them the Holy Spirit is shed abroad upon the unconverted. That such seasons as these have been and still are witnessed, in almost every part of our country, can no more be doubted than the shining of the sun at noon-day. App. pp. 9, 10.

No person who has been present when religion has been revived, can be insensible to the beauty and force of such scriptural allusions on this subject as occur in the following description by Dr. Proudfit.

The refreshing influences of divine grace descended silently and softly upon the heritage of the Lord, like the showers of spring after the dreariness and barrenness of winter. A genial warmth appeared to pervade the whole church, to the joy of the generation of the righteous, and at the same time, multitudes were added to the Lord, by an external profession of his name. One of these occasions occurred in the year 1796, when a very unusual influence apparently accompanied the outward dispensation of the word, sealing it upon the souls both of sinners and saints. A similar season occurred about six years afterwards; and another and still more memorable visitation of the Spirit was enjoyed in the year 1815. During all these seasons of enlargement to myself, and of spiritual joy to the children of adoption, under my immediate care, and of the "espousals of others to Jesus as their husband," no extra efforts were used; no brethren from other towns were called in to our aid, but the work advanced silently and regularly, promoted exclusively under the divine blessing by the ordinary administration of ordinances private and public. Yet, during the whole course of my ministry, I have never been favored with seasons more delightful in their recollection; none the results of which I anticipate with more joy in that day when the final account of my stewardship will be required. Contemplated in a moral or spiritual light, the work on those occasions might be compared to that gradual yet perceptible reanimation, which pervades the vegetable world amidst the vernal showers, and the refreshing influences of the returning sun, when the face of nature is clothed with fresh verdure, and the trees which had stood barren, are adorned with blossoms and fruit. These might emphatically be called "times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;" and yet I know of no particular cause, except on the last occasion, the revival of the Lord's work appeared to come as an answer to extraordinary importunity in prayer. Few churches during this period, perhaps, have been more honored for raising up young men to adorn the ministerial office; -men full of the "Holy Ghost and of faith," who now appear as "burning and shining lights" in various parts of our country. On one occasion in the autumn of 1815, six youths took their seats together at the sacramental table, who are now exercising the ministry of reconciliation, and some of them with more than ordinary success. App. pp. 80, 81.

The following is from the letter of Rev. C. P. McIlvaine.

My experience of revivals has not been so extensive as that of many others, but it has been, more than that of many others, among young men of education and force of character. It has been my lot to wit

ness the power of the Spirit in circumstances peculiarly unpropitious; overcoming obstacles of the most formidable kind, and effecting, in spite of them, conversions of a nature specially distinguished by the decision, force and consistency of christian character which they have since exhibited. But I have not time for preliminaries.

As to what a revival of religion is, and what its great objects ought to be I would suggest that the public mind (I mean of Christians,) is in danger of overlooking, or only slightly regarding one out of the two great constituents and blessings of a genuine revival. One of these is the conversion of sinners. But it is not the only object; though too much treated as if it were. The other is the quickening of the people of God to a spirit and walk becoming the gospel. Where this is not sought and obtained, the revival is more than suspicious. But I fear that, where it is sought, it is sometimes desired much more as a necessary means to the accomplishment of the other, than as a most important end in itself, which alone is unspeakably precious, and must be productive of all good fruits. If the quickening of the souls of God's people to liveliness of life be regarded rather as a means to the bringing about of the resurrection among the dead in sins, than as a great end in itself; the consequence will be, as experience proves, that their increase of life will be confined very much to those efforts which bring them before the view, and into direct operation on the feelings of the impenitent, such as the leading and attending of public and other meetings for prayer and exhortation, instead of being, first and last, an improvement of their hearts in all the inward things of the Spirit of God, elevating, purifying, adorning, invigorating the whole christian character. App. pp. 87, 88.

We add the following from the letter of President Lord.

con

The work of the Holy Spirit in a college is immediately perceptible. A company of young men now moved only by ambition, or the love of pleasure, and presently by convictions of religious truth, present aspects wholly different, and opposite, impossible to be overlooked or mistaken. I have myself seen them, and have been filled with wonder at the great power of God. I would that the unbeliever might witness these different phases, minds ardent, excitable, impatient of dictation and trol, beguiled by maxims of false honor, and governed only by the force of laws; and the same minds, the next month, or week, subdued, quiet, obedient, benevolent, yielding to the force of moral obligation, and governed by the simplest intimations of right. Existence itself, it has seemed to me, is not more unquestionable, than the reality of divine influence in such cases. App. pp. 112, 113.

Such is the harmony of some of the most distinguished men belonging to five different religious denominations on this subject.

The second Lecture is a defense of revivals against the objections of opposers. The whole is rational and dignified. A specimen is contained in the following reply to the objection that "the subjects of revivals of religion often fall into a state of mental derangement and even commit suicide."

The fact implied in this objection is, to a certain extent, acknowledged; that is, it is acknowledged that instances of the kind mentioned do sometimes occur. But is it fair, after all, to consider revivals as responsible for them? Every one who has any knowledge of the human constitution, must be aware that the mind is liable to derangement from any cause that operates in the way of great excitement; and whether this effect in any given case, is to be produced or not, depends partly on the peculiar character of the mind which is the subject of the operation, and partly on the degree of self-control which the individual is enabled to exercise. Hence we find on the list of maniacs, and of those who have committed suicide, many in respect to whom this awful calamity is to be traced to the love of the world. Their plans for accumulating wealth have been blasted, and when they expected to be rich they have suddenly found themselves in poverty and perhaps obscurity; and instead of sustaining themselves against the shock, they have yielded to it; and the consequence has been the wreck of their intellect, and the sacrifice of their life. You who are men of business well know that the case to which I have here referred is one of no uncommon occurrence; but who of you ever thought that these cases reflected at all upon the fair and honorable pursuit of the world? Where is the merchant who, on hearing that some commercial adventurer had become deranged in consequence of some miserable speculation, and had been found dead with a halter about his neck, ever said, "I will close my accounts and shut up my store, and abandon this business of buying and selling, which leads to such fatal results?" Is there one of you who ever made such an inference from such a fact; or who ever relaxed at all in your worldly occupation, on the ground that some individuals had perverted the same occupation to their ruin? Here you are careful enough to distinguish between the thing, and the abuse of it; and why not be equally candid in respect to revivals of religion? When you hear of instances of suicide in revivals, remember that such instances occur in other scenes of life, and other departments of action; and if you are not prepared to make commerce, and learning, and politics, and virtuous attachment, responsible for this awful calamity, because it is sometimes connected with them, then do not attempt to cast this responsibility upon religion, or revivals of religion, because here too individuals are sometimes left to this most fearful visitation

I have said that some such cases as the objection supposes occur; but I maintain that the number is, by the enemies of revivals, greatly overrated. Twenty men may become insane, and may actually commit suicide from any other cause, and the fact will barely be noticed; but let one come to this awful end in consequence of religious excitement, and it will be blazoned upon the house top, with an air of melancholy boding and yet with a feeling of real triumph; and many a gazette will introduce it with some sneering comment on religious fanaticism. pp. 41--43.

The third Lecture considers the obstacles which often lie in the way of a revival, particularly ignorance or misapprehension of the nature of true revivals; a spirit of worldliness among professed chris

tians; the want of a proper sense of personal responsibility among professed christians; the toleration of gross offenses in the church; the absense of a spirit of brotherly love in its members; and an erroneous or defective exhibition of christian truth. Another obstacle is thus described.

There is a way of preaching certain doctrines out of their proper connection, which is exceedingly unfriendly to revivals of religion. Suppose, for instance the doctrine of God's sovereignty be exhibited in such a partial or insulated manner as to leave the sinner to infer that it is but another name for tyranny;—or suppose the doctrine of a divine influence be preached in such a way as to authorise the inference that man has nothing to do in respect to his salvation, but wait to be operated upon like a mere machine; or suppose the doctrine of man's apostasy be so exhibited as to lead sinners to deny their responsibility for their transgressions, and to take refuge from the accusations of conscience in the relation which they bear to the father of our race;-in either of these cases, there is little probability that they will be converted or even awakened. p. 84.

The fourth Lecture is entitled "Divine agency in revivals," which Dr. Sprague illustrates under the distinct heads of the agency of Providence, and the agency of the Spirit. The latter he explains by a reference to the revealed facts, that the Spirit actually does operate in the whole work of man's sanctification; that, in performing his work upon the hearts of men, he has respect to the laws of their moral nature; and that he operates by means of the truth. The work itself he contemplates more particularly in the distinct parts of conviction of sin, conversion to God, and subsequent progress in the divine life. From this able lecture we select the

following passages.

Another fact in relation to this subject, of which we have the fullest evidence, is, that the Spirit, in performing his work upon the hearts of men, has respect to the laws of their moral nature.

God has made man what he is a voluntary accountable agent. He has given him the power not only of distinguishing, but of choosing between good and evil, has constituted him in such a manner that he is susceptible of the influence of motives; and every one must perceive that this involves responsibility. Inasmuch then, as this constitution of our nature is derived from God, it were to be expected that whatever influence he should exert upon the mind would be consistent with it; in other words, that he should not contradict his own works. It would do little honor to infinite wisdom to suppose that he should have formed man with such a nature, that he could not have access to it, without violating the laws which he had himself established.

But the conclusion to which we should arrive on this subject from the very perfections of God, is abundantly corroborated by the testimony of his word. Says Joshua to the people of Israel," Choose you this day

whom you will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served, that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord." And again, our Savior says, "Mary hath chosen that good part which shall not be taken away from her." Indeed, what are all the exhortations, and promises, and threatenings, of the bible, but a mass of evidence that God operates upon the hearts of men as moral agents; that he takes for granted that they are to be active in the work of their sanctification, notwithstanding he is himself the efficient cause of it? Admit that men are operated upon as mere machines, and then read any part of the bible, and see what meaning you can find in it. pp. 95,96. As to the nature of the change in regeneration, Dr. Sprague

says,

:

The will, or the faculty by which we determine our actions, has naturally a wrong direction and in regeneration it is set right: the affections are naturally placed upon forbidden objects; and in regeneration they are recalled to objects which are worthy of them. Or to avoid all appearance of philosophical distinctions, the soul that has hitherto loved and chosen sin, experiences a change, in consequence of which it will hereafter love and choose holiness.

p. 102.

"The general means of producing and promoting revivals," which form the subject of the fifth lecture, the author divides into two kinds, those which are expressly prescribed by God, and those which are adopted by men professedly in accordance with the Spirit of God. Their general characteristics he describes as being seriousness, order, simplicity, as opposed to all parade and ostentation, honesty as the opposite of wordly artifice, and the spirit of meekness, gentleness, and tender benevolent affection. They are, the faithful preaching of the word, private and social prayer, conversation, sabbath school and bible class instruction, the faithful discharge of parental duty, and exercises designed particularly for awakened sinners.

The following are some of Dr. Sprague's remarks on protracted meetings.

It has long been a practice in some parts of the church, and has recently become common in this country, to hold a succession of religious exercises through a period of several days. In respect to this measure, though I am aware that it is liable to great abuse, yet in itself considered, I confess that, in certain circumstances, and with certain limitations, it seems to me unobjectionable. One principal reason why sinners are not converted, is, that the impression which the truth makes upon them in the house of God, yields almost instantly to the cares and levities of the world. Now then, if before this impression can have time to escape, it be followed up by another exhibition of truth, and another, there is reason to hope that it may become permanent; and that the result may be a genuine conversion to God: and this effect, it cannot be denied, is