to rise. Her strength declined day by day. To her husband she said, "O Charles, how thankful I am, you are not called to suffer as I suffer!" Her Christian experience was clear and peaceful, often exultingly joyous. With the greatest calmness and holy hope, she spoke of her feelings and prospects. Her mind was in a region of perfect peace. Being asked, by Mr. May, her state of mind, she replied, "Not a cloud doth arise, To darken the skies, Or hide for one moment my Lord from my eyes." On another occasion, when suffering from exhaustion, her medical attendant reminded her that she was nearing the end of her journey. She said, "O I am so glad! I have a good home to go`to. 'I have a home above, From sin and sorrow free, A mansion which eternal Love, He passed through death's dark, raging flood, To make my rest secure."" When overcome by extreme exhaustion, she said, "Now I should like to die;" but immediately added, "If it were the will of the Lord." She bore her testimony that "God is love." She conversed about her departure and the arrangements for her funeral with the utmost composure, and exclaimed to her husband, "What should I do, if I had to seek religion now? Glory be to God, He helps me constantly!" On Sunday, September the 19th, she said to her husband, “O Charles, I do supremely love Jesus!" On another morning, she observed, "Perhaps I shall be in heaven to-day, and, O! would not that be delightful?" For the last few days the extreme restlessness caused by utter prostration of the physical powers was most distressing, yet in patience she possessed her soul. Too feeble to speak, she listened with grateful attention as words of comfort from the Holy Scriptures, and sweet verses expressive of the coming rest of heaven, were repeated to her. "I cannot talk much," she said, when evidently entering the valley, "but Jesus is with me." Her mind retained its intelligent composure till within an hour or two of her death, during which time she lay perfectly still, her breathing growing fainter and fainter, till the last sigh was gently heaved. Her happy spirit entered into rest, September 28th, 1875, in the seventieth year of her age. Most devoutly do I thank God for giving me such a help meet for fortythree years. There were some marked features in her character: Great decision in religious matters, which manifested itself in the entire surrender of herself to God from the very beginning of her Christian career; a tender conscience, which led her to avoid every appearance of evil, and unhesitatingly to condemn whatever she conceived to be wrong. She had great vigour of mind, and much tact in organizing, while her skill, intelligence and quiet energy enabled her to carry out the many plans of usefulness which her willing heart devised. Her love for the Mission cause was intense and undying, and her zeal for the honour of her Redeemer and the advancement of His kingdom was deep and fervent. She lived in hallowed intercourse with God, delighting in private prayer, the study of the Holy Scriptures and the public means of grace, as long as health permitted; while her habitual devoutness and her felicitous practice of introducing spiritual conversation, proved how richly her soul was imbued with grace. Her interest in the great religious questions and movements of the day was unabated to the last. Her self-denial and liberality went hand in hand; yet humility and self abasement led her frequently to exclaim, "Pardoned for all that I have done, My mouth as in the dust I hide; FINNEY, THE AMERICAN EVANGELIST.* BY THE REV. W. HUDSON. CHARLES G. FINNEY was a great and good man. His gifts were extraordinary, and he exercised them to the incalculable benefit of his fellow men. As an evangelist he was made a blessing to many thousands; not to mention just now his influence as a theologian and a leader of thought. Stating the purpose of this volume, he says: "It has pleased God in some measure to connect my name and labours with an extensive movement of the Church of Christ, regarded by some as a new era in its progress, especially in relation to revivals of religion. As this movement involved, to a considerable extent, the development of views of Christian doctrine which had not been common, and was brought about by changes in the means of carrying forward the work of evangelization, it was very natural that some misapprehension should prevail in regard to these modified statements of doctrine, and the use of these measures; and consequently that, to some extent, even good men should call in question the wisdom of these measures and the soundness of these theological statements; and that ungodly men should be irritated, and for a time should strenuously oppose these great movements. I have spoken of myself as connected with these movements; but only as one of the many ministers and other servants of Christ who have shared prominently in promoting them. I am aware that by a certain portion of the Church I have been considered an innovator, both in regard to doctrine and measures; and that many have looked upon me as rather prominent, especially in assailing some of the old forms of theological thought and expression, and in stating the doctrines of the Gospel in many respects in new language. I have been par ticularly importuned, for a number of years, by the friends of those revivals with "Memoirs of Rev. Charles G. Finney, the American Evangelist. Written by Himself." London: Hodder and Stoughton. 1876. which my name and labours have been connected, to write a history of them. As so much misapprehension has prevailed respecting them, it is thought that the truth of history demands a statement from myself of the doctrines that were preached, so far as I was concerned, of the measures used, and of the results of preaching those doctrines and the use of those measures." of It is matter for thankfulness that Mr. Finney yielded to the importunity of his friends. For a long time his mind instinctively recoiled from saying so much of himself as would be required in an honest account of the revivals and his own relation to them. At length, at the age of seventy-five, he was prevailed upon to put into form for publication an account of personal experiences and of events which had been indelibly impressed on his very retentive memory, and many which he had again and again related in connection with his evangelistic labours. Yet when he had finished his narrative, he would not be responsible for its publication: "He left the manuscript at the disposal of his family, having never decided, in his own mind, that it was desirable to publish it." Many of his friends, becoming aware of its existence, urged that it should be published; so his children "presented the manuscript to Oberlin College," where it was easy to find a sympathetic editor. Messrs. Hodder and Stoughton deserve the thanks of the British Churches for publishing the book on this side of the Atlantic. It is difficult to conceive that any Christian can intelligently peruse it without feeling a strong desire to labour for the extension of the Kingdom of Christ. It will show the preacher how one of the most successful evangelists of the nineteenth century dealt with the unconverted and the penitent of all classes. It has also strong claims on the attention of the theological student. Some of its statements of doctrine are, at first sight, startling; and it is utterly impossible to reconcile his system with such venerable standards of orthodoxy as the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Larger and Shorter Catechisms. Calvinistic preaching almost drove Finney, before his conversion, into infidelity; but his way was cleared, and at length he came out distinctly on the anti-Calvinistic side. It is well that in this volume the author has repeatedly and very carefully stated the doctrines which he preached in seeking to promote revivals. They are the very doctrines which are developed with such clearness in Finney's "Systematic Theology," the book which Sir William Hamilton considered truly and exceptionally philosophical. Probably many an inexperienced student in reading it has asked himself how its doctrines would work on congregations of unconverted or penitent sinners. The "Memoirs before us answer that inquiry fully and conclusively. 22 With certain exceptions, Finney's system, notwithstanding his innovations in language, is in harmony with the theology of John Wesley. It occupies, however, ground which is scarcely touched in any of Wesley's published works. The metaphysics of Finney's book are luminous. His logic is such that, as logic is such that, as "the British and Foreign Evangelical Review" said in an adverse article many years ago, any one who admits the premises must accept the conclusion. Finney was raised up to introduce a new era in the movements of the Churches; and he was prepared for his work in the most remarkable way. The book before us is not a complete autobiography. It is rightly entitled Memoirs of Finney, "the Evan gelist." He touches on the events of his own private life no further "than seemed necessary to give an intelligible account of the manner in which he was led, in relation to those great movements of the Church," which he has to describe. It may be regretted by some that he has not entered more fully into his mental history. But he seems to have desired to be remembered by posterity chiefly as a successful evangelist. student, a law office at Adams, in Jefferson county, New York. He says, "When I went to Adams to study law, I was almost as ignorant of religion as a heathen. I had been brought up mostly in the woods. I had very little regard to the Sabbath, and had no definite knowledge of religious truth." At Adams he, for the first time, sat statedly under an educated ministry; but "was rather perplexed than edified." It was thoroughly Calvinistic, and seemed to young Finney, who had the mental habits of a law student, to assume the very things which needed to be proved. The minister was in the habit of calling at the office, and seemed anxious to know what impression his sermons had produced on Finney's mind. They had many conversations on religious questions, and Finney proved a severe critic. He knew nothing about systems of theology; but he had been led to read the Bible, by finding so many references to it in old writers on common law; and he required theological terms to be used in definite and consistent senses. This made him very troublesome to Mr. Gale the minister. Finney says: He was born at Warren, Connecticut, August 29th, 1792. When he was two years old, his father "removed to Oneida county, New York, which was, at that time, to a great extent, a wilderness. No religious privileges were enjoyed by the people; very few religious books were to be had." His parents were not professors of religion; and there were few religious people among their neighbours. He seldom heard a sermon; and the few preachers who did visit the neighbourhood were generally so ignorant as to make themselves laughing-stocks. Finney enjoyed the advantages of a common school until he was fifteen or sixteen years old, and advanced so far as to be supposed capable of teaching a common school himself" 66 as common schools were then conducted." He spent portions of his youth in other districts, "and attended a high school for a season," and thought of going to Yale College. He was, however, dissuaded from that step, but still carefully continued his education, acquiring some knowledge of Latin, Greek and Hebrew. He says he was never a classical scholar, and never possessed so much knowledge of the ancient languages as to think himself capable of independently criticising our English translation of the Bible." In 1818, at the age of twenty-six, he entered, as a "In conversing with him, and asking him questions, I perceived that his own mind was, as I thought, mystified, and that he did not accurately define to himself what he meant by many of the important terms that he used. Indeed, I found it impossible to attach any meaning to many of the terms which he used with great formality and frequency. What did he mean by repentance? Was it a mere feeling of sorrow for sin? Was it altogether a passive state of mind, or did it involve a voluntary element? If it was a change of mind, in what respect was it a change of mind? What did he mean by the term regeneration? What did such language mean when applied to a spiritual change? What did he mean by faith? Was it merely an intellectual state? Was it merely a conviction or persuasion that the things stated in the Gospel were true? What did he mean by sanctification? Did it involve any physical change in the subject or any physical influence on the part of God? I could not tell, nor did he seem to me to know himself, in what sense he used these and similar terms." The great question of personal religion had now laid strong hold on young Finney's mind. The reading of the Bible, the hearing of Mr. Gale's sermons, attendance at the stated prayer-meeting, and conversation with Christian people, had made him very restless about his own spiritual state. He soon discovered that he was not "in a state of mind to go to heaven if he should die." He had difficulties about the truth of the Christian religion; but the question seemed to him too important to allow him to rest in any uncertainty on the subject. While he was in this state of anxious inquiry, it was a great stumbling block to him that the prayers which he heard from week to week were not answered. He looked into his Bible, and found Jesus saying, "Ask and ye shall receive;" and it seemed to him that the teachings of the Bible did not at all accord with the facts which were before his eyes. He says: "On one occasion when I was in one of the prayer-meetings, I was asked if I did not desire that they should pray for me. I told them No; because I did not see that God answered their prayers. I said, 'I suppose I need to be prayed for, for I am conscious that I am a sinner; but I do not see that it will do any good for you to pray for me, for you are continually asking, but you do not receive. You have been praying for a revival of religion ever since I have been in Adams, and yet you have it not. You have been praying for the Holy Spirit to descend upon yourselves, and yet complaining of your leanness.' I recollect having used this expression at that time, 'You have prayed enough since I have attended these meetings to have prayed the devil out of Adams, if there is any virtue in your prayers. But here you are praying on, and complaining still.' I was quite in earnest in what I said, and not a little irritable, I think, in consequence of my being brought so continually face to face with religious truth, which was a new state of things to me." He sought an explanation, and it Bible, that the reason why the struck him, as he further read his prayers of the people were not answered was, that they did not comply with the revealed conditions on which God had promised to answer prayer. This relieved him so far as queries about the truth of the Gospel were concerned; and after two or three years his mind became quite settled that whatever mystification there might be, either in himself or his pastor, or the Church, the Bible was nevertheless the true Word of God: "This being settled, I was brought face to face with the question, whether I would accept Christ as presented in the Gospel, or pursue a worldly course of life. At this period my mind, as I have since known, was so much impressed by the Holy Spirit that I could not long leave this question unsettled; nor could I long hesitate between the two courses of life presented to me." In the autumn of 1821 he came to full decision for Christ. His conversion was attended with several very remarkable circumstances, of which no adequate account can be given here. Suffice it to say, he had such a great and bitter struggle with the pride of his heart that he retired into a wood in order to be alone; there he knelt down for prayer and resolved to give his heart to God before leaving that place. When he attempted to pray, lo! he was dumb, and found himself " 'verging fast to despair." Then he had such a view of his own "awful, infinite" sin that he was broken down before the Lord. Just at that point a passage of Scripture (Jeremiah xxix. 12, 13) "seemed to drop into " his mind "with a flood of light.” He knew it was a passage of Scripture, "though," he says, "I do not |
