nil 
 
 CHRISTIAN EXAMINER 
 
 AND 
 
 GENERAL REVIEW 
 
 VOL. VI 
 
 i 
 
 I 
 
 NEW SERIES, VOL. I 
 
 
 BOSTON. 
 PUBLISHED AT THE OFFICE OF THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER, 
 
 CORNER OF WASHINGTON AND SCHOOL, STREETS. 
 
 LONDON, BY ROWLAND HUNTER. 
 
 LIVERPOOL, 11Y EDWARD WILLMKH 
 
 1829 
 
THE CHRISTIAN EXAMINER. 
 
 NO. XXXI. 
 
 NEW SERIES — NO. I. 
 
 MARCH, 1829. 
 
 Revivalists, dissensions among the, 
 101, 122, 124— to be explained on 
 philosophical piinciples, 104 — as ex- 
 hibited at New Lebanon, 109-113 
 — not composed by that body, 113 — 
 nor by the publication of Dr Beech- 
 er and Mr Nettleton's Letters, 113 
 — their political effects in the West, 
 114 — their acknowledged tendency 
 to promote ' Socinianism, Unitanan- 
 ism, and Universalism,'114— curious 
 document published by the parties, 
 115 
 
 Revival of Religion in Troy, its char- 
 acteristic features, 101, 120-122— in 
 the upper counties of New York, 
 101 
 
 Revivals of Religion, Letters of an 
 English Traveller on, 101 — Messrs 
 Beecher and Nettleton's Letters on 
 the ' New Measures' in conducting, 
 101 — considered as a means of 
 grace, 101 — their importance as 
 exhibited in the New Lebanon Con- 
 vention, 101 — but recently in favor 
 with Calvinists, 102 — opposed not 
 only by Unitarians, but by Catholics, 
 Lutherans, High Churchmen, Qua- 
 kers, and Universalists, 103 — how 
 regarded by some Presbyterians and 
 Orthodox Congregationalists, 103 
 
 Revival System, 102— its disorders 
 opposed by some New-England 
 Revivalists, 105 — responsible lor 
 the extravagances always attend- 
 ing it, 127— its obnoxious measures 
 not mere abuses, 128— not produc- 
 tive of more good than evil, 129 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. I ti 11 IC^In 1Q32 
 
 Art. VI.— 1. Letters of an English Traveller to hb-jf &ltitl SE^ X 
 i/i England, on the 'Revivals of Religion* in America. Bos- 
 ton. Bowles and Dearborn. 1828. 18mo. pp. 142. 
 
 2. A Sermon, preached in the Presbyterian Church at Troy, 
 March 4, 1827. By the Rev. Charles G. Finney. Phila- 
 delphia. 1S27. 8vo. pp. 16. 
 
 3. Letters of the Rev. Dr Beecher and Rev. Mr JYettleton, 
 on the ' New Measures ' in conducting Revivals of Religion. 
 With a Review of a Sermon, by Novanglus. New York. 
 G. &; C. Carvill. 1828. 8vo. pp. 104. 
 
 4. A Delineation of the Characteristic Features of a Revival 
 of Religion in Troy, in 182G and 1827. By J. Brock- 
 way, Lay Member of the Congregational Church in Mid- 
 dlebury, Vt., now a Citizen of Troy. Troy. 1827. 8vo. 
 pp. 64. 
 
 5. A Contrast of Josephus Brockwatfs Testimony and State- 
 ment. By a Brief Remarker. Troy. 1827. pp. 19. 
 
 6. Revivals of Religion, considered as Means of Grace ; a 
 Series of Plain Letters to Candidus,from his friend Hones- 
 tus. Ithaca. 1827. 8vo. pp. 39. 
 
 7. The Importance of Revivals as Exhibited in the late Con- 
 vention at New Lebanon, considered in a Brief Review of 
 the Proceedings of that Body. By Philalethes. Ithaca. 
 1827. pp. 19. 
 
 These publications, with two or three other authorities 
 which we shall cite as we proceed, will enable us to set before 
 our readers some account of the difference which has arisen 
 among the Revivalists, of the merits of the controversy, and 
 of the singular pacification or truce which has been concluded 
 between the parties. In the former series of this journal* we 
 gave some notices of a great religious excitement, which has 
 been agitating the upper counties of New York for the last 
 three or four years ; and it is chiefly with a view to continue 
 the history, and bring it down to the present day, that we return 
 to the subject. 
 
 We have no reason to suppose that anything we can say will 
 have much effect on the leaders and principal agitators in these 
 religious disturbances; for they are men who seem to have 
 their full share of vanity and ambition, neither of which, they 
 
 * No. for May and June, 1827. 
 
102 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 know, can be gratified without keeping up what is termed the 
 Revival System. Probably there are some exceptions, but most 
 of them must certainly be conscious, that they owe their conse- 
 quence and standing much less to any real superiority of mind, 
 than to the opportunity afforded, in an unnatural and feverish 
 state of society, for the action and display of the only qualities 
 for which they are at all distinguished, a coarse and impas- 
 sioned eloquence, and some talents for intrigue. Still we trust, 
 that the great body of the people, who cannot be influenced by 
 any of these considerations, and who are generally, at such 
 times, but little more than passive instruments in the hands of 
 their spiritual guides, have not yet so far renounced their good 
 sense and independence, as to be either unwilling or afraid to 
 open their eyes on the evidence, clearer than day, that they 
 have been misled and betrayed. In the moment of excitement, 
 when their passions were up, and they were committed in a 
 thousand ways, and in some sense pledged to the measure as a 
 party measure, to have attempted to convince or persuade them 
 would have been labor thrown away. But now that the fever 
 has subsided, and they have had time to reflect, and look back 
 on the mortifying issue of the revival, and the bitterness and 
 disunion it has generated even among its original friends and 
 supporters, it cannot be that a calm, serious, and impartial 
 discussion of the subject will be lost on a community remarka- 
 ble for intelligence and sound judgment. 
 
 The revival question ought to be treated, and we are con- 
 vinced will be more and more, as a merely practical question, 
 respecting which Christians who differ most in regard to doc- 
 trines, may be perfectly agreed. The Christians, so called, are 
 understood to be with but few exceptions Unitarian ; and yet 
 no sect in this country has availed itself to a greater degree of 
 revival measures in gaining influence and numbers ; or con- 
 ducted them, for the most part, more judiciously, or more 
 successfully. The Methodists also are now, and always have 
 been, decidedly and avowedly Arminian ; and yet to them 
 belongs the responsibility, not indeed of introducing revivals in 
 the first instance, but of reducing them to a system, and the 
 process of getting them up to a science, and almost to a dis- 
 tinct profession. On the other hand, it is quite a recent thing 
 for the great body of proper Calvinists, either in this country, 
 or in Europe, to look on these local excitements as being any 
 better than a kind of epidemic enthusiasm, favored and pro- 
 
1829.] Dissentient among the Revivalists. 103 
 
 moted by some of the more ignorant and fanatical sects. At 
 this moment the opposition to rei ivals is far from being confined 
 
 to the Unitarians of New England) but is carried on, certainly 
 with as much earnestness, and in general, we must think, with 
 
 less candor and discrimination, by the Catholics throughout 
 the country, by most Lutherans, by the High Church party 
 among the Episcopalians, and by the Quakers and Universalists 
 to a man. Nay, it is believed that a majority of the judicious 
 and well disposed among the Presbyterians and Orthodox Con- 
 gregationalists, are now convinced that the experiment has been 
 fairly tried, and that the result has proved the measure to be 
 essentially bad, or at least so extremely dangerous, that no 
 enlightened friend of good order and decency can wish to see 
 it repeated. These facts show how much confidence is to be 
 reposed in those, who still persist in maintaining, that revivals 
 are the peculiar and spontaneous fruit of Orthodoxy, that they 
 are never suspected and condemned but by infidels, scoffers, 
 and Unitarians, and that opposition to them always indicates 
 enmity to what are termed doctrines of grace, and vital god- 
 liness. 
 
 We are aware, that, to some at least, the whole subject is 
 becoming trite and ungrateful ; but we entirely accord with a 
 writer in one of the pamphlets before us, a friend of Mr Net- 
 tleton, as to all attempts which have been made, or can be made, 
 to hush up this controversy. 
 
 'I think that those who are for stopping the discussion, are 
 in a mistake respecting the true policy in the case. I think 
 much of Cotton Mather's warning: "There was a town called 
 Amycla?, which was ruined by silence. The rulers, because 
 there had been some false alarms, forbade all people, under pain 
 of death, to speak of any enemies approaching them : so, when 
 the enemies came indeed, no man durst speak of it, and the 
 town was lost. Corruptions will grow upon the hind, and they 
 will gain by silence. It will be so invidious to do it, no man 
 will dare to speak of the corruptions; and the fate of Amyclaj 
 will come upon the land.'" Letters on the 'New Measures,' 
 pp. 24,^>. 
 
 Disputes on speculative points dwindle almost into insignifi- 
 cance, in our view, when compared with this momentous ques- 
 tion as to the best means by which religion, considered as a 
 practical principle, may be diffused in the community, and its 
 tone elevated and purified. Let none fear that the controversy, 
 
104 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 if properly conducted, will bring religion itself under suspicion, 
 by lifting the veil from the errors and delusions, with which it 
 has been sometimes associated. Astronomy, chemistry, and 
 medicine did not suffer from an exposure of the follies and 
 absurdities of astrologers and alchymists. Everybody knows, 
 indeed, that the best things may be abused ; and also that 
 abuses of the best things are often the worst things. Besides, 
 though the general sentiment at this moment may be against 
 revivals, we cannot be sure it will last ; nay, we have no reason 
 to expect it will last long, if founded merely on recent mortifi- 
 cation and disappointment, or on sudden disgusts, and not on 
 inquiry and reflection, and a thorough understanding of the 
 whole subject. It is said that these excitements, when managed 
 judiciously, may be made to recur once in about three years, 
 according to some ; and once in about seven, according to 
 others ; that is, the people, after such an interval, will allow the 
 necessary measures to be repeated, and the same or similar 
 effects will follow. But when they are managed badly, and are 
 attended with great and scandalous excesses, it takes, of course, 
 a much longer time for the people to forget the impositions 
 which have been practised on them, and the utter futility of all 
 such attempts, so far as experience has yet gone, to improve the 
 public morals. We wish to prevent, altogether, periodical 
 returns of a popular delusion of this description ; and to do so 
 it is not enough to publish single outrages to which it has led, 
 but we must also show that the system itself is unsound, and 
 that these outrages are its natural and proper results, and not 
 merely incidental. 
 
 This bitter and awkward schism among those who are still 
 understood to favor what is termed the Revival Cause, presents 
 moreover an interesting subject of investigation, apart from its 
 moral bearings, and considered merely as a singular revolution 
 in the history of parties, for which we are to account, as we 
 easily can, on philosophical principles. We shall not volunteer 
 our services as umpire in this quarrel, but content ourselves 
 with proving that the more temperate, perhaps we ought to say 
 the more politic party, have made their practice more consistent 
 with reason and propriety, by making it less so with the revival 
 system ; and, on the other hand, that their opponents have 
 effectually exposed and refuted the system by showing to what 
 it must lead, if fully and honestly acted out. At the same 
 time it is but justice to the Revivalists of New England to say, 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 105 
 
 that, whether consistently or not with the theory they still pro- 
 fess to hold, they have dared to raise their voice against many 
 prevailing disorders, and ought not therefore to be accused of 
 aiding and abetting these particular disorders, except indirectly 
 and unintentionally. It is true, it' a man from a busy and 
 meddlesome disposition, or from a desire of influence or noto- 
 riety, begins by countenancing licentious and disorganizing 
 principles, he is responsible for the consequences, and even 
 tor those consequences which he does not foresee, nor wish ; 
 but his responsibility is considerably lessened in regard to those 
 consequences, which, as soon as they appear, he is among the 
 firsl to condemn and disown. 
 
 In the article referred to above we noticed briefly the origin 
 of the great Western Revival in the summer and autumn of 
 1825, the steps which were taken to produce it, the character 
 of the principal agents, and some of the unhappy excesses to 
 which it had led, prior to the dispute about the 'new measures' 
 as they are called. For a long time the whole movement was 
 regarded by Dr Bcecher and his friends with feelings of un- 
 mingled satisfaction and triumph, as exhibiting all the marks, 
 ever found in such cases, of a signal work of God, 'the begin- 
 ning of a new era in revivals in respect to rapidity and univer- 
 sality.' A paragraph which appeared in the Christian Register, 
 toward the close of 182G, seems to have been the first to 
 undeceive them as to the real tendency of these proceedings ; 
 al least it was the first to alarm them as to the effect which the 
 excesses committed in New York might have on the success of 
 similar attempts of their own in this quarter. Soon after this 
 Dr Beecher addressed a long letter, bearing date January, 1827, 
 to Mr Beman of Troy, on the subject of the extravagances 
 which this gentleman was understood to have instigated ; and 
 about the same time a long letter, of the same general tenor, 
 was written by Mr Nettleton, of Connecticut, to Mr Aikin of 
 Utica, another of the disorganizes. These letters were not 
 intended, the}' say, for publication, but. only to be shown to a 
 few persons immediately interested, in hopes that they would 
 (aire the evil complained of, without exposing the part} to the 
 scandal of an open rupture. They are written with considera- 
 ble spirit and ability, but not, we must think, in a stj le or temper 
 likeh to effect their object, if the declared object was the real 
 one. To represent the -new measures'as the machinations of 
 the devil, or as the offspring of a crazed intellect, might do 
 
 \ OL. vi. — n. s, VOL. I. so. i. I | 
 
106 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 very well for a pamphlet designed to act on the passions and 
 prejudices of the multitude ; but they were not precisely the 
 suggestions to whisper into the ear of the authors of these 
 measures with a view to conciliate and persuade. This remark 
 holds true whether we suppose the authors of these measures 
 to have been knaves, or fanatics, or both ; and so it proved. 
 
 Accordingly these letters had hardly been received, when 
 Mr Finney, the acknowledged head of the Western faction, 
 preached at Utica, for the first time, his celebrated sermon on 
 the text, ' Can two walk together except they be agreed?' 
 which was afterwards preached at Troy, as the titlepage im- 
 ports, and then published. This sermon is by no means very 
 eloquent or very profound ; but neither is it, assuming the 
 principles avowed by all Revivalists, the weak and flimsy per- 
 formance his Orthodox opponents would fain have it thought. 
 The doctrine advanced is, that our walking together, that is, 
 our union and harmony as Christians, does not depend on our 
 being agreed in opinion or theory, but on our being agreed in 
 temperament and tastes, and in the tone of our feelings at the 
 moment. 
 
 ' We not only feel uninterested or displeased and disgusted 
 when a subject different from that which at present engages our 
 affections is introduced and crowded upon us, but if anything 
 even upon the same subject, that is far above or below our tone 
 of feeling, is presented, and if our affections remain the same 
 and refuse to be enlisted and brought to that point, we must feel 
 uninterested, and, perhaps, grieved and offended. If the subject 
 be exhibited in a light that is below our present tone of feeling, 
 we cannot be interested until it come up to our feelings; if this 
 does not take place, we necessarily remain uninterested ; and if 
 the subject, in this cooling, and to us, degraded point of view, 
 is held up before our mind, and our affections struggle to main- 
 tain their height, we feel displeased, because our affections are 
 not fed, but opposed. If the subject be presented in a manner 
 that strikes far above our tone of feeling, and our affections 
 grovel, and refuse to rise, it does not fall in with and feed our 
 affections, therefore we cannot be interested ; it is enthusiasm 
 to us, we are displeased with the warmth in which our affections 
 refuse to participate, and the farther it is above our temperature, 
 the more we are disgusted.' Sermon, p. 4. 
 
 This interpretation of the text is so much better than the 
 common one, which supposes it to require a uniformity of faith, 
 
1829.] t)tsscnsiu)is among the Revivalists. 107 
 
 at least in fundamentals, mat we can almost forgive the wrong 
 
 Mill done the prophet, who meant simply to ask the question, 
 -Can two walk together, unless they agree beforehand to do 
 so; 1 or, in other words, 'unless they meet by appointment? 9 
 Having satisfied himself, however, mat the principal cause of 
 difference among ( Christians is alwaj s to be found in the different 
 tone of their feelings at the time, .Mr Finney would have it 
 inferred that the Eastern Revivalists objected to the 'new 
 measures,' merely on aecount of the eold and grovelling state 
 of their own affections. They were offended and disgusted 
 with the ' new measures,' because, to use one of the cant phrases 
 in this controversy, they were not ' up to them ;' because they 
 had not as yet reached that degree of fervor and spirituality 
 witli which their Western brethren had been blessed. 
 
 Mr Finnej was immediately seconded in these views by the 
 whole influence of the Western Recorder, a religious new — 
 paper published at Utica, which, according to Honestus, has 
 acquired the reputation of being a 'most intrepid advocate of 
 fanaticism, and a most accomplished champion of ribaldry and 
 vulgarity.' * All those who wrote or spoke against the prevail- 
 ing abuses were denounced for their coldness and opposition, 
 and for taking sides with the enemy; and Mr Nettleton, in 
 particular, was roundly charged with uttering and circulating 
 untruths, and precipitating a public discussion which might easily 
 have been prevented by a private interview of the parties. An 
 open rupture having now become inevitable, the following 
 extract from a letter of Dr Beecher to the gentleman last 
 named, which found its way into the newspapers about this 
 time, indicates the course which the writer conceived it advisa- 
 ble to adopt. 
 
 ' There must be immediately an extensive correspondence 
 and concert formed ; ministers must come together and consult, 
 and churches must be instructed and prepared to resist the 
 beginnings of evil, — the mask must be torn off from Satan com- 
 ing among the sons of God, and transforming himself into an 
 angel of light. In the mean time, no pains should he spared 
 to save brothers Finney and Beman, both on account of the 
 great evil they will not fail to do on lawless converts; and the 
 great good they may do, if they are kept within their orbit. — 
 Should all these measures fail, then we must publish your letter 
 to Aikin, and mine to Beman if it be thought best. We shall 
 
 "Revivals of Religion, &c. p. 18. 
 
108 Dissensions among the Revivalists, [March. 
 
 need both in New England as manifestos to stop the mouths of 
 Socinians and others who would be glad to blast revivals by the 
 evils arising from the West.' — ' I would try silent measures 
 first, by correspondence and forming public opinion, and put- 
 ting ministers and churches on their guard, and publish only 
 when it becomes manifest there is no hope of reformation — 
 not however delay publishing too long, because the letters should 
 " precede the storm." ' * 
 
 The policy here recommended was sufficiently refined and 
 subtle, but not sound, as the event has shown ; which is almost 
 always the case when ecclesiastics turn diplomatists. The 
 people of the West do not appear to have felt themselves 
 much flattered by this attempt on the part of two or three 
 unauthorised individuals to bring over a whole community to 
 their way of thinking and acting, by secret management ; by 
 writing private letters, despatching emissaries, sowing dissen- 
 sions in churches, and tampering with the disaffected. A more 
 open policy, considered merely as policy, would unquestionably 
 have been wiser and more successful, as well as more honor- 
 able ; for, in the first place, it was no easy thing to overreach 
 adepts, like Finney and Beman, in trick and manoeuvre ; and 
 besides, they might have foreseen that their personal influence 
 and reputation in that quarter, and among all parties, would be 
 seriously impaired, and almost annihilated, by the detection 
 and exposure of such practices. Secret and underhanded 
 management having failed altogether, as ought to have been 
 expected, the next step to be taken, according to the plan 
 disclosed in Dr Beecher's letter, was to assemble several of 
 the clergy on both sides, to consult on the unhappy differences 
 which had arisen, and agree, if possible, by mutual consent or 
 compromise, on the general principles by which revivals should 
 be conducted. Such was the origin of the far famed New 
 Lebanon Convention, of which Dr Beecher seems entitled to 
 the credit of having been the first projector, though the letters 
 of invitation which were sent out, were signed by him and Mr 
 Beman, as representatives, we suppose, of the two parties. 
 It is but justice to Mr Nettleton to say, that he appears from 
 the beginning to have been thoroughly convinced of the impolicy 
 of this measure, and so expressed himself in a note declining 
 the honor of a seat in the assembly ; though he was afterwards 
 
 * Christian Register for March 24, 1827. 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 109 
 
 induced, at the earnest entreaty of his Eastern friends, to wave 
 his objections, and attend. His objections however an 
 
 honesl and sensible, and have been so completely verified b) 
 the event, that the insertion of two or three of them is neces- 
 sary to throw light OD this part of the narrative. 
 
 * Those who convoke the convention are making too much 
 noise, without any prospect of lessening the evils, and, conse- 
 quently, will give the subject a new importance. I should 
 great 1\ prefei a silent convention, on some public occasion like 
 that of a commencement, where the views of brethren who differ 
 may be privately discussed ; and in case they should come to 
 any important results, they might be published to the world ; 
 otherwise the public mind need not be disturbed.' Letters on 
 tin ' New Measures.' p. 10:5. 
 
 'I fear that settled ministers at the East and South have not 
 yet fr ft enough of the evils, to appreciate what has already been 
 done; and that these ministers will be obliged to experience 
 more of these evils, before they will take a decisive stand ; and 
 the sooner I withdraw, and leave the whole responsibility on 
 them, the better.' Id. p. 103. 
 
 1 Finally. To prevent misunderstanding, I am willing that 
 my friends should attend, and do all in their power to prevent 
 the evils feared. Rut 1 have no evidence that the principles on 
 which these men acted are in the least altered. On the con- 
 trary, 1 shall be disappointed if they do not attempt to vindicate 
 them, and justify all they have done.' Id. p. 104. 
 
 The Convention met at New Lebanon, in the Slate of New 
 York, July IS, 1827, and consisted in all of nineteen members; 
 and after a busy session of eight days, in which the}" accom- 
 plished nothing, literally nothing, they voted to dissolve, leaving 
 a direction that an account of such of their proceedings 
 they were willing to divulge, should he published in the New 
 York Observer. This curious document was inserted entire in 
 our number for July and August, L 827, of the former series, 
 and a few brief remarks were prefixed, which make it less 
 necessary for us here to dwell on this striking and highly char- 
 acteristic passage in the history of modern Orthodoxy, We 
 cannot refrain, however, from giving an extract from the Let- 
 ters of an English Traveller * OD this subject; a work which 
 
 * This work, as flight have been expected, has caused a Btrong sensation 
 among the Revivalists, and called forth several criticisms, and among the real 
 a long and foolish review in the Spirit of the Pilgrims. There are bul two 
 charges brought against these Letters which deserve notice. It is said 
 
110 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 we would again recommend, and it cannot be recommended 
 in any way so effectually, as by giving a quotation. 
 
 ' After all, you will ask, what has the Convention accom- 
 plished ? The answer is, Nothing. Its members might as well 
 have stayed at home. They would have done just as much, 
 and decided just as much, by throwing missives from a distance, 
 as by coming to close action. For what have they done ? They 
 have framed a number of propositions so extremely general that 
 scarcely anybody could object to them, and about which every- 
 body knew beforehand that they did not differ, and then they 
 have brought forward a number of other propositions to which 
 the two parties alternately listened in a silence, which, if it 
 were not politic, would fairly be construed as sullen, and which 
 may have been both.' Letters of an English Traveller, p. 98. 
 
 ' It would seem in fact, as if the Convention felt it dangerous 
 at length to go upon disputed ground, and the first part of their 
 report accordingly dwindles away into some of the most extra- 
 ordinary moral truisms that, I imagine, ever engaged the delib- 
 erations of a grave assembly. The Convention can agree upon 
 nothing but such propositions as these ; — that, 
 
 ' " Language adapted to irritate," — is wrong ; it was high 
 time to judge so ; — that, 
 
 ' " All irreverent familiarity with God, such as men use to- 
 wards their equals " — is improper ; — 
 
 ' That, " To depreciate the value of education " — is not 
 well ; — that, 
 
 that the writer shows himself to be not only wrong in theory, hut an enemy 
 to seriousness and spirituality in religion. Those who pretend this, if they 
 are honest men, have never read the book ; for, like the Unitarian publica- 
 tions generally, which this controversy has drawn out, it is remarkable for 
 not dropping a syllable, in the fearless exposure of the follies and vices of 
 fanatics, which can have a tendency to bring religion itself into contempt, or 
 reduce it to a system of cold and dry morality. — The other objection is, that 
 the author's manner is haughty and supercilious. The answer to this is, 
 that he wrote in the character of an Englishman, and an Episcopalian ; and 
 though the question may be fairly raised whether it was judicious to adopt 
 such a disguise, having adopted it, it was necessary to make his manner 
 correspond. By the way, the reviewer in the Spirit of the Pilgrims promises 
 an article on the New Lebanon Convention. We hope he has not forgotten 
 his pledge ; and while he is about it, we trust he will enlighten the world 
 respecting the 'free conversations,' and the 'sundry documents,' which 
 occupied the attention of that ill starred conclave during the last two days of 
 the session. Let him remember, that one of the resolutions, passed unani- 
 mously in that assembly, was the following; — 'No measures are to be 
 adopted in promoting revivals of religion, which those Tjfho adopt them are 
 unwilling to have published, or which are improper to be published to the 
 world. 5 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 1 1 1 
 
 ' " To state things which are not true, for the purpose of 
 awakening sinners," is a bad thing. Again, 
 
 '"The immediate success of any measure, without regard to 
 its scriptural character," i. e. without regard to its rectitude, 
 " does not justify it." 
 
 1 " No measures are to be adopted for promoting revivals, which 
 those who adopt them, are unwilling to have published." 
 
 1 If propositions like these, need to be so solemnly laid down, 
 what must be the inference? What must be the state of things, 
 and what the tone of morality, when a Convention of the clergy, 
 who have "compassed sea and land," hill-country and cham- 
 pagne, four hundred miles over, sit gravely down, and solemnly 
 vote, that dark intrigues, unconscionable expedients, angry 
 speeches, lying, and impiety, are bad things, and wrong ? 
 What would be thought of the state of society, where a com- 
 pany of merchants should get together, and pass formal resolu- 
 tions, declaring that fraud, cheating, and falsehood were wrong, 
 and ought not to have countenance? This Convention for 
 supporting and defending revivals, could not possibly have 
 framed a severer satire upon revivals than they have done ! ' 
 
 Id. pp. 101-103. 
 
 Two resolutions were passed unanimously at this meeting, 
 which indicate, however, that juster notions are beginning to 
 prevail everywhere on this subject. On motion of Mr Ed- 
 wards all voted, that — 
 
 ' There may be so much human infirmity, and indiscretion, 
 and wickedness of man, in conducting a revival of religion, as 
 to render the general evils which flow from this infirmity, 
 indiscretion, and wickedness of man, greater than the local and 
 temporary advantages of the revival ; that is, this infirmity, 
 indiscretion, and wickedness of man may be the means of pre- 
 venting the conversion of more souls than may have been con- 
 verted during the revival.' 
 
 This is well ; but it seems to concede, at least in particular 
 instances, all we have ever asserted in regard to revivals ; for 
 we never pretended that they answer do good purpose, but 
 
 only that the evils which they occasion more than outweigh 
 this good. Besides, it places the consistent Revivalist in a 
 dilemma, from which it will not be easy for him to extricate 
 himself; for in the case contemplated in this resolution bis 
 first endeavour must be, of course, to correct the evils com- 
 plained of; but (ailing in this, as happened in regard to the 
 
112 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 revival now under consideration, what is he to do ? Either he 
 must oppose the revival, and then he opposes what he at the 
 same time acknowledges to be a work of God ; or he must 
 favor it, and then he favors what he at the same time acknow- 
 ledges is likely to destroy more souls than it saves. 
 
 Another resolution moved by the same gentleman, and 
 passed unanimously, augurs well ; though we copy it not so 
 much for anything in the proposition itself, as for the com- 
 ment by Philalethes. 
 
 ' Mr Edwards introduced the following proposition : 
 
 1 " The existence in the churches of evangelists, in such 
 numbers as to constitute an influence in the community sepa- 
 rate from that of the settled pastors ; and the introduction, by 
 evangelists, of measures, without consulting the pastors, or con- 
 trary to their judgment and wishes, by an excitement of popular 
 feelings which may seem to render acquiescence unavoidable, 
 is to be carefully guarded against, as an evil which is calculated, 
 or at least liable, to destroy the institution of a settled ministry, 
 and fill the churches with confusion and disorder. 
 
 ' " The motion was seconded. And, after some discussion, 
 the Convention united in a season of prayer. 
 
 ' " After further discussion, the question was taken, and all 
 voted in favor of the proposition, except Mr Churchill, who was 
 absent." 
 
 ' The preceding proposition gives us a hint that the Presby- 
 terian clergy, at least some of them, begin to see what will 
 be the result of lay preaching. Gentlemen, you should have 
 thought of this before now. The truth is, you will find your 
 church more and more distracted, till you put a stop to the custom 
 of allowing unauthorised men and women to lead your meetings, 
 and to attempt expounding the word of God. Your prayer meet- 
 ing leaders, whether male or female, and your itinerant students 
 and evangelists, are every day, whether you and they believe so 
 or not, unhinging your system. You cannot prevent it, until 
 you fix a distinction between ministers and laymen. At pre- 
 sent you have no distinction. For, if they may preach, exhort, 
 expound God's word, and lead the devotions of the worship- 
 ping assembly, why not administer the sacraments ? The 
 question does not concern me, but you will do well to take 
 timely care of a valid ministry ; and when you get it, allow of 
 no encroachments, male or female. This will no doubt, be for 
 a time, unpopular among you ; because you have not a few in 
 your communion, who are not a little proud of their gifts ; and 
 while a fondness for display, and the emotions of spiritual pride 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 113 
 
 have places in the human heart, those whom you have employed 
 to help you, will not readily retire to the ranks, become private 
 Christians, and hold their tongues. Many of them, would no 
 doubt leave you, in order to be continued conspicuous charac- 
 ters in other societies. You had better let them !£<>. Powerful 
 as you are, and popular as you are, you are in more danger 
 from these coadjutors, these revival leaders, these; male and 
 female conductors of prayer meetings, than from all other quar- 
 ters put together. Rest assured this is the language of sober- 
 ness and truth, and of perfect good nature.' Importance of Re- 
 rirttts, pp. 12, 13. 
 
 We presume that the mention, or the remotest allusion to 
 this Convention will always be as wormwood and gall to the 
 Eastern members, whose disappointment at the result was 
 heightened by r the consciousness of having been completely 
 baffled and outwitted by their opponents in a measure of their 
 own proposing. After a stormy conference in which mutual 
 jealousy and hate were but thinly disguised under the awful 
 name of religion and a disgusting parade of devotional services, 
 the two parties separated more committed than ever, and of 
 course more obstinate in those very differences, which they 
 had come together to heal. Then came the finishing stroke of 
 Dr Beecher's policy, which consisted in giving to the press his 
 own and Mr Nettleton's letters, nearly a year after they were 
 written. And what was the consequence ? Mr Finney and 
 his friends, who had spurned these letters in manuscript, now 
 spurned them in print ; with this difference only, that the war 
 of recrimination, still more provoked, became louder and 
 more uncompromising. We suspect that many among the 
 Orthodox have learned at last, what we have had occasion to 
 intimate before as one of the worst features of the revival sys- 
 tem, that it gives an activity and ascendency to coarse and 
 vulgar men, which the judicious and better informed of their 
 own party can nehher prevent, calculate, nor control. 
 
 Meanwhile, everything which by the most charitable con- 
 struction could be called religion in the excitement, was rapidly 
 subsiding. A reaction had commenced, and in some places 
 the fever heats were beginning to be succeeded by the fever 
 chills. Yet, as usually happens in such cases, the personal 
 jealousies and antipathies engaged in tin 1 controversy, instead 
 of abating, were only made more bitter, as an interest in the 
 higher objects with which these passion- had been originally 
 
 VOL. VI. N. S. VOL. I. NO. I. IT) 
 
114 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 connected, and by which they had been in some respects 
 qualified and restrained, died away. The writings, published 
 and unpublished, which poured in from New England, had 
 some effect undoubtedly on the Western fanatics, and made 
 some converts ; but it was only to carry into every church, 
 and almost into every family in the infected district, all the 
 miseries of a domestic broil. Considered merely in a civil 
 and political point of view, it was no slight evil, that the peace 
 of neighbourhoods should be disturbed ; that religious societies 
 should be rent ; that thousands, through a misguided zeal for 
 God, should neglect their regular and necessary occupations ; 
 that sectarian prejudice and rancor should appear in their 
 business and social intercourse, nay, enter into and corrupt 
 their judgments of public men and public measures. The 
 infidel and skeptic found in scenes like these a new argument 
 for distrusting all pretences to piety, the thoughtless and disso- 
 lute new temptations to scoff, and the rational Christian a 
 literal and entire fulfilment of his saddest forebodings. Only 
 one good and permanent result is ever likely to grow out of 
 these commotions, a result which is alluded to, though in 
 terms of regret and alarm, in the following extract from one 
 of the pamphlets under review. 
 
 ' Among the defenders of these doctrines and measures, and 
 the advocates of revivals, it is common to hear a most unmeas- 
 ured abuse of Socinianism, Unitarianism, and Universalism. 
 Far be it from me, to attempt any apology for these sects. 
 Would to God it were in my power to persuade them to aban- 
 don theories which I honestly believe to be fraught with evil ; 
 most gladly would I draw them to embrace a scriptural and 
 consistent system. While I lament the course pursued by 
 these men, I think it easy to see upon what soil they have 
 sprung up and most vigorously flourished. What preceded the 
 preaching of Murray in Scotland, but a powerful exhibition of 
 Calvinistic fanaticism 1 The same Universalist found a similar 
 field in Boston and its vicinity, and if you will take the trouble 
 to examine, you will find that while Socinians or Unitarians 
 and Universalists, are always hovering upon each others' bor- 
 ders, both find aliment in those regions where the views fostered 
 by revivals have been most prevalent. It does not require any 
 gift of prophecy to foretel that the religious history of New En- 
 gland will hereafter confirm the position here taken.' Revivals 
 of Religion, p. 28. 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 1 15 
 
 It is a natural consequence thai the intelligent and reflective 
 among the Orthodox, on witnessing the practical evils to which 
 their system has led, should he disposed to reexamine its evi- 
 dences. Truth can never hope to make progress unless a 
 spirit of free inquiry is awakened, and in places where this 
 spirit can only be awakened by disorder and outrage, we may 
 lament indeed the occasion, but we must at the same time 
 adore that Providence which makes it the parent of good. We 
 are aware that acting under strong impulses, a community are 
 peculiarly liable, in flying from one extreme, to be hurried into 
 another. In all such cases, however, when men adopt crude 
 and loose opinions as a refuge from Calvinism, we hope and 
 trust that experience, and common sense, and the obvious sense 
 of scripture, will soon correct the errors, which, if they had 
 considered them in all their bearings, they would have rejected 
 at first. This, we must think, will be the history of the distin- 
 guishing and obnoxious principles of modern Universalism. 
 
 Alarmed at length by the cry, that Orthodoxy was in danger, 
 the authors of this schism published the following document, 
 with which we shall close our historical notices. We give it 
 entire, and without comment, as it needs none. 
 
 ' The subscribers having had opportunity for free conversation 
 on certain subjects pertaining to Revivals of Religion, concern- 
 ing which we have differed, are of opinion that the general in- 
 terests of Religion would not be promoted by any further publi- 
 cations on those subjects, or personal discussions ; and we do 
 hereby engage to cease from all publications, correspondences, 
 conversations and conduct, designed or calculated to keep those 
 subjects before the public mind ; and that, so far as our influence 
 may avail, we will exert it to induce our friends on either side 
 to do the same. (Signed,) 
 
 Lyman Beecher, Ebenezer Chester, 
 
 Derick C. Lansing, John Frost, 
 
 S. C. Aikin, Nathan S. S. Beman, 
 
 A. D. Eddy, Noah Cor., 
 
 C.G.Finney, E. W. Gilbert, 
 
 Sylvester Holmes, Joel Parker. 
 'Philadelphia, May 27, 1828.' 
 
 Here we might stop ; but before quitting the subject we wish 
 to eo more at length into the merits of the controversy respect- 
 ing the 'new measures,' as they are termed. h\ doing this we 
 shall give frequent and copious extracts from the writers on 
 
116 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 both sides, not only because fairness and candor require it, but 
 because the extracts themselves will be found to be curious and 
 interesting, and to most of our readers entirely new. They 
 will also serve to authenticate and confirm almost everything 
 we have ever said against revivals, and being so many reluct- 
 ant confessions wrung from friends to the system, they cannot 
 be suspected of coloring or exaggeration. 
 
 In describing the course pursued by Finney himself, Mr 
 Nettleton says ; — 
 
 * The account which his particular friends give of his pro- 
 ceedings, is, in substance, as follows ; — He has got ministers to 
 agree with him only by " crushing," or " breaking them down." 
 The method by which he does it, is by creating a necessity, by 
 getting a few individuals in a church to join him, and then all 
 those who will not go all lengths with him are denounced as 
 enemies to Revivals ; and rather than have such a bad name, 
 one and another falls in to defend him ; and then they proclaim 
 what ministers, elders, and men of influence have been "crush- 
 ed" or "broken down." This moral influence being increased, 
 others are denounced, in a similar manner, as standing out, and 
 leading sinners to hell. And to get rid of the noise, and save 
 himself, another will " break down." And so they wax hotter 
 and hotter, until the church is fairly split in twain. And now, 
 as for those elders and Christians, who have thus been converted 
 to these measures ; some of them are sending out private word 
 to their christian friends abroad, as follows; — "I have been 
 fairly skinned by the denunciations of these men, and have ceas- 
 ed to oppose them, to get rid of their noise. But I warn you 
 not to introduce this spirit into your church and society." ' Let- 
 ters on the 'New Measures? p. 12. 
 
 1 They do cultivate and awaken in others, what very much 
 resembles the passion of anger, wrath, malice, envy, and evil 
 speaking. This is the inevitable consequence of their style of 
 preaching. As Dr Griffin observed, " It sounds like the ac- 
 credited language of profanity," or as a pious woman of color in 
 Troy expressed it, " I do wonder what has got into all the min- 
 isters to swear so in the pulpit." ' Id. p. 13. 
 
 The same writer makes the following judicious reflections on 
 Mr Finney's sermon. 
 
 • The sermon in question entirely overlooks the nature of true 
 religion. It says not one word, by which we can distinguish 
 between true and false zeal, true and false religion. Indeed it 
 does not seem to hint that there can be any such thing as false 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 117 
 
 zeal and false religion. If the tone of feeling can only he raised 
 to a certain pitch, then all is well. The self-righteous, the 
 hypocrite, and all who are inflated with pride, will certainly ho 
 flattered and pleased with such an exhibition ; especially if 
 they be very self-righteous and very proud. False affections 
 often rise far higher than those that are genuine ; and this every 
 preacher, in seasons of revival, has had occasion to observe and 
 correct. And the reason of their great height is obvious. There 
 are no salutary checks of conscience — no holy, humble exer- 
 cises, to counteract them in their flight. And they court ob- 
 servation. " A Pharisee's trumpet shall be heard to the town's 
 end, when simplicity walks through the town unseen." If the 
 preacher is not extremely careful to distinguish between true 
 and false affections, the devil will certainly come in and overset 
 and bring the work into disgrace. False zeal and overgrown 
 spiritual pride will rise up and take the management, and con- 
 demn meekness and humility, and trample upon all the christian 
 graces, because they are not "up to it."' Id. p. 30. 
 
 'On reading the sermon in question, I was reminded of the 
 repeated complaints which for some time past I have heard from 
 the most judicious, experienced, and best revival ministers in 
 the West ; the substance of which is as follows ; — " There are 
 various errors in the mode of conducting Revivals in this region, 
 which ought to be distinctly pointed out. That on the prayer 
 of faith. This talking to God as a man talks to his neighbour, 
 is truly shocking — telling the Lord a long story about A. or B., 
 and apparently with no other intent than to produce a kind of 
 stage effect upon the individual in question, or upon the audi- 
 ence generally. This mouthing of words ; those deep and hol- 
 low tones, all indicative that the person is speaking into the ears 
 of man, and not to God. I say nothing of the nature of the pe- 
 titions often presented ; but the awful irreverence of the manner ! 
 How strange that good men should so far forget themselves, as 
 evidently to play tricks in the presence of the great God." ' 
 
 Id. p. 35. 
 
 Another Orthodox writer under the signature 'Novanglus,' in 
 reviewing the sermon abovementioned, reprobates in the strong- 
 est terms, the irregularities to which die * new measures ' have 
 led. 
 
 'If an individual awakes; that is, if he adopts these new 
 measures, and gets full of that kind of animal feeling which 
 they promote, he must try to bring his minister into the same 
 spirit ; and if he cannot succeed, he must go about and try to 
 raise a party to "shake him off." I have heard of such advice 
 
118 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 being given privately to individuals, in particular cases, but this 
 is the first time I have ever known it to be publicly preached 
 and printed, as serious advice in all cases. And what is the 
 rule by which individual church members may know when it is 
 their duty to set about this work, and try to "shake off their 
 sleepy minister?" No rule is given in this immediate connex- 
 ion ; but perhaps one is found on the 12th page ; — " If the mat- 
 ter of preaching is right, and the sinner is pleased, there is 
 something defective in the manner. " If the unconverted part of 
 the congregation are generally satisfied with the minister, it is a 
 certain indication that he is a "sleepy minister," and ought to 
 be " shaken off." Individuals, then, have only to ask whether 
 the congregation are generally in peace, and satisfied with their 
 minister ; and if they are, it is their duty to commence measures 
 to drive him away.' Id. pp. 70, 71. 
 
 He mentions an attempt of this kind against a Mr Williston, 
 of Durham. 
 
 ' The story is, in substance as follows ; — A young convert 
 from the West made his appearance there, saying, that he 
 " knew all about how to conduct Revivals," and pointing to the 
 meetinghouse, told of the " abominations that were portrayed on 
 those walls." He talked insolently to the minister, and then to 
 the people against him. And after an evening lecture which 
 Mr W. preached, he dropped on his knees, and told the Lord 
 a long story about Mr W., and how he had talked to him, and 
 what he had said in his sermon that was false, and so tried to 
 convince the people and the Lord that Mr W. was a liar, and 
 going down to hell if he did not repent. Upon Mr W's trying 
 to calm the people, by putting the most charitable construction 
 upon his conduct, that of his not being in his right mind, his 
 brother, who was a member of the church, arose, and told the 
 people that Mr W. was " the head Achan in the camp," and 
 that " his character was as black as hell," &c, upon which 
 some went and tried to still them, while the minister and others 
 retired. For his conduct that evening, this member was labor- 
 ed with by the brethren, and justified himself on the principles 
 of this sermon. He said he had nothing against Mr W., but he 
 " did it to have a revival."' Id. pp. 71, 72. 
 
 No writer, however, inveighs with so much severity, or with 
 so much power against his Western brethren, as Dr Beecher, 
 of this city. He is speaking of the self-sufficiency and reck- 
 lessness of consequences, which the 'new measures' induce. 
 
 ' For why should a good man stop, who knows certainly that 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 119 
 
 he is right exactly, .and that all men are wrong in proportion as 
 they differ from him ? This unquestionably was the Btate of 
 
 mind to which Davenport and his followers came. He and they, 
 upon the subject of promoting Revivals, were undoubtedly the 
 subjects of a religious nervous insanity. They mistook the 
 feeling of certainty and confidence produced by nervous ex- 
 citement, and perverted sensation, for absolute knowledge, if 
 not for inspiration ; and drove the whirlwind of their insane 
 piety through the churches with a fury which could not be re- 
 sisted, and with a desolating influence which in many places 
 has made its track visible to the present day. It was this 
 " know-certain-feeling, " which emboldened Davenport to chas- 
 tise aged and eminent ministers, and to pray for them, and de- 
 nounce them as unconverted, and to attempt to break them 
 down by promoting separations from all who would not conform 
 implicitly to his views, by setting on fire around them the wood, 
 hay, and stubble, which exist in most communities, and may 
 easily be set on fire, at any time, by rashness and misguided 
 zeal ; and so far as my observation extends, the man who con- 
 fides exclusively in himself, and is inaccessible to advice and 
 influence from without, has passed the bounds of sound reason, 
 and is upon the confines of destruction.' Id. pp. 93, 94. 
 
 He remarks in another place ; — 
 
 ' No mode of reasoning is so safe as matter-of-fact reasoning, 
 if properly conducted ; and none perhaps is so liable to be per- 
 verted to purposes of sophistry. The grounds of deception are 
 two ; — 1. Drawing general conclusions from particular premises ; 
 inferring that because some preacher's mode of address or action 
 has been useful in some circumstances, it is applicable to all 
 circumstances. As if a physician, on discovering a remedy for 
 some disease, should make it his standing and universal pre- 
 scription in all cases; as if the shipmaster, who had once been 
 driven out to sea before boisterous winds, without anchor, or 
 compass, or chart, or rudder, and who readied by miracle hifl 
 port in safety, should return to denounce henceforth these means 
 of safety, and insist that nothing was needed to conduct auspi- 
 ciously the commerce of the whole world but a direct course, 
 and mountain waves, and all sails standing, and a hurricane for 
 a breeze. 2. Judging from limited views and immediate effects, 
 without regarding general and permanent results. The world, 
 both material and intellectual, is governed by general laws, and 
 though the violation of them may produce a temporary good, tin 1 , 
 certain result, on the great scale, will be more than a balance of 
 general evil. Now the importance of the soul and of eternity is 
 
120 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 such, as that good men in a revival are apt to feel no matter 
 what is said or done, provided sinners are awakened and saved. 
 But it ought to be remembered, that though the immediate re- 
 sult of some courses of conduct may be the salvation of some 
 souls, the general and more abiding result may be the ruin of a 
 thousand souls, destroyed by this conduct, to one saved by it ; 
 and destroyed by it as instrumentally in the direct and proper 
 sense of the term, as any are saved by it. The sovereignty of 
 God is not to be relied on in violation of the great laws of the 
 moral world, but in accordance with them. When the thousands 
 were to be sealed, the four angels were commanded to hold the 
 winds, and keep back the judgments which they should after- 
 wards execute, because war and distress would impede his work 
 of mercy. Hence our Saviour introduced the gospel dispensa- 
 tion gradually, as the mind of man could bear it ; not putting 
 new wine into old bottles; and hence, too, Davenport, disre- 
 garding the general consequences of his conduct, and intent 
 only on its immediate result, though he saved a few, doubtless 
 entailed moral desolation, and darkness, and death, upon thou- 
 sands of unborn generations.' Id. pp. 94, 95. 
 
 Again he says ; — 
 
 1 All your periodical Christians, who sleep from one revival to 
 another, will be sure to blaze out now ; while judicious ministers 
 and the more judicious part of the church, will be destined to 
 stand, like the bush, in the midst of the flames ; while these 
 periodical Christians will make up, by present zeal for their past 
 stupidity, and chide as cold hearted formalists, those, whose 
 even, luminous course sheds reproof on their past coldness and 
 stupidity. The converts too will catch the same spirit ; and go 
 forth to catechise aged Christians ; and wonder why old saints 
 don't sing, and make the heavenly arches ring, as they do ; and 
 that shall come to pass, which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, 
 as the destruction of human society and the consummation of 
 divine wrath upon man, when children shall be princes in the 
 church, and babes shall rule over her, and the child shall be- 
 have himself proudly against the ancient, and the base against 
 the honorable.' Id. p. 97. 
 
 We find the best account of the ' prayer of faith,' and ' par- 
 ticularity in prayer,' on which so much stress has been laid by 
 the friends of the ' new measures,' in Mr Brockway's Delinea- 
 tion. 
 
 1 To pray the prayer of faith, was, to pray with a full convic- 
 tion and a firm belief, that the petition would be heard and 
 
1829.] Disseiwons Qtnong the Revivalists. iji 
 
 answered. Nay, more, it. was to believe that it would be an- 
 Bwered without a moment's delay. All prayers that, come short 
 
 of tliis faith were not only worthless, bill were mocker) : and 
 an insult offered to God. To exercise this faith was the indis- 
 pensable duty of every Christian ; without it, he could not pray, 
 and without it he had no evidence of Ins acceptance with God. 
 We were told by Air Beman, in the most positive manner, that 
 if we prayed for anything without expecting and believing that 
 we should have it immediately, we were guilty of a most horri- 
 ble attempt to mock and insult the Omniscient God. There was 
 no such thing recognized by God as prayer, but that which 
 asked, expected, and received the thing sought, without a mo- 
 ment's delay. 5 Delineation, pp. 10, 17. 
 
 The description he skives of what they meant by ' particularity 
 in prayer,' is so thoroughly offensive and shocking, that we can 
 hardly bring ourselves to insert it; but the truth, perhaps, had 
 better be known. 
 
 1 1 will, for the benefit of those unacquainted with the prac- 
 tice' — 'give a description of this particularity, as practised by 
 those who had been thoroughly trained to this mode of praying. 
 The first thing to be regarded as indispensable, is to introduce 
 the individual by name; and in this, great care is to be taken 
 that the name be rightly called, as a misnomer has, it is said, 
 been the occasion of disappointment in the looked for result. 
 The next thing in order, is to tell what God knows of the indi- 
 vidual. If, perchance, the subject be a female, her sex must 
 first be noticed, followed with, " O, Lord ! thou seest this hard- 
 ened enemy of thine;" — for it has been considered wickedness 
 to call a sinner by a softer name than God's enemy — " Thou 
 seest how she has raised her female hands against Thee; and 
 how she is stretching out her puny female hands to lay hold of 
 Thee, and pull Thee from thy throne. See, Lord, how full her 
 hands art; of sharp arrows to fight Thee. Thou seest how she 
 is hurling her defiance at Thee. Thou knowest how black her 
 heart is, and how her enmity to Thee rankles and burns with 
 all the malice of a demon. " And, if she be present, it must be 
 added, "Thou seest how she has come in here with thy little 
 ones, too proud to kneel before Thee ; Thou knowest that she 
 has come in here on purpose to mock Thee, and insult Thee to 
 thy face." After completing this description, which, by the 
 by, was often drawn out far beyond what I have here quoted, 
 then might follow the petition, or imprecation — " Now, Lord 
 God Almighty! come down upon this eneniv of thine: break in 
 upon her; break her down, O Lord, break her down:" — this 
 
 VOL. VI. N. S. VOL. I. NO. I. 16 
 
122 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 could not be too often repeated — " break in upon her. And if 
 thou hast one thunderbolt in store, heavier than another, come, 
 God Almighty, and break it over her head. Break her down ; 
 crush her at thy feet ; slay her before Thee ! " 
 
 ' This is particularity in prayer. But, in case the subject or 
 subjects, be males — for, from six to twelve names were frequent- 
 ly introduced in the same prayer — then the description and pe- 
 tition must vary with circumstances ; as " O Lord ! Thou 
 knowest he is a hardened wretch ; thou seest how he has raised 
 his crest against Thee. Thou knowest, Lord, how vile his 
 heart is ; and how nothing is wanting to make him a perfect 
 devil, but for Thee to strip the covering from his heart. Now, 
 Lord, don't let him boast himself against Thee ; but draw thy 
 sword and come down upon him ; drive it through his heart, 
 and let him bleed at thy feet, that thine enemies may see it and 
 be afraid." 
 
 ' This is a fair, though faint specimen of the kind of praying 
 which has been so abundant in Troy. I say a faint specimen, 
 because, to render it any ways complete, it should be accompa- 
 nied with loud groans, and with all that kind of action which 
 denotes extreme distress. 5 Id. pp. 22-4. 
 
 These are weighty charges, but we must not suppose that 
 the Western Revivalists are dumb before their accusers. They 
 have their vindication, which, assuming the principles admitted 
 by both parties, is at least plausible ; and besides, they have 
 their complaints of injury and wrong, in urging which they also 
 become accusers in their turn. They contend that many of the 
 the reports which have been propagated against them by their 
 Orthodox opponents, are unfounded and calumnious j. and very 
 likely this is true to a certain extent. We are particularly 
 struck in this connexion with their treatment of Mr Brockway. 
 After having proved, as they think, 'that every material part of 
 his printed statement relative to his own testimony' before the 
 Presbytery of Troy, in the trial of Mr Beman, ' is without 
 foundation, and utterly untrue ;' that * his oath and his book are 
 at war,' — they go on gravely to remark, that they have not done 
 this ' for the purpose of casting reflections, of arraigning mo- 
 tives, or of impugning character,' or of affecting him in any 
 way, as ' a member of the church in good and regular standing.' * 
 Are we to infer from this, that in Orthodox churches a mem- 
 ber may be convicted of perjury, or deliberate falsehood, or 
 
 * Contrast of Josephus Brockway's Testimony and Statement, pp. 17, 18. 
 
1829.] Dissensions among the Revivalist*. 1 23 
 
 both, without losing or endangering his good and regular stand- 
 ing? In these churches, if a man is seen once at the theatre, 
 or is present at a ball, or rides a few miles on Sunday, he is 
 immediately brought to bis confessions, or cut off as a diseased 
 member : but are we to understand that he may be guilty of 
 perjury or deliberate falsehood, and still retain his good and 
 regular standing? Will a bitter sarcasm about his 'short 
 memory,' intended merely as an insult, authorise them to look 
 on a man so convicted, in any other light than as one who has 
 forfeited all pretensions, we do not say to religion only, but to 
 common honesty? The truth is, that the two parties are at 
 issue here on a very serious question, and we leave them to 
 extricate themselves from the difficulty as they can. 
 
 Mr Finney and his friends contend, further, that much of 
 the opposition to the ' new measures,' has grown out of a de- 
 sire to conciliate the ungodly. ' Since the session of the Pres- 
 bytery, Mr Beman told me in private conversation,' says Mr 
 Brockway, ' that Dr Beecher had set up to oppose revivals 
 for fear they were getting to be unpopular.' We suspect there 
 is some foundation for this remark. For some years back ;i 
 large portion of the Congregational and Presbyterian clergy in 
 this country, have been gradually sliding into the same methods 
 of gaining influence, which were first adopted by W hitefield 
 and Wesley ; and the policy, for a time at least, has been at- 
 tended with something of the same success. This, of course, 
 has gratified their lust of power ; but it has been attended with 
 the mortifying circumstance, that while they were gaining the 
 same sort of ascendency, it was over the same sort of people. 
 The higher and better informed classes, though affected a little 
 at first, soon began as a body to withdraw and stand aloof, 
 leaving the ministers in question to find their hearers and com- 
 panions in the same rank in society with the early Methodists. 
 It has long been a favorite object with I)r Beecher, and some 
 others, to introduce such a modification of the revival system, 
 as will command the respect at least of educated men, and 
 men of the world ; and undoubtedly one of the reasons which 
 have made him so active against the 'new measures,' has been 
 the extreme disgust they were likely to excite, in persons of 
 this description, against revivals generally. 
 
 Again, the Western party complain that the policv which 
 thi^ Orthodox of New England have adopted in opposing the 
 1 new measures,' has been throughout mean, underhanded, and 
 
124 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 disingenuous. This is well expressed in a resolution which 
 Mr Finney's friends had the courage to bring forward in the 
 Convention ; and though understood at the time to reflect se- 
 verely on the conduct of some of the members, it was carried 
 by a majority of one. 
 
 ' The writing of letters to individuals in the congregations of 
 acknowledged ministers, or circulating letters which have been 
 written by others, complaining of measures which may have 
 been employed in revivals of religion ; or visiting the congrega- 
 tions of such ministers, and conferring with opposers without 
 conversing with the ministers of such places, and speaking 
 against measures which have been adopted; or for ministers 
 residing in the congregations of settled pastors to pursue the 
 same course, thus strengthening the hands of the wicked, and 
 weakening the hands of settled pastors, are breaches of christian 
 charity, and ought to be carefully avoided.' 
 
 In the doings of a public body the charge is not connected, 
 of course, with the terms of vituperation and abuse, so lavishly 
 bestowed on other occasions. But it is painful to dwell on an 
 altercation about motives, neither edifying nor respectable, 
 especially when we consider the office and standing of the 
 persons implicated, and that both parties still affect to call one 
 another brethren. 
 
 We hasten to Mr Finney's sermon, in which, as we have 
 intimated before, he undertakes to account philosophically for 
 the opposition which has been made to the ' new measures,' 
 and also for the misunderstandings, divisions, and disgusts to 
 which they have given rise. According to his theory these new 
 measures, as they are called, are nothing more than the com- 
 mon revival system carried out a little further ; that is, as he 
 thinks, more elevated, more purified, made more spiritual. But 
 to be able to approve or sympathize in these measures it is 
 necessary that the individual's feelings and affections should be 
 raised to the same pitch of celestial love and harmony ; and the 
 true reason why such men as Dr Beecher and Mr Nettleton 
 are offended and disgusted with these measures, is to be found 
 in the cold, sluggish, and grovelling state of their hearts. We 
 prefer, however, to let Mr Finney speak for himself. 
 
 ' Again — We see why ministers and Christians visiting re- 
 vivals, often, at first, raise objections to the means used, and 
 cavil, and sometimes take sides with the wicked. The fact is, 
 coming, as they often do, from regions where there are no reli- 
 
1820.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. I J "> 
 
 gious revivals at the time, they frequently feel reproved and 
 annoyed by the warmth and spirit which they witness. The 
 praying, preaching, and conversation arc above their present 
 temperature. Sometimes, prejudice on account of its being 
 amongst a different denomination from them, or prejudice against 
 the preacher, or people, or, perhaps, pride, or jealousy, or world- 
 liness, or something of the kind, drains down their affections 
 that they do not enter into the spirit of the work. Now, while 
 their hearts remain wrong, they will, of course, cavil; and the 
 nearer right any thing is, the more spiritual and holy, so much 
 the more it must displease them while their affections grovel. 
 
 1 Again — We see why ministers and private Christians differ 
 about 'prudential measures. The man, who sees and feels the 
 infinitely solemn things of eternity, will necessarily judge very 
 differently of what is prudent or imprudent, in the use of means, 
 from one whose spiritual eye is almost closed. The man whose 
 heart is breaking for perishing sinners, will, of course, deem it 
 prudent, and right, and necessary, to "use great plainness of 
 speech," and to deal with them in a very earnest and affectionate 
 manner. He would deem a contrary course highly imprudent, 
 and dangerous, and criminal. While he who feels but little for 
 them, and sees but little of their danger, will satisfy himself 
 with using very different means, or using them in a very different 
 manner, and will, of course, entertain very different notions of 
 what is prudent. Hence we see the same person having very 
 different notions of prudence, and consequently practising very 
 differently, at different times. Indeed, a man's notions of what 
 is prudent as to means and measures in revivals of religion, will 
 depend, and, in a great measure, ought to depend, on the state 
 of his own affections, and the state of feeling with which he is 
 surrounded. For what would be prudent under some circum- 
 stances, would be highly imprudent in others. What would be 
 prudent in one man, might be highly imprudent in another. 
 What would be prudent for a man in a certain state of his affec- 
 tions, and under certain circumstances, would be the height of 
 imprudence, in the same person, in a different state of feeling, 
 and under other circumstances. It is, in most cases, extremely 
 difficult to form, and often very wrong publicly to express, an 
 opinion condemning a measure as imprudent, that is not con- 
 demned by the word of God, without being in a situation to 
 enter into the feelings and circumstances of the individual and 
 people at the time the measure was adopted. If Christians and 
 ministers would keep these things in mind, a great many un- 
 charitabh and censorious speeches would be avoided, and miicli 
 
 injury to the cause of truth and righteousness would be pre- 
 vented.' Smnon. p. ?, 8. 
 
12G Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 1 Again — We learn why churches are sometimes convulsed by 
 revivals of region. In most churches, there are probably more 
 or less hypocrites, who, when revivals are in a measure stripped 
 of animal feeling, and become highly spiritual, are disturbed by 
 the fire and spirit of them, and inwardly and sometimes openly 
 oppose them. But when a part only of the real Christians in a 
 church awake from their slumbers and become very spiritual 
 and heavenly, and the rest remain carnal and earthly in their 
 affections, the church is in danger of being torn in sunder. 
 For as those who are awake become more engaged, more spirit- 
 ual and active, the others, if they will not awake, will be jealous 
 and offended, and feeling rebuked by the engagedness of others, 
 will cavil, and find themselves the more displeased, as those that 
 are more spiritual rise farther above them. The nearer to a 
 right state of feeling the engaged ones arrive, the farther apart 
 they are ; and as they ascend on the scale of holy feeling, if 
 others will not ascend with them, the almost certain consequence 
 will be, that these will descend, until they really have no com- 
 munity of feeling, and can no longer walk together, because 
 they are not agreed. This state of feeling in a church, calls 
 for great searchings of heart in all its members, and although 
 greatly to be dreaded and deeply to be lamented, when it exists, 
 is easily accounted for, upon these plain principles of our nature, 
 and is what sometimes will happen, in spite of the sagacity of 
 men or angels to prevent it.' Id. p. 9. 
 
 Before concluding we wish to offer a few reflections on the 
 bearing which this controversy has on the great question, 
 whether revivals, in the common acceptation of that term, ought 
 to be favored and promoted. 
 
 We have seen that Orthodox publications, in condemning the 
 excesses and outrages committed at the West, generally desig- 
 nate them as the 'new measures.' If by this it is intended to 
 insinuate that similar excesses and outrages have never attended 
 a revival before, or that they have not usually attended great re- 
 vivals, it is a poor and mean artifice, which their own writings are 
 sufficient to expose. Edwards, Dr Beecher, and Mr Nettleton 
 admit that the same or similar extravagances disgraced the great 
 Munster revival in Germany, the great revival among the En- 
 glish Independents in the time of Cromwell, and the great 
 revival under Wesley and Whitefield. The same is equally 
 true of other revivals less extensive and notorious ; among 
 which we may mention that in which the sect of Quakers arose, 
 that under Mrs Hutchinson in the early days of New England, 
 
1829.] Dittentiom among the Revivalists. 1J? 
 
 that of the Moravians at Hernhutt, and that in Kentucky and 
 Tennessee in 1803. Consequently, whether the measures in 
 question arc justifiable or not, and whether they properly belong 
 to the revival system or not, it is certain that they are not new, 
 and to call them so is a palpable misnomer. 
 
 The New England party endeavour to make it appear that 
 the extravagances committed by their Western brethren afford 
 no ground of objection to the revival system, but are only to 
 be regarded as excrescences, or at most as abuses ; and some 
 ascribe them to the direct and preternatural agency of the evil 
 one. We are aware that in the creed of the multitude there 
 is still a remnant of the old Manichean error, which supposes 
 a malignant being to divide with a good being the empire of the 
 world, and that all sin is to be traced to the partial and tempo- 
 rary triumphs of the former. Even on this theory, however, 
 if revivals present peculiar opportunities, of which the devil 
 can and will take advantage to introduce the evils complained 
 of, it is just as much an objection to the whole system, as if 
 these evils could be shown to originate in the system itself, as 
 their natural, and sufficient cause. 
 
 Still it may be thought that the revival system is not properly 
 responsible for these excesses and outrages, because they are 
 not necessary to the system, but only incidental and contingent. 
 If by incidental and contingent in this connexion is only meant, 
 that all the extravagances attending revivals do not, however, 
 attend them in every instance, nobody, we presume, will disptite 
 the position. If a man enters an infected city, it does not follow 
 necessarily that he will be seized with the contagion ; or if he 
 associates with vicious companions, it does not follow necessarily 
 that he will himself be corrupted. For, in both cases, the 
 consequences of such exposure will depend, at least in some 
 degree, on his peculiar temperament and circumstances, and 
 other predisposing causes. For the same reason, it does not 
 follow necessarily, that the adoption of the reviva] system in a 
 particular town, or village, will hurry every individual in it, or 
 any individual in it, into all the excesses and outrages to which 
 that system has ever led. A multitude of causes may, and 
 often do, exist to prevent this effect, or at least to limit and 
 qualify it. Nevertheless it is plain, that when these excesses 
 and outrages do in fact follow, they follow as the real conse- 
 quences, and the natural consequences of the revival system. 
 Certainly, then, it is a valid objection to the whole system, not 
 
128 Dissensions among the Revivalists. [March, 
 
 only if these excesses and outrages follow from it necessarily 
 and in all cases, but if they follow from it really and naturally, 
 when there is nothing in the existing circumstances to oppose, 
 limit, or qualify its manifest tendencies. 
 
 Again, some will contend that the good which Revivals do 
 is immediate, while the evil is remote ; and that the system is 
 properly responsible only for its immediate results. But is 
 this reasoning satisfactory ? The question is, not whether the 
 bad consequences of a revival follow immediately or remotely ; 
 but whether they follow really and naturally. If it be admitted 
 lhat these evils do really follow from a revival, it is just as 
 much an objection to the whole system, whether they follow 
 to-day or to-morrow, or a thousand years from this time. Be- 
 sides, we are speaking of excesses, and of course a man is not 
 supposed to begin with excesses, let his system be ever so bad, 
 but to be led into them gradually as the mischievous tendencies 
 of his system are more fully developed. To say that the good 
 which Revivals do is immediate, while the evil is remote, is 
 only to say that the last stages of a revival are always the worst ; 
 which is unquestionably true. But this, instead of obviating the 
 objection we are considering, presents it, as we conceive, in 
 the strongest possible light. 
 
 Others prefer to represent the obnoxious measures as abuses, 
 which are not to be charged on the system, but on the igno- 
 rance and passions of bad men, by which the system has been 
 misunderstood and perverted. Now we freely admit the im- 
 propriety of alleging a few single and occasional abuses of any 
 system as a valid objection to the system itself; but if we know 
 that the system is peculiarly liable to abuse, this is a valid ob- 
 jection. We must take the world and human nature, as we 
 find them ; and if we know beforehand, or have good reason 
 to expect, that the system in question will be abused in fact, 
 we cannot conscientiously recommend or countenance its intro- 
 duction. In this case we do not reason, as some might think, 
 from the abuse of a thing, but from its peculiar liability to abuse ; 
 knowing, also, that the same object, so far as it is a good and 
 reasonable one, may be attained by other means entirely unex- 
 ceptionable. Besides, is it true, that the excesses and outrages, 
 which have usually attended great revivals, are to be consider- 
 ed as abuses of the revival system ? They are abuses of reli- 
 gion, we grant ; but not of this peculiar mode of propagating it. 
 The revival system proceeds on the dangerous and mistaken 
 
1929.] Dissensions among the Revivalists. 129 
 
 principle, that the imaginations and passions of large bodies of 
 men are to be excited, without taking care, at the same time, 
 to enlighten their understandings. It also holds up the idea, 
 and this idea is generally embraced, that the subjects of the 
 revival are moved by an extraordinary and preternatural im- 
 pulse of the Holy Spirit, which, of course, if real, should su- 
 persede and set at nought the ordinary dictates of reason and 
 prudence. Now we think it undeniable, that the worst exces- 
 ses and outrages, which ever attended a revival, flow naturally 
 from such a state of things; and what can be shown to flow natu- 
 rallv from any system can hardly be counted amongst its abuses. 
 Driven from every other position, the Revivalist may still 
 say, that even admitting the disorders which often attend re- 
 vivals to be fairly chargeable on the system, the system is pro- 
 ductive of more good than evil, and for this reason, if for no 
 other, ought to be favored. To this we reply, in the first 
 place, that we have no right to do evil, or connive at evil, that 
 good may come, in the hope that the good will preponderate. 
 We are also convinced that the evils directly induced by a re- 
 vival on the subjects of it, are for the most part greatly under- 
 rated. To prove this, we had collected several additional 
 testimonies, chiefly from Orthodox writers ; but on turning to 
 them again, we find they will not bear insertion in a work like 
 this, on account of the extreme grossness and indelicacy of 
 many of the suggestions and allusions. We are likewise to take 
 into view the indirect influences of a revival on those who are 
 not the subjects of it, and who are only disgusted by the scenes 
 commonly attending such excitements, and estranged more than 
 ever from God and virtue. We believe that the follies, and 
 extravagances, and fanatical practices of reputed Christians, 
 have done more to make infidels and scoffers, than all other 
 causes put together. Then, too, as we have intimated before, 
 there are other ways in which the same amount of good max 
 be produced, without any of the evils and dangers incurred in 
 revivals. Let the laws of the land be better respected and 
 obeyed; let more attention be paid to the subject of public and 
 general education ; let more liberal and honorable principles 
 prevail in the daily intercourse of society, and in the ordinary 
 transactions of business; let tin* public and fashionable amus - 
 ments, which have so much to do in determining the character 
 of a people, be thoroughly reformed; let the licentiousness of 
 the press be restrained by public opinion, and let the popular 
 
 V OL. VI. \. s. VOL. I. Nil. I. IT 
 
1 30 School Booh. [March, 
 
 literature of the clay, especially works of poetry and fiction, 
 breathe a purer spirit ; in bestowing honor and applause let 
 more regard be had to the moral and religious character, 
 and in elections for civil office let none be raised to places of 
 power and trust but men of approved integrity and worth ; 
 let more consistent and practical views of religion be diffused 
 among all classes, and let the standard of preaching be elevat- 
 ed, and its true and proper objects be better understood ; 
 finally, let educated men, rich men, and men of standing and 
 influence, take a greater interest in Christianity themselves, 
 and discover more of its influence in their conduct, and do more 
 for its spread. These are the means which God has appointed 
 for a real and general revival of religion. Any system or 
 policy, which pretends to supersede this process, or interferes 
 with it in the smallest measure, or unfits society for it, or has a 
 tendency to turn public attention to any other quarter for help, 
 is to be disowned and rejected. 
 
 Art. VII. — 1. The Franklin Primer ■, or Lessons in Spelling 
 and Reading, adapted to the Understandings of Children ; 
 composed and published by a Committee, appointed for the 
 Purpose, by the School Convention of Franklin County. 
 Fifth Ed. Greenfield. Phelps U Clark. 1828. 18mo. pp. 48. 
 
 2. Secondary Lessons, or the Improved Reader; intended as 
 a Sequel to the Franklin Primer. By a Friend of Youth. 
 Second Edition. Greenfield. Phelps & Clark. 1828. 
 18mo. pp. 198. 
 
 3. The General Class Book, or Interesting Lessons, in Prose 
 and Verse, on a great Variety of Subjects ; combined with 
 an Epitome of English Orthography and Pronunciation, 
 and intended as the Third Book in a Course of Reading, 
 for the Use of Schools. By the Author of the Frank- 
 lin Primer and the Improved Reader. Greenfield, 
 Phelps & Clark. 1828. 18mo. pp. 312. 
 
 4. Essays on the Philosophy of Instruction, or the JVurture of 
 Young Minds. Greenfield. Phelps & Clark. 1829. 
 18mo. pp. 36. 
 
 These books are the productions of one and the same author; 
 a gentleman who has paid great attention to the subject of edu- 
 cation, and particularly to that of childhood and early youth.