He is raving; and you are almost insane in feeling the abuse which he heaps upon God, and with fear that he is going to hell. Now can two such persons, in two such opposite states of mind be sent to the same place?" I calmly met her reproving gaze. In a few moments her features relaxed, she smiled, the first time for many days. "It is just so, my dear," said Mr. S----, "just so. How can you and B---- H---- go to the same place?" She laughed and said, "We cannot." From that moment despair cleared up; and she came out clear, and as happy as any of the young converts. B---- H---- was afterward converted.
About three-quarters of a mile from Mr. S----'s lived a Mr. M----, a strong Universalist. One morning, Father Nash, who was at the time with me, rose up at a very early hour; and went back to a grove some fifty rods from the road, to have a season of prayer. It was one of those clear mornings, on which it is possible to hear sounds a great distance. Mr. M---- was out of doors and heard the voice of prayer; he could distinctly hear Father Nash's voice. It lodged an arrow in his heart. He said it brought a sense of the reality of religion over him, such as he never had experienced. He found no relief, till he found it in believing in Jesus.
I do not know the number converted in that revival. It was a large farming town, settled by well-to-do inhabitants. The great majority, I am confident, were converted.
I have not been in that place for many years. But I have often heard from there; and have always understood that there has been a very healthful state of religion in that place, and that they have never had a discussion on the subject of baptism since.
The doctrines preached were those that I have preached everywhere. The total moral, voluntary depravity of unregenerate man; the necessity of a radical change of heart, through the truth, by the agency of the Holy Ghost; the divinity and humanity of our Lord Jesus Christ; his vicarious atonement, equal to the wants of all mankind; the gift, divinity and agency of the Holy Ghost: repentance, faith, justification by faith, sanctification by faith; persistence in holiness as a condition of salvation; indeed all the distinctive doctrines of the Gospel, were stated and set forth with as much clearness as were possible. A great spirit of prayer prevailed; and after the discussion on baptism, a spirit of unity and brotherly love prevailed also. |