The GOSPEL TRUTH

A HISTORY OF AMERICAN REVIVALS

by

Frank G. Beardsley PH.D, S.T.D.

1912

Chapter 3

 

THE GREAT AWAKENING.

 

Dark as were the conditions which preceded the Great Awakening, there were not wanting rays of light to give promise of brighter days. Rev. Solomon Stoddard, whose practices evidently were better than his theories, had been blessed in his pastorate at Northampton, with special ingatherings which he called harvests, during the years 1679, 1683, 1696, 1712, and 1718. Revivals were also reported at Hartford, Conn., in 1696, at Taunton, Mass., in 1705, and at Windom, Conn., in 1721. 

The great earthquake of 1727 profoundly affected the public mind and led many to inquire seriously concerning the way of salvation. 

That same year Rev. Gilbert Tennent, who was destined to play no inconspicuous part in the Great Awakening, was called to the pastorate of a Presbyterian Church at New Brunswick, New Jersey. There he came in contact with the fruitful ministry of Rev. Theodore Frelinghuysen, who for seven years had been pastor of a Dutch Reformed Church in the vicinity, and whose success together with his fraternal counsel incited the young minister to a spirit of inquiry concerning his own lack of fruitfulness in ministerial labors. A sickness which visited him about this time deepened these impressions to such an extent that he resolved to be more faithful and earnest in his ministry should he recover. Upon his restoration to health he sought both by personal work and the faithful presentation of gospel truth to awaken the indifferent and arouse the impenitent to a sense of their spiritual needs, "which method," he said, "was sealed by the Holy Spirit in the conviction and conversion of a considerable number of persons at various times and in different places in that part of the country as appeared by their acquaintance with experimental religion and good conversation."*

*Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 35 .

These various spiritual quickenings, which were as mercy drops before the showers of refreshing, would seem to indicate that the country was not altogether unprepared for that tremendous wave of religious influence which swept over the colonies and which has become known in history as the GREAT AWAKENING. So far as the human origin of this Awakening is concerned, it commenced in the quiet rural parish of Northampton, Mass., about 1734. 

Rev. Jonathan Edwards, under whose preaching appeared the first manifestations of revival power, was born at East Windsor, Conn., October 5th, 1703. His father was a Congregational minister and his mother was a daughter of the celebrated Solomon Stoddard. As a child Edwards was precocious. At six he commenced the study of Latin, at ten he wrote an essay denying the materiality of the human soul, and at thirteen he entered Yale College, from which he graduated in September, 1720, before he had quite reached the age of seventeen. During his second year in college he read Locke on the "Human Understanding," of which he said that he was inexpressibly pleased and entertained; more so than the most greedy miser, when gathering up handfuls of silver and gold from some newly discovered treasure. After graduation he remained two years at college, studying and preparing himself for the gospel ministry to which he had already committed himself. 

In August, 1722, he accepted an invitation to the English Presbyterian Church in New York City, where he labored for a space of eight months. A permanent call was extended him, but the church was so small and the future so unpromising that he declined. During this pastorate he began a remarkable series of resolutions for the guidance of his conduct, pledging himself to do nothing which did not tend to the glory of God. Upon relinquishing his pastoral duties he repaired to the home of his father, where several months were spent in a further study of theology. In June, 1724, he received an appointment as tutor in Yale College, which position he filled for two years with honor to himself and credit to the institution. The infirmity of years was now resting upon his grandfather, the Rev. Solomon Stoddard, so that he felt the need of an assistant in his pastorate at Northampton. To this position young Edwards was called, and he was duly ordained as colleague with his grandfather on the 15th of February, 1727. Two years later, upon the death of the latter, he succeeded to the full pastoral office in what was then the strongest church in Massachusetts outside of Boston. A short time after his ordination he was joined in marriage to Miss Sarah Pierrepont of New Haven, who was then but seventeen years of age. The daughter of a minister, she was a young woman of accomplished education and marked personal beauty. The home life of this couple bordered closely upon the ideal. When he visited them George Whitefield was so impressed by their conjugal felicity that he wrote, "She is a woman adorned with a meek and quiet spirit, and talked so feelingly and solidly of the things of God, and seemed to be such a helpmeet to her husband, that she caused me to renew those prayers which for some months I have put up to God, that he would send me a daughter of Abraham to be my wife." 

For some months Edwards labored at Northampton without success, but in 1733 a change in the attitude and demeanor of the youth was apparent. There was a disposition to be guided by pastoral teaching and advice, and a few months later the revival commenced. 1740 is the commonly accepted date for the Great Awakening, but in reality it commenced in New England in 1734 and continued, with some intermissions to be sure, for a period of eight years. 

In the spring of 1734, the minds of the people were seriously turned towards the consideration of eternal things by the untimely deaths of two young persons in the community. Certain sermons also, which Mr. Edwards preached about that time on justification by faith, the justice of God in the damnation of sinners, the excellency of Christ, and the duty of pressing into the kingdom of God, greatly deepened the religious impressions of his hearers. 

In these sermons the doctrine of God's sovereignty was strongly insisted upon. Through the fall in Adam man had lost God's favor and henceforth had no claim upon his mercy. Man is a sinner by birth as well as by choice and is possessed of no moral power of his own wherewith he may turn to God or please him. God is under no obligation to save anyone. "His sovereignty is involved in his freedom to take whom he pleases, and to leave whom he pleases to perish." Special grace is communicated to such as he has chosen to salvation, but all others are left to die in their sins. Satisfaction must be made for the sins of those who are foreordained to eternal life. Such satisfaction was made in the vicarious sacrifice on the cross by Jesus Christ, who suffered thereby a penalty equivalent to the eternal sufferings of the elect, and thus their debt was literally paid. By the imputation of Christ's righteousness to the believing soul salvation was effected. 

Such in brief were the elements of Edwards' theology. The influence of such doctrines upon the minds of those who had contented themselves with a barren morality can better be imagined than described. Men were brought face to face with their sins and their indifference to the claims of religion. False hopes were brushed aside, and the unconverted were made to realize that works alone would never save them. They were impressed with the idea that their only hope of salvation was in the mercy of God. As a result the hearts and consciences of men were deeply moved. Within a comparatively short space of time evidences of converting grace began to appear. In the latter part of December, 1734, five or six persons in Edwards' congregation were converted. Among them was a gay young woman of somewhat questionable character, who had been a leader in frivolity among the young.. On account of her past reputation Edwards was fearful lest her conversion should create prejudice and bring the work into disrepute, but his fears were groundless and quite the reverse took place. 

"Presently upon this," wrote Mr. Edwards, "a great and earnest concern about the great things of religion, and the eternal world, became universal in all parts of the town, and among persons of all degrees and all ages; the noise among the dry bones waxed louder and louder; all other talk but about spiritual and eternal things was soon thrown by; all the conversation in all companies, and upon all occasions, was upon these things only, unless so much as was necessary for people carrying on their ordinary secular business. Other discourse than of the things of religion would scarcely be tolerated in any company. The minds of the people were wonderfully taken off from the world; it was treated amongst us as a thing of very little consequence; they seem to follow worldly business more as a part of their duty than from any disposition they had to it. . . . But though the people did not ordinarily neglect their worldly business, yet there was the reverse of what commonly is: religion was with all sorts the great concern and the world was only a thing by the by. The only thing in their view was to get the kingdom of heaven, and every one appeared pressing into it. . . . There was scarcely a single person in the town, either old or young, that was left unconcerned about the great things of the eternal world. Those that were wont to be vainest and loosest, and those that had been most disposed to think and speak slightly of vital and experimental religion, were now subject to great awakenings. And the work of conversion was carried on in a most astonishing manner, and increased more and more; souls did, as it were, come by flocks to Jesus Christ. From day to day, for many months together, might be seen evident instances of sinners brought out of darkness into marvelous light, and delivered out of a horrible pit, and from the miry clay, and set upon a rock, with a new song of praise to God in their mouths."*

* Edwards' Works, Vol. III., pp. 233-235. 

The results of this revival were most gracious. Northampton then had a population numbering about eleven hundred. Mr. Edwards expressed the hope that above three hundred souls had been converted in half a year. Persons of all ages, from children of tender years to those who had reached extreme old age, were gathered into the fold. More than a hundred were received into the church before one communion. Eighty were received at one time, "whose appearance, when they presented themselves together to make an open, explicit profession of Christianity, was very affecting to the congregation." Sixty more were received before the next observance of the Lord's supper. All these gave "sufficient evidence of the conversion of their souls," although a credible confession of their faith was not then required for admission to the Lord's table. Such a work could not be hid. The revival spread to other communities, and many came to examine personally this remarkable work of grace. Eventually the revival extended to South Hadley, Suffield, Sunderland, Deerfield, Hatfield, West Springfield, Long Meadow, Enfield, Hadley Old Town, and Northfield, in Massachusetts. In Connecticut the revival commenced at Windsor not far from the time that it began at Northampton. Thence it spread to East Windsor, Coventry, Lebanon, Durham, Stratford, Ripton, New Haven, Guilford, Mansfield, Tolland, Hebron, Bolton, Preston, Groton and Woodbury. Communities in New York and New Jersey were also visited with spiritual quickenings. Before the revival wave had spent its force it was estimated that more than a hundred towns had been blessed. 

As the news of this revival was circulated it awakened a lively interest on the part of the friends of vital religion. Many wished to learn an authentic account of it, and in response to a request from Dr. Colman of Boston, Jonathan Edwards wrote a "Narrative of Surprising Conversions." Dr. Colman forwarded the manuscript to Drs. Watts and Guise of London, by whom it was published. This little volume received an extensive circulation on both sides of the Atlantic. A copy fell into the hands of John Wesley, who read it on a walk from London to Oxford. He wrote in his Journal, "Surely this is the Lord's doing and it is marvelous in our eyes." 

In 1739-1740 there were manifestations of revival power, on a less extended scale, among the Presbyterians of New Jersey. Rev. Jonathan Dickinson, who afterwards became president of Princeton, wrote of hopeful awakenings at Newark and in his own parish at Elizabethtown. Of the latter he said: "Numbers daily flocked to their pastor for advice in their eternal concerns. More came to see him on this errand in three months than in thirty years before."*

* Sprague's Revival Lectures, Appendix, p. 284. 

Not long afterwards a revival of unusual power commenced among the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians at New Londonderry, Pennsylvania, under the ministry of Rev. Samuel Blair. This revival was entirely independent of any which had hitherto occurred. During an absence of Mr. Blair in East Jersey, in March, 1740, and under the preaching of a neighboring minister there were such manifestations of concern that the people could not restrain their tears, and audible groans were heard throughout the house. Upon the return of their pastor similar manifestations took place, so that he was obliged to request them to restrain themselves, as much as possible, from making any noise that would hinder others from hearing what was spoken, and afterwards he often had occasion to repeat the same counsel. The number of awakened increased rapidly, and he wrote that "there was scarcely a sermon or lecture preached here through that whole summer but there were manifest evidences of impressions on the hearers; and many times the impressions were very great and general. . . . In some time many of the convinced and distressed afforded very hopeful, satisfying evidence that the Lord had brought them to true closure with Jesus Christ, and that their distresses and fears had been in a great measure removed in a right gospel way by believing in the Son of God."*

* Tracy's Great Awakening, pp. 26-29 

A preparation for the Great Awakening in the Middle Colonies, and a potent factor in promoting revivals, was the famous "Log College" at Neshaminy, Pa. This institution, which was the legitimate forerunner of Princeton, afforded ministerial training for the Tennents (Gilbert and his three brothers), Samuel Blair, John Rowland, Samuel Finley, William Robinson and other influential revival preachers. The "Log College" was founded about 1730 by William Tennent, Sr., who had emigrated from Ireland to America in 1716. He was originally an Episcopalian, but in 1718 he united with the Presbyterian Synod, and within a few years had come to exert a far-reaching influence in that denomination. Tennent and his four sons were ardent friends of the revival. So active were they in its promotion, and so powerful was their influence, that in the region in which they labored it was known as the Tennent Revival. 

The revivals occurring in New England and the adjoining colonies served as a preparation for the coming of the great English evangelist and prince of pulpit orators, Rev. George Whitefield, so that the minds of men were as soil for the sower, when he came to scatter the seeds of gospel truth, which were destined to bring forth fruit, "some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred-fold.'' 

The life of Whitefield reads like a romance. He was born at Bell Inn, in the city of Gloucester, England, December i6th, 1714. His father, who had been a wine merchant and afterwards an innkeeper, died when the future evangelist was but two years of age. Notwithstanding her limited resources his mother determined to give him every advantage within her power. As a youth he was sent to the Grammar School of St. Mary de Crypt, and at the age of eighteen he entered Oxford University, where he secured a position as servitor in Pembroke College. With the assistance thus afforded and through the kindness of friends he was enabled to reach the end of his three years' residence at college with but twenty-five pounds indebtedness. Up to the time of his entrance at Oxford he was inclined to be wayward and careless, but upon commencing his college duties he altered his mode of life and refusing to join in the revelry, which was all too prevalent, he won for himself the reputation of being a "singular, odd fellow.î Circumstances brought him into contact with the "Holy Club," or "Methodists," as they were called by their fellow students. A congenial companionship was thus afforded, and although he was as yet unconverted he hoped through the influence of these associations to enter upon a more satisfying religious experience. For the want of better instruction he indulged in such austerities as to bring upon himself a severe illness. But at length the light came, and he was the first of the Oxford Methodists to experience conversion. Soon after he left the University, and on June 20th, 1736, was solemnly ordained to the work of the ministry by Bishop Benson. 

From his very entrance upon the ministry Whitefield distinguished himself as an orator of unusual power. Of his first sermon a complaint was carried to his bishop that it had driven fifteen persons mad, whereupon that worthy replied that "he hoped the madness might not be forgotten before the next Sunday." This early effort was an earnest of the mighty triumphs he was to win during his more than thirty years of gospel "ranging," as he was wont to term his itinerary labors. His sermons appealed to all classes. The effects of his preaching could be seen in the white gutters made by tears coursing down the cheeks of the colliers who flocked to hear him at Moorfields, while in after years such critics as Franklin, Garret, and Hume testified to the wonderful power of his oratory. 

While Whitefield was yet a student at Oxford, the Wesleys had gone to the infant colony of Georgia. The glowing accounts which they gave of their missionary labors fired him with a desire to join them. He declined a lucrative curacy which was offered him in London. Charles Wesley in the meanwhile had returned to England to seek additional laborers for that field and through further correspondence with John Wesley, Whitefield was influenced to go to that distant mission. Judged from a purely human standpoint such a course seemed exceedingly ill-advised. On embarking for Georgia he was detained at the Downs by contrary winds, and it so happened that the very wind which carried Whitefield out of the Downs brought John Wesley in. While his vessel was still in the offing he received the following message from Wesley: "When I saw God by the wind which was carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer you have enclosed." Wesley decided the question by lot, and the answer enclosed was a slip of paper bearing the words "Let him return to England." Believing, however, that his mission was a divine one Whitefield continued his journey to Georgia. 

Before leaving England, Charles Wesley had broached to him the propriety of establishing an orphan house at Savannah. The unwisdom of such a project for a colony barely in its infancy would seem to have been apparent, and yet had it not been for this orphanage Whitefield doubtless never would have made America the chief scene of his labors, nor is it at all likely that his remarkable evangelizing tours ever would have been undertaken, since they were made chiefly for the purpose of raising funds for the orphan house at Savannah. 

After remaining three months in Georgia he returned to England to seek priest's orders and to collect funds for his orphanage. The interest which his preaching awakened, provoked certain of the clergy to hostility. The bishop of London wrote a pastoral letter warning the people against him. Notwithstanding the growing opposition he went forward in the path of duty, proclaiming the tidings of salvation wherever opportunity was afforded. Once while preaching at Bermondsey Church, with an audience of a thousand on the outside who were unable to gain admittance, he said, "I had a strong inclination to go out and preach to them from one of the tombstones. This first put me upon thinking of preaching out doors. I mentioned it to some friends, who looked upon it as 'a mad notion'. However, we knelt down and prayed that nothing might be done rashly." The churches being closed against him at Bath and Bristol, his heart went out to the neglected colliers of Kingswood. Although the churches were denied him, the commons were open. On February 17, 1739, he preached to two hundred colliers on Rose Green. He said, "I thought it might be doing the service of my creator, who had a mountain for a pulpit and the heavens for a sounding board; and who, when his gospel was refused by the Jews, sent his servants into the highways and hedges." Henceforth field-preaching was to be a feature of his work, and in this way he was able to reach thronging multitudes whom no church could accommodate. Having collected a thousand pounds for his orphanage and having been ordained to the priesthood, Whitefield returned to America, reaching Lewiston, Pa., October 30, 1739. Thence he journeyed to Philadelphia. This was his first visit to the Northern Colonies. Great multitudes flocked to hear him. No building being sufficiently large to accommodate the people, he frequently preached from the gallery of the court house on Market Street. It was said that "his voice was distinctly heard on the Jersey shore, and so distinct was his speech that every word was understood on board of a shallop at Market Street wharf, a distance of upwards of four hundred feet from the court house. All the intermediate space was crowded with his hearers."* From Philadelphia he was invited to New York. Here he found all the churches closed against him, except the Presbyterian Church. By day he preached to great multitudes in the fields, and at night to crowded auditories in the church. It was said that "he left New York under a deep and universal concern. Many were greatly affected."

* Gillies' Memoirs of Whitefield, p. 43. 

On his trip to and from New York, he preached at Elizabethtown, Maidenhead, Abington, Neshaminy, Burlington and New Brunswick. An incident of this journey was his meeting with Rev. Gilbert Tennent, the stem revival preacher of New Brunswick. On his return he resumed his labors in Philadelphia. Prayer meetings were instituted in various parts of the city and daily preaching services were sustained for many months. 

From Philadelphia Whitefield journeyed overland to Savannah, preaching at Wilmington, Newcastle, Annapolis, Williamsburg, Charlestown and other points along the way. After having laid the foundations of his orphan house, he returned to the city of brotherly love, preaching there and at the surrounding communities with remarkable results. The citizens of Philadelphia proposed to build for him a large church, but he declined the offer, preferring to devote his energies to itinerary evangelistic labors. Of the effects of this visit Benjamin Franklin said: "The multitudes of all sects and denominations that attended his sermons were enormous, and it was a matter of speculation with me to observe the influence of his oratory on his hearers and how much they respected him, notwithstanding his common abuse of them, assuring them that they were naturally half beasts and half devils. It was wonderful to see the change soon made in the manners of our inhabitants. From being thoughtless and indifferent about religion, it seemed as if all the world was growing religious; so that one could not walk through the town in an evening without hearing psalms sung in different families in every street."*

*Billingsley's Life of Whitefield, p. 152.

Whitefield's next journey northward was to New England, whither he had been invited by several prominent ministers and laymen. It was confidently expected that his coming would be attended with showers of refreshing grace. Says Tracy: "There is even reason to suspect that the manifestation of a revival, which was already secretly at work in men's hearts, was kept back for several months, by the general feeling that it would take place when Mr. Whitefield came and not before." It was not strange therefore that his labors should have been attended with results of unusual magnitude. 

Whitefield reached Newport, September 14, 1740, and proceeded by way of Bristol to Boston, where he remained four weeks, preaching in the churches of Drs. Colman and Sewall, and also upon the common, where vast throngs of people flocked to hear him. During his stay at Boston, he visited many of the surrounding towns, including Cambridge, where he preached before the students of Harvard College. He also made a trip eastward as far as Portsmouth, N. H., and York, Me., preaching at several points along the way. 

Of the manner of Whitefield's preaching at this time a contemporary writer has given the following description: "He loudly proclaims all men by nature to be under sin, and obnoxious to the wrath of God. He maintains the absolute necessity of supernatural grace to bring men out of this state. He asserts the righteousness of Christ alone the cause of justification of a sinner; that this is received by faith; that faith is the gift of God; that where faith is wrought it brings the sinner under the deepest sense of 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, abiding principle, and that the gates of hell shall never prevail against it."*

* Quoted from Dunning's Congregationalists, p. 247. 

The effect of his preaching began at once to be felt. Inquirers flocked to the great preacher in such numbers that he scarcely had time to eat or sleep, and a revival was inaugurated that continued for eighteen months and the influence of which was felt throughout New England and the Northern Colonies. On October 12, Whitefield his farewell sermon to an audience of nearly thirty thousand. Belcher, the royal governor, kissed him farewell, and with tears in his eyes begged an interest in his prayers. 

From Boston he proceeded by way of Concord, Worcester, Brookfield, and other towns to Northampton, whence he journeyed to New York through Connecticut, preaching, as was his custom, at various points along the way. At New Haven he tarried three days. In an address before the students of Yale College, he warned them of "the dreadful ill consequences of an unconverted ministry.î Among those who were deeply impressed by his words was Samuel Hopkins, who in after years became one of the most noted advocates of the Edwardean or New England theology and who affected profoundly the theological thinking of this country. Both houses of the legislature adjourned to hear the noted, preacher. Governor Talcott embraced him, and gave God thanks for such refreshings on the way to his rest! 

Having preached three days in New York he resumed his journey southward, reaching Charlestown, December 1, 1740. At New Brunswick, where he had conferred with William Tennent and others, it was decided that Gilbert Tennent should go to Boston to carry on the work which had there begun. Tennent at first demurred because of incompetency for the work, but finally after prayerful consideration consented to undertake the task. Gilbert Tennent was a powerful but less polished preacher than Whitefield. Prince said of him: "He seemed to have no regard to please the eyes of his hearers with agreeable gesture, nor their ears with delivery, nor their fancy with language; but to aim directly at their hearts and consciences, to lay open their ruinous delusions, show them their numerous, secret, hypocritical shifts in religion, and drive them out of every deceitful refuge wherein they made themselves easy with the form of godliness without the power."* He remained in Boston and the vicinity two months and a half. Multitudes of all ages and conditions were awakened under his powerful preaching. Large numbers united with the various churches, and many more would have done so had he not discouraged them from approaching the Lord's table without satisfactory evidences of conversion.

*Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 115.

After his departure the religious interest still further increased. In three months' time six hundred inquirers went to Mr. Cooper for spiritual consolation, and more than a thousand visited Mr. Webb on a like errand. F o r many months the religious interest was at its highest tension, not only in Boston, but throughout New England. During the years 1741 and 1742 powerful revivals were experienced at Natick, Wrentham, Bridgewater, Taunton, Middleborough, Halifax, Gloucester, and Reading in Massachusetts; at Lyme, Enfield, New Haven, and other towns in Connecticut; at Portsmouth and Newcastle in New Hampshire; and at Westerly, Rhode Island. Multitudes of other places throughout the Northern Colonies were visited with revivals of more or less power. 

In some of these places the revivals were occasioned by the visits of Tennent and Whitefield, but elsewhere such awakenings seem to have been brought about independently of the efforts of visiting ministers or evangelists. 

The scope of this work will not admit of a consideration of these numerous revivals, but the characteristics and physical manifestations of the revival in the West Parish of Lyme, Conn., were so notable as to deserve special mention. Rev. Jonathan Parsons, who was pastor at that time, was an ardent friend of the Awakening and one of its most efficient promoters. Gilbert Tennent had preached at Lyme on his journey from Boston, but with scarcely any visible results. Soon, however, there were indications of deep concern and a revival of unusual power commenced. Mr. Parsons, under whose ministrations the work was carried on, in describing the effects of his preaching, wrote that "Many had their countenances changed; their thoughts seemed to trouble them, so that their loins were loosed, and their knees smote one against another. Great numbers cried out aloud in the anguish of their souls. Several stout men fell as though a cannon had been discharged, and a ball had made its way through their hearts. Some young women were thrown into hysteric fits. ... I was commonly obliged to make several stops of considerable length, and entreat them, if possible, to restrain the flood of affection, that so they might attend to further truths which were to be offered, and others might not be disaffected. Some would after a while recover themselves, and others, I am satisfied, could not."*

* Tracy's Great Awakening, p. i138 ff 

Revs. Jonathan Edwards of Northampton, Mass., Jonathan Parsons of Lyme, Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon, Benjamin Pomeroy of Hebron, Joseph Bellamy of Bethlehem, and John Graham of Southbury in Connecticut, and others did not confine their labors to their own parishes, but were often called upon to assist other pastors in special services, and went from place to place, much after the manner of modem evangelists, arousing the impenitent, awakening the indifferent, causing formal church members to experience great searchings of heart, instructing multitudes in the way of salvation, and otherwise promoting the revival until through their efforts and the efforts of a host of faithful pastors, all New England was aflame with a revival fervor, the far-reaching results of which no one can estimate. Suffice it to say that by the end of 1742 there was scarcely a parish which had not in some measure enjoyed a share in the fruits of the Great Awakening. 

In the Middle Colonies, under the preaching of the Tennents, Blair, Rowland, Finley, Dickinson, and others, similar results were accomplished. In these Colonies, the revival was carried on and promoted chiefly by the Presbyterians, as a consequence of which the churches of this denomination multiplied with great rapidity and received continual accessions to their membership. 

In the South the revival did not commence until 1743, and in Virginia the work was carried on principally by laymen in the face of more or less opposition from the Established Church. Here and there throughout the province were to be found men and women hungering for the bread of life, who had become dissatisfied with the abuses of the state church. 

At Hanover there was a small company of such, who, when they learned of the effects of Mr. Whitefield's preaching at Williamsburg in 1740, were very desirous of hearing him, but since he had already left the colony no opportunity was afforded them. During the year 1743, Mr. Samuel Morris, one of their number came into possession of a small volume of Whitefield's sermons. He invited his neighbors to his home and read them in their hearing. Meeting from Sabbath to Sabbath in this manner, their numbers gradually outgrew the dimensions of a private dwelling and they resolved to build a meeting-house suited to their purpose. Mr. Morris received invitations from several communities in the surrounding country to read from the precious volume. Thus the revival was propagated to the spiritual quickening of many throughout that region. At length they were visited by Rev. William Robinson, a graduate of the "Log Collie," who devoted his labors to the neglected districts among the new settlements of Pennsylvania, Virginia, and North Carolina. Under his ministrations a fresh impetus was given to the revival and numbers were converted. After Robinson's departure Morris continued his practice of reading sermons. The communities in the vicinity, to which he made occasional visits, were greatly profited thereby, and they in turn erected meeting-houses and chose readers from among themselves. 

Such in brief was the rise of English Presbyterianism in Virginia. From time to time brief visits were paid them by other ministers, among whom were Revs, Gilbert Tennent, Samuel Finley, William Tennent, Samuel Blair, and finally the noted evangelist George Whitefield. These visits were attended with excellent results and many were added to their numbers. But persecutions and seasons of trial awaited them. Presbyterianism had been tolerated among the Scotch-Irish along the frontier, but no such leniency was extended to those who had renounced Episcopalianism in the heart of the English settlements of the province. They were brought into conflict with civil authority and harassed in many ways. Notwithstanding these embarrassments, the feeble companies of believers grew and churches multiplied, until at length Samuel Davies came to them to minister statedly. Within a short time, through his influence, seven churches were granted licensure by law, to all of which he ministered, dividing his time between them. Thus the revival was promoted, Presbyterianism was caused to flourish, and the work went forward with uninterrupted successes until the commencement of the Revolutionary struggle. 

In Maryland, the Carolinas, and Georgia, the revival received its impulse largely through the visits and preaching of George Whitefield. Throughout the scattered settlements of these colonies, conversions in proportion to the population were numerous, and as in Virginia, the revival continued for several years until it was brought to a close by the War for Independence. 

In the various revivals which combined to make the Great Awakening, there was little or no dependence upon external measures as a means for promoting a work of grace. Indeed, any great reliance upon means and measures would have been esteemed inconsistent with the prevailing conceptions of God's sovereignty, by which he was believed to accomplish his ends and purposes independently of man's agency or co-operation. This, however, did not preclude the idea of prayer or its importance. In searching the records of the Great Awakening, we find that its leaders were not only men of prayer, but that their hands were stayed up by the prayers of a praying people. There were no protracted efforts to get up a revival. Except in rare instances the services were confined to the Sabbath day and the mid-week lecture. Occasionally when the interest seemed to demand, special services for giving religious instruction were appointed. "Anxious seats" were unknown and inquiry meetings as we now know them were unheard of. Preaching was practically the only means employed for quickening the consciences of the impenitent and for giving such instruction as seemed suitable to the needs of those who were inquiring the way of life and salvation. 

The trend of the preaching was decidedly Calvinistic. The sovereignty of God was the central theme about which all else revolved. Jonathan Edwards wrote: "I think I have found that no discourses have been more remarkably blessed than those in which the doctrine of God's absolute sovereignty with regard to the salvation of sinners, and his just liberty, with regard to answering the prayers or succeeding the pains of mere natural men, continuing such, have been insisted on."*

*Works, Vol. III., p. 245,

Of the extremes to which the doctrine of divine sovereignty was sometimes carried we have evidence in a sermon which Edwards preached at Enfield, Conn.,from the subject "Sinners in the hands of an angry God." Among other things, he affirmed that "God has laid himself under no obligation, by any promise, to keep any natural man out of hell one moment. . . . The bow of God's wrath is bent, and the arrow made ready on the string, and justice bends the arrow at your heart, and strains the bow, and it is nothing but the mere pleasure of God, and that of an angry God, without any promise or obligation at all, that keeps the arrow one moment from being-drunk with your blood. . . . The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a spider or some loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you and is dreadfully provoked; . . . You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe; it and burn it asunder; and you have no interest in any mediator, and nothing to lay hold of to save yourself, nothing to keep off the flames of wrath, nothing of your own, nothing that you have ever done, nothing that you can do to induce God to spare you one moment". 

Abhorrent as such doctrines are to this age, when presented by a mind of such logical force and acumen as that of Mr. Edwards, they were calculated to be tremendously effective. There is small cause for wonder that under such preaching men and women were sometimes seen clinging to their seats as though fearful of sliding into the pit, or that there were physical manifestations at times of an unusual character. 

The manner in which the subjects of the Awakening were affected has been described by Edwards in his Narrative of Surprising Conversions. First they were filled with an "awful apprehension" of their condition by nature and the danger they were in of perishing eternally, so that they often suffered painful physical effects in consequence of the agony of spirit which they underwent. This was followed by a sense of God's justice in their condemnation, that he might justly bestow his mercy upon every , other person in the world and damn them to all eternity. Many were led to wonder that God had "not cast them into hell long ago". These profound convictions were succeeded, sometimes suddenly, by a "holy repose of soul in God through Christ, and a secret disposition to fear and love him" and often by such a sense of the greatness of God's grace and the fulness of Christ as to lead to hysterical weeping and laughter; "and sometimes they have not been able to forbear crying out with a loud voice, expressing their admiration." 

The morbid fears which preceded a hope of conversion often lasted for many weeks and months, sometimes leading to consequences that were disastrous. Edwards cites one instance in which despair drove the individual to suicide and others, he says, were tempted to do likewise. Yet no encouragement was offered to these perplexed and despairing souls. To have done so, according to current theological conceptions, would have put an end to their convictions, would have created contention and strife with God because he accepted some and rejected others, and would have stood in the way of that humiliation before his sovereign majesty, which was regarded as the first step towards salvation. Consequently those who had become impressed with their need of salvation were left to wander about in spiritual darkness, groping after the light, until relief came unaided, and their fears were dissipated by hopes of God's omnipotent grace. 

The general effects of the Awakening were salutary and gracious. Jonathan Parsons in writing of its effects in his parish said: ''Rough and haughty minds became peaceful, gentle, and easy to be entreated. Lowliness, long-suffering, forbearance, a courteous deportment, beneficence, and tenderheartedness, meekness, and moderation, to all appearance, seemed to increase abundantly. And to all these we observed a delight in Christian fellowship, in breaking of bread, and in prayer. I think it cannot be expected that men, in their general course, should give clearer evidences of Christian temper formed in them, than many did in that season. Their faith worked by love and discovered itself in acts of piety towards God, charity and righteousness towards men, and sobriety towards themselves."*

* Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 142. 

Jonathan Edwards bears similar testimony to the great work of grace at Northampton: "This work of God, as it was carried on, and the number of true saints multiplied, soon made a glorious alteration in the town; so that in the spring and summer following. Anno 1735, the town seemed to be full of the presence of God: it never was so full of love, nor so full of joy; and yet so full of distress as it was then. There were remarkable tokens of God's presence in almost every house. It was a time of joy in families on account of salvation's being brought unto them; parents rejoicing over their children as new born, and husbands over their wives, and wives over their husbands. The goings of God were then seen in his sanctuary, God's day was a delight, and his tabernacles were amiable. Our public assemblies were then beautiful; the congregation was alive in God's service, every one earnestly intent on the public worship, every hearer eager to drink in the words of the minister as they came from his mouth; the assembly in general were, from time to time, in tears while the Word was preached; some weeping with sorrow and distress, others with joy and love, others with pity and concern for the souls of their neighbors.î*

Works, Vol. III., p. 235. 

Throughout New England a remarkable transformation had been wrought. Young people had been led to forego their frolics, night walking, impure language and lewd songs. Both old and young alike had abandoned drinking habits, tavern haunting, profane language, and extravagance in dress. The vicious had been reformed, and the fashionable, great beaus and fine ladies, had forsaken their vanities. The Bible and books of devotion had come into greater esteem, the Lord's day was observed more religiously, old grudges and differences had been put away, and there was a general disposition to confess sins and make restitution for wrongs that had been committed. Such in substance were the effects of the revival in New England as described by Edwards in his Thoughts on the Revival of Religion. 

In the accounts given of the revivals at New Londonderry, Pa., and at Lyme, Conn., we have seen that there were marked physical effects, such as weeping, emotional outbreaks, hysterics and the like. As the Awakening progressed these physical manifestations became so marked as to create an unfavorable reaction and brought the revival into disrepute. In many instances the disorders which had arisen were greatly magnified and malicious reports were circulated to the great detriment of the revival. 

Writing of such reports. Rev. John Cotton of Halifax, Mass., said: "Some I found to be wholly groundless; others were gross misrepresentations; the bad circumstances of a story were picked up and related and all the good suppressed; and sometimes when only one was guilty, the whole body were charged; and when any particular person had really done or said amiss, and was soon brought to a sense of it and repentance for it, I found that the repentance did not fly an hundredth part as fast as the sin.''*

* Tracy's Great Awakening, p. 178. 

While this view of the situation is in the main correct, it cannot be denied that the evil reports were often only too true. Some of the leaders of the Awakening had not always acted circumspectly, and by their example had encouraged the excesses and abuses which had arisen. Whitefield's conduct sometimes savored of fanaticism. His Journal abounds in descriptions of the emotional effects of his preaching. "Shrieking, crying, weeping and wailing were to be heard in every corner." "In almost every part of the congregation somebody or other began to cry out, and almost all melted into tears." "Some were struck pale as death, others wringing their hands, others were lying on the ground, and most lifting their eyes towards heaven, and crying to God for mercy." He was greatly influenced moreover by impulses and impressions. Jonathan Edwards took him to task for this and for judging others to be unconverted, but Whitefield apparently did not take kindly to the wholesome advice of Edwards and, as the latter thought, "liked him not so well for opposing these things." 

The emotionalism now prevalent in the Awakening led to conflicting opinions as to its value, while the unguarded expressions of certain of the leading lights of the revival created more or less acerbity of feeling. Both Whitefield and Gilbert Tennent had declared that many ministers of the Gospel were unconverted men. While there might have been an element of truth in their statements, the severe arraignments and unjust recriminations to which they resorted were too general and too sweeping to accord with the actual state of facts. There can be no question that the ministry is no fit calling for unregenerate men, but Whitefield in his dependence upon impulses and impressions was apt to think that unless ministers met with results similar to those which he witnessed in his labors, and had experiences quite like his own, they were unconverted, and he did not hesitate to pronounce them such. 

The disorders which had already brought a reproach upon the revival appeared in an aggravated form in connection with the labors of Rev. James Davenport of Southold, Long Island. Whitefield had warmly commended him and pronounced him to have a closer walk with God than any man he had known. Davenport went from place to place without invitation, and depending upon impulses and impressions, denounced as unconverted such ministers as disagreed with him and exhorted their flocks to desert them and follow him. Confusion and bitterness resulted in almost every parish which he visited. Congregations were divided, alienation and strife were created, the evil effects of which continued for many years. 

In order to suppress these evils the Connecticut legislature in 1742 passed an act forbidding any minister or licentiate to preach in any church not his own, without the consent of its pastor and the major portion of its membership, under penalty of forfeiting the right to collect his legal salary, if a resident of the colony, and liability to expulsion from the colony if not. Davenport was accordingly arrested and brought before the assembly, by whom he was adjudged insane and sent to his parish on Long Island. Not long afterwards he appeared in Boston, where in accordance with his custom he denounced the ministers as "unconverted" and "leading their people blindfold to hell." He was arrested for uttering slanderous statements against the ministry, and although the charge was sustained by the grand jury, he was pronounced non compos mentis and therefore not guilty. 

The following March he went to New London to assist in the formation of a Separatist Church. In response to intuitions which he declared he had received from above, he at once began to purify them. To that end he ordered wigs, cloaks, breeches, hoods, gowns, rings, etc., to be brought to him that, in accordance with his solemn decree, they might be consigned to the flames. On Sabbath afternoon the pile was burned, including many books which he had condemned, among them the works of such authors as Flavel, Beveridge, Matthew Henry, Increase Mather, and even the writings of Jonathan Parsons, the fervid revivalist of Lyme, Conn. As the smoke of these books ascended upwards, so affirmed Davenport, was ascending in hell the smoke of the torments of such of their authors as had died in the same belief in which the books had been written. 

This was the last recorded appearance of Davenport's fanaticism. A year later, having recovered his reason, he published a retraction of his errors, humbly confessing the wrongs of which he had been guilty and acknowledging that he had been "led astray by following impulses or impressions as a rule of conduct" and had neglected also "duly to observe the analogy of the Scripture." His retraction produced but little effect upon his followers. They simply denounced him and went on in the courses in which he had initiated them. His chief influence had been in Connecticut, where the civil authorities unwisely attempted to correct by legislation and civil penalties the abuses and evils which had arisen. But little permanent good was accomplished in this way, while the feelings on both sides of the controversy were only intensified. The Separatist churches which had been formed continued to exist for many years, until they were finally absorbed by the Baptists or had returned to the denomination whence they had come. 

These unhappy consequences served but to aggravate the controversy which had already arisen about the revival. The agitations of the public mind over questions pertaining to the Awakening were such that the religious interest soon waned and the revival was at an end. Jonathan Edwards was foremost among those who defended the Awakening, and he published in its defense "Thoughts on the Revival of Religion in New England," to which Dr. Charles Chauncey, an able but "liberal" opponent of the revival, published a rejoinder entitled "Seasonable Thoughts on the State of Religion in New England," in which he had gathered a mass of evidence testifying to the extravagances practised in various places in connection with the Awakening, and for which he condemned the work as a whole. 

In 1743, at the General Convention of Congregational Ministers in Massachusetts, a "Testimony" was published against certain "errors in doctrine" and certain "disorders in practice" that had "of late obtained in various parts of the land." Thirty-eight votes, comprising but a small minority of the ministers in Massachusetts, were recorded in its favor. As it was intended to cast discredit upon the Awakening, it was very irritating to the friends of the same. Accordingly the latter, under the leadership of Revs. Joshua Gee, Benjamin Colman, William Cooper, Thomas Prince, and Joseph Sewall, all of Boston, gathered another convention at Cambridge the following July. A counter "Testimony" was published affirming "that there has been a happy and remarkable revival of religion in many parts of this land, through an uncommon divine influence." -- remarkable "on account of the numbers wrought upon, the suddenness and quick progress of it, . . . also in respect of the degree of operation, both in a way of terror and in a way of consolation; attended in many with unusual bodily effects." It was admitted that "in some places many irregularities and extravagances have been permitted . . . but who can wonder if at such a time as this Satan should intermingle himself to hinder and blemish a work so directly contrary to the interests of his own kingdom?" 

Much has been made of the opposition to the revival, as if it represented the better elements in the churches of New England, and indeed it has been asserted that the majority of ministers in Massachusetts were unfriendly to the Awakening, but if numbers are at all indicative of the true state of feeling, it need only be said that the names of one hundred and thirteen ministers were appended to the latter document as against the thirty-eight who had placed themselves on record as discrediting the Great Awakening. 

On October 19, 1744, George Whitefield, accompanied by his wife, landed at York, Me., on his second visit to New England. His arrival only added fuel to the controversy which was now raging, so that the results of his labors were slight in comparison with his former visit. He was obliged to suffer not only the ill consequences of his own indiscretions, but those of his followers as well, many of whom had gone far beyond him in the excesses of which they had been guilty. 

On account of certain unguarded expressions which had been published in his Journal, many who formerly had been friendly towards him became alienated, and were not disposed to favor his presence. Associations of ministers in Massachusetts openly opposed him by public declarations and otherwise. Harvard and Yale Colleges published "testimonies" against him, and in June, 1745, the General Association of Connecticut voted that "it would by no means be advisable for any of our ministers to admit him into their pulpits or for any of our people to attend his ministrations." 

Former experience, however, had taught Whitefield some lessons, and his deportment on this visit was above criticism. He acknowledged some of his former errors, and in spite of the opposition which he encountered, his visit was attended with excellent results. He remained in Boston for several months and was persuaded to establish a course of six o'clock morning lectures on Genesis. Multitudes flocked to hear them, and his Boston friends proposed to build for him "the largest place of worship ever seen in America," but he declined the offer in order to devote his energies to itinerary evangelistic labors. Although in New England, the results of this visit were proportionately smaller, in Pennsylvania, Maryland and the south, his efforts had never been more successful. 

In the Middle Colonies the opposition to the revival had created a schism among the Presbyterians, severing the denomination into two rival factions, between whom a bitterness of feeling was engendered for many years. Finally in 1758, through the efforts of Gilbert Tennent and others, the "Great Schism," as it had been called, was healed by the mutual surrender of differences, and American Presbyterianism went forward as a united body in its work of conquest and of victory. 

No narration of the events of the Great Awakening would be complete without a further consideration of its chiefest actors, Edwards and Whitefield. The close of Edwards' pastorate at Northampton was pathetic if not tragic Gradually coming to realize the evils of the HalfWay Covenant, he insisted upon a credible evidence of conversion, as the ground for admission to church membership. This provoked a controversy between himself and the church. An attempt also to discipline certain younger members of his church for reading books which he esteemed obscene reacted unfavorably against him. Confident of the justness of his position, he proposed to preach a series of sermons upon his views as to the qualifications for church membership, but this the church refused to permit. An ecclesiastical council, "convened not without elements of unfairness," voted "that it is expedient that the pastoral relation between Mr. Edwards and his church be immediately dissolved, if the people shall persist in desiring it." The action of the council was ratified by the church by a majority of two hundred and fifty votes. July 1, 1750, he preached his farewell sermon. For some time he preached occasionally, until prohibited from so doing by the town meeting. Later in the same year with his wife and ten children he removed to Stockbridge, Mass., whither he had been sent as a missionary to the Housatonic Indians. 

The next few years were spent in self-denying effort on behalf of those who came within the province of his ministry. If not attended by any remarkable success, his pastorate afforded greater leisure for literary labors, which was improved in the preparation of several volumes, the most important of which was his celebrated treatise on the "Freedom of the Will." In the fall of 1757, President Burr of Princeton having died, Edwards was invited to become his successor, but it was not until the following January that he gave his reluctant consent to assume the responsibilities of that office. He soon removed to Princeton, and shortly after his inauguration was inoculated for smallpox, an operation which terminated fatally, March 22, 1758. 

Whitefield gradually outlived the malignant opposition which had been aroused against him in New England, to which he made subsequent visits, in 1754, 1764, and 1770, when he died at Newburyport, Mass., September 30. For more than thirty years he had done the work of an evangelist, "posting o'er land and ocean without rest," and had been listened to with breathless interest by thronging multitudes on both sides of the Atlantic. Although he had made mistakes, he had been wise enough to correct them, and at the time of his death was loved and honored as an apostle to the English-speaking world. Even his death was not without its fruits. Benjamin Randall, a godless young sailor of Portsmouth, N. H., had been an interested listener, but the news of the great evangelist's death so affected him that it led to his conversion. He afterwards became a minister and founded the FreeWill Baptist denomination. 

The results of the Great Awakening were momentous and far-reaching. Prior to this mighty religious upheaval, the churches were devoid of spirituality and power. Their membership in large measure was composed of unregenerate persons who had been drawn thither by the social and political influence thus afforded, and instances are on record of unconverted men who were filling the pulpits of churches. Outside of the church, indifference and irreligion were on the increase. Projected into these conditions, the Great Awakening resulted first in the Spiritual Quickening of the Churches. In the aggregate the Congregational churches of New England shared most largely in the fruits of the revival. According to Rev. Ezra Stiles, afterwards President of Yale College, during the twenty years following 1740 "an augmentation of above 150 new churches has taken place, founded not on separations but on natural increase into new towns and parishes," bringing the whole number of Congregational churches up to 530. Careful historians have estimated that from 25,000 to 50,000 were added to the churches of New England in consequence of the Awakening. The population of the New England Colonies in 1750 was 340,000. Assuming the smaller number of additions, which is a conservative estimate, to be correct, more than seven per cent, of the entire population of these colonies would have been gathered into the churches as a direct result of the revival. A national awakening of similar power at the present time would result in the ingathering of more than five million souls. 

The increase in the Presbyterian Church was proportionately greater. From 1740 to 1760 the number of Presbyterian ministers in the American Colonies had increased from 45 to over 100. The churches had multiplied with even greater rapidity, and at this time there were 41 pastorless churches in Pennsylvania and Delaware alone. Although the Middle Colonies were the principal seat of Presbyterianism, substantial gains, as we have seen, had been made in Virginia and the South. 

Notwithstanding a certain amount of prejudice, the Baptists had shared materially in the results of the Awakening. During this period their churches in New England had increased from 21 to 79. This in part has been accounted for by accessions from Separatist churches; but as these were chiefly in Connecticut, and only eight new Baptist organizations were reported in that Colony, it can readily be seen that the increase of the Baptists from the Separatists has been greatly overestimated. The rapid extension of the denomination must be accounted for through the influence of the revival, indirect though it may have been. New churches were also formed at the South and the foundations laid for the tremendous influence afterwards exerted by the denomination in that section. 

The Episcopalian Church was logically forced into an attitude of opposition to the Awakening, so that it shared but little in the results. Indirectly, however, the denomination was benefited by the movement. In Virginia, Devereaux Jarrat was converted during the revival. He went to England' and received ordination at the hands of the bishop of Chester. Returning to this country he labored diligently for the revival of his own denomination. "To him, and such as he, the first workings of the renewed energy of the church in Virginia are to be traced." 

An impetus was given to the churches of various denominations which continued to be felt down to the very threshold of the Revolutionary War. Whitefield's visit to New York in 1764 was attended with greater results than any of his preceding visits. That same year there was a remarkable revival at East Hampton, Long Island, under the ministry of Rev. Samuel Buell. Large numbers were converted, and at one communion ninety-nine persons united with the church. 

From the time of the Great Awakening to the present day, revivals have been a characteristic of American Christianity. The spiritual power and the remarkable influence exerted by the American churches are attributable in no small degree to these mighty quickenings, which like tidal waves have swept over this country, gathering multitudes into the church of God. 

A Second Result of the Awakening was a Quickening along Missionary and Educational Lines. At Stonington, Conn., and at Westerly, R. I., there were extensive revivals among the Indians, which resulted in the extinction of heathenism among them. In 1743, David Brainerd, a convert of the revival, began his extensive missionary labors among the Indians, which were interrupted by his early death. Jonathan Edwards, at whose home the last days of the saintly Brainerd were spent, wrote his memoirs under the title of "An Account of the Life of David Brainerd." A perusal of this "Life" so affected Henry Martin, that he became the first modem missionary to the Mohammedans, and thus modern missions, in part at least, are a fruit of the Great Awakening. 

Among the early converts of the revival at Norwich, Conn., was Samson Occum, a Mohegan Indian boy, aged seventeen years. A promoter of the Awakening, Rev. Eleazar Wheelock of Lebanon, Conn., received him into his home in 1743 for the purpose of educating him. This was the beginning of a school for Indians, which developed into Dartmouth College, which was endowed in part with funds secured by Occum in England. 

Princeton College also owes its origin to the Great Awakening. The Presbyterian party in the Middle Colonies, opposed to the revival, secured an enactment from the Synod, requiring a diploma from a British or New England college, as a requirement for licensure to preach. As this was intended as a blow at the "Log College'' of William Tennent, the friends of the revival established Princeton, and through the influence of Whitefield considerable funds were secured in England for its maintenance. It is a significant fact also that the charter of the institution was granted by Whitefield's friend, Governor Joseph Belcher. Born as it was in a revival, it is not strange that Princeton should have been blessed with remarkable revivals in 1757 and 1762. 

A third Result of the Great Awakening was its Influence upon Religious and Political Liberty. In New England, excepting the Colony of Rhode Island, Congregationalism was established by law. In New York, Virginia and the South, Episcopalianism was the established religion. The expansion of the newer denominations, particularly the Baptists and Presbyterians, which the Awakening fostered, paved the way for the tolerance of conflicting opinions and a broader conception of liberty of conscience. Rival sects existing side by side and openly propagating their peculiar tenets, together with the following which they rallied about them, led to the introduction of those principles of toleration, which guaranteed religious liberty to all, in so far as it did not interfere with the welfare of society or disturb the peace of the State. With this tendency to diversity, a unifying influence was also at work. The apostolate of Whitefield, the itineration of evangelists, while it did not conflict with denominational loyalty, served to emphasize that broader view of Christian fraternity, which, rising above name and sect, enabled men to catch a glimpse of our universal brotherhood in Christ, which has been so characteristic of modern American Christianity. 

Only indirectly did the Great Awakening affect the political liberties of the colonies. The. religious convictions of the American people, however, which so largely were called into being through the revival, served as a balance to the political revolution which resulted in independence and prevented it from being hurled into that vortex of anarchy and ruin, in which the French Revolution was swallowed up. War at its best is but a species of savagery, and it was the results of this Awakening which conserved the principles of the Pilgrim Fathers and insured their perpetuity amid the desolations and horrors of the Revolutionary struggle.

 

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