originally of pretended teachers. But it is applicable in some degree to all. We do not know the heart; and therefore we may be deceived in our judgment of others; but after we have looked at them carefully, and given them a proper time to develop their character, and given them proper instruction, and they afford probable evidence of Christian character, I think we are authorized to receive them. But this is a work which requires some time, and it cannot be our duty to close our eyes, and rush blindly into so solemn and important a connection as that of a church relation. Neither is it the duty of the new convert to rush into this connection blindly. He is not commanded to do it, till he can do it properly. And to do it properly requires some preparation. He must seek instruction; he must obtain distinct views of Christian character; he must obtain a proper understanding of the ordinance. And this is plainly required. "Whosoever shall eat this bread, and drink this cup of the Lord unworthily, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord. But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread and drink of that cup.-Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates ?" To partake worthily, he must sustain the proper character, and come with a suitable preparation. That preparation requires self-examination, solemn deliberation, and prayer. The fruits of the Spirit must be found in him, as they are described in the apostle's writings, and have been enumerated in a former conversation, as marks of a genuine revival. Now, such preparation for coming to the Lord's table, cannot be properly made by a young convert in a day. He needs as much time, probably, as the church does. He may, indeed, in the ardor of his feelings, and through wrong instruction, believe he ought to come forward at once. But experienced ministers and Christians ought to teach him the right ways of the Lord; and after sufficient instruction, and not before, encourage him to come.

Ard. I have often been struck with the direction of our Lord to Peter. After inquiring, "Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me?" and receiving for answer, "Yea, Lord, thou knowest that I love thee; he said unto him, Feed my lambs." And on repeating the question twice more, he said, "Feed my sheep." This is the way, then, for a minister to show his love to Christ: it is to feed his lambs and his sheep, and that is to instruct them, to afford them the means of growing in knowledge, that they may grow in grace.

Th. This hasty acknowledgment of converts seems rather to have increased, as protracted meetings have increased; and

the immediate reception of them into the church seems to have originated in such meetings. In an account of a protracted meeting, it is said, "After two or three prayers, the preacher requested all those who had given themselves up to Christ at this meeting to arise; all who entertained any hope, even a trembling one, will arise-sixteen have arisen." In an account of another meeting, probably written by the pastor, it is said: "On Tuesday morning, at the inquiry meeting, upwards of fifty professed a resolution to serve the Lord, and a hope of having submitted to him." In the meeting at R., to an account of which we have already attended, the new converts were immediately acknowledged, placed with the old professors in seats in front of the pulpit, and required to pray in public; Mr. Strangeways calling out to them, "Pray away, there! you young converts-I can't hear you-pray out-pray out." In an account of a protracted meeting in South street, probably by the pastor, is the following: "Sabbath evening, at the anxious meeting, was an hour of yielding hearts to the Saviour. When the proposition was made, that those who had obtained a hope of pardoned sin should remove to a different part of the house, about seventy rose and came to the Lord's side. At a similar meeting for colored persons, the same night, eighteen professed an interest in a Saviour's love." In an account of another meeting in South street, by the pastor, it is said, "On Tuesday afternoon the session room was full, four hundred or more present. On calling the converts to separate from the anxious, I should judge that about one third of those present declared themselves converts." At another place in South street, a participator in the meeting says, "On Thursday evening more than two hundred persons attended a meeting for inquiry. In the conclusion of this meeting about sixty persons professed faith in Christ, and hope in him for salvation." A minister says of the mode of conducting protracted meetings in Pilgrim street, by new-measure men, "As soon as they acknowledge a hope, it is almost taken for granted that they are converted. They are exhorted not to go searching their hearts, but to thank God, and go on as they have begun, and engage in the work of the Lord."

CHAPTER XLVI.

A MINISTER, in giving some obituary notice of Mr. Wellspoken, and of a revival under his ministry, in the early part of the present century, says: "Mr. Well-spoken was a powerful and pungent preacher. It was not his object, like some modern preachers, to exalt the sinner, and abase God; but to exalt God, and abase the sinner. He kept most distinctly and prominently in view the doctrine of divine sovereignty, the doctrine of election and reprobation, the doctrine of total depravity, the doctrine of regeneration, by the special, immediate, and omnipotent agency of the Holy Spirit, and the doctrine of unconditional submission to divine sovereignty. These doctrines did not kill, but were blessed to the promotion of that revival, the salutary fruits of which remain to the present time. These doctrines Mr. Well-spoken explained, and enforced with great clearness and pungency; and in this respect, as well as in many others, he was a contrast to many modern revival preachers. To guard against false hopes, he continually watched and prayed; and he always aimed to sift the hopes of new converts to the bottom. He considered it more safe to destroy, for the time being, the hopes of fifty subjects of genuine conversion, than to build up an individual upon a sandy foundation.

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In an account of a revival in Pilgrim street, by the pastor, he says: The revival was in its commencement very silent and calm; and it was gradual in its progress. It was the aim of the preachers, during the revival, to hold up to view the holy character of God, the spirituality of his law, the evil nature of sin, the deep depravity of the heart, the just exposure of sinners to everlasting ruin, the way of reconciliation to God, through faith in the atoning sacrifice of Christ, the freeness of the Gospel offer, the inexcusableness of sinners in refusing to accept that offer, and the duty of immediate compliance with the terms of salvation. At a time when the work assumed a very interesting character, and when it was apprehended that its purity might be impaired by excessive natural excitement, brethren much experienced in revivals, came to his assistance, and their preaching was much blessed in promoting the purity, the depth, the extent and power of the work. It is the full conviction of the

writer, and the sentiment was often brought into view by others as well as himself, that no season requires more calm, deliberate, dispassionate reflection, and consideration in retirement, than a time of powerful revival."

Doctor Reasoner, an aged minister in Pilgrim street, says: "In three or four seasons of special religious attention among us, I preached more doctrinally than usual; which I found made deeper and better impressions on the minds of the awakened and unawakened, than loud declamatory addresses to the passions. Strangers occasionally preached among us, in such a manner, but with little effect. Discourses on the divine character, the divine law, the total depravity of sinners, the sovereignty of special grace, and the immediate duty of unconditional submission, produced the most convictions, and the most converts. This I know to have been the case in this, and in other places where orthodox ministers were settled."

Ardent. But how often have we heard that Dr. Reasoner is not a revival man-that there never was a revival under his preaching, and never can be under such preaching!

Thoughtful. Those who say it speak ignorantly of what they are not informed; or else they are guilty of falsifying the truth for the sake of bringing odium upon the preaching of the doctrines of the Gospel. So I have heard it strongly asserted that Mr. Meek never preached the doctrines in the time of a revival; but his own journals tell us better, and also the published accounts of revivals which took place under his preaching, as before mentioned. The new-measure men do not preach like him. Their usual strain of preaching for the promotion of revivals, will suit Arminians as well as any, of which we have had abundant proofs. And besides, we have had instances of men who once preached the doctrines, and were considered strong advocates of them, and for their being preached in the time of a revival, as the best means of guarding against false hopes, and promoting true conversions, we have had instances of such men becoming converts to the new-measure system; when it entirely changed their course of preaching, and led them first to neglect, and then to preach against their former sentiments.

In an account of a protracted meeting in Westerly street, it is said: "Parents were warned not to hint to their children the least suspicion that they were not really Christians; and the converts were directed not to converse with cold-hearted Christians.

"Let your hopes alone, and go to work for God," was the express injunction of Mr. Strangeways.

A minister, in speaking of a meeting at which he had been present, says: "I think the confidence which is usually expressed in the Christian character of those who obtain a hope, is adapted greatly to increase the danger of their being finally and fatally deceived. They are commonly spoken of as converted, without any qualifications. And in some instances I have witnessed the expression of a hope for them in very strong

terms, in their hearing, when I could discover no grounds for it at all. In one instance, after an address, well adapted to work upon the sympathies, and excite the natural gratitude of the sinner towards God, and which produced a general burst of feeling, all who were willing now to be reconciled to God were called upon to rise. Some did so, and among the rest a little girl, too young to have much sense of what was meant, upon which the preacher exclaimed: 'Here is another little daughter come to Jesus.' And when a young man said, 'I will submit, come life, or come death,' the preacher exclaimed, Bless the Lord, O my soul!' And on prayer being offered, the persons who had risen were alluded to, as if they had now been converted. The young man I conversed with some weeks after, and he had then, by his own account, about lost all his seriousness."

In an account of another meeting, it is said: "A person who attended the anxious meeting, being advised by a young man to stop speculating about some points of truth and duty, which had formerly been preached there, the minister conducting the meeting said: 'I have no doubt you are orthodox, and correct in speculation; but this cold speculating and theorizing about truth won't do. It has probably been the means of sending more souls to hell, than almost any thing else.' Afterwards in the public meeting, the same preacher observed, 'They that do his will, not speculate his will:—I would give more for one doer than for a thousand speculators.'

Ard. This is the common language of those who oppose the doctrines, and wish to bring them, and those who preach them, into contempt.

Th. The same writer says: "I have been informed that at one time at the anxious meeting, when the subject of submission. came up, a young woman observed, in substance, that she had been taught that Christians do, and sinners ought to feel perfectly willing to submit themselves entirely into the hands of God, to be disposed of forever for his glory, either in happiness or misery, just as he saw best." On which, a prominent conductor of the meeting told her: "I know you have been so taught in this place, but that doctrine is from the pit; we want no such doctrine taught here."

Ard. These things indicate pretty clearly, what is the disposition felt by new-measure men in relation to the doctrines of the Gospel, and the necessity of their being taught as a guard against false conversions.

Th. They have not only been in favor of the immediate recognition of young converts, but they have received them immediately into the church; of which I have seen several accounts,