USA > New York > A history of the purchase and settlement of western New York : and of the rise, progress and present state of the Presbyterian Church in that section > Part 21
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These meetings, after a season, were prolonged to a greater length, and received the appellation of "protracted meetings." The period of the continuance of one of these depended very much on circumstances, varying from eight or ten days up to thirty. The amount of the public religious exercises, at these meetings, in a single day, was, generally, not so great as had been the case in those of shorter continuance. Sometimes meetings were held only in the evening ; but ordinarily the afternoon and evening were de- voted to public services. As to the manner of conducting these meetings, there was some variety. The exercises, however, were of the same character with those of the meetings which preceded them. These meetings were, for a number of years, of very fre- quent occurrence in Western New York, and are not wholly laid aside at the present time, though held with much less frequency.
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Nor were they peculiar to Western New York, but extended throughout all parts of the Presbyterian Church, and other evan- gelical denominations in the United States, where revivals abounded. The General Assembly, in their Narration for 1832, say, "Upon another subject of deep interest, there is a general unbroken testi- mony from all parts of the church, which have been blessed with a refreshing from the presence of the Lord. We refer to the rich and precious blessings which have attended the numerous protracted meetings, which have been held throughout our borders." "From all portions of the church we hear the language of praise, for the great things God has done by means of protracted meetings." The Presbytery of Ontario, under date of October, 1832, say, "Many of our churches during the past year have held protracted meet- ings for religious worship, which have been uniformly blessed to the conversion of sinners and to the edification of God's people.". The Presbytery of Buffalo repeatedly make mention of protracted meetings as being held in the churches under their care, and of their being instrumental of much good. Other Presbyteries give a similar testimony. At these protracted meetings a very large number of those who became members of the Presbyterian churches, for several years, received their first serious impressions and em- braced a hope of pardon through a crucified Saviour. These meet- ings brought out many to hear the word, who probably could not have been reached by any other instrumentality. They came, not because they expected or wished to hear the gospel preached, not because of any serious concern about the salvation of their souls, for with regard to this they were entirely thoughtless ; but because they expected to see and hear things which were of rare occur- rence, and curiosity might be gratified. Some, perhaps, attended that they might find subjects for ridicule, or arguments against the utility of revivals of religion: but to their consciences the word has been made quick and powerful, and conversion to God has been the final result. The great day of accounts will undoubtedly exhibit many on the right hand of the Judge, who were converted to God through the instrumentality of protracted meetings.
The employment of evangelists, or ministers without pastoral charge, to labor in protracted meetings, and take the lead in the conduct of them, was commenced simultaneously with the introduc- tion of those meetings. These preachers were supposed to possess extraordinary talents to collect and interest a congregation, to awaken sinners, and to excite Christians to engagedness and acti- vity in the Lord's service. Some of them were believed to be men of extraordinary piety, living peculiarly near to God, and by their strength of faith in prayer prevailing with God. Many Chris- tians entertained the idea, that, if one of these evangelists could be obtained to conduct a protracted meeting, a blessing would certainly follow, and souls would be converted. They were fre-
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quently spoken of as "revival men" and "revival preachers," though these appellations were not confined to the evangelists. Some of them were, no doubt, men of ardent piety, and were use- ful in winning souls to Christ. Of some, we are constrained to believe, that, if they were not impostors, they must have been self- deceived fanatics. Some of them were men of education, with talents of a high order, and of a somewhat peculiar character. Their preaching was characterized by a pointedness of address, generally of the severe kind, and their one object seemed to be the immediate conversion of the sinners. Of course, every subject was left out of view except what, in the estimation of the preachers, had an immediate bearing on this one object. £ At the commence-
ment of the meeting, for a season, the preaching was addressed principally to the church. The object of it was to arouse them to a state of intense anxiety, to effort, and to prayer for the conversion of sinners, in the full expectation that their efforts and prayers would bring down the Divine blessing in the precise form in which it was asked, and without any delay. This idea of the prayer of faith, the writer believes, was generally adopted by the preachers denominated evangelists, although he is not prepared to say that it was universal. After a season of laboring with the church in this manner, and especially if the church seemed to be brought up to this state of feeling and effort, the attention of the preacher was directed wholly to his impenitent hearers, with a view to their im- mediate conversion. The manner of address would, of course, vary according to the peculiar temperament of the preacher. Generally, however, it partook largely of the severe character, and very commonly, if it failed to subdue, produced a deep disgust. Gentleness was not the characteristic trait of but few, if any, of this order of preachers. Undoubtedly, some of them supposed that the peculiar state of the times required severity in those who would be faithful as the ministers of Christ. Hence they might be led, under the idea of faithfulness, to be rigid, overbearing, censorious, and dictatorial in their addresses, both to saints and sinners. Some of them, even of the better sort, seemed to assume it as an undoubted fact, that they were in a special manner enlightened by the Holy Spirit, and to expect that every sentiment advanced by them should be received by their hearers without question and without proof. Hence they abounded more in assertions than in proofs, and made positive declarations rather than dispassionate argumenta- tion. As to the doctrines preached, there was a very considerable discrepancy between them. With respect to all of them, it may be said that their preaching was not of that description usually understood by doctrinal preaching. They preached with reference to one definite object, the immediate conversion of sinners. Those portions of divine truth which have not an immediate bearing on this one object, were not at all brought into view. Some of the evan-
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gelists, it is believed, were orthodox in their views, and in their exhibitions of the truths of the gospel. Of others it may, per- haps, be said, that their preaching was faulty, for the want of clearer and fuller exhibitions of truth rather than on account of pal- pable error. But with regard to some of them, it was far other- wise. Their preaching was diametrically opposed to the gospel of Christ ; some of the great and important truths of the bible were, by them, ridiculed and contemned. The author of this work once heard the famous Mr. Luther Myrick, in preaching, absolutely ridi- cule the doctrine of the divine decrees as maintained in the Shorter Catechism ; and the whole drift of his discourse went to show that sinners possessed an independent power of their own to change their own hearts, and therefore stood in no need of any special operation of the Holy Spirit to accomplish this work. In the preaching of a number, the doctrine of the Spirit's influence in re- newing the heart of the sinner, if not positively denied, was, at least, entirely kept out of view. In these cases where an evange- list was employed in conducting a protracted meeting, it was generally with the understanding that he was to have the sole direction of the meeting, and to perform all the preaching.
The first of this order of laborers in Western New York in point of time, as the writer believes, was Rev. Charles G. Finney. He had been preaching with great applause and much apparent success in the central and northern parts of the State for some time, when he was invited in the summer of 1826, to assist in a protracted meeting in the village of Auburn, Rev. Dirck C. Lansing being at that time pastor of the Presbyterian church in that village. Mr. Finney came according to request, and labored about seven or eight weeks. The attendance on the meetings was very great, and as the result of it, about fifty members were added to the Presbyterian church. At a subsequent period, in 1831, Mr. Finney again labored in Western New York, and held. long protracted meetings in Au- burn, Rochester, and some other places. Vast multitudes attended these meetings, and some hundreds professed to have been born again. No reasonable doubt can be entertained that such was really the case with many. Mr. Finney and his peculiar views on theo- logical subjects, are extensively known to the Christian public, and need no particular notice in this history. As an awakening preacher, he certainly possessed talents of a high order. In some of his theological views, he differed widely from the author of this work.
Rev. Jedediah Burchard was employed to some extent as a preacher and director in protracted meetings, in 1833 and 1834. Such meetings were held by him in Auburn, in Homer, in Ithaca, in Buffalo, and in other places. Wherever his meetings were held, as far as the writer has been informed, there was a large attend- ance, high excitement, many professed conversions, and a speedy introduction of such as professed conversion into the church. At
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Homer, on the twenty-sixth day of the meeting, seventy-two of the professed converts were received into the church. The writer has no personal acquaintance with Mr. Burchard, and does not know that he ever saw him, but if he can credit testimony which appears to him undoubted, there must have been very much in the course pursued by him, and in his instructions, which was exceedingly re- prehensible. It would seem to have been his grand object, by every variety of means, to bring the impenitent to say that they gave their hearts to God, and when this was accomplished, they were pronounced converts, and cautioned not to doubt the reality of their conversion. Time has tested the reality of many of these supposed conversions, and shown them to be spurious. The pastor of one of the churches in which Mr. Burchard held a protracted meeting in 1832 or 1833, says, " A protracted meeting was holden with this church, which was conducted by Rev. J. Burchard. At the clos- ing up of his effort, he brought into the church an accession of one hundred and sixteen members. In the judgment of the session, this was more an addition of numerical than of spiritual strength ; and so much of evil was mingled with the good unquestionably done, that the church have since preferred a more quiet but less hazardous mode of conducting revivals." Another correspondent speaks of a revival as the result of a protracted meeting conducted by Mr. Burchard in 1833, and continued during a period of twenty-eight days, in the course of which period ninety-nine individuals were received into the church by profession of faith in Christ. He ob- serves, "Here permit me to say, that not more than one half of the ninety-nine admitted to the church, in this season of revival (so called), have given evidence of a change of heart, the ruinous con- sequences of which, to some extent, remain to this day." As far as the author's information extends, it is his belief that few of the pastors and churches in Western New York, where Mr. Burchard conducted protracted meetings, would desire a repetition of his labors.
Within the bounds of the Presbytery of Buffalo, Rev. Samuel G. Orton labored as an evangelist, holding protracted meetings, and otherwise assisting feeble churches in that region. To this service he was invited by the Presbytery, by a resolution passed unanimously, January, 1834, in the following words, "Resolved, that this Presbytery entertain a high regard for the ministerial fidelity and increasing usefulness of Rev. Samuel G. Orton, and that we tender hin a cordial invitation to continue his labors throughout the entire bounds of our Presbytery, if consistent with his views of duty." At a subsequent period the Presbytery made provision for his temporal support, and requested him to continue his labors. His labors as an evangelist were thought to be very useful, nor, within the knowledge of the writer, has there ever been anything objectional in his instructions or measures to promote the
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salvation of souls. God evidently owned his labors, and attended them with the influences of the Holy Spirit.
Rev. James Boyle for a season exercised the office of an evan- gelist, and conducted protracted meetings principally within the bounds of the Presbyteries of Bath and Geneva. His doctrinal views and measures, in the estimation of the writer, were, serious- ly objectionable, and time has shown that the number of estimated converts resulting from his labors very far exceeded the number of real ones. As far as is known to the writer, almost every church which was greatly enlarged in its number of members, through the instrumentality of his preaching, is now in a very decayed state. Mr. Boyle has since lost his ministerial character, has been deposed from the ministry, and excommunicated from the church.
Mr. Augustus Littlejohn, in the time of the first introduction of protracted meetings, distinguished himself as a lay assistant in conducting these meetings, by his activity, boldness, and apparent zeal for the conversion of souls. Under the impression that the providence of God pointed him out as one who was to do much for the conversion of sinners, the Presbytery of Angelica, though he was entirely deficient both in classical and theological education, licensed him to preach the gospel, on the first day of September, 1830, and, in April, 1834, ordained him to the work of an evangelist. His first ministrations for a considerable period were mostly employed on the territory east of that which, in this work, is designated Western New York, and he became quite famous as a revival preacher, and conductor of protracted meetings. From the period of his ordination his operations were mostly confined to Western New York, and particularly within the bounds of the Presbytery of Angelica, where for a number of years he was in very high re- pute. His meetings were attended by great numbers, and many under his ministrations professed to have been converted, and with- out doubt many real conversions took place. Many pious people esteemed him very highly, as a bold, fearless reprover of sin, as a man of deep piety, and an instrument in the hands of God of con- verting souls. The writer once heard him preach, near the close of a long protracted meeting which he had conducted ; but was en- tirely disgusted with the exhibition. His manner and whole ap- pearance was that of a mad enthusiast. The sermon was charac- terized by coarseness, vulgarity, and abuse. It was addressed wholly to the impenitent, and calculated, not to convict and awaken feelings of concern, but to goad, exasperate, and repel. Mr. Little- john was grossly unsound in doctrine, boisterous in manner, and irregular in almost every point of view ; but the apparent zeal for the salvation of souls which he manifested, and his indefatigable activity in his ministry, led many good people to think very highly of him and his labors. But his operations were, in many respects, exceedingly injurious to the interests of religion. He introduced
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into the churches where he ministered, laxness in doctrine, fanati- cism, and many irregularities. On the eighteenth day of March, 1841, he was, by the Presbytery of Angelica, deposed from the ministerial office, and excommunicated from the church, on account of grossly immoral conduct practised clandestinely, at various times through a long period.
There were many others who, for a season, itinerated as evan- gelists and conductors of protracted meetings. Mr. Finney and some others of the earliest ones had acquired a great popularity with a large proportion of the religious community. Protracted meet- ings were in high repute, as means of salvation, and the high ex- citement produced by them was agreeable to the spiritual appetite of many. It was vastly easier to conduct a protracted meeting, than to sit down to the continued care of a church, through all the vicissitudes which might occur in a period of time. The mental labor of the evangelist, who remained not more than a month in any one place, in preparing sermons, was very little. The idea of being the instrument in converting many souls in a very short time, was a very exciting one. These circumstances would naturally lead numbers to desire the station of an evangelist, and a considerable number engaged in this employment, or endeavored to force them- selves into it. Some of them were well educated, sound in doc- trine, and highly useful as preachers of the gospel. But many of them were destitute of classical and theological furniture ; of feeble natural abilities : erroneous in sentiments ; boisterous, vulgar, and abusive in their manner of preaching ; irreverent and even dic- tatorial in prayer, and fanatical in their whole procedure. Their operations and influence were destructive in a high degree, and brought discredit on the revivals. It is not, however, to be under- stood, that this class of evangelists were generally countenanced and upheld by the ministers and churches of the Presbyterian deno- mination in Western New York. This was by no means the case. A considerable proportion of these evangelists were from other parts of the country, and not under the jurisdiction of the Presby- teries in the region. Many of them had no connexion with any Presbytery. Hence, the ecclesiastical judicatories could do nothing more than warn their churches not to employ them. This was done in repeated instances. The Presbytery of Angelica, at a meeting held April, 1835, animadverted upon the conduct of Rev. David Slie, a member of the Black River Association, who was laboring within their bounds. They say " Mr. Slie has particular points to carry, that are not at all essential to the cause of preach- ing the gospel, viz .- To organize churches ; to exhibit a popular, but defective, and yet favorite confession of faith ; to show that his own labors are in particular demand ; to show his congregational prejudices in opposition to Presbyterianism : to justify himself in all his proceedings at any expense." The Presbytery of Genesee
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recorded their disapprobation of the paper denominated, "The American Revivalist and Rochester Observer." This was in effect a condemnation of the sentiments and extravagances of many of the evangelists. This record was made in February, 1833. The Presbytery of Ontario, in August, 1839, passed resolutions con- demnatory of the course pursued by Mr. Littlejohn.
The Presbytery of Cayuga, at a meeting held in August, 1833, made the following record : "Whereas, Rev. Luther Myrick and others associated with him, have been holding protracted meetings within our bounds, and it is expected that he designs to continue ; the Presbytery unanimously resolved to invite and advise the churches in this body, not to invite nor employ the said Myrick in such meetings for the following reasons, viz .- 1. The Presbytery are informed that the said Myrick is now a subject of Presbyterian discipline, that charges have been regularly entered against him, and that the Presbytery to which he belongs has cited him to appear for trial. 2. The Presbytery fully believe that the said Myrick teaches doctrines at war with the Bible, and with the standards of the Presbyterian church. 3. The Presbytery are fully convinced, that the effects of his labors among the churches have been to divide brethren, and to produce a spirit of bitterness among them, and thus to disgrace the cause of Christ. For these reasons we would affectionately entreat and exhort the churches within our bounds, as they value the peace, the purity, and the prosperity of Zion, that they would not invite the said Myrick to labor among them, nor in any way aid or countenance him as a preacher of the gospel, until his trial shall come to an issue." With reference to some preachers of the description which we are now contemplating, the Presbytery of Chenango, in their narrative for 1844, say,-"In some of our parishes there have been annoyances, severe irrup- tions from irresponsible religionists, ostensibly avowing the object of union, but whose movements have tended to disunion and disaster."
The Synod of Geneva, in October, 1835, adopted the following preamble and resolutions : " Whereas, the Synod are informed on what they deem good authority, that the ecclesiastical body calling themselves The Central Evangelical Association of New York, does not sustain the reputation of an orthodox body, and is not in fellowship with any ecclesiastical body with which we hold cor- respondence, and that the course of proceeding adopted by most of their ministers, is calculated to divide, corrupt, and distract the churches ;- Therefore, Resolved, that the Synod deem it irregular for any minister or church in our connexion, to admit the ministers of said Association to their pulpits, or in any way to recognise them, or the churches organized by them, as in regular standing."
These extracts clearly show what were, from the beginning, the
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views entertained, by the great body of the Presbyterian church in Western New York, respecting the heterodoxy and extravagances of a considerable number of the men styled evangelists or revival preachers, who, for a season, itinerated in that region. There were among them good men, useful men, men whom God made use of to enlarge his kingdom ; but so many evils were connected with this system of evangelizing, that it is, to say the least, of very doubtful expediency. The decided opinion of the Presbyterian church in Western New York, for a considerable period, has been against it. The Presbytery of Tioga, in their narrative for 1843, say, "The Lord has heard the prayers of his saints, and has poured out his Spirit extensively upon some of our churches. There was a mourning of God's people over past unfaithfulness, a solicitude that the word of God might become quick and powerful, and a prevail- ing desire that the pastors, rather than foreign laborers, should be the honored instruments in converting sinners, which were charac- teristic, and which gave promise of future prosperity." The Synod of Geneva, in a pastoral letter addressed to the churches under their care, in 1841, say, " As we have reason to fear, that in many churches it has become a habit to look for refreshing showers of divine grace only in connexion with some special effort, and the employment of some extraordinary means, we would caution you to beware of undervaluing the ordinary ministrations of your own pastors and stated supplies, and of withholding from them that love, confidence, and cordial co-operation, which they have a right, while faithful ministers, to expect, and which it is your duty as members, to yield. It is our decided conviction, that, if a full confidence were reposed in the ordinary ministrations of the gospel among you, and a hearty, prayerful co-operation afforded to those who watch for your souls, with a sincere and ardent desire to secure success to their ministry, the ways of Zion would cease to mourn because so few come to her solemn feasts, and times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord would be greatly multiplied and prolonged. The kingdom of God, which cometh not with observa- tion, would thus continue to increase in numbers, and in righteous- ness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost."
In conclusion, on this particular subject, there can be no reason- able doubt, that there have been of late years, in the Presbyterian churches in Western New York, most glorious outpourings of the Holy Spirit, by which the kingdom of the Redeemer has been greatly enlarged. At the same time, it must be acknowledged that there, as well as in other parts of the moral vineyard, many circum- stances have occurred, which have given pain to the heart of the enlightened Christian, marred the good work, and hindered the sal- vation of precious souls. The revivals in many places have been of a less pure character than those of preceding years, and many
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