LIBRARY OF THE THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 BX 7260 .M3 A3 1882 
 Mahan, Asa, 1800-1889. 
 Autobiography: intellectual 
 moral, and spiritual 
 
AUTOBIOGRAPHY 
 
 INTELLECTUAL, MORAL, 
 
 n AND SPIRITUAL. 
 
 I* 
 \ 
 
 Rev. ASA MAHAN, D.D., LL.D., 
 
 Author of "Out of Darkness into Light;" 
 The Baptism of the Holy Ghost;" "Christian Perfection ;" 
 " Misunderstood Texts," etc. 
 
 These things " out of the spoils won in battles" have I dedicated "t.-) maintain 
 the house of the Lord." 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 PUBLISHED FOR THE AUTHOR. 
 
 T. WOOLMER, 2, CASTLE STREET, CITY ROAD, K.C. 
 And 66, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.C. 
 
 1882. 
 
LONDON : 
 
 PRINTED BY BEVERIDGE AND MILLER, 
 r.OLEORN PRINTING WORKS, FULLWOOD's RENTS, W.C. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 I AM this day, November 9th, 1881, eighty-two years 
 of age. Sixty-five years of this period I have spent in 
 the service of God. Eighteen years of my Christian 
 experience and life were spent in the dim twilight of a 
 semi-faith, which very clearly and distinctly apprehended 
 Christ as the Lamb of God Who (judicially) " taketh 
 away the sin of the world ; " but knew almost nothing of 
 Him as the Son of God, Who baptizeth " with the Holy 
 Ghost," and " saveth to the uttermost them that come 
 unto God by Him." During these years, my pilgrimage, 
 for the most part, was with those " who fear the Lord, 
 and obey the voice of His servant, and walk in dark- 
 ness, and have no light." My spiritual heaven was com- 
 paratively obscure, because there was no open vision of 
 the face of God, and because the Sun of Righteousness 
 lay below the horizon around me ; " the eyes of my under- 
 standing not being enlightened, that I might know what 
 is the hope of His calling, and what the riches of the 
 glory of His inheritance in the saints, and what is the 
 exceeding greatness of His power to us-ward who believe.'" 
 During this period my sky was never wholly dark. 
 From the hour of my primal love and joy in God, I 
 
iv 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 have never been " a backslider in heart," but my face 
 has ever been heavenward. Not long after my conver- 
 sion I attained, by long and fervent prayer, to that form 
 of /ill/ asstcrance in which I could say most unhesitatingly, 
 " 1 know that I love God, and have eternal life." This 
 assurance of present acceptance, after a time, merged into 
 " full assurance of hope," an assurance which has not, 
 and never had, any connection with the belief that a 
 soul, once converted, is absolutely certain of final salva- 
 tion. At the time of my conversion, " the eyes of my 
 understanding were enlightened " to know my past 
 character and life as they were, even to " a discernment 
 of the thoughts and intents of the heart." No one who 
 has not been thus enlightened can form the remotest 
 apprehension of the utter and absolute abhorrence with 
 which that old and godless life was regarded by me at 
 that time. The thought of perdition was not, in my 
 distinct regard, so fearful as was the idea of a return to 
 that old life. Hence it was that for a long period I made 
 it the constant subject of specific and most earnest prayer,, 
 that God would keep me from apostasy, and also from 
 being a backslider, even in heart. The result was, that 
 I became possessed of a fixed inward assurance, into 
 which no element of doubt entered, that I should have 
 grace to " hold the beginning of my confidence stead- 
 fast unto the end." As far as the question of present 
 acceptance and final salvation is concerned, I have, 
 during these sixty-five years, "served God without 
 fear ; " — would that I could add, in regard to them all^ 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 V 
 
 " in righteousness and holiness before Him." During 
 these years my face has fixedly been heavenward, and I 
 have had no misgivings, when I have sung in respect to 
 the world through which I was passing, " I'm a pilgrim, 
 and I'm a stranger." To worldly ambitions, hopes, and 
 treasures, I have ever said, when the question of duty 
 .and usefulness arose before me, " Do not detain me, for 
 I am going where the waters are ever flowing." I now 
 know, and during my Christian pilgrimage have known, 
 what the apostle meant when he said, " I therefore so 
 run, not as uncertainly ; so fight I, not as one that 
 beateth the air." 
 
 A life characterized by such assurances cannot, at any 
 period, have been altogether a joyless one. " Knowing 
 Whom I had believed, that He was able to keep that 
 which I had committed to Him against that day," I 
 was possessed of inward joys and consolations with 
 which strangers never intermeddled ; and which ex- 
 -ceeded what was common, or even occasionally known, 
 in the churches and ministry around me. He, however, 
 Who had "loved me, and given Himself for me," and 
 for Whom I was ever ready to " lay down my life," had 
 left the world and gone to the Father. I had no appre- 
 hension of what my Saviour meant when He said, " I will 
 not leave you orphans ; I will come to you ; " and, " If 
 any man love Me, he will keep My word ; and My Father 
 will love him, and We will come unto him, and make 
 Our abode with him." To my faith, Christ, and the 
 Father too, were afar off, in heaven ; and I was not only 
 
vi 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 "a pilgrim stranger," but an orphan "here below ;" a 
 son indeed, but for the present an exile in an enemy's 
 country. Hence my sky was never clear and bright, but 
 everywhere covered with a grey cloud, through which 
 the rays of the Sun of Righteousness dimly penetrated. 
 Occasionally there would be, here and there, rifts in 
 the cloud, through which I Avould obtain glimpses of the 
 glory beyond, and thus have awakened within unutter- 
 able aspirations to possess the open beholdings and 
 Di\ ine fellowships of which the Bible says so much, 
 and especially to understand, by experience, what our 
 Sa^■iour meant when He said, "I know Mine own, and 
 am known of Mine, even as the Father knoweth Me, 
 and I know the Father." Here, I said, is a form of 
 knowledge which it must be bliss indeed to possess. On 
 no subject did I, during the latter part particularly of 
 those eighteen years, inquire so earnestly, or search so 
 diligently, as in respect to the nature and secrets of that 
 Divine life to which, as saints of God, we are called. 
 
 Forty-seven years ago, at a period when my way 
 seemed most dark, and when my desire for the open 
 vision referred to had become almost insupportably in- 
 tense, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, "the 
 eyes of my understanding were enlightened," the grey 
 cloud above and around me disappeared, and I stood 
 face to face with the Sun of Righteousness, feeling His 
 Divine healings through every department of my being. 
 During these forty-seven years, that Sun has not gone 
 down, and one desire has possessed my entire being, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 vii 
 
 and determined all my researches after truth, and all 
 my activities, and that is, to " present every man per- 
 fect in Christ Jesus," and, as a means to this end, to 
 make known to all " the unsearchable riches of Christ," 
 and to " make all men see what is the exceeding 
 greatness of His power to us-ward who believe," and 
 " what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among 
 the Gentiles ; which is Christ in you, the hope of 
 glory." 
 
 In another book, Oict of Darkness into Lig/it, I have 
 given a somewhat detailed exposition of my varied reli- 
 gious experiences during the first sixty years of my 
 religious life ; and I do not intend in the present work 
 to repeat, except so far as distinct elucidation requires, 
 what is there written. The present work has been pre- 
 pared on a plan far more extensive. During my religious 
 life, T have had a very intimate association with the 
 various religious, moral, social, and political questions 
 and movements which have agitated and moulded 
 thought in America and the world at large, and with 
 many of the leading minds who gave form and direction 
 to these great movements. As a student of theology 
 and Biblical science, and of all the sciences, as a preacher 
 of the everlasting Gospel, and as a Professor of Mental 
 and Moral Philosophy and Theology, I have had occasion 
 to ponder, and Aveigh, and determine, with great care 
 and circumspection, the various problems of natural, 
 mental, moral, and theological science, together with the 
 doctrines of the diverse schools in philosophy and reli- 
 
viii 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 gion. As a theologian I have, as the result of the most 
 careful and candid inquiry and research, passed from the 
 extreme bounds of Calvinism to the quite opposite pole 
 of the evangelical faith. In the sphere of religious 
 experience I have, as has been shown in the early part 
 of this Introduction, emerged from the dim twilight and 
 servitude of a semi-faith, into the sphere of open vision, 
 where God is our " everlasting light," and " the days of 
 our mourning are ended." 
 
 Here, as the result of all my inquiries and diverse 
 experiences, I find myself, on this my eighty-second 
 birthday, in the full and blissful assurance of the Divine 
 origin and authority of the Holy Scriptures of both 
 Testaments, of the doctrine of the Sacred Trinity, of 
 atonement by the blood of Christ, of regeneration, of justi- 
 fication and sanctification by faith, of the baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost, of immortality, and "eternal judgment;" 
 and holding all these and kindred truths in "the full 
 assurance of faith," " full assurance of hope," and " full 
 assurance of understanding," I have been urged by in- 
 dividuals in whose judgment I place great confidence, and 
 who have had an intimate acquaintance with my habits 
 of self-reflection, to write out, for the benefit of the 
 Church and the world, my own intellectual, moral, and 
 spiritual autobiography. After prayerful consideration 
 I yielded to such advice. Hence the following treatise. 
 
 Before closing this Introduction, I would add that 1 
 have this absolute faith in the doctrine of a personal God, 
 of inspiration, duty, sin, redemption, immortality, and 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 ix 
 
 retribution, not merely as a student of theology, but as a 
 student of science also. If God is the common Author 
 of the Bible and of the universe, it is self-evident that 
 the real revelations of each must coincide perfectly with, 
 and confirm, those of the other, and that where seeming 
 contradictions appear, the fact must be owing wholly to 
 the limited or false vision of the disciple of truth. It 
 has been under the lead of these fixed and immutable 
 convictions that all my inquiries in the spheres of natural, 
 mental, moral, and theological science have been prose- 
 cuted. As the result of the most careful and rigid 
 application of the known laws of scientific thought and 
 inquiry, I am an absolute believer in the doctrine of a 
 personal God as the common Author of creation and the 
 Bible, and in the perfect unity and harmony of all the 
 teachings of these two Divine volumes. My conviction in 
 the actuality of such unity is not the result of a blind 
 faith, but of open, distinct, and absolute vision. Some 
 two or three years since, I held several extended conver- 
 sations with a very intelligent graduate of Cambridge 
 University, who admitted that in religion he was a sceptic, 
 and who, at the special request of friends, sought these 
 interviews. Near the close of our last interview, after 
 admitting that he saw no possibility of avoiding my final 
 deductions in science and religion, he thus addressed me : 
 ''Dr. Mahan, one fact in regard to you has surprised me. 
 You evidently have a clear understanding of all the 
 systems of philosophy that have ever been developed. 
 Yet you are in perfect agreement with the faith of 
 
X INTRODUCTION. 
 
 common evangelical believers around you." My reply 
 was, that, with the intelligence that God had given me, 
 I could not be the student of science I have been without 
 arriving at the absolute convictions which I now entertain 
 in regard to matter, spirit, time, space, God, the soul, 
 duty, immortality, and retribution, and that I could not 
 honestly hold and apply these principles without being 
 perfectly at home in the sphere of Christian thought and 
 life to which he referred. It is of the greatest importance 
 that all friends, and especially all teachers, of truth 
 should have full possession of that settled rest of spirit 
 which has its basis not only in conscious moral purity 
 and integrity, but in immutable and settled Convictions 
 resulting from open and absolute vision of Truth itself. 
 A leading object of the following treatise is to disclose 
 and render intelligible the processes of thought and 
 deduction by which the author, as an inquirer, and for 
 nearly thirty years a teacher of science, arrived at his 
 present settled and peace-imparting convictions on the 
 subjects under consideration. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 :o: 
 
 CHAP. I'AGE 
 
 I. — EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS I 
 
 II. — MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION 40 
 
 in. — EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD 58 
 
 IV.— PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, HOW ADVANCED, AND 
 
 HOW HINDERED 76 
 
 V. — GROWTH DESPITE ' ADVERSE INFLUENCES . . g6 
 
 VI. — PROGRESS IN doctrine: CHOICE OF SYSTEMS 110 
 VII. — FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, AND LOSS OF 
 PRIMAL JOY AND POWER: BREAKS IN THE 
 
 CLOUD: LIFE UTILITIES 12,} 
 
 VIII. — DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE . . . 140 
 
 IX. — PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE 155 
 
 X. — PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE .... 197 
 
 XI. — THE GREAT AVESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832 . 215 
 XII. — EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS AS PRESIDENT 
 
 OF COLLEGES 250 
 
 XIII. — THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. . 281 
 
 XIV. — THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME . 320 
 XV. — NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS 365 
 
 XVI. — TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR IN THE 
 LIGHT OF FACTS OF OBSERVATION AND EX- 
 PERIENCE 394 
 
INTELLECTUAL, MORAL, AND SPIRITUAL 
 AUTOBIOGRAPHY. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 It was at the age of seventeen years and two or three 
 months that I was born of God. The reader will better 
 understand and appreciate the intellectual, moral, and 
 spiritual life to which he is about to be introduced, if we 
 go back to the period which immediately preceded the 
 event above referred to, and consider the specific reli- 
 gious convictions and impressions to which I was then 
 subject, together with the character of the causes of those 
 convictions and impressions. 
 
 Early Education. 
 My education from my childhood up was, especially in_ 
 a doctrinal sense, a religious one. The circle in which I 
 was educated was exclusively Calvinistic of the " straitest 
 sect " ever known. Always a regular attendant upon 
 public worship on the Sabbath, I had never, up to the 
 period of my life now under consideration, heard more 
 than two or three discourses from any preacher who did 
 not belong to this school. As soon as I was able to read 
 at all, the first treatises put into my hands were the 
 Assembly's Longer and Shorter Catechisms. The latter 
 I was required to commit to memory, and to repeat to 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 my mother from Sabbath to Sabbath, that is, very 
 frequently, during the years of childhood. From the 
 teachings of these catechisms and other forms of religious 
 instruction, my views of Christian doctrine very early 
 took a definite and systematic character. Being naturally 
 endued with a reflective mind, and especially with a 
 quenchless thirst for knowledge, and especially for the 
 knowledge possessed by intelligent men and women 
 around me, I was ever a most attentive and eager 
 listener to their varied conversations, conversations 
 especially which pertained to two subjects, — battles, and 
 questions of Christian doctrine ; and no child was more 
 favoured than I was in gaining the best information of 
 the latter kind. My mother was one of the greatest 
 female thinkers and readers on religious topics that I 
 ever knew. No minister in all the region of country 
 where we lived was more fully acquainted with the 
 writings of such thinkers as Edwards, Hopkins, Bellamy, 
 and Emmons, than she. My father's house was con- 
 sequently the centre for the discussion of Christian 
 doctrine with the most intelligent members of the 
 church to which he and my mother belonged. Western 
 New York, where my parents lived from my twelfth to 
 my seventeenth year, was, at that time, for the most 
 part, missionary ground. Scattered in all directions 
 were feeble churches without pastoral care. These 
 churches were favoured fi^om time to time with the 
 temporary services of missionaries sent out for the most 
 part from the State of Connecticut. Standing on one of 
 the main roads and near the centre of the town, my 
 father's house was the fixed stopping place of these 
 missionaries. How my heart would leap when a stranger 
 would ride up to my father's door, and announce himself a 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 3 
 
 missionarv from the State of Connecticut. " Now," I in- 
 wardly exclaimed, " we shall have more conversation 
 about these doctrines ; " and I was never disappointed. 
 As soon as the proper time for conversation came, my 
 mother, who was a woman of few words herself, would 
 put some leading questions which would arouse to the 
 highest degree the mental activity of the visitor, and 
 insure a most animated discussion of some of the great 
 doctrines. Not unfrequently more or less of the neigh- 
 bours would come in and heighten the interest of the dis- 
 cussions. Sometimes two such strangers would call at 
 the same time, and then the interest of the collisions of 
 thought would reach its climax. To all such scenes 
 there was sure to be one listener whose attention and 
 interest never flagged. The church of which my parents 
 were members, never, during the period under considera- 
 tion, enjoyed public preaching except on alternate 
 Sabbaths ; on all other Sabbaths they had what were 
 called " Reading Meetings," meetings in which two 
 printed discourses were read aloud. The discourses 
 selected represented what was then universally regarded 
 as embodying the best thoughts of the best Calvinistic 
 divines of the age, and in each discourse some phase of 
 some one of the great doctrines was elucidated. When- 
 ever any new volume was introduced, my mother was 
 certain to borrow it and read its discourses through, and 
 always aloud when I was present. I therefore usually 
 heard all such discourses twice read, and listened with 
 the strictest attention. 
 
 Ever after I was eight or ten years of age I was much 
 given to religious thought and reflection. I seriously 
 question whether, after this period, I was for half an 
 hour alone by myself without pondering more or less 
 
4 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIOXS. 
 
 seriously some forms of religious thought. I refer to the 
 above facts in order to evince that I must have been an 
 inexpressibly stupid thinker had I not, under such 
 influences, attained to ver}- clear, distinct, and definite 
 apprehensions of all the leading doctrines of the system 
 of faith in which I was educated. That my apprehen- 
 sions were not only clear and definite, but strictly correct, 
 I argue from the two following considerations: i. No 
 one ever suggested to me the thought — not even my 
 mother, who ever had an open view of all my religious 
 thinking — no one ever hinted to me, that I had mis- 
 apprehended at all any of those doctrines. 2. My 
 subsequent theological reading and education never 
 suggested to me the idea that I had, in any particular, 
 misapprehended the nature of any of those doctrines. 
 I have fundamentally changed my views of the accord- 
 ance of those doctrines with the Word of God, but never 
 in respect to what is their intrinsic nature and character. 
 
 Religious Convictions and Impressions induced by 
 
 these Doctrines. 
 What now were the religious convictions and im- 
 pressions induced in m}- mind by a most careful and 
 impartial view of these doctrines? I use the term 
 impartial because I never entertained the prejudices 
 entertained against them by worldly minds around me. 
 I accepted them as truths of God, which I could not 
 change, and by objecting against which I could only 
 injure myself. I recollect very well an argument pre- 
 sented in one of the discourses which I heard read ; an 
 argument which, for years, utterly silenced in my mind 
 all objection against the doctrine that infinite criminality 
 is set down to the account of every individual of the 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 5 
 
 race on account of the one sin of Adam. The argument 
 was this : Had Adam maintained his integrity, and had 
 God, on ac;ount of the merits of his obedience, set down 
 to the account of each individual of the race the desert 
 of infinite good, no creature in earth or heaven would 
 have objected. Why, then, should any one object to the 
 fact, that on account of Adam's sin infinite demerit 
 is set down to the account of every such individual ? 
 Years passed before an objection arose in my mind to 
 this doctrine of imputation. Thus candidly and im- 
 partially did I contemplate all the doctrines under con- 
 sideration. I speak, also, of the impressions arising from 
 a consideration of these doctrines. I had other religious 
 convictions and impressions induced in my mind by 
 other facts and considerations ; and to these I shall 
 direct special attention hereafter. What we are now 
 to consider is i/ic convictions and impressions induced by 
 an exclusive consideration of these doctrines themselves. 
 
 What, then, were these convictions and impressions? 
 An letter and absolute exclusion, I answer, of all ideas of 
 real duty, obligation, merit or demerit of good or ill, 
 from the entire sphere of Christian truth, thought, and 
 action. This, I affirm unqualifiedly, was the exact state 
 induced in my mind by those years of careful study of 
 those doctrines. That I was under condemnation to 
 eternal death, on account of the one sin of Adam, which 
 God had imputed to me, I entertained not the remotest 
 doubt. Yet that I was, in any sense or form, morally 
 responsible for that sin, that real desert of punishment 
 did, or could, attach to me personally on account of it, 
 or that I was in the remotest degree under obligation to 
 repent of the sam.e, — no such thought or sentiment ever 
 approached my mind. The sin and its imputed penalty 
 
6 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 lay, in my thoughts and reflections, wholly outside the 
 circle of personal responsibility or desert ; as much so as 
 did the Flood, and the crimes of the generations which 
 preceded and occasioned that world catastrophe. 
 
 Equally absolute was my conviction that through the 
 fall of Adam, and by a Divinely established law of natural 
 descent, my " whole nature was corrupted " and " dis- 
 abled to all that is good ;" that what is " commonly called 
 original sin " was to me and all the race a dire reality, a 
 reality on account of which an eternal doom hung over 
 myself and all the race. Yet I intuitively imputed ori- 
 ginal sin to myself and to the race as a pure calamity, 
 and never, in any sense, as a crime. I was familiar with 
 the fact of hereditary diseases descending through parents 
 to their children, through successive generations. The 
 child in whom such disease appears, is always com- 
 passionated, and never regarded as really criminal, for 
 being afflicted with such disease ; and that even when 
 it is known that the parent brought upon himself the 
 disease by crime. So I intuitively regarded " the cor- 
 ruption of our whole nature, which is commonly called 
 original sin." 
 
 That I was a sinner, originally and actually so, I had 
 no doubt, and fully believed my catechism, when it 
 affirmed that "all sin, both original and actual, being a 
 transgression of the Divine law, deserves God's wrath 
 and curse, both in this world and that which is to come." 
 The term deserves had no meaning in my regard but 
 this, t's doomed to receive. The term siii^ as employed in 
 theological and Christian discourse, represented nothing 
 whatever for which I regarded myself as, in the remotest 
 degree, responsible. When spoken to of particular out- 
 ward actions as right or wrong, or as deserving of praise 
 
7 
 
 or blame, my conscience gave a ready response to the 
 correctness of such imputations. But when sin was 
 spoken of, sin which, I was then taught, consisted in 
 inward natural corruption, or in positive states or acts 
 necessarily resulting from " indwelling sin," all conviction 
 of real responsibility for such corruption, states, or acts, 
 wholly dropped out of my mind, or rather never became 
 a matter of conviction at all. 
 
 The same held true of all the specific requirements of 
 religion, such as repentance, faith, love, and religious 
 service. I was well aware that these were immutable 
 conditions of salvation ; that without "repentance toward 
 God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," I should 
 be eternally lost. Yet the conviction that I ought to 
 repent and believe never had place in my mind. I was 
 fully aware that "I must be born again, or I could not 
 .see the kingdom of God." I had no more consciousness 
 of any obligation to become a Christian, however, than 
 I had to become an angel. 
 
 I saw nothing whatever in the character of God, as 
 seen through these doctrines, let me add once more, 
 nothing whatever which awakened in my mind for a 
 moment the conviction, in any sense or form, that I 
 ought to love Him. I knew that I was required to love 
 Him, and must do it, or be lost eternally. As presented 
 to my apprehensions, there was everything in God to 
 inspire awe, fear, and dread, but nothing to attract and 
 to love. All His thoughts, plans, purposes, works, and 
 government had their beginning, middle, and end wholly 
 Avithin Himself He loved His creatures, and valued 
 their interests, as the potter delights in and values his 
 clay, as something to which he can give mould and 
 shape to meet his own personal ends. So, as I was taught, 
 
8 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 God, by His omnipotence, gives existence to creatures, 
 determines their character, lives, and destiny, forms and 
 moulds them as vessels of honour or dishonour in ab- 
 solute subordination to one exclusive end. His own 
 pleasure, or " glory," as it was called. With what awe, 
 and dread, and freezing terror, and with no love drawings, 
 did we hear such stanzas sung as the following ! 
 
 " Keep silence, all created things, 
 And wait your Maker's nod. 
 My soul stands trembling while she sings 
 The honours of her God. 
 
 " Chain'd to His throne a volume lies, 
 With all the fates of men. 
 With every angel's form and size, 
 Drawn by the eternal pen, 
 
 " Not Gabriel asks the reason why, 
 Nor God the reason gives ; 
 ix'or dares the favoured angel pry 
 Between the folded leaves." 
 
 Thus it was that, through the religious teachings 
 which I received, and the doctrines which were 
 continuously held before my mind, and so deeply 
 pondered hy me, all real sentiments of religious obliga- 
 tion, all real convictions of duty, and all real conscious- 
 ness of moral desert, were utterly excluded from the 
 sphere of Christian thought and reflection,, in which my 
 mind had its dwelling-place. Had I been possessed of 
 no conscience or moral nature at all, there could not 
 have been a more absolute exclusion from my mind and 
 thoughts of all such sentiments and convictions. 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 9 
 
 Tlicsc Convictions and Impressions the necessary logical 
 Consequents of tJic Doctrines in which I hud been 
 instructed. 
 
 We will now advance to a consideration of these 
 doctrines themselves, and inquire whether the convic- 
 tions and impressions under consideration were or were 
 not the necessary logical consequents of what is intrinsic 
 in the doctrines through which these convictions and 
 impressions were intuitively induced in my mind. To 
 set the subject distinctly before the reader, permit me to 
 invite special attention to the following fact. Some 
 twenty-five or thirty years since, when in the city of 
 New York, I learned that a relative of mine, the wife of a 
 wealthy merchant in that city, was in a precarious state 
 of health. I had known her from childhood, and for 
 many reasons she was very dear to me. She, as was true 
 of myself, had from childhood been educated under the 
 exclusive influence of these doctrines. Regarding this as 
 probably my last opportunity for conversation with my 
 niece, 1 called for one exclusive purpose, — a serious con- 
 versation with her on the interests of her soul's eternity. 
 When this subject Avas introduced, she frankly confessed 
 to me that she was not a Christian. '' The question of 
 my salvation," she added, " in no sense or form lies with 
 myself, but wholly at the sovereign disposal of God. If 
 I am not one of the elect, my doom is fixed and irre- 
 versible, and I can do nothing to change it. If I am one 
 of the elect, the time of my conversion is immutably 
 determined, and I can do nothing to hasten or put it off. 
 When that time shall arrive, God will send His Spirit to 
 renew my heart, and it will be absolutely impossible for 
 me to resist Him, or prevent my conversion. I have 
 
lO 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 nothing to do, and can do nothing in the matter." "My 
 dear, precious niece," I exclaimed, " reasoning thus and 
 acting thus you will lose your soul, as sure as you exist." 
 This only convinced her that I was a teacher of error. I 
 found her mind, as my own had been, a total blank, as 
 far as any proper convictions of sin, or any religipus 
 sentiments of duty and moral desert, were concerned, and 
 all through the exclusive influence of the doctrines in 
 which she had been educated. Whether any change 
 occurred in her experience prior to her death, which took 
 place but a few months after my visit, I never learned. 
 "Was this utter extinguishment of such convictions and 
 impressions the necessary logical consequence of the 
 doctrines under consideration This is the question 
 before us. 
 
 In the forefront of all these doctrines stands that of the 
 Divine Decrees, which is thus defined in the Assembly's 
 Catechism : " The decrees of God are His eternal purpose, 
 according to the counsel of His own will, whereby, for 
 His own glory, He foreordained whatsoever comes to 
 pass." " God executes His decrees," it is added, " in the 
 works of creation and providence." " God's works of pro- 
 vidence," we further read, " are His most holy, wise, 
 and powerful preserving and governing all His creatures, 
 and all their actions." " The almighty power, unsearch- 
 able wisdom, and infinite goodness of God, so far mani- 
 fest themselves in His providence," says the Confession 
 of Faith, " that it (His providence) extendeth itself even 
 to the first fall, and all actions of angels and of men ; 
 and that not by a mere permission, but such as hath 
 joined with it a most wise and powerful bounding and 
 otherwise ordering and governing of them in a manifold 
 dispensation to His own holy ends." Here we are taught 
 
II 
 
 that all events, including all the actions of all beings, 
 were, from eternity, immutably predetermined by God 
 Himself ; and that in providence He employs His omni- 
 potence to bring those absolutely predetermined events 
 to pass. No events, then, thus predetermined can, by 
 any possibility, fail to occur, and to occur just as pre- 
 determined, and no events not predetermined can by any 
 possibility occur. The absolute and exclusive Deter- 
 miner is God : the determined are all existences and 
 events, the nature, mental states, and actions of all 
 creatures included. Granting the facts as here stated — 
 and they must be thus granted, if this doctrine is true — 
 where, in the necessary judgment of the universal con- 
 science and intelligence, must all moral responsibility, 
 moral obligation, and moral desert, if they exist any- 
 where, be exclusively located Must they be located 
 with the absolute and exclusive Determiner, or with the 
 absolutely determined Holding that "doctrine as true, 
 my conscience and reason and intelligence intuitively 
 denied of myself all personal obligation and moral 
 desert. So, these being the only premises from which to 
 judge, must the conscience and reason arid intelligence 
 of every rational being decide. We can no more con- 
 ceive that obligation and moral desert lie exclusively 
 with the absolutely determined, and not with the 
 absolute and exclusive Determiner, than we can conceive 
 of an event without a cause. 
 
 Next in order after the Divine decrees, we will consider 
 the condition of the human race in consequence of the 
 fall of Adam, as set forth in the system under considera- 
 tion. The fall, we must bear in mind, was according 
 to this system as absolutely fixed and predetermined by 
 a Divine decree as any other event. Adam, by an irre- 
 
12 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 sistible overruling providence, was placed in a state of 
 probation, in which, as a foreordained event, his fall 
 could not but occur. What is the affirmed state of the 
 race consequent on that fall ? " The covenant," says the 
 Catechism, " being made with Adam, not only for him- 
 self, but for his posterity, all mankind, descending from 
 him by ordinary generation, sinned in him, and fell with 
 him in his first transgression.'' "The fall," we are 
 further told, " brought mankind into a state of sin and 
 misery." Again : The sinfulness of that estate where- 
 into man fell, consists in the guilt of Adam's first sin, 
 the want of original righteousness, and the corruption of 
 his whole nature, which is commonly called original 
 sin, together with all actual transgressions, which 
 proceed from it." Once more-: "All mankind by the 
 fall lost communion with God, are under His wrath and 
 curse, and so made liable to all the miseries of this life, 
 to death itself, and to the pains of hell for ever." In 
 another connection, we were taught, that " all sin, 
 both original and actual, being contrary to the law of 
 God, deserves His wrath and curse, both in this world 
 and that which is to come." Again : " The sinfulness of 
 that estate wherein man fell consisteth in the guilt of 
 Adam's first sin, the want of that righteousness wherein 
 he was created, and the corruption of his nature, whereby 
 he is utterly indisposed, disabled, made opposite to all 
 that is spiritually good, and wholly inclined to all that 
 is evil, and that continually." " Man by his fall hath lost 
 all ability of will to any spiritual good." 
 
 For each of three distinct and separate reasons, infinite 
 criminality is, according to the doctrine under considera- 
 tion, set down to the account of each individual of the 
 race, namely: i. For a single act of one individual, an 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 13 
 
 act perpetrated thousands of years before a vast majority 
 of them existed at all. 2. For the original possession of 
 a fallen nature, in the origination of which they had no 
 more agency direct or indirect than they had in the 
 creation of the world ; a fallen nature which God Him- 
 self originated through the laws of natural generation. 
 3. For actual transgressions which the fallen nature of 
 which mankind thus became possessed, rendered it 
 absolutely impossible for them not to commit. For 
 these specific reasons I did regard myself as thus doomed. 
 My reason and conscience, however, absolutely cleared 
 me of all real criminality in the matter, so absolutely 
 that the thought that I could be really criminal for the 
 sin of Adam which was imputed to me, or for sin in any 
 form, original or actual, never entered my mind. Why 
 did my conscience and intellectual and moral nature thus 
 intuitively judge For the absolute reason, I answer, 
 that that judgment is the necessary logical deduction 
 from the doctrines themselves. 
 
 The pastor of a leading church in an American city, a 
 church of which my own daughter was a member, after 
 stating these doctrines just as I have done, added that 
 while he fully believed in these doctrines, in the ill-desert 
 of sin, and in the duty of repentance, it was absolutely 
 impossible for him to conceive /iotv the creature can be 
 responsible for sin, or under obligation to repent of it. 
 He could conceive of no such possibility, I answer, for 
 the simple and exclusive reason, that the thing is an 
 absolute impossibility. The intuition is not more 
 absolute that a circle is not a square, than is the 
 judgment that if those doctrines are true, obligation 
 and moral desert are impossibilities. 
 
14 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 State of Infaiits who die before they are capable of 
 committing actual Sin. 
 
 Infants who die before they can possibly commit 
 actual sin, die, according to the express teaching of the 
 system under consideration, under the desert of " God's 
 wrath and curse " to eternity, for two fundamental 
 reasons ; namel}', the guilt of Adam's sin which is im- 
 puted to them ; and " original sin," or the want of 
 original righteousness, and the corruption of their whole 
 nature." According to my absolute intuitive apprehen- 
 sions, while I regarded such desert as actually imputed 
 to all such persons, there was, and could be, no real 
 desert of such punishment, or of any punishment at all, 
 in such cases. We have, in fact and form, the absolute 
 verdict of human reason and conscience inside and out- 
 side the Church in respect to this particular case. And 
 what is this verdict ? The doctrine was once openly 
 maintained, that infants dying in such state were of 
 two classes, elect and non-elect ; and that the latter, for 
 the two specific reasons above designated, were actually 
 doomed to eternal misery. The doctrine was so shocking 
 to the reason and conscience and moral nature of 
 universal mind, sanctified and unsanctified, that this 
 doctrine of infant damnation has been frowned with 
 indignation and reprobation out of the Church, and it is 
 now confessed with shame that any such horror ever had 
 place in Christian belief What is the reason that this 
 doctrine is universally held in such utter reprobation ? 
 The reason, and the only reason, is that according to the 
 absolute intuition of the universal reason and conscience, 
 no such desert, no desert of punishment of any 
 kind, does or can attach to a moral being for the 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 15 
 
 reasons assigned. If such desert for such reasons does 
 exist, and is perceived to exist, there should be nothing 
 morally shocking to any mind in the idea that such 
 punishment is actually inflicted. The idea that any 
 being receives what and no more than he actually deserves, 
 shocks the reason and conscience of no moral agent. 
 Either the intelligence and conscience and moral nature 
 as God has constituted them are a lie, or no desert of 
 eternal doom, or real desert of punishment in any form, 
 does or can attach to infants, or to men now living, 
 for that first sin of Adam or for any mere inherited 
 constitutional temperaments. 
 
 Doctrine of Election^ Reprobation, Regeneration^ Sifc. 
 
 We will now consider the doctrines of election, repro- 
 bation, regeneration, and kindred doctrines, as set forth 
 in the system under discussion. " By the decree of God," 
 says the Confession of Faith, "for the manifestation of 
 His glory, some men and angels are predestinated unto 
 everlasting life, and others foreordained to everlasting 
 death." " These angels and men, thus predestinated 
 and foreordained, are particularly and unchangeably 
 designed ; and their number is so certain and definite 
 that it cannot be either increased or diminished." 
 " Effectual call is of God's free and special grace alone, 
 not for anything at all foreseen in man ; who is alto- 
 gether passive therein, until, being quickened and 
 renewed by the Holy Spirit, he is thereby enabled to 
 answer the call, and to embrace the grace offered and 
 conveyed therein." " Elect infants, dying in infancy, 
 are regenerated and saved by Christ through the Spirit, 
 Who worketh where and when and how He pleaseth." 
 " All the elect, and they onlv, are effectually called." 
 
i6 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 As regeneration and efTectual calling were affirmed to be 
 the exclusive work of the Spirit, a change in which the 
 creature is " wholly passive," I was accustomed to hear 
 aged, intelligent, and experienced believers affirm that 
 the Spirit could regenerate an individual when asleep as 
 well as at any other time. And where can an error 
 be found in such utterances, if the doctrine on which 
 they are based is true ? 
 
 Now, taking into account the doctrines of the Divine 
 decrees, of the fall, of election, regeneration, and effectual 
 calling, as actually set forth in the system under con- 
 sideration, who will deny that the necessary logical 
 consequent is the absolute validity of the conviction that 
 rested upon my mind, that I was in reality under no 
 more real obligation to become a Christian than I was to 
 become an angel ; that no more real desert of punish- 
 ment did or could attach to me for the fall of Adam than 
 for the fall of Satan ; and that in no sense or form was 
 I responsible, that is, deserv ing of punishment, for sin, 
 whether original or actual ? Can any one feel surprise 
 that I deliberately regarded all charges of guilt on 
 account of sin, and all affirmed obligations to repent of 
 it and enter upon a holy life, as absurd mockeries? I 
 distinctly recollect saying within myself, when our 
 deacon charged such things upon us, " Now, Deacon B. 
 is mocking us. He knows that what he is saying is not 
 true." 
 
 The reader can now understand clearly the validit}- of 
 my conviction, that the character of God, as presented in 
 this system, wears one exclusive aspect, — infinite selfisra, 
 valuing His creatures but as the potter values his clay, as 
 objects which, by His own power. He can form and 
 dispose of for His own ends. For what exclusive end did 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 17 
 
 God, as we are here taught, foreordain whatsoever comes 
 to pass ? For His own glory. Why did He elect a portion 
 of our fallen race to eternal life? For His own glory. 
 Why did He from eternity determine to pass by the non- 
 elect, and leave them to perish in their sins For His 
 own glory. If we should become " followers of God " 
 in conformity to such a revelation of His character, 
 our selfism would be as absolute as His. 
 
 Different and opposite Schools of Calvinism. 
 
 At the period to which I now refer, Calvinists were 
 divided into three schools ; the division in the Presby- 
 terian Church into Old School and New School not 
 having then occurred. Of the three schools then 
 existing the first held, in the strictest form, the doc- 
 trines above considered, as set forth in the catechisms, 
 and its creed was commonly represented by the terms 
 "limited atonement" and "inability ; " the latter term 
 having reference to its tenet that all men are, by original 
 sin, disabled irom all good acts. 
 
 The doctrine of the second school was denominated 
 " Hopkinsianism ; " the Rev. Samuel Hopkins, D D., of 
 Newport, Rd., in connection with President Edwards, 
 being its principal expounder and advocate. This school 
 agreed in all essential respects with the first-named, as far 
 as the doctrine of the fall is concerned. In opposition 
 to a limited^ Hopkinsianism maintained a general atone- 
 ment, affirming that provisions of grace in Christ are for 
 the entire race, and are as free for the acceptance of the 
 non-elect as for the elect. In opposition to the doctrine 
 of absolute inability, this school affirmed that all men, 
 the non-elect as well as the elect, have natural but not 
 vioral ability to accept the offer of life and obey the will 
 
 c 
 
i8 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 of God. It was a common saying among believers of this 
 ' school that, although their eternal doom is fixed by an 
 eternal decree of God, the non-elect have natural power, 
 by accepting the provisions of grace, to insure their 
 salvation by breaking the Divine decrees. According to 
 the teaching of this school, also, the commo7i influences 
 of the Spirit, those under which none are ever converted, 
 are given to all men without exception. His special 
 influences, on the other hand, those which always when 
 vouchsafed result in conversion, God, in the exercise 
 of His sovereignty, withholds from the non-elect and 
 confers upon the elect. While the common influences 
 of the Spirit never result in conversion, they do infinitely 
 aggravate the criminality and doom of the non-elect. 
 All men, the non-elect included, have natural abilit}^ to 
 obey God, because nothing hinders their doing so, and 
 assuring their own salvation, but their unwillingness. 
 They lack moral power, because they have no power 
 over their own choices ; that is, they choose the evil and 
 refuse the good, without the power of contrar}^ choice. 
 The distinction between this doctrine of natural ability 
 and moral inability, and that of absolute inability as 
 maintained by hyper-Calvinists, as they were then called, 
 was found, when the two doctrines were clearly under- 
 stood, to be in reality a distinction without a difference ; 
 the common doctrine of each school being that unre- 
 generate men have no avatlablc power whatever to obey 
 God. No school maintained the doctrine of eternal 
 decrees and of unconditional election in a more absolute 
 form than did that under consideration. In all His 
 works and government God has, we were taught, but 
 one exclusive end, — His own glory, the display of His 
 perfections. To this end it is as necessary that some 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 19 
 
 should eternally sin and suffer, as that others should be 
 eternally holy and happy ; and God from eternity elected 
 His vessels of mercy and vessels of wrath according to 
 His sovereign pleasure. By -the founder and leading 
 advocates of this school, it was most strongly maintained 
 that such should be our regard for the sovereign will of 
 our Maker, that " Ave should be willing to be damned for 
 the glory of God." A bound volume of an old magazine 
 in my library at home contains an article written by 
 myself in defence of this doctrine. The doctrine of 
 general atonement and natural ability, as maintained by 
 this school, was hailed by multitudes of ministers and 
 believers as a fundamental advance in the direction of 
 rational Christian truth, and as rolling an incubus of 
 infinite weight from Christian doctrine. 
 
 The doctrine of the third school, which was founded 
 by the Rev. Nathaniel Emmons, D.D., was denomi- 
 nated " the Divine Efficiency Scheme." In all points 
 in which the second school differed from the first, 
 this last agreed with the former, and rejected the 
 doctrines of the latter. In contradistinction from the 
 teachings of each of the first two schools, this last denied 
 and denounced the doctrines of the imputation of Adam's 
 sin, and of all desert of punishment for " original sin," 
 maintaining that men are and can be justly held respon- 
 sible but for their own voluntary acts of obedience or 
 disobedience to the revealed will of God. The peculiarity 
 of the system was, that it maintained that in conformity 
 with an eternal decree God, by the direct exertion of His 
 own omnipotence, originates all human volitions and 
 acts, the holy and the sinful in common. Thus God, by 
 the direct and immediate exertion of His own omni- 
 potence, moulds the character and determines the 
 
20 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 destiny of the elect and non-elect. Thus also, according 
 to the bald teaching of this school, teaching which had 
 among its open advocates not a few of the ablest thinkers 
 in the United States, God holds all sinners as deserving, 
 and actually inflicts upon the non-elect eternal doom, 
 for acts which He, by the direct exertion of His own 
 omnipotence, renders it absolutely impossible for them 
 not to put forth. 
 
 Such were the doctrines of these three schools, which 
 included all Calvinists at that time. The doctrine com- 
 mon to them all was that of Necessity, that all human 
 activity cannot but be, in all respects, what it is. Now, 
 while the doctrines of each of these schools w^ere con- 
 demned by the united verdict of the universal intelli- 
 gence outside of the schools themselves, as utterly 
 subversive of all righteous legislation, human and Divine, 
 of all obligation and moral desert of every kind, making 
 God the only responsible Being, each of them denounced, 
 in exactly the same forms, the doctrines of each of the 
 others. " The idea that God," exclaimed the hyper- 
 Calvinist and Hopkinsian, " by the direct action of- His 
 own omnipotence, originates all human volitions and acts, 
 imputes infinite criminality to the Almighty, and renders 
 Him the most fell tyrant conceivable." Just such lan- 
 guage I often heard at that time, and no direct reply was 
 ever made to the imputation. The following was the mode 
 in which the advocate of Divine efficiency replied to the 
 objections of the opposite schools. " You affirm that the 
 doctrine that God imputes infinite criminalit)' to sinners 
 for acts of transgression which He, by the direct action of 
 His own omnipotence, renders it impossible for them not 
 to commit, dishonours Him. What then must we think 
 of your doctrine, that God imputes to all men the desert of 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 21 
 
 eternal doom for a sin which they never committed at all, 
 and also for the possession of a depraved nature, in the 
 origination of which they had no agency whatever, 
 direct or indirect, but which God Himself, by the direct 
 exertion of His own omnipotence, did originate through 
 the laws of natural generation ? If it would imply 
 infinite wrong in God to impute infinite guilt to men for 
 acts which He directly originates in them, and neces- 
 sitates them to commit, would it not imply equal wrong 
 for Him to hold them thus guilty for actual sins, which 
 the fallen nature which He thus imparted to them renders 
 it impossible for them not to commit ?" 
 
 On a visit to Dr. Emmons, the Rev. Lyman Beecher, 
 D.D., thus addressed his venerable friend : " You hold 
 and teach, do you not, Dr. Emmons, that God, by the 
 direct exertion of His own omnipotence, actually 
 originates all sinful volitions and acts?" "I do thus 
 hold and teach," was the reply. "Well, Dr. Emmons, 
 there is, to my apprehension, something inexplicably 
 mysterious about this matter, and I would earnestly 
 request you to remove the difficulty. When God, by the 
 direct exertion of almighty power, has originated an act 
 of sin, He seems to be very indignant at what He has 
 Himself created. He also manifests infinite surprise that 
 the event should have occurred at all, and calls upon 
 heaven and earth to unite with Him in astonishment and 
 indignation that an act of obedience does not appear, 
 instead of the sinful one, when He, by the direct exertion 
 of His own omnipotence, renders the appearance of the 
 former, and the non-appearance of the latter, an 
 absolute impossibility. How do you explain such 
 difficulties. Dr. Emmons ?" The countenance of the 
 great expounder of the doctrine of Divine efficiency 
 
22 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS- 
 
 instantly became a total blank. Putting his hand to 
 his forehead, he remained for some time in deep thought, 
 then dropped his hand, and looking in every direction 
 with a bewildered stare, he remained silent. Dr. Beecher 
 was too much of a Christian gentleman to embarrass his 
 venerable friend with further questions, and the subject 
 was dropped. When Dr. Emmons apprehended his own 
 doctrine as it is in itself, the intuition became absolute 
 in his own mind, that the absurdity of that doctrine was 
 infinite. Now the doctrine of each of the schools under 
 consideration does undeniably involve an absurdity as 
 blank and palpable as this, and can by no possibility be 
 so expounded as to be freed from such absurdity. 
 
 I have spoken of the utter exclusion from my mind, 
 through the influence of these doctrines, of all proper 
 conviction of sin as that which actually deserves "God's 
 wrath and curse," and of all other kindred convictions. 
 Now this was practically trug , not only of worldly minds 
 around me, but of believers also. Even the most devout 
 Christians I knew, when they mentioned their sins, 
 always spoke of them as evincing, not infinite criminality 
 and ill-desert, but feebleness and dependence. They 
 would make confession that all their righteousnesses 
 were as filthy rags," and that there was no soundness in 
 them ; that from their heads to the soles of their feet 
 they were " full of wounds and bruises and putrefying 
 sores," and then, with a placid smile, the}' would exclaim, 
 " What poor dependent creatures we are ! " They 
 always compassionated^ instead of really criminating 
 themselves, when they spoke of their sins. Under a 
 distinct apprehension of these systems, conviction of sin, 
 in its only true and proper form, is an utter impossibility. 
 Many who hold these systems have real conviction of 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 23. 
 
 sin, and that because their intuitions, enlightened by 
 the Spirit of God, supersede the influence of doctrinal 
 behefs. 
 
 Illustrative Incident. 
 About forty-seven years since, when I Avas pastor of a 
 Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati, Ohio, I was invited 
 to attend a Protracted Meeting in the village of Oxford, 
 the seat of a State University of that name. The pastor 
 of the church where I preaclied, who was also my host, 
 requested that I would have special religious conversation 
 with a sister-in-law of his, then residing in his family. 
 She was, as he stated, the principal of the ladies' 
 academy in the place, of superior education, of a high 
 order of talents, and most irreproachable morals, but 
 utterly unapproachable on the subject of religion. " The 
 principal motive which I had in securing your present 
 services," he added, "was the hope that you might be 
 instrumental in leading her out of that ice-bound, un- 
 approachable state in which she has been for years." 
 During my first religious conversation with that lady, 
 she made this remark to me : " I see nothing whatever 
 in the character of God, for which my conscience affirm.s 
 to me that I ought to love Him.'' On my inquiring the 
 origin and cause of such impressions, she stated that 
 years previous, when a pupil at a female academy in New 
 England, she boarded in the family of one of the most 
 influential members of the church in the place. During 
 a revival of religion in the academy she was the subject 
 of very deep religious impressions. In conversation with 
 the gentleman referred to, she was told that if she was 
 not one of the elect, as she very probably was not, her 
 present religious impressions could have but one result, — • 
 
24 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 to render her more a vessel of wrath than she otherwise 
 could become, and that the Spirit was very probably 
 given her for this purpose. Subsequently to this she 
 
 overheard this man inform some Christian friends that 
 he had made these statements to her, and that he believed 
 
 hey were true. Accepting this as the correct view of 
 ner case, her heart at once seemed to be turned into a 
 
 Jtone within her, and she had never since felt any dis- 
 position whatever to give thought to religious subjects. 
 My prompt and earnest reply, as soon as she had 
 
 finished her statements, was, " Miss , you ought to be 
 
 sent to perdition. God has given His Son and sent His 
 Spirit to you for one expressly revealed and exclusive 
 purpose, ' that you might not perish, but have everlasting 
 life,' and has affirmed, under oath, that He has ' no 
 pleasure in ' your ' death ; ' that He entertains but one 
 desire in respect to you, and that is your salvation. Yet, 
 in the face of all this, and on the bold assertion of that 
 most presumptuous man, you have for all these years 
 entertained the horrid slander upon your Heavenly 
 Father, that He was dealing with you, not to secure your 
 salvation, but to insure your eternal doom, and render 
 that doom as aggravated as possible. What excuse will 
 you, can you, offer to your injured Father and God, 
 should you appear before Him in this state, for having 
 made yourself a vessel of wrath by entertaining such 
 soul-ruining thoughts in regard to Him ? Go to Him 
 at once, and tell Him frankly and broken-heartedly how 
 you have injured Him, and wronged your own soul, by 
 such thoughts." Perceiving that the ice around the 
 heart was broken, I left her for a short time to her own 
 reflections. At our next interview, after presenting a 
 full statement of the truth, as it is in Jesus," I put the 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 25 
 
 question directly to her, " Will you now admit that God 
 loves you, desires to confer eternal life upon you, and will 
 do it as soon as you turn to Him, and commend yourself 
 to His grace and mercy?" "I will," was the prompt 
 and earnest reply. On the evening following I preached 
 from the text, " If any man sin, we have an Advocate 
 with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous," and 
 showed on what conditions Christ will act in our behalf 
 in this relation, and what He will procure for us if we 
 commit our case to Him. On our way from the meeting 
 
 I said to our, friend, "Miss , shall Christ he joui- 
 
 Advocate.?" "If I do not accept of Him," was her 
 prompt and earnest reply, " I ought to go to hell. I can 
 plead guilty now. I have but one desire, and that is that 
 Christ may possess and control my whole being." 
 When I left the place she was one of the happiest 
 converts I had ever seen. More than thirty years after 
 that, I met that minister and inquired of him in respect 
 to that sister-in-law. " She died a few months since,'' 
 was the reply, '' but such a life as she led, after your 
 visit to Oxford, I do not know that I ever witnessed. 
 We never saw in her the remotest indication of back- 
 sliding, and her Christian character was throughout 
 wonderfully complete and symmetrical. She never 
 shrank from duty in any form, and never appeared to 
 think that she could do enough for Christ. So her life 
 brightened on to the close. And it did seem as if 
 ' heaven had come down to greet,' as we stood about her 
 dying bed." 
 
 H ere we have God's truth, as often perverted and 
 misrepresented in the schools, on the one hand, and as 
 revealed in His Divine Word, on the other. Here, too, 
 we have the distinct and opposite results. What that 
 
26 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 man said to that inquirer was a veritable exposition of 
 the doctrine which he held, and the effect upon her 
 mind was the legitimate outcome of that doctrine. 
 When I had been for several weeks in great anguish of 
 mind on account of my religious condition and prospects, 
 our deacon, who was de facto the pastor of our church, 
 fully aware of my state of mind, thus addressed us : 
 " My impenitent friends, bear this in mind, that if any 
 of you were not from eternity elected unto eternal life, 
 your salvation is impossible." When I afterwards spoke to 
 another leading professor upon the subject, his reply was, 
 "I ought to say to you that the statements of Deacon 
 
 B 'Were undoubtedly correct." That my soul was not 
 
 wrecked for eternity was owing wholly to the mercy and 
 grace of God in counteracting the natural eff^ects of 
 fundamental error. The reason Avhy such teachings were 
 presented to persons " under concern of mind," was the 
 belief, then commonly entertained, that in revivals, of all 
 other times, " the doctrines should be fully preached." 
 In after years such teachings were withheld until the 
 revivals had passed by. 
 
 Origin and Character of Early Religious Impressions 
 tvhicli led to my Conversion. 
 My early religious convictions .and im.pressions were, 
 for very many years after my conversion, a mystery to 
 me ; and it was only after long and very mature reflec- 
 tion that I came to fully comprehend their nature and 
 causes. At first thought it would seem likely that 
 systems of doctrine, the belief of which utterly 
 extinguishes and excludes from the mind all proper 
 convictions of real obligation to obey the law of duty 
 and the will of God, of the real ill-desert of sin, and of 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 27 
 
 responsibility to comply with the revealed conditions of 
 eternal life, would as utterly exclude all religious impres- 
 sions of every kind. In my own case, for example, there 
 was this utter exclusion of proper religious conviciion^ 
 on the one hand, and the very frequent presence of very 
 deep religious impressions of another kind, on the other. 
 The real cause of the absence of religious convictions of 
 the kind under consideration has already been explained. 
 The origin, and causes, and character of the impressions 
 referred to admit of an equally ready explanation. 
 
 Let us suppose that the entire race has inherited from 
 our first parents a disease, which can by no possibility be 
 removed or modified by human remedies, and which, left 
 to its own course, would, within a limited period, result 
 in death. We have, at the same time, a revelation from 
 God that He has from eternity determined and made 
 provisions to remove this disease from a certain fixed 
 number of the race. His elect, the number of whom 
 cannot be increased or diminished, and at a certain 
 predetermined period to carry them through a certain 
 crisis, from which they will by Divine power pass into a 
 state of permanent health and happiness. The other 
 portion of the race, " persons not elected," God has 
 immutably determined to pass by, and leave under the 
 power of this disease, through which, at the crisis when 
 the elect surmount it and live, if not before, the non- 
 elect die and return to dust. Under such circumstances, 
 while none could or ought to feel any responsibility for 
 their state or destiny, the question, " Do I belong to the 
 number of the elect, or non-elect, the number who are 
 to survive and live, or to die and return to dust might 
 be to each a subject of the deepest concern ; and when 
 the determining crisis should come, all might, each in 
 
28 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 his turn, experience not only great physical but mental 
 agony. 
 
 Now, when my mind awoke to a consciousness of 
 myself and the realities around me, I found myself, 
 according to what was taught me, actually under 
 sentence to eternal doom for the act of an ancestor — an 
 act committed near six thousand years before my being 
 commenced — and for a fallen nature derived from that 
 ancestor, a nature in the origin and character of which 
 I had had no more agency than I had had in that first 
 sin. I found myself, also, in consequence of this 
 inherited nature, utterl}^ disabled to all that is good, and 
 with no power to avoid actual transgressions for which 
 infinite retributions were to be inflicted upon me, unless 
 I should be rescued by an Almighty Power above and 
 beyond myself. Here I was met by an affirmed revela- 
 tion that I belonged to one of two classes, the elect or 
 non-elect, the number of neither of whom could, by any 
 possibility, be either increased or diminished ; and my 
 place and destinv, as a member of one or the other of 
 these classes, was fixed immutably from eternity. Finally, 
 somewhere in the unrevealed future of life, if I did not 
 die earlier, I should pass through a crisis called " concern 
 of mind," as the result of which it would be known what 
 destiny was, from eternity, Avritten out for me, and 
 "drawn by the eternal pen'' in that dread volume that 
 "lies chained to the eternal throne." All this was real 
 to me, an object of unquestioned belief. 
 
 Now, while such convictions of my state and destiny 
 did, as would have been true, in the case above supposed, 
 of necessity, exclude all consciousness of personal respon- 
 sibility and desert from the sphere of religious thought, 
 the question of my relations to these supposed eternal 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 29 
 
 verities, and of my destiny in connection with the same, 
 did press, and that very often, with awful and crushing 
 weight upon my sensibilities. How often did the ques- 
 tion arise, " When will the crisis in my being come ? and 
 shall I pass through it to eternal doom, or into the light 
 of eternal day ? " Then, as my mind would wander off 
 into the great hereafter, how often would the thought 
 roll back upon me, with overpowering weight, " What is 
 my decreed destiny there ? " 
 
 " Where shall I find my dwelling-place ? 
 Shall I my everlasting days 
 With fiends or angels spend ? " 
 
 These infinite and eternal verities were none the less 
 real to my mind because wholly disconnected with the 
 ideas of moral obligation and moral desert. Hence it 
 is that revivals of religion, periods of general religious 
 seriousness, not unfrequently occur under ministrations, 
 the leading doctrinal teachings of which tend but in one 
 direction, to prevent and extinguish all proper religious 
 convictions. Such preachers as Edwards, the Tenants, 
 and Mr. Nettleton, were high Calvinists, but men of great 
 revival power. Under the discourses of Edwards, for 
 example, on such themes as, " sinners in the hands of an 
 angry God," and, "Their feet shall slide in due time," 
 very many of his impenitent hearers would wail aloud, 
 and others fall helpless upon the floor. Thus aroused, 
 they would seek and find peace in Christ. Such explana- 
 tions will prepare the way for a presentation of the 
 
 Early Religions Impressions which led to 7ny Conversion. 
 
 A fact which gave those aspects of religious truth 
 which were adapted to move my sensibilities the greatest 
 power, was my absolute conviction that all these doc- 
 
30 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 trines, the most awful and impressive among them 
 especially, were unquestionable verities. In my child- 
 hood, I had an overshadowing veneration for manhood. 
 It appeared to me impossible that beings who knew so 
 much could err in judgment, or could deceive. No one 
 can conceive the shock which I received when, in grow- 
 ing years, the reality opened upon my mind that men and 
 women could lie. Hence I repeated my Catechism, and 
 listened to religious teaching at home and on the Sabbath, 
 with an absolute and unquestioning assurance that I 
 was hearing nothing but eternal truth. 
 
 As soon as the idea of dying entered my mind, I had 
 an inconceivable dread and horror of death. Wherever 
 I was, the thought of dying, and being buried in that 
 deep, narrow place, was seldom absent from my mind. 
 Often, when alone, I would cry aloud for horror at the 
 thought of death, the coffin, and the grave. In con- 
 nection with such reflections, thoughts of the eternal 
 verities that lie in the great hereafter would throw their 
 awe-inspiring shadows over my spirits. Between my 
 ninth and thirteenth years three events occurred, in each 
 of which I escaped death as by a miracle. In the fii'st 
 instance, when wholly unable to swim, and with no one 
 present able at all to help me, I found myself, by a 
 momentary accident, in water far over my head. By 
 singular presence of mind, I moved under the water 
 toward the shore, until, in a most exhausted state, my 
 head rose above the surface, and I was safe. Had I 
 moved in any direction but the one I did, death would 
 have been inevitable. The other two escapes, which 
 were as remarkable and providential as that, I need not 
 detail. These events brought eternity, as never before, 
 to my apprehension. How often would I start back at the 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 31 
 
 thought which would suddenly come over me that I had 
 three times hung as by a thread over the bottomless pit, 
 and that, had I lost my life on either occasion, eternal 
 damnation would have been my portion ! An event 
 which made a very deep and lasting impression on my 
 mind occurred when I was about fourteen years of age. 
 It was the sickness and death of a school and play mate, 
 who was very dear to me. I was one of four lads who 
 were selected to bear that silent body, so tenderly dear 
 to us all, into the graveyard, and set it down by the 
 side of its low and narrow house. With what deep and 
 impressive interest did the question often come home to 
 my mind, " Where has the spirit gone And what if 
 mine, instead of his, had been called for?" As one and 
 another dropped around me, now an aged neighbour, 
 then a strong man or woman in middle life, then a child, 
 and then a youth, or one just merging into manhood, 
 how narrow the space came to appear between myself 
 and " the undiscovered country ! " I sometimes seemed 
 to myself to be walking on a narrow path with my grave 
 open on each side of me. 
 
 But the influences which, more than all others, gave 
 form and depth to my early religious impressions were 
 what passed daily before me in the domestic circle. Very 
 much of the religious conversation which I heard there 
 was of an experimental character, and proceeded from 
 the most spiritual believers in all the region round. In 
 listening to such converse I, from time to time, got im- 
 pressive insights into the interior of the Christian life. 
 I thus became deeply impressed with the essential 
 difference between the worldly and the Christian life, 
 and with the opposite adaptations of each, as the soul, 
 in one or the other state, should enter eternity. 
 
32 
 
 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 But what most impressed my mind was what I saw in 
 the daily life of my mother. She was, in public regard, 
 one of the best housekeepers known. In the morning, 
 after the family had partaken of the meal prepared, and 
 everything about the house was put in the most perfect 
 order, she would take down her Bible and seat herself 
 in her rocking-chair. How still and solemn and peaceful 
 everything about her then appeared ! No one broke the 
 silence at such periods. After a few moments of deep 
 thought, she would read to herself — she never read aloud 
 then — a portion of that blessed Book which she loved so 
 much. Then, after another season of deep and silent 
 meditation, she would retire to some secret place for a 
 season of prayer to God. I often listened, unknown to 
 her, to her Avords, as she would open her heart to her 
 Maker and Saviour. How often would the thought force 
 itself in upon my mind, " O that I were possessed of the 
 spirit that dwells in the heart of my mother ! " 
 
 Among the books which, next to her Bible, my mother 
 loved to read, were the memoirs of the holiest men and 
 women known in the circle of her religious faith, such as, 
 for example, those of President and Mrs. Edwards, of the 
 Tenants, David Brainerd, Miss Susanna Anthony, Mrs. 
 Sarah Osborne, and Mrs. Isabella Graham. These books 
 she commonly read aloud in my hearing, and for my 
 benefit specially, and particularly the most impressive 
 incidents. I have not looked into one of these books for 
 more than half a century, yet the incidents referred to 
 are to this day as distinctly before my mind as when I 
 first heard them read. I refer to the wonderful manifesta- 
 tions of the Divine glory and love to President and Mrs. 
 Edwards and David Brainerd. Full of interest, too, were 
 the lives of Miss Anthony and Mrs. Osborne. In a 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 33 
 
 weekly female prayer-meeting established by these holy 
 women, and which had continued without the interrup- 
 tion of a single week through thirty years or more, Miss 
 Anthony, for example, would sometimes be so borne 
 upward in prayer for a world in sin, that she would con- 
 tinue on her knees for the space of one or two hours, and 
 no one bowing with her would suspect that her prayer 
 had been long continued. In view of " the spirit of 
 grace and of supplications " poured out upon these 
 women and others. President Edwards expressed the 
 fixed belief that a period was near when revivals of 
 religion would occur such as the world had not 
 witnessed in ages past. Such facts made a very deep 
 impression on my mind. Mrs. Osborne lived in widow- 
 hood to a great age, she and a granddaughter occupying 
 a small cottage in a state of utter poverty and dependence 
 upon the voluntary benefactions of the church and com- 
 munity around her. Yet she never begged a favour of 
 any human being, and never, in a single instance, lacked 
 her daily bread, and a full supply of it. Not unfrequently 
 would she rise in the morning with not a particle of food 
 in her house. " Put on the tea-kettle, daughter," the 
 aged saint would say: "as soon as it is ready, what we 
 need will be here ;" and some one, under a Divine im- 
 pression, always did come in with the very things that 
 were wanted. In times of need, she always told her 
 Father the facts just as they were, and never failed to 
 obtain what she asked. When my mother would read 
 such facts to me, and would then turn to her Bible and 
 read such passages as, " The Lord is my Shepherd, I 
 shall not want," how safe the people of God appeared to 
 me under the guardianship of their Divine Shepherd, and 
 how agonising the desire which would spring up in my 
 
 D 
 
34 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 mind to become a member of that sacred flock ! Then 
 the triumph and peace of those saints in the hour of 
 death. What a parting scene was that between ]\Irs. 
 Graham and her daughter at the death of the latter, which 
 seemed to be an almost visible transfiguration ! As the 
 glorified spirit took its flight, the mother, lifting her 
 hands, exclaimed, " I wish you much joy, my darling." 
 
 How oft and how solemnly did I repeat that ancient 
 utterance, "Let me die the death of the righteous, and 
 let my last end be like his ! " I never spoke in ridicule 
 of Christians, as impenitent persons around me often did. 
 At one time, for example, I was present when two half- 
 brothers and several young men, all much older than 
 myself, were disporting themselves at the expense of 
 religion and the members of the church. I rebuked very 
 strongly their impiety, closing with these words : " I 
 wish that we were as well oif as Christians are." All 
 such considerations and impressions only made more 
 visible and awful to me the "great gulph fixed " between 
 myself and the world, on the one hand, and the people 
 of God, on the other. Often did I express the inward 
 wish that I had lived in the time of our Saviour, or that 
 He were now on earth as He was eighteen hundred years 
 ago. "Were He now here," I said, "I should know 
 what to do. I would go right to Him, give myself 
 wholly to His control, and trust Him to make me what 
 He desired me to be, and He would do it." But now, 
 what could I do, but wait for " the effectual call," were it 
 eternally decreed for me ? 
 
 When I was about sixteen years of age, an event 
 occurred which made an enduring impression upon my 
 mind. I had occasion to take a quantity of grain to a 
 mill about eight miles from home, the mill near my 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 35 
 
 father's residence being stopped for repairs. While 
 waiting for my grist, I noticed an individual with a black 
 face, in company with a young lad, at work in a pasture 
 near by. Having nothing else to do, I went over into 
 the lot where they were. The supposed coloured man I 
 found to be a white youth about two years older than 
 myself, he having blackened his face in sport. I had 
 been in his presence but a few moments, when I found 
 him to be one of the most shocking blasphemers I ever 
 met with. The chief direction of all his thoughts ap- 
 peared to be to combine the most horrid oaths possible. 
 With a kind of shuddering terror I soon left him, and 
 returned to the mill. The miller then told me that that 
 was the most recklessly depraved and wicked youth he 
 had ever known. Some time before he had run away 
 from home, had but just returned, and seemed to have 
 but one ambition, and that was to show the community 
 how depraved and wicked so young a person could 
 become. About two weeks subsequently to this, I had 
 occasion to go to that mill again. I then learned that 
 that youth, to all appearance, was on his death-bed in 
 his father's house a few rods distant. He had just before 
 attended the town election at the village two miles 
 distant, and there made himself a spectacle of terror, for 
 reckless depravity, to all present. On his return home 
 he was suddenly stricken down with a deadly fever. Not 
 obtaining my grist that day, I returned for it two days 
 after, and then and there witnessed a death scene, the 
 memory of which never escaped me, a scene exceeding in 
 horror anything I had ever before conceived. Like his 
 life, the death of that youth seemed characterised by 
 a raving madness. His aged grandfather endeavoured to 
 speak to the dying youth about his soul. " Begone, be- 
 
 D 2 
 
36 EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 gone, and let me alone," was the only response that 
 could be obtained. And such wailing ! After death 
 had closed the scene, the miller, a man of God, as he 
 returned with me to the mill, remarked that not a 
 shadow of hope of a change for the better did that youth 
 leave behind him. I went home from that scene a more 
 serious, if not a better, youth. I wa^ not, in any sense, 
 profane or immoral, like that youth ; yet, like him, I 
 was, as I well knew, in the accepted sense of the term, a 
 sinner under condemnation to eternal death. No one 
 who has not had similar experience, can conceive the 
 fearful terror often awakened in my mind at the thought 
 of dying in sin. Such impressions were deepened by 
 a remark which a neighbour — the profanest man I ever 
 knew — made about that time to the deacon of our church. 
 The latter had occasion, one hot summer's day, to call 
 upon this man. Finding him hoeing corn, and per- 
 ceiving that the row he was on terminated at the road 
 where the deacon was standing, the latter waited until 
 the man came up. Having finished his row, the poor 
 man threw down his hoe, and wiping the dripping per- 
 spiration from his face, exclaimed, " Deacon Branch, is 
 not this hard — to be obliged to toil like a slave all one's 
 life, and go to hell at last ? Tell me, is not this hard ? " 
 " Yes," the thought often passed through my mind, " to 
 go to hell at last, that is the end of a life of sin ! Will 
 my life thus terminate ? " 
 
 About this time reports of revivals of religion of 
 wonderful power in various parts of the country reached 
 Us, particularly in the eastern States under Mr. Nettleton 
 and others ; and the impression came over me that I 
 should soon be in the midst of such an ingathering. I 
 then began to hear the words repeated, "The one shall 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 37 
 
 be taken, and the other left." With what impressive- 
 ness did the question often present itself, " Shall I 
 be amoncr the happy number that shall be taken, or 
 among the non-elect who shall be left to die in their 
 sins ? " 
 
 Such were the religious impressions to which I was 
 subject prior to my conversion, and which were prepara- 
 tory to that event ; impressions which became deeper, 
 and more and more frequent, as I grew in years. And 
 what was the result upon my life and character This 
 is a very important inquiry. Many would naturally 
 infer, that I was " not far from the kingdom of God." 
 Instead of this, aside from the fact that I was chargeable 
 with no form of immorality, vice, or crime, I sincerely 
 doubt whether there was, in all the world, a more 
 godless youth than I was. After I had ceased to offer 
 the Lord's Prayer at my mother's knee, I had never 
 uttered a word or sentence in prayer to God. I had 
 never, even in thought, thanked Him for a blessing 
 received, or confessed or asked forgiveness for a single 
 sin, or sought a favour at the hands of my Maker. I 
 had never raised the question, even in thought, as to 
 whether what I did, or neglected to do, was pleasing or 
 displeasing to Him, or made the thought of pleasing or 
 displeasing Him a motive for any act I had put forth, or 
 refrained from putting forth. Nor had I ever raised the 
 inquiry, " What shall I do to be saved .''" or exercised a 
 thought or put forth an act relatively to that end, or 
 made the deep religious impressions to which I was so 
 often subject a motive for any such thought or act. Nor 
 did the conviction ever, for a moment, have place in my 
 mind, that my interior or outer life onght^ in any respect, 
 to be, or to have been, different from what it was. No 
 
EARLY RELIGIOUS IMPRESSIONS. 
 
 religious impression to ^vhich I was subject ever induced 
 in my mind anything approaching the conviction ot 
 duty, obligation, or moral desert. My conscience, as far as 
 any such convictions are concerned, was, as I have before 
 said, as dead within me as if it had not existed at 
 all. A thick and impenetrable veil was ever before my 
 mind, rendering the entrance of such convictions im- 
 possible. How, it may be asked, %vas such a life possible ? 
 If we should recur to the religious teachings with which 
 my mind was saturated during all those years, the 
 question is answered at once. According to what is 
 absolutely affirmed in the Confession of Faith and the 
 Catechisms, and what I absolutely believed, the following 
 immutable facts were true of me in my unregenerate 
 state ; I having had no choice or agency whatever in 
 inducing the state under consideration, i. It was utterly 
 impossible for me to v.ill or to do anything right or 
 good, and not to will and do what is sinful, or to will 
 or do anything to procure any Divine influence enabling 
 me to refuse the evil and choose the good. 2. It was 
 absolutely impossible for me to accept the offers of grace 
 in the Gospel, until after I was quickened and renewed 
 by the Holy Ghost," a change in which I was "altogether 
 passive." 3. The number of those who were to be thus 
 " effectually called," was from eternity so fixed and 
 predetermined that it could by no possibility be '' either 
 increased or diminished." Granting all this to be true, 
 why should I attempt to will or do the good, or not to 
 will or do the evil, when the attempt itself would be 
 nothing but sin ? Why should I pray, when the service 
 itself would be in the sight of Gcd nothing but an 
 abomination ? How could the conviction have place in 
 my conscience, that I ought to perform a revealed and 
 
39 
 
 recognised impossibility ? Granting these doctrines to 
 be true, wc can no more conceive that unregenerate 
 man, until God, in the exercise of His sovereignty, 
 has made him the subject of " effectual calling," can 
 be under any obligation to become holy, than we can 
 conceive of the annihilation of space, or of an event 
 without a cause. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 MY CONVICTION' AND CONVERSION. 
 
 The month in which I became seventeen years of age, I 
 received the appointment to teach the winter school in a 
 district in an adjacent town, my schoolhouse being just 
 four miles from my father's residence. The district was 
 composed almost entirely of Christian families who had 
 emigrated from the eastern States, and nearly all of 
 whom belonged to the same denomination as my parents. 
 When I had been in my school a sufficient time to see it 
 in successful operation, with the fairest prospect of a 
 reputable termination of this my first public effort of any 
 kind, I said to myself distinctly, and in so many words, 
 " I have no desire, either for this world or the next, to 
 be more completely happy than I now am, " From my 
 earliest recollection the cherished object of my being 
 had been a liberal education, and the subsequent 
 occupancy of the sphere of an educated man. To give 
 me such an education my parents were wholly unable. 
 All I asked or desired was the privilege of working out 
 for myself the end so supremely valued ; and I had left 
 home with the understanding that after my father had 
 received this one winter's wages, I might go for myself. 
 A clearer and brighter sky never, I believe, opened 
 before the imagination of any youth than that which 
 now rose over my future career. But this brightness 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 41 
 
 was not of long continuance. Thoughts of an eternal 
 future began to drop one after another into my mind ; 
 and that with a force and impressiveness never before 
 experienced. As a consequence my Bible was read with 
 greater frequency and interest than formerly. At a 
 single sitting one evening I read through the entire 
 book of Revelation. No definite impression was made 
 upon my mind by such reading. A more habitual 
 thoughtfulness was induced, however, and a more sombre 
 hue was imparted to the atmosphere above and around 
 me. Reports of revivals of religion became at this time 
 more frequent than ever before, and these, more than 
 any other causes, deepened my serious impressions. At 
 a conference meeting in the district one evening, a long 
 letter was read giving an account of a revival of great 
 power in the place from which several of the families 
 present had emigrated. The impression upon my mind 
 amounted to agony. As there was no movement at the 
 time among the people around, such impressions passed 
 away, deepening, however, the general thoughtfulness of 
 my mind. One cause of the unusual impressions to 
 which I was subject at this time was, as I afterwards 
 learned, what was passing between the spirit of my mother 
 and God at my home. Immediately on my leaving, the 
 question of my eternal interests seemed to occupy all her 
 thoughts. Whenever she approached the throne of grace, 
 this was the great object of her petitions, the almost 
 insupportable burden of her prayers. I was her only son, 
 and, with the exception of a young sister, her only child 
 then living. What an infinite blessing is a praying 
 mother ! 
 
 Immediately after commencing my school, I formed 
 an intimate acquaintance with a young man in the place, 
 
42 
 
 much older than myself, who was the son of the leading 
 deacon of the church, and led the young people in all 
 amusements and worldly conversation. While his in- 
 fluence over me was very fascinating, it was far from 
 healthful, as he often made, not only Christians, but 
 religion itself, a subject of jesting. In a short time, 
 however, he had occasion to be absent from home for 
 several weeks. On his return I immediately called upon 
 him, and was strangely impressed with a mysterious 
 change in his appearance. Instead of the jocular re- 
 ception which I expected, he barely shook hands with 
 me, and appeared almost incapable of entering into con- 
 versation of any kind. I left him at once, wondering 
 what had occurred. On returning home on Saturday 
 afternoon, my mother at once put the inquiry to me : 
 " Is young Mr. Walker under concern of mind ? I have 
 heard," she remarked, " that it is so." I replied that 
 I had heard nothing upon the subject ; that 1 had seen 
 him but once since his return, and that his appearance 
 was such as to indicate that what she had heard might 
 be true. The next day I made an excuse and stayed at 
 home from the meetings, spending my time in study, 
 which I had already begun, with reference to a liberal 
 education. On the return of the family, at the close of 
 the afternoon service, I put away my books and retired 
 to my room. As soon as my mother entered the house, 
 and without waiting to lay aside any of her outer gar- 
 ments, she came to me and said, " Young Mr. Walker is 
 under very deep concern of mind. He came up with a 
 company of young people and spoke in the conference 
 meeting in our schoolhouse last week, avowed his deter- 
 mination to lead a new life hereafter, and exhorted all, 
 the youth present especiall}', to follow his example." 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 43 
 
 The effect upon my mind was indescribable. The im- 
 pression came over me Avilh overpowering weight that I 
 was actually in the midst of a revival of religion, and 
 that I should soon know whether I was among the 
 number who were " predestinated unto everlasting life," 
 or among the doomed class who were " foreordained to 
 everlasting death." I returned to my school in an agony 
 of apprehension which rendered it ver}' difficult for me 
 to get through the services of the day. At the close, 
 after my scholars had retired and I was left alone, I 
 found my anguish so excruciating that I cried aloud, 
 
 O that I could weep ! " But the fountain of tears 
 Avas utterly dry. Under a despairing impression that I 
 should do what I had never before even attempted to do, 
 that is, to pray, I at length got upon my knees in the 
 presence of my Maker, but I found myself wholly unable 
 to give expression to a single word or syllable, the 
 fountain of utterance, as well as of tears, having entirely 
 dried up. As I arose from my knees after a considerable 
 period, a strange revulsion occurred in my feelings. 
 With a desperate determination I said to myself, " I 
 will have no more to do with this subject." 
 
 In this state of mind, I retired to my lodgings. In 
 the course of the evening, having listened to a religious 
 conversation between my friend Walker and a company 
 of young people, all my former impressions returned with 
 accumulated force. I now resolved never again to resist 
 religious impressions, but to do all that was possible on 
 my part to render my calling and election sure." The 
 next evening, by special invitation, I, with a brother of 
 his, had a long interview with my friend Walker. He 
 gave us an account of a very powerful revival of religion 
 in the place where he had been, of his own religious 
 
44 
 
 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 impressions, and of the new and blessed life upon which he 
 had entered. After an earnest exhortation to us to seek 
 the great salvation which he had attained, he commended 
 himself and us to God in prayer. As we rose from our 
 knees, he turned to me, reminded me of our special 
 friendship for each other, exhorted me to follow his 
 footsteps in the way of life and peace, and expressed the 
 earnest hope and desire that hereafter our faces should 
 not be set in opposite directions. " Friend Walker," I 
 replied, will you not continue to pray for me ? " 
 
 From that moment, I had no wish or desire to conceal 
 from any being in existence the fact that I was a serious 
 and earnest inquirer after the salvation of my soul. I 
 immediately sought interviews with the most intelligent 
 and devout believers in the community, and desired 
 them to tell me their experience from the time when 
 they became subject to such impressions, up to the 
 period of their " effectual calling," and especially what 
 immediately preceded, accompanied, and followed that 
 great change. To no one — with a seeming exception to 
 be stated hereafter — did I put the inquiry at all, "What 
 must I do to be saved?" the definite doctrinal views of 
 all concerned rendering such an inquiry an absurdity. 
 From the moment when I fully determined to give my 
 whole being up to this one subject, the conviction 
 became absolute in my mind, that as this one visitation 
 should terminate, such would inevitably be my life and 
 niy eternal future. The object of all my inquiries was to 
 determine, as well as I might, what would be the issue 
 of this turning crisis of my existence, whether I was 
 likely to be the subject of "the effectual call ;" and if so, 
 how near I probably was to it, and how I might know 
 that it had occurred, should it occur at all. The 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 45 
 
 exclusive burden of thought and inquiry with me was, not 
 what I should do, but Avhat God, in the fulfilment of an 
 eternal decree, would do in my case. Nor did any indi- 
 vidual intimate to me that my inquiries were wrongly 
 directed, neither was anything said, during that revival, 
 to induce any one to imagine that the question of his soul's 
 eternity rested upon his own free choice of life or death. 
 Instead of being told to " look to Jesus," I was told, as 
 already stated, that if I was not one of the elect, my salva- 
 tion was impossible. The only practical counsels we did 
 receive were such as these : " Avoid vain company and 
 worldly conversation and reading," " Do not resist, or try 
 to banish, your religious impressions," " Cherish your 
 convictions," " If you can do nothing else, this you can 
 do, put yourselves in the way of saving influences." 
 How wonderful is the influence of fahe doctrine in 
 veiling from the thought and heart the plainest and 
 most express teachings of the Word of God; teachings 
 which everywhere lift their Divinely illumined summits 
 heaven-high amid the great revelations around them ! 
 What are these teachings ? We turn to the Old 
 Testament, and there read, " See, I have set before thee 
 this day life and good, death and evil." "I call heaven 
 and earth to record this day against you, that I have 
 set before you life and death, blessing and cursing: there- 
 fore choose life, that both thou and thy seed may live." 
 ''This commandment which I command thee this day, 
 it is not hidden from thee, neither is it far off." "The 
 word is very nigh thee, in thy mouth, and in thy heart, 
 that thou mayest do it." See Rom. x. 6 — 9. "Look 
 unto Me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth." 
 " Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters." 
 " Let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous 
 
46 
 
 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 man his thoughts, and let him return unto the Lord, and 
 He will have mercy upon him ; and to our God, for He 
 will abundantly pardon.'' 
 
 As we stand before the open gate into the New Testa- 
 ment, the first object that opens upon our vision is " the 
 Lamb of God Who taketh away the sin of the world," our 
 " Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous," 
 Who "is the propitiation for our sins" (the sins of 
 believers) : " and not for ours onh', but also for the sins 
 of the whole world." Hence His early testimony in 
 regard to Himself : " As Moses lifted up the serpent in 
 the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up : 
 that whosoever believeth in Him might not perish, but 
 have eternal life." Here we are absolutely taught that 
 salvation is just as free and possible to every sinner, as 
 was healing to those dying Israelites, after the serpent 
 was lifted up in their presence. As soon as that all- 
 healing power was manifested, the universal cry of the 
 people around was, " Look to the brazen serpent, look to 
 the brazen serpent." So the united cry of all believers 
 to dying sinners should be, " Look to Jesus, and receive 
 eternal life through Him." And all doctrines and 
 religious teachings which do not represent salvation 
 through Christ as thus free and universally available, 
 veil Christ from "the world of sinners lost." "Come 
 unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I 
 will give you rest." '"If any man thirst, let him come 
 unto Me, and drink." " And the Spirit and the bride say, 
 Com.e. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let 
 him that is athirst come. And M^hosoever will, let him 
 take the water of life freely." Such is Christ's Gospel, as 
 preached b}' Himself When convicted souls at the 
 Pentecost said unto Peter and the rest of the apostles, 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 47 
 
 "Men and brethren what shall we do?" the answer 
 was ready and specific : " Repent, and be baptised every- 
 one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission 
 of sins, and ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost." 
 It took those despairing souls thus instructed but a few 
 moments to step out of the kingdom of Satan into the 
 kingdom of God. When the trembling jailor, prostrate 
 before Paul and Silas, cried out, " Sirs, what must "I do 
 to be saved ? " these inspired men of God did not talk 
 to him about "eternal and unconditional election," but 
 answered his question directly : " Believe in the Lord 
 Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house." 
 As the result of speaking the word of the Lord to him, 
 and to all that were in his house, they were all before 
 morning joyfully baptised believers in Jesus. 
 
 Listead of being thus led directly to Christ, how often is 
 the inquirer utterly bewildered and left for long periods, it 
 may be, to wander on in the deep gloom of despair, through 
 doctrines and teachings M'hich involve "the glorious 
 Gospel of the blessed God" in deep eclipse ! I know, for 
 example, a Scotch lady of great intelligence, who, while 
 under the pastorate of a widely known preacher of the 
 Scotch Church, and encircled with the leading lights of 
 the same, wandered on for fifteen years in blank despair, 
 all the while brooding over the question whether she 
 was or was not one of the elect. From none of these 
 teachers, to all of whom she again and again made known 
 her case, could she obtain a ray of real light, nor from 
 one of them was the Biblical answer to the question, 
 " What must I do to be saved ? " even hinted to her. 
 All that they could say was that if she was one of the 
 elect she would, without fail, at some future time be the 
 subject of " the effectual call," and that if she was " not 
 
48 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 elected," her salvation was impossible. At length she 
 providentially fell under the teaching of a preacher of 
 another order, by whom Jesus was preached to her. 
 Under such ministrations upon the deep midnight of 
 her soul " the Sun of Righteousness arose with healing 
 in His wings." Since that good hour many, very many, 
 lost souls have been saved through her instrumentality. 
 One of the most celebrated preachers in Christendom, 
 bewildered and joyless, was induced by the sudden 
 approach of a violent shower, when on his way to his 
 own place of worship, to step aside into an obscure 
 Primitive Methodist chapel. Here the way of salvation 
 through faith in Christ was made plain to his mind, and 
 he went his way " rejoicing in hope of the glory of God." 
 Dr. Chalmers often had most impressive intuitions of 
 " this new and living way," as God has revealed it, in 
 contrast with " the hard doctrines" so commonly taught 
 in the Church to which he belonged. Under the power 
 of such an intuition, he, on one occasion, thus addressed 
 his theological class — our informant having taken down 
 his words as he uttered them : " Young gentlemen," he 
 exclaimed with the deepest emotion, "were the inhabit- 
 ants of one of our villages inquiring what they must do 
 to be saved, I would much prefer sending to them two of 
 your 'ignorant 'Methodist preachers, who would tell them 
 the way of life and salvation through faith in Christ, than 
 to send one of these learned divines who is so deeply 
 steeped in orthodoxy that he cannot preach to them a 
 full and a free salvation." 
 
 To return from this digression. No ray of light reach- 
 ing me from any source around me, I wandered on in a 
 state of mental anguish which rendered me a spectacle of 
 wonder to my pupils and the whole community about me. 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 49 
 
 At the commencement of the revival, the pastor who 
 preached alternately in the church in the town where I 
 was teaching school, and in that where my parents lived, 
 was prostrated with a sickness of which he afterwards 
 died. The work for some time, consequently, went on 
 without any ministerial help. At length a missionary, 
 who had several times put up at my father's residence, 
 and for whom I felt much esteem, came into the place 
 where I was. With him I at once sought an interview, 
 in the hope of obtaining some light upon the way I 
 should take. After I had stated my case, he simply 
 repeated to me what others had said before. At length, 
 with indescribable agony, I exclaimed, "What shall I 
 do.'" With a cold severity which shocked my whole 
 being, he replied, "You must repent," and manifested a 
 desire to discontinue the conversation. Had he smitten 
 me in the face, I should not have thought myself more 
 flagrantly insulted than I did by that reply. He knew, 
 and I knew full well, that, according to the doctrines we 
 both held, repentance, faith, and all Christian duties 
 were to me utter impossibilities, until after the great 
 change should be wrought in me through " the effectual 
 call ; " and that my only proper concern at the moment, 
 if that doctrine were true, was about that change and 
 that call, and not about duties which would follow their 
 occurrence. 
 
 After that interview I passed a full week amid " the 
 blackness of darkness " of blank despair. During this 
 entire period, had I been possessed of all the world, I 
 would freely have parted with it for the privilege of 
 shedding a single tear ; but not a tear, during all that 
 time, moistened my eye or my cheek. With what agony 
 did I then continuously revolve the thought, " O that 
 
 E 
 
5° 
 
 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 the decree of election might be gone over again I that 
 God would consent to reconsider my case ! It might be 
 that He would then include me among the elect. But 
 no; my doom is fixed. From eternity I was foreordained 
 to eternal death, and God will never reverse that decree." 
 At length my power to endure positive mental agony- 
 gave way, and my mind settled down into the thick 
 gloom of fixed despondency. 
 
 At this time, I went home and spent a night there. 
 My desire was to prepare my mother for a future which 
 to me appeared inevitable. I told her that I was 
 absolutely assured that I was not one of the elect, and 
 that consequently this period of religious awakening 
 would pass away, and leave me a hopeless, reckless 
 reprobate. To this she must make up her mind. She 
 must expect to see her son, hereafter, one of the most 
 recklessly wicked reprobates on earth. She insisted that 
 I was already converted. "Xo," I replied, " that change 
 is not for me." When I took leave of her in the morning, 
 I said to her, and that with strong crying and tears, " I 
 have but one desire, and that is to be a Christian. I 
 would readily give all the world, did I possess it, to be 
 what you are. For me, however, there is no hope. My 
 doom is fixed, and God won't reverse it." 
 
 Immediately after this a change occuired in my 
 experience ; a change which I have ever regarded as, if 
 not miraculous, yet altogether supernatural. 
 
 T/!C Great Change. 
 
 While I was desponding in the settled gloom above 
 described, God, by His Spirit, became a directly and 
 personalty manifested Presence to m}' mind. I had an 
 absolute intuition of Him, an intuition direct and imme- 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 5 1 
 
 diate, as infinitely pure, true, just, good, and perfect, as 
 loving mc with a love absolutely ineffable, as ever having 
 thus loved mc, and as having ever been more than ready 
 to receive me, pardon all my sins, and bless me with His 
 eternal favour, had I, as I might have done, sought Him, 
 inquired after Him, given myself to Him, confessed to 
 Him my sins and sought pardon at His hands. Of no 
 facts had I ever before been so impressively conscious as 
 I then was of all these Divinely manifested verities. At 
 the same time and with equal distinctness, I was made 
 to know myself as I was and had been. In the mirror of 
 the Divine purity, perfection, love, and grace, my whole 
 moral life stood revealed with absolute distinctness to 
 my own mind. From all the infinite and ineffable purity, 
 excellency, and love, now unveiled to my apprehension, 
 I had ever been in A-oluntary and criminal estrangement. 
 I had ne-\'er sought to know God, my Maker and 
 Redeemer, had never sought His favour, or cared at all 
 whether my life and conduct were pleasing or displeasing 
 to Him. I had never, even in thought, entertained a 
 sentiment or emotion of gratitude for favours received, 
 or regret for aggravated violation of His will. All this 
 had been true, while the opposite might have been true. 
 Of all this I was rendered distinctly and absolutely 
 conscious. Now, for the first time in my life, the idea of 
 moral desert entered my mind, and the idea of ill-desert 
 combined with that of sin. In a moment I recognised 
 myself as not only under condemnation to eternal death, 
 but as absolutely deserving that doom, and as deserving 
 nothing less and nothing else than this. In degree of 
 criminal desert I seemed to myself for a considerable time 
 to stand alone under the eye of God. I distinctly thought 
 upon the subject, and for a considerable time sincerely 
 
52 
 
 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 believed that no being in existence could be as guilty and 
 hell-deserving as I was. Several weeks transpired before 
 I fully dared to entertain the assurance that such crimi- 
 nality could be forgiven. I saw myself " in the hands of 
 the living God," without a solitary excuse for my sin, or 
 the remotest claim to the Divine clemency. AVhile I saw 
 myself thus and dared not hope for pardon, I had no 
 desire to be out of God's hands, and entertained a perfect 
 resignation that He should dispose of me as His infinite 
 wisdom and love should dictate. To all around me I 
 said distinctly, " I have no fear that I shall receive at the 
 hands of my God anything Avorse than I deserve. If I 
 am condemned as I deserve to be, I will stand before 
 God and the universe, and affirm mv doom to be just." 
 These were the identical sentiments to which I gave 
 distinct and frequent utterance. I was not then aware 
 that such a state is incompatible with anything but a 
 direct interest in the infinite grace and mercy of God. 
 No one who has not had a similar experience can con- 
 ceive the utter abhorrence with which I regarded the 
 life which I had, up to that time, lived before God. The 
 thought of perdition, as I have said in another book, was 
 not so fearful to my mind as a continuance in aliena- 
 tion and estrangement from such a Being. 
 
 In this state of mind — to quote from m}' former work 
 — v/hen alone with God, I bowed the knee before Him 
 and confessed that I had no right to ask or expect any 
 favour at His hands, and that my whole eternity hung 
 upon His mere grace and mercy. One favour I would 
 venture to ask, that I might be kept from ever returning 
 to that stite of alienation from Him in which my life 
 had been spent, and that I might have grace to appreciate 
 His love, excellence, and glory ; to love and venerate 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 Him, and have a sacred respect for His will. If He would 
 grant me this, I would accept of anything in time and 
 eternity that He might appoint me. This was the exact 
 substance and form of that prayer. I had no sooner 
 pronounced these words than I was consciously encircled 
 in the " everlasting arms." I was so overshadowed with 
 a sense of the manifested love of a forgiving God and 
 Saviour that my whole mental being seemed to be dis- 
 solved and pervaded with an ineffable quietude and 
 assurance. I arose from my knees without a doubt that 
 I was an adopted member of the family of God. With 
 '' the peace of God, which passeth all understanding," 
 pervading every department of my mental nature, I could 
 look upward, and, without a cloud between my soul and 
 the face of God, could and did exclaim, " My Father and 
 my God ! " Such was my entrance into the inner life. 
 
 While there are important differences, there are essen- 
 tial resemblances between my own case and that of 
 Colonel Gardiner. Each was brought to see his great 
 sinfulness and desert of eternal doom, not by a direct 
 showing of the sin itself, but through a supernatural 
 manifestation of God to the mind. The manifestation 
 came to him when meditating a great crime, and waiting 
 the designated hour for its perpetration, and to me when 
 in fixed despondency about my eternal state. The mani- 
 festation to him seemed to be external and visible — 
 Christ dying upon the cross for his sins. The manifesta- 
 tion to me was wholly internal and spiritual, — God in 
 His purity and love personally made manifest to my 
 mind. What was common to the two cases was this : in 
 the light of the manifestation each saw his moral life as 
 it was and had been, and the infinitude of the guilt, crimi- 
 nality, and hell-desert of that life. Each, too, had an 
 
54 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 intuition equally absolute of the fact, that his life might 
 have been, and ought to have been, the opposite of what 
 it had been. The manifestation to Colonel Gardiner 
 was on this wise. The company with whom he had 
 been spending the evening broke up about eleven. 
 Exactly at twelve he had an assignation with a married 
 woman. To while away the interval he engaged in 
 reading a book. While so doing he thought he saw an 
 unusual light fall on the book. Lifting up his eyes, as 
 he apprehended, to his extreme amazement, there was 
 before him, as it were suspended in the air, a visible 
 representation of the Lord Jesus Christ upon the cross, 
 surrounded on all sides with glory ; and he was impressed 
 as if a voice had come to him to this effect, ' O, sinner ! 
 did I suffer this for thee, and are these the returns.'"" 
 Throughout that night he did not once " recollect that 
 criminal and detestable assignation which had before 
 engrossed all his thoughts." After sitting for a while, as 
 if there remained hardly any life in him, he ran and 
 walked to and fro in his chamber, appearing to himself 
 the vilest monster in existence, because he had all his 
 lifetime been crucifying Christ afresh by his sins. Thus 
 he saw the horror of what he had done. With this was 
 connected such a view of the majesty and goodness of 
 God as caused him to loathe and abhor himself, and to 
 repent as in dust and ashes. " After I had that astonish- 
 ing sight I had of my blessed Lord," says Colonel 
 Gardiner, " the terrible condition in which I was pro- 
 ceeded not so much from the terrors of the law, as from 
 a sense of having been so ungrateful a monster to Him 
 Whom I thought I saw pierced for my transgressions." 
 So, in my own case, after the personal manifestation 
 which Gcd made to me of His purity, glory, and love, 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 55 
 
 the fear of eternal doom, the fear which had occupied 
 a supreme position before, had little place in my mind. 
 My whole being, on the other hand, was occupied with 
 the infinitude of tlie criminality and loathsomeness of a 
 life of voluntary and horrible estrangement from such 
 a Being-. 
 
 Let us now consider two truths of fundamental impor- 
 tance, suggested and impressed upon our minds by the 
 two cases before us. 
 
 Essential Truths suggested by these Cases. 
 
 I. The nature of the work of the Spirit in convicting 
 of sin here claims our special attention. In such con- 
 viction there is always induced, not a mere dread of 
 eternal doom, but a distinctly conscious desert of that 
 doom ; and this sense of criminal desert will mainly 
 occupy the mind. This sense of desert of doom, let me 
 add, is always induced, as a matter of fact, by rendering 
 the mind distinctly conscious of its past voluntary 
 relations to God. In the case of Colonel Gardiner and 
 myself, for example, the Spirit, in showing us our sins, 
 and our desert of eternal doom, did not at all present 
 Adam's sin as imputed to us, or the fact that we " deserve 
 God's wrath and curse both in this life and that which is 
 to come " on account of a fallen nature, in the origination 
 and constitution of which we had no more agency than 
 we had in Adam's first sin. On the other hand, this 
 conscious desert of doom is always, in all cases, induced 
 by a manifestation of God in His relations of Creator and 
 Redeemer, and of the sinner in his life of voluntary 
 estrangement from the Author of his bsing and life. 
 " When He (the Spirit) is come," says our Saviour, " He 
 shall reprove (convict) the world of sin." " Of sin, 
 
56 
 
 MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 because " — of what ? Because of Adam's sin imputed to 
 us, or of a fallen nature innocently by us derived from 
 Adam? No. "Of sin, because they believed not on 
 Me." "This is the condemnation," the reason why men 
 will be condemned — not that they are held doomed to 
 endure " God's wrath and curse " for anything in the 
 origination and constitution of which they had no choice 
 or agency at all ; but " that light is come into the world, 
 and men loved darkness rather than light, because their 
 deeds were evil." Not for the constitution of the body, 
 nor for the nature we had when put into the body, but 
 " for the deeds done m the body " are we to be judged 
 at the great day. And the Spirit shows these deeds, and 
 these only, when He convicts of sin and its desert ; and 
 here, and here only, sin is found. Any teacher of truth 
 who teaches that our real sin is found anywhere else 
 than in our " deeds done in the body," wholly 
 misinterprets the Word of God, and the work of the 
 Spirit. When the Spirit shows us our evil propensities, 
 He shows us not sin, but causes and occasions of sin, 
 causes which are to be removed " by the renewing of the 
 Holy Ghost." 
 
 2. We are now prepared to state the immutable 
 conditions on which the conscious desert of doom can 
 by any possibility have place in the mind. This 
 conscious desert can arise but in view of what we 
 consciously have been, and consciously might hav^e been. 
 That was the exact light in which my life of sin was set 
 before me by the Spirit of God. I was not rendered 
 more absolutely conscious of what my life had been, than 
 I was of the fact that it might have been, and con- 
 sequently ought to have been, the opposite of what it 
 had been. Such were the convictions induced in the 
 
MY CONVICTION AND CONVERSION. 
 
 57 
 
 mind of Colonel Gardiner, and such are the convictions 
 induced in every mind which the Spirit of God convicts 
 of sin. 
 
 " Of all the words of tongue or pen, 
 The saddest word, It might have been." 
 
 Take from the spirits in the eternal prison their absolute 
 consciousness that they might not have been where they 
 are, and that they might have been in the kingdom of 
 light, and you extract from hell, not its despair, but all 
 its remorse, all its conscious desert of doom. Induce 
 in any being the fixed and absolute conviction that, 
 whatever his moral life may have been, no other form of 
 life was possible to him, and that that life could not but 
 have been as it was and what it was, and the convictiori 
 of the desert of doom is absolutely impossible to him. 
 
CHAPTER III. 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 The saintly life, as God has revealed it, has two sides, 
 namely, a Godward and a manward side ; tlie latter 
 including the Church and the world. The Church, as 
 God has portrayed and ordained her, is not a hospital for 
 invalids, but " an army with banners," a sacramental host, 
 marshalled for world conquest under the mighty Con- 
 queror " who hath upon His vesture and on His thigh a 
 name written, King of Kings, and Lord of Lords." 
 This sacred host is marshalled, armed and equipped, to 
 " fight against sin," and " the weapons of its warfare are 
 mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds." 
 Not a single soldier in the army of the Lord ever needs 
 to say, ''I am sick," or to be laid up in a hospital on 
 account of sin-wounds received from the world, the flesh, 
 or the devil. All in common are privileged to be clad 
 in an armour and covered with a shield by which all 
 " the fiery darts of the wicked shall be quenched," and to 
 wield "a sharp two-edged sword, " with which " one shall 
 chase a thousand, and two put ten thousand to flight." 
 All this is unqualifiedly true. What less than this can 
 our Saviour mean when He says, " Verily, verily, I say 
 unto you. He that believeth on Me, the works that I do 
 shall he do also ; and greater works than these shall he 
 do; because I go unto my Father".' Every solitary 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 59 
 
 believer in Jesus is privileged, and most sacredly bound, 
 to be endued with all the power from on high," " signs " 
 excepted, which the apostles and their associates received 
 at the Pentecost, to be as " full of faith and of the Holy 
 Ghost " as they were, and to possess in actual fruition 
 ALL tliat our Saviour meant when He said, " He that 
 believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his 
 belly shall flow rivers of living water." At no period of 
 his Christian life can " the believer be so readily prepared 
 to receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost," and thus to 
 be " filled with all the fulness of God," as during the 
 period of his " first love." His consecration to Christ 
 is then supreme, his " hunger and thirst after righteous- 
 ness" subordinate in his mind all other desires, and his 
 faith is so simple and childlike that he will readily 
 receive " the things which are freely given us of God," 
 as soon as he clearly apprehends them. But when these 
 primal joys have faded out, and the mind has become 
 habituated to a state in which it " walks in darkness and 
 has no light," and has come to think, perhaps, that God 
 has "reserved" no "better things for us " in this life, 
 how difficult it is for the believer, in the midst of all 
 his worldly entanglements, to get back into that childlike 
 faith in which he will " receive with meekness the 
 engrafted word ! " 
 
 Those joyful converts in Samaria needed but to be 
 " instructed in the way of the Lord," to be fully pre- 
 pared to receive the Holy Ghost under the hands of Peter 
 and John. Not six months had passed after Paul, with 
 Silas and Timothy, had spent but three Sabbaths in 
 Thessalonica, before a fully organised church of Christ 
 existed there, with pastors, and teachers, and prophets, 
 and a membership so " full of faith and of the Holy 
 
6o 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 Ghost," that from them " sounded out the word of 
 the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in 
 every place this faith to Godward was spread abroad," so 
 that Paul and his associates had no occasion to return 
 there to "speak anything." Were all converts "in- 
 structed in the way of the Lord," as they were then, 
 instead of appearing as they do now, " a feeble folk," 
 sickly, and unable to " fly or go," they would everywhere 
 be seen "girded with everlasting strength," "holding 
 forth the word of life," and ready and " able to endure 
 hardness as good soldiers of Christ." 
 
 In illustration and verification of these statements, 
 permit me to refer to my own case. I can here " speak 
 Avhat I do know, and testify what I have seen." At the 
 time described at the close of the last chapter, when I 
 became distinctly conscious of my acceptance with God, 
 so completely dead had I become to all worldly hopes, 
 desires, and ambitions, that, having no apprehension 
 that I could ever attain to a qualification to preach the 
 Gospel, I gave up wholly all thought of a liberal 
 education. I returned home, on the contrary, with no 
 higher aspirations or expectations than to serve God in 
 the humble sphere of a " tiller of the ground." One 
 desire fully and consciously possessed my whole being, — 
 the desire to be, in all my activities, in perfect harmony 
 with the will of God. Even perdition, as I have already 
 said, was not so dreadful to me as was the idea of a 
 return to the old life which I had abandoned. What I 
 supremely and specifically desired was, — deadness, total 
 and entire, to that life. The least appearance of a world- 
 ward or sin ward tendency would instantly startle me, 
 and drive me to my closet. When the thought that 
 I might glorify my God and Saviour by occupying the 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 6i 
 
 sphere of a preacher of the Gospel was suggested by 
 another person, and presented as practicable, it was 
 received with perfect ecstasy. I am absolutely conscious 
 that I have not overdrawn a single feature or element of 
 my moral and spiritual state at the time referred to. 
 
 Suppose, now, that at this period some Aquila and 
 Priscilla had " instructed me in the way of the Lord 
 more perfectly " than I had ever been taught it before ; 
 that, after expounding to me the true import of m.y 
 calling as a saint of God, they had fully set before me 
 the scene of the Pentecost, and then showed that by 
 absolute promise of God, a promise to be received by 
 faith, just as that of pardon had been, I was, as a believer 
 in Jesus, entitled to expect to receive, for my life-mission 
 and work, all the moral and spiritual enduements of 
 power that the apostles and their associates, then and 
 there, received for theirs, and to be rendered as " full of 
 faith and of the Holy Ghost" as they were ; that it is as 
 clearly and distinctly a revealed part of the mission of 
 Christ to " baptize with the Holy Ghost," as it is to 
 "take away sin;" that the Spirit, when given, would 
 " strengthen me with might in the inner man, that 
 Christ might dwell in my heart by faith, that I, being 
 rooted and grounded in love, might comprehend the 
 breadth, and depth, and length, and height, and know 
 the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, and be filled 
 with all the fulness of God ; " that by the Spirit " the 
 eyes of my understanding would be enlightened, that I 
 might know the things which are freely given me of 
 God," and " behold with open face, as in a glass, the 
 glory of the Lord, and be changed into the same image 
 from glory to glory;" that through the Spirit I should 
 be indwelt by Christ as He was indwelt by the Father ; 
 
62 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 that Christ and the Father would then come to me, 
 and make Their abode with me, my fellowship being with 
 the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ ; and that, as 
 the result, I should ever find myself " complete in Christ," 
 "His grace," at all times, and in all circumstances, 
 "being sufficient for me," while God would "make all 
 grace abound toward " me, so that I, "having always all 
 sufficiency for all things, should abound unto every good 
 work." Suppose that all these clearly revealed privileges 
 had been distinctly set before me at that time, would I not 
 as eagerly and as readily have laid hold of them as did 
 those young converts in Samaria, and those twelve 
 believers whom Paul met at Ephesus ? Should I have 
 wandered, as I did, during those eighteen years, amid 
 the dim twilight of a semi-faith, conscious that I had 
 somewhere missed my way, and often crying out, " O that 
 I knew where I might find Him ! " No, reader. Had I 
 known these things during the period of my primal re- 
 ligious life, for the past sixty-five, instead of the past forty- 
 seven years, " the Lord would have been to me an 
 everlasting light, and my God my glory." 
 
 So would it be with young converts generally, were they 
 early instructed , as they should be, and as primitive converts 
 were. A friend of mine stated to me that when travelling 
 in Scotland some years since, he met with a lady who, 
 as illustrative of the hallowed influence of the doctrine 
 under consideration, gave him this account of certain facts 
 of her own observation and experience. She had been, 
 during the prior revivals, instrumental in the conversion 
 of twelve young ladies in the families around her. These 
 individuals consequently looked to her as their spiritual 
 adviser. When they were all with her at one time, 
 each of them told her that her religious life was not at 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 63 
 
 all satisfactory to her own mind ; that she seemed to be 
 sliding backward rather than advancing, and to be 
 growing weaker and weaker rather than stronger and 
 stronger. Having stated these facts, they asked her if 
 there Avas no remedy. She then set before them the 
 great truth under consideration. They unitedly sought 
 and obtained "the promise of the Spirit." "As the 
 result," said the lady, " they are all, every one of them, 
 walking in the peace and light of God." It is sad to 
 think of a convert who was " born out of due time." It 
 is far sadder to think of one born where the darkness has 
 not passed away, and the true light does not shine. 
 
 During the period of my primal joy and love, while 
 I was ignorant of " the riches of the glory of this mystery 
 among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of 
 glory," I did take some steps heavenward, steps which 
 gave character to my whole subsequent Christian life, 
 and led finally to my entrance into this higher light in 
 which I have walked for the past forty-seven years. 
 Permit me now to illustrate these statements by referring 
 to a few examples. 
 
 T/ie First Great Conflict and Victory. 
 
 I have already referred to the fact that the conscious- 
 ness of the least desire drawing me earthward or sinward 
 startled me with instant alarm, and drove me to my 
 knees. We here strike upon a principle of fundamental 
 importance in the Christian life. Many believers, under 
 the presence of such desires, enter into a direct conflict 
 with them, supposing that they are thus fighting '• the 
 good fight." Others neglect such desires, leaving them 
 to die out of themselves. In either case there is a very 
 great and dangerous mistake. Temptations thus resisted, 
 
64 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 or left to pass away of themselves, are sure to return with 
 greater power, and to find us in greater weakness than at 
 the first encounter. Ere long we shall be " brought into 
 captivity to the law of sin which is in our members." 
 We must fight or fall, and conquer or be taken captive. 
 To be conquerors, and especially to be " more than con- 
 querors," we must not " go a warfare at our own charges." 
 Ours must be a " fight of faith." " Whom resist stead- 
 fast in the faith." Every temptation or sinward desire 
 should be instantly taken to Christ, and put into His 
 hands ; and power for a permanent victory will be in- 
 stantly given. 
 
 I will here adduce an example which occurred much 
 later in life. One day, on opening a letter, I saw before 
 me a demand for a sum of money which I did not feel 
 able to pay. The demand I knew, and the individual 
 presenting it knew, to be absolutely fraudulent. Yet, 
 not knowing what he would swear to, and whom he 
 might get to swear for him, I concluded that I should be 
 obliged to m.eet the demand. The sudden occurrence of 
 such an event produced no little inward agitation. Then 
 and there I instantly lifted my heart to God, and said, 
 " Lord, here is a new department of my nature addressed. 
 I ask Thee to take all this inward perturbation away, and 
 to induce in its stead a state of mind in which, if I am 
 defrauded, I shall ' take joyfully the spoiling of my 
 goods.' " That prayer was instantly answered. All 
 internal perturbation disappeared ; and had I been com- 
 pelled to pay that fraudulent claim, it would not have 
 cost me a mental pang. Some time after this, all the 
 available funds I had in the world for life-support, 
 several thousand dollars, funds which had been en- 
 trusted to certain individuals for safe keeping and 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 65 
 
 investment, were appropriated by them and put beyond 
 my reach. Not a ripple did these events stir upon the 
 surface of my mind. In the world ye shall have tribu- 
 lation." "In Me ye shall have peace." So I found it, 
 and so have I ever found it, since " the joy of the Lord 
 became my strength." He that " casts a// his cares upon 
 the Lord " will " be careful for nothing," but " the peace 
 of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep his 
 heart and mind by Christ Jesus." 
 
 In Oui of Darkness into Light I refer to one great 
 and decisive " trial of faith " which I had in my early- 
 Christian life. I recur to this event here on account 
 of its essential bearing upon all that has since followed. 
 The occasion was the day of the State and town elections, 
 which occurred in early spring. That was the great 
 gala day of the year, ordinary labour being wholly 
 suspended, and the mass of the youth of my own age, 
 and younger lads, always meeting at the place where 
 the elections were held ; that place being in the imme- 
 diate vicinity of my father's residence, and directly undtr 
 my eye wherever I moved. When I saw my former 
 associates engaged in their wild sports, in which I had 
 ever before so intensely delighted and very much 
 excelled, it seemed as if the concentrated powers of 
 the world, the flesh, and the devil," in their accumu- 
 lated strength, were brought to bear upon my young and 
 susceptible mind, to induce me to join that company, 
 and in doing so to make a final choice of the worldly 
 instead of the religious life. As soon as I was at liberty 
 to leave home, having the day free to myself, I took my 
 Bible and went into the forest far out of sight and hear- 
 ing of the causes of my temptation. There I spent the 
 day in reading the Sacred Word, in meditation, and 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 prayer. The result of thus seeking "grace to help in 
 time of need " was not only deliverance from the tempta- 
 tion which then beset me, but a life-deadness to sinful 
 pleasures in all their forms. From that time to the 
 present I have not felt the least drawing towards any 
 form of amusement not conscientiously regarded as 
 healthy and compatible with the Christian life iu its 
 divinest forms. The dogma is quite commonly enter- 
 tained that our old nature, indwelling sins, are never 
 in this life eradicated, but remain to " war in our 
 members," and to be warred against. Here we have an 
 example of the utter eradication of one such indwelling 
 sin ; and if one may be got rid of, why may not " our old 
 man," that is, the old nature, "be crucified with Him, 
 that the body of sin " (indwelling sin in all its forms) 
 " be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin ?" 
 But this was not the only heavenward step that I took 
 there in that wilderness. My whole Christian character 
 then and there assumed a positive form. It had been 
 chiefly negative before, being contemplative and not 
 active, devotional and not aggressive. I left that forest 
 a consciously dedicated servant of Christ, dedicated for 
 one specific calling, to " win souls," and felt myself under 
 an enduement of power for that service. 
 
 Soon after this I spent several days in the place 
 where I was converted, going there to witness the public 
 examination of the converts, and their reception into the 
 church on the Sabbath. While there, the father of my 
 friend Walker questioned me about my plans for the 
 future. On my telling him that I had no definite plan 
 in mind, he replied that the ministry was the sphere to 
 which I was manifestly called, and that I should at once 
 set about a preparation for it. My response was, that 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 67 
 
 such a sphere appeared to me so high and sacred that it 
 did not seem that I could ever be deemed worthy of it. 
 In the course of the conversation, however, I was fully 
 convinced that my venerable adviser was right. The 
 conviction, as I have stated, was received with perfect 
 ecstasy, which excited the wonder and pleasure of all 
 who were present. From that hour I set my face with 
 singleness of purpose towards this high calling. In the 
 meantime I set about winning souls from the world 
 around me. Nor were my labours in vain in the Lord. 
 Before I had completed my first year in College, I had 
 taught four winter schools, all but one of which were 
 occasions of powerful revivals of religion. Some six or 
 eight months of one year, during my preparatory course, 
 I spent in a society where, under a regular ministry, 
 there had been no revival for very many years. At 
 Midsummer I proposed to four or five young men. 
 Christians like myself, that we should meet in a private 
 room one evening each week for prayer and religious 
 conversation. All the meetings were strictly private, 
 and intended to be such. Individuals outside, however, 
 soon heard that God was with us, and sought admission 
 to our circle. Soon the place became too crowded, and 
 we were necessitated to adjourn to the large school- 
 house in the village. Not more than two or three 
 months had passed, before the pastor came in and found 
 a crowded audience there. He then told us with tears 
 how that, for nearly twenty years past, himself and the 
 members of his church had been mourning over the 
 want of revival influence in the community, and how 
 his heart was now rejoiced at the prospect of a great in , 
 gathering of souls. The work thus commenced con- 
 tinued during the winter, and a great and general revival 
 
 F 2 
 
68 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 was the result. I state such facts for the sake of ad- 
 monishing all candidates for the ministr}', who may fall 
 in with these lines, that if they put off the work of 
 " winning souls" until their so-called education is com- 
 pleted, their life-ministry will, in all probability, be 
 comparatively barren of saving results. The celebrated 
 revivalist, Dr. Nettleton, was hardly more devoted to 
 the work of saving souls after he entered the ministr}', 
 than he was while preparing for it. What very deeply 
 affected my mind, when I became a member of a Theo- 
 logical Seminary, was the manifest fact, that among the 
 one hundred or more young men around me but few 
 seemed to have any thought of doing anything in the 
 direction under consideration, until after their education 
 was completed. A few were ever looking out for oppor- 
 tunities to "persuade men," and laboured in revivals of 
 religion whenever they could find them. These, with no 
 known exceptions, had great power in "winning souls," 
 as preachers of the everlasting Gospel. I have heard of 
 very few souls saved under the ministry of the other 
 class. Delaying, till some future time, active and aggres- 
 sive work for Christ implies present want of grace in the 
 heart, a want which the exercise of the ministerial func- 
 tions is not likely at all to remove. 
 
 Asswar.ce : Witness of the Spirit. 
 The Scriptures speak of " assurance of faith," " assur- 
 ance of hope," and " assurance of understanding." To 
 the manner in which I early entered into the full posses- 
 sion and enjoyment of " assurance of hope," an assurance 
 in the light and consolation of which I have lived and 
 walked ever since, it may be well to refer very briefly 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 69 
 
 in this connection. I have already spoken of the utter 
 horror and reprobation with which I from the first 
 regarded the utterly godless life which I had led during 
 the period of my unregeneracy, and of the place which 
 that sentiment held in my mind at the time when 1 
 obtained full assurance of my acceptance with God. 
 That I might be kept for ever from returning to that 
 reprobated life, and that I might ever be preserved in a 
 state of supreme and sacred respect for the character and 
 will of God, became with me the subject of constant, 
 long-continued, and most fervent prayer. Whenever " I 
 bowed my knees unto the Father of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," this was the leading burden of my prayer. At 
 length I received a perfect inward assurance that I 
 should have grace to " hold the beginning of my con- 
 fidence steadfast unto the end." With this assurance 
 the sentiment that I could '' live after the flesh, and not 
 die that I could sin, and not incur the proper penalty 
 of sin ; or that I could be kept without watchfulness and 
 prayer on my part, — had no place whatever. Nor was it 
 a mere assurance that I should be saved at last. It was 
 the full assurance that I should be " kept by the power 
 of God through faith unto salvation." This is " the full 
 assurance of hope " in which I have lived and walked 
 for the past sixty-five years. 
 
 Witness of the Spirit. 
 
 We may now throw some light upo 1 the doctrine of 
 "The Witness of the Spirit." The Spirit, as we are taught, 
 is bestowed, that, " the eyes of our understanding being 
 enlightened, we may know the things which are freely 
 given us of God." There are forms of knowledge which 
 
70 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 pertain almost exclusively to the head, and which play 
 around the heart but to " puff up." There are, on the 
 other hand, forms of knowledge in which there is a 
 direct, immediate, and open beholding of the things of 
 God. Such knowledge diffuses the peace and love of 
 God through every department of our being, and 
 vitalises all our activities. Such illuminations are 
 always attended with the assurance that " we are the 
 sons of God." At one time we know ourselves as 
 accepted of God. At another the manifestation comes 
 in the form of a promise ; as, for example, " My presence 
 (face) shall go with thee, and I will give thee rest," or, 
 as in the case of Paul, " My grace is sufficient for 
 thee : for My strength is made perfect in weakness." In 
 other cases, " We behold with open face as in a glass 
 the glory of the Lord, and are changed into the same 
 image from glory to glory," or have conscious "fellow- 
 ship with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." 
 All such manifestations imply our sonship, and are 
 attended with the consciousness of it. In them all in 
 common, consequently, "the Spirit itself beareth witness 
 with (to) our spirit that we are children of God." Those 
 greatly err who confine this " witness " to a direct and 
 immediate testimony to the mere fact of sonship. 
 
 Choice of Life Principles. 
 Finding myself, as a newly-adopted servant of Christ 
 and son of God, standing in the midst of a great diversity 
 of opposing sects, and conflicting schools in my own de- 
 nomination, the question, at a very early period of my 
 Christian life, came distinctly before my mind, " AVhat 
 shall be my life-principle of judging and action Two 
 widely diverse choices were presented, one of which I 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 71 
 
 was necessitated to select. I might choose my denomi- 
 nation, — my own, of course, — and my school in the same, 
 and then accept of its system as the sum and substance of 
 Christian truth. In that case I should be at home and at 
 peace within my own limited circle, but stand in a hostile 
 attitude towards all other schools and sects around me. 
 Or, in the second place, as it is self-evident that there 
 is, or may be, an admixture of truth and error in the 
 systems of all evangelical schools and sects, I might, in 
 the light of a sacred respect for " the law and the testi- 
 mony" as my absolute authority in all questions of doc- 
 trine and life, carefully examine all systems which should 
 fall under my observation, separate the true from the 
 false in them all, and construct my own system from 
 "the living stones" which I should thus gather. In 
 adopting this course, I clearly perceived that I should 
 not be fully at home anywhere, but should lead just such 
 a life as I have led. At the same time I as distinctly 
 saw that on no other line could I have peace of con- 
 science and walk closely with God. With inward agony 
 hardly less excruciating, as it seems to me, than cruci- 
 fixion, I adopted this as the fixed law of my future life. 
 And now, if I were standing where I did sixty-five years 
 ago, and had before me all that I have endured and suf- 
 fered, I would, with all my heart, and with all my soul, 
 re-adopt this sacred principle. To one who judges and 
 acts in absolute conformity with this principle, truth 
 received has always an immortal freshness, and ever 
 reflects upon the soul the face of " the Sun of Right- 
 eousness." 
 
 I will here give a single example in illustration of my 
 meaning. After I had left my church in Cincinnati, to 
 occupy the place of President of Oberlin College, one of 
 
72 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 my new school associates in the Cincinnati Presbytery 
 was asked the question, " What do you think of Pre- 
 sident Mahan?" "I don't like him," was the reply. 
 ■' He would never act with hia party." Or, as might 
 have been said, He would never advocate any doctrine 
 but under the conviction that it was true, or any mea- 
 sure but under the persuasion that it was right and wise. 
 He would never accept or adopt anything because it was 
 the mere watchword of a party or sect. No one ever 
 accused me of being quarrelsome or captious. But truth 
 and duty were the golden pavement on which I was 
 immutably determined to walk. "I would to God" that 
 all ministers and members of our churches were, not 
 only almost, but altogether such as I have been in this 
 fundamental respect. 
 
 Discerning' Character, and Copying the Example of 
 others. 
 
 I must here refer to one other life-principle which I 
 very early apprehended and adopted, and have followed 
 during these sixty-five years. We very frequently meet 
 with individuals, the watchword of whose lives is the 
 example of some leading thinker or actor. In the 
 Scriptures we are required to be "followers," or imi- 
 tators, of God, of Christ, and of apostles, and prophets, 
 and holy men, who have gone before us or are now 
 living. In all such requirements peculiar mental charac- 
 teristics, and the mere visibilities of life, are never re- 
 ferred to. Reference is always had to the spirit and 
 vital principles by which such persons are governed. 
 " Be ye followers of God, as dear children, and walk in 
 love, as Christ also hath loved us, and gave Himself for 
 us." " Let this mind (spirit) be in 3-ou which was also 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 73 
 
 in Christ Jesus." "Whoso fnt^/z follow." "Take, my 
 brethren, the prophets, who have spoken in the name of 
 the Lord, for an example of suffering affliction, and of 
 patience." There are several respects in which we may- 
 study the characters and lives of others, and attempt to 
 imitate the same. We may think of the visibilities of 
 their lives, and aim to copy them. Or we may study 
 their doctrinal teachings, and accept them, not only as 
 true, but as the sum and substance of all Divine truth. 
 Or, lastly, we may study their interior spirit and prin- 
 ciples, and aim to copy whatever is Divine in them. In 
 either case Ave may regard ourselves as imitators of our 
 adopted models. 
 
 A certain minister in the United States, for example, 
 had become an almost worshipful adtnirer of Mr. Wesley, 
 and determined to be his full imitator. He, accordingly, 
 carefully put down how many hours Mr. Wesley spent 
 in sleep, how many in study, how many in prayer, and 
 how many in active duties ; how many meals he took, 
 and how much and what he ate and drank at each 
 meal, &c. Having laid down all these as absolute rules 
 for himself, he set himself in right good earnest to copy 
 his model. The result was that our preacher, in less 
 than one year, was laid aside entirely from the ministry 
 as a hopeless dyspeptic. Suppose, on the other hand, 
 that he had determined to fh'n/c just as Mr. Wesley did, 
 and had accordingly studied all his teachings, accepting 
 the same as absolute truths, and the sum and substance 
 of the Gospel. In that case, our preacher would have 
 rendered himself as hopeless a spiritual dyspeptic as he 
 had a physical one by an attempt to copy Mr. Wesley in 
 another respect. Suppose, finally, that our preacher had. 
 with similar care, studied Mr. Wesley with reference to 
 
74 
 
 EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 his spirit, his faitli in God, his consecration to Christ, liis 
 patient endurance of affliction and wrong, the singleness 
 and purity of all his purposes and aims, and the endue- 
 ments of power from on high under which that man of 
 God Hved and acted, and had made it a fixed aim to copy 
 him in all these imitable respects. Suppose further that, 
 with a wise discrimination, our preacher had studied Mr. 
 Wesley's teachings and doctrines with a supreme refer- 
 ence to their adaptation to render that man of God what 
 he was, and to induce similar transformations in all who 
 should receive them as he did, and had valued and re- 
 ceived them for the same end that Mr. Wesley did. In 
 that case, " the righteousness " of our preacher would have 
 " gone forth as brightness, and his salvation as a lamp 
 that burneth." 
 
 In all our churches there are multitudes of almost hope- 
 less spiritual dyspeptics who have rendered themselves 
 such by causes like those above described. The individual 
 who commits to memory his church catechism or 
 formulary of doctrine, or stores his mind with the teach- 
 ings of any man or class of men, and, without " searching 
 the Scriptures whether these things are so," accepts their 
 dogmas as the sum and substance of Divine truth, is worse 
 than a spiritual dyspeptic ; " he is dead while he liveth." 
 The living healthful saint " calls no man master," and 
 has but one standard and test of Divine truth, " the law 
 and the testimony,"' and whatever he accepts as true in 
 the creeds or teachings of men, he accepts and values for 
 this exclusive reason, its clear accordance with the 
 Sacred Word. 
 
 Studying men in the light of the principles under 
 consideration, I often find in the spirit and vital principles 
 of individuals, from whom I totally difler on many im- 
 
EARLY STEPS HEAVENWARD. 
 
 75 
 
 portant questions of doctrine, very much to love and 
 imitate ; and in the spirit and interior principles of others, 
 with whom I fully agree in doctrine, nothing to approve 
 or adopt. The doctrine of the will, as set forth in the [ 
 writings of President Edwards and of myself, for example, 
 is, in all respects, in opposition the one to the other, and 
 I stand at the antipodes of all his necessitarian teachings. 
 Yet there is hardly an individual known in Christian 
 history with whose spirit and life-principles I hold deeper 
 and more constant fellowship than with his. We cannot 
 get very near the centre of his heart without getting 
 quite near that of Christ. 
 
 Such are some of the steps heavenward which I early 
 found grace to take, and which have determined my sub- 
 sequent Christian course thus far ; and these things from 
 " the spoils " (thus early) " won in battle have I dedicated 
 to maintain the house of the Lord." 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW 
 HINDERED. 
 
 The believer on his entrance into the kingdom of grace, 
 whatever the period of his natural life may be, appears 
 there as "a new creature," " a new-born babe," "a babe 
 in Christ." The sphere of existence and activity into 
 which he has been introduced is wholly new to him. He 
 has been regenerated that he may grow, "grow up in 
 Christ in all things," and thus attain to "the measure of 
 the stature of the fulness of Christ." He has been 
 introduced into this new sphere of existence and activity, 
 not merely to grow, but to be in the world as Christ was 
 in the world, to " do the works which He did," to live 
 and act among men as " the salt of the earth," and " the 
 light of the world." If he falls short of this, his life is 
 a failure, a dishonour to himself, to Clirist Who redeemed 
 him to God, and to the Spirit Who regenerated him ; a 
 cause of weakness to the Church, and a false light to the 
 world. " He is good for nothing." It is hardly to be 
 supposed that the life of a genuine new-born soul, a soul 
 born of God, and rightly educated and trained, should be 
 anything less than a glorious success. Hence the stress 
 which is everywhere, in the New Testament and the Old 
 too, laid upon spiritual growth and discipline, even more 
 being said upon this one subject than upon the mission 
 of the Church for the conversion of the world. The 
 
PRIMAL SOUL CULTURE. 
 
 77 
 
 reason is obvious. A believer who abides in Christ, and 
 ''is through Him," filled more and more " with all the 
 fulness of God," cannot be in the world anything less or 
 anything else than " a burning and a shining light," and 
 " as a prince " he must have " power with God and with 
 men.'' A church made up of such believers will be an all- 
 conquering host against " all the powers of the enemy." 
 
 Nor is the Church or its ministry left without a clearly 
 and distinctly revealed method, in conformity with which 
 God requires His sons and daughters to be educated and 
 disciplined for active service in His cause and kingdom. 
 In the four Gospels we have a distinct record of the 
 method in accordance with which Christ educated and 
 disciplined His converts during the three years in which 
 they remained under His tuition, until they were endued 
 with power for world-conquest at the Pentecost. In the 
 Acts we have a revelation equally distinct of the method 
 in conformity with which inspired apostles educated and 
 trained the converts gathered into the kingdom of grace 
 through their ministry. Two inspired Epistles, those to 
 the Thessalonians, are addressed in fact and form to a 
 mass of young converts but a few months after their 
 conversion. Here lessons of infinite moment may be 
 gathered on this vital subject. Here are principles of 
 very ready application, through which we may clearly 
 determine the essential characteristics of the method 
 under consideration. Among these principles I would 
 direct very special attention to the following. 
 
 A fixed aim of the Scriptures throughout is, that the 
 people of God shall become " a wise and understanding 
 people." Real knowledge in no form is undervalued. 
 Great importance is attached to " hearing the Word, and 
 understanding it." Salvation is " through sanctification 
 
78 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, 
 
 of the Spirit, and belief of the truth." The Spirit is 
 given, " that we might know the things which are freely 
 given us of God." " For the soul to be without know- 
 ledge," we read, " is not good." Instruction in doctrine, 
 iiowever, is by no means a primary aim of Scripture. 
 " Though I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, 
 yet have not love, I am become as sounding brass, or a 
 tinkling C3-mbal. And though I have the gift of 
 prophecy, and understand all mysteries and all know- 
 ledge; and though I have all faith, so as to remove 
 mountains, yet have not love, I am nothing." " Thou 
 believest that there is one God ; thou doest well ; the 
 devils also believe, and tremble." " Knowledge pufFeth 
 up." The term docirme, I would remark, as employed 
 in Scripture, represents much more than it does in 
 common thought and theological discourse. " I give 
 you good doctrine, forsake ye not My law." Here 
 " doctrine " and the principles of duty and right being 
 and doing are represented as one and the same. So, 
 throughout the Bible, the term " doctrine" includes the 
 rules and laws of duty and of life, as fully as it does the 
 being of God, or the Divinity and atonement of Christ. 
 
 The wisdom which is from above is first pure, 
 then peaceable, gentle, and easy to be entreated, full of 
 mercy and good fruits, without partiality, and without 
 hypocrisy." " Speaking the things which concern 
 sound doctrine " consists, according to Paul, in teaching 
 "aged men,'' and "aged women," "young women," 
 "young men," " servants," and all classes of individuals, 
 how to live and act, in their diverse spheres of life and 
 action ; in other words, how to "be holy in all manner 
 of conversation." To be " sound in the faith," according 
 to the pattern shown in the mount," is not merely to 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 79 
 
 hold an orthadox creed, — though that is not to be 
 despised, — but more especially, to " hold the mystery 
 of the faith in a pure conscience." The object of vital 
 concern, however, which Christ and His inspired apostles 
 set before converts and all believers, as the one fixed and 
 supreme aim of their existence, is personal lioliiiess. The 
 Sermon on the Mount was addressed to a mass of 
 converts, who had been, during the few prior months, 
 gathered into the kingdom of God. What is the central 
 theme and aim of that discourse But one form of 
 doctrine has place anywhere in it, to wit, personal 
 holiness in its completeness and perfection, — ho\v to 
 attain and retain this state, — the relations of the believer 
 to the world when in this state, and when he has 
 forfeited his sacred trust, — and the endless consequences 
 awaiting him as " a hearer and doer," or as a hearer and 
 non-doer, of " the sayings of Christ." Everything was 
 said that could have been said, to render this one subject 
 the fixed and changeless centre about which Christian 
 thought and regard should continuously revolve. 
 
 Personal holiness, we must bear in mind, consists, first 
 of all, in being "saved from our sins," and then in 
 " standing perfect and complete in all the will of God." 
 Every word our Saviour uttered, from the time when, 
 " in the power of the Spirit," " He went out of the 
 wilderness," until His sacred hands were extended in 
 blessing over His disciples, was an exclusive means to 
 this one end, to impress upon all believers the great fact 
 that "they have not chosen Christ, but that He has 
 chosen them, and ordained them, that they should go 
 and bring forth fruit, and that their fruit should 
 remain ; " and to teach them how to bring forth the fruit 
 required of them. And when "He was by the right 
 
8o 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, 
 
 hand of God exalted, and had received the^promise of the 
 Father," and the disciples were all, consequently, filled 
 with the Holy Ghost, all was done that "they might be 
 a habitation of God through the Spirit," and that " God 
 might make all grace abound toward them, so that they, 
 always having all sufficiency for all things, might abound 
 unto every good work." How impressively is the supreme 
 value which Christ places, and would have us place, upon 
 personal holiness, set before us in such expressions as the 
 following ! " For whosoever shall do the will of My 
 Father Which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and 
 sister, and mother." " Yea, rather, blessed are they that 
 hear the word of God, and keep it." " I in them, and 
 Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one, and 
 that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and 
 hast loved them as Thou hast loved Me." Christ never 
 uttered a sentence, or announced a doctrine, but as a 
 means to this one end. 
 
 Upon exactly the same line ran the entire instructions 
 of inspired apostles, and all other of the sacred writers. 
 Holiness in heart and life was the only lesson which 
 they Avere taught. How their writings everywhere 
 abound in such reminders and admonitions as these ! 
 " As He Who hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in 
 all manner of conversation." " Likewise reckon ye also 
 yourselves dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God 
 through Jesus Christ our Lord." " Your bodies are the 
 temples of the Holy Ghost." "Therefore glorify God in 
 your bodies, and in your spirits, which are His." " Ye 
 are not your own, ye are bought with a price, even the 
 precious blood of Christ." " Let us cleanse ourselves 
 from all filthiness of the flesh and spirit, perfecting holi- 
 ness in the fear of God." " These things write I unto 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 8 1 
 
 you, that ye sin not." " Now the God of peace that 
 brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great 
 Shepherd of the sheep, through the blood of the ever- 
 lasting covenant, make you perfect in every good work 
 to do His will, working in you that which is well 
 pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ ; to Whom 
 be glory for ever and ever, Amen." 
 
 The writings of these holy men of God abound in 
 "doctrine ;" but it is the doctrine of holy living. Every 
 revelation of each Person of the Sacred Trinity is set 
 before us as a motive to a godly life. The Spirit " takes 
 of the things of Christ, and shows them unto us," that 
 we, "beholding with open face as in a glass the glory of 
 the Lord, may be changed into the same image from 
 glory to glory." " He strengtheneth with might in the 
 inner man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith 
 and we thereby "become rooted and grounded in love." 
 Every truth presented in the Bible is for moral purifica- 
 tion, to confirm faith, to render love perfect and obedience 
 absolute. 
 
 The first and supreme lesson, then, to be taught the 
 convert, the chief thought with which his mind should 
 be occupied, is the great central fact and truth that he 
 is "called to be a saint ;" to be in the "world as Christ 
 was in the world ;" to "shine as a light in the world ; " 
 to " win souls ; " to " perfect the saints ; " to " be fruitful 
 in every good work ; " and that when he comes short of 
 being and doing all this, he becomes " reprobate silver," 
 the most blighting curse with which the Church and the 
 world can be smitten. He then needs to be instructed 
 most fully in regard to the conditions of fruitfulness in 
 the kingdom of grace ; his completeness in Christ for all 
 the exigencies of his sacred calling, and the infinite 
 
 G 
 
82 
 
 fulness that exists in Him to render every believer thus 
 complete ; the enduements of power which he is 
 privileged to receive for the full accomplishment of his 
 life mission and work ; and the endless consequences to 
 himself and others which are pending upon his fidelity 
 or want of fidelity to his sacred calling. 
 
 These are the eternal verities in the midst of which, 
 and under the influence of which, Christ and His inspired 
 apostles educated young and old believers, and in the 
 midst of which, and under the influence of which, all 
 converts, in all ages, should be educated. Everywhere 
 they should be under the influence of a united church 
 sentiment, that no other form of life is expected of them ; 
 and all should be enforced by the admonitions and 
 examples of ministers and old disciples. Everywhere 
 the old disciples should be to young converts^what the 
 old veterans Avere to the new recruits in the army of 
 Wellington on the evening- prior to the battle of 
 Waterloo. A considerable portion of that army were of 
 recent enlistment, and had never been under fire up to 
 that time. As soon as it became known, on the evening- 
 referred to, that a great battle was to be fought on the 
 next day, these old veterans set about preparing their 
 new associates for the exigencies of the coming conflict, 
 telling them of the overshadowing powers of their great 
 commander ; that he had never lost a battle ; that no 
 exigency could occur in the coming conflict for which he 
 would not be fully prepared ; that the soldiery had only 
 to obey the word of command and do their duty ; and the 
 greatest victory ever won by an English army would 
 with infallible certainty be gained on the morrow. It is 
 a matter of question whether England is not as much 
 indebted to the exhortations of those old veterans as to 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 83 
 
 the wisdom of her grand Duke for the victory gained 
 on that day. When old disciples shall sustain similar 
 relations to new recruits in the army of the Lord, there 
 will not be a coward, or a weakling, or a backslider in 
 that army, not one who will not " endure hardness as a 
 good soldier of Christ."' 
 
 Alisdirccted Primal Cliristian Education. 
 
 To a very great extent young converts, in our 
 churches, are educated after the manner of the waif, 
 rather than that of a son or daughter in the sanctified 
 family of God, of a pupil in the school of Christ, or of a 
 newly enlisted " soldier in the army of the Lord." After 
 his conversion, and a public profession of his faith in the 
 church of his choice, his subsequent character and life 
 are left very much to the companionship and influences 
 which may by chance befall him. For the proper cure 
 of his soul none seem to feel much, if any, responsibility. 
 Who feels responsibility for his restoration, "when over- 
 taken in a fault," to " strengthen him when weak," to 
 " comfort him when feeble-minded," or to impart to him 
 needful instruction in " the way of the Lord.'" 
 
 In determining the question, with what sect he shall 
 identify himself, what is the supreme issue in the light 
 of which he is expected and required by the public 
 sentiment around him to decide that momentous 
 question ? Turning in one direction, he finds this issue 
 presented as of supreme importance, — the mere quantity' 
 of water to be applied to his body at his baptism ; or 
 the point whether the ordinance is to be applied to 
 the children of believers, or exclusively to adults after 
 conversion. Turning in another direction, the con- 
 sideration presented as of supreme and absolute authority 
 in determining his inquiries is this, — a ministry affirmed 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 to be in the apostolic succession, and a truly apostolic 
 church. The minister may undeniably be a " blind 
 guide," and his membership as void of true godliness 
 as were the dry bones in Ezekiel's vision of real 
 life. Yet, to reap the supposed benefits arising from 
 apostolic succession, the young convert must place 
 himself under a "blind guide," and make his abode in 
 that " valley of dry bones," and thus render a life of 
 kindred deadness a moral certainty. Turning in another 
 direction, this question is presented as settling the selec- 
 tion, namely, "Which church is organised and officered 
 after the real New Testament model and which has the 
 soundest creed " The question, " Where can I find the 
 most sanctifying soul-care, and where can I best exert 
 my powers in the supreme concern of soul-saving and 
 soul-edification ?" is not permitted to have any place !,in 
 the convert's mind in determining this momentous life- 
 question. Suppose, now, that in addition to all this, the 
 great concern manifested by minister and church, in his 
 examination for membership, is not the state of his, heart, 
 but his views of doctrine ; in some instances, the only 
 questions put to the candidate being those prescribed in 
 the Catechism, and the only answers expected being a 
 mere recitation of those there printed. In making such 
 considerations supreme in deciding such life-issues, the 
 first step is taken in rendering that supreme in the 
 convert's regard, which, with Christ, is of the least and 
 last concern. Being thus early so misdirected, the 
 principle, ''Whether ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye 
 do, do all to the glory of God," is not very likely to 
 regain its proper place in his mind. 
 
 Consider, in the next place, the public sentiment 
 within the church of his choice, the sentiment with 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. S5 
 
 which the convert commonly finds himself surrounded in 
 regard to the life which he has in prospect ; the senti- 
 ment, that the short period after conversion, while 
 primal joy and the "first love" shall continue in their 
 freshness, is the brightest, the purest, and the best period 
 of the Christian life, death-triumph excepted. Between 
 these two periods, as commonly represented, lies a 
 wandering pilgrimage through a dreary desert ; a 
 pilgrimage in which there will be a continuous cry, 
 " Where is the blessedness I knew 
 When first I saw the Lord ? " 
 
 Years passed in my Christian experience before I was 
 presented with any other aspect of the religious life but 
 this one. The convert who replied to the congratu- 
 lations which he had received in respect to his great 
 joy in God, at the time when he publicly united himself 
 with the people of God, " This won't last, I expect to 
 backslide," only echoed the religious sentiment in which 
 he had lived, and moved, and had his being from 
 childhood up. To me, the seventh of Romans Avas 
 presented as a Divine portraiture of religious life and 
 experience in the highest and best form possible in this 
 life. The Christian and the sinner were represented as 
 both in common " carnal, sold under sin," and both alike 
 in a helpless " captivity to the law of sin and death." 
 The difference between them consisted in this. The 
 sinner chooses and loves his bondage, while the believer 
 groans under his, and vainly struggles to be free from it. 
 The sinner chooses the evil, and refuses the good ; the 
 Christian chooses the good, and wills not to do the evil, 
 while "the good he would he does not, but the evil he 
 would not that he does ; " finding it the fixed law of all 
 his activity, that when " he would do good, evil is 
 
86 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, 
 
 present with him," the law in the members " warring 
 against the law of his mind, and bringing him into 
 captivity to the law of sin in his members." One of the 
 favourite hymns then sung contained an attempted 
 versification of this form of Gospel experience, each 
 successive verse beginning with the words : 
 
 " I would, but can't repent ; " 
 " I would, but can't believe;" 
 " I would, but cannot love ; " 
 " I would, but can't obey." 
 
 Thus the responsibility for sin was denied of the will, 
 and attributed wholly to a want of power to avoid it. 
 
 Progress in the Christian life was in those days, and 
 is too commonly now, represented as ever attended with 
 greater and greater discoveries of, and insight into, the 
 depths of inward depravity. The idea was, not that sin 
 is revealed in the consciousness, in order that the evil 
 thing and bitter may be taken awav, but to increase 
 what was called " humbleness of mind." Prayer and 
 effort to be pure, and to have grace to serve God 
 acceptably, would result but in new and more appalling 
 discoveries of indwelling sin, and the " plague of our 
 own hearts." I recollect the first and last stanzas of a 
 favourite hymn, in which this idea was set forth. The 
 convert was made to say : 
 
 " I asked the Lord that I might grow 
 In faith, and love, and every grace ; 
 Might more of His salvation know, 
 And seek more earnestly His face." 
 
 The convert, the hymn goes on to say, " thought that 
 in some favoured hour" God would reveal Himself, 
 show His glory, change the petitioner into the Divine 
 " image from glory to glory," and render " his peace as a 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 87 
 
 river, and his righteousness as the waves of the sea." 
 Instead of this, the Lord made the trustful suppliant 
 more and more sensible of the hidden wickedness of his 
 own heart. The last stanza runs thus : 
 
 " ' Lord, how is this ? ' I trembhng cried : 
 ' Wilt Thou pursue a worm to death ? ' 
 ' This is the way,' the Lord replied, 
 ' I answer prayer for grace and faith.' " 
 
 The idea of Christ manifested, not merely to make 
 known, but to " take away our sins," had no place then, 
 as it has little place now, in Christian thought. The 
 great lesson to be learned in the school of Christ, and 
 under the illumination of the Spirit of God, was then, 
 and is now too commonly, understood to be, not " the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ," " the riches of the glory 
 of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in 
 you the hope of glory," but the one endlessly growing 
 lesson of personal sinfulness, sinfulness more and more 
 distinctly and appallingly revealed, but never taken 
 away. The idea of " serving God with a pure conscience 
 and faith unfeigned," of being " more than conquerors 
 through Him that hath loved us," of "fellowship with 
 the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ," and of 
 '' asking and receiving until our joy is full," was not so 
 much as named among believers then, as it is not among 
 a majority of them even now, 
 
 The Christian life and the world life were then, as 
 they are quite commonly now, symbolised b}'' two paths 
 leading in opposite directions — the latter covered with 
 flowers, and the formef with thorns ; the one called 
 "the flowery way," and the other "the thorn-road ;" 
 the traveller over the former having present ease and 
 pleasure, but " dying in his sins," while the weary 
 
88 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, 
 
 pilgrim over the latter would be ever pained and bleed- 
 ing with thorn-wound?, but would find rest at last. The 
 idea that '"the King's highway" leads through the 
 seventh of Romans wholly veiled from thought God's 
 own description of the ^Yay of Holiness." " And an 
 highway shall be there, and a wa}', and it shall be called 
 the Way of Holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over 
 it ; but it shall be for those : the wa5'faring men, though 
 fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor 
 any ravenous beast shall go up thereon ; it shall not be 
 found there : and the redeemed of the Lord shall return 
 and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon 
 their heads ; they shall obtain joy and gladness, and 
 sorrow and sighing shall flee away." Not one of these 
 travellers shall ever bleed or be pained with "thorn- 
 wounds," or cry out, " O wretched man that I am I who 
 shall deliver me from the body of this death?" There 
 is not a thorn on that highway, nor a traveller there 
 who groans under a body of death. The common idea 
 is an unpardonable slander upon " the glorious Gospel of 
 the blessed God." 
 
 The aspect of the world in which God has located us, 
 and of all things in it, was then as now depicted from 
 the book of Ecclesiastes, and was thus expressed in one of 
 the popular hymns : 
 
 " Hew vain are all things here below ! 
 How false, and yet how fair ! 
 Each pleasure has its poison too, 
 And every sweet a snare."' 
 
 Such was the aspect with which the convert was taught 
 to regard the works and providences of God around him, 
 and all the good things which a kind Father might 
 shower upon him. Yet he was taught to endeavour to 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 89 
 
 be ever thankful for the "vain things," ensnaring 
 " sweets," and vexatious vanities of this wilderness life. 
 The absurdity of such teachings is made quite manifest 
 by a fact which came to our knowledge several years 
 since. Of all places on earth, the Genesee Valley, in the 
 State of New York, is one of the most productive in all 
 that administers to the physical comforts of life. Land- 
 holders there " are princes." When I was on a visit to 
 an uncle residing there, a cousin, who owned a magni- 
 ficent farm in the valley, made this statement to me. 
 The Baptist church of which he was a member, and 
 which was located in the village near by, had occasion to 
 seek a pastor. They accordingly sent a request to the 
 Theological Faculty of the Rochester University, a 
 Baptist institution, that they would send one of their 
 promising students to preach as a candidate for the 
 vacant office. As the young man rose in the jjulpit, his 
 dress made it quite manifest that upon some of the " vain 
 things here below" he placed, to say the least, a reason- 
 able value. With his mind, however, filled with the 
 sentiment of that misapplied but oft-repeated text, 
 "Vanity of vanities, vanity of vanities, saith the 
 Preacher, all is vanity," he introduced the services with 
 the hymn which begins thus : 
 
 '• Lord, what a wretched land is this, 
 That yields us no supply ! " 
 
 The absurdity was too obvious for the gravity even of 
 an audience trained in the idea that the religious life is 
 mainly a continuous groan. The people looked at each 
 other and could hardly restrain laughter. "He has 
 forgotten that he is in the Genesee Valley," whispered a 
 gentleman that sat near my cousin. The young candi- 
 date " departed without being desired." Had I the ear 
 
90 
 
 of the Faculty of that seminar}', and of that of every 
 other similar institution, I would entreat them not to 
 present to their pupils, as the Christian idea of life 
 and providence, the aspect of these same Divine verities 
 as viewed from the backsliding standpoint, the only 
 aspect presented in Ecclesiastes. " Every creature (gift) 
 of God ^is good, and nothing to be refused, if it be 
 received with thanksgiving." 
 
 As viewed by the consecrated traveller on " the Way 
 of Holiness," all things are full of God, and manifest His 
 parental love and care. As he travels on, " the desert buds 
 and blossoms as the rose," the mountains and the hills 
 break forth before him into singing, and all the trees of 
 the field clap their hands." It is sin in the heart, and 
 that only, sin which should be taken away, which blights 
 our joys, " curses our blessings," and renders the earth a 
 land of darkness, and the shadow of death. 
 
 " If sin be in the heart. 
 The fairest sky is foul, and sad the summer weather, 
 The eye no longer sees the lambs at play together, 
 The dull ear cannot hear the birds that sing so sweetly, 
 And all the joy of God's good earth is gone completely, 
 
 If sin be in the heart, 
 
 " If peace be in the heart, 
 The wildest winter storm is full of solemn beauty. 
 The midnight lightning-flash but shows the path of duty, 
 Each living creature tells seme new and joyous story, 
 The very trees and stones all catch a ray of glory. 
 
 If peace be in the heart." 
 
 Having his new birth and education in the midst of 
 such religious ideas and sentiments as these, what can 
 be expected of the convert but a consumptive life, a 
 dwarfed and abnormal growth, and a sickly feebleness 
 which fits him for the hospital rather than for field- 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 
 
 service ? And such are the masses in our churches, and here 
 are visible and efficient causes which adequately account 
 for such a state of things. When will Zion "arise, shake 
 herself from the dust, and put on her beautiful garments ? " 
 
 /row Bands of Theological Dogma. 
 
 Let us now contemplate the iron bands of theological 
 dogma, bands in which the convert so often finds himself 
 fast bound, bands which render the normal growth of 
 the new-born soul as impossible, as does the iron shoe 
 that of the foot of the female infant among the Chinese. 
 Take two or three of these dogmas as examples : " No 
 man is able, either of himself, or by any grace received 
 jn this life, perfectly to keep the commandments of God ; 
 but daily doth break them in thought, word, and deed." 
 Thus the convert is started on his course with a professed 
 revelation from God, that he has no power, either of him- 
 self, or from any grace vouchsafed in this life, to render 
 the obedience required of him, on the one hand, and 
 that, as a matter of fact, he vrill, on the other, every day 
 of his life break these requirements " in thought, word, 
 and deed." As a matter of course, he must " make God 
 a liar," that is, discredit His revealed word, or utterly 
 dismiss from mind and thought all expectation and 
 rational intention to render that obedience. To aim 
 at such obedience, in the case of one who holds such 
 sentiments, is but to attempt and aim at a revealed and 
 acknowledged impossibility, one of the most irrational 
 and absurd purposes conceivable. 
 
 But what, according to these dogmas, is the state of 
 the believer when he does sin ? Listen to the answer : 
 " True believers, by reason of the unchangeable love of 
 God and His decree and covenant to give them persever- 
 
92 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, 
 
 ance, their inseparable union with Christ, His continual 
 intercession for them, and the Spirit and seed of God 
 abiding in them, can neither totally nor finally fall away 
 from the state of grace." Again, "They whom God 
 hath accepted in the Beloved, effectually called and 
 sanctified by His Spirit, can neither totally nor finally 
 fall away from the state of grace." Thus, while the 
 convert is assured as a revealed fact from God that he 
 will sin, and sin " daily in thought, word, and deed," he 
 is also furnished with an alleged Divine assurance that by 
 no possibility can he so sin, whatever forms of evil he 
 may perpetrate, as to forfeit his gracious standing with 
 God, or endanger his immortal interests. All the evil 
 that sin in any form can do to believers is to cause them 
 to fall under God's fatherly displeasure," to " shut out 
 from them the light of His countenance," and " subject 
 them to parental chastisem.ent," " until they humble 
 themselves " and " renew their faith and repentance." 
 But what sins are we taught, as a revealed truth of God, 
 that believers may commit.' "Nevertheless they may, 
 through the temptations of Satan and the world, the 
 prevalence of corruption remaining in them, and the 
 neglect of the means of preservation, fall into grievous 
 sins, and for a time continue therein : whereby they incur 
 God's displeasure, and grieve His Holy Spirit, come to be 
 deprived of some of their graces and comforts, have their 
 hearts hardened and their consciences wounded, hurt 
 and scandalise others, and bring temporal judgments 
 upon themselves." 
 
 Such were the dogmas which, as absolute revelations 
 from God, were distinctly put before our mind from 
 childhood up, under the deadening influence of which 
 we commenced our Christian course, and to which an 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 93 
 
 absolute assent was required when we publicly united 
 with the people of God. 
 
 This I affirm in the fear of God and as my absolute 
 belief, that if it had been left wholly to the old serpent 
 to frame dogmas and mould a religious sentiment for 
 the education of the Lord's sons and daughters, he would 
 not have desired or asked that one "jot or tittle " should 
 be taken from, or added to, those under consideration. 
 What could God do more to insure in every new-born 
 soul a backsliding life, than to require of it an 
 absolute belief that it will sin, sin " daily in thought, 
 word, and deed," sin nobody knows in what form and to 
 what extent, and that no form or degree of sin, which 
 it can by any possibility commit, will imperil its im- 
 mortal interests ? If the purpose of the framers of such 
 dogmas, and of the generators of such a religious senti- 
 ment, was to render the churches, in the language of 
 a distinguished Presbyterian minister in the United 
 States, " a hospital for invalids," and " a refuge for 
 scoundrels," how could they frame a system better 
 adapted to such a purpose than that which we have 
 before us It will not surprise the reader when I tell 
 him that during the eighteen years in which I stumbled 
 on amid the fog and miasma generated by those dogmas, 
 I never met a single minister or professed Christian who 
 held such a faith who was leading a joyful and trium- 
 phant Christian life, who was not a confessed stranger to 
 the form of experience represented by such terms as, 
 " Out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water," "joy 
 unspeakable, and full of glory," " I will dwell in them, 
 and walk in them," and who was not a captive groaning 
 under the law of sin and death. 
 
 Take two eminent illustrative examples, one from this, 
 
94 
 
 PRIMAL SOUL-CULTURE, 
 
 and the second from the other, side of the" Atlantic. A dis- 
 tinguished American theologian, in a discourse on " The 
 Consolations of Religion," thus writes: '"And yet how 
 stinted and uncertain the measure of happiness which 
 even the best of Christians is able to derive from this 
 Divine fountain ! His earthly cares, his daily employ- 
 ments, his bodily wants and infirmities, his foolish ima- 
 ginations, his anxious thoughts, his variable humours, 
 his doubts and fears, and his unavoidable interruptions, 
 are constantly spreading a mist around him, or gathering- 
 dark and impervious clouds over his head, which not 
 only hide the bright shining of the Sun of Righteousness, 
 but are well filled with lightnings, overshadowing his 
 soul with darkness and dread. All sources of happiness, 
 save one, are either dried or poisoned. And of that the 
 best of Christians rather desires to taste, than actually 
 and freely drinks." Let us now hearken to a kindred 
 sroan from a celebrated teacher of the same school on 
 this side of the Atlantic, when speaking from the text, 
 " Fear not, I am with thee." " Ah ! my brethren and 
 sisters, if 3-ou have come to this, and can always keep 
 there (a state of settled peace in God), I only wish I 
 could ; I can believe in God, and do believe in Him — 
 glory be to His name ! — and have seen His arm uplifted 
 and His faithfulness and truth displayed as few have 
 seen ; but yet that awful unbelief, that dark miasma 
 which is the death of comfort, this worse than cholera, 
 this pest, this infidelity, for which no excuse can be 
 made, this most damnable of sins, this which has no 
 foundation, for which I will not whisper even a thought 
 of apology, this still creeps over us and unmans us. 
 How it throws us into the mire ! How it breaks our 
 bones, and like a mighty Juggernaut car rolls over our 
 
HOW ADVANCED, AND HOW HINDERED. 95 
 
 very nature to crush it to nothing ! O God, save us 
 from it." 
 
 Thus the teachers of these dogmas are compelled to 
 eat before the world the apples of that tree of Sodom, the 
 tree which they have so zealously watered. Such ever 
 have been, such are now, and ever will be, the best 
 experiences which can arise under these death-inducing 
 dogmas ; dogmas which veil from the faith of the 
 believer, and render indefinite and uninfluential to the 
 mind, Christ's revealed power to save — "save to the 
 uttermost," ■ — together with all the provisions antl 
 promises of grace, which specify nothing less, and 
 nothing else, than sanctification full and complete ; 
 dogmas which impart resistless power to the love of 
 sin in the members, by generating an absolute assurance 
 of being overcome by it, and cut the sinews of all holy 
 aims, purposes, and efforts, by perpetually reminding the 
 subject that " the good he would, he will not do ; but 
 the evil he would not, that he will do." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 It would seem, at first thought, that with a convert 
 ignorant as I was of the way of holiness, and all the 
 conditions of sanctification, and born, educated, and born 
 again, under such teachings and forms of doctrine as we 
 have detailed in the preceding chapters, there could be 
 no real advance in the Divine life, but a continuous 
 backsliding. That non-growth and backsliding are the 
 natural results of such teachings and beliefs, and their 
 inevitable results, whenever, as is common with those 
 who hold them, they become the leading themes of 
 religious thought and discourse, is undeniable. Yet, as 
 a matter of fact, it would be difficult, perhaps impossible, 
 to determine which was the most holy person, Jonathan 
 Edwards or John Wesley, George Whitefield or Charles 
 Wesley, William Tennant or John Fletcher, David 
 Brainerd or William Bramwell, Mrs. Edwards or Mrs. 
 Fletcher, Miss Susanna Anthony or Mrs. Hester Ann 
 Rogers, Mrs. Sarah Osborne or Mrs. Phoebe Palmer. 
 In comparing the memoirs of these two classes, we must 
 admit that the sky of the first class was more frequently 
 darkened than that of the second ; that the faith of the 
 former carried heavier weights than that of the latter ; 
 and that in the experience of the former there was, at 
 times, more of servitude and less of liberty than in that 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 97 
 
 of the latter, more of groaning bondage and less of all- 
 conquering grace. Yet both classes often and equally 
 " beheld with open face the glory of the Lord," and with 
 equal openness of vision stood face to face with the Sun 
 of Righteousness in Kis meridian glory. The reason is 
 obvious. Our spiritual state does not depend wholly 
 upon mere doctrinal belief, but chiefly upon those aspects 
 of truth which mainly occupy our thoughts and regard. 
 The two classes of individuals under consideration 
 differed widely, in very important respects, in their 
 theory of Christian doctrine. Yet the same truths, and 
 the same aspects of the same truths, were to all in 
 common the objects of supreme thought and regard, and 
 were the determining causes of their spiritual states and 
 character. In all in common there was an all-impressive 
 apprehension of the infinite evil and criminality of sin, 
 and a supreme regard for personal holiness. Above all, 
 all these holy men and women had conscious " fellowship 
 with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ," as, 
 through the Spirit, a personally manifested presence to 
 their minds and hearts. God was, to all in common, 
 "their everlasting light, and their God their glory." 
 " One day," says President Edwards, " when walking for 
 contemplation and prayer, I had a view, that to me was 
 extraordinary, of the glory of the Son of God, as Alediator 
 between God and man, and His wonderful, great, full, 
 pure, and sweet grace and love, and meek and gentle 
 condescension. His grace that appeared so calm and 
 sweet, appeared also great above the heavens ; the person 
 of Christ appeared ineffably excellent, with an excellency 
 great enough to swallow up all thought and conception. 
 I had an ardency of soul to be, what I know not other- 
 wise how to express, emptied and annihilated, to lie in 
 
 H 
 
98 GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 the dust, and to be filled with Christ alone, to love Him 
 with a holy and pure love, to trust in Him, and to live 
 upon Him, and to be perfectly sanctified and made pure 
 with a Divine and heavenly purity." 
 
 Such manifestations were common in the experience of 
 Mrs. Edwards and the Tennants, and others, as common 
 as in those of Mr. and Mrs. Fletcher. One of the holiest 
 men Scotland ever knew was Robert Annan, who died 
 at Dundee the last day of July, i 867, losing his own life 
 by drowning, in a successful effort to save from the same 
 fate a lad who had fallen into the water. Let us con- 
 template the following fact in his experience just before 
 his death. " On Wednesday, 24th July, 1867," says his 
 biographer, " just seven days before Robert Annan went 
 home, he was standing on a raft, and as he floated about 
 he was suddenly visited with an extraordinary manifesta- 
 tion of God to his soul. He had long ere this attained 
 to close, habitual, and almost unbroken fellowship with 
 his great Redeemer ; but now he was brought so near 
 that for the time he knew not that he was in the body. 
 The heavens seemed to open to his view. The glory of 
 the Lord filled his soul ivith a radiance well-nigh insup- 
 portable. His cup was full. So near did Jesus come 
 that he felt as if he were talking to Him face to face. 
 So glorious did the Lord appear in His majesty, that 
 Robert bowed his head with awe ; and yet so ineffable 
 was the love and condescension of that peerless One, that 
 His disciple was filled with a strange overpowering joy. 
 How long this lasted he could hardly tell, but the shaking 
 of the raft upon the water reminded him that he was still 
 outside of heaven. Robert spoke of this to his Christian 
 friends, and said, ' Jesus came to me on the water, and I 
 thought I was home.' He looked upon this blessed 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 99 
 
 experience as his Master's call to go home. ' Do not 
 wonder,' he said, to some of his brethren, ' if you hear 
 some strange thing about me one of these days.' " " Can 
 you get an occasional glimpse of Christ now you are 
 dying ? " was a question put to an aged Scotch saint 
 when he was on his death-bed. " I'll have none of your 
 glimpses now I am dying, since I have had an open look 
 at the face of Christ these forty years gone," was the 
 reply of the already transfigured saint. Believers who 
 thus know God, believers upon whom " the Sun of 
 Righteousness has thus risen with healing in His wings," 
 and who thus "behold with open face the glory of the 
 Lord, are changed into the same image from glory to 
 glory," whatever their creed may be. All such bear the 
 same image, because all in common are drawn beyond 
 the influence of creeds into that Divine circle, where all 
 in common move in blissful fixedness about one and the 
 same changeless centre, " Jesus Christ and Him cruci- 
 fied." It is when mere doctrine constitutes the leading 
 theme of religious thought and discourse, that the real 
 tendency of diverse forms of belief becomes manifest. 
 It is not by the rectification of its creed, but by an open 
 vision of the glory of God and of the Lamb, that the 
 soul becomes perfectly sanctified, if it has not been before, 
 when it enters into and walks in the everlasting light of 
 heaven. It is not through a creed, but by the " Spirit 
 making manifest the thoughts and intents of the heart,'' 
 that "the world is convinced of sin, of righteousness, 
 and of judgment." 
 
 It was not because of their creeds that Edwards and 
 Tennant, and Wesley and Fletcher, became the men of 
 God that they were, but because they all in common 
 knew God and walked with Him as a personally mani- 
 
 H 2 
 
loo GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 fested Presence, and consequently as "their everlast- 
 ing Light." Whosoever thus walks in the light of 
 God will, in his entire character and life, "wear the 
 image of the heavenly," and will " purify himself as God 
 is pure." 
 
 There is scarcely any subject which all believers need 
 more clearly to understand than the distinction between 
 holding a truth of God as a mere doctrine, and having 
 an inward experience of the power of that truth as a 
 principle of life. We come, for example, upon the 
 following passage of the Sacred Word : " Thou wilt keep 
 him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on Thee : 
 because he trusteth in Thee." " Trust ye in the Lord 
 for ever : for in the Lord Jehovah is everlasting 
 strength." Here is distinctly unveiled to our appre- 
 hension the Divine Infinity. Suppose now that one 
 enters upon a careful study of the Divine perfections 
 until every attribute of the Divine Nature becomes to 
 him an object of clear and distinct apprehension, and he 
 is able to elucidate it to the edification of others. 
 All is studied, however, as a mere system of doctrine, 
 just as the same individual may have studied a system of 
 geometry ; the truth found in one system exercising no 
 more moral and spiritual 'power over his heart and life 
 than is exercised by the other. The individual is in 
 the presence of truths, in the apprehension of which 
 "angels adore and burn," and "devils tremble." This 
 individual does neither. His apprehensions simply 
 induce in him the pride of knowledge. All is to him 
 ^' a ministration of death." But suppose we look again 
 into this same passage. Here are unfolded God's Infinity 
 and Almightiness, not mereJy as a doctrine, but as an 
 omnipresent and all-persuas'ive motive for truth or faith. 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. lOl 
 
 We staying ourselves on God and trusting in Him, all 
 the resources of His infinity become available to us, and 
 are consecrated to us, for our perfect peace, eternal 
 safety, and the supply of all our need. We accordingly 
 " trust in the Lord for ever," and in hopeful trust "our 
 minds are stayed on Him." In studying the Divine 
 attributes as mere doctrines, we are in the sphere of 
 "the letter which killeth." In making every one of 
 these perfections an all-constraining motive for trust, 
 love, godly fear, and obedience, we are in the sphere of 
 the Spirit which "giveth life." 
 
 We come into the presence of another passage : 
 "Wherefore He is able to save unto the uttermost them 
 that come unto God by Him." In contemplating the 
 " all power" of which Christ is possessed, we enter upon 
 a careful study of His perfections, until, attaining to clear 
 apprehensions of His Divinity, incarnation, atonement, 
 intercessory functions, &c., we are able to prove and 
 elucidate them all. All, however, is studied and con- 
 templated as a matter of doctrine. We are again in the 
 sphere of " the letter which killeth," and in relations of 
 the greatest possible peril to our immortal interests. 
 Suppose, on the other hand, that we study the per- 
 fections, oflSces, and functions of Christ, as a means and 
 condition of knowing Him, and being known by Him, 
 " even as the Father knows Him, and He knows the 
 Father," for the purpose of availing ourselves, in all its 
 fulness, of the " all power " that abides in Him to " save us 
 unto the uttermost," and of becoming and doing all that 
 is possible through faith in His name. We are now 
 again in the sphere of " the Spirit," where "we have life, 
 and have it more abundantly." Such is the distinction 
 everywhere between "the letter" and "the Spirit," 
 
I02 GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 between knowing God's truth as a mere doctrine and 
 as a source of life. 
 
 A distinction equally wide and palpable obtains 
 between ''the ministration of the letter" and "the 
 ministration of the Spirit." The preaching of not a 
 few professed heralds of the Cross never rises higher 
 than a simple elucidation of doctrine as such. Nor does 
 the thought of the hearer ever rise higher than the 
 inquiry, whether the doctrine of the discourse has been 
 ably or feebly, clearly or obscurely, fully or imperfectly, 
 elucidated. Nothing heard is ever thought of as a 
 motive to a godly life. The real motive and aim of such 
 preachers are just as commendable, and no more so, than 
 were those of Demetrius and his co-workers in making 
 silver shrines for Diana. This is " the ministration of 
 the letter," and is to both speaker and hearer " a mini- 
 stration of death." 
 
 In listening to other preachers, the motive and aim of 
 the speaker become manifest in all he says and does, 
 namely, to save souls from death, and to promote the 
 perfection of the saints of God. No truth or form of 
 doctrine is presented or elucidated except with this one 
 high and holy purpose. Here is " the ministration of the 
 Spirit," a ministration that saves both the speaker and 
 them that hear him. 
 
 In what has been said above, there has been no in- 
 tention to depreciate doctrine, or to decry the importance 
 of discriminating between truth and error. Take away 
 the doctrine of the being and perfections of God, and 
 there is no Infinite and Eternal Mind for us to trust in, 
 fear, love, and obey, or to have fellowship with. Take 
 away the doctrine of the Divinity, incarnation, atone- 
 ment, and intercession of Christ, and we have no Saviour 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 103 
 
 to believe or trust in. To study doctrine as such is one 
 thing : to have " fellowship with the Father and with 
 His Son Jesus Christ," Whose being raid perfections true 
 doctrine expresses and represents, is quite another. In 
 the former state, I repeat, we are in the sphere of " the 
 ministration of death," of " the letter which killeth." In 
 the latter we are in the sphere of " the ministration of 
 life," of the Spirit Who giveth life." A false creed is a 
 death fog which veils from the face of the soul the face 
 of '"the Sun of Righteousness;" a false beacon light, 
 which leads the voyager across the track of time on to 
 the quicksands and rocks of " the second death." A 
 creed pure and true places the soul at the base of the 
 Delectable Mountains. If it remains there, it will die 
 under " the ministration of death." If by faith it ascends 
 the mount, until it stands upon the bright pinnacle, it 
 will, even while abiding in the flesh, be transfigured and 
 appear in glory there. 
 
 These Statements and Principles elucidated through the 
 Facts of my early Christian Life. 
 Any candid and reflecting mind, in contemplating the 
 essential doctrines and prevailing religious sentiments, 
 under the influence of which I was born, educated from 
 childhood up, born again, and received my primal reli- 
 gious culture, would conceive that my religious experi- 
 ence could rise no higher than, nor be diverse from, that 
 depicted in Rom. vii. 15 — -24. " Carnal, sold under sin," 
 — not doing what we would, and doing what we would 
 not," — "captivity under the law of sin in the members," — 
 and groaning bondage under the weight of the body of 
 this death," do in fact characterise, and must inevitably 
 characterise, the experience and life of every believer 
 
i04 GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 whose religious thought and discourse are mainly deter- 
 mined by such doctrines and sentiments as those under 
 consideration. Yet, while holding theoretically such 
 doctrines, and encircled with such sentiments, in their 
 baldest forms, the first four or five years of my Christian 
 life were characterised by deep spirituality, and almost 
 uninterrupted growth in grace. In but a single place 
 did I spend six months, during all these years, without 
 the occurrence of a revival of religion, of greater or less 
 power, a revival visibly occasioned by my influence. The 
 reason was that the main current of thought and dis- 
 course Avith me was determined, not by these doctrines, 
 but by manifestations of God and His truth outside of 
 these doctrines, and, though I knew it not at the time, 
 utterly incompatible with them. 
 
 The reader will call to mind the manner in which 
 I was brought to know myself as I was, my life as it 
 had been, and my infinite criminality and hell-desert 
 before God, namely, by a direct and immediate mani- 
 festation of God to my mind, a manifestation in which 
 I had a direct, immediate, and absolute intuition of 
 Him — as having from eternity " loved me with an ever- 
 lasting love," as ever having been willing and desirous 
 to save me, had I sought unto Him, as being then 
 willing, if I would turn my face, in penitence and con- 
 fession, towards the face of my God. In that manifesta- 
 tion I had an intuition equally absolute of the fact that 
 I rnight long before have sought my Maker and Redeemer 
 as I was required to do, and that consequently my life 
 might have been, in all respects, the opposite of what it 
 had been. In the light of these intuitions I had an 
 apprehension equally absolute of my desert of eternal 
 doom, and was led to "abhor myself, and repent as in 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 1 05 
 
 dust and ashes." These apprehensions, directly and 
 immediately imparted through the illumination of the 
 Spirit of God, never left me during the years referred to. 
 About these truths my thoughts continuously revolved, 
 and with them my heart had direct and immediate 
 converse. From them, consequently, and not from my 
 creed, my spiritual character and life took form. After 
 leaving that forest a consciously dedicated servant of 
 Christ, and under an enduement of power the nature 
 of which I understood not, these thoughts had supreme 
 place in my mind : a consciousness of myself as the 
 direct object of the infinite and eternal love of 
 God ; of the infinitude of Divine grace, not only in 
 pardoning my sin, but in accepting me as a servant in 
 a cause so high and sacred as the service of Christ ; and 
 the criminality and odiousness of a life utterly alienated 
 from such infinite excellence. From time to time there 
 was imparted to my mind a direct and impressive appre- 
 hension of the life which I had led. I would stop and 
 contemplate with unspeakable horror the spectacle. 
 About a year after my conversion, for example, while 
 sitting in a family circle one evening, in the place where 
 I was teaching school, such a view opened upon my 
 mind. " I am horrified and affrighted," I exclaimed to a 
 young man sitting by me, " in view of my impenitent 
 life." Such a view rendered more and more impressive 
 the consciousness of the infinitude of the grace and love 
 of God, in blotting out such criminality, in permitting 
 such a being to be " called a son of God," in taking him 
 into service in such a cause, and in permitting him to sit 
 with the sanctified family in " heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus." 
 
 A very common impression obtains among believers 
 
lo6 GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. 
 
 that a deep sense of present sin is requisite to perpetuate 
 in the heart humihty, dependence upon the grace and 
 Spirit of Christ, and growth in Christian virtue. Such 
 was not the experience of Paul. His Cliristian Hfe ran 
 upon the line of a " pure conscience and faith unfeigned," 
 and of " a conscience void of offence, both toward God 
 and toward men." Yet with what intensity of feeling 
 does he give utterance to such sentiments as these ! 
 "To me, who am less than the least of all saints, is this 
 grace given, that I should preach among the Gentiles the 
 unsearchable riches of Christ ; " "Jesus Christ came into 
 the world to save sinners, of whom I am chief ; " " I am 
 the least of the apostles, that am not meet to be called 
 an apostle." The reason was, not at all the conscious- 
 ness of present sin, but the remembrance of the fact that 
 " he had persecuted the Church of God ; " that his soul had 
 been stained even with the blood of the martyr Stephen ; 
 and, above all, that he had " called Jesus accursed," and 
 had entertained the supreme desire to be eternally 
 separated (accursed) from Christ. "The time past of" 
 Paul's life sufficed him, in the absence of the conscious- 
 ness of present sin, " to have wrought the will of the 
 Gentiles." So thought Peter. So ha\'e I found it in my 
 own experience. The Spirit has only to open my eyes 
 to " look unto the rock from whence I have been hewn, 
 and to the hole of the pit whence I have been digged," 
 to perpetuate and render increasingly impressive in my 
 mind the consciousness that the least favour received at 
 the hand of my God and the least place in the kingdom 
 _of Christ is " infinite grace to vileness given." The most 
 blighting heresy that the father of lies ever introduced 
 into a Christian creed, is the absurd dogma that in order 
 ■to induce and perpetuate in God's children humbleness of 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INFLUENCES. IO^ 
 
 mind, He must leave in the depth of their hearts an abyss) 
 of moral corruption and death, a mass of " foolish and 
 hurtful lusts " to " war in their members." What will 
 become of us in heaven, when we shall for ever lose the 
 consciousness of present sin ? Will not humbleness of 
 mind disappear, and spiritual pride attain to enormous 
 dimensions there ? — 
 
 The apprehensions which I had of my own impenitent 
 life, of its infinite criminality, and of the perils which 
 perpetually encircled m.e, became a mirror in which 1 
 continuously saw the condition and prospects of sinners 
 around me, and became an all-constraining motive for 
 prayer and efforts to save their souls from death. Two 
 ideas were made prominent in all my addresses to the 
 impenitent : the infinite privilege now vouchsafed to 
 them of becoming Christians, and living and acting as 
 servants of such a Being as Christ, and the fearful 
 probability that, treating Him and His Gospel as they 
 were doing, they would lose their souls. 
 
 At the commencement of a revival, when a deep 
 seriousness was overspreading the community, I was 
 seated one afternoon in a circle in the pastor's parlour ; 
 himself and his family, a minister from abroad, and 
 several church members being present. To me it 
 seemed that the conversation was less serious and less 
 spiritual than the circumstances demanded. As I sat 
 in deep meditation, I uttered an involuntary groan. 
 "What was the cause of that groan.?" asked the 
 visiting minister ; "and why is it that you sigh, as you 
 so frequently do .'' " I had been previously told that 
 " every such sigh let out a drop of my heart's blood." 
 To the inquiry of the minister I replied, that I was 
 thinking of the infinite love and grace of Christ ; of the 
 
loS GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE IXFLUEXCES. 
 
 infinite interest which sinners around us have in that 
 grace ; and of the manner in which they will treat that 
 grace when it may be presented to them, together with 
 the infinite peril which attends such lives as they were 
 living. "I don't wonder," replied the minister, "that 
 such reflections induce the sighs and groans Avhich we 
 hear from you."' An awe came over that circle, and 
 subsequent conversation took a more subdued and serious 
 tone than I had noticed before. Without such appre- 
 hensions, no one, as it appears to me, is, or can be, 
 prepared at all to present Christ or His Gospel to lost 
 men. 
 
 The view which I had of the infinitude of Divine love 
 and grace to me, and of what my life in sin had been, 
 induced in me a perpetual "hunger and thirst after 
 righteousness," an insatiable desire to be free from sin in 
 all its forms ; excited instant alarm at any inward prompt- 
 ings of a worldward or sinward character ; kept me 
 constantly near to a throne of grace, and rendered the 
 word of life a theme of most devout study. The natural 
 result was gro-ivth^ growth in spirituality, inward joy, 
 and power of thought and utterance in the religious life. 
 Commencing my religious life as a lisping infant in 
 Divine things, I had been a Christian but a little more 
 than four j-ears, when I was solicited to leave my studies 
 and become the pastor of a church. This growth was 
 not, as I have said, through my creed, but despite its 
 morally deadening power. Nothing whatever in the 
 system of doctrine, in which I had been educated from 
 childhood up, excited in me a thought, emotion, desire, 
 or impulse, in a heavenward direction. All advance 
 came from aspects of truth intuitively apprehended, 
 aspects of truth outside of my creed, and wholly incom- 
 
GROWTH DESPITE ADVERSE INELUENCES. 109 
 
 patible with it, I at the time having no -suspicion of their 
 incompatibihty. During these five or six years, I held 
 in theory the system of doctrine in which I had been 
 educated, and was a zealous advocate of it. Throughout 
 this period I did in fact grow in grace, and in the 
 knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, 
 because the prevailing thought and all-controlling 
 current of my soul revolved around a centre outside of 
 that system, foreign to and incompatible with it. We 
 have seen how, while the mind revolved about this 
 centre, there was growth, life, peace, and "joy unspeak- 
 able and full of glory." We shall see, in the chapters 
 next following, how, as the mind was drawn from this 
 centre and revolved about its creed, this primal light 
 faded out, and a darkness succeeded which was " felt." 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 PROGRESS IN DOCTRINE : CHOICE OF SYSTEMS. 
 
 As I have stated in former chapters, the system of 
 doctrine in which I was educated took three distinct and 
 antagonistic forms : the old school or limited atone- 
 ment and natural inability theory, the Hopkinsian or 
 general atonement and natural ability theory, and the 
 Divine efficiency theory, the theory of Dr. Emmons. In 
 the school in which I was educated, each of these theories 
 had its zealous advocates, and between them I was early 
 necessitated to make my election, it being then assumed 
 as undeniable that one of these systems was true, and 
 contained the truth of God, the whole truth, and nothing 
 but the truth. That the reader may clearly understand 
 the progress which my mind first made in Christian 
 doctrine, it may be necessary to restate in this connection 
 the essential characteristics of the diverse theories under 
 consideration. 
 
 The common principle, Avhich lies at the basis of all 
 these systems, is the doctrine of Divine Decrees, together 
 with that of Eternal and Unconditional Election and 
 Reprobation. These doctrines are thus expressed in the 
 Confession of Faith and Catechism. " God from all 
 eternity did, by the most wise and holy counsel of His 
 OAvn will, freely and unchangeabl}' ordain whatsoever 
 comes to pass." " By the decree of God, for the mani- 
 
Ill 
 
 festation of His glory, some men and angels are pre- 
 destinated to everlasting life, and others foreordained to 
 everlasting death." " These angels and men, thus pre- 
 destinated and foreordained, are particularly and un- 
 changeably designed, and their number is so certain and 
 definite that it cannot be either increased or diminished." 
 These are the doctrines common to all these systems and 
 lying at their basis; doctrines -which absolutely affirm 
 and imply, that no event not eternally decreed and fore- 
 ordained ever could or ever can by any possibility occur, 
 and no event thus decreed and foreordained could or can 
 fail to occur, or fail to occur at the specific time and in 
 the specific form thus foreordained and predetermined, 
 and that no man or angel not eternally elected could or 
 can, by any possibility, be saved, and none eternally 
 elected could or can fail of eternal life. Under this one 
 common principle the three systems under consideration 
 took form. 
 
 The Old School System. 
 According to the absolute teachings of this system, 
 all mankind are held as deserving, and subject to, " God's 
 wrath and curse, both in this world and that which is to 
 come," and that for three reasons : for the one sin of 
 Adam, an eternally decreed and immutably predeter- 
 mined event ; for a nature derived from Adam, a nature 
 which, while unchanged by sovereign grace, renders it 
 utterly and naturally impossible for them to obey the 
 will of God, or not to commit the sins which they do 
 commit ; and for actual transgressions whose non- 
 occurrence was rendered absolutely impossible by the 
 eternal and unchangeable decree of God, and the nature 
 referred to. For the salvation of the elect, and for them 
 
112 
 
 PROGRESS IN DOCTRINE : 
 
 only, full provisions exist in Christ, and the time and 
 means of their conversion are predetermined, as also 
 their preservation unto eternal life, so that not one of 
 them can, by any possibility, be lost ; while the non-elect 
 are held subject to eternal doom for the reasons stated, 
 and no provisions in Christ exist for their redemption. 
 " Our first parents sinned in eating the forbidden fruit. 
 This their sin God was pleased, according to His 
 wise and holy counsel, to permit, having purposed 
 to order it to His own glory." "By this sin they fell 
 from their original righteousness, and so became dead 
 in sin, and wholly defiled in all the faculties and parts 
 of soul and body." " They being the root of all man- 
 kind, the guilt of this sin was imputed, and the same 
 death in sin and corrupted nature conveyed to all their 
 posterity, descending from them by ordinary genera- 
 tion." "From this original corruption, whereby we are 
 utterly indisposed, disabled, and made opposite to all 
 that is good, and wholly inclined to all evil, do pro- 
 ceed all actual transgressions." "This corruption of 
 nature, and all the motions thereof, are truly and 
 properly sin." " Every sin, both original and actual, 
 being a transgression of the righteous law of God, and 
 contrary thereto, doth, in its nature, bring guilt on the 
 sinner, whereby he is bound over to the wrath of God, 
 and curse of the law, and so made subject to death, with 
 all its miseries, spiritual, temporal,, and eternal." " To 
 all those for whom Christ hath purchased redemption. 
 He doth certainly and effectually apply and communicate 
 the same." " The rest of mankind God was pleased to 
 pass by, and to ordain them to dishonour and wrath for 
 their sin, to the praise of His glorious justice." 
 
CHOICE OF SYSTEMS. 
 
 The Hopkinsian System, 
 This system fully agreed with the preceding one as far 
 as the doctrines of the decrees and election are concerned. 
 Th£ former, as advocated by the majority of this school, 
 differed from the latter, in denying the imputation of 
 the guilt of the sin of Adam to his posterity, and in 
 affirming a general atonement for the sins of the race, 
 and the consequent free offer of pardon and eternal life 
 to every sinner on earth. But what, in the judg- 
 ment of all its advocates, constituted the all-crowning 
 excellence and glory of this system was the dogma, 
 that by the Fall mankind have lost all moral, but not , 
 natural, power to obey the commands of G^od^, and accept 
 the grace of eternal life. By the most distinguished 
 theologians of this school, discourses Avere published 
 under the title, Mankind have natural, but not moral, 
 Power to break the Decrees of God. The non-elect, it 
 was boldly asserted, have this form of power to break the 
 decree of reprobation, and thus secure their salvation. 
 
 The Exercise Scheme. — ^ 
 This scheme, the theory of which Dr. Emmons was 
 the leading representative, if not the author, agreed with 
 that last presented in denying the imputation of the 
 guilt of Adam's sin to his posterity. It also denied all 
 desert of eternal doom on account of a fallen nature 
 derived from him. It also, in common with the 
 Hopkinsian theory, affirmed the doctrine of general 
 atonement, and of natural ability. Man is responsible, 
 the advocates of the Exercise Scheme affirmed, but 
 for his voluntary choices, determinations, and acts of 
 obedience or disobedience to the known will of God. 
 
 I 
 
PROGRESS IN DOCTRINE 
 
 The peculiarity which distinguished this from each of the 
 other theories, and from all others that ever had place 
 in human thought, is, the dogma that God, while He 
 imputes infinite guilt to the creature for all acts of 
 disobedience, and actually inflicts upon the non-qject 
 eternal doom for their sins, does, by the direct and 
 immediate exertion of His own omnipotence, originate 
 and render necessary in creatures all their volitions, 
 choices, determinations, and acts, the holy and sinful 
 alike. As none would object to the doctrine of the 
 agency in God in originating choices and acts of 
 obedience, the supreme effort of the advocates of this 
 scheme was directed to the verification of the fact of 
 God's all-efficient agency in the production of sin. 
 
 Reasons and Grounds of my Election between these 
 Systems. 
 
 Such were the systems between which I was — by the 
 heated discussions taking place everywhere around me, 
 and by the conviction that one of them, to the exclusion 
 of each of the others, must be true — necessitated to make 
 my election. Under the pressureof this conscious necessity 
 I set about, in all honesty and sincerity, the solution of 
 the problem before me. In contemplating the systems, 
 it became at once perfectly evident to my mind that one 
 and the same difficulty was strictly common to them all ; 
 namely, the absohite necessity of all creature volitions, 
 choices, determinations, acts, and states, whether deno- 
 minated sinful or holy; and that this necessity origi- 
 nated first in the eternal and unchangeable decree, and 
 secondly in the agency, direct or indirect, of God Him- 
 self. God, Who is the revealed Father of the spirits and 
 Former of the bodies of men, must be the Author of the 
 
CHOICE OF SYSTEMS. 
 
 115 
 
 nature which they have derived through Adam. Accord- 
 ing to all the systems in common, "God did from all 
 eternity freely and unchangeably foreordain whatsoever 
 comes to pass," and " doth uphold, direct, dispose, and 
 govern all creatures, actions, and things, from the 
 greatest to the least, by His most wise and holy provi- 
 dence, according to His infallible foreknowledge, and the 
 free and immutable counsels of His own will;" and has 
 so " particularly and unchangeably " predestinated and 
 foreordained elect and non-elect angels and men, that 
 " their numbers cannot be either increased or dimi^ 
 nished." According to the Exercise Scheme, God 
 renders necessary actual sin in men by the direct action 
 of His own omnipotence. According to each of tlTe' 
 other systems. He renders the same identical forms of 
 sin equally necessary by the fallen nature which He 
 Himself, through the laws of natural generation, pro- 
 duces in them. In one case the agency of God is direct, 
 and in the other indirect, but in both equally deter- 
 mining and necessary in its results, in the production of 
 sin. If it would imply injustice in God to impute in- 
 finite guilt to men for sins which He directly originated, 
 and rendered necessary in them, it would undeniably be 
 equally unjust in Him to impute the same criminality to 
 them for sins which He produces and renders necessary 
 in them by means of a fallen nature which He produces 
 in them through the laws of natural generation esta- 
 blished by Himself. Besides, if it would be unjust in 
 God to punish eternally creatures for sins which He pro- 
 duced in them, and rendered it impossible for them not 
 to commit, how could it be just in Him to impute, as 
 the Old School system affirms that He does, infinite 
 guilt to them for a sin which they never committed at 
 
 I 2 
 
ii6 
 
 PROGRESS IN DOCTRINE : 
 
 all ? No objection, as I clearly saw, could be brought 
 against the Exercise Scheme, which did not lie with 
 equal weight against each of the others. 
 
 Then I saw with equal clearness that the distinction 
 between natural and moral ability, on which the advo- 
 cates of the Divine EfBciencj' and Hopkinsian systems 
 insisted so much, was, when rightly apprehended, a 
 senseless and deceptive distinction. The will of the 
 creature, it was affirmed, is in its own nature equally 
 capacitated for holiness and sin. That is, to become 
 holy, the sinner does not need a new created will, but 
 the right action of that which he has. For this reason 
 natural ability to become holy was affirmed of all men. 
 In other words, all men, the non-elect included, could 
 become holy, accept of the grace of life, and be saved, if 
 they should choose to do so. Nothing but their choice 
 of the evil, and refusal of the good, prevents their salva- 
 tion. But when the question is asked, " Can the sinner, 
 in the circumstances and under the influences in and 
 under Avhich he does in fact choose the evil and refuse 
 the good — can he, then and there, choose the good and 
 refuse the evil ? " " No," it is replied ; " the sinner has 
 no such power as that ; that is, he is destitute of moral 
 power to repent and turn to God." Now if, in the 
 identical circumstances and under the identical influ- 
 ences, in and under which they refuse the good and 
 choose the evil, they have no power to choose the good 
 and refuse the evil, sinners have no power whatever to 
 obey the commands of God, and it is contradiction in 
 terms to affirm that they have any such power. 
 
 In all the issues between this third and either of the 
 other systems, it also soon became perfectly manifest to 
 me, that the Scriptures most plainly and absolutely sus- 
 
CHOICE OF SYSTEMS. 
 
 117 
 
 tained the former. It is just as plainly and absolutely 
 revealed that " Christ tasted death for every man," as it 
 is that He tasted death for any man ; that " He is the 
 propitiation for the sins of the whole world," as it is 
 that " He is the propitiation for our sins," the sins of 
 believers. Then, when we stand face to face with eternal 
 judgment, for what, and what only, according to the 
 express teachings of the Word of God, are we to render 
 an account " For the deeds done in the body." 
 Nothing else is ever referred to, when the awards of that 
 day are set before us. 
 
 The principles of this third system, as I further clearly 
 saw, simplified the whole subject of preaching the Gospel, 
 and brought it, doctrine excepted, into perfect accord- 
 ance with the manner in which Christ and His apostles j 
 preached the same Gospel. The revealed mission of 
 Christ was to " call sinners to repentance," to summon 
 them to " repent and believe the Gospel." The burden 
 of apostolic preaching to sinners was, " repentance toward 
 God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ." So this 
 system affirmed, doctrine aside, that the only call to be 
 made to sinners was, to "repent and turn to God, and 
 do works meet for repentance." After I embraced this 
 .system, I practically and strictly conformed, in preaching 
 the Gospel, to the method revealed in the example of 
 Christ and His apostles, and all other inspired teachers 
 of God's truth. 
 
 It was for such reasons as the above, that I rejected the 
 Old School and Hopkinsian theories, and adopted and 
 became a zealous advocate of that of Divine Efficiency. 
 It was very easy for me to silence all objections adduced 
 by the advocates of either of the other systems designated. 
 The doctrine was repudiated and reprobated by such 
 
ii8 
 
 PROGRESS IN DOCTRINE : 
 
 individuals as a monstrous absurdity. The doctrine that 
 God, by the direct and imm^ediate exertion of His own 
 omnipotence, originates and renders necessary all human 
 volitions and acts, and then holds men as alone respon- 
 sible for the same, makes Him, they affirmed, an infinite 
 tyrant. My reply was ready. " Which is the w^orst form 
 of tyrannj^," I asked, — " the idea that God imputes infinite 
 guilt to creatures for volitions and acts which He, by His 
 own agency, causes them lo put forth ; or to impute to 
 them the same guilt for a sin which they never com- 
 mitted at all? Which," I asked again, "imputes the 
 most flagrant tyranny to God, — the idea that He holds 
 men responsible for volitions and acts which He directly 
 and immediately causes them to commit, or for volitions 
 and acts which He renders it equally necessary for them 
 to commit through a nature which He created in them ? 
 Must not the agency of God have the same efficiency in 
 the one case as in the other ? " No advocate of either of 
 those schemes ever attempted a reply to such questions. 
 
 But when I looked, as I could not avoid doing from 
 time to time, at the case as it is in itself, my mind shrank 
 back appalled at the difficulties and perplexities pre- 
 sented. According to the united teachings of all the 
 systems, angels and men not elected will, at the eternal 
 judgment, be subjected to eternal doom, for nothing else 
 but volitions and acts and states which they could by no 
 possibility have avoided, for volitions, acts, and states 
 which God, by an eternal and unchangeable decree, and 
 by His own direct or- indirect agency, rendered abso- 
 lutely unavoidable. As these questions would force 
 themselves upon my mind, I would forcibly turn away 
 from them as suggestions of Satan. There they were, 
 however, not merely as suggestions of Satan, but of my 
 
119 
 
 own thoughts, and as objections urged both by men of 
 the world and by believers in the Churches. To avoid 
 the questions and the issues presented was impossible. 
 
 The question, How can the doctrine of eternal decrees 
 and election, and the consequent necessity of all creature 
 volitions and acts, be reconciled with the fact of creature 
 responsibility for the same ? has ever been the vexed 
 question of the Calvinistic faith in all its forms. Very 
 commonly the question has been set aside as mysterious. 
 When all the elements of a given judgment are distinctly 
 known and apprehended, as I then clearly saw, the ele- 
 ment of mystery can have no place in that judgment. 
 This is true of the case before us. The elements of the 
 predestinarian doctrine are twofold. i. God, by His 
 eternal decree, and by His agency, direct or indirect, 
 renders it absolutely impossible that all creature voli- 
 tions and acts should not occur, and be, and become in 
 all respects, just what they are. 2. God holds the 
 creature alone responsible for these volitions and acts. 
 There is not a feature or element in either of these pro- 
 positions which is not perfectly understood. If they 
 scei7i to be incompatible, the reason and only reason is 
 that they arc so, and one or the other of them must be 
 false. 
 
 The only professed attempt we ever witnessed to 
 verify and elucidate their compatibility was essayed by 
 our Professor of Theology, when we were in the Theo- 
 logical Seminary. By one series of lectures he professedly 
 proved that all 'creature volitions and acts are necessary, 
 that is, cannot but occur and be what they are. By 
 another series he professedly proved that creatures are 
 responsible for their volitions and acts. The last pro- 
 position was to prove and elucidate the compatibility of 
 
120 
 
 PROGRESS IX DOCTRIXE 
 
 these two doctrines. The argument of the Professor was 
 in these words : " We have proved these two doctrines 
 to be true, as matters of fact. That is, these two facts 
 do exist. That is, they exist together. That is, they 
 co-^jcist. That is, they co-sist. That is, they coti- 
 sist, or are consistent." A majority of the class could 
 hardly restrain the most rapturous applause when the 
 Professor had finished his exposition. When the same 
 argument was presented to another class the next year, 
 a fellow-student, who afterwards, as Dr. Stearns, became 
 President of Amherst College, remarked to us that some 
 of the class came out of the recitation room with their 
 eyes standing out as large as tea-saucers. " I tell you, 
 that M'ill stand," they exclaimed one to another. At 
 length the question was put to the Professor: "Does 
 your argument consist of anything else but a series of 
 ide7itical propositions ? " On reflection, he admitted 
 that such was the fact. How, then, can anything be 
 proven or elucidated by a series of identical proposi- 
 tions } " The argument, I believe, was never repeated 
 afterwards. Such abortive attempts to reconcile the 
 palpably incompatible rendered such incompatibility 
 more palpable to my mind. 
 
 Another cause of embarrassment with me was passages 
 of the Sacred Word upon which my mind would fall 
 from time to time. For example, " Wherefore, when I 
 looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth 
 wild grapes " God, according to the teachings of each 
 of these systems, had, by an eternal decree, and by His 
 own direct or -indirect agency, rendered it impossible that 
 His vineyard should bring forth anything but " wild 
 grapes," and yet regards with wonder the fact that it did 
 not bring forth "grapes," the kind of grapes that He had 
 
CHOICE OF SYSTEMS. 
 
 121 
 
 rendered it impossible it should bring forth : " Hear, O 
 heavens, and give ear, O earth : for the Lord hath 
 spoken, I have nourished and brought up children, and 
 they have rebelled against Me." God, as we were 
 taught and told, had by His own decree and agency 
 rendered it impossible that those children should do any- 
 thing else than rebel as they did ; and then calls upon 
 heaven and earth to imite with Him in astonishment at 
 the fact, that those children had done what He had thus 
 rendered it impossible that they should not do ; as if He 
 had placed a mass of water on an inclined plane, and 
 then called upon the universe to unite with Him in 
 amazement, that that water should run down instead of 
 up that plane. Once more: "As I live, saith the Lord, 
 I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked ; but that 
 the wicked turn from his way and live." " Who will 
 have all men to be saved." God, according to the united 
 teachings of all these systems, did from all eternity " fore- 
 ordain to eternal death " the non-elect, and so unchange- 
 ably and specifically determined their number that it can 
 by no possibilitv "be either increased or diminished ;" 
 and then, during life, subjects them to such agencies and 
 influences that they can do nothing but sin ; and, finally, 
 withholds from them all gracious influences, by which 
 they might be induced to turn and live. He then aflSrms, 
 under oath, that " He has no pleasure in the death of 
 the wicked," and has no desire or will in respect to him. 
 but that he should turn and live. 
 
 Without utter dementation I could not but have stood 
 astounded and appalled in view of such palpable and 
 shocking incompatibilities as these. The attempt made 
 by the most learned theologians to reconcile such con- 
 tradictions rendered these palpable incompatibilities still 
 
122 
 
 PROGRESS IN DOCTRINE. 
 
 more palpable. The only explanation offered was this ; 
 Sin and misery are, ni themselves^ evils. In itself con- 
 sidered^ therefore, God desires the holiness and happiness 
 of all, and regrets the sin and misery of any. As, on the 
 other hand, the glory of God and the highest good of 
 the universe require the eternal misery of the non-elect, 
 God, on the whole, chooses, foreordains, and in His 
 providence brings to pass this event. Yet, God has no 
 pleasure at all in the death of the sinner, and has but 
 one will and choice in regard to him, " that he should 
 turn and live ; " and yet, on the whole, chooses, and 
 therefore ordains, and renders necessary this dire event. 
 The reader will not be surprised to learn, that during 
 the years in which I held and advocated this system, 
 these contradictions and incompatibilities sat as a night- 
 mare upon my spirits. But more of this hereafter. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, AND LOSS OF PRIMAL JOY 
 AND POWER : BREAKS IN THE CLOUD : LIFE UTILITIES. 
 
 For at least four or five years after my conversion there 
 was, on the whole, with intervals of clouds and darkness, 
 an increase of primal light, joy, and power in my experi- 
 ence. Then the light gradually grew dim, joy became 
 less and less full, and power was succeeded by weakness, 
 until I knew what is meant by " the aching void within," 
 the looking back with sorrowful regret to " the blessed- 
 ness I knew, when first I saw the Lord." I recollect, with 
 perfect distinctness, my first step out of that primal light 
 in the direction of darkness. On my return to College, 
 after the close of my winter's school, I found myself in a 
 state of great physical exhaustion, consequent on exces- 
 sive labours in the revival which had occurred in the 
 school and community where I had been. At the same 
 time I was behind my class in my studies. Such ques- 
 tions as these, consequently, pressed upon my mind ; 
 namely, " How can I recuperate my enfeebled health ? 
 How can I regain the ground lost by absence from 
 College And, lastly, how can I lead my class in pre- 
 sent studies } " as I confess with shame I had an ambi- 
 tion to do. While pondering these questions, the inward 
 purpose was distinctly formed that study now — till lost 
 ground was recovered, and I was in the forefront of my 
 class — should be my great concern, and that for the 
 
124 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 recovery of my health I would take much exercise, and 
 freely intermingle in the innocent social amusements in 
 which my religious associates engaged. 
 
 I here state as accurately as possible the secret opera- 
 tions of my mind at the time referred to. The result 
 was, that while not a day passed without careful reading 
 of the Sacred Word and secret prayer, at least morning 
 and evening, less time than formerly was spent in these 
 hallowed exercises, and there was more of haste, less of 
 fervency in them. Such facts did riot alarm me, because 
 they were not wholly unexpected, and especially because 
 supreme thought was then occupied in other directions. 
 At length, and before I was aware, — so gradually did the 
 light recede and the darkness come on, — " the brightness 
 of the Divine rising" faded out into a dim twilight, 
 which was at times so obscured as to render the darkness 
 around me so deep as to be fe//. I drew a delusi\-e and 
 perilous consolation from the thought that my studies, 
 which were a necessary preparation for my future work 
 as a minister, were in theinselves incompatible with deep 
 spirituality, and that when I should enter the Theologi- 
 cal Seminary all would be changed. I should then find 
 myself bathed in spiritual light, all my studies being of 
 a religious character. Multitudes of sinners lose their 
 souls by flattering themselves that by-and-by they will 
 find themselves under influences which will spontaneously 
 bear their spirits heavenward. So, many professing 
 Christians, and candidates for the ministry among the 
 rest, content themselves with present backslidings, low 
 attainments, and worldly mindedness, by attributing all 
 to present surroundings, and by promising to themselves 
 future changes of circumstances and influences under 
 which " their righteousness shall go forth as brightness." 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL JOY AND POWER. 125 
 
 This I affirm, as the result of thirty years' observation 
 and experience as President of Colleges, that in no 
 period of life need a student be more spiritually minded, 
 or maintain a closer or more uninterrupted walk with 
 God, than when in a most diligent and successful pursuit 
 of College studies. God would not have any of His 
 children, for a single day or hour, engage in any form of 
 thought or activity in which they cannot be "fervent in 
 spirit" as well as "diligent in business." "There is no 
 work nor device," nor method of doing any work lawful 
 to a believer in Jesus, in the diligent pursuit of which he 
 may not " walk in the light as God is in the light." A 
 slight departure from this sacred principle, and doing 
 nothing but things lawful and right in themselves, but 
 Avithout being careful to have "all my work wrought in 
 God," rendered, for years to come, " my days of darkness 
 many," and my periods of repentings long continued and 
 bitter. It is less difficult for an impenitent sinner to find 
 the path of life than it is for a believer to regain the way 
 of holiness after he has wandered from it. 
 
 Other influences combined with these to extinguish 
 gradually primal joy, enfeeble primal faith, diminish 
 primal power, and deepen the obscurity of the twilight 
 Avhich was gathering around me. Nearly one-half of 
 the students were professors of religion and candi- 
 dates for the ministry. Among these the three schools 
 of Calvinism were fully represented, and the members of 
 each school were exceedingly zealous for the form of 
 doctrine which they had embraced. Hence religious 
 thought and conversation, during my College life, took 
 almost exclusively the form of doctrinal discussion. In { 
 the atmosphere of religious thought around us there was 
 a continuous collision of conflicting systems, and the 
 
126 
 
 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 same issues were continuously repeated, to wit, the con- 
 flicting claims of the systems under consideration. The 
 subject of personal holiness was but seldom alluded to. 
 We had our Theological Society, which met once a week 
 for the discussion of religious truth. In all our discus- 
 sions mere doctrine, in its controversial aspect, was the 
 exclusive theme. Thus the main direction of religious 
 thought and discourse led the mind and heart further 
 and further from their true and proper centre. Zeal for 
 doctrine, and ''hungering and thirsting after righteous- 
 ness," are totally diverse spiritual states. They are not 
 incompatible the one with the other, and when the 
 former is duly tempered by the latter, each strengthens 
 the other. But when doctrine, as such, becomes the 
 leading subject of thought and discourse, zeal for doctrine 
 not only displaces vital godliness, but wars in the mem- 
 bers as a deceitful and hurtful lust, generating pride, 
 contention, and every evil work. Among all. the " whited 
 sepulchres" which abound in our churches, none are 
 more full of "dead men's .bones and all manner of un- 
 cleanness " than are our doctrinal zealots. 
 
 Not only was the main drift of religious thought and 
 discourse in the direction of mere doctrinal issues, but of 
 issues which had not the remotest tendency to present 
 God to the mind as a God of love, but to deaden all our 
 religious sensibilities. Think of the dogmas that God 
 holds the human race as '' deserving His wrath and curse 
 not only in this world, but in that which is to come," 
 and actually dooms the non-elect to the eternal endurance 
 of that wrath and curse — for what For one sin of one 
 individual, a sin committed when they did not exist at 
 all ; for a fallen nature derived from Adam, and divinely 
 induced through the laws of natural generation ; a nature 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL JOY AND POWER. 127 
 
 in the origination and constitution of which they had no 
 more agency than they had in the creation of the uni- 
 verse ; and for actual transgressions which the possession 
 of that nature, thus divinely induced and constituted, 
 rendered it absolutely impossible that they should not 
 commit. Let these dogmas, as representing the essential 
 principles of the government of God, stand between the 
 mind and the moral attributes of our Jehovah, and 
 necessitate it to apprehend and view the latter through 
 the former. But one result can follow, a deep eclipse of 
 the glory, love, grace, justice, mercy, and every moral 
 perfection of the Divine Nature. Then think of the 
 dogma which was held and zealously advocated — namely, 
 that God, by the direct exertion of His own omnipotence, 
 induces and necessitates the sins which creatures do 
 commit, and then charges them with infinite crimi- 
 nality, and actually inflicts upon the non-elect eternal 
 doom, for the sins, the non-commission of which by them 
 He thus renders absolutely impossible ! Such aspects of 
 the Divine character and government, whenever they 
 came directly before my mind, would sit as a nightmare 
 upon all my moral and religious sensibilities, not unfre- 
 quently forcing upon me painful and agonising doubts as 
 to the truth of religion itself. An increasing dimness of 
 primal light could not but result from such influences. 
 
 I will refer to but one other leading cause of the 
 decline of vital godliness among religious students in 
 College. I refer to the manner in which religion itself 
 was practically treated by the College authorities. Twice 
 a day, morning and evening, the students were required 
 to meet in the chapel for pubhc prayer. The evening 
 services were conducted by the President, or leading Pro- 
 fessors. The morning services were, for the most part, con- 
 
128 
 
 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 ducted by the tutors, a majority of whom were godless men, 
 who did not even profess to be Christians at all. One of 
 these, for example, received his appointment at the meeting 
 of the trustees at the close of a College year. During the 
 subsequent vacation I met with an associate of this man, a 
 student in a law office. " When we heard of his appoint- 
 ment," remarked this individual, " a jolly party of us were 
 together in a room in a public-house, making merry over 
 the social glass. We told him that, as a Tutor, he would 
 be called upon to take his turn in leading the devotional 
 exercises at College. ' That,' he replied, ' I shall never 
 do.' ' Yes, you will,' we answered ; ' and if you desire it, 
 we will go up to the College, and hold your face for you 
 when you pray.'" I remember well the -first so-called 
 prayer he made in the College chapel. Our class were 
 then attending a course of chemical lectures, and the last 
 subject which had been treated of was crude tartar. As 
 we rose to leave the chapel after the mock service was 
 completed, a class-mate, afterwards the Rev. Joel Parker, 
 D.D., said to me, "That, sir, is the crude tartar of 
 prayer." So it was, and such were the prayers we almost 
 daily heard from those godless tutors. No one can con- 
 ceive the fatal influence exercised upon the impenitent 
 portion of the students, or the deadening effect upon 
 those professing godliness, by such mock presentations, 
 daily made, of our sacred religion. Had it been the fixed 
 purpose of the College authorities to desecrate religion 
 in the eyes of the irreligious, and render it a dead letter 
 with the religious portion of their students, no method- 
 more perfectly adapted to this end could have been devised. 
 
 Breaks in the Cloud. 
 Under the influences above referred to, "the bright 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL JOY AND POWER. 129 
 
 sliining of the Divine rising" was succeeded by a dim 
 twilight. Yet I never so far lost sight of the end to 
 which my life was devoted as not to arrange all my 
 studies in deliberate subordination to it. Nor did I at 
 any time altogether suspend active labours for the 
 salvation of souls. In connection with several others, of 
 a spirit kindred to my own, I organised Sabbath Schools 
 and Conference Meetings in the destitute neighbourhoods 
 adjoining the College, and earnestly laboured to lead 
 sinners to Christ. I made, also, frequent visitations to 
 the various communities where I had been instrumental 
 in promoting revivals of religion, and pressed upon the 
 converts and others the necessity of "holding the 
 beginning of their confidence steadfast unto the end." 
 My vacations, those of winter especially, I devoted, as 
 far as practicable, to special efforts in the interests of 
 " saving souls from death." With much intensity my 
 heart continuously burned within me in reference to the 
 cause of missions in home and foreign lands. Thus I 
 was preserved from the death-ways of the backslider, 
 and was kept in a state in which I was constantly 
 " holding forth the word of life." My lamp never went 
 out, though for a time it shed but a glimmering light. 
 
 I.t/e Utilities. 
 
 Having selected the ministry for life-occupancy, the 
 question arose with full distinctness before my mind, 
 How can I be prepared to discharge, acceptably to God, 
 and with required utility to the Church and the world, 
 the functions of that sacred office ? Not a few candidates 
 for the ministry seemed to regard themselves, in the 
 progress of their education, as passive recipients of 
 influences through which they would be moulded into 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 " vessels meet for the Masters use." In this, as I 
 perceived, they were totally mistaken. Self-education, 
 with fixed reference to my sacred calling, as I saw, was 
 the most essential and indispensable condition of due 
 preparation. I must understand my natural gifts and 
 adaptation?, and also my natural defects and deficiencies, 
 and by a process of self-discipline develope and perfect the 
 former and correct the latter. For the benefit of students 
 for the ministry, I here record some of the measures 
 which I adopted as a means to the end under con- 
 sideration. 
 
 My fixed habit of labouring in Sabbath Schools, 
 speaking in Conference Meetings, and other religious 
 assemblies, while I was a student in College, and in the 
 Theological Seminary, was prompted by two deliberately 
 entertained motives — present usefulness, and needful 
 preparation for my future calling. It is a notorious fact 
 that not a few of our most able and learned ministers 
 are an encumbrance whenever they appear in the 
 Sabbath school, and do not know at all how to edify 
 a parlour or conference or prayer meeting. They are at 
 home nowhere but when delivering a formal discourse 
 before some great gathering or Sabbath assembly. One 
 of the most popular preachers of the past generation was 
 selected to deliver an address to the children at a large 
 Sabbath School Convention, He commenced his 
 address with these words : " Children, religion is both 
 objective and subjective. I propose to speak to you upon 
 the subject from these two standpointsP This very 
 classic and scientific introduction fully prepared the 
 children to go to sleep, and to begin their sports by 
 pinching each other's sides. When another such 
 minister had concluded a similar speech, the children 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL JOY AND POWER. 13 1 
 
 were heard to say one to another, " He speaks like a 
 fool ; " the speaker having acted under the delusion that 
 in order to interest and be understood by children, he 
 must appear slWy. A similar want of adaptation is often 
 shown by such ministers, when attempting to speak in a 
 conference or prayer meeting. What else could be 
 expected from indiN'iduals, after a ten j^ears' insulation 
 from common religious thought and discourse, and a 
 corresponding incarceration with the classics, mathe- 
 matics, sciences, doctrines, and laws of Biblical inter- 
 pretation ? These are all excellent preparative helps to 
 individuals whose thoughts and hearts are with God, on 
 the one hand, and witli the religious thought and 
 discourse of the Church and community around them, 
 on the other. Eight to twelve years' insulation insures 
 a disqualification about as complete for the di\'inely 
 revealed functions of the pulpit, as for those of the 
 Sabbath school, the conference, ])ra3-er, or inquiry 
 meeting. 
 
 The leading idea of a perfect sermon, when I was a 
 student in theology, was its classical precision. There 
 was a positive prejudice against illusrtrating truth by 
 reference to familiar facts and e\'ents in the community 
 and world around us. One of my class-mates, for ex- 
 ample, in a discourse submitted for criticism before our 
 Professor of Rhetoric, represented the sinner as borne on 
 by an almost resistle-s current, with the Niagara Falls 
 before him. The illustration was very strongly objected 
 to as unclassical. Scylla and Charyb lis should have 
 been substituted for Niagara. I recollect the first sermon 
 I read for criticism before the class and our Professor of 
 Sacred Rhetoric. The discourse was written with the 
 specific intent that it should be preached before future 
 
 K 2 
 
132 
 
 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 audiences ; the subject was selected with reference to a 
 specific effect, and all the illustrations were from objects 
 and events with which such audiences are familiar. As 
 soon as the reading of the discourse was completed, a 
 furious tempest of criticisms fell upon it from all direc- 
 tions. The plan and style of the discourse, the illus- 
 trations especially, were not classical. In those criticisms 
 the Professor joined, giving us sage advice in regard to 
 the fixed plan to which our discourses should conform ; 
 advice which, I rejoice lo record, I never followed. A 
 short time subsequent to this, it came to my turn to 
 occupy the pulpit of the seminary chapel on a Sabbath 
 evening. I preached the discourse referred to, and 
 preached it as read before the class ; the mass of the 
 students, and a large gatheiing from the community 
 around, being present. For a long period after that, a 
 leading theme of conversation among the students was 
 that sermon, the wonder of all being the fixed attention 
 with which it was listened to by the entire audience. It 
 was a most profound mystery to my class-mates how and 
 why it Avas that such an unclassical discourse should thus 
 affect its auditors. During the M'eek following, I had 
 occasion to call upon my Professor. I found there the 
 Principal of the Academy conversing with the Professor 
 about that sermon. "Mr. Mahan," said the visitor, 
 "your audience last Sabbath evening paid 3'ou a very 
 great compliment by the fixed attention with which they 
 listened to your discourse." 
 
 I was never censured by a Professor or fellow-student 
 for a want of diligence in any one of my studies. I did 
 not, however, as most of them did, incarcerate myself in 
 those studies, but kept my thoughts, and heart, and 
 activities in warm contact with the religious thought, 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL JOY AND POWER. 133 
 
 and discourse, and activities around me, — a point which 
 they sadly neglected. Hence, years passed in their pas- 
 toral experience with no visible fruits of their labours, 
 while three months of my first pastorate had not elapsed 
 before I found myself in the midst of a glorious revival ; 
 no such work existing in any of the Churches around me. 
 I not only foimd myself in the midst of such a scene, 
 but equally at home in the pulpit, and in the conference, 
 prayer, and inquiry meetings. 
 
 One of the cliief employments of the minister of 
 Christ is sermonising. Not a few learned preachers 
 who are deeply read in theological and biblical lore, 
 find it very difficult to select, from the wide field of 
 knowledge before them, specific topics for their sermons. 
 Mountain masses of pure gold are before them, but 
 they do not know now to detach from the mass a fit- 
 ting piece, and coin it for ge:ieral use. The reason is 
 the fundamental defect of prior training. During the 
 revival which occurred in connection with the last 
 school that I taught, I had occasion, as I have stated, 
 to deliver three discourses each week of a half hour to 
 an hour's continuance. Each discourse was from a 
 mentally prepared plan, and, with hardly an exception, 
 upon a subject on which I had never spoken before. 
 While I was engaged in prayer and devout meditation, 
 each discourse spontaneously took form before my mind, 
 so that I was never at a loss what to say. As I reflected 
 upon the subject, I said to myself, " Here is a habit which 
 I must perpetuate as a means of future usefulness." I 
 accordingly, on my return to College, induced a number 
 of my special friends to meet with me weekly, for the 
 purpose of reading to each other plans of sermons, our 
 fi.xed rule being that each plan presented should be a 
 
134 
 
 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 newly prepared one. In those meetings our discussions 
 were not doctrinal, but experimental. Lifelong benefits 
 resulted to each of us therefrom. In reading the Sacred 
 Word, as I approached a certain passage, the great truth 
 concealed in it would spontaneously rise up, and become 
 transfigured before my mind, and that with ecstatic effect 
 upon my sensibilities. Whatever my employments were, 
 I always, if practicable, stopped at once, and put down 
 the train of thought thus suggested. As a consequence 
 of this fixed habit of religious thought, I found myself, 
 when I entered upon pastoral duly, already furnished 
 with more than one hundred well-planned discourses on 
 most important pulpit themes ; and, as another result 
 of this habit, that number of pre-planned discourses was 
 never diminished. How oflen did my ministerial brethren 
 say to me, " You are always ready for any occasion on 
 which you are called to preach or sptak." So may every 
 candidate for the ministry find himself in all future time 
 thus ready, if he will now form and cultivate the habit 
 under consideration. 
 
 Cultivation of the Voice. 
 
 How often do our ministers fail through bronchial 
 affections, and the loss of their voices, especially as they 
 advance in life ! Is this at all necessary ? Do not these 
 evils result wholly from the want of proper vocal 
 training.? Permit me to adduce two important facts 
 bearing upon this subject. 
 
 My College class and room mate and myself each had 
 a very feeble voice. Neither of us could, without the 
 greatest difficulty, so speak as to be heard by any 
 audience of two or three hundred persons. I perceived 
 clearly that the difficulty in my case must be remedied, 
 
AXD LOSS OF PRIMAL yOY AND POWER. 135 
 
 or my education would be a failure. Without any 
 instruction wliatever, I set about a daily exercise of vo:al 
 self-training. I ascertained, first of all, the pitch of voice 
 from which I could speak with most ease and distinctness, 
 and with the least effort throw my voice to the greatest 
 distance. I then maintained, during my entire College 
 and Seminary course, the daily habit of reading aloud 
 from that pitch of voice. The result was, that when 1 
 entered the ministrv, the strength and compass of my 
 voice, and the ease and distinctness with which I spoke, 
 were e\"ery\vhere remarked upon by those who heard 
 me. When I was in England in 1849-50, for example, 
 I once addressed an audience of more than ten thousand 
 persons in Free Trade Hall, Manchester, and v.'ith perfect 
 ease made myself distinctly heard by that entire throng. 
 When I returned to London, after an absence of some 
 twenty-six years, those who had heard me before often 
 said to me, " Your voice is now as clear and strong as it 
 was when you were here before." Now, at the age of 
 eighty-two years, that voice still remains unbroken. I 
 find no difficulty in making myself distinctly heard by 
 any audience which I have occasion to address. 
 
 But how about my room and class mate, whom I often 
 admonished, but in vain, to do as I was doing ? After 
 completing, with the highest honours, his College and 
 Seminary course, he found the ministry utterly barred 
 to. him by the want of a voice to make himself heard by 
 the smallest congregations that might desire to employ 
 him. Such was the statement which, with deep sadness, 
 he made to me, after his education was finished. He 
 consequently spent his life as assistant clerk or secretary 
 in the service of a Missionary Society. Ministers would 
 think it absurd and wicked to enter the sacred office 
 
136 FADING OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 without some mental training. Is it not absurd to 
 attempt to speak for God and humanity with a rude 
 and untrained voice? I never enter the pulpit without 
 a mentally prepared discourse. Nor do I, when it can 
 be done, without a special preparation of the voice. 
 
 Scripture and Uyjun Reading. 
 
 To me one of the most painful parts of religious 
 worship is the manner in which the Scriptures and 
 hymns are commonly read before Christian congre- 
 gations, and above all, the rapid, undevotional, and 
 irreverential manner in which the Lord's Prayer is 
 commonly repeated in our churches. A dinner was 
 once given to a celebrated actor in Cincinnati, Ohio. 
 During the conversation after dinner he remarked that 
 he had for twenty or thirty years made the Lord's 
 Prayer a subject of special study, for the purpose of 
 learning how it should be recited, and then reciting it 
 according to his own ideal. "But,"' he added, ''I have 
 only been able to make a somewhat near approach to 
 that ideal." He was requested to recite the prayer, and 
 did so. After the recitation not a word was spoken by 
 any one present. Each individual arose and left the 
 place in deep and solemn silence. It does seem to me, 
 tliat reverence for Him who dictated the prayer, as well 
 as the sentiments it expresses, should induce ministers 
 of Christ to repeat that prayer with a somewhat 
 similar impressiveness. For myself, I can say with truth 
 that from the commencement of my m.inistry to the 
 present time, no part of my pulpit exercises has com- 
 manded more deep and fixed attention from my audiences 
 than have my readings of Scripture and hymns. I study 
 my chapters and hymns, and ponder their meaning, just 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL yOY AND POWER. 137 
 
 as I do my sermons, before I go into the pulpit. This 
 I have ever held as a fixed maxim, that if my prelimi- 
 nary readings shall command the fixed attention of my 
 audiences, the after exercises will be profitable ; and 
 if there is a failure in the preliminaries, the entire service 
 will be of little account. 
 
 The three facts which I am about to state will, in the 
 judgment of not a few, subject me to the imputation of 
 vanity and desire of praise. My motive, as God sees it, 
 is to "provoke to jealousy" my ministerial brethren, 
 and, if possible, to fix the attention of candidates for the 
 ministry upon this most important subject. A celebrated 
 actor in the United States left the stage, taught elocu- 
 tion, and gave readings in various cities in the country. 
 He was paid one hundred dollars for a single evening 
 reading in Adrian, Alich., where I was at that time 
 living. When we were leaving the auditorium, at the 
 close of the exercises, one of the best judges of reading in 
 the city made this remark to me: "I would go much 
 farther to hear you read once more the third chapter of 
 the First Epistle of John than I would to hear again all 
 that I have heard this evening." 
 
 When seated in the pulpit of a ministerial friend in 
 Cincinnati, Ohio, listci.ing to a discourse which he was 
 delivering, he suddenly became faint, and, turning to 
 me, requested me to read the closing hymn, and finish 
 the exercises. I did so, reading the hymn offhand. The 
 next day, on calling upon another ministerial friend in 
 the city, I was introduced to two ladies, — one of them 
 from Brooklyn, N.Y., — who were seated in a carriage 
 which stood at the door of my friend's house. "What 
 do you suppose those women were talking about when 
 you came up ? " asked my friend, as they drove away. 
 
FADJXG OUT OF PRIMAL LIGHT, 
 
 "They were at Brother Clark's church last evening, and 
 were talking about the manner in which you read that 
 hymn. 'I never in my life heard a hj-mn so well read,' 
 said the lady from Brooklyn ; and the Cincinnati lady 
 expressed a similar judgment." "If such reading as 
 mine, especially in such circumstances, attracts such 
 attention, what," I said to myself, " must be the reading 
 of those celebrated pulpit elocutionists in Brooklyn.'" 
 
 When in London, I had occasion to supply, for several 
 successive Sabbaths, the pulpit of a pastor who was sick. 
 A gentleman from Edinburgh attended those exercises. 
 Before leaving, he said to a friend of mine, a leading 
 merchant in the city, ''I would any time walk three 
 .miles to hear that man read a single chapter in the 
 Bible." Here I inwardly e.xclaimed again, " How im- 
 perfectly must those renowned Professors and preachers 
 in Edinburgh read the Scriptures before their audiences ! " 
 I hardly fear a contradiction, when I affirm that the 
 manner in which the Scriptures and hymns are, for the 
 most part, publicly read by ministers on both sides of 
 the Atlantic is a disgrace to the pulpit. In deep sincerity 
 I say it, that I do not regard myself as, in the true sense 
 of the term, a good reader ; and I have always accepted 
 with deep regret, as evidence of the deficiencies of my 
 brethren, the marked commendations which my readings 
 everywhere receive. 
 
 But how, it may be asked, did I become the reader I 
 am ? In the same manner, I answer, in which I came 
 to be possessed of the voice I now have. In all my daily 
 readings, I first put to myself the distinct question, 
 " How should this passage be read " To determine the 
 appropriate answer, 1 conceived the thought before me 
 as lying in the mind of an individual who was possessed 
 
AND LOSS OF PRIMAL yOY AND POWER. 139 
 
 of a strong desire to convey to listeners an exact appre- 
 hension of the thought, with a corresponding impression 
 of its importance. " How," I then asked myself, " would 
 such an individual in that state of mind utter those 
 words ? " I then conformed my reading as nearly as 
 possible to the ideal thus obtained. I was greatly 
 encouraged in the course I had adopted by a remark 
 made to me by a very distinguished lawyer, a Christian 
 man, who admired my manner in the pulpit. " Bear 
 this in mind," he said, " that the nearer your manner of 
 preaching conforms to earnest conversation the more 
 perfect it will be." 
 
 When I was in England, nearly thirty years ago, thi.s 
 statement appeared in the London Twics, that " the 
 graduates of the English Universities, with all their 
 boasted lore, cannot read their English Bibles." The 
 meaning was obvious, to wit, that such graduates could 
 not so read the Sacred Word as to represent the meaning 
 of what they read. That statement is as true of the 
 graduates of those Universities to-day as it was then; 
 and is not more true of them than of the graduates of 
 the Scotch and Irish Universities, and of those of the 
 Universities, Colleges, and Seminaries of the United 
 States. Let the reader bear this in mind, that while 
 you may be greatly helped by proper teachers, you can 
 become good readers, and have strong voices, only as 
 Demosthenes and Cicero became great orators, by self- 
 training and discipline ; and that every scholar is with- 
 out excuse who is not a good reader, and has not a strong 
 voice. 
 
CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. 
 
 " The. kingdom of God cometh not by observation." 
 " Tlie kingdom of God is within you." " Tlie just shall 
 live by faith." " By grace ye are saved, through faith." 
 When out at sea the attention of the voyager is some- 
 times arrested by the spectacle of immense icebergs, 
 which lift their bright sunlit summits far above the 
 surface of the ocean. These objects are never at rest, 
 but are alwa3's moving in some definite direction, not 
 unfrequently in opposition to that of the winds and the 
 waves. These objects also appear to be very little affected 
 by what is passing upon the surface of the ocean. The 
 waters are sometimes higher up, sometimes lower down, 
 their surfaces, and the winds and the waves often beat 
 violently against their sides. They are never, however, 
 lifted up or let down, or moved, or shaken, by the waters 
 around them. Nor are they quickened, or retarded, or 
 changed in direction by any surface influences around 
 them. They are above and below, and independent of 
 all visible contingencies. The reason is that while their 
 summits are ever heaven-illumined, their lower portions 
 have touched and sunk down into that under ocean 
 current which is ever moving in one and the same fixed 
 direction, and is never disturbed by what is occurring 
 upon the upper surface. Such is the state, and life, and 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES: SEMINARY LIFE. 14I 
 
 life-course of the true believer, who is " full of faith and 
 of the Holy Ghost," who by the cross has been "cruci- 
 fied to the world, and the world to him," and who knows 
 by experience what is really and truly meant by such 
 words as "Christ in you the hope of glory," "That 
 Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith, and ye be 
 rooted and grounded in love," "In Whom, though now 
 ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy un- 
 speakable and full of glory," and " The Lord shall be 
 thine everlasting light, and the days of thy mourning 
 shall be ended." A mind in whose inner life such eternal 
 verities have become consciously real, cannot be elevated 
 or depressed by external circumstances, nor be turned 
 from the fixed course of its heaven-directed activities. The 
 source and cause of its peace lie too deep in the centre of 
 the soul to be disturbed by surface events. Christ is the 
 life of such a mind, and He is within as an all-vitalising 
 and heaven-impelling power. Hence it never thinks of 
 present surrounding as rendering difficult or impossible 
 "walking in the light as God is in the light," or expects 
 newness of life from change of circumstances. In every 
 state in which it is, it learns how to be content, because 
 in every state alike it finds Christ. When " Christ dwells 
 in our hearts by faith," and we "abide in Him," all 
 external influences are to the soul, in diverse forms, a 
 means of grace, and all in common combine to accelerate 
 its heaven-directed course. 
 
 Most believers, on the other hand, advance or recede, 
 rise or fall, with the tide of events and influences around 
 them. At periods few and far between, under a clear 
 sky and borne forward by favouring gales, they are seen 
 passing joyfully onward in their heaven-directed course, 
 singing as they sail. Then, for still longer periods, they 
 
142 DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMIXARY LIFE. 
 
 lie becalmed and powerless for any heavenward move- 
 ment. Then they are driven backward or turned from 
 their course by adverse circumstances. Then again they 
 are " wear\', tossed with tempL-sts, and not comforted." 
 ''They go up b}- the mountains, they go down by the 
 valleys ; they reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken 
 man, and are at their wit's end."' There is nothing 
 stable in their inner life, unless it be '' an aching void the 
 world can never fill." They always think of present 
 circumstances as incompatible with deep spirituality, and 
 are always hoping for and promising to themselves a 
 change of influences, under which all the Christian 
 graces and virtues will revive, and assume forms of 
 glorious beauty and perfection. In all such expectations 
 they are doomed to sad disappointment. If soul life 
 could be induced by change of circumstances, one 
 important passage should be blotted from the sacred 
 page, namely. " The just shall live by faith." 
 
 Such, however, is the illusion under which College 
 life is very commonly spent. " Present studies are in- 
 compatible with deep spirituality. In the Theological 
 Seminary all will be changed. All studies then will be 
 religious, and a sa:red and all-sanctifying atmosphere 
 will encircle and hang over us, then and there." Vain 
 expectation ! which, when painfully disappointed here, 
 looks forward to the ministr}- as the golden era for the 
 development of the Christian life, and is doomed to a 
 still sadder disappointment. To an individual who is 
 not " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," no sphere of 
 lawful human activity is, or can be, more unfavourable 
 to deep heart spiritualit}', or encircled with greater temp- 
 tations to pride, env}', love of applause, and worldly- 
 mindedness, than is the ministr}'. All the observations 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES: SEMINARY LIFE. MS 
 
 of a ministerial life of more than fifty years' continuance 
 absolutely verify such statements. " Unstable as water " 
 must be the characteristic of the experience of every 
 believer whose piety is determined mainly by external 
 influences, and not "by the power of an endless life " 
 within the soul itself. This is my solemn advice and 
 admonition to every candidate for the ministry, and to 
 every believer who would do effective service in the 
 kingdom of grace : Tarry,'' just where you are, " until 
 you are endued with power from on high." Hear the 
 absolute command of Christ : " Depart not," but, " in 
 prayer and supplication," '"wait the promise of the 
 Father," until God's mantle of power shall fall upon 
 you. Then, " in the power of the Spirit," go forth to 
 your College or theological studies, or in-!;o the sacred 
 ministry, or to any word or work to which God by His 
 Spirit and Providence shall call you. Do this, and in 
 every sphere of activity alike "you will shine as a light 
 in the world," and all external circumstances and in- 
 fluences will combine to increase and intensify that 
 light. Everywhere you will be girded with everlasting 
 strength, and, " as a prince, you will have power with 
 God and with men." Let us now turn to a direct consi- 
 deration of the 
 
 Facts mid Observations of my Seminary Life. 
 
 I very well recollect an impression which I received 
 immediately after I had got settled in my room in one 
 of the Seminary Halls. I had gone out into our long 
 wood shed to saw some wood. I met there a number of 
 the most influential members of the upper classes in the 
 Institution, all perfect strangers to me. Without 
 uttering a word myself, I listened to their conversation. 
 
144 DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMIXARY LIFE. 
 
 There was nothing morally impure about it ; yet not a 
 word fell upon my ear to indicate that I was in Bethel 
 or Jericho among " the sons of the prophets." " Foolish 
 talking and jesting " was all I heard, and the entire 
 manner clearly indicated that what I heard was a visible 
 manifestation of the inner life of those talkers. A shud- 
 dering chill came over my spirits, as I felt that what I 
 then saw and heard foieshadowed my bitter disappoint- 
 ment in regard to the imagined purity and sanctifying 
 power of the atmosphere which encircles our " schools of 
 the prophets." Nor did anything occur during my three 
 years' continuance at the Seminary to relieve the impres- 
 sions thus early received. Never was I in an atmosphere 
 less morally and spiritually vitalising than that which 
 encircled us during those three years. The President of 
 our College sent an ungodly son to the Seminary the 
 same year I entered it. He was sent, not as a theo- 
 logical student, of course, but professedly to enlarge and 
 perfect his linguistic education. The real intent of the 
 father was the conversion of his son through the saving 
 influence which was supposed to pervade the institution. 
 The young man left no less ungodly than he was when 
 he came among us ; no influence encircling him, while 
 there, which tended to any higher result. The character 
 of the moral and spiritual atmosphere which encircled 
 the Seminar}' was a topic of frequent conversation among 
 the students, all, with one consent, admitting and affirm- 
 ing it to have been as above indicated. " When I am out 
 among the people in vacation," said one of the most 
 conscientious students to me one day ; " when I am out 
 among the people in vacation, I have no disposition to 
 joke and trifle, such as commonly obtains here. I feel 
 serious then and there. But as soon as I get back here. 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES: SEMINARY LIFE. 145 
 
 all my seriousness is gone in a moment, and I joke and 
 trifle as others do." 
 
 One fact I then heard stated by not a few of the oldest 
 and later graduates, as uniformly characterising ths ex- 
 perience of students in their passage through the Semi- 
 nary. After being there for a season, instead of finding 
 themselves, as they expected to be, " strengthened with 
 all might, according to His glorious power," they passed 
 through a period in which their inner life was almost 
 paralysed by painful and agonising doubts of the truth of 
 our Divine religion itself. Various reasons were assigned 
 for this very common experience, but what I regard as 
 the true one was never stated. Happy, thrice happy was 
 he who giaduated as "strong in the Lord, and in the 
 power of His might," as "rooted and grounded in love," 
 as fixed in faith, and as joyful in God, as he v/as when he 
 commenced his theological course. 
 
 Permit me to adduce a single fact in illustration of the 
 above statements. More than thirty years since, when 
 spending a period in the city of Newark, N.J., and 
 preaching in the midst of a very powerful revival of 
 religion, I observed among my hearers, upon a Sabbath, 
 a very intelligent-looking stranger, who listened with the 
 deepest attention to all I said. Having occasion, the 
 next morning, to be absent from the city for a few hours, 
 on a visit to the family nf a brother-in-law, Piofessor 
 Strong, at New Brunswick, I found in the same car with 
 myself this stranger. As soon as he saw me, he came 
 and sat by my side. ''I listened," he remarked, "with 
 deep interest to the three discourses which you delivered 
 in Newaik yesterday. What struck me as especially 
 peculiar about your discoursts was ihe ease and freedom 
 with which you spoke, all your discourses being extem- 
 
 L 
 
146 DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. 
 
 pore. Your discourses were perfectly systematic. Tliere 
 seemed to be a predetermined place for every thoughr, 
 and every thought was in its place. Yet all your utter- 
 ances were so free and spontaneous, like the outgushing 
 of the waters from the rock when Moses had smitten it. 
 In a few weeks I expect to graduate at the Theological 
 Seminary at Princeton, This I confess to you, that I 
 now find myself less free and less able to speak to edifica- 
 tion in a prayer or conference meeting, or to any common 
 religious assembh', than I was at ihe commencement of 
 my theological course ; and I approach the ministry 
 with a painful disqualification for many of its most im- 
 portant functions. In respect to most of my public 
 speaking, I am necessitated to speak from notes pre- 
 viousl}' written out. And such I find to be the uniform 
 and confessed experience of my fellow-students in all the 
 classes. These facts we often confess to one another w ith 
 deep regret. Is there any remedy for such evils.? and if 
 so, can you tell me what it is.-"' Such was the exact 
 substance of the statements made to me by that student- 
 stranger. 
 
 In my reply, I first referred to my own fixed habit, as 
 a college and theological student, of mingling with ihe 
 churches, and speaking in Sabbath schools, conference 
 and prayer meetings, and holding special services in 
 destitute neighbourhoods around ; and advised him to 
 urge upon all students in the lower classes to follow such 
 an example. But what all must do is this, to "tarry" 
 before God " in prayer and supplication,'" until "endued 
 with power from on high," as the apostles and their 
 associates were at the Pentecost. Then M ill the trulh cf 
 God be in the heart "as a burning fire shut up in the 
 bones," and "witnessing for Christ," and "speaking in 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. I47 
 
 the churches," and " unto men to edification, and exhor- 
 tation, and comfort," will be as easy, and spontaneous, 
 and vitalising as was the outflow of the waters from the 
 rock referred to. 
 
 Let us now direct attention to the 
 
 Causes of the Spiritual State of our Theological 
 Institutions. 
 
 I have ah-eady referred to the expectation with which 
 students uniformly approach such institutions, the ex- 
 pectation of finding them encircled with such a pure and 
 sanctifying atmosphere, that the moral and spiritual 
 activities will spontaneously assume a new and divinely 
 vitalised direction; and have shown that through this ex- 
 pectation content with an unspiritual College life had been 
 induced. Here we have the common mistake in religion, 
 and its inevitable results. The mass of Christians expect 
 sanctification, as far as they expect it at all, rather through 
 external influences than through Christ dwelling in the 
 heart by faith. In heaven itself, they seem to expect 
 to be made holy rather by sight-seeing than by the in- 
 dwelling presence and power of the Holy Ghost in the 
 soul. Now, as long as higher spiritual stales are expected 
 from change of circumstances, and not sought by faith, 
 all changes will be for the worse, and not for the better ; 
 and the ministry will be the most spiritually barren of 
 all spheres of activity. We here find the real cause not 
 only of the spiritual state of very many theological insti- 
 tutions, but of the periods of painful doubt of the real 
 validity of the claims of Chribtianity itself. The student 
 not only finds the atmosphere of the Seminary the oppo- 
 site of what he anticipated, but finds all his efforts for 
 the higher forms of life fruitless and vain. The result is 
 
 L 2 
 
148 DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. 
 
 a reaction, a moral and spiritual repulsion, in which the 
 foundations of his faith seem to be falling away beneath 
 him. Hence the period of painful doubt referred to. 
 
 Another, and a main, cause of the low moral and 
 spiritual state under consideration was, the very limited 
 apprehensions which then obtained in regard to " the 
 grace of God which bringeth salvation." Apprehensions 
 of Christ, as a Saviour from sin, were confined almost ex- 
 clusively to the sphere of justification. Outside of this 
 sphere, the great truth, "The just shall live by faith," 
 was a dead letter at that time. The doctrine of " sancti- 
 fication by faith" was not "so much as named among 
 us." We heard nothing of it from the pulpit, or in the 
 class-room, or among ourselves. Still less, if possible, 
 did the doctrine of " the baptism of the Holy Ghost " 
 have any place in the sphere of Christian thought in 
 which we moved. The Pentecost, with all its moral and 
 spiritual enduements of power, belonged to the apostolic 
 age ; to us nought remained but a dreary pilgrimage over 
 that bog, that swamp of legalism described in Rom. vii. 
 14 — 25. This, as we were taught by all our Professors 
 but one — and he differed from his associates only in the 
 interpretation of this one passage — represents Christian 
 experience in its best estate attainable in this life. 
 Speaking upon this subject, the venerable Dr. Woods 
 said to us one day : " If there were somewhere a hospital 
 in which souls could be made whole, I should go there 
 as a patient." Thus ignorant were all in common of 
 " the fountain opened for sin and uncleanness," and of 
 " the rising of the S in of Righteousness with healing in 
 His wings." In College we expected healing and health 
 from tlie vitalising atmosphere which encircled the Semi- 
 nary ; and in the Seminary, from that which encircled the 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. 149 
 
 ministry. In neither sphere did we find either healing or 
 health, but increasing feebleness under the pressure of 
 " the body of this death." 
 
 Finding at length that I was being changed, not 
 "from glory to glor}'," but from weakness to weakness, 
 I said to myself, " I know that I have missed my way ; " 
 and I waited before God, in the devout study of His 
 Word, and in fervent prayer, until I found myself in the 
 presence of the "fountain opened," and of the unveiled 
 face of " the Sun of Righteousness." When God's 
 Spirit brought me here, with joy unspeakable I ex- 
 claimed in these very words, "There is healing here." 
 Yes, here is the spot where every soul may be " made 
 every whit whole." 
 
 I refer to but one other, and to this as the chief, cause 
 of the low state of spirituality in our Theological Insti- 
 tutions. A Theological Seminary, surely, should be and 
 may be "holy ground," "the house of God," and a 
 "gate of Heaven." Here is the sacred sanctuary that 
 stands next to that "most holy place," "the Ministry of 
 Reconciliation." No man, however learned, is at all 
 qualified to teach, or to study, God's truth, who is not 
 "full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost." " No man can 
 say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost." 
 How, then, can any man teach and study, as required, 
 God's truth, but upon the condition that " the eyes of 
 his understanding are enlightened," to discern and 
 " know the things which are freely given us of God ? " 
 " The things of God knoweth no man, but the Spirit of 
 God." "The Eternal Spirit," Who inspired the Word, 
 must be an expositor of its teachings, and of the truth 
 it reveals, or we shall never, in the highest sense, 
 underbtand what we read, teach, or study. Truth, as 
 
15° DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. 
 
 apprehended by any mind not Divinely enlightened, is 
 " a dead letter." When " spiritually discerned " and 
 taught, it becomes transfigured before the inner vision of 
 the teacher and pupil, and acts upon the mind and heart 
 of each with an all-vitalising power. No truth of God 
 stands revealed in the Sacred Word but as a means to 
 one and the same end, a saving and sanctifying effect 
 upon the heart and mind of the reader ; and no such truth 
 is rightly apprehended or taught, but when it is so set 
 forth as thus to act upon the mind. 
 
 When I affirm, that Divine truth, in all its forms, may 
 and should be thus taught, "I speak what I do know, 
 and testify what I have seen," as a teacher of theological 
 students. The work on //ic BapHsm of tJic Holy Ghost, 
 for example, has been read by ministers and laymen not 
 a few, among all Christian nations, and by many mis- 
 sionaries in foreign lands. The moral and spiritual 
 influence of reading the work is " known and read of all 
 men." I will venture to gi\"e a single fact as illustrative 
 of such influence. A lady in Scotland sent some of these 
 volumes to a Christian soldier in India. I have before 
 me the letter written by that soldier to this lady some 
 time after the books were received. " I take this 
 opportunity," he says, writing from " Camp Kohat," 
 March 17th, 1S79, " before leaving this camp, to let you 
 know that I recei\-ed the books all right. Thank God 
 for bringing them safe to us : for I can assure you, dear 
 sister, they have been blessed to our souls very much. 
 They have made us more earnest in praying to the Lord 
 for His Holy Spirit to descend upon us. All the 
 brethren have been at me, begging me to let them have 
 a reading of them, and they are loud in their praise to 
 God for the glorious truths tliey have revealed to us. 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES: SEMINARY LIFE. 151 
 
 We arc like new creatures in Christ Jesus. Since we 
 got the bool<s, we are agreed as one in praying to God for 
 the Higher Life ; and we seem to be blessed more and 
 more each time we pray for the Spirit." " We have 
 been some time in this camp, and we have had a 
 meeting each night, and the Lord has blessed us richly." 
 Now every discourse in tiiat book, two or three of the 
 last excepted, was prepared and delivered as a part 
 of a regular course of theological lectures to a class of 
 theological students, and was sent to the publisher just 
 as prepared and delivered. Such was .the effect of these 
 discourses, at the time of their deliverance, upon these 
 students, that the entire institution was immediately 
 flooded with revival influence. At another time I 
 delivered, before the same class, a course of lectu'res on 
 the Natural and Moral Attributes of God. No other 
 course I ever delivered, on any subject, was more 
 scientifically developed than this. The effect of these 
 discourses was distinctly manifest in all our prayer 
 meetings. "Never before," a theological student would 
 be heaid to exclaim, "did I have such an apprehension 
 and impression of God, as I now have. He seems to be 
 more near and real to me than is the atmosphere in 
 which I move and which I breathe." 
 
 I simply state these facts, not for self-glory, but to 
 render it evident that Divine truth, whether exegetically 
 or doctrinally presented, never is, and never can be, 
 rightly presented, but when the natural and uniform 
 result is to bring the pupil upon his knees. A teacher of 
 a class of candidates for the ministry, who is not himself 
 "full of faith, and of the Holy Ghost," and does not so 
 teach that the faith of his pupils shall stand, " not in the 
 wisdom of men, but in the power of God," is doing more 
 
152 DISAPPOINTED HOPES : SEMINARY LIFE. 
 
 than any other individual can do, to send men who are 
 " not spiritual, but cirna'," into the sacred office. 
 
 But how was God's truth taught in our Seminaries ? 
 
 In tlie first place let me remark that our studies were 
 divided into four distinct departments — Biblical Inter- 
 pretation, Theology, Ecclesiastical History, and Sacred 
 Rhetoric — one Professor standing at the head of each 
 department. This was considered the fixed law of the 
 institution, that each Professor should confine himself 
 strictly to his own department, and so teach as not to 
 intrude into that of the others. The Biblical Professor, 
 for example, was to confine himself to a simple interpre- 
 tation of the text without reference to the doctrine which 
 the passage implied, and in reality set forth. So the 
 Professor of Theology, in expounding doctrine, avoided 
 any but the most incidental reference to the principles of 
 interpretation. Sermonising had no place in our thoughts, 
 until, at the commencement of our third year, we came 
 before our Professor of Sacred Rhetoric. Here was a 
 fundamental mistake. The pupil is merely carried over 
 the upper surface of a passage, when he is not made to 
 look down into the depths, and up to the heaven- 
 illumined heights, of the great truth which such 
 passage reveals. Whenever, in the progress of inter- 
 pretation, any such truth is approached, the fact should 
 be, to professor and pupil, a landing-place from whence 
 there should be a distinct survey of "the length, and 
 depth, and breadth, and heiglit," of the glory infinite 
 Avith which that truth is encircled. The pupil should 
 be clearly taught not only what that truth is, but how 
 to interpret and employ that passage to verify that truth. 
 He should then be reminded of kindred passages which 
 affirm and verify the same truth, and should be guarded 
 
DISAPPOINTED HOPES: SEMINARY LIFE. 153 
 
 against employing other passages which have been 
 supposed to, but do not, verify such doctrine. A 
 surface interpretation of Scripture renders the Word of 
 God a dead letter. And such, for the most part, were 
 our Biblical studies to us. The real interpreter is, not a 
 systematic, but a real, teacher of doctrine ; and the real 
 Professor of Theology is a systematic Biblical interpreter, 
 always showing his pupils how to apply the laws of 
 interpretation in the elucidation and verification of 
 Christian doctrine. It was the absence of these essen- 
 tials to vitalising teachings that rendered our Biblical 
 studies, not only barren of spiritual influence, but in 
 reality a " ministration of death." 
 
 From the Biblical Class Room, we turn now to that 
 of Theology. Here systematic theology was studied as 
 we had studied our system of geometry, or menial 
 science ; that is, as a mere matter of doctrine. Standing 
 by itself, as a mere question of truth or error, what 
 moral or spiritual bearing, for exam.ple, has the doctrine 
 of the Divinity of Christ ? No more, we answer, than 
 has the great fact, that the sun is the centre of the solar 
 system. The same holds true of the doctrine of the 
 Trinity, and all other kindred doctrines. This question 
 was once put to a great American statesman : " Do you 
 believe such doctrines as the Trinity, and the Divinity 
 of Christ.?" "I do," was the reply. "None but an 
 Almighty Saviour can meet my wants aS a sinner." 
 When we contemplate Christ, — as manifested to " take 
 away our sins" — as our " wisdom, righteousness, sancti- 
 fication, and redemption " — as our " Advocate with the 
 Father"— as "Lord of all," and "Judge of quick and 
 dead," then the question, whether He is finite or infinite, 
 whether the " Word was God," or a creature like our- 
 
154 DISAPPOINTED HOPES: SEMINARY LIFE. 
 
 selves, becomes one of infinite and all-impressive interest 
 to our minds. Viewed as a mere doctrine, the question 
 has, in reality, no moral and spiritual bearings whatever. 
 It was as doctrine, tliat every truth of God was set before 
 us in the Theological Class-room. We solved our 
 problems of theology as we had done those of geometry, 
 when in College, and with no more seriousness or 
 reverence in the one case than in the other. With the 
 most painful interest the question often came home to 
 my mind : " How can individuals reverentially set before 
 the people truths which they have so irreverentially 
 studied in the school of the prophets ?" In thus study- 
 ing God's truth, the pupil not only receives a moral 
 and spiritual paralysis in his inner life, but becomes 
 habituated to cold and unvitalising apprehensions and 
 presentations of God's eternal verities to the Church and 
 the world. Such facts will sufficiently account for the 
 moral and spiritual atmospheres which too commonly 
 encircl. our Theological Seminaries. 
 
CHAPTER IX. 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 After more than two years spent in preparatory studies, 
 four years of College, and three of Seminary life, and 
 one year in agencies and miscellaneous ministerial duties, 
 I found myself in a new and untried relation, that of a 
 pastor over a "flock of God," an "angel" of a church of 
 Christ. In my distinct regard the office was a most 
 sacred and responsible one. Before me, and around me, 
 were a congregation and people made up of two classes, — 
 the non-professors, or impenitent class ; and the nominal 
 church, one portion of whom were obviously self-deceived, 
 and the other made up of true believers. Towards each 
 of these classes my dut}' was obvious, and stood out with 
 perfect and impressive distinctness before my mind. My 
 chief functions, as a preacher of the everlasting Gospel, 
 as I clearly and distinctly s-aw, pertained to the moral 
 consciousness of my hearers ; that is, by " the manifesta- 
 tion of the truth" I was to "comniend myself to every 
 man's conscience in the sight of God." 
 
 To the impenitent portion of my people my mission 
 was, so to preach the Gospel to them as to induce among 
 them ''repentance toward God, and faith toward our 
 Lord Jesus Christ." This end I Mas to accomplibh, not 
 as it is too often attempted, by simplv telling them that 
 they were sinners, and then arraying before them the 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AXD LIFE. 
 
 terrors of the Second Death. My mission, on the con- 
 trary, as I distinctly apprehended, was so to present the 
 truth that it should be a discerner of the thoughts and 
 intents of the heart," that is, so to reveal to the sinner 
 his real interior and exterior life that he should be self- 
 convicted of his sin, of his desert of doom, and dire need 
 of atoning grace, and thus be led to Christ, as "the only 
 Name under heaven given among men whereby we can 
 be saved." As the result of thus preaching the Gospel, 
 I can now testif}-, that among the many thousands who 
 have been professedly converted under my preaching, 
 very few have apostatised from the faith. Indeed, I 
 cannot recall the case of a single such convert who joined 
 the church and was afterwards excommunicated. 
 
 In respect to the nominal membership of my church, 
 I felt distinctly pressed down with responsibilities of 
 infinite weight. My mission here was so to " take forth 
 the precious from the vile, that I should be as God's 
 mouth ; " that is, so to present the essential character- 
 istics of heart and life, the characteristics by which the 
 genuine is distinguished from the self-deceived professor, 
 that no one within the circle of the nominal fold should 
 die in his sins, and his blood be not on his own head. 
 There M^as no portion of the ministerial functions which 
 pressed with greater weight upon mv conscience than 
 these, it being quite evident to every serious mind that 
 not a few of those who have "a name to live are dead," 
 and " their hopes at last will be as the giving up of the 
 ghost." It was a source of deep consolation to me, on 
 occasion of preaching a discourse before the church of 
 my former charge in Cincinnati, to hear that this was 
 said by my former hearers : " One thing is certain, that 
 our old pastor has not lost the power or the habit of 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 157 
 
 clearly discriminating between a living and a dead faith." 
 By no possibility can an individual be in greater peril 
 to his immortal interests than is the deceived professor 
 of religion. Nowhere will the true pastor cause the 
 true light to shine with greater clearness than upon the 
 line which divides the living believer from " him who is 
 dead while he lives." 
 
 But the most sacred and vital of all the functions of 
 the ministry, as I then most distinctly and impressively 
 apprehended, consisted in feeding Christ's lambs and 
 sheep, in "feeding the flock of God, which He had 
 purchased with His own blood ;" in "building up the 
 true believer in the most holy faith," and so instructing 
 and leading him that he should "grow up into Christ 
 in all things." The revealed object of His death, as I 
 even then distinctly read, was to " redeem " believers 
 "from all iniquity, and purify them unto Himself, as a 
 peculiar people, zealous of good works;" to "sanctify 
 and cleanse His church " — all true believers — " with the 
 washing of water by the word, that He might present 
 her to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, or 
 wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that she should be holy, 
 and without blemish." The revealed object, as I then 
 read, for wliich pastors and teachers are appointed, is 
 " the perfecting of the saints, the work of the ministry, 
 the edifying of the body of Christ, until we all come, in 
 the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of 
 God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the 
 stature of the fulness of Christ ;" and the revealed motive 
 of the minister, in all his services, must be, to preach 
 Christ, "warning every man, and teaching every man in 
 all wisdom ; that we may present every man perfect in 
 Christ Jesus." 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 To make any approach towards such high ends, two 
 things, as I then saw, were indispensable. In the first 
 place, the pastor himself must be, in his interior and 
 visible life, an "epistle" of Christ, "known and read of 
 all men," and especially of the flock he feeds, so that he 
 can say to the church, ''Be ye followers of me, even as I 
 am of Christ ; " and, " Those things which ye have both 
 learned, and received, and heard, and seen in me, do ; 
 and the God of peace shall be with j-ou." In the second 
 place, he must himself be so instructed in the way of the 
 Lord that he shall be able to teach believers /lozu to v/alk 
 in the King's highway. 
 
 But my sphere of thought and influence, as I distinctly 
 perceived, was not by any means confined to the circle 
 of my local church or parish. I stood, under the e\'e of 
 God, and before the world, as a minister of a great 
 denomination and a member of the great brotherhood of 
 saints. I also sustained other relations, as a citizen of a 
 great com.m.onwealth, and a m.ember of the brotherhood 
 of man. In all these relations vital issues pertaining to 
 doctrine, moral principle, church order, and nation and 
 world interests, were then pending. The great mis- 
 sionary and other benevolent movements, which con- 
 stitute a leading characteristic of this age, were then 
 coming into full operation. The Calvinistic denomi- 
 nations, with which I stood connected, were then agitated 
 and convulsed with doctrinal issues, questions of church 
 order, and methods of conducting revivals of religion. 
 The great revivals which constitute the glory of that 
 period stood openly coinitcted with important questions 
 ©f doctrine, and the proper methods of conducting 
 revivals. The issues pressed in these revivals were the 
 chief, if not exclusive, cause which occasioned the 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 division of the Presbyterian Church. At this time, also, 
 the national mind began to be violently agitated with 
 the question of human rights, temperance, and other 
 kindred issues. My natural temperament, and all my 
 convictions of duty, rendered it impossible for me, not 
 only not to be a neutral or inactive spectator in the 
 midst of such movements, but also not to be an active 
 participant in the same. 
 
 Such being the circumstances and relations in which I 
 entered upon the duties of my public life, I felt that an 
 early settlement of the principles and motives to which 
 my future should be conformed was most imperiously 
 demanded. To the distinct and deliberate settlement of 
 such principles, my mind was early and specifically 
 directed ; and I did not rest until they were fully and 
 finally determined. This subject I commend to the 
 serious and prayerful attention of every believer, and 
 of every minister and candidate for the sacred office. 
 Action, to be truly moral, religious, and acceptable to 
 God, must be deliberate and self-reflective, and conformed 
 to right principles and intentions. For the intellectual, 
 moral, and spiritual benefit of any of the above designated 
 classes, under whose eye these pages may fall, I will 
 now state some of those early formed and sacred 
 principles and maxims to which my subsequent life has 
 been most carefully and conscientiously conformed. 
 
 Early formed Life Principles. 
 I. As a preacher of the everlasting Gospel, I delibe- 
 rately and prayerfully fixed upon this as the single and 
 changeless aim and intent of my life, in the selection ot 
 subjects to be treated of, and in the preparation and 
 delivery of every discourse which I should ever utter 
 
i6o 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 under any circumstances whatever, namely, f/ie highest 
 possible moi-al and spiritual benefit of my hearers. 
 
 Another element of the purpose formed was this, that 
 my discourses, as far as practicable, should have a fixed 
 adaptation to insure the repentance of ihe impenitent, the 
 salvation of the self-deceived professor, by revealing to his 
 consciousness his moral and spiritual state, as it was, and 
 the edification of the true believer. I set it down distinctly 
 and deliberately in my mind, that the preparation or de- 
 livery of a single discourse with a controlling reference to 
 applause, popular favour, or gaining a place, involved 
 awful criminality, and the greatest peril to my immortal 
 interests. Such was my deliberately formed principle of 
 action ; and my conscience acquits me of ever having, 
 in a single case, knowinoly departed from that sacred 
 principle. This was my purpose, to throw all the energies 
 of my being into the preparation and delivery of every 
 discourse for the ends referred to, and that whether my 
 congregation should be great or small. If — I deliberately, 
 in the secret of my soul, said — public favour and ad- 
 vancement should accrue, while I should act in absolute 
 subordination to such a principle and motive, the award 
 would be received with thankfulness ; if disfavour and 
 diminution should accrue, I would look for my reward 
 from the arbitrament of another tribunal, where every 
 man will be awarded according to his deeds. 
 
 2. The question, " What shall be my field of labour ? " 
 the question whether my church and parish shall be 
 large, wealthy, and influential, or small, poor, and not 
 highly esteemed, often occupies ministerial thought. My 
 own deliberately determined principle was this : to leave 
 it wholly to Providence to determine my field of labour, 
 and to be content with that allotted to me. In whatever 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 i6i 
 
 field I might at any time be located, whether that field 
 were great or small, influential or uninfluential, I would 
 put forth my best possible energies to render that place 
 " holy ground," " a garden of the Lord," upon which God 
 and heaven should delight to look. Acting, with single- 
 ness of purpose, upon this sacred principle, I could, with 
 perfect quietness and assurance, leave the present and the 
 future to Providence. 
 
 3. With the same deliberation and definiteness were 
 my principles of judgment and action thus early deter- 
 mined in respect to all questions of doctrine, Church 
 order, and measures ; and with regard to all questions 
 of human rights and public weal ; questions which 
 might arise outside of my immediate charge. The prin- 
 ciple settled upon was this : Every such question should 
 be determined, not at all with reference to what is 
 popular, or to what is approved within the circle of my 
 sect or party in Church or State, but with a simple 
 reference to what is true, right, and just in itself, and to 
 what the permanent interests of the Church and the 
 public demand. By a steady and inflexible adherence to 
 such a principle, I should not, in all probability, as I 
 clearly saw, be well adjusted to popular favour. I should, 
 however, with perfect certainty, assure that upon which 
 I placed an infinitely higher estimate, the full approval of 
 my own conscience, and the smile of God. Acting upon 
 such a principle insures ineffable mental freedom. There 
 is no jar in the action of the interior faculties, no break- 
 ing of the internal machinery. It ma}' be well to stop 
 here for a few moments, and consider some of the — 
 
 Fruits of a Ministry Conducted upon such Principles. 
 I. While the churches to which I ministered shared, 
 M 
 
l62 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 without exception, very largely in the general revivals 
 which prevailed from time to time, and while we had 
 more frequent revivals than the churches around us, 
 there was ever a constant ingathering of sculs under the 
 ordinary ministrations of the word. Our communion 
 seasons occurred once in two months. It would be a 
 quite noticeable fact if any such occasion should pass, 
 and no additions be made of converts from the world. 
 Not a few of the most important and influential converts 
 were gathered in when no revivals existed anywhere 
 around. I give two facts in illustration, facts which 
 occurred during my pastorate in Cincinnati. A lady in 
 the city joined my church by letter. Her husband v/as 
 a talented and educated man, but an avowed and decided 
 infidel. One Sabbath evening in Midsummer, he was 
 induced, in company with his wife, and a gentleman and 
 his wife, who had taken tea at his house, to attend the 
 services at our place of meeting ; special revival influ- 
 ences nowhere, at the time, existing in the city. Tn 
 listening to one of my ordinary discourses, the veil was 
 taken away from the heart of the unbeliever. Soon after 
 he became a decided convert, united with the people of 
 God, and to the day of his death was a marked " epistle 
 of Christ, known and read of all men " in that city. All 
 Cincinnati was moved when they heard of Dr. Peck's 
 death, which occurred by accident on a railroad. 
 
 At one time, when I was in attendance, as fraternal 
 delegate from the General Association of Michigan, at the 
 annual meeting of that of Ohio, the fraternal delegate 
 from the Association of Indiana, in presenting his greet- 
 ings, made the following personal statements in regard 
 to himself: "When a thoughtless and impenitent young 
 man, I had occasion to visit and spend a night in Cincin- 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 163 
 
 nati. In the evening, as I was walking out sight-seeing, 
 I observed a light, and a gathering of people, in a hall 
 near the street where I was passing. I felt an almost 
 irresistible influence impelling me to go in and witness 
 the exercises. I did so. I found myself a listener to the 
 weekly lecture of the pastor of the church and congrega- 
 tion worshipping in the place. As I listened to the dis- 
 course, my character and condition as a sinner, and the 
 way of life through Christ, were made impressively plain 
 to my mind. I then and there yielded to God my heart, 
 and left the place a new creature in Christ Jesus. To 
 that one discourse I owe, instrumentally, my salvation, 
 and place in the ministry of reconciliation." Then, 
 turning to me, he added, '' I think I see before me the 
 father in Christ who delivered that discourse." 
 
 I have ever held, such also has been my experience, 
 and such, as I read, are the express teachings of inspira- 
 tion, that the Gospel may be, and should be, so preached 
 that everywhere there shall be a constant current from 
 the world into the Kingdom of God. " If they had stood 
 in My counsel, and had caused My people to hear My 
 words, then they should have turned them from their 
 evil way, and from the evil of their doings." "Is not 
 My word as a fire saith the Lord ; and like a hammer 
 that breaketh the rock in pieces .'' " For myself I never 
 occupied the post of pastor over any church and congre- 
 gation, for the space of three years, without the member- 
 ship of that church being nearly or quite doubled. For 
 about the period designated, I occupied the place of 
 pastor of the then Sixth Presbyterian, now the Vine 
 Street Congregational, church m Cincinnati, Ohio. I 
 commenced labours there August 29th, 1831, and resigned 
 May 1st, 1835. When I assumed the work of pastor, 
 
 M 2 
 
164 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 I 
 
 the members of the church, who lived in the city and 
 worshipped with us, numbered sixteen. To every one 
 of these I was an entire stranger, having never been in 
 the State of Ohio, until I took my journey to that city. 
 During all these years we worshipped in a hall, and a 
 very plain one it was. Yet, during all this period, there 
 was a constant ingathering of souls. In the year 1834, 
 according to the Church Manual just received, " seventy- 
 two were added on profession." Near the close of the 
 preceding year, between thirty and forty had been thus 
 received, upwards of one hundred being added during a 
 period of about eight months. At this period, there were 
 no revivals of any special account in any of the churches 
 around us. The following fact will demonstrate the 
 character of these converts, and of this church generally. 
 When the membership numbered one hundred, not only 
 were my salary and all other necessary expenses promptly 
 paid, but, as officially reported to Piesbyter}', the contri- 
 butions of this "little flock" to the various benevolent 
 societies averaged upwards of twelve dollars per member. 
 Nor has this church yet lost its primal character. The 
 Manual referred to contains the following extract from a 
 discourse delivered by its then pastor. Rev. C. B. Boyn- 
 ton, D.D., January 7th, 1877: "After so many years of 
 varied experiences, here stands Vine Street Church to- 
 day, not weaker, but stronger ; not despised, but respected 
 for her firm defence of the right ; stronger than ever, 
 encumbered with no debt, and ready, if baptised with 
 the Holy Ghost, for still nobler work." 
 
 Efficacy of Prayer and Pastoral Care. 
 The second year of my pastorate in Cincinnati was the 
 first era of cholera in the United States. In less than 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 165 
 
 one year and a half, out of a population of about forty 
 thousand, we buried upwards of two thousand five hundred 
 of our citizens, who had died from this one disorder. 
 One of our chief employments was tending the sick, and 
 "burying our dead out of our sight." No pestilence, I 
 believe, ever inspired such terror, as the report of it came 
 from the old countries, as this did ; and during the first 
 months of its prevalence more probably died from terror 
 than from the immediate effects of the disease. As the 
 pestilence approached, the churches of the city held a day 
 of fasting and prayer. My own people, in addition to this, 
 held a special day, on our own account. For myself, I 
 took the greatest pains to inform myself of the indications 
 of the approach of the disorder, of the counteracting 
 measures to be adopted, and the remedies to be applied. 
 In all these matters I fully instructed my people, urging 
 them to a prompt and full preparation for whatever 
 might occur, and to a peaceful committal of their mortal 
 and immortal interests to the Divine care and keeping. I 
 also visited, conversed, and prayed with, every family of 
 my church and congregation, giving them such instruc- 
 tions and admonitions as each case seemed to require ; 
 urging particularly the promptest action the moment 
 the first indications of the presence of the visitation 
 should appear. The result was, that but one individual 
 in my church and congregation was known to have died 
 from that visitation. This individual was a man some- 
 what advanced in years, and was believed, by his friends, 
 to have been in a state of incipient derangement. He 
 openly ridiculed all that was done to prepare for the 
 event, recklessly disregarded all counsels and admoni- 
 tions, and, when the disease was upon him, obstinately 
 refused to have a physician sent for, until a few hours 
 
1 66 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 before his death. Had this man heeded advice, it is pro- 
 bable that not a single death would have occurred in 
 that church or congregation from that pestilence ; 
 although its earliest victims were almost exclusively 
 members of churches, of wealthy families, and indi- 
 viduals of temperate habits. For a time, it was the open 
 boast of the wicked and profane, that the pestilence con- 
 fined its ravages to the classes named, and passed by the 
 intemperate, the vicious, criminal, and poor. When it 
 descended to these classes, however, it " swept them 
 away, as with a flood." 
 
 A Remarkable Providence. 
 
 One event connected with this visitation I will here 
 record. In mid winter, it being severely cold at the 
 time, and not a case of cholera having occurred in the 
 city for months previous, as I went out one morning, I 
 noticed a strange stillness in all directions, and a deep 
 seriousness upon every countenance I met with. Step- 
 ping into a book-store owned by two of my elders, I 
 inquired the cause of such appearances. " Have you not 
 heard of what has occurred during the night.'" "No." 
 " Why, the cholera is in all parts of the city. Numbers 
 are dead already, and the sick and dying are all around 
 us." During that night, after most of the people had 
 retired to their beds, the visitation' came. Many awoke 
 to find themselves either dying, or under the incipient 
 power of the destroyer. Of those who then fell sick, not 
 a few died. But after the rising of that morning's sun, 
 no new attack of the disease was known to have occurred. 
 Twenty or thirty years after this, that ever memorable 
 night was referred to in one of the Cincinnati dailies. 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 167 
 
 No visitation of Providence I ever knew rendered the 
 minds of the people so susceptible to religious impres- 
 sions as this. 
 
 A71 Illiisirative Incident. 
 
 I have referred to a life principle, in conformity to 
 which I had determined to put forth my best possible 
 efforts in any field where, Yor any period, my lot might 
 be cast. In my early ministerial labours, I had com- 
 menced work in the city of Rochester, with the expecta- 
 tion of organising a new church there. Just as the 
 organisation was being effected, I was suddenly stricken 
 down by an attack of inflammatory rheumatism in both 
 knees and ankles and my left wrist. Soon my knees became 
 so stiff that my limbs could not be straightened out. In 
 this state, with my flesh wasted to an almost skeleton 
 condition, I was conveyed to my father's residence where 
 my youth had been spent. I found the church and con- 
 gregation there in a perfectly dilapidated condition, a 
 most calamitous pastorate having just terminated. The 
 dissolution of the church and society, and the disposal 
 of their house of worship to another denomination, were 
 talked of. Emaciated and almost helpless as I was, I 
 raised the question, What can I do to repair these 
 desolations ?" I proposed that the people should conve}- 
 me in a chair, at the time of the Sabbath services, to 
 their house of worship, which was near my father's resi- 
 dence, and there listen to me, whilst, thus seated, I 
 should speak to them, as I was able, the " words of this 
 life." For about three months I thus continued to serve 
 them ; and when I was able to commence labours as 
 pastor elect of the Congregational Church in Pittsford, 
 near Rochester, I left Orangeville, the place above 
 
i68 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 referred to, with a new and faithful pastor elect upon the 
 ground, and, what was of infinitely more importance, 
 with a gracious revival of religion in actual progress, a 
 revival which resulted in gathering into that church 
 almost the entire society. For the amount of the popu- 
 lation, that was one of the most powerful revivals known 
 in the United States. Among the converts was my aged 
 father. He had professed religion from my childhood, 
 but was manifestly a total stranger to the grace of God. 
 Becoming fully aware of this, at the time of my con- 
 version, I never, for some twelve years subsequent, prayed 
 in secret without distinctly remembering that father. 
 Thus this great affliction became one of the most fruitful 
 periods of my life. If we will but have grace to be 
 always ready to do the work given us to do, God will 
 never err in selecting our field of labour. 
 
 Issues Outside of the Circle of Pastoral Duty. 
 
 The principles of thought and action which I early 
 adopted, and to Avhich I have before referred, very soon 
 after my entrance upon public life, brought me in con- 
 tact with great issues of denominational, church, national, 
 and world interest ; a contact which, of necessity, rendered 
 me, with a disposition which naturally shrank from such 
 collisions, "a man of war from my youth." I had a 
 nature so delicate that I would never stand by and witness 
 the dying agonies of a beheaded chicken or slaughtered 
 animal, or witness an act of slaughter, if I could avoid it. 
 Equall}' reluctant was I to wound the feelings of any 
 human being. I was naturally as selfish and full of sin 
 as any other person. ]\Iy temperament was, also, very 
 ardent, and as irascible as it was tender and delicate, and 
 so impulsive that I could not see error without exposing 
 
169 
 
 it, or apprehend a truth without manifesting it. No 
 man, as it seems to me, was ever possessed of a nature 
 more strangely self-contradictory and unmanageable. 
 With such a conglomeration of contradictory dispositions 
 and temperaments, I was thus early, and without my 
 choice, drifted into the very centre of the great issues 
 and collisions of those agitated times. When, for 
 example, at the age of thirty-five years, I received my 
 appointment as President of Oberlin College, I found 
 myself, with no seeking of my own, at the head of an 
 institution which, as I well knew, would attract universal 
 attention, and which had more points of open and aggres- 
 sive contact Avith an old-established and embittered 
 church, public, and national sentiment, than ever before 
 existed. The principle of the joint education of the 
 sexes in colleges and universities was a most offensive 
 innovation, never before heard of. Permit me here to 
 say that did I know, what I devoutly hope Avill never be, 
 that a monument was to be erected to my memory, and 
 were I requested to furnish for it an epitaph, this would 
 be one of its prominent items, that I was the first man, in 
 the history of the race, who conducted woman, in con- 
 nection with members of the other sex, through a full 
 course of liberal education, and conferred upon her the 
 high degrees which had hitherto been considered the 
 exclusive prerogative of men. 
 
 But the great offence of the College was, that, at such 
 a time, it should set its doors wide open, and that 
 publicly, for the education of mind, rational mind, and 
 that irrespective of all conditions and relations of sex, 
 race, or colour ; that the Institution should thus unveil 
 itself before the world, as the equal and impartial friend 
 of human nature. Such a position was considered an 
 
170 
 
 open insult to the fixed usages of the churches, of all our 
 great institutions of learning, and of the changeless sen- 
 timent of the nation. 
 
 But when the startling fact stood out in broad relief 
 before the Church and the world, that brother Finney 
 and myself had adopted views of faith and doctrine at 
 variance with the long settled and cherished belief of the 
 churches and denominations to which we had formerly 
 been affiliated, and when it became evident that our 
 views would be received by multitudes in all the 
 churches, then we knew what the apostle meant when 
 he said, " We are made as the filth of the world, and are 
 the offscourings of all things." In all directions we were 
 openly disfellowshipped, and pulpits which had been 
 wide open to us were almost everywhere, Methodist ones 
 excepted, closed and barred against us. 
 
 Take a single example, illustrative of the state of 
 feeling that then existed. A council of ministers and 
 ^\delegates from surrounding churches met in South 
 Boston to ordain and instal the younger Dr. Patton as 
 pastor of a church there. During the examination of the 
 1 candidate, he was asked this question: "If you are 
 installed over this church, will you allow President 
 I Mahan or Professor Finney to preach in your pulpit ? " 
 ' On receiving an affirmative answer, the Council spent 
 / half a day in discussing whether they should proceed fur- 
 ther with the exercises. Some member, in addressing the 
 j Council, used the words, " The brethren at Oberlin." 
 \ "They are not brethren ; they are aliens," was the prompt 
 / response ; a response with which almost the entire body 
 ..epenly sympathised. It was under such circumstances 
 that brother'Finney and myself deliberately set about the 
 work of convincing the ministry and churches that they 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 171 
 
 had erred, and that God had taught us the truth, on a 
 subject of most vital interest to all believers. 
 
 When passing through all these " trials of faith," and 
 when my name was everywhere being cast out as evil, 
 this conviction was ever distinctly before my mind ; ''I 
 must never suffer my temper to be ruffled. When 
 reviled, I must bless : when persecuted, I must suffer it : 
 when defamed, I must entreat : in whatever state I am, I 
 must learn therewith to be content." Before I knew my 
 Saviour, and the power of His grace, as I have known 
 them for the past forty-seven years, I found conformity to 
 such convictions practically impossible. Christ's yoke 
 and burden pressed heavily upon my spirits, and with 
 great mental suffering I " bore the cross after Jesus." 
 Since the good hour in which God made known to me 
 " what is the riches of the glory of this mystery among 
 the Gentiles ; which is Christ in you, the hope of glory," 
 Christ's " yoke has indeed been easy, and His burden 
 light," and His cross has pressed upon the soul as " a far 
 more exceeding and eternal Aveight of glory." Then, the 
 cry of my soul was, " O wretched man that I am ! Who 
 shall deliver me ? " Since then, I have fully known 
 what Paul meant, when he said, " In all these things we 
 are more than conquerors through Him that hath loved 
 us ; " and when he said again, as Alford translates his 
 words, " Most gladly therefore will I rather boast in 
 my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon 
 me. Wherefore I am well content in infirmities, in 
 insults, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses, for 
 Christ's sake ; for, when I am weak, then am I strong." 
 "I have strength for all things in Him who giveth me 
 power." 
 
172 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 Pastoral Experiences of such Conflicts in the City of 
 Cincinnati. 
 
 No important city in any free State had so direct and 
 immediate connection with, and dependence for its 
 prosperity upon, the Southern States as Cincinnati. 
 No such city, consequently, was so deeply imbued with 
 the Southern sentiment. For this reason, no pastor 
 could be in worse relations to the popular sentiment 
 around him, than one holding the anti-slavery doctrine ; 
 and I was so circumstanced that my views upon the 
 subject could not be hid. Immediately after coming to 
 the city, I Avas elected a trustee, and member of the 
 Prudential Committee, of Lane Seminary. After Dr. 
 Beecher received his appointment as Professor of Theo- 
 logy in the Institution, I was appointed to draft a letter 
 to be addressed in the name of the trustees to the 
 Doctor's church in Boston, to induce that church to 
 consent to his acceptance of the appointment referred to. 
 I accordingly drafted the letter which appears in his 
 Memoir. As a large portion of the students who joined 
 the Seminary after Dr. Beecher and Professor Stowe 
 became connected with it, came from the State of New 
 York, and knew me personally, or by reputation, most of 
 them connected themselves with my congregation, took 
 charge of our singing, and became teachers in our Sab- 
 bath school. These facts rendered my connection with 
 the Institution quite conspicuous. As the anti-slavery 
 agitation was now stirring the nation from centre to 
 circumference, I felt it a duty to prepare my own 
 church for the crisis which, without our seeking, was 
 upon us. I accordingly prepared, with great care, a dis- 
 course in which I candidly expressed my own views, and 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 urged upon all perfect candour in examining the sub- 
 ject, and Christian charity where difference of opinion 
 might be arrived at. This was the only discourse I 
 delivered upon the subject during my pastorate there, 
 and I was not in the habit of alluding to it in my ordi- 
 nary discourses. The result was, that that discourse 
 instantly became the subject of public talk and embittered 
 discussion throughout the city. Immediately it was 
 noised abroad all through the city that I had openly 
 avowed and defended the doctrine of amalgamation, 
 though I had not alluded to the subject. As an imputed 
 advocate of the intermarriage of the whites and blacks, 
 I myself, together with my family, was practically dis- 
 fellowshipped, and treated as an alien and outcast by the 
 churches, and mass of the community, outside of my 
 own church and congregation. As our two young 
 children, for example, were, one day in summer, 
 amusing themselves on the sidewalk in front of our 
 house, they were discovered by a knot of children on the 
 opposite side of the street, and the cry was raised, 
 " See those children. Their father is an abolitionist. 
 Stone them." A violent stoning instantly commenced ; 
 our little daughtei-s fled for their lives, one of them suf- 
 fering a heavy fall upon the pavement. 
 
 Prior to Dr. Beecher's coming to Cincinnati, I had 
 become quite endeared to the church and congregation 
 of which, at the time of his connection with the Semi- 
 nary, he became pastor. During the first period of 
 cholera they were without a pastor, and as there was 
 very little sickness among my own people, I practically 
 took the pastoral charge of them, tending their sick and 
 officiating at their funerals, until, from excessive fatigue, 
 I was myself stricken down by the pestilence. For this 
 
i74 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 and Other reasons, special pains were taken by that 
 people to show their respect for myself and my wife. 
 Whenever she entered that church, -as soon as she was 
 seen in the " broad aisle," at least half a dozen doors 
 would be thrown open to welcome her. After Dr. 
 Beecher entered upon his pastorate, and my position 
 became known, Mrs. ]Mahan, being desirous to hear him, 
 \isited that church. She entered it with no appre- 
 hension that she would not be as welcome as ever 
 before. When she started down the "broad aisle," 
 however, not an individual recognised her, not a door 
 was opened to receive her. Thus she walked down until 
 she entered a vacant slip, the second from the pulpit, a 
 slip owned by a special friend of ours, and who had 
 invited us to occupy it whenever we had occasion to 
 attend that church. At the close of the services not an 
 individual even recognised her. The brave woman re- 
 turned a more confirmed friend of the slave than ever 
 before, and exhorted her husband to stand fast by his 
 principles. Those, as the reader will perceive, risked not 
 a little who opened their mouths for the dumb at that 
 time. Multitudes of ministers of all denominations, who 
 were silent upon the subject in those perilous times, 
 became bold defenders of the rights of the coloured 
 man as soon as the anti-slavery sentiment became 
 popular. 
 
 At this time, an event occurred Avhich startled, not 
 only the community, but the whole nation. In the 
 different departments of Lane Seminar}- were collected 
 upwards of one hundred 3-oung men. Some of these, 
 such as i\Ir. Theodore D. Weld, had already a national 
 reputation. Two of them were sons of Dr. Allen, a dis- 
 tinguished Presbyterian minister in Alabama. Another, 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 Mr. J. A. Thome, was from a very distinguished family 
 in Kentucky. Mr. Stanton, from the State of New York, 
 and others from other States, were widely known as 
 young men of great promise. Dr. Beecher, when at the 
 east, publicly stated, as reported in the papers, that 
 among those students was an embodiment of a greater 
 amount of piety and talent than he had ever known to 
 be collected in any other institution. These students 
 requested and obtained leave of the Faculty to hold, in 
 their Literary Society, a full and free discussion of the 
 subject of slavery. A discussion ensued, occupying the 
 evenings of five or six weeks, and one of the very ablest 
 character. The result was, that the mass of the students, 
 including all from the South, embraced the anti-slavery 
 sentiment, and organised a society for the purpose of 
 acting upon the national mind. Great excitement fol- 
 lowed, as the facts were spread before the nation through 
 the papers. Cincinnati had never been so convulsed 
 before. The most influential citizens openly talked of 
 sending up an organised mob to demolish the buildings, 
 and drive the Faculty and students from the ground. The 
 Faculty took the alarm, called the students together, as- 
 sured them that they were right in the conclusions which 
 they had reached, and that the time would come when 
 decisive action would be demanded ; but that they were 
 now too far in advance of public sentiment to act with- 
 out infinite peril to higher interests. "I have made it a 
 fixed maxim of my life,'" said the venerable President, 
 "never to take a public stand in fav^our of any new sub- 
 ject that is likely to excite controversy, until I was fully 
 assured that public sentiment was so far advanced in its 
 favour as to sustain me in its advocacy. I earnestly com- 
 mend ray example to your imitation in the perilous. 
 
176 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 circumstances in which we are now placed." The 
 students were accordingly entreated to allay public 
 excitement by dissolving their society, and suspending 
 all present action upon the agitating subject. All such 
 considerations failed to convince the young men, and to 
 induce them to undo what they had done, and that from 
 the most solemn convictions of right and duty. 
 
 Before any violent measures were matured in the city, 
 all visible causes for present action were removed by the 
 occurrence of the three months' summer vacation, the 
 dispersion of the students, and the departure of all the 
 Faculty but one to attend the eastern anniversaries. At 
 the same time, I availed myself of a pastoral vacation to 
 visit my parents and friends in the State of New York. 
 I had not attended one of the anti- slavery discussions in 
 the Seminary ; my known relations to the students, how- 
 ever, as well as my known views upon the subject, directly 
 identified me with all their doings, and greatly intensified 
 the popular prejudice against me. Hence, as soon as my 
 absence was known, it was everywhere reported that I 
 had gone to obtain a new field of labour, and would never 
 dare to show my face in the city again. Having com- 
 pleted my visit, however, I did return, and that with no 
 intention of abandoning a church and congregation who 
 had so bravely stood by me amid all reproaches, and 
 encircling perils. While my name, let me add here, 
 was a reproach with masses around, my own people were 
 contemplating adding two hundred dollars to my salary. 
 Immediately on my return I found myself in a circle of 
 fire of which I had no previous knowledge or expectation. 
 Arriving at home about noon, I found upon my table a 
 notice to attend, at a specified hour of the same day, a 
 meeting of the Prudential Committee of the Seminary. 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 177 
 
 The business of the meeting was action upon a new code 
 of laws, prepared by a sub-committee appointed at a 
 previous meeting. By one item of this code the Anti- 
 Slavery Society in the Seminary was dissolved, and all 
 future organisations of the kind were prohibited. 
 Another item forbade all discussions of the subject of 
 slavery in any of the literary, religious, or social gathei'- 
 ings of the pupils, or at their public tables at meal-times. 
 The last item absolutely prohibited private conversation 
 among the students upon the subject. When the motion 
 to adopt this Draconian code Avas about to be put, I 
 interposed the objection, that we, as a Prudential Com- 
 mittee, were wholly an executive, and not at all a law- 
 making power, that the trustees were the only body that 
 had power to make laws for the Seminary, and that we, 
 as a committee, were acting illegally in attempting to 
 exercise such functions. Judge Wright, President of the 
 Board of Trustees and Chairman of the Prudential Com- 
 mittee, and also of the sub-committee which had pre- 
 pared the code, responded at once to the correctness of 
 my views, saying that they had misapprehended the 
 proper functions of their body. Recommitting the code 
 for future revision, the Committee adjourned with a 
 resolution to call together the trustees at the earliest 
 period practicable, ten or twelve days' previous notice 
 being required for an extra session. I immediately 
 wrote to Dr. Beecher, informing him of what was being 
 done, and of the peril of the Seminary, and urged him 
 and Professor Stowe to hasten home and prevent the 
 dismantling of the Institution, an event which, I assured 
 him, would occur, should the measures under considera- 
 tion be carried out. I wrote under the distinct impres- 
 sion that both of these individuals would reprobate the 
 
178 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 passage of the proposed code of laws. This I inferred from 
 their known antecedents, both of them having openly 
 avowed the absolute right of all students, in all our Institu- 
 tions, freely to discuss all such subjects among themselves. 
 Just before leaving for the east, I heard Professor Stowe 
 say with great earnestness, in reply to a suggestion from a 
 leading citizen that the trustees might, by the passage of 
 a new code, suppress the existing anti-slavery agitation 
 in the Seminary, "If a law suppressing free discussion in 
 this Institution shall be passed, I will not be connected 
 with it for five minutes." The views of these individuals 
 had, as will appear, essentially changed upon this subject, 
 through consultation with leading minds at the east. 
 Both remained away until after the trustees had acted. 
 Dr. Beecher stopping at Columbus, and from thence 
 turning north and spending about two weeks in the 
 town of Granville. 
 
 When the trustees met, the code previously prepared 
 was reported for their action. As now reported, how- 
 ever, two changes in the original had been made. The 
 item prohibiting private conversation among the students 
 on the subject of slavery was omitted, and a new one 
 added of an unheard of character. It was this: "The 
 Prudential Committee shall have power to turn out any 
 student from the Seminary, when they shall deem it 
 necessary so to do." When this new item was read, a 
 gleam of hope sprang up in my mind in regard to final 
 results. The law was so monstrously unjust, that, as I 
 saw,'it would reveal to the public the animus of the whole 
 procedure, and turn sympathy from the trustees towards 
 the students. Wishing to have it pass, if the code itself 
 should be adopted, I felt bound to protest against it. 
 When it came up to be acted upon, I accordingly said, 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 179 
 
 that " If I should hear that such a law had been adopted 
 in Turkey for the government of one of their institutions, 
 I should regard the fact with utter surprise, it being so 
 monstrously unjust I0 put such despotic power into the 
 hands of any irresponsible body of men over the dearest 
 rights and interests of students." That item, v/ith all 
 the others, was adopted, however ; all the trustees 
 assenting, with the exception of myself and two of my 
 elders, William Holyoke and John Melindy, two as noble 
 specimens of sanctified humanity as I have ever met 
 with. All that we could say was said to dissuade our 
 associates from the suicidal measure, which, we clearly 
 saw, they were about to perpetrate. One reason urged 
 for immediate and prompt action was a fact stated by 
 one of the influential members. "A meeting," he said, 
 "had just been held, at the east, by the Presidents and 
 leading Professors of our most influential Colleges and 
 Theological Seminaries in New England, in the middle 
 and western States, and it had been unanimously agreed 
 that the times imperiously demanded that all anti-slavery 
 agitation should be suppressed by laws such as we were 
 then enacting, and it was agreed that Lane Seminary 
 should lead off, and the others would promptly follow 
 her example." Several such institutions were designated 
 by name. When I heard those statements, these words 
 instantly passed through my mind: "The first institu- 
 tion that passes such laws must be crushed. That will 
 end the movement." This prediction was verified by the 
 dismantlement of Lane Seminary, a dism.antlement which 
 immediately followed the passage of these laws. Not an 
 institution in a northern State, a single eastern academy 
 excepted, redeemed its pledge to follow the example of 
 this one Seminary. These two Institutions, the former 
 
 N 2 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 being as promptly dismantled as the latter, were thus 
 " left alone in their glory." 
 
 When the code was adopted throughout, my own vote 
 and that of my two elders being recorded against every 
 item of the same, a motion was made that, to allay 
 public excitement, the said code should be immediately 
 published in all the daily papers of the city. While this 
 motion was pending, the President of the Board remarked, 
 that they had better not publish with the rest that item 
 by which power was given to the Prudential Committee 
 to " turn out of the Seminary any student, when they 
 should deem it necessary so to do." "That item," he 
 remarked, " the public have no concern with whatever. 
 It belongs exclusively to the Committee for the regula- 
 tion of their action." To this I replied, that the public, 
 students especially who were, or might desire to become, 
 connected with the Seminary, had an absolute right to 
 know beforehand and fully all the laws and powers to 
 which such members are subject, and that it would be 
 dishonourable and dishonest to withhold such informa- 
 tion. The motion to publish the code in its entireness 
 was accordingly passed. As we were about to disperse, 
 the President of the Board introduced again the subject 
 of the item under consideration, and almost beseechingly 
 urged that it should be withheld from the public. I 
 replied, that the item could not be concealed ; that if the 
 trustees should withhold it, it would go forth by itself 
 as something so monstrously unjust, that those who 
 adopted it were ashamed to have the public know what 
 they had done. The Pastor of the Third Presbyterian 
 church then arose, and remarked, that he had from the 
 beginning approved of this law as right in itself, and as, 
 in existing circumstances, wholly expedient. Nor did he 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 i8r 
 
 perceive anything intrinsic in the item, to require it to 
 be withheld from the pubHc. "There is one considera- 
 tion, however," he said, " which makes me fear to have 
 this item go out as a part of the code which we have 
 adopted. I perceive that that man," pointing to myself, 
 '' is strongly desirous to have it published. That makes 
 me apprehensive that he sees something in this item that 
 we do not. I shall therefore vote against its publica- 
 tion." Perceiving that such considerations were about 
 to prevail, as a final resort, I turned to Mr. Melindy, who 
 sat next me, and said, "Say to Mr. N.," a very influ- 
 ential and fiery trustee who sat near his side, "You dare 
 not publish that law." No sooner had Mr. M. done as 
 requested, than Mr. N. got upon his feet. "We are 
 told," he exclaimed, " that we da}-c not publish this law. 
 We will let them know that we not only dare to pub- 
 lish it, but to execute it too. There are a number of 
 those students who will never be permitted to join the 
 Seminary again." " That will do," I said to myself ; and 
 the code, in its entireness, went before the public. 
 
 I have but one motive in recording these personal 
 reminiscences — to show how it is, that when even wise 
 men are about to do some bad thing, they generally 
 adopt some rash measures which defeat their own 
 ends. The code had not been two days before the 
 public, when this one item became the subject of general 
 conversation, and of the strongest possible reprobation. 
 Every student in the Seminary, it was truly said, what- 
 ever his virtues or reputation might be, and however 
 loyal to the rules and regulations of the institution, was 
 placed in absolute subjection to the prejudice and arbi- 
 trary disposal of a body of irresponsible inquisitors. 
 Public sympathy was immediately turned away from the 
 
l82 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 trustees, and set sa strongly towards the students, that 
 all symptoms of mob violence disappeared. As soon as 
 Dr. Beecher returned, and learned the state of the 
 public mind, he rushed to the leading members of 
 the Board of Trustees, and exclaimed, " Gentlemen, 
 what have you done ? Professor Slowe and myself fully 
 approve of the entire code of laws you have passed, with 
 the exception of this most offensive item, which has 
 rendered all that you have done a public scandal." The 
 deed was done, and was before the public, and the effect 
 could not be remedied. As soon as the Board met, at 
 their annual meeting, at the commencement of the fall 
 term of the Seminary, this law was promptly erased 
 from the Statute Book. " That law," said the President 
 of the Board to me, " is a mystery to me. I drafted it 
 myself. Why I did not apprehend its character, I can- 
 not comprehend." 
 
 The students, with others who had come to join the 
 institution, were promptly on the ground at the open- 
 ing of the term. They immediately assembled in the 
 chapel, and sent a committee of their nfimber to the 
 Faculty, with a request that some of the latter should 
 be deputed to read and expound to the students the 
 new code of laAvs which had just been enacted. This 
 was done. Then another committee was sent to inquire 
 whether the students would be permitted to discuss 
 among themselves the character of the new code. To 
 this inquiry a negative answer was promptly returned, 
 with the statement that there was only one question for 
 the students to decide, each for himself, and that was, 
 whether he would, or would not, acquiesce in those 
 laws, and act loyally under them. Another committee 
 was sent with the inquiry whether the students would 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 183 
 
 be permitted to discuss among themselves the propriety 
 of their continuing in the .Seminary wliile subject to 
 such laws. To this inquiry an answer identical with the 
 former was promptly returned. One of the leading 
 students now arose, and remarked, that one privilege 
 remained to them, namely, to say, by rising to their feet, 
 whether they would, or would not, continue members 
 of the Institution under existing circumstances. For 
 himself, he would say, that the most solemn convictions 
 of duty to his God, his conscience, his country, and 
 the race, constrained him to say, that he could not 
 longer continue a student of Lane Seminary. He should, 
 therefore, ask of the Faculty an honourable dismission ■ 
 and he would request every student present, who was of 
 the same mind and determination with himself, to signify 
 the same by rising and standing upon his feet. The 
 mass of the students promptly arose ; a very small 
 minority, among whom was a son of Dr. Beecher, 
 looking on with consternation. Each of the seceding 
 students asked and received of the Faculty an honourable 
 dismission, and " went out, not knowing whither he 
 went." 
 
 A very wealthy individual, Mr. Ludlow, brother-in-law 
 of the late Chief Justice Chace, promptly vacated his 
 ample residence, buildings, and grounds, and gave them 
 up for the occupancy of these students as long as occasion 
 should require. Arthur Tappan, Esq., of New York, 
 that world-renowned philanthropist, immediately sent 
 on five thousand dollars to sustain these students in their 
 new apartments. We thus had, in an incredibly short 
 time, two Institutions of the same character in the vicinity 
 of Cincinnati: one at Cummingsville, full of students, but 
 without endowments, and without a Faculty ; and one 
 
184 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 at Walnut Hills, with large but empty buildings, an 
 ample endowment, an able Faculty, but practically with- 
 out students, the number present being not sufficient to 
 give the Institution " a name to live." 
 
 The intensest indignation of the special friends of 
 the Seminary now centred upon myself. I was every- 
 where charged with being the cause of the secession of 
 the students and of the dismantling of the Institution. 
 The leading members of my church were visited by the 
 general agent of the Seminary and others, and urged, 
 by every consideration they could present, to secure my 
 prompt dismissal from my pastorate. That " little flock," 
 of " blessed memory," could not see matters as their 
 advisers did. As a Spartan phalanx, they encircled, sus- 
 tained, and encouraged their pastor, and were about, as I 
 have stated, to add two hundred dollars to his salary, when 
 he was called to another sphere of action. As far as the 
 secession under consideration is concerned, I am bound 
 to affirm, as I stated to all who charged me with being 
 its cause, that I had nothing whatever to do with it, the 
 simple fact excepted, that the students knew that I 
 approved of their anti-slavery views and measures. 
 The}'- were all absent from the city and Seminary when 
 the laws which occasioned their secession were enacted. 
 On their return, at the commencement of the new term, 
 they went straight to the Institution, not one of them 
 taking any advice, direct or indirect, from, me ; and they 
 remained there until they went out with dismissions in 
 their pockets. They avoided, as I suppose, communi- 
 cation with me for the prudent and kind purpose of not 
 involving me at all in their doings. 
 
 These facts, however, and the assurances to the same 
 effect which the authorities and friends of the Seminary 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 received, did not in the least shield mc from the charges 
 under consideration. No pastor, outside of his own church 
 and congregation, ever stood in a more insulated and 
 unenviable position than I did at that time. I was the 
 only pastor, of any denomination, in the city, or for thirty 
 or more miles round, who stood upon the platform ; and 
 no man could occupy such a position in circumstances 
 which rendered him the object of more general and 
 embittered reprobation. This position, let me add, was 
 taken deliberately, with a full calculation of the pro- 
 bable consequences. I had not sought the issues which had 
 been forced upon me. Under such circumstances, I had 
 but one law of judgment and action, namely, the behests 
 of conscience and the will of God. If I followed this law, 
 I saw distinctly before me the bitter disfavour of the 
 public, the loss of Christian fellowship with those 
 with whom I had been in most intimate association, and 
 utter separation from the good-will of all the churches of 
 all denominations around me. This was not all. I saw, 
 in almost certain prospect, the loss of my place as pastor, 
 a future exclusion from leading churches everywhere 
 on account of the pro-slavery spirit with which they 
 were pervaded, and the spending of the future of life 
 among an obscure people in some retired locality. It 
 was in view of such considerations that, when at the 
 East, I refused, though urged to do so, to present myself 
 as a candidate for the then vacant pastorate of the First 
 Presbyterian Church of Buffalo, N.Y. Such a position I 
 did not, however, assume, without pain and intense 
 mental suffering. I had not then "learned " the Divine 
 lesson, " in whatever state I was, therewith to be content," 
 and especially to " take pleasure in infirmities, in re- 
 proaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for 
 
1 86 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 Christ's sake." But, blessed be His name, I had grace 
 to choose most deliberately to suffer pain, to incur pro- 
 spective poverty and ignominy, rather than violate 
 my conscience by refusing to " open my mouth for the 
 dumb." 
 
 T/w Results. 
 
 Ministers and others who shape their course to popular 
 favour, on the one hand, and with a single eye to the 
 behests of conscience and the will of God, on the other, 
 have, both classes, their respective rewards ; the one class 
 receiving the favour of man, and the other the smile of 
 God. All the brethren who called upon me — and many 
 did call — to expostulate with me for the course I was 
 pursuing, admitted fully and distinctly the absolute 
 validity of my principles, and the rectitude of my 
 motives, in the course I was pursuing. But they re- 
 marked, "How obviously unwise and inexpedient it is for 
 an individual in your position to sacrifice popular favour, 
 and jeopardise all your influence in respect to all the 
 great interests of the age, in the defence of one single 
 principle ! " " We have not, any of us," said the editor of 
 our religious journal, on one such occasion, — " not one of 
 us has a doubt about the truth of the doctrine you hold, 
 or of the rectitude of your motives ; but why will you 
 jeopardise your influence on all other subjects in the 
 defence of that one doctrine } T, for example, as an 
 editor, have influence in the Temperance cause, in the 
 Tract cause, in the Education cause, and in the Missionary 
 cause, Home and Foreign. Shall I jeopardise my influ- 
 ence in all these causes in defence of this one > " My 
 reply wa?, that I had "not so learned Christ." The 
 cause of human nature, in the person of the slave, was, 
 
i87 
 
 not by our choice, but in the unavoidable providence of 
 God, forced upon us, and we were necessitated to show 
 our hands on the one side or the other. Under such 
 circumstances, I see but one alternative — to violate my 
 conscience and the will of God, or to " dare to be true," 
 " dare to be just," and " dare to do right," and leave con- 
 sequences with " the Judge of all." Yet never before, 
 when any important question was pending, was my advice 
 more eagerly sought, or had greater influence, than at this 
 time, although, when I was among my brethren, they 
 stood away from me as if I had leprosy. 
 
 A special meeting of the Cincinnati Presbyter}-, for 
 example, was called to meet at Reading, some ten or 
 twelve miles north of the city, to try the pastor of that 
 church, one of our most respected members, under 
 charges precisely similar to those which Dr. Talmage 
 was recently required to meet before the Brooklyn 
 Presbytery. The case was a very perplexing one, the 
 complainants being several of the most influential mem- 
 bers of that church. Thinking that my presence would 
 be a trial to my brethren, I determined to remain at 
 home, and did so. As loon as it was found that I was 
 not coming, a special messenger and conveyance were 
 sent to the city to convey me to the meeting. 
 
 I shall leave the motive with my God, in relating a 
 fact which illustrates the difference between a standing in 
 the smiles of public favour, and a right adjustment to the 
 public conscience. When two young attornies, both 
 members of Dr. Beecher's congregation, were together 
 one day, one said to the other, " There is something very 
 singular about the Pastor of this Sixth Presbyterian 
 Church. He is, outside of his own church and people, 
 the most unpopular man I ever knew. His name is never 
 
i88 
 
 ■PASTORAL OFFICE AXD LIFE. 
 
 spoken but with reprobation. Yet, if anybody, even one 
 of his worst defamers, desires to obtain light on a question 
 of dut}? or truth, or to know what he shall do to be saved, 
 he will pass right by all these popular preachers, and go 
 directly to this one man. You know well that this is 
 the case. How do you account for such a strange fact ?" 
 " The reason is this." was the reply. "Whatever people 
 may say about him, no one of them entertains a doubt 
 that he is an honest man." The individual that gave this 
 answer, afterwards attended one of my weekly lectures, 
 tarried at the close to inquire of me, " What he should 
 do to inherit eternal life," and left the place with the as- 
 surance of peace with God. He subsequently left his 
 profession, and died while a student of Theology in the 
 Seminary. 
 
 Such facts clearly elucidate the secret of power in the 
 pulpit, of power for the end for which the ministry was 
 ordained — to persuade men." Never, in my ministerial 
 life, had I preached the Gospel with greater freedom and 
 power than I did during all this stormy period. Nor did 
 revival influences Cease, but we had, as before, constant 
 accessions from the world. At this time the Methodist 
 Protestants held a camp meeting upon an old camp 
 ground some twenty-five or thirty miles above the city. 
 So perfectly accustomed had the people become to their 
 mode of presenting truth, that the ministers said clearly 
 that they could make no impression upon their audiences. 
 They accordingly sent for me. When I arose to speak, 
 I seemed to be girded with great and blessed energies. 
 As the result of the first discourse, a revival broke out, 
 which is spoken of to this day by elderly believers in the 
 city and in all that region. A scene which was presented 
 as I retired into that forest for secret prayer is described 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 189 
 
 in Oui of Darkness into Light, and will not be repeated 
 here. 
 
 The reverse was true of the ministry around me. 
 Revival influences died out of their churches, and were 
 absent for years subsequent. I solemnly believe that the 
 cause of this, and of the subsequent flooding of that city 
 by spiritualism and infidelity, was the manifest fact 
 that during that period which " tried men's souls," the 
 ministry, and with them the churches, adjusted them- 
 selves to popular favour rather than to the public 
 conscience. Some sixteen years after I left, on revisiting 
 the scene of my former labours, I attended a special 
 ministerial meeting called to consider the state of religion 
 in the city. In this meeting the pastor of the leading 
 Episcopal Church stated that the mass of the people, 
 the young especially, were under the influence of the two 
 forms of error just mentioned ; that,\as was well known, 
 upwards of five hundred separate circles met every week 
 in that city to witness these spirit seances, all of which 
 were attended by crowded audiences. Yet, the fear of 
 losing popular favour by meddling, as it was called, with 
 such debasing errors, utterly prevented anything being 
 done to arrest the pestilence. May the time soon come 
 when the fact will be " known and read of all men," 
 that a ministry and a church which do not, by a mani- 
 festation of the truth, commend themselves to every 
 man's conscience in the " sight of God," are " as sounding 
 brass or a tinkling cymbal." It is an abiding consolation 
 with me, at this time of life, looking as I am directly 
 into eternity, that during my entire official life I have 
 never, in the decision of any question providentially sub- 
 mitted to my election, deviated from the one sacred 
 inquiry, " What is true 1 What is right ? What is 
 
19° PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 duty ? What is the will of God ? What do the im- 
 mortal interests of my fellow men demand of me?" 
 
 A startling Occtin-cnce. 
 While matters were progressing as above stated, an 
 event utterly unexpected to us all occurred, an event 
 which startled not only the community around me, but 
 the entire nation. Tlie Rev. J. J. Shipherd, the principal 
 founder of Oberlin College and Community, called at my 
 house, and for several days became a guest in my family. 
 He came under a special commission from the trustees 
 to find a President for their College. As soon as he 
 received his commission and made it a subject of prayer, 
 a strong and almost irrepressible impression came over his 
 mind, that he should at once go south at least as far as 
 Cincinnati. The thought of going in that direction had 
 not before come into his mind, nor had he knowledge of 
 a single fact or reason why he should go in that direction, 
 this one distinct and strong imipression excepted. Under 
 that impression he started south and went as far as 
 Columbus. Here he found himself so exhausted on 
 account of the almost intolerable state of the road, and so 
 appalled by the worse prospect between that point and 
 Cincinnati, that he determined to take the National road, 
 and go direct to New York. At the hotel he providenti- 
 ally met the son of the Rev. John Keep, the President of 
 the Oberlin Board of Trustees. This young man, a 
 graduate of an eastern College, had gone down to 
 Cincinnati to join Lane Seminary, but, on account of the 
 state of the Institution, he had left, and was on his way 
 home. When Mr. Shipherd made known to him the 
 object of his mission, young Mr. Keep said, " Go to 
 Cincinnati by all means. The pastor of the Sixth Pres- 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 191 
 
 byterian Church there is the man you arc inquiring 
 after." This determined Mr. Shipherd. At that time, 
 mid-winter, the mails between the two cities, no other 
 public conveyance then existing, were carried in a large 
 rude box placed upon a two-wheeled cart, which was 
 drawn by four horses. No passengers were taken but 
 such as would consent to sit or lie among those mail-bags. 
 Into that box Mr. Shiplierd threw himself, and so came 
 to our city. For some days he said not a word to me 
 or to my wife about his mission, talking freely to us, 
 however, about his College. In my family, at the time, 
 was a daughter of a leading citizen of Oberlin, a young 
 lady who, with some others, was taking lessons from me 
 in mental science. On making known to her his mission, 
 she replied that in that house was the man he was seek- 
 ing. About the time this conversation was being held, 
 several of the students from Cummingsville called at my 
 house. To them, in strict confidence, he made known 
 the object of his mission. They unanimously and spon- 
 taneously advised my appointment. Mr. Shipherd then 
 went to Cummingsville, and held a strictly confidential 
 interview with all those students. They unitedly, no 
 one dissenting, advised my appointment, and further 
 agreed that if Professor Morgan should receive an ap- 
 pointment to a Professorship in the College, they would 
 all go to Oberlin at the opening of the spring term. Mr. 
 Shipherd now returned and laid all the facts before me 
 and my wife ; urging that I should not wait for a formal 
 appointment from the trustees, his power being in fact 
 and form plenipotentiary, but should start with him up 
 the river on Monday morning. This was the latter part 
 of the week. The facts were so plain and overpowering, 
 and the call of Providence so manifest, that I did not 
 
192 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AXD LIFE. 
 
 hesitate. The object now was to get away, without the 
 reason of my absence being, for the present, made known. 
 Of my elders, two, ^lessrs. Holyoke and ^lelindy, as 
 fellow trustees, had acted with me through all the fiery 
 trials " through which I had passed. The other two 
 sympathised with the majority of the trustees. I called 
 together the two brethren designated, and laid before 
 them the facts as above stated, and my determination to 
 accept the appointment tendered me. While they ex- 
 pressed their deepest regret at parting with their pastor, 
 both fully acquiesced in the wisdom of my determination. 
 "If I can but see you," said Brother Melindy, "in a 
 situation where you can turn round and look these men 
 in the face, and say to them, ' Gentlemen, I am not de- 
 stroyed, as you predicted that I should be,' it will be one 
 of the happiest periods of my life." 
 
 On Saturday evening, all the elders met, and I stated 
 to them that very unexpectedly to myself, I had occasion 
 to be absent from the city for, at least, four weeks, and 
 requested leave to be thus absent, no reasons whatever 
 being given. After leave was granted, the two brethren 
 who were ignorant of the facts waited for some time in 
 manifest bewilderment, to see if they could not gain some 
 clue to the reasons of the mysterious request which I had 
 presented, and they had granted me. None, however, 
 was obtained. On board the first boat that steamed up 
 the river on Monday, Mr. Shipherd and myself took 
 passage, and I stepped out of the furnace, in the central 
 fires of which I had walked so long. At Ripley, we 
 called upon that renowned hero-friend of the slave, the 
 Rev. John Rankin. He lived upon a very high and 
 steep hill which overlooked the village, and a very wide 
 extent of slave territory on the other side of the river in 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 193 
 
 the State of Kentucky. His house was everywhere 
 known as the refuge for the fugitive slave, and no such 
 fugitive was ever taken from his premises. Having made 
 known to him our mission, he made us a free loan of a 
 jjair ot horses, on which to ride some tliirty miles into 
 the country, to sec and consult Mr. Theodore D. Weld. 
 We found him at Hillsboro delivering a course of lectures 
 on slavery. Having laid our plans before him, we pro- 
 posed that he should accept the Professorship of 
 Theology, he being the choice of all the students at 
 Cummingsville. " No," he replied, " I am not, but Mr. 
 Finney is, the man to fill that Professorship ; and Provi- 
 dence has just now prepared him to occupy such a 
 position. He is in a state of too great physical prostra- 
 tion to labour as an Evangelist, or to sustain the responsi- 
 bilities of a pastor ; while teaching theology, for which 
 he is pre-eminently fitted, would be needful rest to him." 
 These considerations fully determined our judgment, 
 and then and there the plan of the Institution was fully 
 matured ; namely, I was to be President and Professor of 
 Mental Science ; Mr. Finney was to be Professor of 
 Theology ; and Professor Morgan Professor of Biblical 
 Literature. 
 
 With this plan before us, we hastened on to New York. 
 On our arrival, we, first of all, called together for con- 
 sultation some twenty to thirty of the special friends of 
 Mr. Finney, he being present at the meeting. Before 
 this body we laid our cause, and fully convinced every 
 one of his friends present that he should accept the 
 position tendered him. He now took the matter into 
 serious consideration. When thus pondering the subject, 
 he asked me one day the question, "What are you doing 
 for the endowment of your College ?" " We are doing 
 
 o 
 
194 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 nothing," was my reply, " nor shall we do anything, 
 until you decide the question whether you will go there, 
 provided the means to sustain the College are secured." 
 After a short consultation, " I will go with you," he said, 
 " on the conditions you have named." We then went to 
 work with a will, and in less than three months from the 
 time when we had left Cincinnati, all the appointments 
 above designated were made, and iinally accepted, and 
 upwards of eight)' thousand dollars were secured for the 
 endowment of the institution, and a donation of ten 
 thousand dollars from Arthur Tappan, Esq., for incidental 
 expenses. 
 
 At the close of my four weeks' vacation, I sent in my 
 resignation as pastor. This was accepted, with a resolu- 
 tion, which was promptly carried out, to continue my 
 salary to the end of the quarter, only four weeks of the 
 time having expired when I left. At the close of our 
 mission east, I returned and removed my family to 
 Oberlin, leaving my blessing with my people, and taking 
 theirs with me. At the opening of the spring term, all 
 my associates were with me on the ground, together with 
 the students from Cummingsville, and the Institution, in 
 all its departments. Theological, College, and Preparatory, 
 was in full operation. 
 
 '' What hath God wrought ! " Had it been the fixed 
 purpose of Providence to take me out of the narrow 
 sphere in which I was before acting, and to place me in 
 one in which I should exert the greatest influence possible 
 to one with my individual endowments, no better place 
 than Oberlin could have been found for me. That 
 Institution was the first in the history of the race to 
 adopt the principle of the co-education of the sexes in all 
 departments of a common and liberal education. It is 
 
PASTORAL OFFICE AND LIFE. 
 
 well known how that principle is now influencing the 
 Colleges and Universities and Literary Institutions 
 throughout Christendom. To be located as the first 
 President of such an Institution, and' to be the first 
 individual in the history of the race who carried woman 
 through a course of liberal education, and conferred upon 
 her the honorary degrees hitherto considered as the ex- 
 clusive prerogative of the male sex, and thus to vindicate 
 for woman a sacred right to all such privileges, was 
 surely to be placed in a sphere of influence beyond all 
 imagined anticipations. When I took the Presidency of 
 that College, another principle equally new, and of still 
 more fundamental importance, was introduced ; namely, 
 the education of mi/id irrespective, not only of sex, but of 
 colour, nationality, or condition. No such Institution 
 had ever existed before, and this stood revealed at a time 
 of all others best adapted to commend its principles to 
 the conscience of the Church and the nation. After 
 that no Institution in any northern State copied the 
 example of Lane Seminary, and in a few years that 
 Institution blotted out its pro-slavery laws, and gave free 
 thought as free a course as it had in any other Institution. 
 Some years after I left, one of its graduates, the Rev. 
 Jonathan Blanchard, one of the most outspoken abolition- 
 ists then known, became pastor of the church I had left, 
 and continued so until he was called to the Presidency 
 of Knox College in the State of Illinois. 
 
 Then, when Brother Finney and myself avowed the 
 religious views which ever after constituted the burden 
 of our lives, the great revivals in which he had had such 
 a chief instrumentality rendered it perfectly certain that 
 those views would enter as an all-powerful leaven into all 
 churches of all denominations. At no time, in the history 
 ■02 
 
196 
 
 PASTORAL OFFICE AXD LIFE. 
 
 of the Church, could those views have been presented in 
 circumstances so favourable to their ultimate general 
 reception. 
 
 One other circumstance should not be overlooked in 
 this connection. The number of students in constant 
 attendance during the fifteen years in which I was Pre- 
 sident of the College, averaged between five and eight 
 hundred. The mass of these, during our winter vacations 
 of three months, " went abroad everywhere," as teachers 
 and lecturers, and exerted a wonderfully powerful influ- 
 ence in spreading our principles and promoting revivals 
 of religion. Think, too, of the influence of our 
 graduates who went forth from us from year to year. 
 The reader will appreciate the remark made to me by 
 the Hon. Wendell Philips, the last time I met that won- 
 derful man. After the close of the war of the rebellion, 
 he delivered, in Adrian, a lecture, in which he laid down 
 most true and noble principles in advance of the existing 
 public sentiment. At the close, I went upon the plat- 
 form and congratulated him upon his address, thanking 
 him especially for the advanced principles which he had 
 announced. His reply was in these words : " I had 
 rather receive such commendation from you, than from 
 any other man in the world. We all know that you 
 have done more for this cause than any of us.'' This he 
 said, not of me as a man, but as the representative of the 
 Institution over which I had presided, and over which 
 God, by such wondrous providences, had placed me, 
 taking me so suddenly out of circumstances in which I 
 had long laboured with no other expectation than being 
 "offered on the service and sacrifice of my faith." 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 PROGRESS IX CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 According to the fundamental teachings of the Calvin- 
 istic faith, as originally set forth by all its advocates and 
 expounders, each descendant of Adam is held and 
 adjudged, at the bar of God, as "deserving God's wrath 
 and curse, not only in this world, but in that which is to 
 come," for three distinct and separate reasons : the first 
 sin of Adam, imputed to them, or set over to their 
 account, a sin committed thousands of years before 
 thousands of millions of them existed at all ; a sinful or 
 sin-inducing nature, a nature in the origination and con- 
 stitution of which they had no more agency, direct or 
 indirect, than they had had in the sin of Adam, or in the 
 creation of the universe ; and actual transgressions which 
 the nature, thus derived and originated, rendered it abso- 
 lutely impossible that they should not commit. From 
 these three dogmas, the entire system of Christian doc- 
 trine, as originally taught in this school, took specific 
 form. I refer to such doctrines as the eternal decrees, 
 eternal and unconditional election and reprobation, 
 atonement, and regeneration. In the Arminian school, 
 these three dogmas, together with the system of doctrine 
 based upon the same, were either utterly denied, or 
 fundamentally modified so as to conform to the doctrines 
 of a general atonement, the free offer of salvation to the 
 
igS PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 entire race, and a free will in man to accept or reject 
 "the grace of God which bringeth salvation," the grace 
 as freely and sincerely offered to every man as to any 
 man. 
 
 At the time of my conversion, and long prior to that 
 I event, tlie difficulties intrinsic in the fundamental articles 
 of the Calvinistic faith pressed with crushing weight 
 upon very many thoughtful minds within the circle of 
 jits zealous advocates. When the sternest advocate of 
 this faith directly confronted the doctrine that thousands 
 of millions of moral agents are held subject to eternal 
 doom for a single act of a single agent, an act committed 
 thousands of years before they existed at all, he stood 
 appalled and confounded at the undeniable monstrosity 
 of such a dogma. No one could, by any possibility, con- 
 ceive of the justice of such imputation, any more than 
 he could conceive of the annihilation of space, or of an 
 event without a cause. The only attempt to remove 
 this absurdity was made by President Edwards. He, in 
 fact, denied the representative character of Adam, and 
 the imputation of his sin to his posterity. All mankind, 
 Edwards affirmed, actually existed in Adam at the time 
 of the fall, and actually, by an act of their own wills, 
 each one for himself, concurred in that act of sin, and 
 thus made it his own. Adam did not in that act repre- 
 sent the race ; nor was his sin imputed to them. They, 
 on the other hand, by voluntarily joining in that act, 
 " sinned in him, and fell with him, in his first transgres- 
 sion." This explanation was so obviously false in fact 
 that few thinkers concurred in it, and it soon passed out 
 of the sphere of theological thought. We have here the 
 fact common to multitudes of minds in the school of 
 Calvinism, that such a thinker as Edwards could not 
 
199 
 
 embrace the dogma of the imputation of Adam's sin to 
 his entire posterity. Hence it was utterly repudiated by 
 multitudes in that school. Subsequently to my con- 
 version, I never for a moment entertained that sentiment. 
 
 In the necessary judgment of all reflecting minds, the 
 same difficulties and absurdities were involved in the 
 doctrine of original sin, as set forth in the primal 
 Calvinistic creed ; the dogma that all mankind are held 
 as deserving and subject to " God's wrath and curse, not 
 only in this life, but in that which is to come," for a 
 nature derived from Adam, and originated wholly by 
 God Himself, by establishing and sustaining, by His own 
 omnipotence, the laws of natural generation ; a nature, 
 in the origination and constitution of which the subject 
 had • no knowledge, choice, or agency. The fact of the 
 existence of such a nature was readily admitted by all. 
 That God Himself should thus originate such a nature, 
 and then hold the subject, who had had no agency at all 
 in its production, as exclusively responsible, as subject to 
 eternal doom, or as guilty at all, for its existence, — reflec- 
 tive thought shrank back, with horror and reprobation, 
 from such a dogma. As a consequence, masses of minds, 
 within the circle of the Calvinistic faith, blotted the doc- 
 trine from their creed. Quite early, it Avas deliberately 
 excluded from my articles of faith. 
 
 According to the fundamental teachings of the Cal- 
 vinistic faith in its primal form, Christ made no atone- 
 ment for the sins of the non-elect. Yet salvation through 
 Christ is undeniably offered in the Scriptures to all man- 
 kind without exception, and, according to the express 
 teachings of the sacred Word, the doom of the lost will 
 be greatly aggravated in consequence of their rejection 
 of " the grace of God which bringeth salvation." The 
 
200 PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 question which here pressed with crushing weight upon 
 reflective thought was this : How can grace, which only 
 exists for a part, be sincerely offered unto all ? and how 
 can men be justly held responsible for the non-accept- 
 ance of grace which never existed for them, which could 
 have been of no avail to them, had they accepted it, and 
 which they had no power to accept ? Such considera- 
 tions induced multitudes of Calvinists, and among these 
 not a few of the most influential thinkers in that school, 
 to reject the doctrine of a partial, or particular, and 
 embrace and avow that of a general, atonement. My 
 own faith became, and that quite early, " rooted and 
 grounded '' in . this latter doctrine. 
 
 In the deductions thus far successively reached, reflec- 
 tive thought still found no rest, being palpably confronted 
 with such questions as these : How can a creature be 
 justly blameable for rejecting grace which he has no 
 power whatever to accept, or be justly held subject to 
 eternal doom for not accepting mercy in the total absence 
 of all power to do anything else but reject the proffer? 
 In other words : How can obligation exist, in the total 
 absence of all power of compliance ? No deduction is, 
 or can be, more intuitively absolute to reflective thought 
 than is the intuition that obligation, and with it the 
 desert of eternal doom, is, in the absence of all power of 
 compliance, an utter impossibility. Hence the deduction 
 made by multitudes in the school under consideration, 
 namely, that mankind must be possessed of real power, 
 in some form, to do the right and avoid the wrong, and 
 to accept of the grace of God. This conviction gave rise 
 to the famous distinction between the doctrines of natural 
 and moral ability. All mankind, it was affirmed, have 
 natural, but all have not moral, ability to do the will of 
 
PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 201 
 
 God, and accept of the provisions of grace revealed in the 
 Gospel. 
 
 The sinner, we were taught, does not need a new will, 
 but a new direction of the activity of the will he has, in 
 order to his keeping the commandments, and accepting 
 the grace of God ; and nothing but his choice of evil 
 prevents his doing this. He, therefore, has natural 
 power to do the right and avoid the wrong. He lacks 
 tnoral power to do this, however, because, while the 
 action of his will is in the direction of evil, and away 
 from the good, he lacks, in the circumstances and relations 
 in which he does act, the power of contrary choice, that 
 is, real power to " break off his sins by righteousness, and 
 his iniquities by cleaving unto the Lord," or to accept 
 the grace provided for and proffered to him in the 
 Gospel. 
 
 This doctrine of natural ability and moral inability, 
 which, for many years, was a general theme of religious 
 thought and discourse, was at length, when its character 
 came to be clearly understood, found to leave the old 
 difficulty just as it was before. According to this doc- 
 trine of moral inability, the will of the sinner is, in fact, 
 in all its intentions, purposes, choices, and volitions, 
 moving in the line of sin, in the total absence of all avail- 
 able power of contrary choice, that is, of putting forth any 
 intentions, choices, or volitions, but sinful ones. As a 
 consequence, that doctrine which, for a time, was sup- 
 posed to shed eternal sunlight through the entire sphere 
 of the Calvinistic faith, passed at length into a deserved 
 oblivion. 
 
 The Crucial Qttesiion. 
 It was thus, that the progress of religious thought at 
 last brought distinctly before the Calvinistic churches the 
 
202 PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 great crucial question which divides and separates the 
 real Calvinistic from all other forms of the evangelical 
 faith. I refer to the fundamental question pertaining to 
 the will itself, namely, Is the will, in all its activities, in 
 common with physical causes and events in the world 
 around us, subject to the law of necessary causation ? Or 
 is the will, in its activity, an exception to the rule of 
 exterior causes and events, and subject to the laAv of 
 liberty, in opposition to that of necessity ? These two 
 laws may be thus set forth : To the will existing in given 
 i circumstances and relations, but one intention, purpose, 
 
 . ior choice is possible, and that one specific act must arise. 
 !This is the law of necessity, and to this law, according to 
 the real Calvinistic faith, in all its forms, the will, in all 
 its activities, is absolutel}' subject. In the circumstances 
 and relations in which men sin, no other acts but those 
 specific ones which they do put forth are possible to 
 them, and these must arise. Take the entire course of 
 disobedience by which each lost soul is landed in the 
 gulf of death. In the circumstances and relations in 
 which, by the providence of God, every one of these 
 creatures existed and acted, only the one specific course 
 which he did pursue was possible to him, and that one 
 specific and exclusive course he could by no possibility 
 but have pursued. Such is the doctrine of necessity, or 
 of Calvinism i)roper, in all its forms. The opposite law, 
 
 I that of liberty, may be thus announced. To the will, 
 when existing in given circumstances, either of two or 
 more distinct, separate, and opposite intentions, purposes, 
 or choices, is possible, and equally so ; and when one given 
 act is put forth, either of the others, and that with no 
 change of relations an 1 circumstances, might have been 
 
 ^ put forth in the stead of the one referred to. In other 
 
PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 203 
 
 words, in the identical circumstances in which men do, 
 in fact, " choose the evil and refuse the good," they might 
 "choose the good and refuse the evil." In view of this 
 doctrine we affirm, and necessarily believe, that man, as 
 a moral agent, ought not, under any circumstances, to 
 sin, because under no circumstances is he necessitated to 
 sin, and because in the circumstances in which he does, 
 he should not, because he may not, sin. 
 
 In the latter part of my theological course, and in the 
 first years of my ministry, these doctrines came, with 
 great distinctness and prominence, before the public 
 mind, and became, throughout the entire domain of the 
 Calvinistic churches in the United States, the subjects of 
 the most earnest thought and discussion. Just at thisj 
 time important events occurred which brought the sub- 
 ject before the ^.-^merican public, in circumstances most 
 favourable to its final settlement. Two discourses, for 
 example, On the Nature of Sin, were published by a very 
 eminent and influential thinker, Professor Fitch, of Yale 
 College. In these discourses, the position was taken and 
 verified by proofs, which vast multitudes of the best 
 thinkers in the nation deemed irrefragable, that sin 
 proper, that for which the creature is subject to con- 
 demnation, consists exclusively in a voluntary transgres- 
 sion of known duty. Before sin is possible, the creature 
 must " know to choose the good and refuse the evil ;" 
 and sin, in all its real forms, must consist in choosing 
 the evil and refusing the good, their character being thus 
 known. This doctrine did not deny, but fully admitted, 
 a fallen, or what is called a sinful, nature in man, but 
 affirmed that we are accountable, not for the mere 
 existence of this nature, but for our voluntary action 
 relatively to its promptings. With those who admitted 
 
204 PROGRESS IX CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 this doctrine of sin, the question, "What are the real 
 relations of the human will to sin ? " became one of 
 fundamental interest, one too which had to be met, and 
 which was submitted under circumstances most favourable 
 to its correct and final settlement. The question sub- 
 mitted is this : With the nature of which man is possessed, 
 and in the circumstances in which God places him, is it 
 true that nothing but the sin which man does commit is 
 possible to him, and this sin he 7nusf commit ? Or is it 
 true that with this identical nature, and in these identical 
 circumstances, in the stead of the sin which he does 
 commit, the sinner may " choose the good and refuse the 
 evil ? " If the former question be answered in the affir- 
 mative, man is a necessary — and if the latter, he is a 
 free — agent. It is self-evident, also, that one of these 
 hypotheses must be true, and the other false, and all acts 
 of sin, on the one hand, and of obedience on the other, 
 must fall exclusively under one or the other of these 
 relations. The considerations which finally induced me 
 to change fundamentally my life-long and most fondly 
 cherished belief, and repudiate utterly the doctrine of 
 necessity, and adopt that of liberty, were, among others, 
 the following : 
 
 A fundamental Change of Base, and the Reasons 
 for it. 
 
 I. On mature reflection, I came to the absolute con- 
 viction, that I must deny the former, and accept the 
 latter doctrine, or affirm the intelligence, conscience, 
 and moral nature of men, as God has constituted them, 
 to be a lie. On the hypothesis, when distinctly appre- 
 hended, that with the nature which God has given them, 
 
PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 205 
 
 and in the circumstances in which God has placed them, 
 nothing but the sin which creatures do commit is possible 
 to them, and that such sin they ww/ commit, it is 
 as impossible for the intelligence, the conscience, and 
 moral nature to affirm that the subject 07ig/ii not to sin, 
 or is, or can be, deserving of eternal doom for sin, as it 
 is to conceive of an event without a cause. In the pro- 
 positions — ]\Ien <ntght to do what by no possibility they 
 can do, and ought not to do what they cannot but do, — 
 no meaning whatever attaches to the terms, ought Tmdi ought 
 not. Either the reason, the conscience, and the moral 
 nature, as God has constituted them, are a lie, or the 
 doctrine of necessity is false, and " God has made free 
 the human will." 
 
 2. Another all-valid reason why I repudiated the doc- 
 trine of necessity and adopted that of liberty, is the 
 absolute testimony of the inner consciousness. When- 
 ever we put forth an act of choice, we are as conscious of 
 a power to choose differently from what we do, as we are 
 that we exist at all. The remembrance of all past acts 
 of choice is attended with the same absolute conscious- 
 ness, that we might have chosen differently from what 
 we did. Hence the remorse, and conscious desert of 
 retribution, which attend the consciousness of sin. Take 
 away the consciousness, that we might "choose the good, 
 and refuse the evil," when we do refuse the good, and 
 choose the evil, and all self-reproach, remorse, and 
 conscious desert of doom would, of necessity, wholly drop 
 out of human thought. The universal consciousness, as 
 God has constituted it, is a lie, or man is a free, and not 
 a necessary, agent. ^ 
 
 3. As another form of absolute proof, that the doctrine ' 
 of liberty is true, and that of necessity false, I did refer, 
 
2o6 PROGRESS Ii\ CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 \ and now refer, to the necessary intuitive convictions of 
 \the race. Lay before any mind on earth the proposition, 
 that whenever rational mind chooses the evil and re- 
 fuses the good, it might, instead of the sin, " choose the 
 good, and refuse the evil," and the intuitive and absolute 
 conviction will, of necessity, arise, that the evil should 
 never, and the good should ever, be chosen. Lay before 
 any mind, on the other hand, the proposition, that when- 
 e\"er, and wherever, the evil is chosen, and the good 
 refused, none but those identical so-called sinful choices 
 can arise, and these must arise, and the intuitive and 
 necessary conviction will and must be induced, that no 
 ill-desert does, or can, attach to sin, and no obligation to 
 " choose the good, and refuse the evil," does, or can, 
 exist. Outside of a narrow school in theology, wherever, 
 and whenever, the doctrine of necessity has been affirmed, 
 the ill-desert of sin, and obligation to do the right, have 
 been absolutel}' denied, and the absolute intuitions of 
 the race have affirmed the validity of that denial. Shall 
 we affirm universal and absolute intuition to be a lie "i 
 We must do so, or repudiate this doctrine of necessity, 
 and accept, as true, the intuitive fact, that " God has 
 made free the human will." 
 
 4. Nor should the admissions of Necessitarians be over- 
 looked in this connection. No such individual ever pre- 
 tended that he could understand how and why a sinner 
 can deserve eternal doom, or be criminal at all, for any 
 'acts of choice, when only these specific acts are possible 
 to him, and these he must put forth. The only defence 
 "^t up is this, that the subject is mysterious to us, and 
 may be all plain to the Divine Mind. In reply, we say, 
 that there is no mystery whatever in or about this doc- 
 trine ; the whole subject being perfectly understood, just 
 
PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 207 
 
 as perfectly as is the proposition, that the same object 
 cannot exist and not exist, and that at the same moment 
 of time. The doctrine ol necessity affirms that in every 
 act of sin, in the circumstances of its occurrence, none 
 but this one act is possible to the subject, and this he 
 must commit ; and that God holds the subject as deserv- 
 ing eternal doom for an act thus committed. Every 
 term and element of this proposition is as perfectly under- 
 stood, as is the proposition, that there can be no event 
 without a cause, or that two and two make four. The 
 Necessitarian cannot perceive how and why his doctrine 
 can be true, and the creature be responsible for his acts 
 of choice, for that simple and exclusive reason, that such 
 responsibility, his doctrine being admitted, is as incon- 
 ceivable as is the non-being of space. 
 
 5. Equally explicit, as I clearly saw, are afil the ex- 
 press and implied revelations of Scripture in respect to 
 this subject. In the sacred Word, God appeals to the 
 reason, conscience, and moral nature of man in verifi- 
 cation of the integrity and rectitude of His moral ad- 
 ministration. " Are not My ways equal " " Judge, I 
 pray you, betwixt Me and My vineyard." The Most 
 High allows His creatures to put to Him the question : 
 
 Shall not the Judge of all the earth do right " In 
 view of such facts, the deduction is self-evident, that 
 God's retributive administration is not, and cannot be, 
 based upon a principle which renders it absolutely im- 
 possible for the reason and conscience of all rationals, 
 good and bad in common, not to condemn and reprobate 
 that principle. Let it be known at the final judgment, 
 — and it will be known if the doctrine of necessity is true, 
 — that in the circumstances, Divinely ordered, in which 
 the sins for which the lost are doomed to eternal punish- 
 
2o8 PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 ment were committed, no other acts but those specific 
 sins u'cre possible, and these could by no possibility but 
 have been committed ; and the reason and conscience of 
 no man, angel, or devil, will or can respond to the recti- 
 tude and justice of that doom. If it shall then appear, on 
 the other hand, — and it will appear, if " God has made 
 free the human will," — that in the identical circumstances 
 in which the lost did sin, they might, and consequently 
 should, have "chosen the good, and refused the evil," 
 the reason, conscience, and moral nature of every man, 
 angel, and devil, will and must respond to the acclaim : 
 •'True and righteous are Thy judgments, O Lord, Thou 
 King of Saints." In absolutely affirming the accordance 
 of the moral administration of God with the necessary 
 intuitions of the reason, conscience, and moral nature of 
 man, the* Scriptures have, in the most absolute form 
 conceivable, affirm.ed the freedom of the will, and denied 
 the doctrine of necessity. 
 
 All the commands and prohibitions, promises and 
 threatenings, invitations and admonitions of Scripture 
 imply the same great truth. In the Scriptures God 
 affirms absolutely, that "He will have all men to be 
 saved, and come to the knowledge of the truth ; " and 
 that " He has no pleasure at all in the death of the sinner, 
 but that he should turn from his evil way, and live." 
 '' Turn ye, turn ye ; for why will ye die ? " God also calls 
 upon heaven and earth to unite with Him in astonish- 
 ment at the conduct of sinners in the circumstances in 
 which He has located them. " Be astonished, O heavens, 
 at this." "Why, when I looked that it should bring 
 forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?" Suppose, 
 that the Most High should place a mass of water on an 
 inclined plane, and, leaving it there to the exclusive 
 
PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 20(j 
 
 action of natural law, should express infinite wonder, and 
 should call upon the universe to unite with Him in 
 astonishment, that this mass should run down, instead of 
 up, that plane. An absurdity identical with this, the 
 Necessitarian undeniably attributes to God, in the revela- 
 tions of His Word, in respect to sin and sinners. Accord- 
 ing to the fundamental principles of the Necessitarian 
 creed, God does, in accordance with His own eternal and 
 unchangeable foreordination, place creatures in circum- 
 stances in which no form of moral action is possible to 
 them but the sins they do commit and must commit, 
 and then expresses infinite Avonder, and calls upon the 
 universe to unite with Him in astonishment, that they 
 should sin. Having — so this doctrine affirms — from 
 eternity unchangeably foreordained their eternal doom, 
 and having in time located them in circumstances where 
 they cannot but sin, and " die in their sins," God affirms, 
 under oath, that He is not willing that one of these 
 eternally and unchangeably doomed creatures should 
 perish. No, — I said, and now repeat, — God is not thus 
 self-contradictory and absurd in His Divine Word, and 
 this monstrous doctrine of necessity is, and must be, 
 both unscriptural and false. How reasonable and right, 
 on the other hand, do all such Scriptures appear, on the 
 hypothesis that the will is free, and not subject to the 
 principle of necessity ! On the hypothesis that when 
 creatures do sin, they may "choose the good and refuse 
 the evil," the central mystery of the universe is the fact 
 that rational beings do sin, and " the Judge of all the 
 earth " is reasonable and right in His revelations in 
 regard to sin and sinners. 
 
 6. One other collateral reason, of great weight, I did 
 not overlook, in fixing and settling my faith on this 
 
 p 
 
2IO PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 t;reat question. At the time when the inspired apostles 
 lived, and the New Testament was written, the doctrine 
 of necessity Avas distinctly held and taught among the 
 Pharisees and leading sects among the Jews, and was a 
 fundamental element of all the philosophies then known. 
 The Spirit of inspiration in the apostolic writers could 
 not have been indiffci-ent, or silent, in respect to so 
 fundamental a doctrine. Their views in respect to it, on 
 the other hand, could not, from the nature of the case, 
 have been misapprehended by their contemporaries and 
 immediate followers. Should we find, therefore, that the 
 leading thinkers and writers in the primitive Church 
 not only clearly understood this subject, but, with open 
 and united voice, opposed and reprobated the doctrine of 
 necessity, and affirmed and advocated that of liberty, the 
 deduction is absolute, that inspired apostles did teach 
 and hand down this latter doctrine, as the truth of God. 
 That such were the facts, I will now proceed to verify 
 " by many infallible proofs." 
 
 (i.) The advocates of this doctrine of necessity, Avho 
 have most carefully examined the subject, have not been 
 able to find even a trace of their doctrine among the early 
 writings of the primitive Church. None will question 
 the truth of this statement. 
 
 (2.) The unanimous testimony of learned men who 
 have fully acquainted themselves with all the facts of the 
 case, is that the primitive Church universally held and 
 taught the doctrine of liberty, as opposed to that of 
 necessity. "Every one," says Mosheim, "knows that 
 the peculiar doctrines " (among which that of necessity 
 was most prominent) " to which the victory was assigned 
 by the Synod (of Dort) were absolutely unknown to the 
 first ages of the Church." Had not this assertion been 
 
PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 211 
 
 strictly true, the Calvinistic translators of Moslieim, 
 Maclaine and Murdock, would, in their notes, have con- 
 tradicted it. Neander, than whom no one is of higher 
 authority in Church history, in speaking of the first three 
 centuries of the Christian era, says, that the Church 
 teachers " agreed unanimously in maintaining the free 
 will of man as a necessary condition of the existence of 
 morality." " The earliest fathers," says Bretschneider, 
 " unanimously ascribe to man freedom of will, according 
 to which he can choose either the good or the bad." 
 "All the fathers," says the learned Wiggers, "differed 
 from Augustine and agreed with the Pelagians in attri- 
 buting free will to man." To the same effect is the 
 testimony of Knapp, Dr. Whitby, and all others who 
 have spoken upon the subject. With this testimony 
 even Calvin fully agrees. " The Greek fathers," he says, 
 " and among them especially Chrysostom, have exceeded 
 bounds in extolling the power of the human will." 
 "The Latin fathers," he says again, "have always 
 retained the word ' free will.' " Authorities to any 
 required amount — and all on one side exclusively, there 
 being none on the other — might be multiplied. But 
 these are sufficient. 
 
 (3.) The testimony of a few only of these fathers will 
 remove all doubt on this subject. " Every created being," 
 says Justin Martyr, in the second century, " is so consti- 
 tuted as to be capable of vice and virtue. For he could do 
 nothing praiseworthy, if he had not the power of turning 
 either way." " Unless we suppose," he says again, " that 
 man has power to choose the good and refuse the evil, no 
 one can be accountable for any action whatever." " God," 
 he says once more, " has not made men like trees and 
 brutes, without the power of election." " No reward," 
 
 p 2 
 
212 PROGRESS IX CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 says Tertullian, of the same century, " can justly be 
 bestowed, no punishment can justly be inflicted, upon 
 him who is good or bad by necessity, and not by his 
 own choice." " Man, a reasonable being," says Irenoeus, 
 Bishop of Lyons, in the same century, " and in that respect 
 like God, is made free in his will, and, having power 
 over himself, is the cause that sometimes he becomes 
 Avheat and sometimes chaflT." " What is forced," says Basil, 
 one of the most distinguished of the ancient fathers, " is 
 not pleasing to God, but what comes from a truly 
 virtuous motive ; and virtue comes from the will, not 
 from necessity." " Within us," he says again, is free 
 will." "Forasmuch as God," says Chrysostom, "has 
 put good and evil in our power, He has given us a free 
 power to choose the one or the other ; and as He does 
 not retain us against our will, so He embraces us when 
 we are willing." " God," says Jerome, "hath endowed 
 us with free will. We are not necessarily drawn cither 
 to virtue or vice. For where necessity rules, there is no 
 room left either for damnation or the crown." "It would 
 be more just," says Epiphanius, " to punish the stars, 
 which make a wicked action necessary" — this refers to 
 the heathen notion that the stars determine destiny — 
 " than to punish the poor man who does that wicked 
 action by necessity." "The soul," says Origen, " does 
 not incline to either part out of necessity, for then 
 neither vice nor virtue could be ascribed to it; nor could 
 its choice of virtue deserve reward, nor its declination to 
 vice punishment." " How," he asks, "could God require 
 that of man which he had not power to offer Him ."" 
 " Ten thousand things," says Theodoret, " may be found 
 both in the Gospels and authorities of the apostles, 
 clearly manifesting the liberty and self-election of man." 
 
PROGRESS L\ CHRIsriA.X DOCTRINE. 
 
 213 
 
 "How," he asks, " can He [God] punish a nature which 
 had no power to do good, but was bound in the bands of 
 wickedness ?" " Neither promises nor reprehensions, 
 rewards nor punishments, are just," says Clemens of 
 Alexandria, " if the soul has not the power of choosing 
 or abstaining." " This opinion," the doctrine of neces- 
 sity, says Eusebius, "absolves sinners, as doing nothing 
 of their own accord which was evil, and would cast all 
 the blame of all wickedness committed in the world upon 
 God and upon His providence." Didymus, of the fourth 
 century, says, "And this" — the doctrine of free will — 
 " is not only ours, but the opinion of all who speak 
 orthodoxly " — according to the doctrine of the universal 
 Church — " of rational beings." 
 
 Nor was even Augustine a Necessitarian in the modern 
 sense of the term. " They that come to Christ," he says, 
 "ought not to impute it to themselves, because they 
 come, being called ; and they that would not come, ought 
 not to impute it to another, but only to themselves, 
 because, when they were called, it was in the power ot 
 their free will to come." 
 
 The above citations, taken almost at random from the 
 mass that might be quoted, clearly verify two important 
 deductions — that the primitive fathers understood the 
 real distinction between the doctrines of liberty and 
 necessity, and unanimously, none dissenting, repudiated 
 the latter doctrine, and adopted and advocated the 
 former. Nor can this absolute unanimity be accounted 
 for except upon one exclusive hypothesis, namely, that 
 the doctrine thus unanimously held was in fact and form 
 handed down to the primitive Church, and that directly 
 and immediately, by inspired apostles as the truth of 
 God. The doctrine of necessity, as I clearly saw, is a 
 
214 PROGRESS IN CHRISTIAN DOCTRINE. 
 
 dark innovation upon the univer?al primitive faith, " the 
 faith once " Divinely " delivered to the saints." 
 
 In thus repudiating the doctrine which I had been 
 specifically taught from my childhood up, and which I 
 had received as self-evident, and having", after the most 
 careful research, gained this new and safe position, I 
 had, as I clearly saw, reached a very far-sweeping con- 
 clusion, one which required me fundamentally to recon- 
 struct my entire system of theology, and to " read with 
 new eyes " the Word of God. The progress I made in 
 accomplishing these results will be disclosed in future 
 chapters. 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, I 8 24 — 1 832. 
 
 While the world shall stand, the great western revivals 
 will, we may safely presume, constitute a memorable era 
 in the history of the Church of God. Having had, from the 
 beginning, a personal knowledge of the facts as they 
 occurred, having been an active participator in the work 
 and a careful observer of the events as they occurred, and 
 " having had a perfect understanding of all things from 
 the very first," it has seemed good to me, being the only sur- 
 vivor, so far as I am aware, who enjoyed such advantages, 
 to devote one chapter of this autobiography to a special 
 consideration of those revivals, in order that their lead- 
 ing characteristics, the secret of their powerj_ and the 
 causes of their decline, may be clearly understood by the 
 present and coming generations. 
 
 The Autobiography of President Finney contains a 
 detail of the facts which came under his personal obser- 
 vation, and with which he had an immediate connection. 
 The careful reader of that work, however, will fail to 
 obtain from it distinct apprehensions of the peculiar and 
 special characteristics of these facts, of the causes which 
 induced them, and of the reasons why that cloud of mercy 
 which overshadowed the churches, and gave promise of 
 ever-enduring fertility, so soon dispersed, and was 
 
2l6 THE GREAT WESTERX REVIVALS, 1S24— 1832. 
 
 followed by long years of spiritual dearth. In accom- 
 plishing the object I have in view, I will in the first 
 place present 
 
 Some genera/ Facts and Characteristics of this great 
 Work. 
 
 1. If we compare this with other special v-orks of 
 grace which have occurred before and since that period, 
 it will be difficult, or impossible, to designate a revival 
 equalling this either in extent or power. During the 
 space of a single year, including portions of the years 
 1830 and 183^1, ministers best informed stated that quite 
 two hundred thousand converts were gathered into the 
 churches in the United States, the number of inhabi- 
 tants then being not one-third as great as now. This 
 was the period when the work became most general and 
 powerful, not one-fifth of the number mentioned being 
 gathered in during any other year. It was at this period 
 that the work took the appearance of nationality ; the 
 nation itself — the Northern States, and some of the 
 Southern — being moved \>y it. Nor do we know of any 
 other revival that in this respect can be compared with 
 this. Nor can any other revival be pointed out which 
 will bear comparison with this in the extent in which 
 leading minds in the community were brought under its 
 influence. It was not unfrequently the case that the 
 mass of such individuals were converted, and thus an 
 entire change was produced, not only in the religious, 
 but in the moral state of entire communities. 
 
 2. The character of the converts in those revivals de- 
 mands very especial consideration. In no revival that 
 can be designated was the number of apostasies among 
 converts smaller than in these. In the many powerful 
 
THE GREAT WESTERK REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 217 
 
 revivals which occurred under my own labours, I feel 
 quite safe in expressing the judgment that not five in 
 one hundred of the converts turned back to the world. 
 A similar judgment may safely be passed upon these 
 converts generally in all parts of the country. Apos- 
 tasies of course did occur ; and among those who turned 
 back were some whose conversions were regarded as of 
 the most marked character, and who for a succession of 
 years gave the brightest promise of great usefulness. 
 One individual, for example, whose conversion is detailed 
 in Mr. Finney's Memoir, as a fact of national notoriety, 
 and who for some years shone forth as a star of the first 
 magnitude, suddenly faced about, " denied the Lord that 
 bought him," and down to old age has not had " a name 
 to live " among " the sons of God." I might specify 
 other cases; but I rejoice rather to record that such 
 instances were "few and far between." 
 
 The converts uniformly entered upon the profession 
 of the religious life with the most clear and distinct ap- 
 prehension of the totality of the sinfulness of their 
 unregenerate lives ; with the conviction equally clear 
 and definite of the utter inexcusableness of sin in every 
 form and degree, and of their own personal desert of 
 eternal doom on account of their sins ; with an abso- 
 lute renunciation and confession of sin in all its forms; 
 with a supreme dedication of their entire being and all 
 their interests to the will and service of God ; and with 
 absolute and exclusive dependence upon the mercy and 
 grace of God in Christ for pardon. On all such topics 
 they received the most careful instructions from their 
 teachers. They were most fully assured that a refusal to 
 abandon any known sin, or to discharge any known duty, 
 would hopelessly exclude them from the kingdom of God. 
 
2l8 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1833. 
 
 Conversions, occurring under such instructions and 
 convictions, can hardly fail to be genuine. As a conse- 
 quence, these converts were '' known and read of all 
 men," as " pillars " in the churches of God, as the advo- 
 cates of every good cause, as the zealous promoters of 
 every good work, and as " sowing bountifully for the 
 spread of the Gospel at home and abroad. Not a few 
 professional men turned aside from profitable callings 
 and devoted their lives to " the work of the ministry ; " 
 multitudes of yojang men abandoned all their worldl}- 
 plans and prospects, entered the '■ schools of the pro- 
 phets," and, having graduated there, were admitted to 
 the sacred office ; while a great number, men and 
 women, left their homes, their kindred, and country, for 
 missionary service in heathen lands, and there laid down 
 their bodies, while their spirits went to everlasting homes 
 in the kingdom of light. 
 
 One very marked peculiarity of these converts I should 
 not fail to mention in this connection. I refer to their 
 influence in promoting the revivals through which they 
 were converted. Converts were then distinctly instructed, 
 that in accepting Christ as their eternal Life, they dedi- 
 cated their entire being and possessions to Kis kingdom 
 and glory. Hence, from the beginning of their new life, 
 they became active and most etficient participants irt the 
 work of saving souls. In cases not a few, revivals of great 
 power were occasioned in places remote from any revival 
 centre, wholly through the influence of individuals who 
 were converted while on visits of business or pleasure 
 at such centres. During my first pastorate, for example, 
 when a powerful work of grace was going on around me, 
 a stranger, with his wife, called upon me, one morning 
 just after breakfast. They came from a neighbouring 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824—1832. 219 
 
 township, where there was no revival, and no minister 
 settled at the time over any of its churches. But the 
 influence of the work in Rochester, where Mr. Finney was 
 preaching, had reached them. They informed mc that 
 they had called for one exclusive purpose — to know " what 
 they should do to be saved." After receiving needful 
 instruction, they unitedly and deliberately commended 
 themselves to the mercy and grace of God in Christ 
 Jesus. When we rose from prayer, the husband, after 
 bowing his head for a few moments in deep thought, 
 uttered these words : The Lord is my portion. From 
 this moment, I have nothing to live for but to serve and 
 glorify Him."' With my blessing, they "went on their 
 way rejoicing." On returning home, they, the husband 
 especially, began at once to stir up the members of the 
 church, and to press their former associates in sin to 
 come to Christ. The result was an addition of more 
 than two hundred souls to the churches in that township. 
 
 When Brother Finney was labouring in Philadelphia 
 in the spring of iSzg, and when the Delaware river was 
 high, many lumbermen, who came to the city from the^- 
 northern part of the State, were drawn into his meetings, 
 and were there " soundly converted." They came from 
 a region where there were no churches or ministers of 
 any kind. On their return to their homes, they gathered 
 the people together, told them of the wonderful work of 
 God which they had witnessed, and of their own con- 
 version, and exhorted ail around to seek " the great sal- 
 vation." The result was, that, wholly through the 
 labours and prayers of these young converts, churches 
 were afterwards organised in those regions numbering 
 more than five thousand souls. Such were the spirit and ' 
 character of these converts everywhere. 
 
220 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824—1832. 
 
 There was a very wide, and, in our judgment, a very 
 melancholy, contrast between the character of the con- 
 verts gathered through these revivals, and those gathered 
 through that which occurred about the year 1857. It 
 has been recorded, and is often spoken of, as the glory of 
 this last work, that it was begun and carried on almost 
 exclusively by prayer. " Prayer ardent " never more 
 widely opened heaven than during the great revivals 
 above treated of. But prayer then brought down the 
 power of the Spirit, and thus moved all the energies of 
 the mental being, loosened the tongue, prompted to 
 fervent exhortation, to personal appeals, and to visita- 
 tions from house to house ; while from the pulpit now 
 " a violated law spoke out its thunders," and then, 
 '' in strains as sweet as angels use, the Gospel whispered 
 peace." This was in strong contrast to the manifestations 
 in the revival of 1857. In the public gatherings of that 
 revival services would be commenced with a hymn, and 
 reading a passage of Scripture. Then several prayers 
 would be offered. Again there would be singing, followed 
 by prayers as before, and so on to the close. Speaking to 
 saintsor sinners did notappear to be welcome in thosemeet- 
 ings, while preaching was not characterised, for the most 
 part, by fervency of spirit. I then said, as I had oppor- 
 tunity, to ministers and church members, that if their 
 prayers should not avail to open their mouths to exhort 
 sinners to repent, and believers to active labours for the 
 conversion of souls, the revival would be a comparative 
 failure ; and so, to a great extent, it proved. The 
 younger Dr. Duffield spoke to me at the time of the 
 marked contrast in the character of the converts in these 
 two revivals. " Converts in those old revivals," he 
 remarked, " seemed to be filled with spiritual vitality 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 22t 
 
 from their birth. Now we have to examine our so-called 
 convert with great care before we can determine whether 
 he has, or has not, the breath of spiritual life in him." 
 
 3. The influence of these revivals upon believers 
 already members of the churches, requires very special^ 
 notice. I had been but a short time in the ministry, before 
 I distinctly uttered, in the interior of my own mind, 
 these identical words : " We are on the eve of a great and 
 general revival of religion, or our churches will, ere long, 
 become extinct." My reasons for that conviction were 
 twofold : the general and embittered opposition to 
 religion itself, and the appalling neglect of religious ser- 
 vices, on the part of the unconverted outside the churches, 
 on the one hand ; and the utter worldliness and indiffer- 
 ence to the interests of souls and the cause of religion 
 itself, on the part of professors of Christianity, on the 
 other. No one not personally acquainted with the facts as 
 they were can conceive how appalling these two aspects 
 of the moral and religious state of the community then 
 appeared. In the spring and summer of 1830, months 
 before Mr. Finney came to Rochester, and before 
 it was known that he had thought of doing so, a visible 
 change, from no known cause, came over the public mind. 
 Scoffing at sacred things, and bitter opposition to re- 
 ligious truth, spontaneously disappeared. Our congre- 
 gations on the Sabbath gradually increased, while an 
 unwonted solemnity rested upon them in all sacred 
 exercises. This was attended with occasional conversions 
 in various directions. These facts I heard referred to by 
 various ministers. They made manifest the gathering of 
 the cloud far in the heavens above us, while the windows 
 of heaven were not yet opened. 
 
 When it was heard that Mr. Finney was contemplating 
 
222 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 
 
 I 
 
 a visit to Rochester, the intelligence was received with 
 deep regret by the entire ministry, as far as I know, in 
 Western New York, such was the impression which 
 had generally obtained there in regard to the character of 
 the revivals under his preaching. One of our most 
 influential pastors said to me that if we should hear that 
 he was likely to come among us, the Presbyterian and 
 Congregational ministers must forward to him a united 
 
 ' protest against his advent. Before anA-thing was done, 
 however, he appeared in Rochester, and commenced 
 preaching in the Third Presbyterian Church, which was 
 then without a pastor. Such was the power which, from 
 the first, attended his preaching, and such was its 
 character, that he was very soon invited to the pulpits 
 of the two other Presbyterian churches in the city. 
 Ministers and leading members of the churches from all 
 directions visited the city, and " when they had seen the 
 grace of God they were glad," gave testimony to the 
 truth while there, and returned home to testify to their 
 own people, with renewed fer\-ency, '• the Gospel of the 
 grace of God." Numbers, also, of unconverted men and 
 women, many of them of leading influence, visited the 
 city, and returned home, not only " new creatures in Christ 
 Jesus," but burdened with burning desire and zeal for the 
 salvation of their former associates in worldliness and sin. 
 The first result was the disappearance of all opposition to 
 ^Ir. Finney and the work of God under his influence, and 
 unity of spirit in prayer and labours for the conversion of 
 sinners, such as had characterised no preceding work of 
 
 < grace. I refer now to the entire region of Middle and 
 Western New York. The crowning result was the " open- 
 ing of the windows of heaven, and the pouring out " of 
 such blessings as our nation had never before witnessed. 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 223 
 
 Unity of spirit, and unity of effort for the salvation of 
 sinners, were not the only or the most marked character- 
 istic of these revivals, in their influence upon professing 
 Christians. Throughout the churches there were great 
 "searchings of heart." Believers generally were led to 
 careful and deep self-examination, and to a thorough 
 reconstruction of their entire Christian character and life. 
 What had been wrong between brethren was carefully 
 and fully adjusted ; sins against God and men were con- 
 fessed and forsaken, and the religious life was started 
 anew, upon the principle of supreme consecration to 
 Christ. The doctrine was everywhere clearly and im- 
 pressively set forth that no acceptable service could be 
 rendered to Christ with a divided heart, and that only in 
 a state of total separation from all sin, and supreme de- 
 votion to the will and service of God, would He pardon 
 our sins, hear our prayers, " be our God," and receive us 
 as "His sons and daughters." Never in the history of 
 the world, as I believe, were Christians more sincere, 
 ardent, and single-hearted, than at the period to which I 
 refer. 
 
 "The spirit of grace and of supplications " then poured 
 out upon believers was another most marked character- 
 istic of these revivals. " Having sinners upon the heart," 
 " burdened with souls," "spending nights in prayer," and 
 " having power with God and with men," — these were 
 common expressions at that time, and characterised what 
 actually took place. I knew cases in which whole 
 families were converted, and communities were moved 
 from centre to circumference, from no other assignable 
 cause. 
 
 During my pastorate at Pittsford, N.Y., and while the 
 great revival was in progress, having occasion to visit 
 
224 THE GREAT U'ESTERX REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 
 
 Rochester, I was met by a Christian friend, who, rushing 
 towards me, exclaimed, " Do, Brother Mahan, call at 
 once at our house. Our precious mother has just died, 
 and we are all in great anguish.'' As I entered, I saw a 
 large group of sons and daughters, and their companions, 
 weeping about that bed of death. On the bed lay that 
 lifeless body, just as the spirit had left it, less than half 
 an hour previous. But such a countenance I never 
 looked upon before or since. Two expressions lay upon 
 it with the most impressive distinctness, — of intense sup- 
 plication and entreaty, and of the most ecstatic joy. The 
 manner of her death was in this wise. At the commence 
 ment of the revival, she set her whole heart upon the 
 conversion of every one of her children and their com- 
 panions. Each in turn was, with the intensest fervency, 
 borne to the throne of grace, until all but a tenderly be- 
 loved son-in-law were converted. Her whole being was 
 centred upon him. So intense did her desires and prayers 
 become that she was, at length, necessitated to retire to 
 her bed. While engaged there in intense supplication, 
 one of her sons came in, and, with great joy upon his 
 
 countenance, said, " Mother, brother is converted. A 
 
 little while ago, he gave his heart to God." " O my 
 head ! "' exclaimed the mother, pressing her hand upon her 
 forehead, and never stirring or breathing after that. The 
 facts stated explained the appearance of that countenance, 
 as well as the cause of death. 
 
 An ungodly and reckless son of a mother in Israel had 
 gone to a distance from home, and was engaged in a 
 form of business in which he was exposed to temptation 
 of the most perilous character. The mother took the 
 case to the throne of grace for months, and pressed it 
 there with an intensity of supplication almost too great 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 225 
 
 for her physical strength. At length the burden was 
 suddenly rolled from her spirit, and further supplication 
 seemed impossible. To her friends around her she said, 
 " My son is either converted or dead. I cannot pray for 
 him any more." At the very moment when that burden 
 was rolled away, as near as could be discovered, that son, 
 when lying in jail for crime, was converted, and subse- 
 quently, as a preacher of the Gospel, won thousands of 
 souls to Christ. It was very common at that time for 
 burdens to be taken from praying souls at the very 
 moment when the individuals prayed for were con- 
 verted, even when the parties were at unknown distances 
 from each other. Of a daughter of that mother it was 
 said that, go where she would, the community around 
 her would soon be moved by a deep religious influence, 
 and that from no known cause but her prayers, she not 
 being a public speaker at all. Similar remarks were 
 made with regard to a half-sister of mine. In all the 
 region round where she lived, her name was " as ointment 
 poured forth," and all on account of her godly life, and 
 mighty power at the throne of grace. 
 
 I must refer to one case more. Soon after my settle- 
 ment in Cincinnati, a gentleman from New Richmond, a 
 village on the Ohio river some twenty or more miles 
 above the city, called upon me. He was a convert from 
 those Western Revivals, and had settled and married in 
 that village. His mind seemed to be burdened with 
 that whole people. One man was never absent from his 
 thoughts — his father-in-law, who was a wealthy and 
 influential man, but a violent atheist. That man must 
 be saved. Every few months the son-in-law would visit 
 me, to induce me to go up there and labour for a re- 
 vival of religion. I was ready to go when the way 
 
 Q 
 
226 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 
 
 was open, but neither pastors nor churches could be 
 induced to move in the matter. Soon after my removal 
 to Oberlin, I received a letter and then a visit from him, 
 and all for one purpose, to induce brother Finney or my- 
 self to go back with him and labour for the salvation of 
 that people. No invitation, however, came to either of 
 us except from this one man. So he returned alone. 
 At length, from no visible cause, a cloud of mercy over- 
 shadowed that place, and flooded it with salvation. One 
 of the greatest revivals occurred there that was ever 
 known in the United States, and that father-in-law was 
 one of the first converts. The Rev. — Walker, D.D., 
 author of T/ie Philosophy of tlic Plan of Salvation, be- 
 came, for a time, pastor of the Presbyterian church of that 
 place. In a written account of the results of that revival, 
 Dr. Walker said that New Richmond was the most 
 godly place he ever knew, Oberlin e.xcepted ; and that 
 that father-in-law was one of the most godly men he 
 ever met with. He further stated that no one doubted 
 at all that the sole cause of that work of grace was, the 
 example and prayers of that one man. But what became 
 of that man of God 1 When he saw the revival in full 
 power, and that father-in-law a saint of God, the spectacle 
 was too much for his physical strength. His vital 
 powers gave way, and his spirit went to its reward. 
 
 It is hardly presumptuous, I judge, to express the 
 belief that the world now feels, and ever will feel, the 
 influence of the prayers of father Nash, that holy man, 
 who was at last found in his closet, on his knees dead 
 before God ; a very fitting place and condition for such 
 a man to die in. He could never, after the Holy Ghost 
 fell upon him, be in any place for any considerable 
 time, without the whole population around being moved 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 227 
 
 through his prayers. He was accustomed to set apart 
 days of fasting and prayer for different nations and por- 
 tions of the earth, and especially for each missionary 
 station in heathen lands. In his journal, after his death, 
 was found recorded such a memorandum as this, in 
 respect to every missionary station of the American 
 Board in India, the date and place being mentioned in 
 each instance : " I think I have this day had a spirit of 
 prayer for this station." So on in regard to each station 
 in succession. In turning to the Missionary Herald^ it 
 was found there recorded, that at the time and day 
 specified a revival of religion actually commenced in 
 each station in succession ; the date of the prayer and 
 the commencement of the revival being, in every case, 
 exactly coincident. 
 
 The Decline. 
 
 It would seem, at first thought, that a revival of such 
 pre-eminent characteristics and power would never know 
 a decline ; and that old believers, who had thus " renewed 
 their strength," and had started anew upon the principle 
 of supreme consecration, and who had placed themselves 
 under such solemn vows never again to " grieve the Holy 
 Spirit of God," and converts imbued with such a spirit, 
 and encircled with such associations, would never back- 
 slide. Yet but a few years intervened before " the glory 
 departed." Nothing, as Mr. Finney states in his Memoir, 
 could arrest the fixed tendency in the churches to back- 
 slide ; and what was most remarkable was the fact, as 
 brother Finney slates, that old professors were uniformly 
 the first to fall back, and drag the converts after them. 
 What was peculiar about the state of things was the fact, 
 that revival measures, protracted meetings, for example, 
 
 Q 2 
 
22S THE GREAT VESTERX REVIVALS, 1S24— 1S32 
 
 in a few years, lost almost all their power. ^lan}- of 
 those churches, also, in which the revival had existed 
 wiiii the greatest power, and which had received the 
 greatest number of converts, remained longest without 
 the return of such Divine visitations. In instances not 
 a few, a visible reluctance to re-engage in an)' revival 
 measures would be manifested. About the time, for 
 example, when I commenced my labours in Cincinnati, a 
 special meeting of great power was held at Oxford, the 
 seat of the State Universit)-, a meeting which resulted in 
 the addition of upwards -of one hundred converts to the 
 Presbyterian church in the place. Several \-ears after 
 that, I inquired of the pastor of that church, the Rev. — 
 Little, how those converts had held out. His reply was, 
 that all had held out well, with the exception of four or 
 five, with whom there had been not a little trouble. No 
 persuasion, he added, could induce his church, the older 
 and most influential members especiall}-, to consent to 
 the holding again of any such special services. When- 
 ever the measure was proposed, reference would be had, 
 at once, to the immense trouble they had had with those 
 four or five apostates ; no account being taken of the one 
 hundred souls saved from death. Instances not unlike 
 that were not few nor far between among our most 
 favoured churches. 
 
 Among the majorit}' of the pastors and evangelists 
 who had the greatest power during these revivals there 
 was, after the period of Divine visitation had passed, a 
 loss of such power, a loss from which they never re- 
 covered. I will refer to two cases in illustration. The 
 minister in the first case had, no doubt, greater revival 
 power, and was more frequently called to the aid of other 
 churches, than any other pastor in the United States. So 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 229 
 
 he continued during that period, and for some years after. 
 About the year 1842, while I was spending our winter 
 vacation in Boston, he spent between two and three 
 months in special services in Park Street Church. 
 Morning prayer meetings, and special services during 
 the day, were constantly held, and preaching each even- 
 ing, all very largely attended. After these services had 
 been continued for. about two months, a member of that 
 church said to the pastor of the church where I was 
 preaching, " We hope that two conversions have occurred 
 
 in connection with Mr. 's labours in our church. 
 
 We do not wish the matter talked about, however, as we 
 do not desire to get up an excitement." Such was the 
 exact report made to me, and such were the results of the 
 labours referred to. After a while, that pastor, who was 
 then in his meridian, discontinued such efforts for life. 
 The second case was my immediate successor in the 
 pastoral office in Cincinnati. In all those great revivals 
 he had been one of our most powerful and successful 
 preachers. During his pastorate in that city, he put 
 forth his best efforts, and preached all his great revival 
 discourses, discourses under which hundreds of souls had 
 been converted. But all to very little purpose, and his 
 power as a preacher was never renewed. 
 
 It is with pain that I refer to the evangelists of that 
 era. Among them all — and I was personally acquainted 
 with nearly every one of them — I cannot recall a single 
 man, brother Finney and father Nash excepted, who 
 did not after a few years lose his unction, and become 
 equally disqualified for the oflSce of evangelist and that of 
 pastor. The individual who, next to Mr. Finney, had 
 the Avidest popularity and influence, when in the meridian 
 of life, left the ministry, and lived and died a banker, 
 
23° THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 
 
 manifesting no disposition to preach the Gospel to any 
 class of men. The individual who probably stood next 
 to him, after a series of years of most successful labour, 
 retired into the far Western States, and I could never 
 learn even his whereabouts. One who was very con- 
 stantly with i\Ir. Finney, and laboured, for a time, as his 
 successor in Chatham Street Chapel, in the City of New 
 York, abandoned wholly the evangelical faith. Another, 
 a preacher of great power, first joined Noyes, the Free 
 Lover, and then the infidel abolitionists of the Garrison 
 school. What finally became of him I never learned. 
 
 I refer to but one other case from -the painful catalogue 
 before me. This individual probably had as great power 
 over his audiences as any that can be named, and multi- 
 tudes were no doubt won to Christ through his influence. 
 While I was a student at Andover, our Professor of 
 Rhetoric, Dr. Porter, one of the most accurate judges of a 
 sermon in the world, visited Saratoga for his health, during 
 our summer vacation. He found this evangelist there also 
 for rest and recuperation. Great interest was manifested 
 to hear him preach, and he at length consented to do so. 
 On his return, Dr. Porter gave his class an account of 
 that discourse, pronouncing it the most remarkable one 
 he had ever heard. The subject was, " Elijah in prayer 
 on the top of Carmel." " During the discourse," said the 
 doctor, " the entire audience seemed to be lifted up into 
 the unveiled presence of the Infinite and Eternal Mind, 
 and to be speaking to God face to face. I do not believe," 
 he added, "that there is another man in the world that 
 could lift an audience to such a fearful height and then 
 let them down again without a palpable failure in the 
 lifting up or letting down. The discourse,, however, was 
 a perfect success in both and in all respects." The last 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 231 
 
 time I met that evangelist was when, in company with a 
 minister, a special friend of his, I ^v•as on my way from 
 Oberlin to Cleveland. He told us in parting, that he had 
 just left a great revival, and was on his way, for absolutely 
 necessary rest, to visit his friends in Michigan. We 
 afterwards learned that he was going as a fugitive from 
 the legal liabilities of his vices, and he subsequently, I 
 believe, led a kind of vagabond life. Among the most 
 spiritual members of the churches those revivals were 
 finally followed by the most sorrowful conscious failures 
 of their former fixed purposes and fond hopes, and by 
 such groaning " bondage under the law of sin and death " 
 as, perhaps, was never heard of before. The students 
 that came to us at Oberlin from Lane Seminar}'' and the 
 churches generally, were from among the brightest con- 
 verts in these revivals. Yet their common experience 
 was represented in the words : — 
 
 " Where is the blessedness I knew, 
 When first I saw the Lord ? " 
 
 The general inquiry also was, "How can we recover 
 the brightness of that rising So it was with believers 
 generally. 
 
 Causes of the Decline. 
 
 Facts of Christian experience and life so general, so 
 dishonouring to religion itself, and so contrary to the 
 most cherished expectation of the ministry and churches, 
 must have their origin in causes which lie very deep in 
 human nature itself, and greatly need to be understood, 
 that their disastrous effects may be prevented in future. 
 Of these causes, as they lie clearly and distinctly before 
 my own mind, after careful observation and reflection, of 
 
232 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824—1832. 
 
 many years' continuance, I will specify the following as 
 demanding special consideration. 
 
 I. As one important cause, I would notice what may be 
 designated as a leading characteristic of these revivals, 
 namely, their controvcx^ial character. Between different 
 denominations the lines Avere then very distinctly drawn ; 
 and wherever a work of grace was in progress each sect, 
 for the most part, carried forward the work within its 
 own circle, independently of every other, while the 
 peculiarities of each would be a matter of frequent dis- 
 cussion among the others. Thus, sectarian bitterness 
 often limited the operations of free grace, and induced a 
 spirit unfavourable to a return of such visitations. Indi- 
 viduals living in this period of widespread Christian 
 union can hardly conceive how disastrously the sectarian 
 spirit then operated. The great dread of pastors and 
 evangelists, at the commencement of a revival, would be 
 the creeping in of some unimportant issue, to divert the 
 public mind and the attention of converts and inquirers 
 to some sectarian dogma, such as the mode of baptism. 
 In some cases, Mr. Finney found it necessary to stop 
 preaching to sinners, and settle such issues, before he could 
 go forward successfully with the work. After the con- 
 verts were gathered in, and were about to determine their 
 church connections, these issues would become the all- 
 absorbing subject of thought and discussion with them 
 and the members of the churches. Thus, at the turning 
 period of the Christian life, attention was permanently 
 diverted from the only vital subjects of concern, and fixed 
 in the direction of controversies which only deaden soul 
 growth and culture. 
 
 During the progress of these revivals, also, certain "new 
 measures," as they were then called, were introduced, 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 233 
 
 and attracted much public attention, and occasioned no 
 little disputation in the churches. I refer to the use of 
 " inquiry seats," and the introduction of the practice of 
 females praying and speaking in social meetings. There 
 arose, at that time also, questions of vital interest, in 
 i:)ublic regard, in respect to the proper mode of directing 
 inquiring sinners, as to whether they should be exhorted 
 and directed to "seek religion" and "pray for new 
 hearts," or to at once forsake sin, submit to God, and 
 commit the interest? of their soul's eternity to Christ. 
 In favour of the "new measures," and the doctrine of 
 immediate and unconditional submission, Mr. Finney 
 and others were very zealous, and often assailed the 
 opposite views with such violence and ridicule as, in my 
 judgment at the time, to give needless offence to sister 
 denominations, and to many ministers and members of 
 our own. Evangelists who took their cue from Mr. 
 Finney pressed such issues far beyond what he deemed 
 prudent. Thus, thought and discourse were very 'much 
 diverted from what was to the convert of absolutely 
 vital concernment, to non-essentials ; all adding to the 
 force of the causes which induced the backslidings which 
 ensued. 
 
 The era of these revivals, we must bear in mind, was 
 the era, throughout the Presbyterian and Congregational 
 churches in the United States, of one of the most pro- 
 tracted and embittered doctrijial controversies ever knoAvn 
 in the history of the Church of God ; a controversy 
 which, a few years after, led to the disruption of the 
 entire Presbyterian denomination. The parties in this 
 controversy took the name of Old School and New 
 School. The former adhered literally and unqualifiedly 
 to the entire teachings of the Confession of Faith, and 
 
234 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 
 
 maintained that any denial, or essential modification, on 
 the part of any Presbyterian minister, of any doctrine, 
 clearl}^ set forth in the Confession, Avas a violation of his 
 oath of office, and a just subject of discipline, he having 
 at his ordination accepted and adopted the said Con- 
 fession, " as containing the system of doctrine taught 
 in the Scriptures." In all discussions, the Old School 
 refused to allow of any appeal to Scripture, the only 
 question to be raised being, "What saith the Confession 
 of Faith ? " In two vital respects the New was at open 
 issue with the Old School. The former denied utterly 
 any such relations, on the part of the Presbyterian 
 minister, as the latter contended for. The Confession 
 itself, as they shov/ed, denied to itself, in fact and form, 
 any such authority as the Old School contended for ; 
 that instrument affirming absolutely, that not itself, but 
 " the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the 
 only all-authoritative, all-sufficient, and infallible rule of 
 faith and practice, and the only authoritative standard of 
 appeal and judgment in all questions of doctrine 'and 
 duty." On these points the teachings of the Confession 
 are perfectly plain and explicit. Hence, as the New 
 School justly claimed, if, in any respects, the Confession 
 teaches what is unscriptural, and any one discovers and 
 points out the error, the Confession itself commends him, 
 and all are bound to commend, instead of imputing crime 
 to him. Then, in all trials for heresy, the Confession 
 requires that the judicatory, trying the case, shall first 
 of all inquire whether the error charged is essential, 
 plainly contrary to Scripture, or of corrupt tendency. 
 If none of these is found to be true, the body is pro- 
 hibited issuing the case at all. Finally, the Confession 
 makes specific provision for its own amendment. Accord- 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 235 
 
 ing to the Old School construction, as the New School 
 rightly contended, the instrument could not be changed 
 at all, until after two-thirds of the ministers and elders, 
 in the whole Presbyterian body, had violated their oaths 
 of office, and forfeited all right to a standing in the 
 denomination at all. In all respects, as far as the Con- 
 fession of Faith is concerned, the position of the New 
 School was impregnable ; that instrument being not at 
 all arbitrary, but truly catholic in its spirit and prin- 
 ciples. 
 
 In respect to doctrinal issues, the New School stood at 
 the antipodes of the Five Points of high Calvinism ; * 
 denying utterly the imputation of Adam's sin to any of 
 his posterity; denying, also, that God holds the entire 
 race "as deserving His wrath and curse, not only in this 
 world, but in that which is to come," not only for the 
 one sin of Adam, but for the possession of a nature 
 which, without any knowledge, choice, or agency on 
 their part, and wholly by the generating agency of God 
 Himself, they derived from Adam ; affirming the univer- 
 sality of the atonement, of the offer of free grace through 
 Christ, and of the influences of the Spirit ; asserting that, 
 as moral agents, men are endowed with free will, by 
 which they have available power to yield to the strivings 
 of the Spirit, accept of mercy and grace through Christ, 
 and thus attain to eternal life ; that " God is not willing 
 that ANY should perish," but " will have all men to be 
 saved, and to come to the knowledge of the truth ; " and 
 finally, that the decree of election and reprobation is not 
 arbitrary, but based upon foreseen acceptance and rejec- 
 tion of free grace and mercy. The Old School in the 
 Congregational denomination rejected the doctrine of the 
 imputation of Adam's sin, and of our desert of eternal 
 
236 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 
 
 doom for a nature derived from Adam, and the doctrine 
 of a particular atonement ; but agreed with the Old 
 School among the Presbyterians in respect to the doc- 
 trine of decrees, of eternal and unconditional election and 
 reprobation, of the necessity of all human volitions and 
 choices, the real inability of sinners to accept of offered 
 grace and mercy, and the granting of the cojweriing 
 influences of the Spirit to the elect only, giving to the 
 non-elect such influences only as result in their increased 
 guilt and condemnation. 
 
 Such were the great doctrinal issues which werejoined 
 during the progress of these revivals, and which continued 
 to agitate the churches during their continuance, and for 
 years thereafter. As these revivals were everywhere 
 identified with those New School views, they, and the 
 measures by which they were promoted, became objects 
 of open opposition on the part of the Old School generally, 
 and revivals in every form everywhere disappeared from 
 these churches. Then the bitterness with which the 
 controversy was carried on by this school very generally, 
 was utterly incompatible with the indwelling and co- 
 operation of the Holy Spirit. I will present a single fact 
 in illustration. The known leader of the Old School 
 party in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana, was the pastor of 
 the first Presbyterian Church in Cincinnati. With his 
 New School brethren he, and those who sympathised 
 with him, would have no more social intercourse than 
 they would with a band of known thieves and robbers. 
 While I was living there, one of my former instructors in 
 College called upon me, and, with his wife and several 
 children, spent some days at my house. He was on his 
 way north from Mobile, where he had spent several 
 years in teaching. While there, be witnessed the death, 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 237 
 
 and presided at the funeral, of a son of Dr. W., and he 
 called upon him to express his sympathy with him in 
 his great affliction. When introduced into the pastor's 
 study, Professor Lathrop remarked that as he was stop- 
 ping for a few days with Mr. Mahan, an old pupil of his, 
 and had witnessed the death, and presided at the funeral 
 of a son of the doctor, he had called to express his deep 
 sympathy. Without even asking the stranger to take a 
 seat, the doctor promptly and indignantly replied, "I 
 have no wish, sir, to receive a call from any man coming 
 from the house where you are putting up, nor from the 
 branch of our church to which you, no doubt, belong." 
 Professor Lathrop with tears related the above facts to 
 me on his return to my house.. This is an extreme case. 
 It illustrates, however, the truth of the utterance, that 
 there is no form of fanaticism so inveterate and reiaellent 
 as the odium theologicum. 
 
 On the part of the New School, while there was no 
 disposition to compromise truth, there was the strongest 
 desire to conciliate, and co-operate in every good word 
 and work. With them, also, the exclusive appeal was to 
 the Word of God. One form of argument they did em- 
 ploy, and, as I thought, to too great an extent — the 
 argument called redtictio ad abstirdum. Mr. Finney 
 employed this argument with great power, and many 
 pastors and all the evangelists followed his example. The 
 absurdity of the leading features of high Calvinism were 
 set forth in every conceivable form, thus introducing 
 lightness into religious thought. I give a single illustra- 
 tion. In May, 1832, just after the great revivals of the 
 previous autumn and winter, the General Assembly of 
 the Presbyterian Church of the United States of America 
 met in the City of Philadelphia. The issue of national 
 
23S THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 
 
 and world interest, to be decided then, was the case of 
 the Rev. Albert Barnes, which came up for final action 
 by appeal from the decision of his Synod, a decision by 
 which he had been deposed from the ministry and ex- 
 communicated from the Presbyterian Church under a 
 charge of heresy. When it was ascertained, by the 
 election of moderator, that a large majority of the body 
 were New School, and that Mr. Barnes was safe, a 
 number of the leading New School members went 
 together one day to view the wonderful water-works on 
 the Schuylkill River above the city. These brethren 
 came from the heart of those revivals. As they were 
 standing there, one of them, taking out his pencil and 
 turning to the perpendicular rock behind them, wrote 
 upon it the couplet : — 
 
 " In Adam's fall 
 We sinned all." 
 
 Another then wrote beneath that : — 
 
 " In Abel's murder 
 We sinned furder." 
 
 A third then wrote : — 
 
 " In Tubal-Cain 
 We sinned again." 
 
 Finally another wrote : — • 
 
 " In Dr. Green 
 Our sin is seen." 
 
 Dr. Green was the known leader of the Old Schoo 
 wing of the Presbyterian Church. As a member of the 
 Assembly at the time, I deeply regretted such an occur- 
 rence, and foreshadowed, in my own mind, the loss of 
 moral and spiritual power on the part of those brethren 
 which apprehension was subsequently realised. 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 239 
 
 Under such circumstances, nothing could be expected 
 but a decline of those revivals. In the first place, re- 
 ligion itself was fatally dishonoured before the world. 
 During the meetings of that Assembly, and Avhenever it 
 met in subsequent years, the expression would be heard 
 among worldly persons throughout the city, " See how 
 these Christians love one another ! " and that exclamation 
 was everywhere repeated throughout the country. Thus, 
 within the church, and among the young converts, re- 
 ligious thought and discourse were diverted from the 
 subject of personal holiness, and saving souls from death, 
 to discussions and disputations about doctrines which 
 had in them no soul vitality. 
 
 One common and most melancholy result was, the 
 introduction among the members of the churches, among 
 the young converts especially, of the pride of doctrinal 
 knowledge. Meet a young convert then, and you would 
 hardly fail to notice in him the spirit, the " puffing up," 
 of the self-conscious theologian. All the influences around 
 him tended to induce such a spirit. " I attend church, 
 not from any good that I expect from the services, but as 
 an example to others. These ministers cannot teach 
 me: I understand the whole subject already." Such were 
 the exact sentiments, and the very words, as far as I can 
 repeat them, uttered to me, during that period, by a pro- 
 fessedly Christian woman in the city of New York. She 
 had been very active and influential in the revivals. 
 Years after that, I heard of her as a blubbering Per- 
 fectionist, practising, it was believed, the abominations of 
 the sect. Of the students collected at Lane Seminary, 
 prior to the secession already described, students coming 
 from these revivals, several of the most talented among 
 them seldom or never worshipped in any of the congre- 
 
240 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 
 
 gations in the city on the Sabbath. They simply at- 
 tended one service at the chapel, and there listened to 
 one of the feeblest preachers I ever knew. The reason 
 openly avowed by these j-oung men for their conduct 
 was, that they could receive no benefit from the discourses 
 of Dr. Beecher or any other pastor in the city. The 
 discourses of that feeble preacher, they said, were as 
 instructive and beneficial to them, as those of any other 
 preacher. They understood the whole subject. Of these 
 young men, every one, as far as I could learn, afterwards 
 made shipwreck of the faith. Only one or two of them 
 entered the ministry at all, and they soon after left it, 
 under the influence of some of the absurdities that then 
 obtained. 
 
 These are extreme cases. They show, however, the 
 tendency of the spirit, the pride of doctrinal knowledge, 
 that then prevailed in the churches, a spirit utterly in- 
 compatible with deep spirituality and growth in grace. 
 This is the spirit Avhich too often rules in the hearts of 
 graduates from our Theological Seminaries. " We are 
 the men : We are the theologians." This is the form of 
 knowledge to which Inspiration refers in the declarations, 
 "Knowledge puffeth up;" "And if any man think that 
 HE knoweth anything, he knowelh nothing yet as he 
 ought to know." No one that knows me ever supposed 
 that I undervalued doctrinal knowledge. Other things 
 being equal, our power for service in the kingdom of God 
 will be according to the extent and clearness of our 
 knowledge of Christian doctrine. Yet an individual 
 may have the most extended and accurate knowledge of 
 all the doctrines of Scripture, and be perfectly taught in 
 the sciences of matter and spirit, and yet be as blankly 
 ignorant as an idiot of that " knowledge of the Only 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 241 
 
 Living and True God, and Jesus Christ whom He hath 
 sent," which has in it the elements of "life eternal." 
 
 For the attainment of knowledge in the first form our 
 natural powers and advantages are adequate. For the 
 attainment of knowledge in the second and higher form, 
 we are as absolutely dependent upon God, as we are for 
 the pardon of sin. The one is as much a gift of grace 
 as is the other. When we would know the docinne of 
 the Divinity and incarnation of Christ, of atonement, of 
 regeneration, &c., the revealed Word is before us, and 
 even ungodly men may attain to the clearest appre- 
 hensions of such doctrines. Nor has such knowledge in 
 itself any sanctifying or life-imparting power. But v/hen 
 we would be personally "known of Christ, and know Him, 
 even as the Father knoweth Him, and He knoweth the 
 Father," when we would " know that He is in the Father, 
 and He in us, and we in Him," when we would " behold 
 with open face as in a glass the glory of the Lord ;" when 
 we would "comprehend the breadth, and length, and 
 depth, and height, and k7ioic' the Love of Christ, which 
 passeth knowledge," and be able to say, " And truly our 
 fellowship is with the Father, and with His Son Jesus 
 Christ ; " here is a form of knowledge without which, 
 whatever else we know, we are, for all effective service in 
 the kingdom of grace, as " sounding brass or a tinkling 
 cymbal;" a form of knowledge to which we can by no 
 possibility attain, but as the Spirit by supernatural illu- 
 mination enlightens " the eyes of our understandings," 
 and takes of the things of Christ, and shows them unto 
 us." Before we can possess this knowledge, and know 
 what our Saviour meant when He said, "He that 
 believeth in Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his 
 belly shall flow rivers of living water," we must be wholly 
 
 R 
 
242 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 
 
 emptied of all pride of self-knowledge and self-sufficiency, 
 recognise our absolute dependence upon Divine illumi- 
 nation, and, as " babes," seek to be " taught of God." 
 He that is conscious of mere doctrinal knowledge will 
 naturally exalt himself, and think little of others. He 
 that is really and truly "taught of God" will ever be 
 meek, humble, and teachable, and will glory only in the 
 cross of Christ, and the Spirit of Grace by Whom he is 
 made to ''know the things which are freely given us of 
 Gody 
 
 The final and inevitable result of that long-continued 
 and embittered controversy, a controver.sy which violently 
 dismembered the whole Presbj'terian church, was most 
 disastrous to the cause of vital religion. I refer to the 
 reaction which followed, a reaction which induced in- 
 diiference to truth itself, together with a prejudice against 
 discriminating teachings and elucidations of Christian 
 doctrine. Upstart preachers swarmed in the churches, 
 ■who taught the people that " true religion is not a 
 doctrine, but a life," as if there could be life, spiritual life, 
 without " a belief of the truth," and as if the real mission 
 of the true preacher and member of the body of Christ 
 were not to " contend earnestly for the faith once 
 delivered to the saints." One of the leading themes of 
 those preachers was a denunciation of creeds. When I 
 listen to such teachings, I say within myself, " The 
 preacher has in his mind an unevangelical creed, which 
 he intends to insinuate into the churches," and I never 
 yet found m3^self mistaken in any such case. For the 
 spirit of exclusion and disfellowship, " which made a man 
 an offender for a word," there thus obtained, in the re- 
 action under consideration, a miscalled "charity," which 
 fellowshipped anything that bore the name of religion, 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 243 
 
 and prepared the way for the introduction into the 
 churches of a semi-Unitarianism, Universalism, and^ 1 
 infideHty. In place of the clear, discriminating, and 
 heart-searching teachings, the thundering appeals to con- 
 science, and the impressive calls to " repentance toward 
 God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," there 
 followed a form of teaching which did, indeed, select 
 texts from the Bible, but chose subjects which lay as far 
 outside of the heart and life of the Gospel as can be 
 conceived. I once, for example, listened on a Sabbath 
 evening to a discourse from a very popular preacher of 
 this school. The text was 2 Cor. iv. 6 : " For God, 
 Who commanded light to shine out of darkness," &c. 
 " Now," I said to myself, " we shall have a ' feast of fat 
 things,' the true wine of the sanctuary." What was 
 the subject of that discourse ? The preacher selected 
 from the text the term "light," and, without an allusion 
 to any Gospel truth whatever, gave a very impressive 
 and instructive scientific analysis and exposition of the 
 properties of natural light. " That man," I said to myself, 
 " is a bastard preacher of the Gospel of Christ." Subse- 
 quent events verified that judgment. After utterlj^ 
 ruining two of our evangelical churches in two of our 
 cities, he presided for a time over a Unitarian church in a 
 third city, where he was known as a most bitter reviler 
 of revivals of religion, and of the evangelical faith. 
 After a few years, he left the ministry Avhich he should 
 never have entered. The object of such preachers was, 
 not the conversion of sinners, nor " the edification of the 
 body of Christ," but sensation, saying something which 
 would excite the wonder, surprise, and admiration of the 
 hearer. Thus was originated a form of teaching which 
 had great popularity for a time, and which a leading 
 
 R 2 
 
244 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824—1832. 
 
 member of the secular press rightly denominated " the 
 Gospel of Gush." The facts above adduced sufficiently 
 account for the decline of those great revivals. 
 
 T/ic Doctrine af Ability ^ as then taught. 
 That these causes may be fully understood, I must 
 refer to the form in which the doctrine of ability was 
 then taught. In opposition to the doctrines of natural 
 and moral inability previously taught, the New School 
 affirmed the absolute freedom of the human will. Hence 
 
 i they maintained that in the circumstances and under the 
 influences in and under "which the evil is chosen, the 
 good may be chosen; and that man, in (OTimon with 
 all rationals, has power to accept mercy, and obey the 
 requirements of God. As opposed to old error, and in 
 removing a great stumbling-block out of the way of 
 sinners, the preaching of that doctrine had great in- 
 fluence in promoting these revivals. Yet, as then taught, 
 it had in it, as half truths always have, the elements of 
 fatal error. We are free agents : but the freedom which 
 
 ■^^vve and all creatures possess is a dependent one. Of us 
 it will remain eternally true, that " we are not sufficient 
 of ourselves to think (much less do) " anything as of our- 
 selves : but our sufficiency is of God." Light and grace are 
 provided and rendered available ; by availing ourselves 
 of these we " may stand perfect and complete in all the 
 will of God." We are free to avail, or not to avail, our- 
 selves of this light and grace. Refusing or neglecting to 
 do this, we have no available power for anything but sin. 
 Teaching the doctrine of ability as an absolute and not 
 dependent power, tends to induce, not faith in God and 
 His grace, but self-assurance, self-dependence, and the 
 pride of self-sufficiency and self-righteousness. Let any 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 245 
 
 angel in heaven, or any man on earth, entertain the ideal 
 that he has, as merely possessed of free will, sufficiency' 
 in himself, and he will fall in a moment, the mereenter-> 
 taining the sentiment beingf itself a fall. 
 
 The teaching of the doctrine of ability, as it then was 
 taught, was a leading cause of the ultimate decline of those 
 revivals. No man can, by any possibility, live the life in the 
 flesh which God requires him to live, but upon the condi- 
 tion that he can say with Paul — Gal. ii. 20, as rightly trans- 
 lated by Alford — "I have been crucified with Christ ; and 
 it is no longer I that live, but Christ that liveth in me ; 
 yea, the life which I now live in the flesh I live by the 
 faith of the Son of God, Who loved me, and gave Him- 
 self for me." We may " have grace whereby we may 
 serve God acceptably with reverence and godly fear." 
 Without such grace such service is absolutely impossible 
 to us ; and we are free to accept or reject that grace. 
 "I," says our Saviour, "can of Mine own Self do 
 nothing." How infinite the presumption for us to enter- 
 tain the sentiment that we, in the mere power of our 
 own free wills, can do all the will of God, or anything 
 at all ! 
 
 Disciplining Believers. 
 
 One other error, which almost universally obtained in 
 those revivals, and which is lamentably common at the 
 present time, demands special consideration as a condi- 
 tion of understanding the real causes of the decline of 
 those revivals. I refer to the principle on which the 
 young converts and older believers who desired to lead 
 a new life, were started on the line of obedience. The 
 sum of the instruction given was this : an utter renun- 
 ciation of all sin, and, as far as possible, a full rectification 
 
246 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 
 
 of the effects of all acts of past disobedience, in the first 
 instance ; an absolute and undivided consecration of the 
 entire being and possessions to Christ, and His service 
 and glory, in the next ; and, finally, starting into the 
 future with full purpose of heart to render perfect obe- 
 dience to every indication of the Divine will. No indi- 
 vidual, I believe, ever disciplined believers so severely, 
 and with such intense and tireless perseverance, on that 
 principle, as my brother Finney, before he learned the 
 way of the Lord more perfectly. Appalled at the back- 
 slidings which followed those revivals, his most earnest 
 efforts were put forth to induce among believers per- 
 maneiicc in the Divine life. In accomplishing this, he 
 knew of but one method, absolute and fixed renunciation 
 of sin, consecration to God, and purpose of obedience. 
 During his pastorate in Chatham Street Chapel, N.Y., for 
 example, he held for weeks in succession special meetings 
 of his church for perfecting this work, and never were a 
 class of poor creatures carried through a severer process 
 of discipline than were these. Years after, as their 
 > pastor informed me, those believers affirmed that they 
 had never recovered from the internal weakness and ex- 
 haustion which had resulted from the terrible discipline 
 through which Mr. Finney had carried them, and this 
 was all the good that had resulted from his efforts. 
 
 When he came to Oberlin, and entered upon the 
 duties of his Professorship, he felt that God had given 
 him a blessed opportunity to realise in perfection his 
 ideal of a ministry for the churches. He had before 
 him a mass of talented and promising theological stu- 
 dents, who had implicit confidence in the wisdom of 
 their teacher, and with equal sincerity would follow his 
 instructions and admonitions. He accordingly, for 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 247 
 
 months in succession, gutliered together those students 
 at stated seasons, instructed them most carefully in 
 regard to the nature of the renunciation of sin, conse- 
 cration to Christ, and purpose of obedience, required of 
 them. Then, under his teachings and admonitions, they 
 would renew their renunciations, consecrations, and pur- 
 poses of obedience, with all the intensity and fixedness of 
 resolve of which their natures v/ere capable. The result, 
 in every case, was one and the same, not the new life, 
 and joy, and peace, and power that were anticipated, 
 but groaning bondage under the law of sin and death. 
 At the commencement, and during the progress of each 
 meeting, their confessions and renunciations, their solemn 
 consecrations and vows of obedience, were renewed, if 
 possible, with fuller determination than ever before. 
 Each meeting, however, was closed with the same dirge 
 song : — 
 
 " Look how we grovel here below ; " 
 
 " Where is the blessedness I knew, 
 When first I saw the Lord ? " 
 
 Or— 
 
 " Return, O Holy Dove, return." 
 
 And as they went out, not their songs of joy and glad- 
 ness were heard, but their groans became more and more 
 terribly audible. " They followed," and followed hard, 
 " after the law of righteousness, but did not attain to 
 the law of righteousness. Wherefore ? Because they 
 sought it not by faith, but as it were by the works' 
 of the law ;" that is, by self-originated efforts and deter- 
 minations. 
 
 How different from all this were the method and instruc- 
 tions and admonitions of our Saviour and His inspired 
 apostles ! " Abide," not in your own self-originated 
 
248 THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824— 1832. 
 
 renunciations, consecrations, and purposes, but "in Me, 
 and I in you." "As the branch cannot bear fruit of 
 itself, except it abide in the vine, no more can ye, except 
 ye abide in Me." When the time came for Christ to 
 assume the functions of the sacred office, in the ordinance 
 of baptism He dedicated Himself to the work which the 
 Father had given Him to do, and then, upon His knees, 
 on the banks of Jordan, " waited the promise of the 
 Father," until "the Holy Ghost came upon Him." 
 Finally, after His sojourn in the wilderness. He went 
 out upon His mission, not in the power of self-consecra- 
 tions and self-determinations, but " in the power of the 
 Spirit." At His last interview with His disciples, our 
 Saviour, having laid out before them their world-mission, 
 " commanded them that they should not depart from 
 Jerusalem, but wait the promise of the Father." "In 
 prayer and supplication " they " with one accord " did 
 wait until " the Pentecost was fully come," when " they 
 were all filled with the Holy Ghost," and went forth 
 upon their mission, as Christ did upon His, " in the 
 power of the Spirit." From that good hour, there was 
 no going backward, no inquiries for the blessedness 
 they knew when first they saw the Lord," no want of 
 strength to " fly or go, to reach eternal joys," and no 
 want of grace to "abound unto every good work." " God 
 was their everlasting Light," and from their inner being, 
 as Christ had promised, there continuously welled out 
 " rivers of living water." Two revealed facts clearly dis- 
 close the inspired method of strengthening and confirm- 
 ing the faith of converts and believers of every class. 
 When Peter and John had come down to Samaria, what 
 did they do with the young converts there ? Did those 
 inspired men stir up and exhort them to sin-renuncia- 
 
THE GREAT WESTERN REVIVALS, 1824 — 1832. 249 
 
 tions, consecrations, and purposes of obedience, or to 
 self-determined resolutions and efforts of any kind ? 
 Those men of God were better taught than to adopt any 
 such course. On the contrary, they prayed for those 
 converts, " that they might receive the Holy Ghost," and 
 continued in prayer and the laying on of hands, until 
 they did " receive the Holy Ghost." When Paul met 
 certain disciples at Ephesus, what was his great inquiry 
 of them, and what were his efforts in their behalf.'' 
 " Have ye received the Holy Ghost, since ye believed ?" 
 "And when Paul had laid his hands upon them, the 
 Holy Ghost came on them." Then, and not before, did 
 he " enter with them into the work of the Lord." When 
 will the Church and her teachers heed inspired example 
 and teaching 7 
 
 Brother Finney and his teachings at that time were 
 right as far as they went. In the absence of a total 
 renunciation of self and sin, a full and entire consecra- 
 tion of the entire being and possessions to Christ and 
 His kingdom and glory, and a hearty acceptance of the 
 will of God as the absolute law of the present and future 
 activity, the Holy Ghost will never be received. But if 
 the convert or believer stops short with such renuncia- 
 tions, consecrations, and purposes, he Avill never advance 
 a step in the direction of his purposes, but will remain, 
 amid his broken resolutions, a groaning prisoner under 
 the law of sin and death. Following out, on the other 
 hand, the inspired method, "his light will go forth as 
 brightness, and his salvation as a lamp that shineth." 
 
CHAPTER Xn. 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS AS PRESIDENT OF 
 COLLEGES. 
 
 Some thirty years of my life have I spent as President of 
 Colleges. When a student in College, I had distinctly 
 upon my mind the impression, that much of my future 
 life would be spent in connection with such institutions. 
 I accordingly from the beginning made them the subject 
 of special study and reflection. Questions like these 
 early rose in my mind: What is the reason, or cause, of 
 the lawlessness of the College student ? Why is College 
 life a period of such peril to the morals of the student ? 
 Why do young men glory in doing, as students in 
 College, what they would no more think of doing, as 
 citizens at home, than they would of perpetrating 
 robbery upon the highway What is the cause of the 
 constant collisions between College classes .'' What cause 
 originated, and still perpetuates, among College students, 
 the barbarous and demoralising practice of hazing 1 
 Why do unsocial and often hostile relations exist between 
 the student and Faculty Why is it that when a 
 student commits a crime, not only against College, but 
 equally against civil and moral law, it is considered 
 flagrant dishonour in a fellow-student to make known to 
 the Faculty the perpetrator, or to testify against him 
 During my College life, for example, several of the 
 
REFLECTIONS AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 251 
 
 students, entertaining a deep contempt for one of the 
 tutors who occupied an upper room in our large College 
 hall, brought up from the village an unmounted cannon, 
 and having loaded it with a dangerous amount of com- 
 mon powder, placed it with a slow match before that 
 tutor's door. When the explosion occurred, the cannon 
 burst into fragments, several lives were endangered, and 
 several hundred dollars' damage was done to the build- 
 ing. Inquiry being made for the perpetrators, about 
 one half of the students signed a written covenant, that 
 they would not give any testimony, anywhere or in any 
 form, by which the relations of any student to that 
 event should be disclosed. Among those who signed 
 that paper were several candidates for the ministry. One 
 of these, as a minister of the Gospel, afterwards married 
 our President's daughter. Such, very extensively, is 
 College life. 
 
 One other question then pressed upon my mind ; 
 namely, the causes of the hostile relations which often 
 exist between the students and the community around, 
 the labouring classes especially. We had been but 
 a short time in England, when we noticed in a shop 
 window a lithographed picture, bearing a title of this 
 import, " University Life at Oxford." I had before me 
 the representation of a noble-looking student engaged 
 in a fist fight with a low Irish labourer, the manifest 
 object of the student being mere sport. Anywhere but 
 in connection with the University such student would 
 have been ashamed to show his face in good society, after 
 engaging in such a fight. 
 
 The conclusion which forced itself upon my mind, in 
 view of such strange facts, was, that their origin and 
 cause are to be found wholly in the unnatural and 
 
252 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 irrational relations into which the student is forced, on 
 his entrance into, and continuance in, College or Uni- 
 versity life. I am not well informed in respect to 
 established customs, and modes of government, which 
 obtain in English, Scotch, and European Universities 
 generally. One fact, however, becomes manifest to the 
 slightest observation, as you approach such institutions. 
 You know at once the student and the citizen of the 
 same age, and distinguish the one from the other by 
 the di-css of the former, a dress which from head-gear 
 downwards is as unnatural and uncivilised as can well 
 be conceived. This unnatural distinction in dress may 
 be properly assumed as representing the real distinction 
 between the life of the student and citizen, and as mark- 
 ing the life of the former as a comparatively lawless 
 period of existence. There are probably quite as many 
 clerks and apprentices as students in Oxford and 
 Cambridge : why are not the former as well as the 
 latter class required to distinguish themselves, even by 
 their dress, from all other citizens ? Certainly there are 
 just as valid reasons for caste distinctions in one case as 
 in the other. What a monkish relic of the Dark Ages 
 is the idea, that a necessary preparation for giving form 
 and direction to citizen life is, in the case of candidates 
 for the sacred ministry especially, the spending of ten or 
 twelve years, the formative period of their lives, in a 
 state of caste separation from the forms of life, to give 
 character to which is their subsequent life-mission ! 
 " Never touch water, until you have first learned to 
 swim," seems to be the principle which determines the 
 student's entire preparation for citizen life. And such 
 an unnatural and arbitrarily constrained life cannot fail 
 to be usually a lawless form of life. 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 253 
 
 We now turn to a consideration of American Colleges 
 and Universities, with whose regulations and usages I 
 have had a long personal acquaintance. I will introduce 
 what I have to say upon this subject, by a reference to a 
 few facts of experience at my first entrance upon College 
 life. When, at the ringing of the College bell, I entered 
 the chapel for evening prayer, having never in my life 
 before heard of a religious meeting in which the 
 attendants were seated in accordance with caste dis- 
 tinction, T took the first vacant seat that presented itself, 
 and with due reverence attended to the accustomed 
 exercises. I noticed, however, that several frowning 
 faces among the students v/ere turned upon me. As I 
 left the chapel, I was rudely admonished by mehibers of 
 the upper classes that I ought to have known my place 
 as a member of the Freshman class. On inquiry, I found 
 that the following were the fixed regulations in regard 
 to the general gatherings of the students. The Faculty 
 occupied seats directly fronting and facing the students. 
 Next in front of the Faculty the senior class occupied 
 seats appropriated to their exclusive use. Next behind 
 the seniors sat the juniors, then the Sophermores, and 
 at the back of all the Freshmen. When the students 
 were seated in chapel for any public exercise, and were 
 waiting the entrance of the Faculty, this fixed law 
 obtained. On the entrance of the member of the 
 Faculty who should first come in, whether President, 
 Professor, or Tutor, the entire body of the students were 
 required to rise, and stand until the individual referred 
 to had taken his seat. The same was required of each 
 class on the entrance of the teacher into the class-room. 
 The unvarying result of such required custom was, that 
 whenever an unpopular Tutor or Professor was first to 
 
254 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 enter the chapel, he would be saluted with "scraping" 
 by nearly one-half of the collected students. Thus a 
 spirit of lawlessness was perpetually nourished in the 
 College. A fixed order of dispersion, also, obtained at 
 the close of all our public exercises. The students would 
 rise and stand until the Faculty had passed out. The 
 latter would be followed, first by the senior, and then by 
 the junior, and so on to the Freshman class, a respectful 
 distance having to be observed between the rear of one 
 class and the front of that next in succession. Here was 
 a fruitful cause of frequent collisions between the classes, 
 the caste distinction between them being rendered per- 
 petually visible to all minds, and acts of rudeness, real or 
 imaginary, very often arising between individuals in the 
 rear of one class, or in the front of the other, during the 
 egress. Permit me here to state a single illustrative fact 
 which was told me by an eye-witness. In a leading 
 eastern College in which each class had its duly elected 
 bully, a rather violent collision occurred between the 
 rear of the Sophermore and the front of the Freshman 
 class during their egress from the chapel at the close of 
 evening prayer. A hostile meeting of the bullies of the 
 two classes was thus occasioned. During the encounter 
 the bully of the upper class was knocked down, and 
 mercilessly mauled, until he lay in a state of perfect 
 helplessness upon the floor. Thus, and by other means 
 by which caste distinctions between the classes are ren- 
 dered perpetually visible, permanent rivalries and hos- 
 tilities are generated among them, rivalries and hostilities 
 giving rise to hazing, and other practices disgraceful to 
 our literary institutions. 
 
 Let us now turn in another direction. At our first 
 recitation on the first Monday morning after our College 
 
255 
 
 life commenced, my name was called. On my signifying 
 the fact that I was present, the Tutor informed me that I 
 was marked as " tardy " at prayers on such an occasion. 
 On my replying that I did not know what was meant by 
 the charge, I was informed that on the occasion referred 
 to I entered the chapel after the reading of Scripture was 
 commenced, which was contrary to College law. My 
 ignorance was accepted as a valid excuse, and never 
 afterwards was a chapel delinquency noted against me 
 for which a valid and accepted reason was not rendered. 
 I then learned that each class was under the surveillance 
 of a monitor, whose function it was to note all absences 
 or cases of tardiness on the part of each member, and to 
 make a weekly report of the same. 
 
 Take one other case. Soon after we were settled in 
 our rooms and studies, at a study hour, we heard a 
 single tap at our door. Before we had time to respond, 
 the door was opened, and a member of the Faculty just 
 showed his face, touched his hat, and, without uttering 
 a word, retired, closing the door after him. " What does 
 that mean, room-mate } " I exclaimed. On inquiry, |^we 
 learned that the occupants of every roonl in the College 
 Halls were, at every moment during study hours of each 
 day and evening, liable to such calls, it being a fixed 
 arrangement that each member of the Faculty in his 
 turn, from the President downwards, was to make such 
 calls at the rooms of all the students. The object was 
 to keep the students in their rooms and at their studies 
 during such hours. In the case of the absence of any 
 student from his room, or the presence of any one who 
 should not be there, the assumed delinquentwas required 
 to call at the room of the President, Professor, or Tutor, 
 and explain himself. No custom could be adopted more 
 
256 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 sure to induce lawlessness among the students than such 
 a one as this. As soon as the intruder had left, under 
 the assurance that the call would not be repeated that 
 day, all the rogues in College would immediately be 
 collected together in different rooms, and have a merry 
 time of it. 
 
 At our entrance into College, also, a code of laws, the 
 distinct and formal items numbering some one hundred 
 or more, according to my recollection, was put into the 
 hands of each student, and a pledge exacted of him that 
 he would render strict obedience to every such item. 
 For myself, I never read the code through. Discovering, 
 as I readily did, the routine of duties which fulfilled all 
 law, I followed this from principle, and of course 
 graduated with the reputation of having been through- 
 out a perfectly law-abiding student ; and this was the 
 only principle on which such a reputation could have 
 been acquired. The individual who attempts conformity 
 to a hundred external rules, will be, of necessity, a con- 
 tinuous violator of not a few of them. 
 
 The relations of the student to the members of the 
 Facult}- demand special notice. I have already referred 
 to the deference demanded of the former, when any one 
 of the latter entered the chapel or recitation room, and 
 to the continuous surveillance of the Faculty over the 
 students by means of monitors, and personal calls at 
 their rooms during study hours, a surveillance by which 
 the student was perpetually treated as a lawless creature, 
 void of moral principle, and one who would never do as 
 he should but when under the suspicious e3'es of his 
 superiors. Then, in our walks, whenever we met a 
 member of the Facult}', President, Professor, or Tutor, 
 we were required to do to him what we did to nobody 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 257 
 
 else — to give him the inside of the walk, to lift our hats, 
 and to bow in special and reverential recognition. When 
 calling upon him at his room for any reason, seldom 
 Avould Ave be invited to take a seat. Standing before him, 
 hat in hand, on the contrary, we would present our peti- 
 tion, while he, sitting in formal dignity before us, would 
 listen to our requests, and, having given a favourable or 
 unfavourable response, would magisterially bow us out of 
 his room. In addressing him we were required to give 
 him his full title, as President, Professor, or Tutor, while 
 we were addressed with the simple cognomen of Mahan, 
 Jones, Parker, &c. All was ordered so as to render per- 
 petually visible to the student, and to keep him odiously 
 conscious of, his relations of inferiority to his superiors. 
 
 The above are mere examples of the arbitrary and 
 unnatural laws, customs, regulations, and usages to 
 which the student was forcibly subjected on his entrance 
 into College life, laws, regulations, and usages which 
 have no existence anywhere but in such institutions. 
 This I affirm, without fear of contradiction, that laws, 
 regulations, and customs so arbitrary, so contrary to 
 fixed usage everywhere else, and which inflict such 
 continuous violence upon all the natural instincts and 
 palpable rights of universal human nature, tend to 
 nothing good, and can induce nothing but " evil, and 
 only evil, continually." Subject the student to arbitrary 
 rules which render perpetually visible to his mind invi- 
 dious caste distinctions between College classes, which 
 render him perpetually conscious of a suspicious sur- 
 veillance of monitors and the Faculty, as if he were an 
 unruly animal that must be fenced in by walls which he 
 cannot leap or climb over, and which compel him to a 
 continuous show of formal deference to all the members 
 
 s 
 
258 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 of the Faculty, a deference which he is not expected to 
 manifest towards the most venerable personages known 
 in the community and world around ; and if that student 
 does not become utterly lawless in his relations to 
 the institution and community, it will be because no 
 influences can thus deprave him. Such were the con- 
 victions Avhich took definite form in my mind during 
 my College life, and which subsequent experience and 
 observation have fully confirmed and verified. 
 
 J/y OTiJJi Experience and Observations as President 
 of Colleges. 
 
 The reader is now prepared to consider and appreciate 
 the results of my own experience and observations, of 
 thirty years' continuance, as President of Colleges. I had 
 an experience in the last common school which I taught, 
 which threw much light upon my mind in respect to 
 the spirit and principles which should have supreme 
 place in the government and control of all institutions 
 of learning. All the schools which I had previously 
 taught had been,, in the judgment of my employers, a 
 marked success. Conformed as their conduct was to old 
 and established methods, the conviction matured in my 
 mind that I had essentially erred, and I felt a strong 
 desire to manage one school upon totally different prin- 
 ciples from those which commonly obtained. "When 
 accordingly I first called my school to order, and had 
 finished reading Scripture and prayer, I addressed my 
 pupils to this specific eflfect : " You know, my dear pupils, 
 as well as I do, all of you, from the oldest to the 
 youngest, the duties which I owe to you as your teacher, 
 and which you owe to me, to yourselves, and to one 
 another, as scholars under ray tuition. I am here, as 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 you well know, to perfect you, as far as I am able, in the 
 studies assigned you, and you are here, as you are dis- 
 tinctly aware, for one purpose, to perfect yourselves, as 
 far as you can, in your knowledge of those studies. The 
 rules and only laws to be known in this school are just 
 what we all know perfectly we should do. When your 
 conduct shall accord with what you know perfectly that it 
 should be, you will violate no rule or lav/ of this school, 
 but will do all that is expected or required of you." 
 When I had finished my address, I saw that good will and 
 a fixed purpose of obedience were distinctly written upon 
 every countenance. During the first intervals of study, 
 the scholars, as I was afterwards informed, talked the 
 matter over among themselves. " Now," they said, "we 
 have a teacher that knows his business, and we must do 
 all we can to meet his expectations." And this was done. 
 No scholar, with two slight exceptions, did an act which 
 did not meet my approval. There were, in the school, 
 several lads, of from twelve to sixteen years of age, who 
 were of the most lawless character known in the com- 
 munity. Two of them, in open school, united in a 
 terrible fist fight against their teacher, during the winter 
 school that next succeeded mine. Yet no scholars could 
 be more industrious in study, or more respectful to a 
 teacher, than were all these lads during the entire period 
 while they were under my instruction. When the term 
 was about half through, the two youngest lads in the 
 school, each being some five or six years of age, talked 
 the matter over between themselves, and concluded that 
 as no scholar had, thus far, been admonished or punished, 
 in any form, for anything he had done, they would not 
 be punished for anything they might do, and hence 
 determined to do as they pleased. Seeing them rudely 
 
 s 2 
 
26o 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 whispering and sporting together, I requested them to 
 desist. They stuck out their lips towards me, and 
 laughed in my face. A hand of each of them promptly 
 felt the weight of a ferule, until each was fully convinced 
 that there was in the school authority which would be 
 promptly enforced whenever lawlessness should appear. 
 Until within two or three days of the close of the school 
 the conduct of even these lads was all that I desired it to 
 be. Then one of them, the other being sick at home, con- 
 cluded that now he could do as he pleased, and began the 
 same lawless and impudent course as before. Again he 
 felt the weight of the ferule, and to the end industry 
 and order were the exclusive law of the school. The 
 result was what I had planned — perfect order, such pro- 
 ficiency in study as I had never witnessed before, a life 
 friendship between myself and pupils, and an extensive 
 revival of religion, in which, not only most of the elder 
 scholars, but many in the community around, were 
 gathered into the kingdom of God. Such, I said to 
 myself, are the principles in conformity to which all in- 
 stitutions of learning should be governed. Such govern- 
 ment should be throughout, not arbitrary, but parental. 
 All caste distinctions, in all required public gatherings of 
 students, should disappear entirely. No visible surveil- 
 lance, as if the student was continuously suspected of 
 lawlessness, should exist. No arbitrary and formal marks 
 of respect should be required by the Faculty from the 
 students, but such as are expected in the best society 
 everywhere. Nor should any rules and regulations be 
 imposed upon the student, but such as his conscience 
 fully approves as demanded by the circumstances and 
 relations in which he is, for the time being, located. 
 Such were the convictions which had attained to full 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 261 
 
 maturity in my mind when I was called to the Presidency 
 of Oberlin College. 
 
 In assuming the Presidency of this Institution, I found 
 myself called to preside over a college constituted in 
 fundamental particulars wholly unlike any other that 
 then existed, or ever had existed in the history of the 
 race. The number of students in attendance, during the 
 fifteen years of my Presidency, varied from five to eight 
 hundred, or upwards. As constituted, the College con- 
 sisted of a Preparatory department, — that of College 
 proper, with the four usual classes, — a Shorter Course 
 for gentlemen, on the one hand, and ladies on the other, 
 who did not desire to take the Classical Course, — and the 
 Theological Department, all under one and the same 
 Faculty. Our pupils were of both sexes, and of all 
 colours and nationalities who might choose to come to 
 us. The College stood before the world as the uncom- 
 promising representative and advocate of the inalien- 
 able rights of human nature, especially as violated and 
 trampled down by the institution of slavery. In addition 
 to all these unusual facts, the College early became, 
 principally through its President and Professor of Theo- 
 logy, the visible representative of the doctrine of the 
 Higher Life. 
 
 An institution thus constituted, and representing such 
 principles, such an institution rising into sudden promi- 
 nence before the national mind, could not fail to attract 
 universal attention and discussion, nor escape, for a time 
 at least, very deep and general reprobation. And so it 
 was. Probably no other institution was ever, during the 
 early years of its existence, so much talked and written 
 about, and against, as this. Educators in other Colleges 
 and Universities spoke out, and recorded their solemn 
 
262 
 
 EXPERIEKCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 protests against the principles on which the College was 
 based, affirming that the attempt at the co-education of 
 the sexes, and the commingling of 3'outh without dis- 
 tinction of sex, race, or colour, was fatally demoralising, 
 and would ere long render the institution a disgrace to 
 human nature. The press, secular and religious, took 
 up the strain, and warned parents against subjecting 
 their sons and daughters to the demoralising influence 
 of such an institution. Nor was the pulpit, north or 
 south, east or west, silent upon the subject, but fully 
 echoed the voice of educators and the press. It was 
 under such circumstances that I entered upon my duties 
 as President of tbat College, and did so with an im- 
 mutable determination that it should be governed upon 
 principles as diverse from those which obtained in other 
 Colleges as its organisation was from that on which 
 those were based. It may be a matter of interest to the 
 reader to be informed of some of the principles to which 
 I here refer. 
 
 Principles and Methods of Government mid Control 
 -which -were adopted at Oberlin. 
 
 I. First of all, my fixed purpose was, that Christian 
 thought and influence should be the supreme and all- 
 regulating principle of the Institution. As a means to 
 this end, the presence of both sexes rendering it prac- 
 ticable, I determined that, under one of the best and 
 most spiritually-minded teachers that could be found, 
 sacred music should be carried to its highest perfection, 
 so that all our social gatherings, our public worship on 
 the Sabbath, daily religious services, and all our pra3-er- 
 meetings, should be constantly under the most deeply 
 spiritual influence, even all our common recitations 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 263 
 
 being commenced with a short prayer, or a devotional 
 hymn. This end was fully carried out. The great 
 musical composer and singer, Mr. Thomas Hastings, on 
 visiting Oberlin, remarked, that we had, without ques- 
 tion, the best choir and the most perfect sacred music in 
 the United States. Thus, all the exercises of the Institu- 
 tion had one common aim and influence, — the salvation 
 of the impenitent, and the spiritual advancement of 
 believers. 
 
 2. That the government of the Institution should be, 
 in the strictest sense, paj-etital., no formal show of respect 
 and veneration being required of the student towards the 
 members of the Faculty, and no visible surveillance being 
 exercised over the students through monitors, or by the 
 intrusion of the Faculty into their rooms. 
 
 In one of the first meetings of the Faculty which I 
 attended, after I assumed my duties as President of the 
 College, this question was submatted to me by my asso- 
 ciates : " Would it be proper that a student of the Pre- 
 paratory Department" (an extreme case being selected), 
 " who has occasion to speak to you, the President of the 
 College, should address you as ' Brother Mahan ' ?'' All 
 the members of the community at Oberlin were accus- 
 tomed to address one another as "brother" or "sister," 
 as the case might be. It seemed to my associates, who 
 had been educated in eastern institutions, that such 
 forms of address should not be allowed to students when 
 addressing members of the Faculty. Hence the above 
 question. My reply was, that the answer to that ques- 
 tion depended upon the answer to be given to another of 
 the same kind, to wit : " Would it be proper for a person 
 of the same age, and not a member of the Institution, 
 thus to address me " This settled the matter, and no 
 
264 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 attempt was afterwards made to introduce arbitrary 
 rules regulating the intercourse of the students with the 
 Faculty. Instead of having monitors to note the atten- 
 dance of students at required public gatherings, we made 
 each student his, or her, own monitor, giving weekly 
 reports at some recitation of their relations to their 
 required duties. We depended upon the knowledge 
 which the student evinced of his lessons in the recitation 
 room for evidence of his diligence in, or neglect of, his 
 duties in study hours. 
 
 3. In all required general gatherings of the students 
 for religious or other purposes, and in all other arrange- 
 ments of the Institution, no distinction of departments 
 or classes should be visible. In all such gatherings, 
 pupils and spectators were to be seated promiscuously, 
 like people elsewhere on public occasions. The only 
 distinction ever to be made was, that the gentlemen and 
 ladies should occupy separate seats. 
 
 4. Throughout the entire educational course, the 
 students, male and female, should be habituated to the 
 constant exercise of a prayerful and efficient influence for 
 the conversion of the impenitent, and the edification of 
 believers, and for the promotion of every good cause. 
 Our candidates for the ministry especially were en- 
 couraged to the constant use of their faculties in all 
 forms of exhortation and preaching, as opportunities pre- 
 sented. They were particularly instructed and admo- 
 nished to avail themselves of every opportunity to pro- 
 mote revivals of religion wherever they might be. At 
 the commencement of each term, accounts would be 
 given of hundreds of conversions in schools taught by 
 pupils of both sexes, and of various forms of labour 
 engaged in by them, during the winter vacation. Thus, 
 
265 
 
 when our students left us for permanent labour, they 
 found themselves ready, made ready by previous training, 
 for the work to which they were called. The habit 
 which so generally obtains of deferring active labour, 
 exhortation, and preaching especially, until education is 
 finished, is the grand reason why so few ministers ever 
 learn how to preach to, and work among, the people. 
 
 5. The code of laws adopted should be such as would 
 require nothing but what the student should approve as 
 indispensable to the good order of the Institution. When 
 our code was prepared, and before it was printed, it was 
 accordingly read in public assembly to all the students, 
 and received their unanimous and hearty approval. 
 From the beginning, let me add here, the penalty of 
 expulsion was attached to every case in which members 
 of one sex should visit any of those of the other at their 
 rooms. In other respects, their social relations were left 
 to be regulated by the public sentiment in the College 
 and community, as in good society elsewhere. Such was 
 the plan which I had deliberately formed for the govern- 
 ment and control of the College, and which was cordially 
 adopted and carried out by the Faculty. We are now 
 prepared to present the results of this new plan of 
 governing a College, carried out under such new and 
 seemingly unpropitious circumstances. Among these 
 results, I designate the following as the most important. 
 
 The Results. 
 
 I. The constant presence and all-controlling action of 
 what may be properly denominated a revival influence 
 among all classes of the students. During the fifteen 
 years of my Presidency at Oberlin, and a corresponding 
 period in which I presided over the College at Adrian, no 
 
266 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 one year passed in which we were not favoured -with at 
 least one revival of great power, a work of grace in which 
 a majority of our impenitent pupils were hopefully con- 
 verted, and the spirituality of believers visibly advanced. 
 A religious atmosphere thus encircled the Institution, 
 and, without any appearance of constraint, gave character 
 to the conversation and deportment of the students. 
 
 2. In the sphere where the worst results were so gene- 
 rally predicted, the opposite results were, in all respects, 
 the most conspicuous. I refer to the experiment of the 
 joint education of the sexes in all departments of liberal 
 education. We found that the presence o'f individuals 
 of both sexes, in the class room, at the tables in our 
 dining halls, and in all our public gatherings, was, un- 
 consciously to all concerned, as it is in families and in 
 the community generall}', an all-constraining incentive 
 to diligence in study, purity of thought and conversation, 
 and general propriety of behaviour everywhere. Take 
 a simple illustrative fact. The Principal of the Ladies' 
 Seminary at Geneva, N.Y., once visited Oberlin. By 
 invitation of our Lady Principal, the visitor for several 
 days took her meals at the tables in our large dining 
 hall. Here the stranger, her presence not being sus- 
 pected except by a very few of the pupils, had the best 
 possible opportunity to inform herself of the real cha- 
 racter of the deportment of the young people at those 
 tables. After her return to her own Institution, she 
 made this statement in a letter to our Lady Principal : 
 " On my return, I said to my associates, that there was 
 far more perfect propriety of conversation and behaviour 
 among those two hundred young people of both sexes at 
 those tables in that boarding hall at Oberlin, than we 
 could secure at our tables among seventy young ladies 
 
267 
 
 from the best families in the community and State 
 around us." Such was the unvarying testimony of 
 visitants at Obcrlin and Adrian College in regard to the 
 general conduct of our students. 
 
 To enlarge on this subject is wholly unnecessary, as the 
 results of the experiment under consideration are now 
 " known and read of all men," and are visible to all the 
 world in the changes which have been and are being- 
 effected in our Colleges and Universities throughout 
 Christendom, as well as in the general relations of woman 
 in society. " Knowing that shortly I must put off this 
 my tabernacle," I here record the conviction that I have 
 no occasion to be ashamed to have it universally known 
 that I am the first man in the history of the race who 
 conducted woman through a full course of liberal edu- 
 cation, and conferred upon her the degrees of A.B. 
 and A.M. 
 
 3. One other result I here record with the deepest 
 satisfaction. In neither of the Colleges over which I 
 presided was there any such thing known as an act of 
 hazing, or a collision, or hostile sentiment between 
 students in different departments or classes. Nor was a 
 complaint ever heard of a want of due respect being 
 shown by members of higher towards those in lower 
 classes or departments, nor of disrespect to any member 
 of the Faculty. Such mock cognomens as were common 
 in other colleges, " Old Prcx," " Uncle Tid," or " Little 
 Prim," were never heard among us. 
 
 4. The relations of the students to the community 
 around require special recognition. The social influence 
 of the co-presence of the sexes in the Institution induced 
 among the students a spirit and habits of thought and 
 conversation which rendered them at home with all 
 
268 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 classes of the community around, and generated a lasting 
 friendship between the pupils and the people. Nothing 
 like prejudice or hostility or collision of any kind ever 
 occurred between these two classes. What greatly 
 strengthened these bonds was the total absence of any 
 intrusion, on the part of the students, into the orchards, 
 gardens, or fields of the families around us. The general 
 absence of all disposition to mischief and disorder among 
 the students was one of the most marked characteristics 
 of the Institution, as noticed by visitants of all classes. 
 Dr. Parker, for example, who was subsequently President 
 of Union Theological Seminary, said to his friends in 
 New York city, after visiting Oberlin, " I do not won- 
 der that they believe in Perfection there ; everything 
 seems to be so completely controlled by religious in- 
 fluences. They appear to be singing themselves away 
 to heaven. Such music I never heard in ni}' life, as I 
 everywhere heard when in that place ; and the music 
 was all of a deeply spiritual character. The genial 
 spirit of the students was evinced by the fact that I 
 found the young men cultivating a friendship with the 
 birds in the trees and groves around them, those birds 
 flying down among the youth, and feeding upon the 
 crumbs which the latter would throw out to their con- 
 fiding visitants.'' This was all true. As I was passing 
 one day to Tappan Hall to attend a recitation, I saw a 
 group of young men standing together beside my path. 
 Stopping to see the reason of their being together, I 
 saw one of them in front of the rest, with a little bird 
 sitting quietly upon his forefinger. This was the object 
 at which all were looking. As the young men dispersed 
 the little bird flitted away, and joined its chirping com- 
 panions. 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 269 
 
 While I was President of Adrian College, Dr. Patten, 
 then editor of T/ic [Chicago] Advaticc, and now President 
 of Howard University, spent a Sabbath and several days 
 in Adrian. In the account which he subsequently gave 
 of his visit in T//e Advance, he made these statements 
 in regard to the College : " When I visited the College, 
 I felt, while there, that the Millennium had begun, so 
 pervaded and controlled was that Institution by a Chris- 
 tian influence of the most spiritual character. One of 
 the facts which most deeply interested me, was the 
 account which the Pastor of Plymouth Church gave me 
 of the relations of the students to the families around 
 them, and of the deep and abiding friendship which 
 existed between the pupils and the people ; none of the 
 latter entertaining a suspicion of any injury done to any 
 of their possessions by any of the former. Directly in 
 front of the large hall occupied by the male students, 
 and on the opposite side of the street, was located a five- 
 acre lot, owned by the pastor referred to. This, being a 
 corner lot, was fronted on each of two sides by a main 
 road, down one of which the students always passed on 
 going to the city. In this lot was fruit of a character as 
 perfect as was known in the State, such as the apple, 
 pear, peach, cherrj', grape, and small fruits of various 
 kinds. Yet that pastor assured me, that he had not the 
 remotest suspicion that any student had ever intruded 
 himself into that lot, or had clandestinely taken from it 
 a particle of fruit. The only seeming intrusion that, 
 as he believed, had ever occurred, he witnessed with his 
 own eyes. On going up to the College one day, he 
 found some half-dozen of those young men in his lot. 
 They were running in every direction, brandishing 
 clubs, and shouting at the top of their voices. The 
 
270 
 
 occasion was this : a herd of unruly cattle, passing 
 along, had broken down his fence, it being a rail one on 
 that side, had rushed into his lot, and were doing much 
 damage there. These young men, on perceiving the 
 mischief which was being done, left their hall, and, club 
 in hand, drove out the intruders, carefully repaired his 
 fence, and then returned to their usual duties. At such 
 an intrusion, the only one ever suspected, no offence 
 was taken." Such was the testimony which visitants 
 to these Institutions bore away when they departed. 
 
 5. The proficiency of our students in their studies, let 
 me add, corresponded with the good order which per- 
 vaded the Institution. While fervency of spirit cha- 
 racterised the piety, diligence in study was an equally 
 marked characteristic of the habits of our students. The 
 presence of individuals of both sexes in the recitation 
 rooms was a constant unconscious constraint upon each 
 young man and young woman not to appear there 
 ignorant of his or her lessons. Hence it was that the 
 orations of our students, orations delivered at the time of 
 their graduation, uniformly surprised and highly gratified 
 the great congregations which always assembled on such 
 occasions, on account of the maturity of thought and 
 ripeness of scholarship which those addresses evinced. 
 One year, for example, we graduated a class numbering 
 some twenty individuals, each of whom delivered an 
 oration at our Commencement. The same year, the 
 class that graduated at Yale College numbered upwards 
 of one hundred. Out of this large class, some twenty of 
 its best members, selected by the Faculty, delivered 
 addresses at the time of their graduation. Judge 
 Whittlesy, a graduate of Yale, and admitted by all who 
 knew him to be one of the best judges in such cases in 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 271 
 
 Northern Ohio, attended first the Commencement 
 exercises of that College, and then those at Oberlin. 
 The judgment which he pronounced was this, that the 
 performances of the twenty individuals, constituting the 
 entire graduating class at Oberlin, evinced a maturity of 
 thought, ripeness of scholarship, and perfection of mental 
 discipline, much superior to that displayed in the per- 
 formances of a corresponding number of the best mem- 
 bers of the class of more than one hundred at Yale. 
 Such facts speak for themselves. 
 
 6. In no Institution in the world was real freedom, 
 independence of thought and discussion, more fully 
 induced among students than among us. In all depart- 
 ments of the Institution, and on all subjects, the student 
 was taught to receive nothing upon trust, to admit as 
 true on any subject no dogma or theory not scientifically 
 verified, and to exercise the most perfect freedom of 
 inquiry and discussion before all his teachers. The 
 allowance of such perfect freedom and independence to 
 the student gave us the most free and ready access to his 
 mind, rendered him thoroughly open to conviction on 
 the presentation of valid evidence, and thus laid a foun- 
 dation in his mind for a rational and immovable faith 
 in the " glorious Gospel of the grace of God." Infidelity, 
 and systems of " science falsely so called," could not 
 maintain a standing among us, because they were clearly 
 and undeniably unmasked before all minds as resting 
 upon no foundations more substantial than banks of sand. 
 As a teacher of mental and moral philosophy and natural 
 theology, individuals holding every variety of sentiment 
 and form of belief then known came under my instruc- 
 tion. All such individuals were allowed and encouraged 
 in the use of the most perfect freedom in setting forth 
 
272 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 and offering their strongest reasons, before me and the 
 class, for their beliefs, and in questioning any position I 
 might assume. No one ever complained of being em- 
 barrassed, or treated with disrespect, when exercising 
 such freedom. Yet, as I believe, I never graduated an 
 infidel. This free exposure of ail false systems, and con- 
 sequent revelation of the eternal foundations on which 
 God's truth rests, was a chief cause of the prevalence of 
 Christian influence, and of the evangelical faith in its 
 purest form, in the Institution. 
 
 7. I will now speak, at one and the same time, of an 
 ideal under which our pupils of all classes were educated, 
 and of the benign results of education under its influence; 
 an ideal which was present in my mind during all the 
 years in which I had pupils under my care. In truly 
 sanctified minds, as I apprehend the subject, there is the 
 total absence of all pride of caste, station, sphere of 
 labour, and employment, on the one hand ; and a perfect 
 readiness to make tents, work as a carpenter, supply the 
 needs of ourselves and of those with us with our own 
 hands, and that in any kind of honest labour to which 
 God in His providence may at any time call us. The 
 only question before such a mind will be, '' By what 
 means, and in what sphere, can I best serve God and my 
 generation ? " The true saint of God will be in the 
 world as Christ was in the world, "as one that serv^eth." 
 As an infant He lay as quietly and acquiescently in a 
 manger as He would have done on a bed of down. For 
 the first thirty years of His life, after He was able to 
 labour. He sustained Himself, and helped to support His 
 mother's family, " by the sweat of His brow," and that 
 in a sphere of low-caste labour in human regard. "Is 
 not this the carpenter " Yet, while it was His Father's 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 273 
 
 will that He should continue there, He was just as much 
 at home in that humble occupation as He is now when 
 seated with the Father on His throne. Such was the 
 lesson, and the only lesson, taught in that wonderful 
 transaction recorded John xiii. i — 17: "So after He 
 had washed their feet, and had taken His garments, and 
 was set down again, He said unto them. Know ye what 
 I have done to you ? Ye call me Master and Lord : and 
 ye say well ; for so I am. Tf I then, your Lord and 
 Master, have washed your feet ; ye also ought to wash 
 one another's feet. For I have given you an example, 
 that ye should do as I have done to you. Verily, verily, 
 I say unto you. The servant is not greater than his lord ; 
 neither he that is sent greater than he that sent him. 
 If ye know these things, happy are ye if ye do them." 
 
 This Avas the spirit of Paul and of all the apostles, and 
 of the primitive Church. None were more ready to 
 visit the sick, " wash the saints' feet," and do any service 
 to which love called them, than were delicate and royally 
 educated ladies. This, I am absolutely assured, is the 
 spirit of heaven. Were Gabriel called of God to take a 
 human body and dwell among men, and, during his resi- 
 dence here, were he to be brought into circumstances in 
 which, for a time, he could gain his daily bread only by 
 labouring as a shoeblack, he would be just as content in 
 thus labouring as he is now in "standing before God." 
 This I affirm, because it was the spirit most prominent 
 in the life of Christ when He " was made flesh, and 
 dwelt among us." One question Avas ever present in 
 His mind : " In what sphere and form of work can I 
 most fully accomplish the work which the Father gave 
 Me to do ? " 
 
 It was in conformity to this ideal that we aimed to 
 T 
 
274 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 educate our pupils of all classes ; and the manual labour 
 ■which then almost universally obtained in Oberlin, was 
 of a class most favourable to insure the end we aimed at. 
 As a consequence, our brightest 3'oung ladies, and those 
 ■who afterwards attained to the highest spheres of influ- 
 ence and usefulness, did most to sustain themselves, 
 while acquiring their education, by taking in washing, 
 and doing service as house-servants in families. By 
 labouring with all willingness and fidelity at any kind of 
 work which came to their hands, teaching school, by 
 agencies, and labours in the churches, during our long 
 winter vacations, our young men worked their way 
 through a nine years' course of preparatory, liberal, and 
 theological education. Having occasion myself to emplo}'', 
 during our terms of study, numbers of these young men, 
 I was accustomed to join them, and especially when any 
 dirty work " was to be done. No apology was ever 
 made. Its necessity made every form of labour honour- 
 able. 
 
 It was this one feature of the Institution, together 
 with its religious influence, that saved it from being 
 utterly wrecked during the crisis through which it passed 
 a few years after my Presidency commenced. In conse- 
 quence of a great fire in New York city, our entire 
 endowment fund was swept away, amounting to eighty 
 thousand dollars. In consequence of the general com- 
 mercial collapse throughout the country, we lost most of 
 a subscription which amounted to nearly a hundred 
 thousand dollars, and found the College burdened with 
 an indebtedness amounting to about fifty thousand 
 dollars. Our hopes were sustained by a donation sent 
 us just at this crisis by the Hon. Garrit Smith, consisting 
 of upwards of two thousand dollars in money, and a 
 
275 
 
 deed of some thirty thousand acres of land in Western 
 Virginia. But the occurrence which saved the College 
 from a total wreck, and insured for it a permanent exist- 
 ence, was this ; the land referred to proving to be not so 
 valuable as had been supposed. At this time William 
 Dawes, Esq., living at Hudson, Ohio, the location of a 
 College of that name, visited and spent a Sabbath with 
 us. As he approached the place, he passed a company 
 of men at work on the highway, making necessary 
 repairs ; a company consisting, as he learned on inquiry, 
 of students from the College, with their President in 
 their midst, labouring as diligently and willingly as any 
 of his pupils. " This," said the visitant to his com- 
 panions, "is in strange contrast with the spirit which 
 prevails among the Faculty and students at our College, 
 and all others with which I am acquainted, and appears 
 like primitive Christianity revived. On the Sabbath, he 
 saw with wonder and gratitude with what power the 
 Spirit of God was working among believers and the 
 unconverted. So deep was the impression made upon 
 his mind by all he saw and heard, that, before he left, he 
 called upon our treasurer, and expressed the assurance, 
 that in a few days he would send us a reliable subscrip- 
 tion, amounting to from two to three thousand dollars. 
 Within the time specified, he did bring us such a sub- 
 scription, the amount appended to his own name being, 
 according to my clear recollection, one thousand dollars. 
 The result of negotiations immediately entered upon 
 was, that that man of God closed up his large and very 
 prosperous business, removed his family to Oberlin, and 
 devoted his time and talents, without a salary, to the 
 College. The consequence was, that the Institution was 
 sustained during that crisis ; that in a few years every 
 
 T 2 
 
276 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 item of that great debt was paid off, and a permanent and 
 prosperous life was insured to Oberlin College. At one 
 time, in company with Rev. John Keep, Mr. Dawes 
 visited Great Britain, and sent us over from thence 
 upwards of thirty thousand dollars. Had not the Lord 
 sent us this one man, and so wonderfully " endued him 
 with power " for his Avork, Oberlin to-day would be 
 among the things that were ; and what induced him to 
 make such sacrifices, and endure such labours, was the 
 spirit and principles which peculiarised the Institution. 
 
 The character and influence of the young men and 
 women who went out from us were a living exempli- 
 fication of the spirit and principles in which they had 
 been educated. For many years, those who went out 
 as preachers could receive no patronage from any of the 
 existing missionary societies, home or foreign, and 
 popular churches were closed against them. Yet they 
 all found ready work to do, and by their great zeal for 
 Christ, and fruitful ministrations, ultimately subdued 
 existing prejudices, and all because God was with them, 
 and worked with them. 
 
 The reader would be misled, if he should infer from 
 what is written above, that we never had any disorderly 
 students among us. We had occasion, from time to 
 time, to exercise discipline, never, however, in a single 
 instance, for the special form of immorality which was 
 predicted as the certain result of the co-education of 
 the sexes. Discipline was promptly exercised in case of 
 disorderly conduct of any kind ; and what peculiarised 
 its exercise among us was, that it was always visibly 
 countenanced and upheld by the all-pervading public 
 sentiment of the Institution. Idleness and disorder 
 of every kind were held in reprobation among the 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 277 
 
 Students, as theft and robbery were in the community 
 around. 
 
 I have often affirmed in years past, and now put upon 
 record, the absolute belief that no place in the wide 
 world is so favourable to the moral and religious culture 
 and well-being of our youth of both sexes, as is a College 
 or University, supervised throughout as such institutions 
 may and should be ; and, on the other hand, no respect- 
 able place is more perilous to the moral and religious 
 well-being of our youth than so-called religious insti- 
 tutions, when supervised as such institutions too com- 
 monly are. A College or University under a President, 
 Professor, and Teachers, who have a mastery of the 
 sciences they are required to teach, and are, at the same 
 time, " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," as that 
 man of God, Tholuck, was, will seldom graduate an 
 infidel or impenitent student, or an individual whose in- 
 fluence in every sphere will not be " as ointment poured 
 forth." A College or University, on the other hand, 
 under the supervision of a President and Instructors who 
 " have a name to live, and are dead," is " a whited 
 sepulchre," a place where moral degeneracy and unbelief 
 are likely to develope in the pupil, and where real con- 
 versions and effective moral and religious culture are 
 well-nigh impossible. 
 
 I here put on record a second time what I once wrote 
 in regard to Professor Tholuck, in order to set forth my 
 ideal of what every instructor, in a religious institution 
 especially, is under obligations, infinite and eternal, to 
 be. The article was entitled Tholuck^ the Secret of his 
 Power. 
 
 " The name of Tholuck is, throughout Christendom, as 
 ' ointment poured forth.' To his influence, more than 
 
278 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS 
 
 to any other visible cause, must be assigned the reintro- 
 duction into the German Universities, and into the 
 general German mind, of the principles and spirit of the 
 Evangelical Faith. The forms of influence which he 
 exerted were manifold, and in every sphere his success 
 was pre-eminent. In the domain of philosophy, general 
 science, and literature, as an expositor of the Sacred 
 Word, and as a preacher of the everlasting Gospel, no 
 contemporary, or very few, excelled him ; and in every 
 sphere of thought and activity, his entire aim and in- 
 fluence had one and the same fixed direction, the 
 advancement of the cause of Christian truth. To the 
 same end was all his social influence directed. ' It was 
 not,' says a writer in the A^cw York Christiati Advocate, 
 ' simply in the lecture room, the pulpit, and the printed 
 page, that he won victories for the Master. Personal 
 intercourse with the student was his moit marked 
 characteristic. His house, modest and unpretending, was 
 ever the home of the undergraduates. He was not 
 satisfied unless ihc}^ were at his table. And in his 
 daily, memorable Avalks, they were his inseparable and 
 most loved companions. He well merited the title of 
 "student-Professor," in distinction from the so common 
 mere book-Professor. And his favourite dictum is still 
 quoted : " Rather with the licentiates than with the 
 Professors : rather with the students than with the 
 licentiates." He lived with his beloved pupils. A great 
 number date their new life from these never-to-be-for- 
 gotten walks and talks with the ardent, soul-loving 
 Professor Tholuck.' 
 
 " But what was the source and cause of this wonderful 
 devotion and influence ? We are able to give the 
 answer in Professor Tholuck's own words. We quote 
 
AS PRESIDENT OF COLLEGES. 
 
 279 
 
 again from the same writer : ' At the j ubilee held in 
 Halle in his honour, in celebration of the fiftieth year of 
 his immortal life-work, when multitudes came together 
 from all parts of the land, and congratulations were 
 received from every class, including the emperor upon 
 the throne ; upon this memorable occasion, the world- 
 honoured teacher made this memorable declaration : 
 " T/iai all his success in life had been oiving io the 
 baptism of fire (Fcuergcist) which he received at the very 
 commencement of his public career, and to the principle 
 of love that seeks and folloiusy ' 
 
 " A Tholuck, in each of our higher schools, colleges, 
 and universities, would, in the language of this writer, 
 ' rescue many a lost youth, and save him to society, to 
 the Church, and to heaven.' A Tholuck, we add, in each 
 of our pulpits, a preacher, we mean, under the same 
 ' baptism of fire,' would soon move the Church and the 
 world heavenward. A single Church, under this ' bap- 
 tism of fire,' will, ' through God, pull down the strong- 
 holds ' of sin all around her. When the Church, in all 
 her real membership, shall come under this mighty bap- 
 tism, as she will do by-and-by, then ' the Gentiles will 
 come to her light, and kings to the brightness of her 
 rising,' and the earth will soon be ' full of the knowledge 
 and glory of the Lord, as the waters cover the sea.' 
 Never, since the eclipse of the primal glory of the 
 Church, has there been such an extensive inquiry after 
 this baptism as now exists in all the evangelical churches 
 throughout Christendom. In all directions we hear of 
 facts like the following. Several weeks since, a large 
 band of Christian workers in this city, a band, self-moved 
 by a conscious want of power, and wholly in private, 
 spent the hours of each evening of an entire week, Sun- 
 
28o 
 
 EXPERIENCE AND REFLECTIONS. 
 
 day excepted, the hours from ten to twelve o'clock, in 
 prayer together for one single object, this ' baptism of 
 fire.' A friend who spent one evening in that ' upper 
 room,' said to us, that it did seem to him, while there, 
 that Pentecost had come again. Such as these are the 
 ' bright lights ahead ' which are everywhere gladdening 
 our vision." 
 
 Had I the ears of the Professors in our Theological 
 Seminaries, I would say to them. What God most de- 
 sires in you, what is demanded in you as the immu- 
 table condition of the discharge of your high functions 
 as the teachers of God's truth, what is indispensable to 
 the required moral and spiritual culture of your pupils, 
 and what the immortal well-being of the Church and the 
 Avorld imperiously requires of you, is the personal recep- 
 tion on your part of this "baptism of fire."- 
 
CHAPTER Xlir. 
 
 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 The reader is aware that for some eighteen years subse- 
 quent to my conversion, I dwelt in the dim twilight of a 
 semi-faith, where "the light is as darkness," and then 
 rose into sunlight, where for more than fort3'-six years my 
 "sun has not gone down, neither has my moon with- 
 drawn itself," where " at evening time there is light," 
 and where doubts and fears, and clouds and darkness do 
 not intervene between the face of God and the face of the 
 soul. Of the leading characteristics of my experience 
 during these two distinct periods of my Christian life, I 
 have given an account sufficiently full and explicit in the 
 work which has been for some years before the public, 
 entitled, Out of Darkness into Light. It is not my in- 
 tention to repeat here what I have so fully written out 
 there. I have, as I judge, had a sufficiently lengthy 
 abode in each of these states, and have been sufficiently 
 self-reflective while in each to be able to state distinctly 
 the elements and characteristics common to the two, and 
 wherein they stand in contrast to each other. Both in 
 common I regard as genuine forms of Christian expe- 
 rience. On this subject not a shadow of doubt rests upon 
 my mind. Nor, after the most careful and prayerful 
 research, has a doubt crossed my mind, for more than 
 sixty years past, of my acceptance with God. Being 
 
2S2 THE TM'O PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAX LIFE. 
 
 genuine forms of Christian experience and life, there 
 muit be elements and characteristics common to the two, 
 and at the same time peculiarities on account of which 
 the one stands in most impressive contrast to the other. 
 It is to these elements of resemblance and contrast that 
 I would now invite the very special attention of the 
 reader, 
 
 I. This resemblance and contrast, I remark in the first 
 place, appear with ver}' impressive distinctness in the con- 
 scious relations of the mind to sin on the one hand, and 
 to /wliiicss on the other. I am not, and cannot be, con- 
 scious that my "love of righteousness and hatred of 
 iniquity " have been more sincerely genuine during the 
 past forty-six years than they were during the preceding 
 eighteen years of my Christian life. ]More than sixty- 
 three years have now passed since I first knew Christ as 
 my Saviour. During all this period this conviction has 
 been omnipresent in my mind, that for sin in anj' form, 
 or for any form of disobedience to the Divine Will, when 
 made manifest to the mind, through the Word, the Pro- 
 vidence, or the Spirit of God, there is absolutely no 
 excuse, but infinite criminalit}- ; that while in sin, or dis- 
 obedience in an}- form, the soul is subject to the death- 
 penalt)', and can be restored to a state of justification 
 only by doing again " its first work," the exercise of 
 " repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 Christ." In every act of sin, as I have ever held and 
 taught, the law itself is broken, and its whole penalty is 
 incurred ; .and it is only when we have a sacred " respect 
 for ALL God's commandments," that we shall not be put 
 to shame before Him. Hence I have ever held and 
 taught that no one who habitually indulges in any 
 known sin, or lives in the neglect of any known duty, 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 285 
 
 can by any possibility be a Christian at all. The habitual 
 aim of my Christian life throughout has, consequently, 
 never been lower than, or diverse from, this, the avoidance 
 of al/ sin, on the one hand, and to stand perfect and 
 complete in all the will of God,'' on the other. Nor 
 have I ever allowed the conviction of sin to lie upon my 
 conscience unrepented of, or unforgiven ; and " repen- 
 tance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus 
 Christ," have ever been prompt and sincere, the moment 
 the conviction has been induced. Nor have I ever 
 shunned prompt confession and reparation of wrong, 
 whoever may have been sinned against. There can be 
 no genuine Christian experience and character where 
 these fundamental characteristics are wanting. Nor in 
 any instance has my character or reputation been in the 
 least tarnished by a single immoral word or act. There 
 has also been an equal carefulness to avoid all forms of 
 action and indulgence which may be regarded as of a 
 doubtful character. I have never, for instance — and I 
 commend my example to the devout regard of every one 
 who would be a Christian in truth — I have never, in a 
 single instance, attended a theatre, circus, race-course, or 
 dancing saloon. Nor have my thoughts or feelings ever 
 been in the least degree corrupted by looking into 
 impure literature of any kind. In these respects I have 
 found grace to " keep myself pure." I write thus, not 
 boastingly, but that I may not be misunderstood when I 
 speak of sinning ''daily in thought, word, and deed." 
 
 Such being the common elements and characteristics 
 of these two states, in what respects, it may be asked, do 
 they differ and stand in impressive contrast to each 
 other.' In one most essential respect the contrast be- 
 tween them is as that between deepest midnight and 
 
284 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAX LIFE. 
 
 cloudless noon. I refer to the distinct and opposite 
 sentiments and expectations entertained in these states in 
 respect to sin. Regarding it, as I did, while in the former 
 state, as a revealed certainty that everj- saint, while in the 
 bod}', will sin, and sin " daily, in thought, word, and 
 deed," and that '' from no grace received in this life " can 
 an)' believer escape the certainty' of thus sinning, I just 
 as much expected to sin. and to fall when tempted, as I 
 expected to put off this my tabernacle," when " the 
 time shall come for me to die.'' The entertainment of this 
 expectation was, in that state, regarded by all Calvinistic 
 churches as a fundamental article of the Evangelical 
 Faith ; the opposite expectation being reprobated as a 
 most subversive error. 
 
 "WTiat, on the other hand, have been the sentiment 
 and expectation in respect to sin, and obedience to the 
 will of God, which have been ever present in the new form 
 of life which I have led during the past fortj'-six years ? 
 The)' have been, in all respects, the opposite to those 
 entertained on the subject during the preceding period. 
 I now regard it, and have so regarded it during this 
 second era of ray Christian life, as a most perilous error 
 to entertain the expectation of sinning in any form. I 
 no more expect to sin, or violate the law and will of God, 
 in any one form, than I do in any other. On the other 
 hand, I regard this expectation of sinning, and of not 
 " standing perfect and complete in all the will of God," 
 as absolutely and specifically prohibited in the Bible. If 
 this expectation is not absolutely prohibited, and the 
 opposite expectation as absolutely required, in the fol- 
 lowing precept, no one, we may safely affirm, can get 
 any real meaning out of it : '' Likewise reckon ye also 
 j-ourselves to be dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 285 
 
 God through Jesus Christ our Lord." Whatever may be 
 regarded as the meaning of this passage, such has been 
 the fixed construction which I have put upon it and other 
 kindred passages, during all the period under considera- 
 tion. Hence, I repeat, I no more expect to sin or to 
 disobey in any one form than I do in any other. I ask 
 what is prohibited to me on the one hand, and positively 
 required of me on the other, with but one expectation — 
 absolute rejection of the one, and perfect compliance with 
 the other. 
 
 Such were the distinct and opposite sentiments and 
 expectations entertained, in these two periods, with 
 respect to sin and holiness, obedience and disobedience to 
 the will of God, and in each my experience fully accorded 
 with my faith. Entertaining the sentiment, and holding it 
 as a revealed truth of God, that I should " sin daily in 
 thought, word, and deed," I did, in fact, thus sin, and lived 
 continuously in a state of heart-condemnation. I did, 
 in prayer, say, " Wash me, and I shall be whiter than 
 snow ;" and, "Make me perfect in every good work to 
 do Thy will." Entertaining the sentiment that no such 
 petition will be fully met in this life, and that it is a 
 perilous error to think that it will be, of course I did not 
 " ask in faith, nothing wavering," but " staggered " at 
 God's ''exceeding great and precious promises," all of 
 which present specifically to our faith " salvation to the 
 uttermost." Prayer for sanctifying grace thus became 
 an unmeaning and faithless service. As a consequence, 
 instead of " receiving anything from the Lord," that is, 
 instead of "receiving the petitions desired of Him," 
 "leanness entered into my soul," and " my bands were 
 made strong." Nothing can induce such painful weak- 
 ness and desolation in the Christian heart as con- 
 
286 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 tinuous prayer for what we inwardly think God never 
 did, and never will, give, and what we regard as a 
 perilous error to expect to receive. Prayer itself, under 
 such influences, " a burden proves," and that of necessity. 
 As all purposes of full obedience — and I never formed 
 any other — were formed with the distinct expecta- 
 tion that they would not be kept, they were broken, of 
 course, upon "every stone of stumbling" which I en- 
 countered. What a bog life I led during those eighteen 
 years, stumbling here, floundering there, sinning and 
 repenting, and starting on the line of new obedience but 
 to "lay again the foundation of repentance from dead 
 works ! " " Faint, yet pursuing," was the motto which I 
 often applied to the life I was then living. Instead of "going 
 from strength to strength," how often was I oppressed with 
 a conscious want of power to " fly or go to reach eternal 
 joys ! " I looked into " the perfect law of liberty," and 
 how intense was my desire to enter and " continue there- 
 in," and with what a groan would the thought then come 
 over my mind, " The law is holy, and the commandment 
 holy, and just, and good ; but I am carnal, sold (a bond 
 slave) under sin " ! In such a state, the sentiment, not of 
 " the liberty of the sons of God," but of cheerless, 
 groaning servitude, becomes the leading consciousness of 
 life, a consciousness expressing itself in the despairing cry, 
 " O wretched man that I am ! who shall deliver me from 
 the body of this death ? " 
 
 This sense of bondage becomes most oppressive when 
 the " hunger and thirst after righteousness " become 
 most intense and all-engrossing in the mind. To all 
 eternity I shall never, as it seems to me, be able to forget 
 an experience which I had upon this subject, on one 
 single occasion. In consequence of the position which I 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 287 
 
 had, as a minister of Christ, and trustee of Lane Semi- 
 nary, been forced to take, or violate my conscience, in 
 regard to slavery, and the laws which the trustees had 
 passed prohibiting all discussion of the subject among 
 the students of the Institution, I was, as I have stated, 
 not only insulated from all my former Christian associa- 
 tions, outside of my own church and people, but became 
 an object of almost universal public contempt and reproba- 
 tion. Under such circumstances, one desire took supreme 
 possession of my whole being, the specific desire to be 
 saved wholly from sin, and to become "pure in heart." 
 When alone with God, with the deepest sincerity and 
 fervency of spirit, I said to Him in just these words, that I 
 was willing, if need be, to be alone in the world, and to be 
 *' as the offscourings of all things," provided I could re- 
 ceive from my Father in heaven one boon, — the gift of a 
 pure heart, and the consciousness of the same. If He would 
 grant me this one blessing, I would accept of any allot- 
 ment in the future of life, any allotment He might assign. 
 Can any one conceive the thick gloom which came over 
 my whole being, as the sentiment which I then regarded 
 as a revealed truth of God stood out before my mind, 
 that what was then to me the one supreme object of 
 desire, never was, and never will be, given to, or attained 
 by, any believer, until after death has separated the soul 
 from the body ? Such is the experience of the believer, 
 at his best estate, when walking in the dim twilight of a 
 semi-faith, in which the first eighteen years of my Chris- 
 tian life were spent, that dry and desert land in which 
 the mass of believers are now wandering, praying for, 
 and aiming at, what, as they suppose, God requires them 
 to believe they never will and never can obtain in this 
 life. 
 
288 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 No one, who has not experienced the same, can con- 
 ceive the change which occurred in my entire inner 
 being, when the conviction, verified to the mind as an 
 expressly revealed truth of God, opened with full dis- 
 tinctness upon my mental vision, that it is not the 
 pleasure, plan, or purpose of God, that the believer in 
 Jesus shall be "carnal, sold under sin ;" that at his best 
 estate he shall find himself subject to " a law that, when 
 he would do good, evil shall be present with him," a law 
 which holds him in groaning bondage ; but that, in 
 "calling us to be saints," "God has called us," not to 
 bondage, but " to liberty," not to be the servants of sin, 
 but "the Lord's freemen," and, as the blood-bought sons 
 and daughters of the Lord the Almighty, to " stand per- 
 fect and complete in all the will of God." The entrance 
 of this blood-verified truth into my mind was to my 
 paralysed and semi-alive moral and spiritual powers what 
 the words, " Lazarus, come forth," were to that decaying 
 body in that opened sepulchre. In a moment, I rose 
 up and walked, walked *' forth out of darkness into light, 
 out of servitude into liberty," and out of "sorrow and 
 sighing" into ever-enduring "joy and gladness," just as 
 " he that had been dead came forth," at the word of 
 Christ. All my groaning experiences during those years 
 of dim twilight were now reversed. I looked upon the 
 sacred page, and found these living words written there, 
 " Sin shall not have dominion over you ; for ye are not 
 under the law, but under grace ; " and I said in my heart 
 of hearts, " By the grace of God, sin shall not have domi- 
 nion over me." I looked again, and read the soul- 
 inspiring words : "Likewise reckon ye yourselves to be 
 dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." I obeyed the command, and "the 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 289 
 
 law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus did set me free 
 from the law of sin and death." On those slippery places 
 where my feet had ever slid before, I now find my feet 
 " set upon a rock, and my goings established." In the 
 dread conflicts with the world, the flesh, and the devil, 
 where previously I had ever suffered defeat and been 
 taken captive, " T am now more than conqueror," through 
 Him that " loved me, and gave Himself for me." Re- 
 garding it as the will of God that I should "go and sin 
 no more," and distinctly recognising the fact, that " I 
 am not sufficient of myself to think," much less do, 
 "anything as of myself, but that my sufficiency is of 
 God," in a state of total self-renunciation, I commit the 
 keeping of my soul to Him who has revealed Himself to 
 me, as " able to keep me from falling," and I am thus 
 "kept by the power of God through faith unto salva- 
 tion." On entering into this "new and living way," 
 weakness is exchanged for strength, sighing for singing, 
 and groaning servitude for " the glorious liberty of the 
 sons of God." 
 
 II. But the resemblance and contrast under considera- 
 tion become especially manifest, when we refer to the 
 subject of justification^ on the one hand, and sanctificatio7z, 
 on the other. As far as the subject of justification, or 
 the pardon of sin, is concerned, my views of the nature of 
 the blessing, and the conditions of its attainment, have 
 remained unmodified, during the more than sixty years 
 of my Christian life. A perfect unity of mind and judg- 
 ment obtains, also, among all evangelical believers on 
 this one vital subject. "Repentance toward God, and 
 faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," is the condition, 
 sine qua non, imposed upon the creature. Justification 
 then follows, as an act of God, and passes wholly within 
 
 u 
 
290 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 the Divine Mind. Justification, also, is never partial, 
 but always absolute, and wholly perfected in one and 
 the same completed act, which is never again to be 
 changed or repeated. So I have ever regarded the sub- 
 ject. Hence '"the strait gate, and the narrow way," 
 to acceptance with God, when under the consciousness 
 of sin, has ever since I knew it been perfectly plain 
 before my mind, and I have never erred therein. 
 
 As far as the matter of sanctification is concerned, 
 utterly distinct and opposite views and sentiments had 
 place and full contrast in my mind during the two 
 periods under consideration. Sanctification, as very 
 commonly understood, and as I apprehended it during 
 the first eighteen years of my Christian life, is the result 
 of the united action of the mind of the believer, and of 
 the Spirit of God, is to be expected only by gradual 
 approach, little by little," and is never perfect until 
 death. The common sentiment upon the subject is 
 correctly represented by the following passage from an 
 address of a distinguished minister on an important 
 public occasion : " How," inquired the speaker, "are we 
 to make progress in the Divine life 1 • I answer, by hard 
 labour. How are we to become sanctified ? By hard 
 labour. How are we to grow in grace ? By hard labour. 
 How are we to obtain an answer unto our pra3-ers ? ■ By 
 hard labour," &;c. In my eflforts to become holy, or to 
 attain to a state of sanctification, I made a full consecra- 
 tion of myself to Christ, and started forward with the 
 purpose of full obedience, seeking, at the same time, 
 co-operating grace to render my efforts successful. In 
 doing this, I expected no higher result than a gradual 
 approach, little by little," towards a state of full obe- 
 dience. In short, in seeking justification, when conscious 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 291 
 
 of sin, my exclusive dependence was upon the ^race of 
 God in Jesus Christ. In seeking sanctification, on the 
 other hand, my first dependence was upon my own 
 resolutions or purposes of obedience and personal efforts, 
 the grace of God and the influence of the Spirit coming 
 in to second and sustain these purposes and efforts. 
 
 In respect to the dispositions and propensities, pi-ayer 
 and effort were exclusively in one fixed direction, not the 
 eradication of evil tempers and appetites, and the implan- 
 tation, in their stead, of new and divine ones, but the 
 holding all sinful promptings in subjection. An evil 
 temper or appetite, as I then regarded the subject, and 
 as it is commonly regarded, will remain as a part of our 
 nature until death, and is to be warred against, and held 
 in subjection, as an internal hostile force. This was, and 
 is, called by many " the Christian warfare." 
 
 The result of such seeking, and purposes, and efforts,- 
 may readily be anticipated. No sensible progress was 
 made, not even " little by little," in the matter of growth 
 in grace, or any higher spiritual attainments. Evil 
 tempers and dispositions, whenever subjected to strong 
 temptation, instead of being themselves overcome and 
 held in subjection, uniformly " warred against the law of 
 the mind, and brought me into captivity to the law of 
 sin, which was in the members." In being thus over- 
 come, instead of being " more than a conqueror," the 
 habit oi falling when tempted was constantly strengthened 
 rather than weakened, and the consciousness of servi- 
 tude became more and more deep and depressing. Hence 
 the cry, " O wretched man that I am," and the " aching 
 void " left by the loss of the blessedness known during 
 the period of the first love. 
 Such being the conscious facts of my inner life, I said 
 u 2 
 
292 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 to myself, years before I knew " the brightness of the 
 Divine rising," " I must have missed my way some- 
 where, and by the grace of God I will, and I must, find 
 ' the way of holiness ' which God has cast up for the 
 redeemed of the Lord to walk in." 
 
 At length, when my mind and heart had, by the Spirit 
 of God, been fully prepared to receive the revelation, 
 " in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye," the great 
 mistake of my previous Christian life, together with the 
 secret of attaining to the full fruition of " the glorious 
 liberty of the sons of God," became perfectly manifest to 
 me. I When conscious of my need of justification, or the 
 pardon of sin, I had sought the blessing by faith as 
 
 j wholly a gift of grace. When conscious of my need of 
 sanctification, I had regarded it as an attainment to be 
 
 j reached through personal effort, aided by the Spirit of 
 
 ( Grace. Here is a fundamental mistake in a matter of 
 most vital interest. Sanctification is a gift of grace in 
 the same sense, and attainable on the same condition, 
 that justification is. Justification is an ac^ of God, an 
 act by which our sins are remitted, and we restored to a 
 legal standing before Him, as if we had never sinned. 
 Sanctification, on the other hand, is a ivoj-k wrought in 
 us by the Holy Spirit, " a renewing of the Holy Ghost " 
 
 (by which " the body of sin is destroyed," that is, evil dis- 
 positions and tendencies are " taken out of our flesh," and 
 we are made " partakers of a Divine nature." We have 
 ''no more direct and immediate agency in sanctification 
 than we have in justification. Each, with equal exclu- 
 siv'eness, is, I repeat, a gift of grace, and each is vouch- 
 safed on the same condition as the other. " If we con- 
 fess our sins. He is faithful and just to forgive us our 
 sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness," the 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 293 
 
 forgiveness and the cleansing being each here expressly 
 conditioned upon the same identical act on our part. 
 The same holds true everywhere and in all cases. We 
 are burdened with the consciousness of sin. The pro- 
 mise of pardon, and the condition on which the promise 
 is to be fulfilled, are before us. To comply with the con- 
 dition is our part in the transaction. The condition 
 being complied with, our responsibility in the matter is 
 at an end. The prerogative of pardon is with God. 
 
 It is God that justifieth." How are we to obtain the 
 grace of sanctification In illustration, I cite the fol- 
 lowing promise, Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27 : " Then will I 
 sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean : 
 from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I 
 cleanse you. A new heart also will I give you, and a 
 new spirit will I put within you : and I will take away 
 the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an 
 heart of flesh. And I will put My Spirit within you, and 
 cause you to walk in My statutes, and ye shall keep My 
 judgments, and do them." Three great blessings, in all 
 fulness, are here specifically promised ; namely, full and 
 perfect cleansing from all sinful dispositions, tendencies, 
 and habits; an equally full and perfect renewal, "the 
 gift of a new spirit," and " a heart of flesh," in the place 
 of the heart of stone which " had been taken out of the 
 flesh;" and the "gift of the Holy Ghost," by Whose 
 indwelling the believer is " endued with power " for 
 every good word and work, and perfected in his obedience 
 to God's statutes and judgments. 
 
 The reader will notice that every item of this promise 
 stands before us as the exclusive work of God. "I will 
 sprinkle," &c. How may this promise be fulfilled in the 
 experience of the believer ? We find the answer in the 
 
294 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 thirty-seventh verse of this same chapter : " Thus saith 
 the Lord God ; I will yet for this be inquired of by the 
 house of Israel, to do it for them." To come to God by 
 Jesus Christ, to have these things done for us, is our 
 part in the matter of sanctification. This revealed con- 
 dition being complied with, God vindicates His trust- 
 worthiness by doing in us the work which He has bound 
 Himself by promise to accomplish ; that is, " He saves to 
 the uttermost," " sanctifies wholly," and "preserves the 
 whole spirit, and soul, and body blameless unto the 
 coming of our Lord Jesus Christ." We enter God's 
 " highway," " The Way of Holiness," by this one gate, 
 and none can enter by any other. We enter " by faith," 
 and " we walk b}' faith " after we have entered. Sancti- 
 fication and justification being both in common, and with 
 the same exclusiveness, gifts of God, the one is just as 
 instantaneous as the other. Sanctification is one thing ; 
 " growth in grace " is quite another, and the latter is 
 conditioned on the former. Growth is not recovery, 
 recovery from natural, mental, or spiritual disease, but 
 the development and expansion of healthy powers and 
 susceptibilities. Christian virtue must be in a healthy 
 or perfect state, before it can have any but a sickly, 
 deformed, and dwarfish growth. On this subject the 
 teachings of the sacred Word are absolute. " Unto 3-ou 
 that fear My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise 
 with HEALING in His wings : and ye shall go forth, and 
 grow up as calves of the stall." First, the healing, 
 restoration to health, or sanctification ; then growth, 
 "growth in grace." This is God's order. If we seek 
 growth before health, or mistake the former for the 
 latter, we shall grow in feebleness, instead of "going 
 from strength to strength." Sanctification, like the 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 295 
 
 forgiveness of sin, being exclusively the gift of God, is, 
 as I have said, instantaneous. Growth, on the other 
 hand, being the result of the co-operative agency of the 
 spirit of man and the Spirit of God, is progressive, and 
 eternal in continuance. 
 
 "Old things passed away, and all things became new," 
 in the entire sphere of Christian thought, inquiry, and 
 experience, when the truth under consideration opened 
 with full-orbed distinctness upon my mind. The bright 
 shining of this great truth shed the clearest sunlight 
 upon "the Highway of Holiness," making perfectly 
 manifest the reasons and causes of all my former failures, 
 on the one hand, and the secret of Divine success, on 
 the other. When, with a humble, self-renouncing, and 
 trustful heart, " God is inquired of to do it for us," He 
 has bound Himself by absolute promise to do two things 
 for us — to justify us freely by His grace, and to " sanctify 
 us wholly ; " each being equally with the other a gift of 
 grace, and the one as exclusively as the other God's 
 Divine work, and He being just as able and trustworthy 
 to do the one as to do the other. Each is alike possible 
 with God, and equally possible to him that believeth. 
 
 Sanctification, like pardon, I have found in experience 
 to be an instantaneous work. Propensities which, from' 
 childhood up, and not less during the first years of my 
 Christian life than during my impenitency, had had 
 absolute control Avhen strongly excited, in a moment lost 
 utterly and for ever their power, being superseded by aj 
 new and right spirit of an opposite character. If I ^m 
 conscious of anything, I am conscious of being, " by the 
 cross of Christ, crucified to the world, and the world to 
 me." Nor was this crucifixion a long or a painful 
 process. When a penitent, self-renouncing, fully con- 
 
296 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 secrated, and trustful soul has put itself into the hands 
 of Christ for pardon, or for cleansing, "a short work will 
 the Lord make," and an equally short one in each case. 
 The work of the Spirit in soul-renewal is in revealed 
 accordance with the " working of the mighty power 
 which He wrought in Christ, when He raised Him from 
 the dead," and is consequently as instantaneous and all- 
 efficacious in the former as it was in the latter case. 
 
 III. The resemblance and contrast under considera- 
 tion become still more distinct and palpable when we 
 refer to the apprehensions entertained, in these two 
 forms and periods of the Christian life, in respect to the 
 offices and functions of the Holy Spirit. All evangelical 
 believers regard the Holy Spirit as the Author of con- 
 viction of sin, of regeneration, and as working in the 
 believer for his sanctification. When He has convicted 
 the sinner of "sin, of righteousness, and of judgment," 
 and has completed the work of regeneration. He then, 
 as is commonly supposed, by a gradual process, " little 
 by little," carries forward the work of sanctification, per- 
 fecting it at death, and never before. In revivals of 
 religion, and at special periods of the Christian life, the 
 influences of the Spirit are expected in special power. 
 To be "filled with the Spirit" is to receive a fuller 
 measure of Divine influence than had been previously 
 enjoyed, the influence being the same in kind, and 
 differing only in degree, in both cases. In common 
 Christian regard, the Spirit is a Divine Influence^ rather 
 than a Divine Personal Presence. Hence, the pronouns 
 He and Him are applied to the Father and Son, and it 
 to the Spirit. The Holy Ghost, as the " Comforter," 
 Who, as an abiding Personal Presence, takes the place 
 left vacant by the withdrawment of the bodily presence 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 297 
 
 of Christ ; the Holy Ghost, as " the promise of the 
 Father;" "the baptism of the Holy Ghost," "the 
 enduement of power from on high," which constitutes 
 the peculiarity and glory of this dispensation ; all this, 
 with few exceptions, has been for ages in the Churches 
 what a clergyman of the Church of England, the Rev. 
 C. Bullock, rightly denominates " the forgotten truth." 
 Mr. Moody tells us that he had been some twenty years 
 a believer in Jesus before he ever heard of this great 
 central truth. With the age of miracles, the gift of the 
 Spirit at the Pentecost was supposed to have passed 
 away. Now we were held to enjoy only the influences 
 common to all believers in both dispensations. Such 
 was the light in which I regarded the subject during the 
 first and darkened period of my Christian life. Hence, 
 with the mass of believers, " the glory which followed 
 the sufferings of Christ " has passed away. With the 
 exception of those who have found "the new and living 
 way," none now "return and come with singing unto 
 Zion, with everlasting joy upon their heads." On the 
 other hand, they obtain sorrow and sighing, and joy and 
 gladness flee away. 
 
 To understand the doctrine of the Holy Ghost as set 
 forth in the New Testament, we need to recur to facts 
 recorded of the mission of the Spirit in the old dispen- 
 sation. The Spirit was then, as now, among men as a 
 convicting and regenerating, and in believers as an 
 enlightening and sanctifying, power. To the prophets, 
 on the other hand, He was given as a special endue- 
 ment of light and power, to qualify them for the pecu- 
 liar and special functions of the prophetic office. The 
 individuals thus endowed stood as mediums of commu- 
 nication between the people and God, and wrote and 
 
298 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 spoke as they were enlightened and " moved by the Holy 
 Ghost." The prophet did not receive the Spirit merely 
 in a greater measure than others, but in a new and 
 special relation vouchsafed only to him. The prophetic 
 spirit was given, " put upon " and " came upon " the 
 prophet at a particular period of his life, and as a special 
 and supernatural " enduement of power." Thus, when 
 God, as He had promised to do, took of the Spirit that 
 was upon Moses, and gave Him to the seventy elders 
 that were gathered for the purpose at the tabernacle, we 
 read. Num. xi. 25, that "when the Spirit rested upon 
 these men, they prophesied, and did not cease." The 
 gift here was not an increase of what they had before 
 possessed, but the impartation of new powers, in conse- 
 quence of the fact that " the Spirit was upon them," in 
 a form in which they had never received Him before. So 
 when Elijah, before his translation, said unto Elisha, 
 " Ask what I shall do for thee before I be taken from 
 thee," the latter replied, " I pray thee, let a double 
 portion of thy spirit be put upon me." Elisl..< v, _U 
 knew that there was no growing into the prophetic 
 spirit, but that this was a supernatural enduement of 
 power, directly imparted by God. So it was in all 
 cases. The prayer of Moses was : " Would God that all 
 the Lord's people were prophets, and that the Lord 
 would put His Spirit upon them ! " Now what Moses 
 so devoutly desired and prayed that all the Lord's people 
 might become under the old, is by absolute promise 
 assured to every believer under the new, dispensation ; to 
 every believer who will " receive the promise of the 
 Spirit by faith." " All of thy children," says Isaiah, 
 speaking of " the glory which was to follow the sufferings 
 of Christ," " shall be taught of the Lord, and great shall 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF AIY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 299 
 
 be the peace of thy children." On this subject the pro- 
 phet Joel — ii. 28 — is perfectly explicit: "And it shall 
 come to pass afterward, that I will pour out of My Spirit 
 upon all flesh ; upon every member of the household 
 of faith ; " and your sons and your daughters shall pro- 
 phesy ; " that is, under " the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost," and, as moved by Him, " shall speak unto men to 
 edification, and exhortation, and comfort ; " just as the 
 seventy elders in the camp of Israel did, after the Lord 
 had put His Spirit upon them. Of two great facts we 
 are absolutely assured in the second chapter of Acts ; 
 namely, that the baptism of the Holy Ghost received by 
 the apostles and their associates, male and female, at the 
 Pentecost, was a fulfilment of " the promise of the Spirit " 
 given of God through the prophet Joel ; and that that 
 promise is the blood-bought inheritance of every be- 
 liever, old and young, male and female, to the end of 
 time. No candid reader of that chapter can doubt either 
 of these propositions. And this " promise of the Spirit," 
 for which the disciples were required to wait, is, next to 
 the gift of Christ, of which the former is the complement, 
 the great central theme of the New Testament. This is 
 " the forgotten truth " of which I was utterly ignorant 
 during the dim twilight period of my Christian life, and 
 of which the mass of believers are as ignorant now as I 
 was then. 
 
 What is the difference in the moral and spiritual state 
 of believers who have, and those who have not, " received 
 the Holy Ghost since they believed ? " All in apostolic 
 times, and after the Pentecost, did not receive " the pro- 
 mise of the Father." Those who had received the en- 
 duement were called " spiritual ; " and those who had 
 not received " the promise of the Spirit," were said to 
 
300 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 be "not spiritual, but carnal, babes in Christ." See 
 I Cor. ii. 15 ; iii. 1 — 3. The difference between these 
 two classes is that which obtained between the ancient 
 prophets and the people around them ; between Peter 
 and his associates before and after the Pentecost ; and 
 between those whom Paul, in the passages above cited, 
 designates as " spiritual," and those whom he speaks of as 
 not spiritual, but carnal, babes in Christ." In the former 
 the fruits of the Spirit appear and abound, to wit, " love, 
 joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 
 meekness, temperance." The latter " walk as men," 
 having among themselves envying, and strife, and 
 divisions." 
 
 The revealed mission of the Spirit is, to "lead into all 
 truth," that we may know the things that are freely 
 given us of God." In i Cor. ii. and iii., Paul speaks of 
 three classes of individuals : " the natural man, who re- 
 ceiveth not the things of the Spirit of God;" "the 
 spiritual man," who "judges" (knows) "all (these) 
 things ; " and the believer, who is " yet carnal, a babe 
 in Christ." Let us see if w-e cannot obtain a clear appre- 
 hension of the real relations of these three classes of 
 individuals to '' the things of the Spirit of God." The 
 reader recollects the scene which occurred at Dothan, 
 when a great host of the Syrians encompassed the city by 
 night to capture the prophet Elisha. In the morning, 
 when the servant of Elisha saw the host, he cried out in 
 terror, "Alas, my master, what shall we do.''" "Fear 
 not," replied the prophet, " for they that be with us are 
 more than they that be with them." The servant no 
 doubt believed what the prophet said. The things spoken 
 of, however, were not 7-caI to him, until, in answer to the 
 prayer of the prophet, "the Lord opened the eyes of the 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 30 r 
 
 young man." Then he saw the facts as they were, and 
 the fiery hosts " round about EHsha" were just as real to 
 the servant as they were to the prophet. Let us suppose 
 that three individuals representing the three classes 
 above designated were present on that occasion, — " the 
 natural man," the believer who is " yet carnal," and "the 
 spiritual man," the servant whose eyes have been opened 
 to see the real facts. To these individuals the prophet 
 makes a full statement of the facts just as he sees and 
 apprehends them. All in common understand what is 
 told them. But when questioned about what they think 
 as to what they have heard, how diverse their answers ! 
 The reply of "the natural man" is, " I don't believe a 
 word of it. It is all nonsense. The Syrians are there. 
 I see them. But the fiery host ! I don't believe a word 
 about it." " They are foolishness to him; neither can he 
 know them, because they are spiritually discerned." The 
 believer who is " yet carnal," when asked what he thinks 
 of what the prophet has told them, replies, " I under- 
 stand what has been told us, and believe every word of 
 it. Yet the words of the prophet don't seem real to me. 
 The hostile host seems real, because I see it. All is 
 vacancy between us and that host. The fiery host is, no 
 doubt, round about us, as the prophet states. But the 
 facts don't seem so to me." To the same question the 
 " spiritual man," the servant whose eyes have been 
 opened, replies, " I hiou) that what the prophet has told 
 us is true. The fiery host is ;«o;-e 7-eaI to me than is that 
 of the Syrians, because I see the former with more im- 
 pressive distinctness than I do the latter." " The natural 
 man," the believer who is " yet carnal," and "the spiritual 
 man," read the Word of God. Each, in common with 
 the others, understands what he has read. How diverse, 
 
302 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 however, are their relation? to the eternal verities them- 
 selves of which they have read ! All is " foolishness " to 
 the natural man ; nor can he know the things of the 
 Spirit." The believer who is yet carnal understands ivhat 
 he reads, and fully credits every word of it. Yet the 
 eternal verities of which he reads are not J-eal to him. 
 He does not "see God," nor "behold with open face 
 as in a glass the glory of the Lord," because he has not 
 yet received the Spirit which is of God ; that he might 
 know the things which are freely given us of God." 
 To "the spiritual man," on the other hand, the visible 
 world around is not so real and all-impressive as are 
 " things unseen and eternal ; " the eternal verities which 
 the Spirit of God makes manifest to the opened vision of 
 the inner man. He not only believes, but " knows that 
 God has given unto him eternal life, and that that life 
 is in His Son." " Christ knows him, and he knows 
 Christ, even as the Father knew Him, and He knew the 
 Father," while He abode in the flesh. He " comprehends 
 the breadth, and length, and depth, and height, and 
 knows the love of Christ, which passeth knowledge," and 
 " beholds with open face as in a glass the glory of the 
 Lord." 
 
 Such were my distinct and opposite experiences, 
 during the two periods of my Christian life under con- 
 sideration. During the former I was a very diligent 
 student of the Word of God, and I clearly understood 
 its revealed facts, doctrines, moral precepts, and revela- 
 tions of " things unseen and eternal," and I fully credited 
 all I read. Yet the eternal verities of which I read 
 were not I'cal to me ; nor could I make them such. 
 How often, and with what deep gloom, did I say to 
 myself, " The water which Christ has given me is not in 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 303 
 
 me ' a well of water springing up into everlasting life ; ' 
 nor is there from my inner being the outflow of ' rivers 
 of living water.' Nor have I the conscious indwellings, 
 the open beholdings, and the fulness of joy, absolutely 
 promised to the saints of God. On the other hand, 'I 
 fear the Lord, and obey the voice of His servant, and 
 yet walk in darkness, and have no light.' " 
 
 But what a change occurred in my whole inner and 
 outer life, when I " received the promise of the Spirit by 
 faith," and became conscious of His personal indwelling, 
 enduements of power, and Divine enlightenments ! It 
 was an instantaneous passage from the dimmest twilight 
 into cloudless noon. "The things freely given us of 
 God " were all real now. As I turned over the sacred 
 page, the Word of God became transfigured before me, 
 and appeared in glory, like the New Jerusalem, " coming 
 down from God out of heaven." I walked up and down 
 in the midst of its great revelations, wondering with 
 unutterable wonder that I had never thus apprehended 
 these realities before. In this marvellous light it has 
 been my privilege to walk during the past forty-six 
 years ; and I repeat what I have so often said before, 
 that my " sun does not go down, neither does my moon 
 withdraw itself." To be New-Testament saints, we must 
 wait " the promise of the Father," until He shall take of 
 the Spirit Whom He put upon Moses, upon the seventy 
 elders, upon all the prophets, upon Christ at Jordan, and 
 upon the apostles and their company at the Pentecost, 
 and shall put that Spirit upon us. Then, and not till 
 then, shall we " comprehend the breadth, and length, 
 and depth, and height, and shall know the love of Christ 
 which passcth knowledge, that we may be filled with all 
 the fulness of God." 
 
304 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 IV. The resemblance and contrast of which we are 
 speaking become, also, most impressively manifest when 
 we contemplate t/ic relations of Christ to believers in the 
 two states under consideration. When Christ was about 
 to "leave the world and go unto the Father," He set 
 forth, for the consolation of His sorrowing disciples, two 
 "exceeding great and precious promises;" that on the 
 condition that they should " love Him, and keep His 
 commandments," He would " pray the Father for them, 
 and He should give them another Comforter," — " the 
 Spirit of truth," — that *' He might abide with them for 
 ever ; " and that through the Spirit He (Christ) would 
 come unto them, manifest Himself unto them, and, with 
 the Father, make His abode with them. " I will not," He 
 said, "leave you comfortless (orphans): I will come 
 unto you." At that time, the world would not, but they 
 would, bc/io/d ilim, "behold with open face as in a glass 
 His glory." Then, in the power and glory of His resur- 
 rection life. He Avould live in them, and reproduce that 
 resurrection life in them. "Yet a little while," He says, 
 " and the world seeth (will behold) Me no more ; but ye 
 see (will behold) Me. At that day (the day when I shall, 
 through the Spirit, come to you) ye shall know that I 
 am in My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you." This 
 indwelling of Christ and the 'Father in the human soul, 
 our Saviour subsequently expresses in such language as 
 the following : " As Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in 
 Thee, that they may be one in Us;" "I in them, and 
 Thou in Me, that they may be made perfect in one ; and 
 that the world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and 
 hast loved them, as Thou hast loved Me." This relation 
 of Christ, as a personal presence believers, a presence 
 made manifest by the illumination of the Holy Ghost, is 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 305 
 
 represented as the mystery and the glory of the present 
 dispensation, a mystery and glory unknown to the 
 ancient patriarchs and prophets, and to the apostles and 
 New-Testament saints prior to the Pentecost, and which 
 could by no possibility be revealed to any believer, until 
 " after Jesus was glorified," and " the Holy Ghost was 
 given." This, the apostle tells us. Col. i. 26, 27, is 
 " the mystery which hath been hid from ages and from 
 generations, but now is made manifest to His saints : to 
 whom God would make known what is the riches of 
 the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles ; which 
 is Christ in you, the hope of glory." This is the salva- 
 tion of which, as Peter tells us, " the prophets inquired 
 and searched diligently, who prophesied of the grace 
 which should come unto you ; searching what, or what 
 manner of time, the Spirit of Christ Who was in them 
 did signify, when He testified beforehand the sufferings 
 of Christ, and the glory that should follow." 
 
 The mission of the Spirit, as " the Comforter," " the 
 promise of the Father," and the prophetic Spirit in 
 believers, together with God's plan for the sanctification 
 of His saints, and the salvation of the world, now became 
 manifest. By the power of the Spirit, Christ was raised 
 from the dead, seated at the right hand of God, and made 
 manifest to the glorified spirits around the throne, thus 
 rendering Him the Light of heaven. When " Christ 
 entered heaven itself," and, by theHoly Ghost, was " made 
 manifest" there, heaven had its Pentecost, its "baptism 
 of the Holy Ghost." As the glory of God shone out 
 through the face of Jesus Christ, every glorified spirit 
 before the throne was, at once, lifted to a plane of light, 
 glory, and blessedness, impossible before. " And the 
 city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine 
 
 X 
 
3o6 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 in it : for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb 
 is the Light thereof." 
 
 Such is the mission of the Spirit relatively to Christ 
 in heaven. On earth, and relatively to the Church and 
 the world. His mission is equally manifest. It is, first of 
 all, to make Christ, in the power and glory of His resur- 
 rection, manifest in the hearts, and to the opened vision, 
 of the believer, as He has been " made manifest in 
 heaven itself before the face of God." When we shall 
 be "strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner 
 man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by faith," and 
 " we, being rooted and grounded in love," shall " com- 
 prehend the breadth, and depth, and length, and height, 
 and shall know the love ..of Christ which passeth know- 
 ledge," and be "tilled with all the fulness of God;" 
 when we shall " behold with open face the glory of the 
 Lord, and shall be changed into the same image from 
 glory to glory, even as by the Spirit of the Lord ; " when 
 Christ shall be in us as the Father was and is in Him, 
 and " we shall live by Christ, as He lived by the Father," 
 and we shall know " the riches of the glory of this mystery 
 among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the hope of 
 glory ; " when the Spirit shall have perfected all this in 
 us, then His mission for our personal sanctification and 
 blessedness is accomplished. But His mission does not 
 end here, " God, who commanded light to shine out of 
 darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give (to all the 
 Avorld) the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in 
 the face of Jesus Christ." When Christ is in the soul, 
 and dwells there, as " its everlasting light," that light 
 cannot be hid, but will become visible to all the world 
 around, as the light of God " in the face of Jesus Christ." 
 Christ is then "lifted up," and will " draw all men unto 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 307 
 
 Him." It is not, as many suppose, by an eye-vision cf 
 Christ, but by His glory made manifest through His in- 
 dwellings in believers, that the millennium is to be intro- 
 duced. " For, behold, the darkness shall cover the earth, 
 and gross darkness the people : but the Lord shall arise 
 upon Thee, and His glory shall be seen upon Thee. And 
 the Gentiles shall come to Thy light, and kings to the 
 brightness of Thy rising." " I in them, and Thou in Me, 
 that they may be made perfect in One ; and that the 
 world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved 
 them, as Thou hast loved Me." The fact that the Vi'orld 
 is not likely to be converted through the instrumentality 
 of the Church, while the high mission of the Spirit in 
 this dispensation, and " the riches of the glory of this 
 mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in us, the 
 hope of glory," are forgotten truths, is no evidence at all 
 that this will not be the case, when " her light shall have 
 com.e, and thegloryof the Lord shall have risen upon her." 
 
 Such, to Christ, on the one hand, and to the world, on 
 the other, are the relations of all believers who " wait the 
 promise of the Father," until " they are all filled with the 
 Holy Ghost." They " walk in the light, as God is in the 
 light;" they "have fellowship one Avith another," and 
 with God : " We will come unto him, and make Our 
 abode with him." " Their joy," consequently, " is full." 
 " They are in the world, as Christ was in the world ; " 
 and through them God gives to the world " the light of 
 the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus 
 Christ." 
 
 What are the relations to Christ of the mass of believers 
 in the ministry and in the Churches ? What were my 
 own relations, also, during the first eighteen years of my 
 Christian life ? Let us suppose, that when Christ ascended 
 
3o8 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 from Olivet, He had sent forth His disciples on their 
 world-mission just as they then were, and that they had 
 gone forth without the Pentecostal enduements of power, 
 and consequently with no experience of " the riches of the 
 glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is 
 Christ in the soul, the hope of glory." What, in such a 
 case, must have been their subsequent life experience ? 
 They would have had in remembrance the facts of 
 Christ's life as they had witnessed them, such as His 
 mighty works, His death, resurrection, and ascension 
 from Olivet. They Avould have retained, with greater 
 or less distinctness. His words of instruction and admo- 
 nition, and especially His assurance that He went from 
 them " to prepare a place for them ; " and that when the 
 time should come for them to die, He would then 
 " come again and receive them to Himself, that where 
 He is, there they may be also." With these remem- 
 brances and assurances, but Avith none excepting the 
 ordinary influences of the Spirit, such as they had before 
 enjoyed, they go forth to their appointed mission and 
 work. For a time, no doubt, the great joy with which 
 they returned from Olivet to Jerusalem, would have re- 
 mained in their hearts, and with very considerable 
 " power they would have given witness to the resur- 
 rection of the Lord Jesus." Nor would their testimony 
 have been altogether fruitless, but would have been 
 attended with conversions in greater or less numbers. 
 Christ, however, would no longer be to them, as He had 
 been, a visible Presence, walking with them, and " speak- 
 ing to them of the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God." Nor would He be to them, what He was after 
 the Pentecost, an internal glory-manifested personal 
 Presence in their hearts. On the other hand, when they 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 309 
 
 would think of Christ, they would call to mind what they 
 had seen and heard from Him, while He was with them, 
 and especially that ascension scene at Oliv^et. Lastly, they 
 would think of Him, as having " left the world and gone 
 to the Father," and as then being at an infinite and un- 
 approachable remove from them. As a necessary conse- 
 quence, their former joys would gradually fade out, their 
 apprehensions of Christ would become more and more dim 
 and unimpressive, while a feelingof orphanage would more 
 and more pervade their whole inner being. They would 
 more frequently " weep for sorrow of heart " than " sing 
 for joy of heart." As the final result, the converts whom 
 they should gather in would be few, and "a feeble folk ;" 
 the martyr age would never have occurred, and Christen- 
 dom would not be even what it now is. 
 
 With believers generally, the mass of the ministry 
 included, the case is still worse. They have never, as 
 the apostles and their companions did, seen and heard 
 Christ, as an embodied, visible Presence. Nor do they 
 know Him, as an internal, Spirit-manifested, personal 
 Presence. He and the Father have not, in the Spirit, 
 
 come to them, and made Their abode with them." 
 Consequently, not having "received the Holy Ghost, 
 since they believed," they are strangers to " the riches of 
 the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, which is 
 Christ hi you, the hope of glory." Christ to them, on 
 the other hand, is not very nigh them, in their mouths 
 and in their hearts, but afar off amid the spirits around 
 the throne. They have no open and all-transforming 
 beholdings of His glory. All that is written of Christ in 
 the Scriptures they fully believe, and they exercise full 
 faith in Him for the forgiveness of their sins. This is 
 almost the only relation, however, in which they really 
 
3IO THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 know Him. In their practical regard, He is too far 
 removed from them to exert any direct and transforming 
 personal influence over them. He did love them, so 
 they feel, when He bore their sins in His own body on 
 the tree. They believe that He does love them now. 
 But they have never secJi Christ, as, in spirit, the 
 apostles saw Him, after the Pentecost ; and as He has 
 never directly manifested Himself to them, His love to 
 them does not seem to be real, and exerts no constrain- 
 ing influence upon them. They know well, when they 
 seriously reflect upon the subject, as they are sometimes 
 compelled to do, that their experience ought not to be 
 what it is ; that the words of Christ, instead of being to 
 them "as a dead letter," should be "as a burning fire 
 shut up in their bones ; " and that, instead of being over- 
 come by the world, they should " be crucified to the 
 world, and the world to them." But it is not so, and all 
 their efforts to be and to do and to become what is 
 required of them, only render them more and more 
 distinctly conscious of their soul-emptiness, darkness, 
 and insensibility to things unseen and eternal. The 
 sense of orphanage rather than sonship, of deadness to 
 the things of God rather than to the things of the world, 
 and of bondage rather than of liberty, have a leading 
 place in their religious consciousness. 
 
 Such was my experience during the first eighteen 
 years of my Christian life. I read such passages as the 
 following: "Whosoever drinketh of this water shall 
 thirst again : but whosoever shall drink of the water that 
 I shall give him shall never thirst ; but the water that I 
 shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing 
 up into everlasting life." " He that believeth in Me, as 
 the Scripture hath said, out of his belly shall flow 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 311 
 
 rivers of living water." All this in all its fulness, I said, 
 ought to be, but is not, true in my experience ; and I do 
 not know how thus to attain myself, nor as an under- 
 shepherd and bishop of souls do I know how to lead the 
 church, which I have covenanted to feed, "out of dark- 
 ness into this marvellous light." Most deeply moved 
 and affected I was, when I compared, or rather con- 
 trasted, my own relations to the love of Christ with 
 those of Paul. With him that love was indeed " as a 
 burning fire shut up in his bones ; " and knowing that 
 love as he did, his life could not but have been what it 
 was. I did not thus know that love, and was not thus con- 
 strained by it. As a consequence, I could by no possi- 
 bility, until I did thus know that love, be and do what 
 was required of me, as a believer in Jesus, and a minister 
 of the everlasting Gospel. For this state, there is, as I 
 found in my own experience, and as multitudes are find- 
 ing in theirs, but one remedy, and that is an all-effica- 
 cious one. We must do as the apostles and their asso- 
 ciates did at the beginning. In a state of entire surrender 
 and consecration to Christ, we must, "in prayer and 
 supplication, wait the promise of the Father," until we 
 " are all filled with the Holy Ghost." 
 
 V. What is common to these two states and forms of 
 the Christian life, and what is peculiar to this life in its 
 higher and " spiritual " forms, become specially manifest, 
 when we refer to the nature and sphere of the Christian 
 warfare. In each state alike there is a warfare, a 
 conflict, " a fight of faith." In the one state, however, 
 defeat and captivity, and in the other, victory and 
 liberty, are the uniform issues of this warfare. When 
 we listen to the conversation of those who are moving 
 upon the lower level of the Christian life, the level upon 
 
312 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 which the mass of believers are moving, we hear, when 
 they speak upon this subject, of almost nothing but 
 defeats, captivity under the law of sin, and groaning 
 bondage under the weight of " the body of this death." 
 Enter the other circle, and there our ears and hearts are 
 gladdened, as we listen to almost nothing else than testi- 
 mony to victories " by the blood of the Lamb, and the 
 word of His testimony," " the glorious liberty of the 
 sons of God," and being " more than conquerors through 
 Him that loved us." In the one state, the movements 
 of the church are like a funeral procession, while her 
 dirge songs may well make angels weep, and devils 
 triumph. In the other state, " the redeemed of the Lord 
 return and come to Zion with songs and everlasting jo}' 
 upon their heads." "They obtain joy and gladness, and 
 sorrow and sighing flee away." 
 
 The sphere of this warfare is greatly diverse in these 
 two states. In the first state, the conflict is almost 
 exclusively with evil tempers, dispositions, habits, and 
 lusts, " which war in the members," that is, with hostile 
 powers within the citadel of the soul itself. The object 
 of the warfare is, not the extermination of these enemies 
 of God and the soul, and the creation, in their place, of 
 " a clean heart and a right spirit." In this warfare evil 
 principles so uniformly prevail that the believer never 
 rises higher than to a state in which he is consciously 
 "carnal, sold under sin." 
 
 In the other state, the " spiritual " form of the Chris- 
 tian life, the main sphere of " the good fight of faith " is, 
 not with hostile forces " warring in the members," within 
 the citadel of the soul, but with the powers of darkness 
 in the world without. " We wrestle not against flesh 
 and blood, but against principalities, against powers. 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 313 
 
 against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against 
 spiritual wickedness in high places." Hence, " the 
 weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but mighty- 
 through God to the pulling down of strongholds." For 
 the exigencies of this warfare the armour of righteousness 
 is prepared, with required weapons of offence and defence. 
 Every true believer is "called to be a soldier in the army 
 of the Lord," and is expected to " fight a good fight," 
 and to " endure hardness as a good soldier of Jesus 
 Christ." To fully qualify him for his high calling, 
 Christ Himself, through the Spirit, enters the citadel of 
 the soul, puts to death " the lusts that war in the mem- 
 bers," "destroys the body of sin," sanctifies to Himself 
 " the whole spirit, and soul, and body," and then, under 
 the power of the Spirit, sends the believer into the world, 
 as the Father sent Him into the world. The true and 
 proper warfare of the Christian now is, as Christ's was 
 when He was in the world, with sin in all its forms, 
 wherever it may appear. 
 
 My own life, in the two states under consideration, 
 corresponded fully with these two ideas of the Christian 
 warfare. In the one state, I was in a perpetual encounter 
 with some evil temper, disposition, or " lust which warred 
 in my members," with the groaning consciousness that 
 myself, and not the foe I warred against, was most fre- 
 quently the conquering power. When I attempted to 
 do battle for Christ upon the evil that was in the world, 
 I found my energies weakened or paralysed by the assaults 
 of some inward foe. 
 
 What a change occurred when, at length, I was 
 brought to " wait the promise of the Father," until I 
 was " filled with the Holy Ghost," and, in the vSpirit, 
 Christ, as "King of kings, and Lord of lords," entered 
 
314 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 ihe citadel of my soul, and assumed His own place upon 
 the throne of my heart. In a moment I knew what all 
 such passages as the following mean : " I am crucified 
 with Christ ; " " By Whom I am crucified to the world, 
 and the world to me ;" " Our old man is crucified with 
 Him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that 
 henceforth we should not serve sin ;" For me to live is 
 Christ." One passion now had full possession of my 
 whole being ; and that was, '' to make all men see what 
 is the fellowship of the mystery which from the begin- 
 ning of the world hath been hid in God, Who created all 
 things by Jesus Christ;" *' to the intent that now unto 
 the principalities and powers in heavenly places (that is, 
 unto all the world) might be knov\"n by the Church 
 the manifold wisdom of God." I now go forth to do 
 battle for my God, unhindered by hostile powers " warring 
 against the soul," and that within the citadel of the soul 
 itself ; but with the consent and co-operation of all the 
 powers and susceptibilities of my being. This is the 
 only form of the Christian warfare that any believer 
 should long know. 
 
 VI. Believers, represented by the apostle Peter as 
 ''newborn babes," are exhorted by him to ''desire the 
 sincere milk of the word, that they may grow thereby." 
 Ministers are required, through the apostle Paul, "to 
 feed the Church of God, which He hath purchased with 
 His own blood." When I found myself an ''overseer" 
 of a blood-bought flock of Christ, I felt myself fully 
 qualified to preach the Gospel to the impenitent portion 
 of my congregations, and to lead inquiring souls quite to 
 Christ for the pardon of their sins. I felt myself equally 
 well qualified to expound exegetically the Scriptures, and 
 to unfold and elucidate Christian doctrine, and the moral 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 315 
 
 principles and precepts of the Gospel, and so far to edify 
 the Church. As I knew well how to " teach trans- 
 gressors God's Avays," many sinners were converted to 
 the Lord, and gathered into the fold under my ministry. 
 When I contemplated the spiritual state of my flock, and 
 that of the churches around me, however, I found that 
 gro'wth^ "growth in grace," "growing up in Christ in all 
 things," was really unknown among them, and that, in 
 the judgment of the older disciples, the converts among 
 us were having, in the fruitions of their primal joys, the 
 brightest and best periods of their Christian experiences. 
 Such a state of things, I said to myself, ought not to 
 exist ; but God's sheep and lambs ought to be so fed and 
 nurtured that real growth in all Divine graces and virtues 
 should be visible among them ; in short, the member- 
 ship should "go forth, and grow up as calves of the 
 stall." The problem of problems which early presented 
 itself to my mind was this : How may the flock of God 
 be so fed and nurtured that existing evils shall be 
 remedied, and the end under consideration be attained.'' 
 When I turned my thoughts upon myself, and contem- 
 plated the facts of my own inner and outer life, I found 
 that I was growing in my knowledge of Biblical exegesis, 
 of Christian doctrine, and of the morality of the Gospel, 
 and in my reputation as an effective teacher of truth in 
 gathering souls into the churches. In the matter of per- 
 sonal holiness, however, my life was not a growth, but a 
 comparative failure ; nor could I answer to myself the 
 question, " How can I make the advancements required " 
 Hence I became painfully, and at times agonisingly, 
 conscious of a fundamental disqualification for the full 
 discharge of the functions of my sacred o^zt— feeding 
 Christ's sheep and lambs. 
 
3l6 THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 How could I lead others into the " new and living 
 way " when I did not know how to find it for myself ? I 
 did the best I knew under the circumstances. For myself, 
 I studied my Bible, thought and prayed much, read the 
 memoirs of the holiest men known to me, and made in- 
 quiries of all individuals from whom I had the least hope 
 of receiving light upon the great inquiry which so bur- 
 dened my conscience and heart. For the flock under my 
 care, my fixed aim was to impart to them " good doc- 
 trine," to render their mental vision clear and distinct of 
 Avhat the will of God and the law of duty require, to im- 
 press them with the clearest conviction that full obe- 
 dience was their absolute duty, that for sin in any form 
 there was no excuse, and to induce in them a full and 
 fixed purpose of heart after full obedience. On all such 
 subjects I cannot now discover how I could have incul- 
 cated and pressed upon believers " the whole duty of 
 man " more fully and more earnestly than I did. The 
 result was invariably the same. At the close of any ser- 
 vice in which the conscience was thus addressed, I found, 
 on going out of the place of worship, from two to half a 
 dozen at least of my church members awaiting me for an 
 answer to this one specific question, which was invariably 
 put in these identical words: "Do you expect any 
 Christian to be perfect in this life ? " If I attempted to 
 evade the question, I was pressed until the specific answer 
 which my known doctrine compelled me to give was re- 
 ceived, to wit, " No, 1 do not expect that of any believer." 
 Nor could I shape the answer so that it would not be a 
 paralysis of the will, in respect to any convictions of duty, 
 or purposes of obedience, which my preaching might in- 
 duce. Nor can any individual so hold or teach that 
 doctrine that it shall not sit as a nightmare upon the 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 317 
 
 heart of the beUever, blunting his conscience, and para- 
 lysing his purposes of obedience. But when I myself 
 inquired for God's " Highway of Holiness," or after that 
 form of spiritual life to which such individuals as Paul 
 and the other apostles attained after the Pentecost, or 
 when earnest inquirers came to me for light upon such 
 a momentous question, I at once became most painfully 
 conscious of my own personal want of requisite know- 
 ledge of the Way of Holiness, and of a most essential 
 disqualification for the discharge of the most important 
 and divinest functions of a minister of Jesus Christ. The 
 great burden of my Christian, and especially of my 
 ministerial, life, was the inward consciousness that I did 
 not know the secret of attaining to that level of holy 
 living to which Paul and the apostles and their asso- 
 ciates undeniably did attain after the Pentecost ; neither 
 could I teach inquirers after this " new and living way " 
 how to find and enter it. When I saw my inquiry room 
 filled with convicted sinners, how often would I say to 
 myself, "If there was an individual present who could 
 make known to me the secret of that Divine life after 
 which I am inquiring, I would gladly take my place 
 among the inquirers before me." 
 
 What a change came over my inner and outer life, 
 together with my qualifications for the functions of the 
 sacred office, when the Spirit of God " opened my under- 
 standing " to understand the true secret of " the life of 
 God in the soul of man ! " Directly before me stood re- 
 vealed to my opened vision " a fountain opened for sin 
 and for uncleanness." There I could find a Divine 
 cleansing " from all my filthiness, and from all my idols." 
 There I could be " washed, and made whiter than snow." 
 Nothing appeared so possible to my faith as " salvation to 
 
3lS THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 
 
 the uttermost." In being thus taught of the Lord myself 
 in respect to the question of my own personal holiness, 
 I found myself possessed of new qualifications and higher 
 enduements than I ever thought of before, for the highest 
 functions of the sacred office, " feeding the flock of God," 
 The true and Divine method of leading an inquiring 
 saint " out of darkness into God's marvellous light," be- 
 came just as plain as was that of leading an inquiring 
 sinner to Christ for the pardon of his sins. It was not for 
 self-glorification, but to magnify the grace of Christ, that 
 Paul said, " I can do all things through Christ Who 
 strengtheneth me." 
 
 How often did I repeat to myself the memorable words 
 of Paul : " Blessed be God, even the Father of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all 
 comfort : Who comforteth us in all our tribulation, that 
 we may be able to comfort them which are in any trouble, 
 by the comfort wherewith we ourselves are comforted of 
 God." No truth is more omnipresent in my thoughts 
 than this, that there is no soul-need for which there is not 
 in Christ a full and rich and free supply. To direct in- 
 quiring sinners to " the Lamb of God Who taketh away 
 the sin of the world,'' and to lead inquiring saints to 
 " the fountain opened for sin and for uncleanness," is 
 now the luxury of my being ; and it is just as easy to 
 direct the inquirer in the one case as in the other. 
 
 Such are the relations of resemblance and contrast 
 between the two states and forms of the Christian life 
 and experience under consideration. In the first state, 
 the lower plane, through false doctrine, and a wrong in- 
 terpretation of certain texts of Scripture, weights are 
 hung upon the faith of the believer, weights which render 
 impossible an entrance into the revealed " liberty of the 
 
THE TWO PERIODS OF MY CHRISTIAN LIFE. 319 
 
 sons of God." While believers regard it as a revealed 
 truth of God, that they will, in fact, " sin daily in thought, 
 word, and deed," the exercise of faith to be sanctified 
 wholly," and "saved to the uttermost," becomes an utter 
 impossibility. As we do not, and cannot, in such case, 
 know how much sin we shall commit, or how far short we 
 shall fall of what is required of us, we can never exercise 
 faith for any specific form or degree of holiness at which 
 we shall aim. The individual who regards i John i. 8 
 as applicable to all believers at their best possible estate 
 in this life, can have no apprehension what the revealed 
 provisions and promises of grace pertaining to present 
 sanctification really mean. ;No practicable standard is, or 
 can be, before his mind, as the object of faith. To avoid 
 "staggering at the promises of God through unbelief," 
 is a practical impossibility. How can those who are 
 ignorant of, or deny, the doctrine of the baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost, " receive the promise of the Spirit by 
 faith " ? They are necessarily shut out from all experi- 
 mental "knowledge of the riches of. the glory of this 
 mystery among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you, the 
 hope of glory." A veil is upon their hearts in reading 
 God's "exceeding great and precious promises," which 
 hides from their hearts the face of the Sun of Righteous- 
 ness. The removal of this veil will be to them as life from 
 the dead, or a translation out of darkness into everlasting 
 sunlight. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 The reader has already been made aware that I was 
 born and educated, and spent the early years of my 
 Christian life, in the midst of " the straitest sect " of the 
 Calvinistic faith ; and that subsequent and wholly inde- 
 pendent inquiries have conducted me to the antipodes of 
 all the peculiarities of that faith. As quite forty-six 
 years have passed since this change occurred, and as I 
 have, during this period, carefully surveyed and resur- 
 veyed the whole field, and discussed the subject in all its 
 forms, I regard it as a legacy which I owe to the present 
 generation, and to posterity, to lay before the Church and 
 the world the reasons for the great change under con- 
 sideration, and for the special form of belief and hope 
 which I now entertain. The apostle Paul, during the 
 early part of his life, "according to the most straitest sect'' 
 of the Jews' religion, lived a Pharisee ; " and then, 
 until his course was finished, "according to the most 
 straitest sect " of the Christian religion, he lived a believer 
 in Jesus. The fact, that he had had these two distinct and 
 opposite experiences in their maturest and most reflective 
 forms, enabled him to set forth the reasons and grounds of 
 his faith and hope, as a Christian man, in a manner that 
 would have been otherwise impossible to him, I do not 
 by any means claim for myself any such pre-eminence as 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 321 
 
 belonged to the apostle of the Gentiles. I may have 
 reasons, however, for my change of views and form of 
 life, reasons which are worthy of the special attention of 
 the reader. The presentation of such reasons is the sub- 
 ject of the present chapter. My reasons for my abandon- 
 ment of the Calvinistic doctrine of decrees, of eternal and 
 unconditional election and reprobation, and of the sub- 
 jection of the will to the law of necessity, and doctrines 
 necessarily connected with these, I have already given in 
 preceding chapters. It remains only to speak of those 
 by which I have become identified with a special class of 
 believers within the circle of the evangelical faith. I 
 refer to two great doctrines which have been the theme 
 of my life during the past forty-six years, and with the 
 vital importance of which I am more and more impressed ; 
 namely, the doctrine of Christian Perfection, and that of 
 the Baptism of the Holy Ghost. I shall consider them 
 in the order here specified, and begin with that of 
 
 This doctrine is designated by different writers by 
 diverse terms, as Full Salvation, Entire Sanctification, 
 Perfect Love, Full Assurance, and the Higher Life. For 
 myself, I am entirely indifferent in regard to terms, when 
 it is distinctly understood that the real doctrine is repre- 
 sented by the term employed. Let it be understood that 
 when I employ any one of these terms, I employ it in 
 the same sense that I do each of the others, and always 
 as representing this one exclusive doctrine. By Entire] 
 Sanctification, or Christian Perfection, I mean entire 
 salvation from sin, and full obedience at each successive 
 moment to all that God requires of the creature at that 
 moment. In the language of Scripture, the form of life 
 
 Christian Perfection. 
 
 Y 
 
32 2 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 under consideration implies " redemption from a/l 
 iniquity," a " cleansing from al/ unrighteousness," on 
 the one hand, and " standing perfect and complete in all 
 the will of God," on the other. By the state under con- 
 fsideration I do not understand mere separation from 
 1 actual sin, on the one hand, and full actual obedience, on 
 / the other. I understand more than this by this state ; 
 namely, a renewal of the spirit^ and temper^ and dispo- 
 sitions of the mind, and of the tendencies and habits 
 which impel to sin, and prompt to disobedience to the 
 Divine will. A fully sanctified believer, as I understand 
 the subject, is not only vohinfarily separate from sin, 
 (and in the will of God, but is in this state with the full 
 I assent of every department of his moral and spiritual 
 jjiature. He not only " feareth God, and escheweth evil," 
 but " loves righteousness, and hates iniquity." These 
 statements and expositions are sufficiently specific and 
 full for an understanding and appreciation of the reasons 
 which I am about to present in verification of the form of 
 faith which I now hold and teach upon the subject under 
 consideration. All are sufficiently aware of the meaning 
 of the terms " holiness " and " sin," to examine the 
 question whether the Scriptures do, or do not, teach the 
 doctrine, that it is practicable for the believer, while in 
 the body, to be rendered perfect in the one, and wholly 
 saved from the other. Why do I, from my heart of 
 hearts, answer that question in the affirmative } 
 
 Let me say here, that when the Spirit of God first'made 
 known to me the great error of my life in the matter of 
 justification and sanctification, I had not the remotest 
 anticipation of the change which has occurred in my 
 views on the question under consideration. I had come 
 to a distinct understanding of the revealed fact, and was 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 323 
 
 very effectively teaching the doctrine, that sanctification 
 is as really and truly a gift of grace, and as exclusively a 
 work of God, as justification is, and that God, by the 
 Spirit, sanctifies the soul on the same express condition 
 on which He pardons sin. This doctrine I was then 
 preaching, and that with a wonderful change in my 
 inner and outer life, and with similar experiences on the 
 part of many believers around me. Man}' were emerging 
 " out of darkness into God's marvellous light," and were 
 " rejoicing Avith^joy unspeakable and full of glory," in the 
 new life into which they had entered. At length, in a 
 large meeting for prayer, praise, and inquiry, the late 
 Rev. S. W. Streeter, one of our recent theological i/ 
 graduates, arose and spoke to this effect : — " We are 
 being instructed, and with undoubted correctness, that 
 we are to trust Christ for sanctification just as we do for 
 justification ; and that we are to expect, and to receive, 
 the one on the same condition on which we do the other. 
 There is one question to which I desire to receive a 
 definite answer, namely. What degree of sanctification 
 do the Scriptures authorise us to trust Christ for 1 May 
 we, or may we not, trust Him to save us from all sin, and 
 to sanctify us wholly., and to do it in this present life } I 
 would very earnestly appeal to our beloved instructors, 
 President Mahan and Professor Finney, for a specific 
 answer to this question." The surprise, and, I may 7 
 truly say, the horror, which I experienced on being thus j 
 suddenly and publicly confronted with that question, I 
 shall not attempt to describe. " There," I inwardly 
 exclaimed, "the work is all marred. They will all rush i 
 into Perfectionism." Perfectionism, a name originated 
 and adopted by the advocates of a certain system, had, 
 for a great number of years, been before the public. I 
 
 V 2 
 
324 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 fully understood the system, and knew it, as I now know 
 ;it, to be one of the most dangerous delusions that Satan 
 ' ever invented. Its Satanic morals were not, however, at 
 that time, fully Understood ; morals which, as soon as 
 they were understood, reduced the sect to the limits of 
 some five or six hundred members. 
 
 To the question presented, I at the time gave an answer 
 in this form : " This we know to be true on this subject. 
 ' Christ is of God made unto us ' sanctification as well as 
 justification, and the one upon the same condition as the 
 other, namely, our faith. Trust Him, therefore, for the 
 one, as you do for the other, and of all things avoid this 
 sin, ' limiting the Holy One,' where He has not expressly 
 limited Himself. So far, surely, we all may safely go, 
 and are most sacredly bound to go. Whether, in the 
 sphere of sanctification, Christ does proffer to our faith a 
 present salvation as full and perfect as He does in that of 
 justification, is a question to which I will give my 
 most prayerful and careful attention, and will, if the 
 Lord permits, furnish, in due time, a full and specific 
 answer." 
 
 It was in these most impressive circumstances and re- 
 lations that this great question was brought before my 
 mind, and so submitted, that I was morally necessitated 
 to give to the subject the consideration, and to furnish 
 to the people the answer, which I had pledged. In turn- 
 ing my thoughts to the question, I found myself in rela- 
 tions to the subject itself such as I never occupied 
 before, relations which required me to consider the whole 
 matter from various standpoints entirely new to me, to 
 Avhich I would invite very special attention. 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 325 
 
 IVew Standpoints from which the whole Subject was 
 presented to my ]\Iind. 
 
 I. I found myself, as I have said, in entirely new relations 
 to the subject of sanctification itself. The forgiveness of 
 sin, or justification, as I clearly understood, was proffered 
 upon specifically revealed conditions. The conditions 
 being complied with, the act of pardon is wholly with God : 
 ''It is God that justifieth." Sanctification, on the other 
 hand, I had regarded as a work, or process, wrought out in 
 the believer through his own personal determinations and 
 efforts, aided by the Spirit of grace. To one who views 
 the subject from this one standpoint, the idea of present 
 salvation from all sin, and " standing perfect and complete 
 in all the will of God," ever must appear as one of the 
 most absurd apprehensions that ever whirled in a human 
 brain. The most that could be expected in such a case 
 would be a gi-adual advance, " little by little," towards 
 the perfected state aimed at. Now, however, the whole 
 subject stood distinctly before my mind in an entirely new 
 light. " Christ," and not our own determinations and 
 efforts aided by the Spirit of grace, " is of God made 
 unto us" " sanctification "just as exclusively, and on tiie 
 same identical conditions, that He is made our "justifica- 
 tion." "God justifies believers by faith," and He " puri- 
 fies their hearts by faith." The revealed condition being 
 complied with, the one is just as exclusively the work of 
 God as is the other. It is our part, as the revealed condi- 
 tion of receiving the blessings provided for us, to "inquire 
 of God to do it for us." It is, then, no more God's part 
 to "justify freely by His grace," than it is to " sprinkle 
 clean water upon us, and make us clean ;" to " turn His 
 hand upon us, and purely purge away our dross, and take 
 
326 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 away all our tin; " and "cleanse us from all unrighteous- 
 ness." If sanctification and justification are both in 
 common, and with equal exclusiveness, the work of God, 
 why — the question spontaneously arose in my mind — 
 should His own work be, in the one case, " perfect and 
 entire, wanting nothing," and visibly imperfect and limited 
 in the other, when He is undeniably just as able to "do 
 a perfect work in one case as He is in the other ? " I was 
 thus prepared to examine the question from the only true 
 and proper standpoint. 
 
 My own conscious experience, under this new and 
 Divinely revealed aspect of the subject, imparted new and 
 all-impressive interest to my inquiries. My inner life, as 
 " I came unto God by Jesus Christ," not only for pardon, 
 but for heart-purification, was taking a surprisingly new 
 form. So new did my conscious experience become, that, 
 for a time, I was in doubt whether I had ever before been 
 converted, though all doubt upon the subject was subse- 
 quently removed. Old habits, evil tempers, and sinward 
 propensities, which had been the bane of my impenitent 
 career, and the cause of the groaning servitude of my 
 primal Christian life, had suddenly lost all power and con- 
 trol. I became distinctly conscious to myself of being no 
 longer " carnal, sold under sin," but the Lord's free man, 
 emancipated from former enslavement, and now a Divinely 
 inaugurated sovereign over those propensities. These 
 facts gave most intense interest to the inquiry, Why 
 should not the work of emancipation, thus begun, be 
 rendered universal and entire ? The very thought that 
 it might be so, awakened an intense desire that it should 
 be so. No one, who has not had the same experience, 
 can conceive how irrepressible my " hunger and thirst 
 after righteousness " full and complete became, and with 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 327 
 
 what "strong crying and tears" I poured out my heart 
 " to Him that is able to save," for salvation full and com- 
 plete. In such desire and prayer, undeniably induced by 
 the Spirit of God, the answer to my inquiries seemed to 
 be anticipated. " Surely," a voice within seemed to say, 
 " surely God will not do less, but exceeding abundantly 
 above all that I ask or think." Yes, I did seem to anti- 
 cipate the great verity thus impressively set before us by 
 Dean Vaughan, Master of the Temple: "We are to be- 
 lieve, not in the suspension, or supersession, or down- 
 trampling of what we call the laws of nature, — in other 
 words, of God's ordinary method of procedure in regard 
 to suns and worlds, to water and earth, to disease and 
 infection, to life and death, — but in certain other things, 
 which to eyes not spiritually enlightened are at least as 
 difficult ; we have to believe in the actual forgiveness of 
 things actually done ; we have to believe that that black, 
 hateful thing done or said yesterday — even though it 
 had fever in its breath, and corruption in its influence — 
 can be, shall be, obliterated and annihilated in the blood 
 of Jesus Christ, God's own Son, shed, outpoured for 
 that purpose ; we have to believe that that bad habit 
 formed in boyhood, weakly yielded to in manhood, still 
 strong, still predominant, can, by the grace of God, — shall, 
 by the grace of God, — be vanquished in us, eradicated, 
 burnt out of us, so that we shall be more than conquerors 
 through Him that hath loved us." 
 
 Here, let me add, that no one can properly inquire 
 whether such a doctrine is true, without an ardent 
 inward desire that he shall find it true. Thus was I 
 prepared to enter upon the inquiry under consideration, 
 and to pursue it, from the only true and revealed Scrip- 
 tural standpoint. 
 
328 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 2. My new relations, into which I had consciously 
 entered, to Christ, and my new apprehensions which I 
 had received of His abiding in and with His people, had 
 a most decisive bearing, as a preparatory and guiding 
 light, in the inquiries before me. In my primal appre- 
 hensions, and as apprehended by ministers and believers 
 generally, Christ, as a personaUy manifested Presence, is 
 in heaven, and nowhere else. As omnipresent, He is, in 
 fact, ever with us, and ever must be so. This, however, 
 is very different from His direct and immediate per- 
 sonally manifested Presence. In this last sense, I never 
 had apprehended myself as privileged at all to be indwelt 
 by Christ. When I read of such indwelling, I supposed, 
 as believers commonly do, that impressive thoughts of 
 Christ were meant, and when I had such thoughts of 
 Him, and my emotions wei^e somewhat moved thereby, 
 I supposed that this was what is meant by such words 
 as, " The love of God is shed abroad in our hearts by the 
 Holy Ghost;"' "Christ in you the hope of glory;" 
 " Christ dwelling in your hearts by faith." To be 
 " filled with all the fulness of God," I supposed to mean 
 having the mind occupied with full and engrossing 
 apprehensions of God. Hence, my mind, in reading the 
 Scriptures, in meditation and prayer, was ever struggling 
 vainly after such distinct, impressive, and all-transform- 
 ing thoughts of Christ, of God in Christ, and of " the 
 love of Christ which passeth knowledge ;" apprehensions 
 of an absent and far distant Christ, and of the love of a 
 Christ thus apprehended. Now, while I could clearly 
 apprehend, through such study and meditations, that 
 there is nothing to be compared to Christ, and God in 
 Him, and that the love of Christ must pass knowledge, 
 I could by no possibility obtain and maintain such 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 329 
 
 thoughts and apprehensions of Christ as would induce 
 in me, or anybody else, the Divine, or the inner, Christ- 
 life portrayed in the Bible, the New Testament especially, 
 much less as would enable me to overcome all sin, and 
 '' stand perfect and complete in all the will of God." 
 Viewed from this standpoint, salvation from all sin, 
 "through the knowledge of Christ," will ever appear, to 
 a greater and greater extent, a vain hope. 
 
 But how changed was every aspect of this subject 
 when the privileged relations of the believer to Christ 
 came to be distinctly apprehended, and to be a matter of 
 conscious experience ! By the Spirit Christ was raised 
 from the dead, seated at the right hand of God in glory, 
 and made manifest in heaven itself before the face of 
 God, and to heaven's glorified inhabitants, thus becoming 
 the "everlasting light" of that glory-world. By the 
 same Spirit Christ is, as a consciously apprehended 
 personal Presence, to "come to the believer," be made 
 manifest in him, just as He is made manifest before the 
 face of God in heaven. In this internal personal mani- 
 festation, " Christ is to dwell in our hearts by faith," and 
 we are to " behold His glory," as that glory is beheld 
 before the face of God in heaven. The same words in 
 the original are employed, John xiv. 21, to express the 
 manifestation of Christ to believers here, as are employed, 
 Heb. ix. 24, to represent His being made manifest ("to 
 appear") "before the face of God for us," "in heaven 
 itself." It is not thoiiglits or apprehensions of Christ, but 
 Christ Himself, as a personally manifested Presence, to 
 which the sacred writers refer, when they treat upon 
 this subject. To read what they say upon the subject, 
 according to the common understanding, makes their 
 revelations perfectly absurd. For example : " To whom 
 
33° THE REASOX FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IX ME. 
 
 God would make known what is the riches of the glory 
 of this mystery- among the Gentiles, which is Christ," 
 not thoughts of Christ, '' in you the hope of glory." No, 
 it is not mere thoughts of a distant and absent Christ, 
 but Christ Himself, made personally manifest in us, that 
 is to "dwell in our hearts by faith." When this great 
 truth, the crowning glory of the new dispensation, 
 opened distinctly upon my mind, and I came to have a 
 conscious experience of the power of this indwelling, 
 then the question, "What are the possibilities of faith in 
 the matter of present sanctification ?" stood out in an 
 entirely new light before my mind. It really seemed a 
 truth of absolute intuition, that when, by the free assent, 
 and consent, and full choice of our heart of hearts, Christ 
 thus dwells in our hearts by faith, and when He is per- 
 mitted and desired to ''work out in us all the good 
 pleasure of His goodness, even the work of faith with 
 power," He will not suffer sin, nor its bitter roots, the 
 works of the devil, to dwell with Him in any one of these 
 consecrated sanctuaries. So the subject will, ai;J must, 
 present itself to every reflecting mind. It was from this 
 new and clearly revealed standpoint that I entered upon 
 the inquiry under consideration. 
 
 3. The revealed mission of the Holy Spirit, as I came 
 to fully understand and appreciate the subject, perfected 
 the standpoint from which I entered upon the inquiry 
 in respect to the possibilities of faith in this life. As I 
 understood the subject during the primal period of my 
 Christian life, the Spirit, after inducing repentance for 
 sin, and regenerating the soul, carries forward, little by- 
 little, in co-operation with our purposes and efforts, 
 the process of sanctification, never perfecting the work 
 until death. To be "filled with the Spirit" is to have 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 331 
 
 the mind fully occupied with apprehensions of Divine 
 truth, never so fully, however, as to free the believer 
 from the servitude of sin. Contemplating the subject 
 from this standpoint, it is a simple absurdity to expect 
 to reach a state of full salvation in this life. 
 
 But here, as I came afterwards perfectly to understand, 
 is a most essential mistake in regard to the specifically 
 revealed mission of the Spirit. Having induced 
 repentance for sin, and regenerated the soul. He carries 
 forward the process of sanctification, but all as a means 
 to a higher end, — His personal coming to, and dwelling 
 in, the believer, as " the Comforter," " the promise of the 
 Father," and " the enduement of power from on high," 
 for holy living and work. His revealed mission now is 
 to " lead into all truth " pertaining 1,0 salvation in 
 Christ, that " we may know the things which are freely 
 given us of God ; " to " strengthen us with might in the 
 inner man, that Christ may dwell in our hearts by 
 faith ; " that " we, being rooted and grounded in love, 
 may comprehend the length, and breadth, and depth, and 
 height, and know the love of Christ which passeth 
 knowledge ; " " that we may be filled with all the fulness 
 of God ; " and finally that, " beholding with open face 
 as in a glass the glory of the Lord, we may be changed 
 into the same image from glory to glory, even as by the 
 Spirit of the Lord." In judging of the present possi- 
 bilities of faith in the matter of sanctification, we are to 
 look at the subject, not from the common idea of the 
 mission of the Spirit, but wholly from that aspect which 
 God has distinctly presented in His Holy Word. 
 
 It was from the high standpoint furnished by the three 
 corrected views above elucidated, that I entered upon 
 the great inquiry under consideration — an inquiry which 
 
332 THE REASOy FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IX ME. 
 
 has resulted in the absolute assurance that the basis of 
 my present faith is God's rock of truth. I now proceed 
 to give my " reasons for the hope that is in me." 
 
 Reasons for my present Faith and Hope. 
 
 I. Contemplated from the standing-place furnished by 
 the clearest and most absolute revelations of God's own 
 Word, no doctrine is more reasonable in itself than is 
 this doctrine of Entire Sanctification ; nor can any 
 doctrine be more unreasonable than is that of the con- 
 tinued sinfulness of all believers at their best estate in 
 this life. Were sanctification the work of man, or even 
 man's work aided by Divine power, it would, of course, 
 be an imperfect work. But when we contemplate it, as 
 inspiration has revealed it, as a work of God, God's work 
 just as exclusively as is the pardon of sin, no reason can 
 be conceived why the one should be perfect and com- 
 plete, and the other a marred work, a work constituted 
 of contradictions and incompatibilities. In all sincerity, 
 we inquire of God to " sprinkle clean water upon us, and 
 make us clean,''' to " cleanse us from all our filthiness, 
 and from all our idols,'' and to " work in us all the 
 good pleasure of His goodness." We are now wholly in 
 God's hands, to accomplish in us just the form of work 
 which He chooses, and whatever is done in us is His own 
 handiwork. If sin is left in the soul, it will be because 
 God chooses to let that amount of sin remain in us, 
 rather than to have in its place perfect moral purity. It 
 is an infinite slander upon the moral character of God to 
 suppose that such should be His choice. Does God choose 
 that believers shall serve Him with divided hearts, and 
 not with "all their hearts, and with all their souls".? 
 He undeniably does so, according to the doctrine of the 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 333 
 
 continued sinfulness of believers in this life. I know that 
 such a doctrine is not, and cannot be, true. 
 
 The believer, as we read, is " builded for an habitation 
 of God through the Spirit." This Divine indwelling 
 is expressed in Scripture by such language as the follow- 
 ing : "I in them, and Thou in Me ; " " We will come to 
 him, and make Our abode with him ; " " That Christ 
 may dwell in your heart by faith ; " " Christ in you 
 the hope of glory;" and, "Our fellowship is with the 
 Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." The revealed 
 condition of this indwelling is a full and complete sur- 
 render, on our part, of all the powers and susceptibili- 
 ties of our being to the Divine occupancy and control. 
 When this consecration is made on the part of the 
 believer, will not Christ thoroughly purify His temple 
 before He makes His abode in it Will He, Whose 
 crowning glory is that " He loves righteousness, and 
 hates iniquity," make His abode where there is con- 
 tinuous sinning " in thought, word, and deed," and in 
 the midst of sinful " lusts which war in the members," 
 and induce " wars and fightings " in the household of 
 faith If so, then evil-doers can dwell with God, and 
 God with them. Every right apprehension of the Divine 
 indwelling is abhorrent to any idea of it but this, that it 
 occurs but in a heart which is pure as its Occupant is pure. 
 Those, and those only, who " walk in the light as God is 
 in the light," have Divine " fellowship one with another," 
 and " with the Father, and with His Son Jesus Christ." 
 Let us listen for a moment to God's Word on this subject 
 (2 Cor. vi. 16 — 18). I cite from Alford : "Ye are the 
 temple of the living God ; even as God hath said, I will 
 dwell in them, and walk among them ; and I will be 
 their God, and they shall be My people. Wherefore" 
 
334 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 (as the immutable condition of enjoying this indwelHng) 
 " come ye out from among them, and be separate, and 
 TOUCH not anything unclean, and I will receive you, and 
 I will be unto you a Father, and ye shall be unto Me 
 sons and daughters, saith the Lord Almighty." Now 
 follows a repetition of the immutable condition of the 
 indwelling. " Having therefore these promises, dearly 
 beloved, let us clesinse ourselves from every pollution of 
 flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God." 
 Either deny the doctrine of the Divine indwelling 
 altogether, or admit that it never occurs but where there 
 has been a cleansing from every pollution of flesh and 
 spirit, and where holiness has been perfected in the fear 
 of God. Never, reader, entertain the idea that every 
 Person of the sacred Trinity makes His abode in a human 
 heart in the midst of continuous sinning, and beastly 
 '' lusts warring in the members." 
 
 " God, according to His mercy, saves us," as we read, 
 "by the washing of regeneration, and the renewing of 
 the Holy Ghost." The revealed mission of the Spirit is to 
 perfect the work begun in regeneration, and to do this by 
 so revealing Christ in us, that we, " beholding with open 
 face as in a glass the glory of the Lord, shall be changed 
 into the same image from glory to glory," and thus be 
 "in the world, as Christ was in the world." Such being 
 His revealed mission, how, the question arises — if there 
 be no hindrance on the part of the believer, as there is 
 not, when the whole being is consecrated for the Divine 
 indwelling— how ,will the Spirit fulfil His mission 
 Will He, when He can do the one as well as the other, 
 induce a perfect, or a marred, image and reflection of 
 Christ ? Do not, reader, wrong your own spirit and life, 
 and cast dishonour upon Christ and the Eternal Spirit, 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 335 
 
 by expecting anything less than to " be changed into the 
 SAME image from glory to glory." 
 
 2. From a consideration of what is intrinsic in the 
 question itself, as viewed from God's revealed stand- 
 point, I next fixed special attention upon the revealed 
 purpose and intent of Christ's manifestation in the world, 
 a purpose and intent expressed in Scripture in such 
 forms as the following : " To make an end of sins, and to 
 make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in ever- 
 lasting risfhteousness ;" " Thou shalt call His name Jesus, 
 for He shall save His people from their sins;" "Ye 
 know that He was manifested to take away our sins ; 
 and in Him is no sin ;" "For this purpose the Son of 
 God was manifested, that He might destroy the works 
 of the devil;" "That He might redeem us from all 
 iniquity, and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous 
 of good works." The conditions on which Christ will 
 accomplish this, the revealed purpose and intent of His 
 manifestation, are also specifically revealed. The question 
 which here arises is this. The revealed conditions being 
 complied with on the part of the believer, will Christ 
 Himself fail on His part If He should, in the case 
 supposed, fail to "redeem from all iniquity," to "make 
 an end of sins," and utterly to " destroy the works of the 
 devil," this would undeniably evince a want of power to 
 do what He came to accomplish, or a choice that sin 
 should mar the lives of all who trust Him to " take away 
 their sins." The reader will observe that it was no part 
 of the revealed intent of His manifestation to take away 
 sin gradually, " little by little," but to " make an end of 
 sins." The conclusion which I drew, and now draw, 
 from the revealed purpose of Christ's manifestation is 
 this, that I shall trust Him to " take away my sins," and 
 
33^ THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 " make an end of them," and " destroy the works of the 
 devil " in me; and to do it now ; and that when I thus 
 trust Him, He will effect "a short" and "a perfect 
 work " in me. To trust for anything less than this, or 
 to expect anything less in response to my trust, is to 
 place my unbelief in direct opposition to the revealed 
 purpose and intent for which " Christ loved me, and 
 gave Himself for me." The revealed intent of Christ's 
 manifestation, we must bear in mind, is specific, namely, 
 not a partial, but a complete, salvation from sin. He 
 came, not to redeem us in part, but from all iniquity; 
 not to damage, but to "destroy, the works of the devil " 
 in us. Such is the language always employed by the 
 sacred writers when speaking on this subject. Their 
 language, as we shall further see, is alwaj's so plain and 
 specific, that no candid mind can misunderstand it. In 
 the provisions and promises of grace, they always 
 designate salvation from sin in its completeness, and 
 sanctification in full entireness. Let the reader bear this 
 distinctly in mind in reading what follows. 
 
 3. But Christ was not only manifested to " save His 
 people from their sins," but stands distinctly and most 
 prominently revealed in Scripture as able thus to save 
 and sanctify the believer, in response to his faith. This 
 I lay doAvn as a self-evident truth, that in revealing 
 Himself as manifested to " take away our sins," and as 
 ABLE to " save us to the uttermost," He authorises and 
 requires us to trust Him for salvation in this specific 
 form, and to do this with " full assurance of hope," that 
 He will not do less than we trust Him to do for us. To 
 deny this is to charge Christ with cruel mockery of our 
 misery, and all the aspirations which the Spirit of God 
 has induced in us. What, then, has Christ revealed Him- 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 337 
 
 self as able to do for us in the matter of salvation from 
 sin ? If we had but this one passage in the Bible, it 
 would be all-sufficient: Heb. vii. 25 : "Wherefore He is 
 ABLE to save them to the uttermost that come unto God 
 by Him." The literal meaning of the original word 
 rendered " uttermost," as all authorities agree, is " com- 
 pletcly in all respccls." This m.ust include salvation from 
 sin, in every form and degree. If there is sin in any form, 
 actual or indwelling, from which the soul is not fully 
 saved, there is not, in such case, salvation to the utter- 
 most. When we come to God by Christ for salvation, 
 we are undeniably authorised to expect salvation in 
 this specific form and degree, or in none at all. But 
 Christ has revealed Himself as able not only thus to save 
 us, but also to keep us pure, after we have been thus 
 saved. Jude 24, 25: "Now unto Him that is able to 
 keep you from falling, and to present you faultless 
 before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy : to 
 the only wise God, our Saviour, be glory and majesty, 
 dominion and power, both now and ever. Amen." The 
 power is also revealed as possessed by God in Christ, to 
 perfect the believer in all the practical duties of life. 
 2 Cor. ix. 8 : " God is able to make all grace abound 
 toward you, that ye, always having all sufficiency in all 
 things, maj' abound to every good work." Inspiration, 
 in regard to this great salvation, lifts our thoughts still 
 higher than this. Eph. iii. 20, 21 : "Now unto Him 
 that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we 
 ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us, 
 unto Him be glory in the Church by Christ Jesus 
 throughout all ages, world without end. Amen." No 
 one will question the meaning which we attach to these 
 revelations of saving grace. My deduction from them is 
 
 z 
 
33^ THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 this : They authorise and require us to trust for, and expect, 
 salvation in this one complete and perfect form. To deny 
 this is -to charge the Spirit of God with mocking our 
 misery, and all the Divine aspirations which He has 
 stirred up in our hearts, and to do this in the most 
 revolting form conceivable, that is, revealing Christ as 
 able, in the most vital of all our interests, to do for us 
 what He requires us to believe He never will do. God 
 forbid that I should ever lay a foundation for such a 
 charge against the Spirit of Inspiration. 
 
 4. Equally plain and undeniable is the fact that Christ 
 stands distinctly revealed in the Scriptures as having 
 made provisions, fnU, complete, and specific, to " save 
 them to the uttermost that come unto God by Him."' 
 Eph. V. 25 — 27 : " Christ loved the Church, and gave 
 Himself for it, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with 
 the washing of water by the word, that He might 
 present it to Himself a glorious Church, not having spot, 
 or wrinkle, or any such thing ; but that it should be holy 
 and without blemish." Titus ii. 14: " Who gave Him- 
 self for us, that He might redeem us from all iniquity, 
 and purify unto Himself a peculiar people, zealous of 
 good works." Hence we are distinctly taught that there 
 is a sovereign efficacy in these provisions thus to 
 sanctify and save " them that come unto God by Christ 
 Jesus." I John i. 7 : " The blood of Jesus Christ His 
 Son cleanseth us from all sin." Heb. ix. 14: "How 
 much more shall the blood of Christ, Who through the 
 Eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God, 
 purge your conscience from dead works to serve the living 
 God !" For what purpose can these provisions for our 
 " salvation to the uttermost " have been revealed, but to 
 induce in us faith and hope for salvation in that specific 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 339 
 
 form ? No one would dare, in view of the passages before 
 us, to deny the fuhiess and adequacy of the revealed 
 provisions of grace for our entire and present sanctifi- 
 cation. To teach that they are not available in their 
 fullest extent, is to deny that they are real provisions at 
 all ; for provisions not available are mock, and not real, 
 provisions. To teach that these provisions are not avail- 
 able to their fullest extent, is also to render them 
 utterly indefinite, unmeaning, and inaccessible, so that 
 we are left in utter ignorance of what they authorise us to 
 trust and hope for. 
 
 5. From a consideration of the provisions, I next 
 directed my attention to the revealed promises of grace 
 for our present sanctification. The promises are given 
 for two expressly revealed purposes: that we, by embracing 
 them- by faith, may be saved from all sin, on the one 
 hand, and may become possessed of a " Divine nature," 
 on the other. Thus we read, 2 Peter i. 4: "Whereby 
 are given unto us exceeding great and precious promises : 
 that by these ye might be partakers of the Divine nature, 
 having escaped the corruption that is in the world 
 through lust." A Divine promise is God's pledge of 
 payment, whenever and by whomsoever the revealed 
 conditions are complied with ; each promise pledges to 
 our faith all that it specifies, or nothing at all. The 
 revealed condition being fulfilled, every attribute of the 
 Divine Nature binds and constrains the Most High to 
 redeem to its minutest extent the promise. 
 
 Nothing can be more specific and absolute in meaning 
 than are all the promises pertaining to salvation from sin, 
 and present sanctification. Let us consider a few of 
 them. Deut. xxx. 6 : " And the Lord thy God will cir- 
 cumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to love 
 
 z 2 
 
34° THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all 
 thy soul, that thou mayest live." Isaiah i. 25 : "And I 
 will turn j\Iy hand upon thee, and purely purge away 
 thy dross, and take away all thy tin." Jer. 1. 20 : " In 
 those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, the iniquity 
 of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall be none ; 
 and the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found." 
 Ezek. xxxvi. 25 — 27: "Then will I sprinkle clean water 
 upon you, and ye shall be clean : from all your filthiness, 
 and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. A new heart 
 also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within 
 you : and I will take away the stony heart out of your 
 flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will 
 put My Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in My 
 statutes, and ye shall keep My judgments, and do them." 
 T cite but one other of these exceeding great and precious 
 promises, i Thess. v. 23, 24: " And the very God of peace 
 sanctify you wholly ; " (in all respects to perfection — 
 the exact and literal meaning of the original ;) " and I 
 pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be pre- 
 served blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ. Faithful (trustworthy) is He that calleth you, 
 Who also will do it." Nothing but salvation from all 
 sin in its entireness, and sanctification in full complete- 
 ness, is here expressed, and salvation and sanctification in 
 this one specific and exclusive form are here set forth in 
 terms the meaning of which cannot be misunderstood. If 
 they authorise and require us to " inquire of God to do " 
 anything for us, they authorise and require us to ask and 
 expect " salvation to the uttermost," and nothing less 
 than this. So I reasoned, when I first examined the sub- 
 ject, and so I reason now. A denial of the doctrine of 
 entire sanctification is nothing less, and can be nothing 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 341 
 
 else, than a visible staggering at God's most sacred pro- 
 mises, all of which inspiration affirms to be "yea and 
 amen in Christ Jesus." 
 
 6. I then, in the last place, directed special attention to 
 inspired prayers recorded in Scripture, pertaining to this 
 one subject. Of this we are positively informed in the 
 Sacred Word, that the Spirit makes intercession for the 
 saints for blessings which accord with the Divine will ; 
 that is, induces them to pray for blessings which God 
 will confer in answer to the prayer of faith. No truth to 
 my mind can be more self-evident than this, that the 
 Holy Spirit never did influence and inspire Christ and 
 His apostles and saints to pray for a specific blessing, 
 and inspire men to record in the Bible prayers for a 
 specific blessing, which God, in the same Scriptures, 
 requires us to believe He never did, and never will, 
 bestow upon any believer. Think now of the prayer 
 which Christ requires all believers, in all ages, to offer 
 up, whenever they " come unto God through Him," to 
 wit, " Thy will be done on earth, as it is in heaven." 
 Then think of His intercessory prayer for all believers, 
 on the evening preceding His crucifixion : " Neither 
 pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall 
 believe on Me through their word; that they all may be 
 one ; as Thou, Father, art in Me, and I in Thee, that 
 they also may be one in Us : that the world may believe 
 that Thou hast sent Me. And the glory which Thou 
 gavest Me I have given them ; that they may be one, 
 even as We are One : I in them, and Thou in Me, that 
 they may be made perfect in one ; and that the world 
 may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved them 
 as Thou hast loved Me." Must we believe that Christ 
 thus requires all believers in all ages to pray, and that 
 
342 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 He Himself in that solemn hour did pray, for a blessing 
 which is not " according to the will of God," which God, 
 consequently, never did and never will bestow upon any 
 believer ? That these are prayers specifically for entire 
 sanctification none will deny. The question, and the 
 only question, before us is. Do they accord with the will 
 of God ? 
 
 Of the character or the prayers of inspired apostles 
 and of holy men, "recorded for our instruction and 
 admonition " in the New Testament, take the following 
 as examples : " The very God of peace sanctify you 
 wholly ; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and 
 body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ ; " "Now the God of peace, that brought again 
 from the dead our Lord Jesus, that great Shepherd of the 
 sheep, through the blood of the everlasting covenant, 
 make you perfect in every good work to do His will, 
 working in you that which is wellpleasing in His sight, 
 through Jesus Christ, to Whom be glory for ever and 
 ever. Amen;" " Epaphras, who is one of you, a servant 
 of Christ, saluteth you, always labouring fervently for you 
 in prayers, that ye may stand perfect and complete in all 
 the will of God." Such is the unvarying character of 
 those Spirit-inspired prayers, not at all for an increase of 
 holiness, or for greater and greater freedom from sin, but 
 for salvation " to the utterm.ost," and for a " standing 
 perfect and complete in all the will of God." Do such 
 prayers, which it would be an offence in us not to repeat, 
 and that in all sincerity, pertain to what God requires us to 
 regard as the unattainable ? Does the Spirit of God thus 
 contradict Himself ? From my heart of hearts I answer. 
 No. When we thus pray, we are bound to expect, not less, 
 but " exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think." 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 343 
 
 This, then, was the conclusion to which my inquiries 
 conducted me, that the doctrine of Entire Sanctification 
 is a truth of God, or I must hold and teach the follow- 
 ing absurdities : that God of choice induces imperfect, 
 when He might just as well induce perfect, moral and 
 spiritual purity ; that Christ " abides in believers " in the 
 midst of constant sin, " in thought, word, and deed," and 
 in the midst of warring lusts, when He might render His 
 dwelling-place in their hearts an abode of perfect purity; 
 that God does " dwell and walk " in believers when they 
 do not " separate themselves," and cease to " touch 
 anything unclean," nor " cleanse themselves from all 
 pollutions of flesh and spirit, perfecting holiness in the 
 fear of God ; " that the Holy Spirit was given for the 
 revealed purpose of making Christ manifest in us, so 
 that we, " beholding with open face as in a glass the 
 glory of the Lord, may be changed into the same image 
 from glory to glory ; " and that, of choice, the Spirit 
 induces such obscure beholdings that we, at our best 
 estate, can be changed, not "into the same image," but 
 into an imperfect and marred likeness ; that Christ is 
 manifested for a distinctly revealed purpose and intent, 
 to " take away our sins," and "destroy the works of the 
 devil " in us, and that, of choice, He accomplishes that 
 purpose and intent but in part ; that while Christ stands 
 distinctly and specifically revealed in the Word of God, 
 as " ad/e to save to the uttermost them that come unto 
 God by Him," He of choice performs a limited and im- 
 perfect work in all such, though He is earnestly inquired 
 of by them, to exert His full saving power upon them ; 
 that revealed provisions and promises of grace which 
 specifically proffer to our faith sanctification complete and 
 entire, are not in fact a basis of trust or hope for any 
 
344 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 such blessing ; that the prayer of Christ Himself, the 
 pra3-er which He requires all believers to put up, and the 
 prayers of the apostles and saints of God, inspired by the 
 Holy Ghost, have no efficacy to secure the object prayed 
 for ; and finally, that it is a perilous error to hold as true 
 a doctrine verified by such evidence as this. Such is not 
 the form of faith which I hold and teach. 
 
 Indivelling Sin. 
 
 There are not a few believers at the present time who 
 admit and teach that we may, by faith, be saved from 
 all actual^ but not from indu-clling sin. On this subject 
 .1 remark : — 
 
 1. That the terms, " sanctified wholly," " saved to the 
 uttermost," and ''cleansed from all sin," must include 
 sin in every form in which it really exists. It is a con- 
 tradiction in terms to affirm that any person is " wholly 
 sanctified," "saved to the uttermost," and "cleansed 
 from ALL sin," when there is one form of sin, indwelling 
 sin, from which he is not saved at all. 
 
 2. We might just as properly, and with just as full 
 warrant from Scripture, that is, with no warrant at all, 
 affirm that the Bible teaches salvation from indwelling, 
 but not from actual, sin, as affirm the doctrine under 
 consideration. 
 
 3. On this subject the testimony of Scripture is per- 
 fectly plain and explicit. All admit that the terms, " sin 
 that dwelleth in us," " the body of sin," the old man," 
 
 the law of sin and death." "the body of this death," 
 and " lusts which war in the members,'' mean the same 
 thing, and constitute what is called " indwelling sin." 
 What, then, do the Scriptures mean by such expressions 
 as these ? " That the body of sin might be destroyed ; " 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 345 
 
 " condemned (to destruction) sin in the flesh ; " "our old 
 man is crucified with Him ; " " take the heart of stone 
 out of your flesh, and giv^e you an heart of flesh ; " " renew 
 a right spirit (temper, disposition) within me," &c. No 
 dogma can be more obviously unscriptural than is that 
 of the non-destruction of the body of sin in believers. 
 
 4. Facts of experience, of the most palpable character, 
 and of every variety of form, absolutely evince that in 
 the renewing of the Holy Ghost believers are fully 
 cleansed from indwelling as well as from actual sin. Tens 
 of thousands of eminent and most trustworthy believers 
 testify to being as conscious of permanent changes and 
 renewals of evil appetites, tempers, and dispositions of 
 the longest standing and dominion, as they are of their 
 own existence. Nothing can be verified by testimony, if 
 the fact of such changes cannot be. Those who deny 
 that such changes are among the possibilities of faith, 
 render impossible, this unbelief continuing, their 
 " deliverance from the body of this death." " If ye will 
 not believe, ye shall not be established." 
 
 Alleged Scripture Proofs of the Doctrine of 
 Imperfection. 
 
 Against the doctrine of Entire Sanctification a certain 
 number of passages of Scripture are adduced. To a con- 
 sideration of these my most careful attention was directed. 
 If, as is asserted by the advocates of this doctrine, it has 
 been clearly and definitely affirmed in Scripture that no 
 believer ever did, or ever will, in this life, attain to a 
 state of entire sanctification, the question is for ever 
 settled. Before the fact is admitted, however, it should 
 be verified by absolute and indubitable proof, in view of 
 the overwhelming weight of evidence on the other side. 
 It is not my intention, in this connection, to go over all 
 
346 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 these texts, having done so in Christian Perfection and 
 Out of Darkness into Light, and more fully still in a 
 work entitled Misunderstood Texts. I shall do no more 
 now than oflFer a few general considerations bearing upon 
 the subject. As I entered upon a careful study of these 
 passages, I found the following facts to be true of them, 
 namely : — 
 
 1. The entire primitive Church, for the first four 
 centuries at least, put a totally different construction upon 
 these passages from that now put upon them by the 
 advocates of the doctrine of Imperfection. The entire 
 primitive Church, during these centuries, held as a 
 most precious truth the doctrine of Entire Sanctification. 
 I may refer in verification of these statements to the 
 testimony of such men as Clement, Barnabas, Ignatius, 
 Hermas, and Polycarp, companions of the apostles ; and 
 to such individuals in the post-apostolic age as Justin 
 ^lartyr, Ambrose, Athanasius, and Chrysostom. Now 
 it is hardly conceivable that such teachers as the above, 
 and the entire primitive Church with them, — writers 
 and believers, many of whom were companions of the 
 apostles, and received the New Testament directly from 
 the writers themselves, — should utterly misunderstand 
 the sacred writers in respect to so plain and important a 
 subject, and with regard to the mearting of such passages 
 as Rom. vii. 14 — 25, Phil. iii. 12 — 14, and i John i. 8. 
 The universal assent of the primitive Fathers and Church 
 to the doctrine of Entire Sanctification as a specific 
 truth of God, is absolutely incompatible with any 
 hypothesis but this, that the apostles did teach, and 
 intended themselves to be understood as teaching, this 
 doctrine. 
 
 2. The primitive exposition of these passages has been 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 347 
 
 defended by the highest BibHcal authorities since the 
 primitive age passed away. As editor of T/ie Banner of 
 Holiness, we were requested by Canon, now Bishop, Ryle 
 to furnish the names of post-primitive Biblical authorities 
 who sustain the primitive exposition of Rom. vii. 14 — 25, 
 namely, that the apostle here describes a legal experience 
 in opposition to the faith experience described in the fol- 
 lowing chapter. We at once furnished the following 
 names : — Erasmus, Raphael, Episcopius, Beausobre, Len- 
 fant, Limborch, Turretin, Le Clerc, Herrmann, Bucer, 
 Schorner, Franke, G. Arnold, Bengel, Reinhardt, Storr, 
 Flatt, Knapp, Neander, Tholuck, Olshausen, Meyer, 
 Mant, D'Oyley, Hammond, Whitby, Doddridge, Good- 
 win, Jeremy Taylor, Clarke, Stuart, Conybeare and 
 Howson. No exposition rests upon a more sandy foun- 
 dation than does the post-primitive exposition of these 
 passages. Upon a foundation equally sandy must a 
 doctrine rest which has no more solid basis than such 
 proof texts as these. 
 
 3. The exposition given of these passages by the advo- 
 cates of the doctrine of Imperfection renders unmeaning 
 and indefinite many of the plainest and most important 
 passages of Scripture, and in other cases, equally impor- 
 tant, makes the Word of God most palpably contradict 
 itself. If such terms as " sanctify wholly," " save to the 
 uttermost," " cleanseth from all sin," " cleanse from all 
 unrighteousness," and " preserve blameless," do not 
 mean salvation from all sin, and entire sanctification, 
 then who can tell us what they do mean ? No man, 
 living or dead, can tell us. All words of Scripture per- 
 taining to the provisions and promises of grace are 
 rendered utterly indefinite, and void of any assignable 
 meaning. 
 
34S THE REASOX FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IX ME. 
 
 If we suppose that Paul, in the words, '' I am carnal, 
 sold under sin," &c., did, as the entire primitive Church 
 understood him, intend to describe a /cgal — and in the 
 words, " The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus hath 
 made me free from the law of sin and death," intended 
 to describe ?i faith — experience, then all is plain. But if 
 we, as this exposition affirms that we must, understand 
 the apostle as intending to teach and affirm, that both of 
 these declarations were true of him at one and the same 
 time, then he as palpabl}- contradicts himself, as he would 
 have done had he said that the same thing may, at the 
 same moment of time, exist and not exist. If, once again, 
 we suppose that Paul, in the words, '' Not as though I 
 had already attained, either were already perfect," refers 
 — and a Greek could not have understood him as refer- 
 ring to an3-thing else — to the glor)- which awaited him 
 at the end of his course ; and in the words, " Let us, as 
 many as be perfect, be thus minded," he refers to his 
 moral and spiritual state as a believer in Jesus ; all is 
 plain and harmonious. If, on the other hand, we under- 
 stand him as, in the first case, referring to his moral and 
 spiritual state, it is undeniable that in the same con- 
 nection he positively affirms and denies the same thing, 
 namely, his moral and spiritual perfection. 
 
 So the meaning which the advocates of the doctrine of 
 Imperfection attach to i John i. S makes the apostle 
 affirm, in the first instance, that upon specified conditions 
 the blood of Christ does " cleanse from all sin," and 
 then, in the same breath, affirm, with equal absoluteness, 
 that if we say that the blood of Christ and the grace of 
 God ever do exert such cleansing power upon ourselves, 
 we are self-deceivers and void of moral integritj'. The 
 Word of God is not ''a house divided against itself;"' 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 349 
 
 and any exposition that makes it such, as this undeniably 
 does, cannot accord witli " the mind of the Spirit." A 
 bare reference to the subject of which the apostle is 
 speaking removes all obscurity from his words, and 
 renders all he says self-consistent. He is not treating at 
 all of the doctrine of Christian Perfection as openly 
 taught by his heart friends and associates, such as Poly- 
 carp, Barnabas, Clement, and Hermas, and holding them 
 up, as this exposition makes him, as men self-deceived 
 and void of truthfulness ; but, as the apostle expressly 
 declares in the next chapter, of ungodly teachers who 
 were seducing the churches. These men, as Jude and 
 Peter also inform us, were going everywhere, and 
 " drawing disciples after them." These men professed to 
 have fellowship with God, and yet led the most scandalous 
 lives, " turning the grace of God into lasciviousness." 
 One of the leading doctrines of these seducers, as is 
 well known, was an absolute denial of the fact and the 
 possibility of sin, as far as the sojdis concerned. All evil, 
 or sin, they said, belongs to the body. Hence they denied 
 the Divinity and incarnation of Christ, affirming that it 
 was only in appearance, as an angel visitant, that He 
 dwelt among men. Denying the fact of sin, they denied 
 atonement, and blood and grace cleansing, and the duty 
 of confessing sin. When directed to Christ for salvation, 
 they scornfully replied that they were not sinners, had 
 no sin, and had not sinned, and did not need cleansing or 
 forgiveness. It was to the fatal errors of these seducers 
 that the apostle, as he expressly affirms, refers, when he 
 says, " If we say we have fellowship with Him, and walk 
 in darkness ;" "If we say we have no sin ;" and "If we 
 say we have not sinned both the latter phrases mean- 
 ing the same thing. 
 
350 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IX ME 
 
 If we understand the apostle in this the most obvious 
 sense, all he says is plain and self-consistent. If Ave say, 
 as these men did, that we are in fellowship with God, 
 and yet practise iniquity ; if we deny our need of grace, 
 and blood-cleansing, and forgiveness, by affirming that 
 *' we have no sin," that is, have never sinned at all, we 
 are liars, self-deceivers, xoid of integrity, and " make 
 God a liar." If, on the other hand, " we walk in the 
 light," trust in atoning grace, and confess the fact that 
 we have sinned, and are consequently sinners, or have 
 sin, which we must have, if we have sinned at all, then 
 we have fellowship one with another, and with the 
 Father and with His Son Jesus Christ ; and by the blood 
 of Christ and the grace of God are cleansed and kept 
 clean from "all sin" and ''all unrighteousness." The 
 use that is made of i John i. 8, by the advocates of the 
 dogma of continuous sin in all believers, changes the 
 weapon with which inspiration has furnished us against 
 all who, in any age, may deny the fact of sin, and conse- 
 quent need of atoning grace, into a Herculean club, with 
 which to knock out the brains of such believers as 
 Polycarp, Clement, Barnabas, Hermas, Ambrose, Atha- 
 nasius, Chrysostom, Fenelon, Madame Guyon, Wesley, 
 Fletcher, James Brainerd Taylor, Upham, and Finney, 
 by holding them up as self-deceivers, void of truth, and 
 as making God a liar. 
 
 4. The monstrous conclusions to which the exposition 
 given to these texts necessarily conducts, is still another 
 reason, and a decisive one, why I rejected the exposition 
 as unscriptural and false. If I adopt the deduction, for 
 example, that Paul, in Rom. vii. 14 — 25, describes his 
 own experience, and that of every other believer, at his 
 best estate, what must I think of such experience ? I 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 351 
 
 must conclude that Paul was, at the best estate attainable 
 in this life, "carnal, sold (a bond slave totally) under 
 sin," making none but miserably abortive efforts to do 
 the good he purposed to do, and avoid the evil which he 
 resolved not to do, and, in every conflict with evil prin- 
 ciples and propensities within him, brought into cap- 
 tivity unto the law of sin which was in his members. A 
 wretched man, indeed, is such an individual, and a 
 miserably abortive life is he living. A more monstrously 
 debasing view of the Christian life is inconceivable. Yet 
 this is the brightest ideal of such a life that can be pre- 
 sent to any mind that accepts this passage as represent- 
 ing real Christian experience. It is this false ideal, 
 arising from a total misunderstanding of this passage, 
 which has, for centuries, debased and degraded Chris- 
 tian experience and character in our churches. Taking 
 this view of the passage, what must we think of what 
 Paul says of himself in other places ? Here he affirms 
 himself unqualifiedly a bond slave sold under sin, and 
 held in " captivity under the law of sin and death." In 
 the beginning of the next chapter he affirms that " the 
 law of the Spirit of life in Christ had made him free" 
 from the identical " law of sin and death " under which 
 he had just before affirmed himself to be in wretched 
 captivity. In the conflict here described Paul is defeated 
 in every instance. At the close of the next chapter he 
 affirms himself, in every condition of existence, to be 
 more than a conqueror through Christ. 
 
 So, as we have seen, the exposition given of Phil. iii. 
 12 — 15 makes the apostle, in the same connection, 
 affirm and deny, and that unqualifiedly, the same iden- 
 tical thing of himself. Thus Paul is made out to be one 
 of the absurdest and most self-contradictory writers that 
 
352 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 ever moved a pen. The same facts, as we have seen, 
 characterise the writings of John, if we admit the cor- 
 rectness of the interpretation given of i John i. 8, in 
 support of the doctrine of the continued sinfulness of all 
 believers in this life. 
 
 5. This I also found — I remark finally — that when these 
 proof texts were scrutinised in the light of the universally- 
 admitted laws of interpretation, it became perfectly evident 
 that not one of those texts had the remotest bearing 
 upon the subject. I will refer, in illustration, to two of 
 the most important among them, the others having 
 been already sufficiently considered. Take, as our first 
 example, the oft-cited passage. Psalm cxix. 96 : "I have 
 seen an end of all perfection : but Thy commandment is 
 exceeding broad." On examination, I found that tichlah^ 
 the original word here rendered perfection," is found 
 nowhere else in the Hebrew Scriptures, and that it is 
 derived from a root whose meaning is lost. The 
 analogous word iachlcctJi, which is derived from the same 
 root as the former, is never, in any instance, employed 
 to represent a moral idea in any form. The only mean- 
 ing which it has is ''boundary," "limits," or '"con- 
 summation." The real meaning of the passage is, no 
 doubt, rightly given by Professor Perowne: "I have seen 
 an end, a limit, to the whole range or compass of things." 
 " Thy commandment is exceeding broad, has no limits, 
 whilst all other things are bounded by narrow limits." 
 Mpral perfection is, in the original Hebrew, represented 
 by another and different word. This passage has no 
 meaning at all approaching to the one so often attributed 
 to it. 
 
 In Phil. iii. 12 — 17, Paul applies the following forms 
 of expression to himself : ' ' Not as though I had already 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 353 
 
 attained, either were already perfect ; " and, " Let us 
 therefore, as many as be perfect, be thus minded." In 
 the first case a verb, and in the second an adjective, is 
 employed. In Luke xiii. 32, Heb. ii. 10 and v. 9, 
 the same form of the word which Paid applies, in this 
 first case, to himself, is applied to Christ, and with one 
 exclusive meaning — perfection in glory. In Heb. xii. 23, 
 the same verb, in the participial form, is applied to the 
 spirits of the just in Heaven, " to the spirits of the just 
 made perfect," that is, perfected in glory. In this sense 
 Paul undeniably applies the same verb to himself. What 
 he intends to say is, that when, and not before, his course 
 should be finished, then would "the prize" for which 
 he was running be secured. This course being finished, 
 then, and not till then, would the " crown of righteous- 
 ness be laid up for him," and he be perfect, that is, 
 ■ perfected in glory, as Christ was when He had " finished 
 the work which the Father gave Him to do." When, 
 on the other hand, Paul says, '' Let us, as many as be 
 perfect, be thus minded," he evidently applies the 
 adjective in its usual form, to represent present moral 
 and spiritual perfection. Never were words more reck- 
 lessly abused than are those of Paul, " Not as though I 
 had already attained, either were already perfect," when 
 made use of to prove the doctrine of the continued sin- 
 fulness of believers in this life. So, when these oft-cited 
 proof texts are carefully examined, all even apparent 
 support of this doctrine disappears entirely.^No doctrine 
 has, or can have, less support from Scripture or reason 
 than this. 
 
 The Baptism of the Holy Ghost. 
 Such are my reasons for holding and teaching the 
 
 A A 
 
354 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IX ME. 
 
 doctrine of salvation unto the uttermost through faith 
 in Christ. As connected with this doctrine, and as an 
 essenTial element of it, I also hold and teach the doctrine 
 of the baptism of the Holy Ghost, " an enduement of 
 power from on high " for holy living and work, a super- 
 natural enduement which, by special and specific promise, 
 awaits the faith of every true believer in Jesus ; a pro- 
 mise thus expressed by the apostle, " that we (all believers) 
 might receive the promise of the Spirit by faith." To 
 understand this subject we must bear in mind that the 
 Spirit is omnipresent in the world around us, as the 
 Divine energy which directly and immediately determines 
 and, controls all material events. In the world of mind, 
 also, He is equally omnipresent, inducing conviction of 
 sin, regenerating souls, and carrying forward the work of 
 redemption in the hearts of all believers. In this sense 
 He is, and ever has been, in and with all believers ever 
 since the fall of man. In this sense His work is not 
 supernatural any more than it is in the world of nature 
 around us. In this sphere of His operations, as has been 
 rightly stated by a celebrated English clergyman, no 
 one can distinguish between any thoughts suggested, or 
 any impressions m,ade upon our feelings, by the Holy 
 Spirit, and those originated by the law of natural associa- 
 tion, or induced by the ordinary operations of our own 
 minds. These, then, are the common operations of the 
 Spirit, operations common to all saints in all dispensa- 
 tions ; and as inducing these, the Spirit is in and with 
 every believer at all times and under all circumstances. 
 In addition to this subjection to influences, of which no 
 believer ever is or can be destitute^^ individuals have been 
 subject, in both dispensations, to influences plainly super- 
 natural and Divine, and have been conscious of a per- 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 355 
 
 sonal Presence of a corresponding character. The pro- 
 phets were all of them conscious of their call to the 
 prophetic office, and, when exercising its gifts, they spoke, 
 and were absolutely conscious of " speaking, as they 
 were moved by the Holy Ghost." In the supernatural 
 sense the Spirit was said to "come upon," to be "put 
 upon," and " given to," individuals. Thus the Lord 
 " took of the Spirit that was upon Moses," and " put 
 Him upon the seventy elders " previously designated. 
 So Elisha said to Elijah, " Let a double portion of thy 
 spirit be upon me." How often do we read of " the 
 Spirit of God coining,^' and "coming mightily^' upon 
 individuals! Thus the Father says of Christ, "I have 
 put My Spirit upon Him ; " and Christ says of Himself, 
 "The Spirit of the Lord God is upon Me." So, when 
 Christ sent forth His apostles, He first took of the Spirit 
 that was upon Himself, and put Him upon them, not only 
 clothing them, as prophets, with Divine authority to 
 preach the Gospel of the kingdom, but verifying that 
 authority by imparting to thein power to " heal the sick, 
 cleanse the lepers, raise the dead, and cast out devils." 
 From that hour onward the Spirit was with and upon the 
 apostles, in a form of which they had had no experience 
 before. In this sense and form the Spirit might not only 
 be given to, but be taken from, individuals. It is un- 
 questionably to this great fact that David referred in the 
 prayer, " Take not Thy Holy Spirit from me." To him 
 the prophetic Spirit had been imparted, and by his sin 
 he had forfeited the gift. Hence his earnest pleading. 
 
 Now, though all this was true, while the Spirit was 
 with the Church in the former dispensation, both in His 
 common and in His supernatural or prophetic functions, 
 and in both forms was with and in the apostles prior to 
 
 A A 2 
 
356 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 the Pentecost, yet He has, in the present dispensation, a 
 mission on which He was never sent until after " Jesus 
 was glorified." On this subject the testimony of inspira- 
 tion is specific and absolute. John vii. 39 : "But this He 
 spake of the Spirit, Which they that believe on Him 
 should receive : for the Holy Ghost was not yet given ; 
 because Jesus* was not yet glorified." Two great truths 
 are here absolutely revealed. The first is, that this gift 
 of the Holy Ghost awaits the faith of cve7y believer. 
 We are not told that apostles, or privileged saints, but 
 " he that believeth on Me," shall have the experience 
 described. The second truth is this : The functions of 
 the Spirit in all to whom He is now given, are of a higher 
 order than He had ever before performed, even in any 
 prophet of God. Unless this were true, we surely should 
 not be told that the Holy Ghost, as now to be received, 
 had never before been given, and that because " Jesus 
 was not yet glorified." Then the results represented 
 by the "outflow of rivers of living water" had never 
 before been experienced by prophet, apostle, or saint 
 of God. 
 
 This, then, is the doctrine of the Spirit which I now 
 hold and teach : that while it is the privilege and duty 
 of every believer to " receive the Holy Ghost," He 
 exercises, in all who receive Him, functions of a higher 
 order than He ever exercised in any apostle, prophet, or 
 saint of God, prior to the Pentecost. This is the exact 
 truth set forth by Peter on that occasion. The endue- 
 ment of power then received by himself and his associates 
 was, as he affirms, a fulfilment of the promise given by 
 Joel. This promise, as he also affirmed, awaited the 
 faith of all present who would repent and believe in 
 Christ, and pertains also " to all that are afar off, even as 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 357 
 
 many as the Lord our God shall call," that is, " call 
 to be saints." No utterances can, by any possibility, be 
 more specific and universal in their application. All who 
 " receive the promise of the Spirit " do not, and never 
 did, as the apostle expressly teaches in i Cor. xii., 
 receive the gift of healing or of speaking with tongues ; 
 but all do receive all that is meant by the words, " And 
 they were all filled with the Holy Ghost," and out 
 of the belly of every such recipient flow rivers of living 
 water." Such has been, now is, and ever will be, the 
 experience of all who receive the Holy Ghost, after they 
 have believed. This gift of the Holy Ghost as " the 
 Comforter," "the promise of the Father," "the endue- 
 ment of power from on high," is, our Saviour expressly 
 informs us, given upon the condition of prior "love 
 to Him, and obedience to His commandments." " If ye 
 love Me^ keep My commandments ; and I will pray the 
 Father for you, and He shall give you another Comforter, 
 that He may abide with you for ever" (John xiv. 15, 16). 
 So Peter, Acts v. 32, affirms that " God gives the Spirit 
 to those who obey Him." Paul, also, informs us that 
 believers "receive the promise of the Spirit by faith" 
 (Gal. iii. 13, 14). Such was the order in which the gift of 
 the Spirit was received after the Pentecost, as is manifest 
 in the experience of believers in Samaria, upon none of 
 whom did the Spirit fall until after Peter and John had 
 prayed for them and laid their hands upon them. Paul 
 received this baptism three days after his conversion, as 
 we read in Acts ix. 9, 17 : "And he (Saul) was three 
 days without sight, and neither did eat nor drink." 
 " And Ananias went his way, and entered into the house ; 
 and putting his hands on him said, Brother Saul, the 
 Lord, even Jesus, that appeared unto thee in the way as 
 
358 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 thou earnest, hath sent me, that thou mightest receive 
 thy sight, and be filled with the Holy Ghost." So, 
 when Paul met certain disciples at Ephesus, he put this 
 question to them, " Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
 since ye believed?" This question absolutely implies 
 that, in the judgment of Paul, the facts of regeneration 
 and faith in Christ do not imply that the subject has yet 
 " received the promise of the Father," and that all who 
 have " received the promise of the Spirit " are conscious 
 of the fact. So the same apostle, Eph. i. 13, reveals the 
 order in which the Spirit is given : " In Whom ye also 
 trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the Gospel 
 of your salvation : in Whom also after that ye believed, ye 
 were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise." 
 
 The results, in experience, of receiving " the promise 
 of the Spirit " are set before us in the Scriptures in such 
 language as the following : " The sun shall no more be 
 thy light by day, neither for brightness shall the moon 
 give light unto thee : but the Lord shall be unto thee an 
 everlasting light, and thy God thy glory. Thy sun shall 
 no more go down, neither shall thy moon withdraw 
 itself : for the Lord shall be thine everlasting light, and 
 the days of thy mourning shall be ended ;" " At that day 
 he that is feeble among them shall, be as David, and the 
 house of David as God, as the angel of the Lord before 
 Him ;'' '' And on My servants, and on My handmaidens, 
 will I pour out in those days of My Spirit ; and they 
 shall prophesy " Out of his belly shall flow rivers of 
 living water ;" " At that day ye shall know that I am in 
 My Father, and ye in Me, and I in you ; " " He shall 
 lead you into all truth ;" " He shall receive of Mine, and 
 shall show it unto you ;" " Christ in you the hope of 
 glory ;" " In Whom ye also are builded for an habitation 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 359 
 
 of God through the Spirit;" "And we all, beholding 
 with open face as in a glass the glory of the Lord, are 
 changed into the same image from glory to glory, even 
 as by the Spirit of the Lord ;" " That ye may comprehend 
 the length, and breadth, and depth, and height, and 
 know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge, that 
 ye might be filled with all the fulness of God." Nothing 
 is, or can be, more distinctly and specifically revealed in 
 Scripture than is this doctrine of the baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost, as we hold and teach it ; and because it is thus 
 revealed, we do hold and teach it. 
 
 Objections to this Doctrine. 
 
 Objections to this doctrine assume two forms. It is 
 affirmed, in the first place, that the baptism received at 
 the Pentecost was wholly a miraculous enduement, and, 
 with the age of miracles, has passed away. The error 
 involved in this assumption is so obvious, that the only 
 real marvel about it is, that it should ever have had place 
 for a moment in Christian thought. Was a short period 
 of miracles, such as the speaking with tongues, " the glory 
 which was to follow the sufferings of Christ," the glory 
 about which " the prophets inquired and searched dili- 
 gently," and ''into which the angels desired to look ".'* 
 Was it only for a little period that there was to be an 
 " outflow of rivers of living water " from the inner being 
 of believers, and were these rivers all to dry up into the 
 dull and turbid rivulets which now appear in Christian 
 experience ? Was it for a little period only that " the 
 redeemed of the Lord were to return, and come with 
 singing untoZion, with everlasting joy upon their heads ;" 
 and were these rejoicings then to be superseded by the pre- 
 sent dirge-like songs, " Where is the blessedness I knew, 
 
360 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 when first I saw the Lord," &c. ? Was it for a little 
 while that believers were to "wait on the Lord, and renew 
 their strength, mount up on wings as eagles, run and not 
 be weary, and walk and not faint ;" and then, for subse- 
 quent ages, were they to find that "Their souls can 
 neither fly nor go, to teach eternal joys " ? But one 
 reason can be assigned for the present weakness and 
 gloom that rest upon the churches, and that is the fact, 
 that " the promise of the Spirit," the revealed glory of the 
 present dispensation, has been for centuries " a forgotten 
 truth." Every prediction and passage pertaining to the 
 Pentecostal promise of the Spirit is the blood-bought 
 inheritance of every believer to the end of time. We 
 might as truly say that the promise, "Believe on the 
 Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved," passed away 
 with the age of miracles, granting that that age has 
 passed away, as affirm that the words of Christ, He that 
 believeth on Me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his 
 belly shall flow rivers of living water," ha\-e thus passed 
 away. So "the promise of the Spirit" is everywhere 
 and expressly given to believers as such, and has but one 
 condition , our faith. 
 
 But the second, the most common and important, 
 objection is this : The baptism of the H0I3' Ghost, as 
 promised to believers, is now universally given in 
 regeneration, and never after we have believed ; and 
 what is now to be sought for and expected is a mere 
 increase of what has been already received. One fact 
 bearing fundamentally upon this question is this : Paul, 
 about thirty years after the Pentecost, did not think so, 
 but far otherwise. Suppose that he had held and taught 
 the doctrine that in regeneration every believer does in 
 fact receive the baptism of the Holy Ghost, would he. 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 361 
 
 in that case, have put the question to the believers whom 
 he met at Ephesus, " Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
 SINCE ye believed ? " The following deductions are 
 absolutely verified by the facts before us : that these 
 believers had been subjects of regenerating grace, and had 
 not then "received the Holy Ghost;" that Paul was 
 right in the belief that the fact of regeneration does not 
 imply that the subject has yet "received the Holy 
 Ghost ; " and, when received, the recipient is conscious 
 of the fact, so that every believer can say whether he has 
 received it or not ; and that those who do receive the 
 baptism "receive the promise of the Spirit by faith." 
 The individual who will still hold on to the dogma under 
 consideration in the presence of such facts, has located 
 himself beyond the reach of evidence. But did not 
 Christ say to His disciples, " He (the Comforter) is with 
 you," and (as Alford renders the passage) " is in you " ? 
 Certainly He did. But did He not also say, " If I go not 
 away, the Comforter will not come unto you ; " and did 
 He not subsequently say, " Ye shall be baptized with the 
 Holy Ghost not many days hence " ? But are not the 
 bodies of all believers affirmed to be " the temples of the 
 Holy Ghost " .'' True, we answer. But while Paul 
 affirmed this fact, we have absolute evidence that he did 
 not regard regeneration as proof that the subject had yet 
 "received the Holy Ghost." So the ancient temple was 
 "the temple of the Holy Ghost" as really and truly 
 before as after it was filled with the Divine glory. Every 
 believer is "builded for an habitation of God through the 
 Spirit ; " and is consequently " the temple of the living 
 God." He reasons most illogically, and in express con- 
 tradiction to Paul and the other apostles, who argues 
 from this fact that such believer has been " baptized," 
 
3^2 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 and "filled with the Holy Ghost." To be a temple of 
 the Holy Ghost is one thing, and every believer is such 
 a temple. To be " baptized with the Holy Ghost " is 
 quite another thing, and is true of those saints only who 
 " have received the Holy Ghost since they believed." 
 While Paul affirms that each and every believer is a 
 " temple of the Holy Ghost," he in the same Epistle 
 divides believers into two classes — "the spiritual," and 
 those who are not spiritual, but yet carnal, babes in 
 Christ." 
 
 No doctrine can be less Scriptural, or more manifestly 
 unscriptural, than is this, that all believers are in this 
 dispensation baptized with the Holy Ghost at the time of 
 their conversion. If we compare the actual state of our 
 converts with the revealed results of " the baptism of the 
 Holy Ghost," we shall perceive at once that no more 
 absurd notion ever whirled in a human brain, than the 
 idea that these converts, or even one in a million of 
 them, have received this baptism. Is there the outflow 
 from their inner being of "rivers of living water".? 
 Do they " know that Christ is in the Father, as they in 
 Him, and He in them".? Are they "beholding with 
 open face as in a glass the glory of the Lord, and being 
 changed into the same image from glory to glory, even 
 as by the Spirit of the Lord " ? Has God " made known 
 to all of these the riches of the glory of this mystery 
 among the Gentiles, which is Christ in you the hope of 
 glory" ? These are the revealed experiences of all who 
 have received this baptism. We should stultify ourselves, 
 if we should say that these converts are the subjects of 
 such experiences. Yet, in the presence of all these 
 palpable facts, men, and among them " the wise and 
 prudent," will affirm that every true convert has received, 
 
THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 363 
 
 and did at his conversion receive, the Pentecostal baptism 
 of the Holy Ghost, and is experiencing " the glory which 
 followed the sufferings of Christ," the glory about which 
 " the prophets inquired and searched diligently," and 
 " into which angels desire to look." Can this be said of 
 every such convert, " The Lord is thine everlasting 
 light, and the days of thy mourning are ended " ? Are 
 they "going from strength to strength, mounting up on 
 wings as eagles, running without weariness, and walking 
 and not fainting," and all this with " EVfiRLASTiNG joy 
 upon their heads" ? All these, we repeat, are the revealed 
 results in the experience of all who " wait the promise 
 of the Father," and " receive the Holy Ghost." Can all 
 this be said of these converts, or of one in a thousand of 
 them ? Whence, then, these dirge-songs so common, if 
 not universal, among them ? 
 
 To this it is replied, that all real converts are baptized, 
 but not filled^ with the Holy Ghost. To this we answer, 
 that, according to the express revelations of the New 
 Testament, the terms, " Baptized with the Holy Ghost," 
 "The Holy Ghost is come upon you," and "filled with 
 the Holy Ghost," mean the same thing, and are used 
 interchangeably. See, for example. Acts i. 5, 8, and ii. 
 4. None are " baptized with the Holy Ghost," who are 
 not " filled with the Spirit," and consequently who have 
 not in experience all the revealed results of such filling. 
 We must conclude, that it is "after they have believed, 
 that believers are sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise," 
 or admit that in revealing the results of the baptism under 
 consideration, the Scriptures employ the most absurd 
 and extravagant language to be found in any book that 
 ever was written. 
 
 Such are my " reasons for the hope that is in me," and 
 
364 THE REASON FOR THE HOPE THAT IS IN ME. 
 
 for the form of faith which I hold and teach ; reasons 
 upon which I rest " with full assurance of understand- 
 ing," "with full assurance of faith," and "full assurance 
 of hope ;" and "I Avould to God" that every believer in 
 Jesus in the wide world were, in this faith and hope, not 
 only " almost," but " altogether such as I am." Then 
 truly would their fellowship be with the Father, and 
 with His Son Jesus Christ;" and then also would their 
 joy be full." 
 
CHAPTER XV. 
 
 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, AND 
 ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 
 
 It is now quite forty-six years since, in connection 
 with my late brother in Christ, Finney, I first presented 
 to the public in printed form my views of the doctrine of 
 Salvation to the Uttermost, together with my reasons for 
 my belief in that doctrine. Simultaneously with my own 
 presentation, and in full accordance with it, brother 
 Finney presented his views upon the same subject, to- 
 gether with his reasons for holding them. The reasons 
 which lie at the basis of our faith and hope I have given 
 in the preceding pages, and they are embodied in the 
 following propositions, i. The revealed purpose of the 
 incarnation, life, atonement, resurrection, and mediation 
 of Christ, together with the object of the revealed mission 
 of the Holy Spirit, is not merely the pardon of sin, but 
 salvation,/?/// and complete, from its /r^j'^;// dominion ; 
 to " redeem us from all iniquity; " to " take away our 
 sins; " " destroy the works of the devil ; " to " make an 
 END of sins, and bring in everlasting righteousness." 
 2. Christ stands distinctly and specifically revealed before 
 us in the Word of God, as able to " sanctify us wholly," 
 and "save to the uttermost them that come unto God 
 by Him." 3. He stands revealed, also, as having made 
 specific provisions for ©ur complete and entire and 
 
366 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 present sanctification. 4. On the condition that He be 
 "inquired of by us to do it for us," He has bound Himself 
 by absolute promise^ and that in multitudinous forms 
 and instances, to " sanctify us wholly, and preserve our 
 WHOLE spirit and soul and body blameless unto His 
 coming." 5. Not as a demand of the law of duty, but 
 upon the express ground of these provisions and promises, 
 we are admonished and commanded to " cleanse ourselves 
 from all pollutions of flesh and spirit, perfecting holi- 
 ness in the fear of God." 6. That believers may " stand 
 perfect and complete in all the will of God," is the 
 specific object of the inspired prayers of Christ, His 
 apostles, and other saints of God ; prayers recorded under 
 the immediate inspiration of the Holy Ghost in the New 
 Testament. That we have correctly set forth what the 
 Scriptures distinctly and specifically reveal on each of the 
 topics above presented has never been denied or called in 
 question ; from which fact I may safely conclude that we 
 have correctly interpreted the mind of the Spirit on all 
 those topics. 
 
 The inference which Ave based upon all these univer- 
 sally admitted revelations of the Word of God is this : 
 We are, in view of these specifically revealed truths and 
 facts, as fully authorised to inquire of God to sanctify us 
 wholly, expecting that He will thus sanctify us, as we are 
 to inquire of Him for the pardon of our sins, expecting to 
 receive that' blessing. Grace just as full, and free, and 
 available to our faith, is revealed for the former as for the 
 latter blessing. Each, equally ivith the other, and for 
 the same identical reasons, is the object of faith and 
 hope ; and he who professes that he has been " sanctified 
 wholly," makes a profession no more incredible than he 
 does who professes to have received the pardon of his sins. 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBjECTIONS. 
 
 367 
 
 In each case alike the profession is to be judged by the 
 fruits attending it. 
 
 Such is the doctrine as, from the beginning, we have 
 held and taught it, and such are our reasons for holding 
 and teaching the doctrine. The terms by which we 
 designated it were those by which it had been presented 
 since the times of Wesley and Fletcher, namely, Christian 
 Perfection, Entire Sanctification, and Full Salvation. No 
 doctrine, as we judge, can be more clearly and distinctly 
 stated, together with the reasons for holding it. Nor 
 have I ever heard a complaint from any opponent that 
 we have misrepresented his views, or evaded the full force 
 of his arguments and objections. Whenever any im- 
 portant articles appeared against our views, we uniformly 
 gave them in full to our readers through the columns of 
 The Oberlin Evangelist^ and then gave our reply. As 
 we treated the subject throughout with unquestioned 
 Christian candour, I may say with truth that we were 
 entitled to corresponding treatment from our opponents. 
 If ever there was a question which should be treated with 
 the utmost candour and care, and with a most careful and 
 candid appeal "to the law and to the testimony," it is 
 that which pertains to the possibilities of faith in the 
 sphere of personal holiness in this life. It should be to 
 no one a matter of self-congratulation, but of the deepest 
 humiliation, to confess, that while he is approached by 
 such motives of infinite weight, he is not as holy as he is 
 required to be. Flow unbecoming it was in a very cele- 
 brated minister of the Gospel to publish under his own 
 
 name " that if the public should hear that ]\Ir. was 
 
 entirely sanctified, they might expect to find a notice of 
 his death in the next issue of The Times ! " That which 
 is the revealed object of Christ's death, of all the provi- 
 
368 NEEDFUL CORRECTIOXS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 sions and promises of grace, and also of inspired prayer, 
 we should earnestly desire to find true, and should most 
 deeply regret to find not true in our own experience. 
 
 The circumstances in which our views were presented, 
 together with the relations of brother Firiney and myself 
 to the churches and to the public generally at the time, 
 fixed very general attention upon the subject, and ren- 
 dered it, to a greater extent than often occurs, a theme of 
 discussion and criticism on the part of the pulpit and 
 the religious press. It may be a matter of interest and 
 profit with the reader to look over the past forty-six 
 years, and contemplate the character of these criticisms 
 and discussions. I omit now all reference to the bitter 
 denunciations and exclusions from Christian fellowship to 
 W'hich we were subject, and refer only to the manner and 
 form of the multitudinous criticisms and replies which 
 have appeared to what we, and others holding kindred 
 sentiments with us, have written. 
 
 My first statement upon this subject is this : In no such 
 reply or criticism has there ever, during all these years, 
 appeared a single denial of the truth of one of the six pro ■ 
 positions above set forth. In all such replies, on the other 
 hand, the truth of these propositions has been assumed as 
 undeniable. Nor has there ever been a denial of our deduc- 
 tion from these propositions, in the form in which we 
 presented it. Our argument, summarily stated, is this : 
 Whatever God has specifically revealed Himself as ab/e to 
 do for us, as having provided for us, and whatever He has 
 specifically promised to confer upon us, on the condition 
 that He is inquired of by us to do it for us, and whatever 
 stands revealed in the Bible as a specific object of prayer, 
 we are privileged and bound to inquire of God to do this 
 specific thing for us, and that with full assurance of faith 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 369 
 
 and hope that we shall receive the specific blessing which 
 we seek. In the Scriptures of truth Christ stands dis- 
 tinctly revealed as " able to save us to the uttermost," 
 as having made specific provisions for our full and com- 
 plete " redemption from all iniquity," and for our perfect 
 and complete moral and spiritual purification. Further- 
 more, He has distinctly, specifically, and absolutely 
 promised, on the condition that " He be inquired of to 
 do it for " us, to " save us to the uttermost," to " sanctify 
 us wholly," and " preserve our whole spirit and soul 
 and body blameless " unto His coming. At the same 
 time, salvation in this specific form is the object of the 
 ordained prayer for the Church universal in all time, of 
 the intercessory prayer of our Saviour, and of the inspired 
 prayers of His apostles and of the saints of God. Our 
 deduction from these admitted premises is this : Sancti- 
 fication complete and entire is the object of rational faith 
 and prayer and hope. Such hope rests upon the same 
 identical foundation as that of pardon. No other basis 
 exists for the hope of pardon than this,— that Christ 
 is distinctly revealed as " having power on earth to 
 forgive sin," that He has made and revealed provisions 
 for its forgiveness ; has, upon revealed conditions, pro- 
 mised the blessing ; and that it is revealed in Scripture 
 as a specific object of prayer. Both blessings, perfect 
 justification and entire sanctification, stand distinctly 
 revealed in the Word of God, as available on the same 
 condition, and as, for the same identical reasons, objects 
 of faith and expectation, and the individual who pro- 
 fesses to have received the one blessing makes a no more 
 incredible profession than he does who professes to have 
 received the other. To the argument in this form, the 
 only form in which we ever presented it, no individual 
 
 B B 
 
37° NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 has ever yet, to my knowledge, even professedly replied. 
 A late and very eminent Professor in the theological 
 department of Princeton College, soon after my work on 
 Christian Perfection appeared, made to his class the 
 following statement, which I give as reported to me by 
 a member of that class : " A new work, on the subject of 
 Christian Perfection, has just appeared from the pen of 
 the President of Oberlin College. That, young gentle- 
 men, is a very difficult book to answer. I advise you all 
 to give it a careful reading." This was all that the Pro- 
 fessor was known to have said upon the subject. He 
 was too profound a Biblical scholar to deny any one of 
 the premises laid down, and was possessed of too much 
 Christian candour to impeach the validity of the deduc- 
 tion drawn from those premises. 
 
 All Christian thinkers did not manifest the same 
 wisdom as this Professor, while their candour is left to 
 the judgment of the reader. Not a few, among whom 
 were the leading editors of the Christian press, and the 
 most influential ministers of the Gospel, entered the 
 arena of controversy, and professed to reply to our argu- 
 ments. But what, without exception, was the character 
 of these replies 1 They universally admitted the validity 
 of our premises, and then professedly invalidated our 
 deduction, by grossly and palpably misstating it. 
 
 Our reasoning, as they formally stated it, was this : 
 Specific provisions and promises of grace for the entire 
 sanctification of believers in this life are clearly and posi- 
 tively revealed in the Scriptures ; and therefore believers 
 are and u-ill be thus sanctified. We replied that we did 
 not thus reason, and never had done so ; that from the 
 revealed provisions and promises of grace we reasoned, 
 not to what believers do, but to what they w;^_v and 
 
371 
 
 ought to attain. From the . fact that provisions and 
 promises of grace are clearly revealed for the pardon of 
 sin, we inferred that justification is, not an actually 
 attained, but an attainable blessing, and that men are 
 under obligations infinite to avail themselves of the 
 privilege. It is upon this exclusive basis that the offer 
 of pardon is presented to the race. So, the universally 
 admitted fact, that provisions and promises of grace are 
 given for the entire sanctification of believers in this life, 
 reveals this, not as an attained, but as an attainable state, 
 to which all believers are privileged and bound to attain. 
 Once and again we corrected such misstatements, stated 
 and restated the argument in its true form, and entreated 
 our opponents to meet the argument as we had stated it. 
 This, as I have affirmed, they have never in a single 
 instance even attempted to do. From the fact that for 
 at least forty-six years the opponents of this doctrine 
 have been distinctly looking at this argument, and have 
 never, in a single instance, even attempted an answer to 
 it as presented, I may safely conclude that, even in their 
 judgment, the argument is unassailable, and that the 
 doctrine itself is among the eternal verities that " cannot 
 be shaken." 
 
 Another fact that I deem it my duty to state in 
 this connection is this : In no instance that I have known 
 have our doctrine and arguments been stated as they are, 
 and then met with refutation or disproof. 
 
 Let us for a moment consider the doctrine itself. Take 
 the terms "sin,'' on the one hand, and "holiness," on 
 the other. " Sin " represents everything in and about a 
 creature which God prohibits. "Holiness" represents a 
 " fulfilment in the creature erf the righteousness of the 
 law;" the being and doing all that God requires; or 
 
 B B 2 
 
372 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 Standing perfect and complete in all the will of God." 
 Entire Sanctification," or " Christian Perfection," repre- 
 sents '' salvation to the uttermost " from sin in all its 
 forms, and deliverance full and complete from those 
 internal dispositions, tendencies, and habits, by which 
 creatures are rendered " carnal, sold under sin," on the 
 one hand, and a renewal into the image of Christ, so that 
 by grace the creature does, in fact, '' perfect holiness in 
 the fear of God." How does it become Christian editors 
 and Christian theologians to oppose such a doctrine, if 
 they choose to do so ? First of all, they should present 
 the doctrine, together with the arguments by which it is 
 sustained, just as they are held and presented by their 
 advocates, and should represent the doctrine by the 
 identical terms, and none other than those, which those 
 advocates have adopted. Any departure from this prin- 
 ciple implies the employment of weapons which God 
 prohibits, and reacts with fearful results upon the wrong- 
 doers, and all who are misled by their sophistries. One 
 of the wisest utterances of Coleridge is to this effect, that 
 whenever an individual opposes a given doctrine by first 
 misrepresenting it, he does not oppose the doctrine itself, 
 but a spectre of his own creation, and thereby reveals his 
 own want of internal integrity. 
 
 How has the doctrine under consideration been assailed 
 by its opponents ? By a total misrepresentation, in the 
 first place, as we have already shown, of our arguments. 
 Then it has, with hardly a seeming exception, been 
 represented by odious misnomers, which appeal to no 
 other principle than the odiiiin theologicmn in the reader's 
 mind, on the one hand, and induces utter misappre- 
 hensions of the doctrine itself, on the other. The doc- 
 trine has been invariably held up as the doctrine of 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OByECTIONS. 373 
 
 Sinlessness or Perfectionism. The use of the first term ^| 
 designated has been, ever since the time of Wesley, in / 
 fact and form, repudiated by the advocates of the doc- [ 
 trine, and that for the avowed reason that it represents 
 what is possible only to God, namely, not only total 
 freedom from sin, but from the possibility of sinning, or 
 being even tempted to sin. Now what excuse can any i' 
 intelligent man offer for employing such a term to repre- 
 sent the doctrine of Christian Perfection ; a doctrine ' 
 which affirms, and ever has affirmed, the liability of all 
 believers to temptation, and to sin when tempted, and 
 the impossibility of their being kept at all but " by the^ 
 power of God through faith " ? What is Perfectionism ? 
 Long before brother Finney or myself thought seriously 
 upon the subject, a small sect arose in the United States, 
 a sect never numbering over five or six hundred indi- 
 viduals, a sect which adopted sentiments and practices 
 which rendered it the object of the just reprobation of 
 the Church and the world. This sect openly, for 
 example, repudiated the Bible, the revealed law of God, 
 the Sabbath, and all the Christian ordinances, together 
 with that of marriage. They claimed perfection on the 
 express ground that, being by one act of faith for ever 
 freed from all law and all obligation of every kind, it 
 was absolutely impossible that they should sin, do what 
 they would. The leaders of the sect manufactured the 
 terms "Perfectionist" and "Perfectionism," terms un- 
 known before, and appropriated them to represent their 
 sect and their doctrines. These terms are as exclusively 
 technical as are " Mormon " and " Mormonism." In 
 the first public presentation I ever made of our doctrine, 
 I drew a distinct and impressive contrast between that 
 doctrine and Perfectionism, affirming at the same time. 
 
374 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 that if any one would prove any form of identity between 
 them, or any tendency in the former towards the latter, 
 I would renounce my views for ever. 
 
 Without any attempt to show that any such identitj- 
 or tendency does exist, and in the presence of the most 
 absolute proof to the contrary, the doctrine of Christian 
 Perfection has, from the beginning to the present time, 
 on both sides of the Atlantic, been held up and opposed 
 as the doctrine of Sinlessness or Perfectionism, and never 
 with a true presentation of its real characteristics, and 
 under the only names by which it can be honestly de- 
 signated. All who oppose error, and advocate truth, on 
 such principles, do themselves, and induce others to, 
 " hold the truth in unrighteousness." In the use of such 
 weapons, whether truth or error is advocated or opposed, 
 the spirit induced is exclusively unchristian. It is thus 
 that many individuals have brought a lasting blight upon 
 their own spirits, and upon believers around them. Let 
 any individual candidly compare the two systems, and 
 then frame a shadow of an excuse for an attempt to 
 identify the two, or for opposing or discussing the doc- 
 trine of Christian Perfection under the name "Perfec- 
 tionism." When will Christian men learn to fight the 
 battles of the Lord with Christian weapons and in a 
 Christian spirit, and not with Satanic enginery, and " as 
 if the devil was in them " Doctrinal discussion, reli- 
 gious controversy, and " earnest contention for the faith 
 once delivered to the saints," have place in the sphere of 
 Christian duty. In such service, however, nothing but 
 perfect candour, truthful statements of facts and argu- 
 ments, and the total absence of all use of false imputations 
 and opprobrious names and terms, should have place. 
 
 One of the most ccmnion objections to uur teachings 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 375 
 
 has been, that in them the true standard of Divine 
 requirement is perilously lowcj-ed and distorted. If such 
 a charge can be sustained, such teachings surely ought 
 to be repudiated witli utter abhorrence and reprobation. 
 But what are the. real facts of the case ? Sanctification, 
 in all forms and degrees, we must bear in mind, is exclu- 
 sively the work, not of the creature, but of God, a work 
 wrought in us by the Eternal Spirit, on the condition 
 that " God be inquired of by us to do it for us.'' Entire 
 sanctification implies salvation to the uttermost" from 
 sin in all its forms as God sees it, on the one hand, and 
 perfect moral purity as He apprehends and requires it, 
 on the other. " God," we read, " hath chosen us in 
 Him before the foundation of the world ; " that is, hath 
 chosen that all who are in Christ, or are united to tlim 
 by faith, should "be holy and without blame before Him 
 (in His sight) in love." When Christ presents us to Him- 
 self " without spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing, but as 
 holy and without blemish " in His pure eyes, then, and 
 only then, are we entirely sanctified. This is our avowed 
 standard. Wherein does it differ frona God's standard ? 
 The revealed evidence that we are conformed to that 
 standard is "the witness of the Spirit," on the one hand, 
 and the conscious fact, on the other, "that the blood 
 of Christ, Who through the Eternal Spirit offered 
 Himself without spot unto God, hath purged our con- 
 science from dead works to serve the living God." The 
 Spirit of God, through the apostle John, affirms that 
 " when our heart (conscience) does not condemn us, we 
 keep His commandments and do those things that are 
 pleasing in His sight ; " and, through Paul, that " the 
 end of the commandment (the sum of all that God re- 
 quires of us) is charity out of a pure heart, and of a 
 
376 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 good conscience, and of faith unfeigned." The indi- 
 vidual who can say with Paul, as Alford has rightly 
 rendered his words, " I know nothing against myself ; " 
 "Whom I serve with a pure conscience;" "Our re- 
 joicing is this, the testimony of our conscience, that in 
 simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, 
 but by the grace of God, we have had our conversation 
 in the world ; " " As of sincerity, but as of God, in the 
 sight of God speak w-e in Christ ; " and, " Ye are witnesses, 
 and God also, howholily, and justly, and unblamably, we 
 behaved ourselves among you that believe ; " the indivi- 
 dual who, under the inspiration of the Spirit of God, can 
 truly say all this of himself, has undeniably all the 
 evidence that can be asked of the fact of his entire sancti- 
 fi cation in God's sight. 
 
 In answer to all this, it is affirmed, that God now re- 
 quires of us, not merely what, at the present moment, is 
 possible to us with our powers dwarfed by sin, but what 
 would be possible had we never sinned at all, which is 
 undeniably impossible. " Impossible with men," we 
 reply, " but not with God." If God requires us to serve 
 Him with any degree of strength, be it superhuman or 
 angelic, He has promised to gird us with everlasting 
 strength to do what He does require of us. How much 
 wiser was a Southern coloured preacher than is such an 
 objector! "If," said the preacher, "God should com- 
 mand me to leap droo a wall fifteen feet high, and ten 
 feet thick, I would jump against de wall, case dat w^ould 
 be my dooty, and I would trust God to carry droo de 
 wall, and He would do it." " If God should command 
 me to fly," said Mr. Wesley, " I would trust Him for 
 wings." Such utterances have Divine wisdom in them. 
 
 But where did the idea originate, that God requires of 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OByECTIONS. 
 
 377 
 
 us, not what is now possible to us through grace, but what 
 would be possible, had we never sinned ? Nowhere, we 
 answer, but in tlie bewildered brain of the objector. Not 
 an intimation of any such standard as this can be found 
 in the Bible. "All," we are there absolutely assured, 
 that the law requires of us is "love," and "every one 
 that loveth," we are also assured, " hath fulfilled the 
 law," done «// that the law requires of him. " Where 
 there is a willing mind," we further read, " it is accepted 
 according to that a man hath, and not according to that 
 he hath not." According to Christ, the law addresses 
 every man thus : " Thou shalt love the Lord thy God 
 with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all 
 thy mind, and with all thy strength," that is, with all 
 the heart, soul, mind, and strength of which you are 
 actually possessed. This is God's revealed standard, and 
 he who sets up any other than this " makes void the 
 law of God by human traditions." The individual who 
 sets up the standard under consideration, any standard of 
 obedience which is impracticable, even through proffered 
 grace, is, in fact, living in known and allowed sin, never 
 even aiming to conform to the standard which he has set 
 before his own mind as Divinely obligatory. No one in 
 his senses ever even attempted to love, not with the 
 strength which he has, but with that which he would 
 have, had he never sinned, or with any degree of un- 
 known and unknowable strength. 
 
 There are two standards of the moral and religious 
 life which individuals may have before their minds, the 
 theoretical and the practical^ the former being that to 
 which they entertain no expectation of reaching at all, 
 and the latter that by which they really expect to live. 
 All believers who entertain the belief that every Christian, 
 
378 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 at his best estate, does, and will, sin " daily in thought, 
 word, and deed," has continuously before his mind 
 these two standards, and the one of these will be 
 found to be located far above, and the other as far below, 
 the possibilities of faith in this life, while in the case of 
 all whose sincere aim is to " stand perfect and complete 
 in all the will of God,'' these two standards are one and 
 identical. In the case of these two classes of individuals, 
 you will find the following very important facts to be 
 strictly true. While the theoretical standard of the 
 former may, in the sense explained, be higher than is 
 that of the latter, the reverse is most manifestly true of 
 their practical standards. In the judgment of all ob- 
 servers, the visible lives of the latter move upon a level 
 far higher than do those of the former. I may here 
 state an illustrative fact. I shaH do it, myself being the 
 subject, at the risk of the charge of self-glorification. God 
 knows that my real and exclusive motive is an exempli- 
 fication of the power of His grace. When a council was 
 called to instal me as pastor of the Congregational church 
 in Jackson, in the State of Michigan, the General Con- 
 ference of the same denomination of the same State held 
 its Annual Session at the same time and place. The 
 coincidence was intentional on the part of the church who 
 had called me to be their pastor, the question being 
 deemed a very material one, whether an individual known 
 to all the world as holding and teaching the doctrine I 
 did, should be installed over one of the leading churches 
 of that State. The question was accordingly fully dis- 
 cussed before the two bodies when in united session. During 
 the discussion, a Mr. Aiken, a ministerial fraternal dele- 
 gate from the State of i\Iaine, rose and spoke to just 
 this effect : " On my way here I spent some time with 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 
 
 379 
 
 my uncle, Dr. Aiken, pastor of the First Presbyterian 
 church in Cleveland, Ohio. During our conversation, 
 my uncle made to me the following statements: 'During 
 the residence of President Mahanin this city, I have had, 
 on account of his peculiar circumstances, a full oppor- 
 tunity to look into the interior of his mind, to know his 
 character as it is. Never in my life before have I met 
 with an individual whose moral and religious standard is 
 as high as is that of President Mahan, and never have I 
 met with a man whose whole life is in such full and com- 
 plete conformity to such a standard. His life is in visible 
 conformity to the principles which he holds and teaches.' 
 Such," continued Mr. Aiken, "was the testimony of my 
 uncle, whose reputation you all know, concerning this 
 man. I therefore earnestly advise the Council to instal 
 him as pastor over this church, and this Conference to 
 welcome him as one of your members;" which was 
 accordingly done. Were such fact peculiar to myself, I 
 should not have put upon record the above statements. 
 I do so now, because there are many ten thousands of 
 individuals whose visible lives thus "commend them to 
 every man's conscience in the sight of God ; " and that 
 because their theoretical and practical standard of the 
 moral and Christian life is one and identical. On the 
 other hand, go the world over, and you will find this 
 to be uni\-ersally true, that where believers locate the 
 theoretical far above, they locate the practical stan- 
 dard of the moral and Christian life as far below, the 
 acknowledged possibilities of faith. For the reason that 
 they have thus separated the theoretical and practical 
 standard, they do not seriously aim to rise to the level of 
 admitted possibility. 
 
 Another characteristic which distinguishes the two 
 
380 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 classes under consideration the one from the other, is 
 this : what the class whose theoretical and practical 
 standard is one and identical are quick to recognise in 
 themselves and others as sin, and aggravated forms of 
 sin, the class who have two separate standards, for the 
 most part, take very little account of, or none at all. 
 The least risings of pride, anger, or covetousness, in the 
 heart of any individual of the first class, will be instantly 
 recognised as sin, and will be promptly confessed as 
 such to God, and to all individuals cognisant of the facts ; 
 while individuals of the second class scarcely ever take 
 any account of such uprisings. Late one evening in 
 London, for example, a very influential minister, who 
 sympathised with my teachings, called upon me. He 
 had just come from a great missionary meeting presided 
 over by one of the most celebrated ministers in the king- 
 dom. " We had a glorious time," remarked my visitor. 
 " Had there been," he added, " any cause of general angry 
 excitement present, however, there was nothing there to 
 prevent a furious and universal outburst of the same. 
 One of the leading individuals near me, who manifested 
 the deepest interest in the proceedings, and who fre- 
 quently could hardly restrain open applause, became 
 furiously angry, and manifested his wrath to many 
 around him, simply because some one on coming in had 
 left open the door, and thus let in some cold air upon the 
 congregation." I venture to affirm as an undoubted 
 fact, that that man never regarded, or confessed to God 
 or man, such manifestation as sin. Nor, had the whole 
 congregation become furiously angry from some generally 
 exciting cause, would the fact have been thought of or 
 confessed by the mass present as sin. Had my friend, 
 whose theoretical and practical standard was known to 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 
 
 381 
 
 be identical, unfortunately manifested the same spirit, 
 the fact would have been everywhere talked about, and 
 probably reported in certain religious papers to the dis- 
 credit of his principles. Just such facts, and for the 
 reasons under consideration, everywhere obtain. 
 
 Equally distinguished and peculiar are these two 
 classes, I remark once more, in the confession of sin. 
 Those whose theoretical and practical standard is one 
 and identical, seldom confess sin in general, but are 
 prompt to confess to God and man sins in specific forms, 
 whenever they are committed " in thought, word, or 
 deed ; " and of all persons they are quickest to recognise 
 such facts when they do occur in experience. Those of 
 the other class, on the other hand, are very loud and 
 platitudinous in their confessions of sin in general, and 
 in the forms believed to be common in the churches, 
 and almost never confess specific sins, such as anger, 
 pride, evil-speaking, and covetousness. As far as such 
 sins are concerned, the most common and most aggravated 
 in the sight of God, they are seldom or never confessed 
 among this class, and they are uniformly denied or 
 justified when the subjects are expostulated with for such 
 manifestations. In the sphere of specific sins, the class 
 of believers under consideration practically profess entire 
 sanctification. If there is anything that is " a smoke in 
 the nose" of the Most High, it is, in my judgment, the 
 endlessly multiplied confessions of sin which are every- 
 where coming up before God, confessions made without 
 remorse, shame, or blushing, and with no serious in- 
 tention of amendment ; and all this because those who 
 make such confessions expect to sin, and have before 
 their minds a practical standard of the moral and religious 
 life which, instead of making manifest the sins of the 
 
382 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 daily life, veils the same from the mental vision. To 
 such confessions God's reply is, "Be ye not mockers, lest 
 your bands be made strong." Never, reader, as you 
 fear the frown and value the favour of your God, 
 "acknowledge your transgressions" but when " your sin 
 is ever before you," when your heart is deeply hum- 
 bled within you, and when its cry is, "Wash me 
 throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my 
 sin ; " " Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a 
 right spirit within me ; " " Purge me with hyssop, and 
 I shall be clean ; wash me, and I shall be whiter than 
 snow." It is with unspeakable horror that I often listen 
 to the cold and heartless confessions of sin, " that abomi- 
 nable thing which God hates," and which should never 
 defile the soul of one of His saints ; confessions so often 
 made in the sanctuary, the prayer-meeting, and at the 
 family altar. To such confessions God may well reply, 
 " O, do not this abominable thing which I hate ; " " It 
 is a fearful thing, and a bitter, to sin against God." But 
 what an infinite insult it is, after the deed has been 
 committed, to throw into the face of an offended God 
 a cold and heartless confession of the abomination ! 
 Here is a chief source of the hardness of heart and re- 
 morselessness so common in our churches. 
 
 One of the chief sources of the objections and argu- 
 ments against the doctrine of Entire Sanctification arises 
 from fundamental misapprehensions of the naiure of 
 such state, and the imagined results which would arise 
 from its attainment. How often do we hear it said, that 
 if a believer were ejitirely sanctified, he would no more 
 be subject to temptation to sin in any form ! Individuals 
 who adduce such an objection forget that if their conclu- 
 sion is valid, Christ was in all points a sinner like as we 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 383 
 
 are, because " He was tempted in all points like as we 
 are." The fact that Christ was thus tempted, and " yet 
 without sin," absolutely implies that mere temptation to 
 sin is not sin in any one. Temptation yielded to is sin. 
 "When lust is conceived" (cherished and yielded to), 
 ''it bringeth forth sin." Temptation promptly resisted 
 and overcome implies the purest and brightest virtues 
 known in the universe of God. " To him that over- 
 cometh will I grant to sit with Me in My throne, even 
 as I overcame, and am set down with My Father in His 
 throne." " Blessed is he that endureth (resists and 
 overcomes) temptation ; for when he has been tried, he 
 shall receive a crown of life." Let me state a case of 
 actual occurrence. An individual in the United States 
 was bitten by a rabid animal, and knew that he must die 
 of the consequent malady. Before the paroxysm came 
 upon him, he determined that by the grace of God he 
 would hold all violent feelings and desires in perfect 
 subjection, and by grace fortified himself for the approach- 
 ing conflict. When the paroxysms did come — and none 
 could suffer more than he did — he held out even unto 
 death, never in a single instance, or for a single moment, 
 yielding to the maddening desires that burned within 
 him. In the midst of his most terrible paroxysms, he 
 would call for his infant child, take it in his arms, look 
 into its face, kiss it, and then, with his blessing, give it 
 back to its mother. So he continued, until " he fell 
 asleep." He was terribly tempted and tried. Do you 
 think, reader, that God imputed as sin to that man those 
 rabid desires which were burning out his life ; desires 
 which, by Divine grace, were held in perfect subjection 
 even unto death } No : God, and angels, and glorified 
 spirits, bent with wondering admiration over the spec- 
 
384 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 tacle, and hailed the freed spirit as one of heaven's 
 noblest conquerors. Among those who stand nearest 
 the throne are those who " were stoned, were sawn 
 asunder, were tempted, were slain with the sword." 
 Those who " wash their garments, and make them white 
 in the blood of the Lamb," are not, any more than He 
 was, free from temptation, but, in every trial of fire, they 
 are " more than conquerors through Him that loved 
 them." When Christ said, "The prince of this world 
 Cometh, and hath nothing in Me," He did not mean that 
 Satan could present no temptation to His mind, but this, 
 " He can present no form or degree of temptation which 
 shall find anything but a repellent response in Me." 
 " The pure in heart," who do not " cast away their con- 
 fidence," will be tried, will be tempted, as Christ was ; 
 but, as He was not, so they will never be, anything less 
 than more than conqucrors^^ through Him. Tempta- 
 tion may enter, but sin never can find anything respon- 
 sive to itself in a pure heart. 
 
 But again it is urged, that if we were entirely sancti- 
 fied, we should be in a state in which it would be impos- 
 sible for us to sin. Whence, we may well ask, did such 
 an idea enter the brain of any believer Our first parents, 
 and "angels who kept not their first estate," were once 
 perfectly pure, or entirely sanctified, and yet they were 
 tempted and fell. So, when we have attained to a similar 
 state, we are subject to the same liabilities, and, without 
 watchfulness and prayer on our part, "as the serpent 
 beguiled Eve through his subtilty, so our minds will be 
 corrupted from the simplicity (perfect purity) that is in 
 Christ." 
 
 The following fact will illustrate my apprehension of 
 the real difference between a partially and a perfectly 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 385 
 
 sanctified believer in the respect now under considera- 
 tion. A great commander was engaged in besieging a 
 strongly fortified city. After a while, he concentrated 
 his forces at the point where the fortifications were 
 stronger than at any other, and at two p.m., under a 
 bright sun and clear sky, ordered an assault. When 
 expostulated with by an under oflficer, the commander 
 replied: "At this point such a general is in command. 
 At this hour of the day, he is invariably accustomed to 
 retire for a long sleep. When informed of our approach, 
 he will deny the fact, and send a messenger for informa- 
 tion. Before the messenger shall return, we shall gain 
 possession of the fortress." The facts turned out exactly 
 as predicted. " Yonder weak point," said the com- 
 mander, "is held by General . There is no use in 
 
 attempting to surprise him ; he is never, for a moment, 
 off his guard." So the imperfectly sanctified believer 
 has his long periods in which he " sleeps as do others," 
 and does so with hardly a dream of peril. In their own 
 regard, in many cases, believers, at their best estate, are 
 " carnal, sold under sin." As a consequence, " they are 
 taken captive by Satan at his will," and feel very little 
 alarm when they find themselves "in captivity to the 
 law of sin which is in their members." " Was not this 
 the experience of Paul ?" they exclaim. " All will come 
 out right at death." So their religious teachers too often 
 soothe such deadly slumbers. A fully, and wisely in- 
 structed, sanctified believer, on the other hand, is per- 
 fected in watchfulness, as well as in other Christian 
 virtues, and, like the prudent general, is never for a 
 moment off his guard. He is "a child of the light, and 
 of the day." No " day of the Lord," nor any other day, 
 nor any wile of Satan, " comes upon him as a thief." 
 
 c c 
 
386 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 Bear this in mind, reader, that if, from any cause, you 
 shall be deluded into the idea that you have attained to 
 a state in which you have no more occasion to heed the 
 admonitions, "Be sober, be vigilant," and, "Watch unto 
 prayer," your adversary " the devil " will "grin horribly a 
 ghastly smile," saying, " I am sure of you now," and will 
 " sift you as wheat." 
 
 Another very common and very erroneous impression 
 is, that were believers entirely sanctified, they would 
 always be in a state of ecstatic joy, and would never be 
 " in heaviness," or " sorrow of heart." As no believers 
 are always in such a state, it is hence concluded that 
 "salvation to the uttermost" is not among the present 
 possibilities of faith. What do Ave read of the Master ? 
 " And He took with Him Peter, and the two sons of 
 Zebedee, and began to be sorrowful and very heavy. Then 
 saith He unto them. My soul is exceeding sorrowful, even 
 unto death." " And being in an agony. He prayed more 
 earnestly : and His sweat was as it were great drops of 
 blood falling down unto the ground." " And there 
 appeared an angel unto Him from heaven, strengthening 
 Him." "It is enough for the disciple to be as his 
 Master, and the servant as his Lord." Christ " knew no 
 sin," but did know " sorrow," and was " acquainted 
 with grief." He Avas immaculate in purity, and yet 
 had experience of "great heaviness," and sorrow "even 
 unto death." So the believer, who " has been made 
 perfect in love," and has "washed his robes, and 
 made them white in the blood of the Lamb," may be 
 "shown how great things he must suffer for the name 
 of Christ," may be called - to endure " great fights 
 of affliction," and, if "need be, may for a season be in 
 heaviness through manifold temptations." Yet suffer- 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 387 
 
 ing and sorrow, with such a mind, are always inter- 
 mingled with such " everlasting consolations, and good 
 hope through grace," as to induce forms of hallowed 
 experience to which others are strangers. Sitting under 
 the shadow of a great sorrow, with " Christ in the soul, 
 the hope of glory," we naturally exclaim, " Lord, it is 
 good to be here." Never is the peace of the soul more 
 PERFECT than when walking with the Son of God in 
 the furnace of affliction and sorrow. Finally, the deepest 
 and most abiding joys possible to the soul outflow from 
 such experiences. Here " patience has her perfect work," 
 and the Divinest virtues are matured and perfected. God 
 would not love us as He does, did He not, from time to 
 time, discipline us with such experiences. "No chasten- 
 ing for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous " 
 (and it would not be disciplinary, were it otherwise) : 
 "nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable (peace- 
 imparting) fruit of righteousness unto them that are 
 exercised thereby." "We glory in tribulations also: 
 knowing that tribulation worketh patience ; and patience, 
 experience ; and experience, hope : and hope maketh 
 not ashamed ; because the love of God is shed abroad 
 in our hearts by the Holy Ghost which is given 
 unto us." 
 
 There is also a very common impression, that a state 
 of entire sanctification implies, in reality, infallibility in 
 knowledge and judgment ; and as such a state is never 
 attained, and is unattainable here at least, the doctrine 
 under consideration is denied. To show that the absence 
 of infallibility is sin, it must be shown that God requires 
 of all finite beings absolute infallibility, which can be 
 possessed by no being not endowed with knowledge 
 strictly infinite. On this hypothesis, every angel, and 
 
388 NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 every redeemed spirit in heaven, is a sinner, and will 
 necessarily remain a sinner to all eternity. " God charges 
 His angels with folly," with errors in judgment, but not 
 with sin. " He that kxoweth to do good, and doeth it 
 not, to him it is sin." Ignorance is of two kinds, volun- 
 tary and necessary. It is voluntary, when it exists in 
 the presence of available knowledge. It is necessary, 
 when all means of knowledge are utterly beyond our 
 reach. To affirm that God charges ignorance of this 
 latter kind as sin, is not to convict the creature, in such 
 case, of wrong, but to impute infinite injustice to God. 
 When, on the other hand, ignorance is voluntary, and 
 exists in the presence of means of knowledge known to 
 be available, and of which the subject is conscious that 
 he ought to avail himself, then, for the ignorance itself, 
 and the results of the same, the creature is justly held 
 by God and man as criminal. And these exclusively are 
 the sins of ignorance for which individuals are affirmed 
 to be held responsible in the Old Testament. Specific 
 cases are given. Num. xxxv. 22 — 25, and Deut. xix. 4 — 6, 
 in which an individual, with no malice in his heart, and 
 through unavoidable ignorance, occasions the death of a 
 neighbour. In such cases, the slayer is declared innocent, 
 and the punishment of him is, for this specific reason, 
 prohibited ; nor is any sacrifice required in such cases. 
 Nothing can be more plain and specific than is the 
 distinction under consideration as set forth in the Scrip- 
 tures. Furthermore, we are absolutely taught, that " a// 
 the law," all that God requires, "is comprehended in one 
 word, love," and that he that loveth hath fulfilled the 
 law," that is, " stands perfect and complete in all the 
 will of God." None can, by any possibility, be infallible, 
 but all may love, and have grace to be " made perfect in 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 389 
 
 love." Entire sanctification, therefore, is among the 
 clearly revealed possibilities of faith. 
 
 Strange indeed, that men, " wise and prudent," should, 
 as a last resort, argue that such a state is unattainable, 
 because believers cannot attain to absolute infallibility ; 
 an argument which implies absolutely, that every finite 
 being in existence ever has been, now is, and ever will be, 
 a sinner before God. 
 
 But one of the most important and frequently urged 
 objections against this doctrine is this : that if believers 
 should think themselves " sanctified wholly," they would 
 be lifted up with pride and self-righteousness; that "a 
 sense of sin " is indispensable to keep us humble, and 
 induce hungerings and thirstings after righteousness. 
 The apostle Peter does not appear to agree at all with 
 this sentiment. He says absolutely that " the time past 
 of our life may suffice us to have wrought the will of the 
 Gentiles." That is, according to inspired wisdom, we 
 have no more need of sin, or consciousness of its presence, 
 as a means of inducing true humility or any other 
 Christian virtue. We must bear in mind that " a sense 
 of sin " cannot exist without the actual and conscious 
 presence of sin itself. Those, therefore, who contend 
 that " the sense of sin " is requisite to the existence and 
 perpetuation of genuine humility in the believer, do in 
 reality contend that the presence of sin itself is absolutely 
 necessary to this end. According to Peter, as we have 
 shown, we have already had a sufficient experience of sin 
 and its death-inducing consequences, never more to need 
 its presence in our consciousness. Men, " wise and 
 prudent," in this our day, think differently from the 
 apostle on this subject. Such a dogma is not less absurd 
 than would be the idea that Christ erred in not having 
 
39° NEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AND EXPLANATIONS, 
 
 left at least one of the seven devils in Mary ]\Iagdalene, 
 to keep her humble, and remind her of her dependence 
 upon Him. Who, as a matter of fact, most thoroughly 
 hate and reprobate tobacco, intoxicating drinks, and 
 opium, and are most safe from a return to their use — 
 those who have been consciously saved from enslavement 
 to their use, and from all appetite and desire to taste 
 them again, or those who have abandoned their use, but 
 yet retain a burning appetite for those poisons? So it 
 is with the believer, when " the blood of Christ has 
 purged his conscience from dead works to serve the living 
 God." From his heart of hearts he will " reckon himself 
 dead indeed unto sin, but alive unto God, through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord." It is not according to John, any more 
 than according to Peter, when our hearts condemn," 
 but when they "condemn us not, we have confidence 
 toward God, and receive of Him whatsoever we ask ;" and 
 thus receive, "because we keep His commandments, and 
 do those things which are pleasing in His sight." He 
 that " serves God with a pure conscience," and whose 
 " heart condemns him not," is the one that of all others 
 " serves God with all humbleness of mind," and " touches 
 nothing that is unclean." 
 
 A little of sin, and a consciousness of the same, a 
 necessary requisite to true humbleness of mind ! Why 
 not say, then, that a great amount of sin, and a conscious- 
 ness of the same, are requisite to great humbleness of 
 spirit ? Keeping a little of the old leaven, as a means of 
 becoming a new lump ! Are our hearts purified by sin 
 or by faith ? But suppose that an individual should 
 think himself fully saved, when he is not, would he not, 
 in that case, be in great peril of spiritual pride and other 
 sins ? Surely he would. And would not he be in equal 
 
391 
 
 peril, who should think himself justified when he is yet 
 in his sins ? Shall we cease preaching justification by- 
 faith for that reason ? So the danger of deception should 
 induce us, not to avoid seeking the blessing of a pure 
 conscience, but to be very careful that we do not receive 
 a counterfeit in the stead of " the pure white stone." 
 Paul was not "puffed up," because he felt assured that 
 " he could do all things through Christ Who strengthened 
 him." The reason was, that at the same time he was 
 equally conscious, that he was not " sufficient of 
 himself to think anything as of himself, but that his suf- 
 ficiency was of God." Here is the source of all true 
 humbleness of mind — a consciousness of absolute self- 
 poverty and insufficiency, and-of an ever available fuhiess 
 and all-sufficiency in God. The more distinctly conscious 
 we then are of being filled to overflowing, the more deep 
 and abiding will be our love, gratitude, and humbleness 
 of mind, and the less need shall we have of sin, and the 
 sense of its presence, to perfect in us any form of Christian 
 virtue. 
 
 I refer to but one other of the most common and 
 popular objections to the doctrine of Full Salvation, and 
 especially to the idea of its immediate attainment. How 
 often is it said in opposition to such a doctrine, "I do 
 not believe in this entire and immediate sanctification. 
 I believe in growing in grace.'" This was the identical 
 objection urged by a leading minister in a meeting for 
 prayer and inquiry during one of the Conferences on 
 Scriptural Holi ness in Freemasons' Hall. "AVill you 
 tell us candidly," asked the chairman of the objector, 
 " whether you are conscious of such growth in your own 
 experience.'" "I have grown in knowledge," was the 
 reply, after a moment's reflection. '* But are you really 
 
392 XEEDFUL CORRECTIONS AXD EXPLANATIOXS, 
 
 conscious of actual growth in grace during the years 
 that have gone by ? " I have grown in knowledge," 
 was the second reply. " Will you tell us candidly now 
 whether you are conscious of real growth in spirituality 
 during the many years under consideration ? " "I am 
 not conscious of real growth in holiness during these 
 years," was the final answer. There is not one in a 
 million among all who urge the same objection, who 
 could honestly give a different answer in respect to the 
 
 ^conscious facts of his own experience. Under the idea 
 of such growth the mass of the ministry and member- 
 ship of the churches are at a dead standstill, or are 
 sliding backwards, in their religious experiences. 
 
 Let us for a moment turn our attention directly upon 
 this idea of spiritual growth. In such growth, as actually 
 understood by its advocates, we give up sin, and advance 
 
 jn holiness gradually, " little by little." According to 
 this idea, we have, in the precept, " Grow in grace," a 
 positive command from God not to cease at once from all 
 sin, and become fully obedient, but to " cease to do evil, 
 and learn to do well," gradually, " little by little." In 
 other words, we should disobey a positive command of 
 God if we should at once cease all disobedience. In 
 other words still, we should sin. if we should cease to 
 sin ! 
 
 Furthermore, if ''growth in grace"' implies a gradual 
 " breaking off of sin by righteousness," there it was by 
 this identical process that Christ finally attained to a state 
 in which He " knew no sin." It is absolutely affirmed 
 (Luke ii. 52) that Christ did, in fact, grow in grace. 
 T^e term rendered "favour" there is, in the original, the 
 identical one rendered "grace" in the precept, '"Grow in 
 grace." What is actually required of us in this precept 
 
AND ANSWERS TO OBJECTIONS. 
 
 393 
 
 is, that we be, as Christ was, " pure in heart," and then 
 grow, as He did, in the Divine virtues ah-eady possessed. 
 Growth is not, as the too common idea of "growth in 
 grace" implies, a gradual recovery from disease, but the 
 development of healthy faculties. " Unto you who fear 
 My name shall the Sun of Righteousness arise with 
 healing in His wings ; and ye shall go forth and grow 
 UP as calves of the stall." First, healittg, restoration to 
 perfect soundness of health, and then growth, is God's 
 condition and order of growth in grace. Such is the 
 doctrine distinctly set forth, i Peter ii. 2 : " As new- 
 born babes, desire the sincere milk of the word, that ye 
 may grow thereby." Here we have the idea, first, of 
 perfect health, or purity ; then the administration of the 
 true aliment, the truth of God revealed by the Spirit ; 
 and, finally, growth — " growth in grace," in the favour 
 " and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus 
 Christ." The believer who expects to " grow in grace " 
 by gradually, " little by little," "breaking off his sins by 
 righteousness, and his iniquities by cleaving unto the 
 Lord," attempts growth after Satan's, not God's, method. 
 If your " newborn babe " is sick, first seek its health, and 
 then its growth. So if you, reader, have, in any form 
 or degree, the leprosy of sin upon you, first of all 
 seek healing, perfect healing. Then you may "go forth 
 and grow up as calves of the stall." 
 
CHAPTER XVI. 
 
 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR IN THE LIGHT OF 
 FACTS OF OBSERVATION AND EXPERIENCE. 
 
 " Ye shall know them by their fruits." We have here 
 a revealed test, not only of the character of men, but of 
 doctrine as taught by men. The thorn-bush does not 
 bear grapes, nor does the thistle yield figs. " A good 
 man, out of the good treasure of his heart, bringeth 
 forth good things ; and an evil man, out of the evil 
 treasure, bringeth forth evil things." So the fruit of 
 good doctrine is holiness ; while that of error is sin. 
 "If they had stood in My counsel, and had caused My 
 people to hear My words, then they should have turned 
 them from their evil way, and from the evil of their 
 doings." "What is the chaff to the wheat.? saith the 
 Lord. Is not My word like as a fire, saith the Lord ; 
 and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?" 
 He that, by the Spirit of the Lord, has been made to 
 " know the things that are freely given us of God," who 
 "takes heed unto himself, and unto the doctrine, and 
 continues in them," will "both save himself, and them 
 that hear him." He that " lacketh these things," and 
 teaches error instead of truth, "is blind," and " a leader 
 of the blind," and he himself, and they that hear him, 
 " will fall into the ditch." Essential truth, it should be 
 borne in mind, may be taught in connection with some 
 
TRUTH AND ERROR. 
 
 395 
 
 form of essential error, and the influence of the former 
 may be thereby neutralised. It is in this manner that 
 systems of Christian doctrine, constituted mainly of pure 
 truth, are "made void," and neutralised in their moral 
 and spiritual influence, by having introduced into them 
 elements, or forms, of neutralising error. 
 
 Omission is another form of teaching in which real 
 truth may be rendered void of moral and spiritual power. 
 An individual may teach most fully and correctly, for 
 example, the essential truth of justification by faith, and 
 omit teaching or urging the equally essential doctrine of 
 sanctification by faith. Under such a ministry many 
 souls may be converted. Converts, under such teaching, 
 however, will never become " spiritual," but will ever 
 remain " carnal, babes in Christ." So the preaching of 
 Christ may become void of saving power by an exclusive 
 presentation of one aspect of His character, to the omis- 
 sion of others equally essential. " Thou lovest right- 
 eousness, and hatest iniquity." Both aspects of His 
 character must stand out in distinct and impressive visi- 
 bility before the mind, or the revelation of Him will lose 
 its renovating power. Christ now reigns as our Prince 
 and Saviour, and " intercedes as our Great High Priest." 
 In the final consummation He will sit as " Judge of 
 quick and dead." In each relation He will be absolutely 
 perfect in His ministrations. In the exercise of true and 
 perfect faith in Christ, we " rejoice in hope of the glory 
 of God," " come boldly to a throne of grace," and " serve 
 God acceptably, with reverence and godly fear." We 
 knoiv Christ, when, and only when, the revelation of Him 
 to our minds inspires and perfects all these and kindred 
 sentiments in our hearts and lives. 
 Whoever would understand correctly the real character 
 
396 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 of his system of Christian doctrine, or any distinct 
 element of the same, should set them before his mind 
 in the clear light of principles like those above stated. 
 If he would know the practical results of holding and 
 teaching any doctrine, or system of doctrines, let him put 
 to himself such questions as these : Do the holding and 
 teaching such doctrine or system actually induce among 
 believers that peculiar and special form of experience 
 and life revealed in the Scriptures as characterising the 
 New-Testament saint, as disclosed in such passages as 
 John vii. 37 — 39 ; xiv. 15 — 21 ; and xvii. 20 — 23 ? Do 
 those who receive such doctrine or system " hunger and 
 thirst after righteousness " ? Do they " wait the promise 
 of the Father," until they are consciously " filled with 
 the Holy Ghost " ? Do they " grow up into Christ in all 
 things '' ? Has " God made known to them what is the 
 riches of the glory of this mystery among the Gentiles, 
 which is Christ in you, the hope of gloiy " ? Finall}'', 
 have they '' power with God and with men," such as is 
 not possessed by believers who hold and teach different 
 and opposite views ? 
 
 For upwards of forty-six years, as is well known, I 
 have stood before the Church and the world as holding 
 and teaching certain doctrines and forms of Christian 
 experience and life, exactly opposite to those under the 
 influence of which I had been born and educated, and 
 which had been held as vital truths among all the churches 
 and denominations with which I had been associated. 
 All who know me understand fully that I hold and 
 ttach the system of the evangelical faith intact, and in 
 its entireness. In connection with this system, and in 
 total opposition to my primal views, I hold and teach 
 not only the doctrine of justification by faith but that of 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 397 
 
 sanctification by faith ; that through faith it is the 
 revealed privilege and duty of every believer to be " saved 
 unto the uttermost," "sanctified wholly," and in "his 
 whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless 
 unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ ; " that after 
 regeneration, and the exercise of " repentance toward 
 God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ," there 
 awaits the faith of the believer " the promise of the 
 Father," for which he is to tarry in prayer and suppli- 
 cation, until he is " filled with the Holy Ghost," and 
 " endued with power from on high " for holy living 
 and work ; and that, as the final result, the believer is 
 " strengthened with might by the Spirit in the inner 
 man, that Christ may dwell in his heart by faith," and 
 he shall know, by experience, what those mysterious 
 words of our Saviour mean : " I in them, and Thou in 
 Me, that they may be made perfect in one ; and that the 
 world may know that Thou hast sent Me, and hast loved 
 them, as Thou hast loved Me." This I also hold and 
 teach, that the believer who stops short with regenera- 
 tion, and does not advance in the line of experience above 
 indicated, will, whatever his purposes and efforts for holy 
 living may be, be nothing more than an Old-Testament 
 saint, and that under the dispensation of the Spirit, and 
 will remain to the end of life "carnal, a babe in 
 Christ." 
 
 During the more than forty-six years referred to, I 
 have not only been teaching as stated, but have been a 
 careful observer of the results of such teachings, as con- 
 trasted with the visible fruits of that form of Christian 
 doctrine which I once held and taught. The outcome of 
 such observation has been the absolute conviction, that 
 either a tree is not to be known by its fruit, or the 
 
39S TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 change from my former to my present views of Christian 
 doctrine has been a Divine translation " out of darkness 
 into God's marvellous light." Whenever this doctrine is 
 preached " in the power of the Spirit," just those changes 
 do occur in the inner and outer life of believers, which 
 occurred in the experience of the apostles and their 
 associates at the Pentecost. Wherever this doctrine is 
 held in theory, and not taught " in the power of the 
 Spirit," and wherever it is repudiated and opposed, and 
 wherever the opposite doctrine is held and taught, there 
 never appears a visible conformity to the following 
 exhortation of the apostle: "Therefore leaving the 
 principles of the doctrine of Christ, let us go on unto 
 perfection ; not laying again the foundation of repentance 
 from dead works, and of faith toward God." 
 
 I will now adduce some important facts in confirmation 
 of the above statements. What is the changeless state 
 of the churches, and of individual experience and life, 
 Avhere the doctrine of sanctification by faith, and other 
 kindred doctrines, are not taught ? Some years before 
 his death the Rev. Albert Barnes delivered a discourse, in 
 the city of New York, on the Millennium. During the 
 progress of that discourse, he made the follov/ing state- 
 ment in regard to the then existing condition of the 
 churches : " Not one in ten of the membership of our 
 church are doing anything effective for the sanctification 
 of believers, or the salvation of sinners." That utterance 
 Avas very extensively reported, and never, to my know- 
 ledge, was its strict correctness questioned. " Too many 
 new converts," says Dr. Cuyler, "sit down contented 
 with the fact that they are converted. Born into the 
 kingdom, they are satisfied to remain babies or dwarfs. 
 To ' make a profession ' seems to be about the beginning 
 
7.V THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 399 
 
 and the end of their rehgion. They have no spiritual 
 
 ambition to get beyond their alphabet ; and the Church 
 of Christ gains very Httle more than their useless, un- 
 creditable names on its muster-rolls. Such people are 
 the cumberers of the vineyard, the drones in the hive, 
 the laggards on the march, ever ready to desert to the 
 enemy. If they are ever admitted to heaven at last, 
 it will be an amazing condescension of Divine grace." 
 
 During the progress of the great revival in Detroit, 
 under the labours of Dr. Pentecost, a Christian Con- 
 ference of the Churches in the State of Michigan was held. 
 I take from an address delivered before the Conference 
 by the Rev. A. G. Pearson, D.D., pastor of the Presby- 
 terian church Avhere the meetings were held, the 
 following extracts, as bearing upon the subject under 
 consideration : — 
 
 " God meant to impress men by the contrast of the 
 unworldliness of His people ; but, on the whole, the 
 witness of a separate and sanctified life is gone, and the 
 witness of the tongue of fire is gone with it. The world- 
 liness of the Church is a fact to which we cannot with 
 impunity shut our eyes. Let us pray that our vision 
 may be cleared of every veil or film, that we may not see 
 obscurely, — men as trees walking, — but with a healthy 
 eye, the actual state of things. Dr. Rice, of Virginia, 
 whose name will long be fragrant in the churches, has 
 said that ' the work of foreign missions will not advance 
 to any great degree till there is a higher type of piety at 
 home ; that it would not consist with the plan of God 
 to diffuse over the world such a low type of piety as 
 prevails among us.' 
 
 " In fact, such a sort of piety has but little disposition 
 to diffuse itself ; it requires all its vitality and energy to 
 
400 TRUTH AXD ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 maintain its present position — there is none to spare. 
 An eminent writer says that ' four-fifths of the nominal 
 membership of our churches add nothing to their real 
 power ; they are either a dead weight or a positive hin- 
 drance to the advance of the Gospel ; they help to fill 
 up the gulf between the Church and the world, and break 
 down the distinction between the truly regenerate and 
 the enemies of God and the truth.' 
 
 " A most startling fact in our church life is the absence 
 of personal service in saving souls. Most nominal 
 disciples seem to lose sight of service in the pursuit of 
 salvation, while even salvation is sought with but feeble 
 and spasmodic effort. During twenty years, I have been 
 wont to urge upon disciples a systematic, habitual seeking 
 of souls. In hundreds of cases I have put the question 
 pointedly, ' Do you know that you have been instru- 
 mental in leading one soul to Christ?' only to hear the 
 sad confession that there has been no effort made in that 
 direction. A little careful thought will convince us that 
 multitudes of professed disciples are absolutely neglecting 
 the unsaved about them ; that the question of personal 
 responsibility is scarcely considered." 
 
 A family of Christian sisters in this cit)'', orphan 
 daughters of a clergyman, spent their late summer vaca- 
 tion in different localities. In all cases, as their invariable 
 custom is, they held services in parlours, schoolrooms, 
 and halls, as Providence opened their way, for the sancti- 
 fication of believers and the salvation of sinners ; and in 
 all cases their efforts, as usual, were signally successful. 
 In one place, where they held a few meetings, no revival 
 influence existing there, aside from the great spiritual 
 blessings received by not a few believers, some twenty- 
 five hopeful conversions occurred, large numbers of 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 401 
 
 inquirers remaining unsaved. Among the converts was 
 an old man one hundred and one years of age. After his 
 conversion, he made this statement to one of these sisters : 
 "Never, in all my life, until you came here, did a single 
 individual address a serious word to me on the salvation 
 of my soul." Yet this man had spent his long life in the 
 midst of evangelical churches of various denominations. 
 
 When attending a conference on Scriptural Holiness 
 in the city of Scarborough, the pastor of the first Inde- 
 pendent church in the city made this statement, in the 
 presence of the large congregation assembled, in illustra- 
 tion of the state of the churches. " An influential member 
 of the legal profession," remarked this pastor, " called upon 
 me some time since, and called as a serious inquirer on the 
 subject of religion. The first question he put to me was 
 this : ' Will you tell me, in all sincerity, whether there 
 is in Christianity a power actually to save men from 
 their sins ? I confess to you that the visible lives of pro- 
 fessing Christians whom I know force a painful doubt in 
 my mind on this question. Select now ten or a dozen of 
 your leading and most approved members, and I will 
 parallel their lives by those of a corresponding number 
 of non-professors. Do tell me whether there is in the 
 Gospel the actual saving power which the Bible affirms 
 to exist in it.' My answer was, ' Yes. There is in Chris- 
 tianity just this vital power.' But I could not verify my 
 statement by a reference to the actual state of the 
 churches around me." 
 
 In regard to the remarks of Dr. Rice in respect to " the 
 work of foreign missions," I may refer to a few palpable 
 facts. I first give a fact stated some time since in Divine 
 Life, with the comments which we then published in 
 regard to it. 
 
 D n 
 
 k 
 
402 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 '■'A station in India,' says the Londoti Frcemati, 
 ■ which has been open for more than sixty 5-ears, and has 
 now three European missionaries, three evangelists, and 
 one teacher, and only seven members, inclusive, we sup- 
 pose, of the evangelists and teacher, leaving only three 
 native members who are not supported by the funds of 
 the mission, ma)- be an equally wonderful illustration of 
 faith ; but it ma}' also be a wonderful illustration of 
 folly. With man}' millions in India to whom the Gospel 
 has not yet been proclaimed, would it not be more in 
 accordance with apostolic example if our brethren went 
 forth to proclaim the Gospel in regions beyond, than it is 
 to remain among a people who have so long refused to 
 receive their message ? ' 
 
 " Instead of commending those missionaries for ' their 
 wonderful faith,' or censuring them for ' their wonderful 
 folly,' in continuing thus long such fruitless labours, we 
 would, could we gain their ears, solemnly urge and 
 admonish them to stop at once in their work, and tarry- 
 just where they are 'in prayer and supplication before 
 God,' until they are all fully 'baptized with the Holy 
 Ghost,' and then, in that very place, to recommence 
 their labours ' in the power of the Spirit.' No ' three 
 European missionaries, three evangelists, and one 
 teacher,' who were 'full of faith and of the Holy Ghost,' 
 and who went about their work ' in the power of the 
 Spirit,' ever laboured sixty years, or many years, among 
 any people without turning many to righteousness." 
 
 The above is, no doubt, an exceptional case. We now 
 adduce another, which may be regarded as not exceptional, 
 but as a fair example of the results of missicnary opera- 
 tions generally, when conducted on the same principles 
 and in the same spirit. The American Board of Com- 
 
/.V THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 403 
 
 missioners for Foreign Missions have been conducting 
 such operations upwards of seventy years, and they have 
 stations in all missionary lands. They have, in conduct- 
 ing their operations, expended between fifteen and twenty 
 millions of dollars ; and have employed, on an average, 
 from two to five hundred missionaries. The number of 
 present members in all the churches gathered in is, 
 according to their official reports, about fifteen thousand. 
 According to ancient reckoning, some two hundred and 
 fifty thousand converts were gathered into the Church in 
 the province of Babylon alone, before the death of all the 
 apostles. More than forty years since, this American 
 Board dismissed two of its approved and faithful mis- 
 sionaries in Siam, for no other reason than the fact that 
 they had embraced the doctrine of Entire Sanctification. 
 
 If we should recur to individual experience^ Ave should 
 find, with exceptions very few and far between, the same 
 account of barrenness and failure in the religious life. 
 Never in my life, up to the time of my own emergence 
 " out of darkness into light." did I meet with a single 
 minister or believer in any of the denominations with 
 which I was connected, whose avowed experience did not 
 take specific form from Rom. vii. 14 — 25. All the 
 memoirs which I read — and I read the best of the class — 
 were most largely characterised by the same pattern. As 
 illustrative of the character of the Inner Life as realised 
 in the common experience of individual believers, I cite 
 three important passages bearing directly upon this 
 subject. The first is from a distinguished American 
 preacher, and is taken from a discourse on the " Conso- 
 lations of Religion — 
 
 " And yet how stinted and uncertain the measure of 
 happiness which even the best of Christians is able daily 
 
404 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 to derive from this Divine fountain ! His earthly cares, 
 his daily employments, his bodily wants and infirmities, 
 his foolish imaginations, his anxious thoughts, his variable 
 humours, his doubts and fears, and his unavoidable inter- 
 ruptions, are constantly spreading a mist around him, or 
 gathering dark and impervious clouds over his head, 
 which not only hide the bright shining of the Sun of 
 Righteousness, but are even filled with lightnings, over- 
 shadowing his soul with darkness and dread. All sources 
 of happiness, save one, are either drained or poisoned. 
 And of that, the best of Christians rather desires to taste, 
 than actually and freely drinks. The infirmities of our 
 bodies, the unavoidable imperfections of the existence 
 allotted us, serve the purpose of the flaming sword of the 
 cherubim, turning every way, to guard all access to the 
 tree of life against exiles from Paradise." 
 
 The second paragraph is from the pen of a world- 
 renowned Scotch divine, and is taken from a pamphlet 
 containing a reply to the Rev. A. W. Christopher's 
 defence of the doctrine of the Higher Life : — 
 
 " I pray that I may be enabled to write calmly and 
 kindly, keeping before me the solemnity of the subject, 
 and being mindful of Him Whose I am and Whom I 
 serve. I dread the thought of a matter such as this 
 passing out of the region of Scripture argument into that 
 of human passion or narrow partisanship ; and I distrust 
 myself, for I know too well, in spite of all that Mr. Smith 
 has said, that 'to will is present with me, but how to 
 perform that which is good I find not ; for the good that 
 I would I do not, but the evil which I would not that I 
 do ;' and knowing ihis, may I not rejoice in apostolic 
 sympathy when I add, ' O wretched man that I am ' " 
 
 Our last extract is from the last paragraph of a pub- 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 405 
 
 lished discourse of one of the most celebrated Noncon- 
 formist ministers in Great Britain, a discourse based upon 
 the text, " Fear not ; I am with thee : " — 
 
 " ' Is anything too hard for the Lord ? ' 'Is His arm 
 shortened that it cannot sav'e ? ' Such questions as these 
 must meet with a quick answer in our spirit. We must 
 feel that there is with us a mighty Worker, a real work- 
 ing, active, potent, faithful, truthful Agent, Who, having 
 promised to help us, will help us, and never leave us nor 
 forsake us till He has accomplished all His eternal purpose, 
 and brought us to Himself in heaven. Ah ! my brethren 
 • and sisters, if you have come to this, and can always keep 
 there, I only wish I could ; I can believe in God, and do 
 believe in Him — ' glory be to His name !' — and have seen 
 His arm uplifted and His faithfulness and truth displayed 
 as few have seen ; but yet that awful unbelief, that dark 
 miasma which is the death of comfort, this worse than 
 cholera, this pest, this infidelity, for which no excuse can 
 be made, this most damnable of sins, this which has no 
 foundation, for which I will not whisper even a thought 
 of apology, this still creeps over us and unmans us ! 
 How it throws us into the mire ! How it breaks our 
 bones, and, like a mighty Juggernaut-car, rolls over our 
 very nature to crush it into nothing ! O God, save us 
 from it ! Help us to trust Thee ! it is all we want ; it 
 is human omnipotence. Help us to rest upon Thee ! it 
 is all we want ; it is heaven to our souls. Help us to be 
 sure that Thou art, and that Thou art the Rewarder of 
 them that diligently seek Thee, and that Thy promise 
 must stand fast and firm ; this were to make us sons of 
 God indeed, and of a truth, and to give us the enjoyment 
 of heaven while lingering in the valleys of earth. May 
 God bless us with this faith I " 
 
406 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 Read the above extracts to the entire class of believers 
 who hold the same views of the Christian life that these 
 eminent teachers do, and with one voice all, with few, 
 very few, exceptions, would testify that we have before 
 us " a literal, accurate, and correct photograph" of their 
 religious life and experience. Yet when we compare this 
 with the photograph of the same experience and life, as 
 drawn by the pen of Inspiration, we shall be compelled 
 to confess that the two differ, not in degree, but ni 
 essential particulars, in kind, and that they stand out, 
 not in the relation of pleasing resemblance, but of painful 
 contrast. Now, the inference which we draw from this 
 palpable dissimilarity is this : There must be something 
 essentially wrong somewhere in the vievjs and teachings 
 of these individuals in regard to the immunities and 
 privileges of believers in this life. For centuries these 
 views and teachings have stood out with the greatest 
 prominence before the churches, throughout Christendom, 
 and everywhere and at all times the same contrast has 
 been palpably manifest between the Christian life and 
 experience under these views and teachings, and the 
 same as portrayed in the Scriptures, and revealed as actual 
 in the inner and visible lives of the apostles and primi- 
 tive believers. What do we find in the above represen- 
 tations but most painful contrasts to the forms of the 
 Christian life represented b}^ such words and forms of 
 expression as, "shall flow rivers of living water;" "in 
 him a well of water springing up into everlasting life ; " 
 " that your joy may be full ; " " rejoicing with joy 
 unspeakable and full of glory;" "as sorrowful, yet 
 always rejoicing ; " " able to comfort them which are in 
 any trouble by the comfort wherewith we are comforted 
 of God ; " " learned in whatever state I am therewith to 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 be content ;" and " able to do all things through Christ, 
 Which strengtheneth me"? What are the reasons for 
 this strange contrast between what God has revealed, and 
 the mass of Christians' experience ? What is the cause 
 of the feeble and sickly state in which so many sincere 
 believers spend their lives, and among these not a few of 
 the eminent teachers of God's truth ? 
 
 T/ie Contrast. 
 
 Such was the essential form of my Christian experience 
 and life for quite eighteen years after my conversion. 
 Contemplating the conscious facts of my inner and outer 
 life, as a believer in Jesus, and the avowed experience of 
 the ministry and membership of the churches around me ; 
 seeing nothing in my own and the common view of the 
 Gospel which promised anything better or higher than 
 the past had been ; and finding my best, most sincere, 
 and earnest purposes and endeavours to do as required — 
 that is, to " put on strength," to " be strong in the Lord, 
 and in the power of His might," to " mount up on wings 
 as eagles," and to " know nothing but Jesus Christ and 
 Him crucified" — to be almost utter failures, I said to my- 
 self, " I know that I have missed my way, and am living and 
 acting under an essential misapprehension of the secret 
 of the Divine Life revealed in the Word of God." I also 
 said in my heart of hearts, I will not rest, and I will 
 give my God no rest, until He shall make known to me 
 the true and living way." The result is before the 
 world. For more than forty-six years, my inner and 
 outer life has taken on forms so new, and, as it seems to 
 me, so divine, that for a time after the change, as I have 
 before stated, I seriously doubted whether I had pre- 
 viously been a regenerated man. All doubt upon the 
 
4oC rRUril AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 subject, however, was early removed. I no more doubt 
 the genuineness of my conversion than I do that of my 
 present state. But what shall we think of the two forms 
 of Christian experience and life, through which I have 
 passed .-' I have most carefully compared them with 
 those of the apostles and their associates before and after 
 the Pentecost, and I find the parallel perfect in both 
 cases. I know by experience what it is to be an Old-Testa- 
 ment saint, on the one hand, and what it is to be a New- 
 Testament saint, on the other, just as the two are dis- 
 tinctly daguerreotyped in the Woi'd of God. Canon (now 
 Bishop) Ryle said that we have in Rom. vii. 14 — 25, " a 
 correct, accurate, and perfect daguerreotype of the ex- 
 perience of every true saint of God." Had he added, 
 " of every true saint of God " who has not " received the 
 Holy Ghost since he believed," the only form of the 
 Christ life which he then knew, he would ha^•e been 
 correct in his affirmation. In this state, that of the Old- 
 Testament saint, the believer is not " spiritual, but 
 carnal, a babe in Christ," " carnal, sold under sin." " The 
 good which" such a believer " would he does not ; but the 
 evil which he would not, that he does ; " the law in his 
 members warring against the law of his mind, and 
 bringing him into captivity to the law of sin which is in 
 his members." Well may he exclaim, " O wretched man 
 that I am ! Who shall deliver me from the body of this 
 death ? " Apostles, and Christ, and heaven, and all 
 Pentecostal believers, sympathise with such a saint, and 
 they also " marvel at his unbelief." I know what such a 
 wretched life is ; for I have experienced it. 
 
 The life and experience of the New-Testament saint of 
 God, the Pentecostal believer, are daguerreotyped in the 
 Scriptures in such bright-shining revelations as the fol- 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 409 
 
 lowing: "The law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus 
 hath made me free from the law of sin and death ; " " In 
 all these things we are more than conquerors through 
 Him that hath loved us;" " By Whom I am crucified 
 unto the world, and the world unto me ; " "I live, yet not 
 I, but Christ liveth in me;" "Christ in you the hope of 
 glory;" "Whom having not seen, ye love; in Whom, 
 though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with 
 joy unspeakable and full of glory ; " "Truly our fellowship 
 is with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ ; " " And 
 these things write we unto you, that your joy may be full." 
 
 For more than forty-six years, I repeat, I have had 
 my spiritual dwelling-place in the midst of such bright- 
 shining revelations as these, and my inner and outer 
 Christian life and experience have been in conscious con- 
 formity with them. Why should I doubt the divine- 
 ness of such a life and experience ? Is not this " the 
 King's Highway ? " What is written ? "And an high- 
 way shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called 
 The way of holiness ; the unclean shall not pass over it ; 
 but it shall be for those : the wayfaring men, though 
 fools, shall not err therein. No lion shall be there, nor any 
 ravenous beast shall go up thereon, it shall not be found 
 there ; but the redeemed shall walk there : and the 
 ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion 
 with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads : the}' 
 shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing 
 shall flee away." 
 
 When I contemplate the visible results of my own 
 labours, facts everywhere present themselves to confirm 
 my faith and encourage my efforts. From twenty-five 
 to thirty years I discharged the functions of President of 
 College, fifteen years at Oberlin, Ohio, and the remainder 
 
4IO TRUTH AXD ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 at Adrian, Mich. At each place I uniformly preached 
 once or twice each Sabbath. No single year passed 
 under my Presidency -u-ithout one or more reviv^als of 
 great power among the students, very frequently when 
 no such work of grace existed within hearing distance 
 around us. Often would ministers, Avho had called upon 
 us from a distance, say to me, when coming out of one 
 of our weekly prayer-meetings at Adrian College, " I 
 never before attended such a prayer-meeting as that." 
 "It is not the preaching, but the prayers of these 
 students, that is the occasion of these revivals," said one of 
 the Professors. When the preaching referred to ended, 
 however, revivals ceased. I cannot present an account 
 of these revivals, and of the character of the religious 
 experiences developed, in a more vivid shape, than in 
 the following extract from a letter published in the 
 Oberlin Evangelist in 1845; a letter of personal testi- 
 mony from one of our former pupils : — 
 
 " I trust I was converted about seven years since. The 
 Lord then became the life and delight of my soul. I 
 served Him with some degree of faithfulness, according 
 as my mind was enlightened in the truth at that time. 
 I, however, panted after a clearer vision of truth, and 
 greater conformity to the will of God. About the year 
 1840, the Lord in His providence brought me to Oberlin, 
 and placed me in circumstances favourable to getting a 
 better understanding of the Gospel. The preaching 
 which I then heard was searching, pungent, ' piercing to 
 the dividing asunder of soul and spirit,' and was attended 
 with a demonstration and power which I had never 
 before experienced. I endeavoured to hasten and follow 
 on after the truth. But still I was so tardy, and the 
 truth was gathering upon me -with such rapidity and 
 
411 
 
 clearness, that conviciion ripened on my mind, and I saw 
 myself far behind my privileges. I was fully convinced 
 that there was a depth of meaning and reality in almost 
 all the promises of God, to which I was an entire stranger. 
 There certainly was a deep spiritual experience promised 
 Avhich I had not attained. This conviction was ripening 
 in my mind for a number of months, and pressing me 
 more and more. 
 
 " In this state of mind I sometimes waxed stubborn 
 and rebellious, and appeared to myself more wicked and 
 abominable than I had ever been before. I could enjoy 
 no religion, — in short, God would not let me rest until I 
 arose and sought a higher spiritual state. I said to 
 myself, 'I will arise and seek God with all my soul, and 
 will never rest till I experience what He has promised.' 
 I sought the Lord day and night for weeks. I became 
 more and more impetuous in my prayer. I said, ' I will 
 die but that I will find God.' Many things came up to 
 prev'ent my seeking God. I had just entered college. 
 My studies demanded much of my time ; my health 
 failed ; — indeed it seemed sometimes that I must give up 
 the search. ' But no,' said I ; ' this is a matter of life 
 and death. I will know God, health or no health ; 
 study or no study.' 
 
 " Just at this time a powerful revival of religion took 
 place in the Institution. But this only made me more 
 and more anxious. Almost everybody was praying. 
 When I arose in the night to call upon God, I could hear, 
 from the adjoining rooms and the surrounding woods, the 
 voice of prayer, which broke the stillness of the night 
 with awful solemnity. As I went through the halls, my 
 ears were constantly assailed with deep -toned, heart- 
 broken prayers, which pierced ray heart as a sharp sword. 
 
412 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 Frequently, when hearing these prayers, my spirit was 
 so broken and wounded that I would hasten to my room 
 and fall upon my face as a wounded man, and cry to God 
 for merc3^ But God had mercy upon me. As I was 
 one day calmly reflecting in my room, the thought came 
 very distinctly to my mind, that without fati/i it is 
 impossible to please God. Immediately the way of faith 
 was suggested to me. I took my Concordance, and selected 
 the most important passages that speak of faith. I 
 studied these passages, and sought the Lord to shov,- me 
 the way of faith as it is taught in His Word. After some 
 reflection, and with great calmness of mind, I had a 
 distinct apprehension of what faith is, and how I could 
 exercise it, and that by so doing I could not fail to receive 
 the blessings which I sought. I immediately stepped 
 forth into the faith of God, like stepping from a miry 
 slough upon a broad and solid platform. I saw that I 
 had nothing to do but to keep my confidence in God. I 
 had no contention but with those things that would 
 hinder my faith. ' Now,' the Lord seemed to say, ' if you 
 have any requests, bring them forward.' I did so. My 
 wants were no sooner named than met. I knew that 
 I had found the way to God. This was a time of harvest. 
 For days and weeks, as my wants arose, I carried them to 
 God, and found them met immediately — met fully and 
 abundantly. 
 
 " My first request was that God would heal my head, 
 so that I might pursue my studies. I had been troubled 
 a number of weeks with confusion and pain in my head, 
 so that I was entirely unfitted for study. I had used, 
 and was then using, means for my recovery, but to no 
 effect. I judged that God could do it. I presented my 
 request ; the work was performed immediately, and so 
 
/.V THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 413 
 
 thoroughly that I have felt no symptoms of that com- 
 plaint since that time, which was about five years ago. 
 
 " This, however, appeared to me but a small thing. 
 God had greater mercies in store for me. The way had 
 now become open before me, and I went forward to those 
 great things which I had so long sought. To know God, 
 to have communion with Him through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, to have complete victory over my sins, to 
 love my fellow-men, to know God as my Father ; these 
 things I sought and realised in a sense which I had never 
 known before. In short, the Lord made a complete era 
 in my experience. He commenced a new period, which 
 in many respects has been different from what I had 
 passed through before." 
 
 A chief peculiarity of my religious teachings, as is 
 well known, is the doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy 
 Ghost. A leading clergyman of the Church of England 
 has recently published a work upon this subject under 
 the title, T/ic Forgotten Truth. Most of the membership 
 of our churches, he tells us in the preface, might say 
 with truth, " We have not so much as heard whether 
 there be any Holy Ghost." Mr. Moody states that he 
 had been a Christian for some ten years before he ever 
 heard an allusion to that topic, the very one which now 
 constitutes a central theme of all his teachings. When 
 my work upon the subject had been prepared for the 
 press, I sent it to Mrs. Phoebe Palmer, of New York, that 
 it might be published, on her recommendation, by her son. 
 After examining the work, she wrote me advising that it 
 should be published by some house connected with a 
 Calvinistic denomination. Methodists, she suggested, 
 were hardly prepared to receive the doctrine in the form 
 stated ; so new, at that time, was the subject even to 
 
414 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 I leading adv'ocates of the doctrine of Entire Sanctification. 
 On further consultation, the work was published by her 
 son, under her recommendation. Since then it has been 
 very extensively circulated in America, in Great Britain, 
 and in all missionary lands ; and has been translated into 
 the German and Dutch languages. In a letter just received 
 from the Rev. Griffith John, of Hankow, China, I am 
 informed that he is contemplating the translation of por- 
 tions of the work into the Chinese language, for the 
 spiritual benefit of converts in that empire. What a won- 
 derful change has occurred in the direction of Christian 
 thought and discourse since the publication of that work I 
 In the year i875) the great theologian who sustains the 
 real relation of Primate of the Established Church in 
 Germany, made this remark to a friend of mine : " For 
 centuries past the main direction of Christian thought has 
 been in reference to the distinctive offices of the Father 
 and the Son. Hereafter a central theme of Christian 
 thought and discourse will be the mission of the Third 
 Person of the Trinity." Subsequent facts and indications 
 have fully verified that statement. The current of thought 
 and discourse throughout Christendom is movinji with 
 increasing power in this one fixed direction. Everywhere 
 the consciousness of the fact that the great need of the 
 Church, and of individual believers, is " enduement of 
 power from on high," is pressing with greater and greater 
 weight upon all believing hearts. The Christian Press is 
 being more and more burdened with this one theme. In 
 all Christian conferences and gatherings, this is more and 
 more the theme of thought and discourse. Evangelists, 
 male and female, preachers, and lay members of the 
 churches, individuals of all classes, who have visible 
 " power with God and men," are avowedly going forth to 
 
415 
 
 their work, as Christ did to His, " in the power of the 
 Spirit." I do not claim that my work or my influence 
 has been a chief cause of this change. For what God has 
 accomplished through my instrumentality in forwarding 
 the change, "1 herein do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. ' 
 I propose now to give 
 
 Soinc Specific Facts ilhistrative of the Influence of this 
 and kindred Doctrines. 
 
 It is well known that during the first four centuries 
 of the Christian era this doctrine, together vrith that 
 of Entire Sanctification, was the leading theme of the 
 Christian Church. In all ages subsequent to this, there 
 have been revivals of the same forms of teaching and life, 
 through the influence of the Avisest and holiest men and 
 women known in the annals of the Church. It was 
 under the " enduement of power from on high," sought 
 and obtained as it is now sought, though designated by 
 another name, that the Reformation was eflected in 
 Scotland, and in the English Church under William 
 Law, and partially in the Catholic Church under Madame 
 Guyon and Archbishop Fenelon. The same form of 
 experience, under the name of " Full Assurance," was 
 sought and enjoyed and proclaimed by President Edwards 
 and his wife, the Tenants, and many others, in their 
 time ; while Wesley, Fletcher, and their associates, were 
 setting forth the same great truth under the titles, 
 " Christian Perfection,'' "Perfect Love," &c. I refer to 
 but one other case, which occurred years before brother 
 Finney or myself ever thought of the subject : the case 
 of Professor Tholuck, to which I have alluded in an 
 earlier part of this volume, and on which I will now add 
 the following remarks : — 
 
4l6 TRUTH AXD ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 Professor Tholtick. 
 
 "The Baptism of Fire" -which Tholuck received, 
 accounts for the impressive distinction which he was 
 accustomed to draw between the experience of those who 
 have not, and of those who have, received that baptism. 
 He had been in both these states, and knew well how to 
 describe them, and to set the one in contrast over against 
 the other. In the former state, Christ is, at best, "as a 
 stranger and sojourner," who visits the soul but at sea- 
 sons few and far between, and then His visits are very 
 short and transitory ; in the latter state. He is an ever- 
 abiding, glory-manifesting, and glory -manifested, personal 
 Presence. In the former state, He is outside the soul, 
 and so far off that, for the most part, it knows not where 
 it may find Him ; in the latter, He is formed within." 
 and abides there, as " the hope of glor}'." In the former 
 state, mere occasional glimpses only are obtained of Him ; 
 in the latter, " His glory is beheld with open face," and 
 beheld as the soul's " everlasting light." The contrast 
 between these two states is thus impressively presented 
 by Tholuck : — 
 
 " The intercourse of many Christians with their Lord 
 is like that which His disciples had with Him after His 
 resurrection. He had not then come to them in the 
 Spirit, not yet made His dwelling in their hearts ; but 
 was still, as it were, icii/iout them, permitting them only 
 now and then to be conscious of His pi-esence. He came, 
 they knew not when ; He went, they knew not whither. 
 Their hearts, indeed, burned when He was near, but 
 failed when He departed. Thus with Christians now. 
 The Saviour comes to them, they feel that He is near, 
 and are glad while they listen to His word. He departs. 
 
7A^ THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 and they go back to the business of life. Many of His 
 sayings they do not understand, but, like the disciples, 
 they are afraid to ask Him." 
 
 Facts connccicd -with the Great Spiritual Movement of 
 the Present Time. 
 
 " But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy 
 Ghost is come upon you," was the promise of our Saviour 
 to His disciples, when " He left the world to go unto the 
 Father." Another promise connected with the coming 
 of the Spirit upon believers is this: "And on My ser- 
 vants and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those 
 days of My Spirit, and they shall prophesy." " Ye shall 
 receive power," and " They shall prophesy," are distinct 
 forms of the " promise of the Spirit " which have 
 come down through the ages to the heart and mouth of 
 every believer in Jesus. I may be permitted to present 
 some illustrative facts, under these tAvo aspects of our 
 subject especially. 
 
 When attending a conference at Red Hill, some years 
 since, a minister from Australia delivered one of the most 
 interesting and impressive addresses on the Higher Life 
 that we ever listened to. After giving an account of his 
 own experience, and of the spread of the truth among 
 the ministry and churches in that country, he referred to 
 a member of his own church, a young woman who 
 laboured as a domestic. On learning, after she had 
 sought and obtained " the promise of the Spirit," that 
 wages were very much higher in a distant part of the 
 country than where she was, she went thither. The 
 speaker then read a letter which he had just received 
 from the pastor of the church where this young woman 
 had gone. " As T listened," said the writer, " to the 
 
 !•: E 
 
4i8 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 remarks of that young woman in the class and prayer 
 meetings, one fact very deeply impressed my mind, 
 namely, that s/ie was possessed of a power that I had not. 
 So deep did that impression at length become, that I went 
 to her and requested her to tell me the secret of that new 
 md Divine life which she was living. In listening to her 
 statements I saw clearly my own deficiency and need, 
 and sought and obtained an ' enduement of power from 
 on high.' The result of speaking to my people in the 
 ' power of this endless life ' has already been a total revo- 
 lution in the state of my church, and the addition to its 
 membership of between six and seven hundred converts 
 from the world around, while the work of the Lord, with 
 no indications of abatement, is still going forward from 
 strength to strength." What a new power was brought 
 into that community by the coming of that female 
 domestic, coming as she did " in the power of the Spirit ! " 
 " Would God that all the Lord's people were " (as they 
 are now privileged to be) " prophets, and that the Lord 
 would put His Spirit upon them ! " 
 
 Several years since, Admiral Fishbourne was travelling 
 by railroad. Among his company were a clergyman and 
 his daughter — the wife and mother having died some 
 time before — and an evangelist of deep religious experi- 
 ence and power, Mr. Brownlow North. During the 
 conversation, the daughter stated to the evangelist that 
 her mother, for years prior to her death, had been in the 
 habit of holding prayer meetings and Bible readings with 
 the female members of the church and congregation, 
 and that she left behind her upwards of a hundred 
 women who steadily attended her meetings. " All 
 these," said the young lady, " now look to me, and 
 expect me to take the place left vacant by my mother. 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 419 
 
 To do this appears to me an utter impossibility. I do not 
 know what to say to these persons, or how to say it. 
 What shall I do?" " Every individual," replied the 
 evangelist, " is, until they are cast out, indwelt by two or 
 more devils, which must be cast out before he can render 
 effective service for Christ. I was possessed of very 
 many. You, as I perceive, have had two, a deaf devil 
 and a dumb devil. The former has been cast out 
 already ; your ears are opened to the call of duty. Now 
 ask Christ to cast out of you this dumb devil, and He will 
 do it, and then you will rejoice to take your mother's 
 place." "I am in earnest, Mr. North," replied the 
 inquirer. " So am I," was the reply. "And now, to 
 * speak plainly and to speak no proverb,' let me earnestly 
 advise you to take your case directly to Christ, and lay it 
 fully before Him, just as you have done before me, and 
 ask Him to ' baptize you with the Holy Ghost,' and thus 
 endue you with power for any service to which He may 
 call you. Do this, and He will not only grant your 
 request, but will Himself 'dwell in your heart by faith,' 
 and enlarge your heart exceedingly, and open your 
 mouth, and loosen your tongue to speak for Him all that 
 He desires you to speak." About one year subsequent to 
 this, a friend of the admiral met that young lady. " As 
 soon as I looked in her face," he remarked, " I read the 
 joyful change which had occurred in her experience. ' I 
 did,' she observed, ' as I was by the evangelist advised 
 to do, and did receive the " promise of the Spirit by 
 faith." Since then it has been an unspeakable privilege 
 to me to occupy the place vacated by my mother's death. 
 In addition to this, I now, at all times, feel a perfect 
 readiness to speak for Christ to one or a hundred, as 
 occasion requires. ' " 
 
420 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 A Christian lady, the wife of an Episcopal minister in 
 London, employed the words above cited to express the 
 change which had occurred in her experience. When Mr. 
 Moody was in the city, she was requested and urged to 
 take a section near her for family visitation. To do 
 -SO appeared a physical impossibility. During a ten 
 days' confinement from illness she sought and received 
 the promise of the Spirit." " Since then," she remarked, 
 "I have ever been ready to speak to one or a hundred, as 
 duty calls," and she moves among her people as a pillar of 
 light. 
 
 I allude now to one other case, that of a lady teacher 
 who had more than one hundred lady pupils under her 
 care. We cite from an address of Rev. C. Clemance, D.D., 
 delivered in the Conference in Freemasons' Hall, March 
 5 — lo, 1877 : "At the time of Moody and Sankey's 
 meetings in England, a lady came to me one day in great 
 distress, and said, ' Sir, I have such a burden on my 
 heart. I am engaged in such a school in such a district, 
 and there are a lot of pupilsbefore my eyes, and I knov/I 
 ought to tell them about the Saviour's love, but I cannot. 
 It seems as if a padlock were on my lips. I cannot speak ; 
 and it is quite a burden upon me every day. I cannot 
 speak to people about Christ, and I want to do so.' I said, 
 ' Do you really want to do so ? Do you m.ean that you 
 really wish to open your lips for Christ, and that you 
 cannot do it?' ' Yes.' she said, ' that is the burden.' 'Well, 
 now,' said I, ' will you go and tell Jesus Christ all that you 
 have been telling me ? Instead of asking help from man, 
 ask it from Him, and go and fling that burden upon Him. 
 He lives to baptize you with every power you want. 
 Just go and tell Christ that, and leave the whole thing 
 with Him.' I saw no more of her for a few weeks, and 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 421 
 
 the next time I saw her, instead of the face looking as if 
 she were weighed down with a burden, it was positively 
 radiant with joy, reminding one very much of what the 
 good Irishman said when he was asked why he was 
 so happy in Christ. ' O,' he said, ' Christ lightens our 
 heart, and then brightens our face.' It was even so. And 
 I said to her, ' How is it with you now ' Ah,' she 
 said, ' I did as you told me ; I told Christ what I had told 
 you ; and instead of flinging my burden on man, I flung 
 my burden on my Saviour, and He has taken it away. It 
 is gone. I can speak for Him now. My tongue is 
 unloosed, and I can praise God.' Ah, my dear friends, do 
 let us try this more and more. We think of Christ 
 as our Atoner, and we cannot think too much of that : 
 but I am afraid we have thought very much too little of 
 the other truth. We want Christ as the Baptizer as well 
 as Atoner. Let us trust Him for that, live on Him for 
 that, every day and every hour ; and then we shall be 
 full of joy, full of strength, and we shall find a spring in 
 our Master's service and a power for usefulness that we 
 have never yet enjoyed." 
 
 A lady friend in this kingdom, who had entered into 
 the rest of faith in consequence of reading the work 
 on T/ic Baptism of ihc Holy Ghost ^ gave me the following 
 facts. The daughter of her pastor, since deceased, an in- 
 fluential Independent minister, had been for years hope- 
 lessly broken in spirit in consequence of the sudden demise 
 of her betrothed. Nothing could rouse her, or remove 
 the thick gloom which brooded over her mind. To the 
 sufferer my friend lent the work just mentioned. On 
 reading it, she sought and received " the promise of the 
 Father." The first letter she subsequently wrote to my 
 friend commenced with these words : " I have exchanged 
 
422 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 my sighing for singing." For several years she had 
 taught a Bible class of twenty to thirty young women, 
 and that with no known spiritual results. Soon after 
 she met her class, under the power of her new life, every 
 member of it became a rejoicing believer in Jesus. By 
 these others were brought in, and at the time when 
 I received the account, upwards of sixty individuals had 
 been converted in connection with that class, and that 
 v.'hen no revival influence existed in the church or con- 
 gregation around her. 
 
 In the town of Darlington lives a young lady named 
 Annie Fothergill. As her name and work have been 
 made public before this, we violate no proprieties in 
 speaking of her as we do. Personally, she is one of the 
 most modest, reserved, and unobtrusive ladies we ever 
 met with. "Naturally," she once remarked to me, "I 
 was ridiculously timid." About six years since, she 
 occupied the sphere of governess in a wealthy family in 
 that town. After her conversion, she read the work on 
 T/ie -Baptism of the Holy Gliost^ sought and received 
 "the promise of the Spirit." On receiving " the anoint- 
 ing," this passage was given to her as the fixed maxim of 
 her life, namely, ''Whatsoever He saith to you, do it." 
 Under the influence of this manifestation, the will of 
 Christ, whenever, and by whatsoever means, made known, 
 has been and is the immutable law of all her activity. 
 
 Soon after " her enduement of power," while worship- 
 ping with her own people, the Friends, on the Sabbath, 
 an opportunity presented itself in which it was manifestly 
 proper for her to give public testimony to the power of 
 Divine grace to which she had been subject. As soon as 
 she thought of doing this, all the timidity of her nature 
 arose, and rendered it seemingly impossible for her to 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 423 
 
 speak at all. Instead of attempting to force matters, as 
 individuals are often, and very unwisely, urged to do, 
 she at once lifted up her heart in silent prayer to Christ, 
 that He would take all that fear away, give her perfect 
 self-possession and readiness to speak or not to speak as 
 He should will. In an instant this prayer was con- 
 sciously answered, and this perfectly self-possessed readi- 
 ness to act or speak for Christ, whenever and wherever 
 duty requires, has never left her. As soon as she became 
 conscious that it was the will of Christ that she should 
 speak, she arose and perfectly electrified the audience by 
 her testimony. From that time a new era dawned upon 
 that people. Soon after this, a lady, who had a large 
 Bible class of young women under her instruction in the 
 Sabbath school, having occasion to be absent from the 
 town for several weeks, requested Miss Fothergill to take 
 charge of her class during the interval. This the latter, 
 after prayer for Divine direction, consented to do. On 
 her return, the teacher was surprised and delighted to 
 find every one of her pupils "rejoicing in hope of the 
 glory of the Lord." 
 
 At this time. Miss Fothergill received a request from 
 the conductors of the Sabbath school to take charge of a 
 band of about forty lads in the school, lads from twelve 
 to eighteen years of age, and so very lawless that they 
 were called " the awkward squad." Finding it utterly 
 impossible to preserve order among them, or in the 
 school when they were present, their expulsion had been 
 determined on. As a last resort, the request referred to 
 was presented to Miss Fothergill. After reflection and 
 prayer, she consented to undertake the work to which 
 she was called. The first time she met the band, she 
 held their fixed and almost breathless attention for a full 
 
424 TRUTH AXD ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 hour. She then invited any who might desire religious 
 conversation with her to call at her place at a certain 
 hour the next Tuesday evening. One called and was 
 hopefully converted. The next week more than half a 
 dozen came, and all left rejoicing in God. Soon, that 
 whole " squad " was organised into a praying band of the 
 most devout character. Through these young converts, 
 others were called in, and her room was flooded with 
 converts and inquirers. A larger room being procured, 
 she was requested" to hold another meeting, on another 
 evening, for young women. This was done with a like 
 result. Then a children's meeting was appointed; and, 
 lastly, one for the more elderly class. For five years 
 and upwards, these four weekly meetings have been held 
 without interruption. The result has been, that in con- 
 nection with these meetings some five hundred or more 
 souls have been converted, all but two or three of whom 
 are now walking in the truth. Nor is there any indica- 
 tion whatever of an abatement of the power of the work, 
 the late meetings, as we are informed by a letter just 
 received from. Miss Fothergill, being as successful as 
 former ones. She now gives her whole time to religious 
 services, and is called in all directions to help forward 
 the work of God, and everywhere the same power attends 
 her as at home. When helping in a conference at Not- 
 tingham, we heard remarks to this effect in respect to 
 her: "There is something mysterious about that young 
 woman. Her voice is feeble ; her whole manner the 
 most unassuming and simple conceivable. Yet, while 
 she has great power in drawing believers towards the 
 Higher Life, the impenitent seem to be powerless to 
 resist truth as she presents it." All who, like her, arc 
 "full of faith and of the Holy Ghost," v.'ill not be just 
 
425 
 
 what she is. All such, however, will be endued with 
 power to " shine as lights in the world ; " and to " speak 
 unto men to edification, and exhortation, and comfort." 
 
 "What is the remedy," asks Dr. Cuyler, "for this 
 fitful, periodic piety, this disgraceful alternation of revival 
 and declension, of foaming fulness and fitful dribble of 
 August drought Did God decree that His people 
 should run low like summer brooks, and is this the 
 normal condition of the Church which Jesus redeemed 
 unto Himself.? Is there not a Divine fulness Avhich can 
 keep a believer always full to the brim, and can make 
 the whole Church as steady in its flow as the majestic 
 currents of the Niagara ? " 
 
 Yes, reader, there is a remedy, known, full, complete, 
 and permanent, " for this fitful and periodic piety, this 
 disgraceful alternation of revival and declension, of foam- 
 ing fulness and fitful dribble of August drought." The 
 apostles found for their own life-enduring stability, and 
 revealed for our enduement " with everlasting strength," 
 this sovereign remedy at the Pentecost ; and we may 
 find the same, by " waiting the promise of the Father " 
 as they did. Permit me to give an illustrative example 
 in the case of 
 
 Charles Rcadc, Esq.^ and Family. 
 
 At a conference on Scriptural Holiness, held at Cannon 
 Street Hotel, subsequently to that at Oxford, Mr. Reade, 
 by special request, gave an account of a work of grace of 
 wonderful power, which had been for one or two years 
 going on at Black Gang, Isle of Wight, the place of his 
 residence. Mr. Reade had, in years past, occupied an 
 important civil office under the Government in India. 
 Such were his labours and sufferings during the Sepoy 
 
4^6 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 Rebellion, that his health entirely broke down, and he 
 was necessitated to return to this country. While 
 residing in the vicinity of London, his entire family, con- 
 sisting of himself, his wife, sister-in-law. Miss Hamilton, 
 and two daughters by a former marriage, unitedly sought 
 and obtained " the promise of the Father," and were "filled 
 with the Holy Ghost." Immediately, for the first time in 
 their lives, an ever-burning desire took supreme possession 
 of every one of these minds to devote their entire being to 
 the advancement of the cause of Christ. Becoming per- 
 suaded that a continued residence in London or its 
 vicinity would be fatal, and being advised by his physician 
 that Black Gang was better adapted to his recovery than 
 any other place known, Mr. Reade, after much prayer 
 for Divine direction, removed there. They found it a 
 small hamlet of less than fifty residences, with no place 
 of religious worship in it or its immediate vicinity, the 
 Sabbath being wholly given up by the men of the place 
 and region around to drinking and amusement. The 
 morning of their first Sabbath the ladies of the family 
 walked out to some distance and worshipped in a small 
 Baptist chapel. On their return they saw four men 
 standing together in front of one of the residences. 
 ''There," said one of these ladies, "God has given us 
 a congregation ; let us go and speak unto those men the 
 Word of Life." They went forward and proposed to sing, 
 and pray, and speak to them on the subject of their souls' 
 salvation. These men were immediately joined by four 
 others, and all listened most attentively to the services. 
 This was their first congregation. That very week one 
 of the neighbours called to learn what he should do to 
 be saved. Lying upon a sick bed with an open window 
 fronting upon the place of meeting, he had heard all that 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 427 
 
 passed, and was deeply convicted of sin. He was their 
 first convert. During the week, also, one of their eight 
 hearers called and proposed another meeting the next 
 Sabbath, promising a much larger congregation than the 
 first. This was assented to, and from twenty to fifty 
 persons assembled. From this time their congregations 
 continued to multiply, until the regular attendance 
 amounted to four or five hundred, the work of salvation 
 going forward with wonderful power. Now the need of 
 a place for these congregations to meet in was felt, and 
 the boon was sought by special prayer. While they 
 were thus asking, the proprietor of the land, who had 
 ever before absolutely refused to let any denomination 
 have a lot for any such purpose, offered, of his own 
 accord, a most favourable one to Mr. Reade. Thanking the 
 Lord for this first favour, they now asked Him to give 
 them the building needed, they not having the means to 
 erect one. While they were thus praying, a builder, 
 unsolicited, proposed to put up a building with his own 
 means, to do it at simple cost, accepting a small rent for 
 interest, and leaving them to pay the principal at their 
 own convenience. Thus, in an incredibly short time, an 
 ample place for their great and growing congregations 
 was provided. 
 
 At the conference referred to, Mr. Reade stated that 
 the converts then numbered several hundreds. " This," 
 he remarked, " is our fixed and united aim, not merely 
 the conversion of sinners, but the total separation of 
 every convert from all strong drink, his entire sanctifica- 
 tion, and full enduement of power from on high for holy 
 living and work ; and we never rest, nor suffer the 
 convert to rest, until we have evidence that this con- 
 summation is fully reached. This great truth, too, we 
 
4^8 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 keep fully before our congregations, so that every im- 
 penitent sinner knows full well that when he accepts 
 Christ he is not to stop short of the state and form pf 
 life referred to." Upon this principle, by this one family, 
 without any foreign aid, the work of God has now been 
 carried forward there for upwards of six years and a half. 
 The result has been the enjoyment of a continuous 
 Pentecost among the converts, and the conversion in that 
 locality and the region immediately round, as we have 
 learned from other authentic sources, and as stated in 
 T/ie Christian, '' of upwards of eleven hundred souls."- 
 As indicativ^e of the character of these converts generally, 
 a Christian lady, who knows the family well, and has 
 spent a considerable time with them at Black Gang, 
 recently made the following statement in a parlour 
 meeting : " As they are about their daily labour, they 
 wear upon their countenances a serenity plainly indicat- 
 ing the perpetual presence of inward gladness and deep 
 joy. Immediately after their conversion, in special 
 •prayer and supplication,' they 'waited the promise of 
 the Father' until the Sun of Righteousness rose upon 
 them with healing in His wings." As a consequence, 
 "their sun does not go down, neither does their moon 
 withdraw itself." When will converts in every church be 
 thus educated ? 
 
 Nor has their influence been confined to this locality. 
 The elder Miss Reade has been for some years on a Faith 
 Mission in India, and the same power attends her there 
 as attends the family here. In the Bombay Guardian of 
 March i, a well-known writer from this country, now in 
 India, speaks of " the wondrous blessing that has been 
 given •' to Miss Reade and other women, " among them 
 several Americans." '' O," exclaims this writer, " ma}- 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 429 
 
 the Lord so pour out His Spirit in these last days, that 
 maidens^ daughters^ zvidows, may rise up in adequate 
 numbers and say, 'I can be spared here, I am wanted 
 there ; and though the sun shine hot, and I may suffer, 
 I will go. People may wonder at my course, buf one 
 hundred millions of my sisters must not be left to suffer, 
 and sin, and perish for ever, while I am enjoying my 
 cherished comforts during the one life God has given me 
 for service.' " Aside from the work immediately around 
 them, Miss Hamilton and the younger Miss Reade are, 
 in the churches, among the most successful evangelists 
 in this kingdom. Tlie Christian, in the number referred 
 to, for example, speaks of " a wonderful work of grace," 
 through their instrumentality, in " Porchfield, near New- 
 port." The meetings, of three weeks' continuation, were 
 held in the Congregational church of the place. " Nearly 
 a hundred cases are on record in which credible pro- 
 fession of faith in Christ has been made, some of them of 
 exceeding interest." The reclaiming of backsliders was 
 also a marked feature of the work. " One remarkable 
 feature of the work," says The Christian, " was the 
 systematic visitation in their homes by Misses Reade and 
 Hamilton of those who had shown any spiritual concern 
 at the meetings. Where it was feared that impressions 
 made by the spoken word were not sufficiently deep, the 
 cases were patiently and persistently followed up, with 
 the happiest results. Every family where blessing was 
 known to have been receiv-ed was called on, and the 
 visitation was also extended for a considerable distance 
 in all directions. These personal endeavours have been 
 greatly owned of God." We state these facts as indi- 
 cative of the spirit by which the membership of this 
 entire family are actuated. The above is but one example 
 
43° TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 of ingatherings which everywhere attend their labours. 
 Black Gang is one of the places where the crews of 
 shipwrecked vessels often stop for a time. As soon as 
 they come into the place, they find themselves under 
 revival influences of such power that very many of them 
 are immediately converted. The entire crew of one such 
 vessel was converted, the captain excepted. When he 
 arrived at Liverpool, he was so affected with the fact 
 that he thus stood alone, that he returned and stayed 
 as an inquirer until he found peace in believing. " Would 
 God," we exclaim again, "that all the Lord's people 
 were prophets, and that He would put His Spirit upon 
 them ! " He will put His Spirit upon you, reader, as 
 He did upon the members of that sanctified family, if 
 you will " wait the promise of the Father" as they did. 
 
 Up to quite the meridian of life, J. Woolley, Esq., one 
 of the leading business men of Leeds, had been for many 
 years a member of one of the principal Wesleyan 
 churches in that city. He had been quite active in the 
 Sabbath schools, and other religious services, but had 
 never evinced the possession of poiver for the edification 
 of believers or the conversion of sinners. At this time 
 he set his entire being upon being " sanctified wholly," 
 and " endued with power from on high " for any ser- 
 vice to which Christ might call him. He of course 
 obtained what he sought. " All Leeds soon recognised 
 the wonderful change in that man." Such was the state- 
 ment to us of a Wesleyan minister who had a full 
 knowledge of the facts. When aiding us in a conference 
 of several days' continuance in a Primitive Methodist 
 chapel in that city, more than two years since, Mr. 
 Woolley said to us that never, in a single instance, 
 since the power of the Spirit had rested upon him, had 
 
7iV THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 he addressed a religious meeting at which impenitent 
 persons were present, where more or less of them had 
 not been converted. In that conference a revival com- 
 menced which was soon followed ' by upwards of five 
 hundred conversions, oflScially attributed to the influence 
 of those meetings, and Mr. Woolley had a chief agency 
 in setting that wave of salvation in motion. Being pos- 
 sessed of a competence, almost his entire time has, for 
 years, been devoted to special labours in the churches for 
 the sanctification of believers and the conversion of 
 sinners, and always and everywhere with the most 
 glorious results. Early in the autumn of 1879 "^^'^ spent an 
 evening with a son-in-law of Mr. Woolley, a Wesleyan 
 minister, who stated to us that his father-in-law then had 
 specific engagements which would occupy his entire time 
 quite to the close of the year ; that a few Sabbaths before 
 that time, he occupied, for one evening, the pulpit of 
 the chapel where he had worshipped for many years, and 
 that as the result of that one discourse, upwards of thirty 
 sinners were converted. Such is the power which every- 
 where attends the labours of that man of God ; a power 
 which ever abides, because it is a " power from on high," 
 and works ever and mightily within the soul. On but 
 one condition, reader, can you by any possibility have 
 " peace as a river, and righteousness as the waves of the 
 sea," and ever-enduring " power with God, and with 
 men." You must, " in prayer and supplication," " wait 
 the promise of the Father" until the mantle of Pente- 
 costal power falls upon you. 
 
 Mr. Robinson Watson. 
 When attending a conference at Nottingham more 
 than three years since, a Wesleyan minister gave us an 
 
432 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 account of this lay evangelist. " When co-operating 
 with him," said this minister, " in a series of meetings 
 at St. Ives, as we saw the throng crowding into the 
 auditorium, he said to me in a whisper, ' Jesus must 
 have, at least, five hundred of these souls.' I thought that 
 a great number. More than twelve hundred, however, 
 joined the various churches in that one place, as the 
 fruits of those services. In the north of England, the 
 souls converted through his instrumentality number 
 many thousands." 
 
 In a parlour meeting in the city of London some three 
 years since, Dr. Smyth, of Maidstone, states the following 
 facts about this man of God ; facts which the former 
 obtained from the latter, while co-operating with him in 
 a powerful revival at Tunbridge Wells. For six years 
 after his conversion the religious life of Mr. Watson had 
 been a drearisome pilgrimage over a bog, stumbling here, 
 sinking there, making no visible progress, and bringing 
 almost no fruit to perfection. Then, in all earnestness, 
 in unreserved consecration, and implicit faith in God's 
 word of promise, he sought " salvation to the uttermost," 
 and a full enduement of " power from on high." He 
 spread out before God the promise recorded, Ezek. xxxvi. 
 25 — 27, asked that every item of that promise might be 
 fulfilled in his experience, and " tarried in prayer and sup- 
 plication " until he was distinctly conscious that his 
 prayer was fully answered. From the good hour when 
 the Holy Ghost fell upon and filled him, as He did the 
 apostles " at the beginning," " the word of God had been 
 as a burning fire shut up in his bones." One motive and 
 aim had controlled and energized all his activities — the 
 glory of Christ in " saving souls from death," and " per- 
 fecting the saints " of God. As the result of four years' 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 433 
 
 labour under Christ's mantle of power, he now had in his 
 possession a card, with the name and address of the 
 giver upon the same, from each of quite ten thousand 
 individuals, who attributed their conversion to his instru- 
 mentality. All this aside from the many thousands of 
 believers who had by the same instrumentality been 
 " led out of darkness into God's marvellous light." The 
 fixed and immutable maxim of " the life which he now 
 lives in the flesh," will fully explain the secret of his un- 
 diminished and ever-increasing power. We give the 
 maxim as stated by the Wesleyan minister referred to 
 above. That maxim is taken from the work Baptism of 
 the Holy Ghost, and is this : " Go," " but tarry ; " that is, 
 regard the command " Go," as of absolute obligation ; 
 and the other, " Tarry until ye are endued with power 
 from on high," and never go but "in the power of the 
 Spirit," as of equal sacredness. Because she has gone 
 forth mainly at her own charges," and not " in the 
 power of the Spirit," the Church is waging a feeble war- 
 fare against the kingdom of darkness. When she shall 
 heed the commands of our great Captain, "Go," "but 
 tarry," and " in prayer and supplication " shall " wait the 
 promise of the Father," until the mantle of power shall 
 fall upon ministers and members in common, the period 
 will be near when " great voices shall be heard in heaven, 
 saying. The kingdoms of this world are become the 
 kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ," 
 
 The Rev. P. Huct and H. E. Fatire, D.D. 
 
 These two individuals, the first residing at Goes, and 
 the other at Doesburg, Netherlands, attended the Con- 
 ference at Brighton. Both, while there, sought and 
 received " an enduement of power from on high," and 
 
 F F 
 
434 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 returned to their native country "full of faith, and of 
 the Holy Ghost." The results of their labours in that 
 country have been truly wonderful. In all directions, 
 they have held, and are holding, conferences and other 
 services, which have been attended with signal manifes- 
 tations of the power of the Spirit in the sanctification of 
 believers, and the conversion of sinners. As an example 
 of the influence of these services, I give an extract from 
 a letter dated April 2, 1879, containing an account of a 
 conference previously held in Utrecht, the seat of the 
 national University. "Again," says Dr. Faure, "lam 
 permitted to tell you of a deeply interesting and richly 
 blessed conference for the promotion of spiritual life and 
 Scriptural Holiness, which we held last week at the Uni- 
 versity town of Utrecht. Our most sanguine expectations 
 were surpassed when faith was changed to sight. Floods 
 of light came streaming in upon the Word of God, re- 
 vealing Christ by the Holy Ghost." A number of 
 theological students, as stated in another connection, 
 received the anointing. " Just let me give you," adds 
 Dr. Faure, " the testimony of a simple farmer's girl : 
 quietly she walks up to the platform, at our request ; and, 
 not the least abashed, with undisturbed composure, with 
 beaming smile she tells us, ' Our heart is full of God, our 
 sufficient portion, our full salvation. We are conscious 
 that the nearer we get to God, the quieter it becomes 
 within us. It is constantly as if we are already aware of 
 the holy silence in heaven. Now our souls are surrounded 
 by such stillness, we hear all the more distinctly the con- 
 verse He, Who is so precious, holds with our souls. 
 What a glory to know, as our beloved Saviour revealed 
 it, that God's nature is fatherly ; never will the day 
 come that His paternal heart will not throb with ten- 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 435 
 
 derness towards us ! How kind of God to have given us 
 His only Son and in Him Himself, and that He now also 
 gives us the Spirit of His Son in our hearts, whereby 
 we more and more clearly discern the things that are 
 freely given us of God ! In our Jesus the fulness of the 
 Godhead dwells, and His Spirit takes out of Him to 
 communicate to us. How unspeakably happy we are, 
 now the same Spirit, who dwelt in our Jesus, also abides 
 in us; the selfsame life that throbs in Him, also pulsates 
 in our veins ; now we cannot do otherwise than live for 
 the glory of Jesus ! The most precious enjoyments of 
 God we are prepared to surrender for His glory, not 
 that we could do without Him for one single instant, 
 but merely to point out that we do not prize the gift 
 above the Giver. We want nothing but Jesus only. 
 When called upon to suffer for Him, we rejoice, being 
 prepared to fill up the measure of His sufferings, for we 
 know m everything ivc are tvell pleasing to our 
 
 Jcstis: " 
 
 One of these brethren translated into the language of 
 that country my work on Christian Perfection^ and the 
 other, that on The Baptism of the Holy Ghost ; and both 
 volumes are being extensively read by the people there, 
 and by their missionaries in foreign lands. I am quite 
 sure that my readers will be much gratified, as well as 
 edified, in perusing the following testimony of Dr. 
 Faure, and his friend and fellow labourer, the Rev. J. G. 
 Smitt. 
 
 " Boeshurg, Netherlands, November 20th, 1879. 
 
 " Beloved Father Mahan, — Cheerfully do I confirm 
 your testimony, as set forth in Divine Life, with regard 
 to the baptism of the Holy Spirit as the one thing 
 
 F F 2 
 
436 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 needful, and, glory to God, also attainable, for a con- 
 sistent and all-overcoming life. 
 
 " When I attended the ever memorable Brighton 
 Conference, I had already believed on the Lord Jesus 
 Christ for upwards of thirty years. I need not describe 
 to you the condition I was in all those weary years, as it 
 has been often graphically depicted by various corre- 
 spondents in your columns. Far be it from me to 
 underrate the Lord's gracious workings in, and manifes- 
 tations to, my soul, and the measure of blessing He was 
 pleased to bestow upon .my ministry. I do not believe 
 in extremes, and therefore shall not say that my 
 Christian life was ^altogether a failure^ But I am 
 thoroughly conscious that it was not the thing ; ups and 
 downs, ebb and flow, sinning and repenting ; no tin- 
 broken rest, no continual trust, no perfect peace. 
 
 " I may not encroach upon your space ; otherwise I 
 could tell you most touching particulars of the Lord's 
 gracious providence in bringing me to Brighton. It 
 was all His gentle dealing ; to Him be all the glory. 
 The Lord Himself brought me to that conference. I 
 came in contact with many eminent brethren, and much 
 did I enjoy their ministry and labour of love ; yet from 
 the very moment of my arrival I had the distinct con- 
 sciousness that not from man, or by man, but from the 
 Lord only, straight and direct, I must receive this 
 gracious boon my whole soul was in quest of. And so it 
 came to pass. Only on Wednesday, 2nd of June, I 
 arrived at Brighton, where I was hospitably received 
 and entertained by a dear Christian family from Sunder- 
 land. On Friday morning, seventh day of conference, to 
 myself, and, I believe, many others, the great day of that 
 Christian feast, whilst engaged in returning thanks after 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 437 
 
 breakfast, just on the point of proceeding to the morning 
 meeting, there and then I became conscious of the water 
 of hfe flowing into my soul as one continuous stream. 
 A7id up to this moment it has never abated, but become in 
 me ' a fountain of water springing up into everlasting 
 life.'' I live no more ; Christ liveth in me. 
 
 " Of course, on our return to this country, we could 
 not withhold our testimony, but forthwith became wit- 
 nesses to this overcoming life. My fellow labourer in 
 Natal, Pastor Huet, now became my fellow witness in 
 the Netherlands. At one of our first conferences our 
 beloved brother, the Rev. J. G. Smitt, of Amsterdam, 
 was brought to see and realise this same blessing. Along 
 with others he also has become our yoke-fellow in the 
 Lord's service. It is really wonderful the blessing the 
 Lord has vouchsafed especially to his testimony 
 throughout the country. I am happy to be able to 
 enclose his account of the baptism he obtained. I re- 
 quested him to pen it for Divine Life. 
 
 " May God spare you, even in old age, to be fresh and 
 blooming, and still to bring forth much fruit ! — Yours 
 in the bonds of the Gospel, 
 
 " H. E. Faure, D.D." 
 
 Rev. J. G. Smitt. 
 
 " Gladly, beloved Brother, do I bear witness to the 
 ' second grace ' bestowed on me. Upwards of sixteen 
 years ago I obtained the ' first grace ' in the remission of 
 sin. Now I have also, through faith, been made par- 
 taker of deliverance from sin. Staunch Calvinistic 
 preacher as I formerly was, I always used to teach that 
 after grace once obtained, he was the greatest saint who 
 looked upon himself as most guilty, either by confession 
 
438 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 of newly committed sin, or by deeper insiglit into the 
 depravity of his heart. 
 
 " But I have been led to see that ).his doctrine of 
 sanctification is a mere human opinion, which can 
 readily be entertained without exerting the slightest in- 
 fluence on our life ; for either it evaporates into a theory 
 about Christ, with His holy life upon earth. His holiness 
 being imputed to us, or it merely retains its preventive 
 influence from sin as long as tenderness of feeling lasts 
 under acknowledgment of guilt and renewed acceptance 
 of pardon. But fortunately I have now become better 
 informed. Christ is now my sanctification through 
 faith ; not merely in contemplation, but abiding in me 
 through His Holy Spirit, whom I received of God, the 
 Spirit of promise, who made me partaker of the Divine 
 nature by inheritance of the promises, and conformed me 
 to the image of the Son of God, our Elder Brother. 
 Now is everlasting life my conscious possession, and 
 through the ever-increasing knowledge of Jesus, and in 
 Him of God, the image of my Saviour is not so far 
 removed from me as before. Now I know that at His 
 appearing I shall be like unto Him, not suddenly made, 
 but be as He is. Not a single promise is too grand for 
 me. I can boldly apply them to myself as my lawful 
 property, specially written for me. 
 
 " But how was I brought to this ? 
 
 "As regards the gradually fuller stream of this Divine 
 life, by increased knowledge of the things that are freely 
 given us of God, this is what I daily experience. As to 
 the decisive step, however, that was no more than a 
 single step into the land of rest. When first I heard of 
 these things some five years ago, how the witnesses to 
 this life spoke with so much joy of their experience, I 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 439 
 
 looked upon them, not wishing, however, to judge 
 harshly, as very superficial, not only in their doctrine of 
 sin, but also of salvation. Ah, how very wise in his own 
 conceit even a minister of the Gospel can sometimes be ! 
 After having followed the Master so long, like the 
 disciples, I had to become like a child, not only to see, but 
 also to enier the kingdom of God. My wisdom con- 
 tinued till I heard two brethren, who had attended the 
 Brighton Conference some six months previously, and 
 there received the baptism of the Spirit, bear witness to 
 a higher life than is experienced by believers generally. 
 
 " The first day I said of them, that all they proclaimed 
 with such glow of love was nothing new, that I myself 
 had preached the identical doctrine, for years and years, 
 of sanctification by faith. However, I returned the 
 second day, to take further knowledge of what was going 
 on, and, praise God, I did not turn myself away ; more 
 and more I became conscious that the witnessing 
 brethren possessed something more than what I had 
 heretofore contented myself with. I began to acknow- 
 ledge it to myself and to confess it to my God. And after, 
 on the third day, seeing this life the beloved brethren bore 
 witness to, more and more clearly manifested in Holy 
 Scripture, I prayed in believing expectation that the 
 Lord would grant me the same fulness of life. That 
 evening I laid myself to rest expecting that something 
 was in store for me. My soul was full of longing, yet 
 quietly waiting on the Lord. Thus I fell asleep, quietly 
 and calmly as never before, till the fourth watch of the 
 night. I was then roused out of sleep by God Himself, 
 or by His angel. One word of God after another came 
 flowing into my soul. It was everything to me. I 
 believed in the very same way as, years ago, for the 
 
440 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 remission of sins, with this difference, however, that I 
 now distinctly experienced, that this was more than an 
 opej-ation of the Spirit upon me. It was the entrance of 
 the Spirit Himself into me ; not something passing, but 
 a perennial existence. 
 
 "With special clearness the word of the Lord came to 
 my mind, ' Like as the bridegroom rejoices over the 
 bride, thy God will rejoice over thee.' The bridegroom 
 is not satisfied, nor fully happy, unless the bride sur- 
 renders herself entirely ; so my Lord could now only 
 rejoice over me, now I had entirely surrendered myself 
 to Him. He has spoken to me that His joy might abide 
 with me, and my joy be full. And up to this moment, 
 now for more than three years and a half, nothing, and 
 no one, has taken my joy from me. Like Abraham, 
 rich in faith, I also realise the promise of my God ful- 
 filled : ' Thou shalt be a blessing.' 
 
 "As there is nothing lacking to my own salvation, it 
 is now my joy to be a blessing to others, to hundreds, 
 yea, to thousands. This is my trust and full expectation 
 according to the word of my Lord, ' I have chosen you, 
 that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your 
 fruit should remain.' 
 
 " All glory to God and the Lamb, who bought us and 
 washed us from our sins in His blood, and made us kings 
 and priests unto God ! — Your fellow witness to the 
 Divine Life, 
 
 " J. G. Smitt." 
 
 " To Rev. Dr. H. E. Fanrc." 
 
 United States and Canada. 
 
 When we turn from Europe to the United States and 
 Canada, the countries more pervaded with this influence 
 than any other in the world, what do we find there 1 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 441 
 
 \Ve find that the revivals, which, for years past, ha\-e 
 rendered that country the "Hght of the world," are 
 visibly under the influence of pastors, evangelists, male 
 and female, and members of churches, who have " waited 
 the promise of the Father," until they have gone to 
 their work, as Christ did to His, "in the power of the 
 Spirit." What were all these individuals before " the 
 Holy Ghost fell upon them " ? They were as weak as 
 other believers. Now " he " or she, " that is feeble 
 among them is as David." One of those women, Mrs. 
 Van Cott, has just been necessitated, by exhaustion of 
 physical vitality, to suspend labours for a season, after 
 fourteen years of uninterrupted exertion, the result of 
 which has been — apart from the many thousands of 
 believers who have been lifted out of darkne.ss into sun- 
 light — the addition of more than thirty thousand con- 
 verts to the churches. What mighty power the Spirit of 
 God is exerting through that young evangelist, Harrison ! 
 Quite eleven hundred have been added to one church in 
 Philadelphia, and seven hundred to Dr. Talmage's church 
 in Brooklyn, in a few months, through the agency of this 
 one young man. In his experience and life, as a 
 believer in Jesus, there were, as he states, three stages : 
 "First, conversion; second, baptism of power; third, 
 full assurance of faith." His conversion was radical and 
 thorough. But for two years ''he had more noise than 
 power." Then, " with all his heart, and with all his 
 soul," he sought until he received the "baptism of 
 power," and with this "the full assurance of faith." 
 Hence his wonderful moral and spiritual power. Major 
 Cole and his wife were once members of my own church. 
 Who would have suspected, before their anointing, that 
 they would be what they now are ? Dr. Earlle had no 
 
442 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 special power as a preacher before " the Holy Ghost fell 
 upon " him. As soon as he went forth " in the power of 
 the Spirit," however, conversions under his preaching 
 numbered quite five thousand yearly. With Mr. Ham- 
 mond's early history I am unacquainted. But what was 
 Dr. Pentecost, compared with what he now is — hardly 
 second to Mr. IMoody — before " the Spirit of the Lord 
 God rested upon " him ? 
 
 With regard to his own preaching, before his endue- 
 ment of power from on high, Mr. Moody made this state- 
 ment in a Sabbath-school convention in Illinois, some 
 years ago. "I preached, and I preached, but it was 
 beating against the air. A good woman in Chicago, 
 whom I expect soon to see, used to say, ' Mr. Moody, 
 you don't seem to have power in your preaching.' " 
 So it is, as far as spiritual power is concerned, with the 
 preaching and teaching of all who do not " speak in 
 demonstration of the Spirit and of power." Having 
 "been taught the way of the Lord more perfectly," 
 Mr. Moody first confessed his own deficiency, and then 
 sought "the promise of the Spirit." "I requested this 
 woman and a few others," he says, " to come and pray 
 with me every Friday at four o'clock. Ah, how piteously 
 I prayed to God that He might fill the empty vessel ! " 
 " How much more shall your heavenly Father give the 
 Holy Spirit to them that ask Him ! " 
 
 The following is Mr. Moody's account of the manner 
 and form in which he received the anointing : 
 
 " After the fire in Chicago," he sa3's, " I was in New 
 York city, and, going into the Bank on Wall Street, it 
 seemed as if I felt a strange and mighty power come over 
 me. I went up to the hotel, and there, in my room, I 
 wept before God. I cried, ' O my God, stay Thy hand.' 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 443 
 
 He gave me such a fulness that it seemed more than I 
 could contain." 
 
 The reader will notice three essential facts here : that, 
 as was true of the disciples " at the beginning," the 
 blessing was sought and waited for some time before " the 
 anointing " was received ; that when it did come, it came 
 in both cases alike suddenly^ as in a moment ; and, lastly, 
 that it was characterised in each instance by such mani- 
 festation of the Divine glory, and love, and grace to the 
 mind, as filled the mind " with all the fulness of God." 
 Such, in their essential features, we believe, are the 
 manner and form in which this baptism is received. As 
 soon as the believer receives power, the Holy Ghost 
 coming upon him, a new and marked era of light, liberty, 
 and power occurs in his experience. 
 
 Effects of this Baptism tliiis received. 
 
 Of the results of this baptism thus received, let us 
 hear Mr. ]\Ioody himself. " May God forgive me," he 
 says, " if I should speak in a boastful way, but I do not 
 know a sermon I have preached since but God has given 
 me some soul. O, I would not be back where I was four 
 years ago for all the wealth of this world. If you would 
 roll it at my feet, 1 would kick it away like a football. I 
 seem a wonder to some of you, but I am a greater wonder 
 to myself than I am to any one else. These are the very- 
 same sermons I preached in Chicago, word for word. It 
 is not new sermons, but the power of God. It is not a 
 new Gospel, but the old Gospel with the Holy Ghost of 
 power. Amen." 
 
 Some time prior to the change in Mr. Moody's expe- 
 rience, a Christian, a layman, in this country, while 
 riding in the cars, no one being in the compartment 
 
444 TRUTH A\D ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 with him, read a tract on the " Higher Life," and there, 
 upon his knees, sought and obtained the "anointing." 
 On a subsequent visit to New York, U.S., this indi- 
 vidual met Mr. Moody just after the latter had obtained 
 "such fulness." That interview brought Mr. Moody 
 to this country — a visit followed by those revivals which 
 fixed the attention of all Christendom. Had he come 
 here before he received the "anointing," he would have 
 "preached and preached," but it ''would have been 
 beating the air." Now, "when preaching the very same 
 sermons, word for word," as before, but speaking "in 
 the power of the Spirit," tens of thousands are in 
 short periods turned unto the Lord." Under this 
 same "enduement of power from on high," sought and 
 received anew, as exigencies required, have those won- 
 drous revivals since occurred in the United States, and 
 that late unparalleled work of God in Chicago, the work 
 in which Mr. Moody has, as he never did before, made 
 the doctrine of the Baptism of the Holy Ghost a funda- 
 mental element and characteristic of all his teachings. 
 
 In a discourse delivered in Chicago, in the winter of 
 1876, Mr. Moody gives the following account of the 
 causes which led his mind to this great subject. The 
 text of the discourse was Acts xix. 2, " Have ye received 
 the Holy Ghost since ye believed?" "How many 
 people in this audience," asked Mr. Moody, "would 
 know how to answer that question if it was put to 
 them personally ? ' Have ye received the Holy Ghost 
 since ye believed ? ' A great many of us, if we were 
 asked, would not know what it meant. I was a Chris- 
 tian some years before I knew anything about it. I 
 remember once, in Brooklyn, speaking at a Sunday 
 school meeting. I thought there was a good deal of feel- 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 445 
 
 ing in the meeting, and on going out, feeling perfectly 
 satisfied, an old man touched me on the shoulder, and in 
 a trembling voice and with tears in his eyes said, ' Young 
 man, when you speak again, honour the Holy Ghost.' 
 I didn't know what he meant, and went to other schools, 
 but this always kept ringing in my ears, ' Young man, 
 when you speak again, honour the Holy Ghost.' Months 
 went on, and still I kept thinking about this, and 
 wondering what the old man meant. I think I have 
 found it out. My friends, there is a good deal of work 
 among us that goes for nought, because we don't honour 
 the Holy Ghost. Let me say right here that I have 
 never stood before an audience honouring the Holy 
 Ghost but He has heard me, and the work has been 
 deep and thorough, because the work has been done in 
 the Spirit. All that is done in the Spirit will be lasting, 
 but all that is done in the flesh will pass away. The 
 workers should be led in all their efforts by the Holy 
 Ghost, and their work will then be successful." 
 
 Speaking of the personality of the Holy Ghost, he 
 says : " I was a Christian about ten years before I found 
 it out. I remember an old divine getting up in Farwell 
 Hall — not this one, but the one before the fire — and he 
 spoke about Christians honouring the Holy Ghost. He 
 said that very few people thought He was as much a 
 person as Christ. I got my Bible, and soon I saw he 
 was right. Now, just turn to the fourteenth chapter of 
 John and the sixteenth verse, and we read : ' 1 will pray 
 the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, 
 that He may abide with you for ever.' If the Spirit was 
 not a person, Christ would not have spoken about Him 
 as He did — 'That He may abide with you for ever.' 
 Then we go on : ' Even the Spirit of Truth, Whom the 
 
446 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 world cannot receive, because it seeth Him not, neither 
 knoweth Him : but ye know Him ; for He dwelleth with 
 you, and shall be in you.' Three times in that verse 
 Christ speaks of the Holy Spirit as * Him,' and in the 
 two verses we find Him referred to three times as ' He.' 
 It is He, Him, Him, He, all through those two verses. 
 The Son of Man knew Him ; that's the reason. Again 
 we read in the twenty-sixth verse : ' But the Comforter, 
 Which is the Holy Ghost, Whom the Father will send 
 in My name, He shall teach you all things, and bring all 
 things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto 
 you.'" 
 
 Fruits in Missionary Lands. 
 I have already noticed the fact, that the American 
 Board of Commissioners for Foreign Missions, more than 
 forty years since, dismissed two of their missionaries for 
 no other reason than because they had avowed their 
 belief in the doctrine of Entire Sanctification. I am now 
 permitted to give an example of the influence of this doc- 
 trine in connection with this society. A short time 
 before I left America, in 1874, I heard that two theolo- 
 gical students, Messrs. Stevens and Watkins, connected 
 with the Oak Park Seminary, had sought and obtained 
 the baptism of the Holy Ghost, and that, after much 
 prayer for Divine direction, they had fixed upon Western 
 Mexico as the field of their future labours. To this field, 
 under the Board referred to, they were sent in the year 
 1872. They had been there but one or two years, before 
 their success excited jealousy, and Mr. Stevens was set 
 upon and murdered by a mob openly instigated by the 
 Catholic priests. Amid great peril of life and limb, Mr. 
 Yv^atkins continued the work. The following is the 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 447 
 
 account which (in 1877) we received of this mission of 
 only some five years' continuance : 
 
 "As to the number of converts, the result in the 
 mission to Western Mexico is greater, for the labour 
 expended, than in any other mission of the Board. The 
 two churches organised are unusually devoted to Chris- 
 tian wort:. And now at one of the out-stations 472 
 persons await the coming of the missionary to make pro- 
 fession of their faith. There is only one missionary on 
 the ground. Three more are needed at once." 
 
 We subsequently learned, through the American 
 papers, that five preachers were needed to occupy im- 
 portant vacant positions connected with this mission. I 
 hesitate not to express the solemn conviction, that had 
 the missionaries connected with this Board gone forth to 
 their missions, as these young men went to theirs, " in 
 the power of the Spirit," the membership of the 
 churches gathered in would' now number, not some 
 fifteen thousand, but millions. Take the following facts 
 in illustration. 
 
 The ' Rev. William Taylor, " in the power of the 
 Spirit," spent, as he states, seven months among the 
 KaflSrs of Africa, speaking to the people through an 
 interpreter. During this period "the missionaries," he 
 says, "reported the conversion to God of seven thousand 
 Kaffirs." Nor did the work abate after he left. We re- 
 cently read of one native minister there, for example, who 
 never addresses an audience without from two to twelve, 
 or more, being converted. It is in this country that an 
 aged female is going from village to village, and gather- 
 ing souls by scores and hundreds into the kingdom of 
 God. When will the Church of God come to understand 
 wherein her great strength lies ? How long will she 
 
44S TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 suffer herself to be shorn of her strength by the great 
 enemy of God and man ? 
 
 The Rev. J. F. Frow, of Bombay, asked an intelligent 
 Hindu why he so frequently attended Mr. Taylor's meet- 
 ings there. " Sahib," he replied, " there is a very mys- 
 terious work going on here in connection with his meet- 
 ings. Many men whom I knew to be drunkards, swearers, 
 and dishonest men, tyrannical men, too, who were before 
 always abusing the natives in their employ, have been 
 entirely changed at these meetings. They are now all 
 teetotallers ; they are honest and true in their dealings, 
 and speak nothing but words of kindness to every body ; 
 and instead of hating and abusing their servants, they 
 show real love and sympathy for them, and are all the 
 time trying to do them good. I have looked into these 
 things closely, and know that what I tell you, sahib, is 
 true ; and this kind of work is going on all the time at 
 Padri Taylor sahib's meetings. I don't understand it, 
 but I feel so anxious to know more about it that I can't 
 keep away." 
 
 At an important Conference held in Shanghai, "China, 
 in 1877, the Rev. J. H. Taylor, Editor of China' s Millions, 
 addressed the following living words to the missionaries 
 assembled: "Talk theory to the. heathen, and they are 
 generally unmoved : tell them merely of blessings in 
 store for the future, and they are often too sceptical or 
 too occupied with the pressure of present necessities to 
 heed what you have to say. But, as I remarked yesterday, 
 tell your audience that you have an infallible help for 
 every opium-smoker among them, for every drunkard, 
 for every fornicator, for every gambler ; that you pro- 
 claim a Saviour who has never once failed to save imme- 
 diately any soul that really trusted in Him, both from 
 
449 
 
 the power of sin and from its eternal consequences ; and 
 you will soon see that that Gospel is good news to your 
 hearers, can command attention, and will accomplish the 
 mightiest changes of which the mind of man can con- 
 ceive or the heart of man can desire. 
 
 " But so to preach Christ we must ourselves be filled 
 with the Spirit, be abiding in Christ, be conscious of the 
 fulness and greatness of His great salvation. The man 
 who is consciously overcome by sin, who habitually suc- 
 cumbs to temptation, who is only half saved himself, 
 cannot preach this Gospel ; and this, brethren, I confess 
 with shame was the experience of half my life. But 
 when conscious of the indwelling of an almighty Saviour, 
 we cati preach Christ, and are not afraid to speak good of 
 HIS name, 
 
 "I may not tarry to enumerate many instances of the 
 effect of this kind of preaching in China, but I will refer 
 to one. A few years ago this kind of personal testimony, 
 given on a missionary journey by my friend Mr. Steven- 
 son (then of Shao-hing, now in Bhamo), was blessed to 
 the conversion of a literary graduate of more than ordi- 
 nary ability. This man went out and preached the 
 truth in his own native district with undoubted faith 
 and in the power of the Holy Ghost. No halfrand-half 
 Gospel did he proclaim ; an immediate, and perfect, and 
 eternal salvation to the worst of sinners was his message. 
 It happened that a notorious character was passing by, a 
 man who was the terror of the neighbourhood, the head 
 of the gamblers of the district. His house, or rather 
 houses, were indeed a gambling hell ; sin in all its forms 
 was practised there. He made much money by his 
 business, and none cared or dared to interfere with it. 
 But this message reached his heart : he said, ' If Jesus 
 
45° TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 can do this for me, He shall.^ There and then he 
 accepted Him, and went home, closed his place, sent the 
 bad characters away, and never another game of chance, 
 I believe, was pla)'ed there. The conversion of that one 
 man has been a well understood testimony in the neigh- 
 bourhood and for miles around, and many other needy 
 ones have come, not in vain, to the same fountain, and 
 drunk of its life-giving streams. O my brethren, we 
 want more faith in Christ, and in His glorious Gospel : 
 it is )^et the power of God unto salvation to every one 
 that believeth. 
 
 " To the question, ' How shall missionary operations 
 be conducted ?' my answer is," said Mr. Taylor, '' 'But 
 ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come 
 upon )-ou : and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in 
 Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto 
 the uttermost part of the earth.' The natural and 
 reasonable order exhibited in this passage needs no 
 further comment." 
 
 My space will allow me to refer to but one other case, 
 the church of Christ under the pastorate of the Rev. 
 Griffith John, in Hankow, China. Paul gives this testi- 
 mony in respect to the saving influence of the church in 
 Thessalonica : '' But from you sounded out the word of 
 the Lord not only in Macedonia and Achaia, but also in 
 every place your faith to Godward is spread abroad ; so 
 that we need not to speak anything." So from this one 
 church has the Gospel been sounding out for years past 
 in all northern China. No other church in missionary 
 lands is more frequently, or as frequently, referred to in 
 missionary intelligence as this. Why has this church 
 been thus favoured The following is its pastor's 
 account of the matter : — 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 45 1 
 
 In a prayer-meeting held some years ago in the city 
 of Hankow, " one of the deacons," says the pastor, " made 
 the following remark : ' Why should we not do more for 
 Christ ? There is Wei, of Kian Kan. As a man there is 
 nothing very remarkable about him ; his appearance 
 is that of an ordinary packman ; his mental powers are 
 not extraordinar}', many of us excel him in the gift of 
 utterance ; he is not a scholar, in this respect there are 
 men among us superior to him. There is nothing com- 
 manding in his position in life ; he may be seen any day 
 in the streets of Hankow with his bundle of cloth upon 
 his shoulders. Yet we all feel that there is something 
 wonderful about the man. What is it ? I will tell you 
 what it is. The man is full of the Holy Ghost. That 
 is the secret.' " This Wei is a native of Kian Kan, some 
 forty miles from Hankow, and " spends his time partly 
 in cultivating the fields, and partly in selling cloth in 
 the streets of Hankow." To all he meets, whether high 
 or low. Pagan or Christian, he has a word to speak for 
 Christ, and his word is always with power. " He is a 
 thorough believer," says this missionary, "in the Holy 
 Ghost, and never fails to speak of the importance of 
 prayer for the Divine influence to illumine the mind and 
 change the heart." He urges " all to seek the baptism 
 of the Holy Ghost, assuring them that no human teacher, 
 though he be a missionary, can do more than speak to 
 the ear, and that the Spirit alone can speak to the 
 heart." As the result of the remarks of the deacon 
 above referred to, meetings were held every day for a 
 week for prayer for one specific blessing, the baptism of 
 the Holy Ghost. The result was wonderful. " The week," 
 says Mr. John, " was fraught with unspeakable blessing 
 
 G G 2 
 
452 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 to the native church. Many a soul was filled with the 
 Holy Ghost in a way it was never filled before. Christ 
 became then much more real as a living Saviour to many 
 a heart, and they speak of His preciousness in a way 
 they never did before.'" They afterwards spoke of their 
 experience as corresponding with that of Wei, in a 
 liberty and power to s/>cak for Christ to all around them. 
 The same results attend this baptism among all converts 
 in missionary countries. 
 
 From that time onward, there has been an uninter- 
 rupted work of grace in that church, and in connection 
 with agencies going out therefrom. Take the following 
 fact in illustration. " At the close of one of my ser- 
 vices," says Mr. John, " a man followed me into the 
 vestry, and addressed me thus : ' I have just heard you 
 say that Christ can save a man from his sins. Can He 
 save me?' 'What sins have you.-*' I asked. 'Every 
 sin you can think of,' was the reply. Then, reckoning 
 his sins on the tips of his fingers, he said, ' I am an 
 opium-smoker, gambler, fornicator, and everything that 
 is bad. Can Christ save me.?' I said, ' Yes, Christ can 
 save you.' 'When?' he asked again. ^ Now,' was the 
 emphatic reply, ' if you will trust Him for this salvation.' 
 We both prayed, I leading, he following. He was con- 
 verted there and then, I believe, and at once became 
 one of the most earnest Christians I have ever known. 
 Though not employed as a native agent, he is ever 
 making known the way of salvation to his acquaintances. 
 His Gospel is Christ the Saviour from sin, and the evi- 
 dence of Christ's power to save adduced by him is the 
 fact that he himself has been thus delivered from the 
 dominion of his own sins by simple faith in the Redeemer. 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS- 
 
 453 
 
 Several have been brought into the Church through the 
 instrumentahty of this man." 
 
 In the April number of the Evangelical Magazine and 
 Missionary Chronicle^ there appears from the Rev. G. 
 John, who preached the discourse which led to the con- 
 version referred to, a long communication giving an 
 account of a powerful work of God in the district of 
 Hiau-Kan, under the influence of this convert, and two 
 native evangelists, Wei and Siau : Wei, as it appears, 
 having left his business as pedlar of cloth, and become 
 an evangelist. 
 
 The name of the convert referred to is Siu-Kin-Shan. 
 He was fifty years of age at the time of his conversion. 
 " His first twenty-five years were spent at home, where 
 he was regarded as one of the most immoral and reckless 
 men in that part of the country. He then joined the 
 army, and in due time was promoted to the rank of a 
 centurion." In this state he continued for fourteen 
 years, "having slain with his own hand about thirty 
 long-haired rebels near his native village." " He got 
 tired of the army," and in Hankow " spent most of his 
 time in riot and debauchery." This individual, who, in 
 connection with Wei and Siau, has been, as we have 
 said, the chief instrument in the work under considera- 
 tion, is the man who said of himself just before his con- 
 version, " I am an opium-smoker, a fornicator, a gambler, 
 a drunkard, and an unfilial son, and everything that is 
 bad the individual who, through faith in Christ, was 
 in an instant saved from all his vices and sins, and, like 
 Saul of Tarsus, was not only made " a new creature," 
 but " a burning and shining light." This event occurred 
 in 1875. In 1877 Siu consented to " take charge of the 
 
454 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 hospital on behalf of opium-smokers " in Hankow, and 
 " accepted on account of the opportunities it would afford 
 him of promoting the physical and spiritual well-being 
 of his fellow men." " In this capacity," says the writer, 
 " he has given us the utmost satisfaction." As the lower 
 parts of the hospital were flooded during a part of the 
 summer, Siu obtained leave to visit his native village, 
 that he might "preach the Gospel to his clansmen." On 
 his return he informed his employers that many of the 
 villagers had abandoned idolatry to become Christians. 
 On visiting the place, Mr. John "found matters just as 
 Siu had described them." The avowed reason of this 
 change of mind in regard to the Christian religion was 
 " the change it had wrought in the character of Siu-Kin- 
 Shan." They had known him as one of the worst of 
 reprobates. " Now he appears before them clothed and 
 in his right mind — a kind husband, a loving father, and 
 a peace-loving neighbour." On his return to Hankow, 
 Siau went and spent a few weeks in the place." The 
 account he gave on his return, says the writer, " brought 
 vividly to my mind the scene of Antioch, when Paul and 
 Barnabas gathered the church together and rehearsed all 
 that God had done with them." On visiting them again 
 he says," Now the children seemed to have their little heads 
 crammed with the lessons taught them by the evangelists 
 Siau and Wei." Again, "I do not regard it as over- 
 sanguine to expect to see the whole population (three to 
 four hundred souls) in the church within two years." 
 This is but an example of the character of the work 
 which is going on in the other villages around through 
 the labours of these evangelists, who go forth to their 
 work " in the power of the Spirit." 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 455 
 
 " The work in Hankow is making solid progress. 
 When missionaries and native Christians from other 
 parts pass through the place, they seem much struck 
 with the aspect of things. Every Communion Sunday 
 some are received into the church, and we have always a 
 number of inquirers on hand. There is no excitement 
 about it, but a quiet, steady moving forward." 
 
 Converts gathered in under a ministry and church 
 thus baptized, instead of sliding backwards, become 
 " epistles of Christ known and read of all men." 
 
 Of one such convert, Mr. John gives the following 
 account : " I may mention the case of a scholar from a 
 distant part of the country, who was baptized in October 
 last, as a remarkable instance of conversion. More than 
 three years since, this man, named Tung Tsing-Kwan, 
 spent some weeks in the hospital, became interested in 
 the truth, and provided himself with copies of all the 
 religious and scientific books which he could purchase at 
 Hankow. Being a B.A., he had to attend the Triennial 
 Examinations, held at Wu-Chang, in the autumn of last 
 year. On his arrival at this place the second time, he 
 made himself known to me as a believer in Christ ; and 
 whilst the examinations were going on, he attended the 
 Sunday services regularly. At his request, and with the 
 hearty concurrence of the church, he was baptized just 
 before returning to his distant home. About two years 
 ago he sent me a very encouraging report of the work as 
 carried on by himself in his native district, and begged 
 me to send one"of the native brethren to inspect it, and 
 to render him the needful aid for a few days. In response 
 to this welcome request, an evangelist was sent, who, 
 when he returned, brought with him news which greatly 
 
456 TRUTH AND ERROR, AS THEY APPEAR 
 
 cheered all our hearts. Being anxious to encourage this 
 young Christian in his work, I paid him a visit myself 
 last month. On my arrival at his home, several of the 
 villagers came to welcome me, and among them some of 
 those who had been taught the truth by Mr. Tung. 
 They were all very friendly, and, so far as I could judge, 
 sincere believers in what they had learned. Two or 
 three of them had made excellent progress, whilst not a 
 few had acquired a fair knowledge of the fundamental 
 facts of Christianity. In Mr. Tung himself I found more 
 than my somewhat sanguine hopes had led me to expect. 
 He is a truly enlightened Christian, and uncompromising 
 in the profession of his faith ; whilst, as a man, he is 
 universally respected. He is known in the whole district 
 as a follower of the Lord Jesus Christ, and as ever active 
 in his efforts to propagate the faith." 
 
 Of the Sabbath services, which were held in the open 
 air, Mr. John thus speaks : " After breakfast we had 
 Divine service in the little chapel, where we were joined 
 by several of the villagers. This service was conducted 
 with the utmost propriety. No sooner was this over 
 than Ave commenced our open-air work. The congrega- 
 tion began to assemble about eleven a.m., it grew larger 
 and larger till about ten p.m., and it was midnight before 
 our work was done. Whilst we were preaching, our 
 host himself attended to the audience, leading them to 
 their seats and serving them with tea. Whilst we were 
 preaching, a number of scholars made their appearance. 
 . . . . We went out again, and talked to them till about 
 ten P.M. I tried then to get them to leave, but it was 
 useless. They wanted to hear more. I then suggested 
 to Siau the advisability of our taking a walk in the fields. 
 
IN THE LIGHT OF FACTS. 
 
 457 
 
 hoping that the people might disperse during our absence. 
 In this also I was mistaken, for when we returned we 
 found a large congregation there still, and Tung him- 
 self holding forth. I listened awhile, but finding that 
 he was doing very well, I passed on and retired into 
 my bedroom." "About eleven o'clock we assembled 
 in the little chapel for worship, and at midnight I had 
 the joy of baptizing Tung's mother, wife, and two 
 children, together with a young man from a village hard 
 by. It was thought better for the rest to wait till my 
 next visit. Such was the happy close of this hard day's 
 work — one of the hardest I have ever had in my life. 
 The Gospel had never been preached before by a foreign 
 missionary in the whole of this region, nor a baptism 
 administered, and hence the interest manifested in us 
 and our work was very considerable. Not the least dis- 
 turbance, however, took place ; the people seemed un- 
 usually well disposed ; and many listened to our message 
 with marked attention. This is greatly to be ascribed 
 to the esteem in which Tung is held by all his neigh- 
 bours. He is a scholar, and a man of some means, whilst 
 his natural disposition is kind and courteous. I was 
 sorry when the hour of parting came. I have never met 
 a scholar like him, so sincere, so straightforward, so fear- 
 less, and withal so humble. I left his home glorifying 
 God in him." 
 
 In a letter bearing date July i6, 1880, Mr. John says, 
 "Some of your works have been much blessed to my 
 soul. T/ie Baptism of the Holy Ghost I have read more 
 than once, being one of the first books recommended to 
 me by one who has become my wife since. On the sub- 
 ject of vScriptural holiness, I have read also Out of Dark- 
 
 H H 
 
458 
 
 TRUTH AND ERROR. 
 
 ness into Light with intense enjoyment and great profit. 
 This book was read aloud by myself, my wife, and a 
 brother missionary, on Sunday evenings when our day's 
 work was done." 
 
 '•I am not ashamed of the Gospel of Christ," the 
 Gospel in the form in which I hold and teach it : " for it 
 is the power of God unto salvation to every one that 
 believeth." 
 
 " Oh, sacred union with the Perfect Mind! 
 Transcendent bliss, which Thou alone canst give ! 
 How blest are they, this pearl of price who find, 
 And, dead to earth, have learnt in Thee to live. 
 
 " Thus, in Thine arms of love, O God, I lie, 
 Lost, and for ever lost, to all but Thee, 
 My happy soul, since it hath learnt to die, 
 Hath found no^v life in Thine infinity. 
 
 " Oh. go, and learn this lesson of the Cross : 
 And tread the way, which saints and prophets trod. 
 Who, counting life, and self, and all things loss, 
 Have found, in inward death, the life of God."' 
 
 Professor Upham. 
 
 Printed ly Ikveridge and Miller; Fulwood's Rents, High Holborn. 
 
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