USA > Connecticut > A complete history of Connecticut, civil and ecclesiastical, from the emigration of its first planters, from England, in the year 1630, to the year 1764; and to the close of the Indian wars > Part 15
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The work at this time, though extraordinary where it prevailed, was comparatively but in a few places ; the great body of the people through the colony, and the country, remained secure as before ; and sin and inatten- tion to the great concerns of eternity, seemed rather to be increasing among the people in general, for about four or five years from this time, until the commencement of the
CHAP. VIII.
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great revival, as it has been called, in the years 1740 and Book II. 1741. Though the effects of the work were happy, and great and abiding reformations were made in those places, which had been visited so remarkably, in the preceding years, yet it had no apparently good and general effect on other parts of the country. Family prayer and @eligion were much neglected. Lectures previous to the sacra- ment of the Lord's supper, and on other occasions, were very thinly attended. On the Lord's day, there was not that general and serious attention which had been in former times. Too great formality and coldness appeared to at- tend the public worship in general. The extraordinary concern which had been in a number of towns and parish- es, in 1735 and 1736, was a subject of very serious con- sideration, and excited the prayers and hopes of pious people, that there might be a general revival of religion through the land. Some sinners were thought to become more serious and thoughtful in consequence of it. Mr. Edwards, at the desire of Dr. Watts, and Dr. Guyse of London, and Dr. Coleman of Boston, had written and pub- lished a narrative of the said work, in 1738 ; attested by a number of the neighbouring ministers who were eye wit- nesses to it. In the mean time, religion appeared on the decline : But few persons offered themselves to the com- munion of the churches. It was also observed, that those who did offer themselves, gave no account of any previ- ous convictions, which they had obtained of their great sin and misery, by nature and practice. It does not ap- pear that ministers in general, at that time, made any par- ticular enquiry of those whom they admitted to communion, with respect to their internal feelings and exercises. The Stoddardean opinion generally prevailed, at that period, that unregenerate men could consistently covenant with God, and when moral in their lives, had a right to sealing ordinances.
In 1740, there began a very great and general concern The great among the people, for the salvation of their souls. The awaken- awakening was more general and extraordinary, than any necticut ever before known. It extended to old and young, to and New- gray-headed sinners, who had long accustomed themselves England. to sin, and grown old in their iniquities ; and even to little children. The sinners in Zion were afraid, and fearful- ness surprised the hypocrites. The children of GOD re- ceived the fresh anointings of the Spirit, and the spices of their garden flowed out. The bride, in happy union with the spirit, said, Come. This awakening reached the large towns and cities, where iniquities and dissolute practices,
, -
, ing in Con-
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Great de- sire and zeal to hear the word.
Book II. of all kinds, did generally most abound, as well as the country towns and villages. The most thoughtless, secure 1740. and hardened sinners, were awakened and made to cry for mercy. Negroes and Indians, on whom before no im- pression could be made, were heard with others, making the great enquiry. Young people, among whom the work was most general, forsook their merry meetings and youth- ful diversions, became earnest to hear the word, met in conferences, read good books, prayed, and sang praises to GOD. People, in a wonderful manner, flocked together to places of public worship, not only on the Lord's day, but on lecture days, so that the places of worship could not contain them. They would not only fill the houses, but crowd round the doors and windows without, and press to- gether wherever they could hear the preacher. They would not only thus assemble in their own towns and pa- rishes, when the word was preached, but if they had the knowledge of lectures in the neighbouring towns and pa- rishes, they would attend them. Sometimes they would follow the preacher from town to town, and from one place to another, for several days together. In some instances, in places but thinly settled, there would be such a con- course, that no house could hold them.
Restraint from sin.
1
There was in the minds of people, a general fear of sin, and of the wrath of GOD denounced against it. There seemed to be a general conviction, that all the ways of man were before the eyes of the LORD. It was the opin- ion of men of discernment and sound judgment, who had the best opportunities of knowing the feelings and general state of the people, at that period, that bags of gold and silver, and other precious things, might, with safety, have been laid in the streets, and that no man would have con- verted them to his own use. Theft, wantonness, intem- perance, profaneness, sabbath-breaking, and other gross sins, appeared to be put away. The intermissions on the LORD's day, instead of being spent in worldly conversa- tion and vanity, as had been too usual before, were now spent in religious conversation, in reading and singing the praises of GOD. At lectures there was not only great at- tention and seriousness, in the house of GOD, but the con- versation out of it was generally on the great concerns of the soul.
As the people were eager to hear the word, the feet of those who published salvation were beautiful ; they were greatly animated, filled with zeal, and, laboured abundant- ly. Especially was this the case with those ministers who favoured the work. They not only preached abundantly
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to their own people, and invited others to preach to them, Book II. but they rode from town to town, to assist each other, and preach to the people. They also improved all opportu- 1740% nities to preach to vacant congregations. Sometimes they rode to distant towns and societies, where the work was very extraordinary, to encourage and bear testimony to the good work, and by all means in their power to promote it. In some instances a whole assembly, where the people be- fore had been very unconcerned and vain, would be deeply impressed and awakened under a single sermon.
There was an extraordinary instance of this at Enfield. While the people in the neighbouring towns were in great distress for their souls, the inhabitants of that town were very secure, loose and vain. A lecture had been appoint- Revival at ed at Enfield, and the neighbouring people, the night be- Enfield, fore, were so affected at the thoughtlessness of the inhabit- 1740 and ants, and in such fear that God would, in his righteous 1741: judgment, pass them by, while the divine showers were falling all around them, as to be prostrate before him a considerable part of it, supplicating mercy for their souls. When the time appointed for the lecture came, a number of the neighbouring ministers attended, and some from a distance .* When they went into the meeting-house, the appearance of the assembly was thoughtless and vain. The people hardly conducted themselves with common decen-
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cy. The Rev. Mr. Edwards, of Northampton, preached, and before the sermon was ended, the assembly appeared deeply impressed and bowed down, with an awful convic- tion of their sin and danger. There was such a breathing of distress, and weeping, that the preacher was obliged to speak to the people and desire silence, that he might be heard.t This was the beginning of the same great and prevailing concern in that place, with which the colony in general was visited.
At New-London, Groton, Lyme, Stonington, Preston; Revival at and Norwich, as well as in other parts of the colony, and New-Lon- don, Gro- some parts of Rhode-Island, the work was general and ton, Lyme, powerful. In the north part of New-London, under the &c. pastoral care of the Rev. Mr. Jewett, there was a great revival. It is estimated, that not less than twenty were born again in one week. The church in Groton, under the pastoral care of the Rev. John Owen, was favoured with an accession of eighty members, in the term of five or
* Mr. Wheelock went from Connecticut, who gave me information of the whole affair.
t The sermon was afterwards printed and reprinted, with the title of " Sinners in the hands of an angry God."
Ţ
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Book Il. six months. The Rev. Mr. Parsons, and the Rev. George Griswold, of Lyme, experienced a large harvest. Mr.
and 1741.
1740 Griswold admitted into his church one hundred English, and thirteen Indians. The Rev. Mr. Fish, of Stonington, about the same time, admitted to his communion one hun- dred and four persons, consisting of both white and black. . The work was not equally general and powerful in all places : it met with great opposition : some of the clergy appeared in opposition to it, and would not suffer their zealous brethren to preach in their pulpits, or in their parishes ; but great additions were made to the churches in general. In many places this was, undoubtedly, done with too little caution and prudence. Great awakenings, convictions, and joys, and much zeal in religious concerns, were taken for real conversion to GOD, when there was no real change ; when the heart was left under the dominion of pride and selfishness, and totally opposed to God and holiness. There were, doubtless, two reasons why such numbers were so hastily admitted to communion in the churches. One was, that a great proportion of the clergy, at that time, were of opinion, that unregenerate men, if ex- ternally moral, ought to be admitted to all the ordinances. The other was; that they considered those things as an evi- dence of a real change of heart and life, which were no evidence of it at all. This afterwards appeared to be the case in too many instances.
Revival at
in Rhode- Island.
While this work was so remarkable in Connecticut, it Westerly, reached some places of great security and irreligion in the colony of Rhode-Island. In the town of Westerly, then very extensive,* there was not known to be one praying family, nor one person who professed religion, or even one who believed some of the peculiar doctrines of the gospel. In general, they were extremely opposed to the doctrines of the divine sovereignty, of the total depravity of the human heart, of regeneration by the supernatural in- fluences of the divine Spirit, of justification by faith, wholly on the account of the mediatorial righteousness. They treated them even with scorn and ridicule. One Mr. Park was sent into this place, by the board of commissioners for Indian affairs, to preach to the Indians, and to such of the English as would hear him. He took great pains to re- form and indoctrinate the Indians and the people, but with little success. He zealously preached the doctrines of the reformation. But the more he preached them, the thinner
* Westerly then contained the whole tract within the towns of Westerly and Charlestown, into which it has been since divided. It was the tract assigned to the Pequot Indians, after their conquest,
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his assemblies were, and the less the people appeared to Book II. esteem him. Some, for a time, would not hear him. But as he was certain that these were the peculiar doctrines of the gospel, he continued faithfully to preach them. And now, at this time of general awakening, it pleased God to accompany them with his blessing. A great and general concern was effected, both among the English and Indians. A church of between thirty and forty members, was formed in the town. Among them were six Indians and two ne- groes. So great was the change now made, by divine grace, that, in the houses where there had been neither prayers nor praises, the scriptures were now searched, prayers were constantly made, psalms and hymns were sung to the honour of GOD and their blessed REDEEMER. The people appeared at once to be greatly enlightened in the doctrines of the gospel, and now to love those very doctrines which they had before so exceedingly disrelish- ed, and even contemned. Mr. Park was now chosen and ordained their pastor. Before this, but few of the Indians attended his ministry, and those were not constant hearers; but at this time, about an hundred became his steady hearers.
About this time, the Rev. George Whitefield, a pious Mr. White- young clergyman of the church of England, who had field ar- preached in some of the southern colonies in 1738, and America, rives in afterwards in various parts of England and Scotland, with 1739. great applause and effect, came over a second time into America. He landed at Philadelphia, the beginning of No- vember, 1739. On his arrival he was invited to preach in all the churches, and people of all denominations flocked in crowds to hear him. After preaching a few days in Philadelphia, he made a visit, upon the invitation of a cer- tain gentleman, to New-York, and preached eight times in that place with great applause and effect. Thence he re- turned to Philadelphia, preaching on the way both going and returning. He preached at Elizabethtown, Maiden- head, Abington, Neshamini, Burlington and New-Bruns- wick, in New-Jersey, to some thousands of people. There had been a considerable awakening in that part of the country before his arrival, by the instrumentality of Messrs. William and Gilbert Tennant, Blair, Rowland, and a Mr. Frelinghuysen, a young Dutch minister. He was met on his way by old Mr. Tennant, as well as his sons, and had the honor and pleasure of a visit from the Rev. Mr. Dickin- son, President of the College. From Philadelphia he went to Georgia by land, preaching on the way as he pro- ceeded, Numbers followed, some twenty and some even
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Book II. sixty miles, from Philadelphia. He preached at Chester, Wilmington, Newcastle, and Whitely-Creek. At the last 1739. of these places it was computed that his congregation con- sisted of not less than ten thousand hearers.
He preached also, in various places in Maryland, in Vir- ginia, and North-Carolina. He had an interview with the governors of Maryland, and of Virginia, as he passed those colonies, both of whom treated him with much civility. When he came to Charleston in South-Carolina, he preach- ed there three times ; the people seemed almost universal- ly impressed, and his preaching appeared not to be in vain, These reports reaching New-England, there was a great desire, both in ministers and people, to see and hear him.
The following account of his character and preaching, was given by a gentleman of eminence and discernment, and published at the time.
Mr. White, field's character and " He is of a sprightly, cheerful temper ; acts and moves with great agility and life. The endowments of his mind are very uncommon ; his wit is quick and piercing, his im- preaching. agination lively and florid ; and both, as far as I can dis- cern, under the direction of an exact and solid judgment. He has a most ready memory, and I think, speaks entirely without notes. He has a clear and musical voice, and a wonderful command of it. He uses much gesture, but with great propriety. Every accent of his voice, every motion of his body, speaks ; and both are natural and unaffected. If his delivery is the product of art, it is certainly the per- fection of it ; for it is entirely concealed. He has a great mastery of words, but studies much plainness of speech.
" His doctrine is right sterling ; I mean perfectly agree- able to the Articles of the Church of England, to which he often appeals for the truth of it. He loudly proclaims all men by nature to be under sin, and obnoxious to the wrath and curse of God. He maintains the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring men out of this state. He as- serts the righteousness of CHRIST to be the alone cause of the justification of a sinner ; that this is received by faith ; and that this faith is the gift of GOD ; and that where faith is wrought, it brings the sinner, under the deepest sense of his guilt and unworthiness, to the footstool of sovereign grace, to accept of mercy as the free gift of GOD, only for CHRIST's sake. He asserts the absolute necessity of the new birth : That this new production is solely the work of GOD's blessed spirit : That wherever it is wrought it is a permanent and abiding principle, and that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it."
He generally preached twice, and sometimes three times
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a day, and often had thousands of hearers. A gentleman Book II, who had many scruples on his mind relative to him, at first, gives this account of his preaching and the effects 1731. of it.
" Under this frame of mind, I went to hear him in the evening at the Presbyterian church, where he expounded to above two thousand people within doors and without. I never in my life saw so attentive an audience. Mr. White- field spake as one having authority. All he said was de- monstration, life and power. The people's eyes and ears hung on his lips. They greedily devoured every word. I came home astonished : I never saw nor heard the like : Every scruple vanished ; and I said within myself, surely GOD is with this man, of a truth."
The evening in which he preached his last lecture at New-York, thousands came together to hear him; but as the place was too strait for them, many were obliged to go away, and it was said, with tears in their eyes, lamenting their disappointment. These were the accounts given of him at New- York.
A similar account, but more particular and ample, was published respecting him at Charleston, in South-Carolina, by a pious minister there, who had been favoured with the best advantages to know him .* Speaking of the doctrines which he preached, he says, " All these doctrines now mentioned are primitive, protestant, puritanic ones, such as our good fathers, conformists and dissenters, have filled their writings with : and as Dr. Watts has well observed, " they fill heaven apace, for GOD is with them." Speak- ing of his praying and preaching, he says, "Though his prayers in this pulpit were all extempore, yet how copious, how ardent, with what compass of thought! The spirit of grace and supplication seemed to be poured upon him in plenty, and to kindle and animate his devotions. He ap- peared to me, in all his discourses, very deeply impressed in his own heart. How did that burn and boil within him, when he spake of the things which he had prepared con- cerning the king! In what a flaming light did he set our eternity before us! How earnestly did he press CHRIST upon us! How did he move our passions with the con- straining love of such a Redeemer! The awe, the silence, the attention which sat upon the face of so great an au- dience, was an argument how he could reign over all their powers. So charmed were people with his manner of ad- dress, that they shut up their shops, forgot their secular bu-
* The Rev. Samuel Smith, in a sermon, which has since been published, with Mr. Whitefield's serprons.
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Book II. siness, and laid aside their schemes for the world ; and the oftener he preached, the keener edge he seemed to put 1740. upon their desires of hearing him again. How awfully, with what thunder and sound, did he discharge the artillery of heaven upon us ! And yet, how could he soften and melt even a soldier of Ulysses, with the love and mercy of GOD ! How close and strong were his applications to conscience ; mingling light and heat, pointing the arrows of the Almighty to the hearts of sinners, while he poured in balm upon the wounds of the contrite, and made the broken bones to rejoice ! Eternal themes, the solemnities of our holy relig- ion, were all alive upon his tongue. He appears to me to be a man full of the Holy Ghost and of faith."
On the spreading abroad of these reports, those eminent men, Dr. Coleman and Mr. Cooper of Boston, sent letters to Mr. Whitefield, with pressing invitations that he would ٩ visit New-England. Mr. Whitefield, touched with a curios- ity to see the descendants of the good old Puritans, and their seats of learning, and hoping that he might make some further collections for the orphan house, accepted their in- Mr. White- vitation. He embarked at Charleston for New-England, about the last of August, 1740, and arrived at Rhode-Island on the Lord's day, September 14th. Here a number of principal gentlemen soon waited on him. Among them was the venerable Mr. Clap, an aged minister of the first congregational church in the town. Mr. Whitefield was greatly delighted in him, and imagined he saw in him, what manner of men the old Puritans, who planted New-Eng- land, were. He preached there three days, twice a day, to deeply affected auditories. He then departed for Bos- Arrives in ton, where he arrived on Thursday evening. He was met Boston. on the road by the governor's son, several of the clergy, and other gentlemen of principal character, who conducted him into the city.
He preached the next day for Dr. Coleman and Mr. Cooper, and then at Dr. Sewall's and Mr. Prince's, and at the other meetings in rotation, but his assemblies were so large that the most capacious houses could not contain them, and he often preached on the common. On the Lord's day he preached for Dr. Coleman. Ministers and people were deeply affected. Dr. Coleman observed, “ it was the happiest day he ever saw." He preached also at Cambridge, Marblehead, Ipswich, Newbury, Hampton, York, Portsmouth, Salem and Malden, to numerous con- gregations. In about a week, he preached sixteen times and rode an hundred and seventy miles. He returned to Boston, on the 6th of October. Here the number of his
field ar- rives in New-Eng- land.
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hearers was exceedingly increased. It was supposed that Book II. his hearers, at his last sermon, when he took leave of the town, were not less than twenty thousand .*
1740.
The revival which had been in Connecticut and various other places in the country, had not reached Boston, until after Mr. Whitefield's arrival. The ministers of the town, had appointed lectures, and taken much pains to call up the attention of the people to the vast concerns of eternity, but they were unsuccessful ; the lectures were so thinly at- tended that they were greatly discouraged. Mr. Whitefield® took notice of it, and pressed the people to reform, and through his instrumentality, there was a remarkable alter- ation. The congregations became full and solemn, and the people flowed unto the house of the Lord.
The people now wanted to hear more preaching than was Revival of common. In consideration of this, public notice was giv- religion in Boston. en, that there would be a lecture on the Tuesday evening, weekly. It was the first stated evening lecture ever ap- pointed in that part of New-England. When the evening came, the house appeared no less crowded than if Mr. Whitefield had been there. Dr. Coleman preached an ani- mating sermon, from Isaiah, Ix. 8. Who are these, that fly as a cloud, and as the doves to their windows ? Thus he began :
" It is a pleasant and wondrous thing, to see souls flying unto JESUS CHRIST, to the means of grace and salvation, which he hath ordained and sanctified, and into the church. If this were not the proper and natural sense of the pro- phet's words, I would not have chosen them for the opening of the present lecture.
" Our dear people, your ministers have with pleasure seen you in the weeks past, old and young, parents and children, masters and servants, high and low, rich and poor together, gathering and passing as clouds in our streets, and as doves on the wing, in flocks flying to the doors and windows of our places of worship ; and hover- ing about the same, those that could not get in.
" The fame of a singular, fervent and holy youth, and extraordinary servant and minister of JESUS CHRIST, who makes his angels spirits and his ministers a flame of fire, had prepared you for his visit ; and with raised expecta- tions we received him, even as an angel of GOD for JESUS' sake, as the apostle St. Paul was received by the church- es of Galatia.
"GOD gave him a wonderful manner of entrance among- us, as in other places before us, among the brethren of our # Letter of Mr. Cooper, and Whitefield's life.
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Book II. denomination ; and we were sometimes melted together in tears, ministers and people, parents and children, under the 1740. commanding address of love to his Saviour and our souls. We led you with visible pleasure in our faces to the solemn and great assemblies, and looked on you there with great. satisfaction, in your uncommon regards to thé beloved ser- vant of Christ, for the truth's sake that dwelleth in him, and the love of the spirit filling him and reigning in his ministrations to us.
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