I’ve just posted on YouTube a 34-minute conversation that I had with Dr. Miles Smith IV on George Armstrong’s book The Summer of the Pestilence. Miles is a historian and the editor of an upcoming title we’re reprinting by William Swan Plumer on the impeccability of Jesus. If you’re interested in hearing about how a pastor in 1855 served the Lord and his people through a yellow fever epidemic, check this video out. And let us know in the comments or here if you’d like to see more interviews like this about the authors and books on our site. There may well be a “The Colporteur #2” one day. I’d love to hear your suggestions about who I could interview or what book/author I could discuss.
Fisher's Blind Milton
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Great art often begets more great art. Creation itself, that wonderful theater of God’s glory (a term used by John Calvin), of course, has inspired many scenic paintings. The poetry of the Bible has inspired poets for millennia. And the story of the fall of man in the Garden of Eden inspired John Milton to compose the epic poem Paradise Lost (1667), which he did while blind, dictating the lines to a group of amanuenses, including his own daughters. This historical fact, in turn, has inspired a number of painters to capture that moment, including Mihály Munkácsy’s Blind Milton Dictating Paradise Lost to his Daughters (1878).
This remarkable visionary work of art in turn inspired African-American Presbyterian minister and poet Samuel Jackson Fisher. In his volume of poetry titled The Romance of Pittsburgh or Under Three Flags, and Other Poems, there is one composition which pays tribute to both Munkácsy and Milton. And that is today’s verse for consideration.
MILTON DICTATING PARADISE LOST AND HIS DAUGHTER
(Munkacsy's Picture)
Blind are his eyes, yet can his great soul gaze
Through the past ages to the far-off days;
He sits in darkness, 'mid the present world.
Yet sees God's throne, and Satan downward hurled.
His the rapt vision of man's blessedness.
Of wedded love, life's crown of happiness;
The toil so sweet, the life without a fear,
Days without weariness, and eyes without a tear.
And as he sings of that lost Paradise
His face illumed as glorious visions rise.
She who would pen this bright, celestial story
Forgets her task amid that vanished glory;
Listening to him whom thoughts divine inspire,
She dreams of Eden and the sword of fire.Oh, happy eyes! though closed to this world's light,
Yet gaining thus the higher, heavenly sight.
Teach us the power, when in life's darkened room,
To look beyond the anguish and the gloom:
Like thee, to fill the soul with visions blest.
And seeing God, upon His Word to rest;
Help us to see, though joys be here denied,
The Paradise where hearts are satisfied
The last two lines echo as a meditation and a prayer for us today:
Help us to see, though joys be here denied,
The Paradise where hearts are satisfied
The vision of Blind Milton begat the vision Munkácsy, which begat the vision of Fisher. May we enter into that vision to behold, by faith in Jesus Christ, Paradise through this vale of tears.
A Dialogue Between D.L. Moody and W.S. Plumer - In Two Acts
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In 1875 and 1876, on two separate occasions, a young Dwight L. Moody and an elderly William Swan Plumer, took the stage together to dialogue about questions concerning salvation. In these dialogues, or colloquies, it was Moody who, in the role of an anxious inquirer, posed questions which Dr. Plumer answered, as crowds listened attentively.
The first event took place at Wannamaker’s Grand Depot in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on December 31, 1875. Moody had already preached to an audience of twelve thousand on the text: “How long halt yet between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him; but if Baal, then follow him” (1 Kings 18:21). As was his custom, Moody followed his sermon with an inquiry meeting. But this meeting was special because of its format and the guest speaker involved.
Dwight L. Moody (c. 1870).
To set the stage further, as it were, we turn first to William R. Moody’s The Life of Dwight L. Moody, pp. 269-270, in which he quotes Dr. Henry Clay Trumbull thus:
The central figure on the platform that New Year’s eve was one whose appearance and bearing were most impressive. The Rev. Dr. William S. Plumer, then a professor of the Columbia Theological Seminary in South Carolina, and who nearly forty years before was moderator of the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, was a figure that would compel reverence and regard in any gathering. Massive in frame, towering in stature, venerable in appearance, with snowy hair and flowing beard, he suggested Michael Angelo’s Moses.
Mr. Moody was on this occasion represented, not at the teacher, but as the inquirer. Dr. Plumer stood out as the teacher, to whom the younger Moody came with his questionings of heart. Few men, if any, in the world better knew the anxious cravings and doubts of the inquiring soul than Moody, as he had met with them in his varied evangelistic labors. Few trained theologians could have more wisely and simply answered those inquirers than the large-brained, large-hearted, large-framed, venerable patriarch before whom Moody stood.
The whole scene evidenced the simplicity of trust in God as the sinner came to him through Jesus Christ, in his need and in his confidence. The theologian could give the answer that the anxious soul longed for. Mr. Moody and Dr. Plumer were at one in this interview.
Moody then introduced his friend and partner in this endeavor to the audience at nearly midnight with these words:
Here is the Rev. Dr. Plumer, of South Carolina. He is seventy-four years old. He has been living on borrowed time for four years. For fifty-five years he has been sitting at the feet of Jesus. I’m going to put him on the witness-stand, and question him before you all. Dr. Plumer, will you take the pulpit?
Dr. William Swan Plumer
We have a transcript of this and a subsequent “colloquy,” and the text shows a back-and-forth dialogue that left a deep impression on its hearers. We are told that “It was a most impressive service. Many a soul seemed to feel himself the questioner, and to listen as for his life to the answer.”
Act 1 begins:
Dr. Plumer — I was to give a year-text to this assembly. It is from the 73d Psalm: “Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire besides thee.”
Mr. Moody — Dr. Plumer, we often speak of “conviction.” What is conviction?
Dr. Plumer — Conviction is a clear persuasion that a thing is true. Religious conviction is a clear, settled persuasion of five things: First, That I am ignorant, and need instruction. Second, That I am guilty, and deserve wrath, and need pardon. Third. That my heart is vile, and must be renewed. Fourth. That my condition is miserable; I am “wretched and miserable and poor.” Fifth. That I am helpless; I am without strength; I can not save myself; I can not think a good thought without divine grace."
Mr. Moody — What is the use of conviction?
Dr. Plumer — The use of conviction is not to punish a man for his sins; nor is it to make him any better. The devils in hell have been under awful conviction for a long time, and not one of them is any better. The sole object of conviction is to shut up the soul to the faith of Jesus. The sole object of conviction is to bring the sinner to accept salvation by atoning blood.
Mr. Moody — Is any given amount of distress necessary to genuine conviction?
Dr. Plumer — Lydia seems to have had no dis tress; we read of none. God opened her heart, and she attended to the things spoken of Paul; but the jailer of Philippi would probably not have accepted Christ without some alarm. If you will accept the Son of God, you need have no trouble; there is nothing in mere trouble that sanctifies the soul.
Mr. Moody — Well, doctor, what is conversion?
Dr. Plumer — Glory be to God! there is such a thing as conversion. If there was not, everlasting chains and darkness would be our doom. To be converted is to turn from self, self-will, self-righteousness, all self confidence, and from sin in every shape, and to be turned to Christ. The turning-point in a man's conversion is his acceptance of Jesus Christ; then he closes in with Christ and gives Him all his confidence.
Mr. Moody — Why must a sinner come to Christ for salvation ?
Dr. Pumer — Because there is salvation in none else. All the angels in heaven and all the saints in heaven and earth can not save one sinner. He must come to the Saviour. I will tell you why. Here are quintillions of tons of atmospheric air: why does not that support life without your respir ing it? You must breathe it or you die. For the same reason you must make Christ yours, or you perish notwithstanding what He has done. The sight of a river will never quench thirst, and the sight of food will never satisfy hunger. You must come to Christ, and make His salvation yours.
Mr. Moody — Can a man be saved here to-night, before twelve o'clock — saved all at once?
Dr. Plumer — Why not? In my Bible I read of three thousand men gathered together one morning — all of them murderers, their hands stained with the blood of the Son of God. They met in the morning, and before night they were all baptized members of Christ. God added to the church in those days such as should be saved. If you are ever saved, there must be a moment when you accept Christ and renounce the world.
Mr. Moody — What is repentance?
Dr. Plumer — It is turning to God with abhorrence of sin and cleaving to Christ with purpose pf obedience. A man truly repents of his sins when he does not commit the sins he has repented of; therefore saving repentance always terminates in purity of life and in reformation. A thorough change of heart is followed by a thorough change of character.
Mr. Moody — How can I know that I am saved?
Dr. Plumer — By the fact that God is true. “Let God be true, but every man a liar.” If I accept Jesus Christ, it is not Mr. Moody's word, nor Mr. Sankey's, nor Dr. Newton's; it is the Word of the living God, whose name is Amen. “He that believeth on the Son hath eternal life.”
Mr. Moody — What if I haven't got faith enough?
Dr. Plumer — Glory be to God! if I can touch the hem of my Saviour's garment I shall be saved. A little faith is as truly faith as a great deal of faith. A little coal of fire in the ashes is as truly fire as the glowing heat of the furnace. Jesus says not, If you have great faith you will be saved, but “He that believeth shall be saved.” Oh! come and trust Him fully! Give Him all your confidence, and if your faith is not as strong as it ought to be, cry as the disciples did, “Lord, increase our faith.”
Interior view of the Roman Hippodrome in New York City.
A subsequent event took place on March 30, 1876 at P.T. Barnum’s Great Roman Hippodrome in New York City, the precursor to Madison Square Garden. Act 2 commences at 8 pm, following the conclusion of a convention.
At eight o’clock the house was filled, every seat being occupied, and hundreds standing. Mr. Moody, followed by Dr. Plumer, of South Carolina, entered. The usual devotional exercises were held. Mr. Moody then arose, and said: “The exercises of this evening will vary from those commonly had at this hour. I shall not preach, but shall call on Dr. Plumer to answer many questions of great importance; these questions relate to the way of life. Dr. Plumer has long been studying the Word of God. He will please take the stand.
Mr. Moody — Dr. Plumer, I am living in the world, with eternity before me. I am accountable to God; I have broken His law. What must I do to be saved?
Dr. Plumer — There is but one safe answer to that question. It sounds out from the jail at Philippi: “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.” Acts xvi. 31. That is the substance of all the Scriptures on this subject summed up in a few words.
Mr. Moody — Is faith in Christ essential to salvation?
Dr. Plumer — So says the Lord Jesus Christ: “He that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.” John iii. 18.
Mr. Moody — Many in the inquiry-room tell us that we are making too much of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
Dr. Plumer — If they mean that we are making too much of the Lord Jesus Christ himself, that cannot be so; for He is All in All; the First and the Last; the Author and Finisher of Salvation; the one Mediator between God and man; the Prophet, Priest, and King of His Church. If they mean that we are making too much of faith itself, that cannot be so, unless we go beyond the Scriptures. The words faith and believe occur in the New Testament about five hundred times; and in a large number of cases salvation is clearly connected with believing. Jesus taught us this when asked, “What shall we do, that we may work the works of God?” He answered, “This is the work of God that ye believe on the name of Him whom He hath sent,” and, “If ye believe not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins.” John vi. 29; viii. 24.
Mr. Moody — Does our faith, or our want of faith, decide our relations to God the Father?
Dr. Plumer — The Scriptures so affirm: “Whosoever denieth the Son, the same hath not the Father;” “He that abideth in the doctrine of Christ, he hath the Father and the Son;” “He that hateth me, hateth my Father also.” I John ii. 23; 2 John 9; John xv. 23. No man can refuse to confess that Christ, the Son of God, is come in the flesh, without denying and dishonoring God the Father.
Mr. Moody — Is true faith wrought in the heart by the Holy Ghost alone?
Dr. Plumer — Paul says: “The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,” and so on; and, “No man can say that Jesus is Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” Galatians v. 22; I Cor. xii. 3. Elsewhere he says, “Faith is of the operation of God;" and John says, “Hereby know ye the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesseth that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is of God; and every spirit that confesseth not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh, is not of God.”
Mr. Moody — Is there no substitute for faith in Christ Jesus?
Dr. Plumer — None whatever. The want of faith mars everything. I remember John Calvin thus puts it: “The annihilation of faith is the abolition of the promises.” Many Scriptures justify this remark. In the great commission given by Christ to the preachers of His Gospel, He says: “He that believeth not shall be damned.” Mark xvi. 16. These words are awſul, and they are true: “He that believeth not shall be damned;” so says the Son of God, our final Judge.
With many other questions, on both occasions, did Moody draw out from Plumer the “way of life,” that is, a gospel understanding of repentance and faith and salvation, as given to us in the Scriptures. The rest of the dialogue is given in Great Questions Answered: Two Colloquies Between D.L. Moody and Wm. S. Plumer (1876), available to read here. The drama of these two men, in the roles of anxious inquirer and wise teacher, in two different locations, is played out in that remarkable volume, and is well worth the read. Plumer acquitted himself with distinction in giving Moody and his 19th century hearers sound Biblical answers to questions of great importance, and readers of the 21st century will profit too by consideration of these dialogues.
W.D. Ralston: Jesus Sang Psalms
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And when they had sung an hymn, they went out into the mount of Olives (Matt. 26:30).
And he said unto them, These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me (Luke 24:42).
It is a simple truth, but one which is often forgotten or overlooked, that Jesus in His earthly ministry sang the very Psalms that speak so clearly of Him.
William David Ralston in his Talks on Psalmody in the Matthews Family (1877) reminds us of this truth.
When Jesus was here upon earth he sang these Scripture psalms. We find him speaking of them as the Book of Psalms, and we read that he, in company with his disciples engaged in singing, and we are driven to the conclusion, that the songs they sung were these psalms of David, because we have not the least evidence that any other sacred songs were then in existence. We know that the psalms were then sung in God's worship, and we have no evidence whatever, that any other sacred songs were sung, or were in existence. In Matth. xxvi. 30, we read, "And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives." Expositors of the Bible tell us that this hymn was a Jewish hallel which is a portion of the psalms, namely, the cxiii and cxviii inclusive. I am clearly convinced that if our blessed Savior sung any songs when here on earth, they were the psalms, and surely we ought to prize them, because he sang them. If they were good enough for him, ought they not to be good enough for us?
Noah Webster and Log College Press, Cross-Referenced
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Noah Webster is well known for his American dictionary, first published in 1828. Not only did he identify the meaning of 70,000 entries in two volumes, but often he would reference sentences from the Bible, or classic literature, to provide examples of usage. Some of the usage sources provided came from Log College Press authors. In the introduction, he specifically alludes to such Presbyterian writers as John Mitchell Mason, David Ramsay, and Samuel Stanhope Smith; but there are others too.
A sampling of almost 50 references to Log College Press authors in the ground-breaking 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is shown below, along with additional information about the specific writings cited by Webster. Some of the quotes are quite memorable, and the sources in general indicate something of the evangelical reading done by Webster himself.
Abandon – “Wo to that generation by which the testimony of God shall be abandoned.” – Dr. Mason * This quote may be found in the introduction to John Mitchell Mason’s The Christian’s Magazine, Vol. 1 (1807).
Abrahamic – Pertaining to Abraham, the patriarch, as Abrahamic Covenant. -- Mason * John Mitchell Mason says in his essay on the Church of God, in Works, Vol. 2, “That the church of God, his visible church, taken into peculiar relations to himself, by the Abrahamic covenant, subsists without injury through the change of dispensation and of members.”
Advocate – “The idea of a legislature, consisting of a single branch, though advocated by some, was generally reprobated.” – Ramsay, Hist. Carolina. * This quote appears in David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, Vol. 1.
Alternation – Alternate performance, in the choral sense. – Mason * The term “alternation” appears in John Mitchell Mason’s review of Henry Hobart’s Apology for Apostolic Order and Its Advocates in Vol. 2 of The Christian’s Magazine (1809).
Appreciate – “Lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money.” -- Ramsay * This quote appears in David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, Vol. 1, where, speaking of currency inflation during the American War of Independence from Great Britain, Ramsay writes: “The sanguine, flattering themselves with the delusive hopes of a speedy termination of the war, were often induced to sell lest a sudden peace should appreciate the money, in which case it was supposed they would lose the present opportunity of selling to great advantage.”
Boatable – Navigable for boats, or small river craft. -- Ramsay * The term “boatable” appears in David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, Vol. 1.
Burning – “The burning plains of India.” – S.S. Smith * In An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810), Samuel Stanhope Smith writes, “While the spirit of fanaticism carries the sun-burnt Saracen to the North, the love of war, and of plunder transplants the Tartar from the snows of Scythia to the burning plains of India.”
Climatical – “limited by a climate.” – S.S. Smith * Also in his 1810 Essay, Samuel Stanhope Smith writes, “To those who can satisfy themselves with regard to the communication of these properties, the transmission of climatical or national differences ought not to appear surprising.”
Conscience – “Conscience is first occupied in ascertaining our duty, before we proceed to action; then in judging of our actions when performed.” – J.M. Mason * This quote is derived from John Mitchell Mason’s essay On the Formation of a Good Conscience in Vol. 1 of The Christian’s Magazine (1807), in which he states: “I begin by remarking, that the scriptures, at tending to the operations of the human mind, ascribe a twofold agency to conscience. The first is occupied in ascertaining our duty before we proceed to action ; the second in judging of our actions, after they have been performed.”
Delegation – “The duties of religion cannot be performed by delegation.” – S. Miller * In the first of his Letters Concerning the Constitution and Order of the Christian Ministry (1807), Samuel Miller writes, “Religion is the common business of all men. Its duties cannot be performed by delegation.”
Deter – “A million of frustrated hopes will not deter us from new experiments.” – J.M. Mason * John Mitchell Mason, in his sermon on The Gospel for the Poor (Works, Vol. 3), says: “An irresistible law of our being impels us to seek happiness. Nor will a million of frustrated hopes deter from new experiments; because despair is infinitely more excruciating than the fear of fresh disappointment.”
Distributable – “That may be distributed; that may be assigned in portions.” – Ramsay * The term “distributable” appears in David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, Vol. 2.
Dogma – “Compliment my dogma, and I will compliment yours.” – J.M. Mason - This quote appears in John Mitchell Mason’s essay On Liberality in Religion in Vol. 1 of The Christian’s Magazine (1807).
Error – “Charge home upon error its most tremendous consequences.” – J.M. Mason * This quote appears in John Mitchell Mason’s essay On Religious Controversy in Vol. 1 of The Christian’s Magazine (1807).
Exquisite – “The most exquisite of human satisfactions flows from an approving conscience.” – J.M. Mason * This quote appears in John Mitchell Mason’s essay On the Formation of a Good Conscience in Vol. 1 of The Christian’s Magazine (1807).
Grade – “While questions, periods, and grades and privileges are never once formally discussed.” – S. Miller and “When we come to examine the intermediate grades.” – S.S. Smith * The former quote is derived from Samuel Miller, Letters Concerning the Constitution and Order of the Christian Ministry (1807): “While questions respecting priority, and grades, and privileges, are never once formally discussed, only occasionally alluded to, and then in a manner so indistinct and cursory as to show that they were considered as objects of inferior moment.” The latter quote is from Samuel Stanhope Smith’s An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Guise – “That love which is without dissimulation, wears not the guise of modern liberality.” – J.M. Mason * In his essay On Liberality in Religion in The Christian’s Magazine (1807), John Mitchell Mason writes: “That ‘love’ which is ‘without dissimulation,’ wears no such guise.”
Habitual – “Formed by repeated impressions; rendered permanent by continued causes; as, an habitual color of the skin.” – S.S. Smith * Samuel Stanhope Smith refers to “an habitual colour of the skin” in An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Humanity – “It is a debt we owe to humanity.” – S.S. Smith — This is taken from Samuel Stanhope Smith’s An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810): “It is a debt which we owe to humanity to recognize our brethren in every class of men into which society is divided, and under every shade of complexion which diversifies their various tribes from the equator to the poles.”
Identify – “Every precaution is taken to identify the interests of the people, and of the rulers.” – Ramsay and “Paul has identified the two ordinances, circumcision and baptism, and thus, by demonstrating that they have one and the same use and meaning, he has exhibited to our view the very same seal of God’s covenant.” – J.M. Mason * The first quote appears in David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, Vol. 1. The second quote is derived from John Mitchell Mason’s essay on the Church of God in Works, Vol. 2: “He [Paul] has, therefore, identified the two ordinances: and thus, by demonstrating that they have one and the same use and meaning, he has exhibited to our view the very same seal of God's covenant, under the forms of circumcision and baptism respectively.”
Idol – “An idol is any thing which usurps the place of God in the hearts of his rational creatures.” – S. Miller — This quote comes from Samuel Miller’s 1826 sermon The Evidence and Duty of Being on the Lord's Side.
Improvable – “A scarcity of improvable lands began to be felt in these colonies.” – Ramsay * David Ramsay, in his History of South Carolina, Vol. 1, writes: “Notwithstanding the vast extent of territory contained in the provinces of Virginia and Pennsylvania, a scarcity of improvable lands began to be felt in these colonies, and poor people could not find vacant spots in them equal to their expectations.”
Initiating – Introducing by instruction, or by appropriate ceremonies. – J.M. Mason * John Mitchell Mason refers to the “initiating seals” of circumcision and baptism in his essay on the Church of God, Works, Vol. 2.
Irregeneracy – Unregeneracy. – J.M. Mason * John Mitchell Mason defines the Scripture phrase “uncircumcision of your flesh” as “uncircumcision put for the state of irregeneracy” in his essay on the Church of God, Works, Vol. 2.
Irresistable – “An irresistible law of our nature impels us to seek happiness.” – J.M. Mason * As noted above, John Mitchell Mason, in his sermon on The Gospel for the Poor (Works, Vol. 3), says: “An irresistible law of our being impels us to seek happiness. Nor will a million of frustrated hopes deter from new experiments; because despair is infinitely more excruciating than the fear of fresh disappointment.”
Non-Episcopal, Non-Episcopalian – Not episcopal; not of the episcopal church or denomination…. – J.M. Mason * The term “non-episcopal brethren” appears in John Mitchell Mason’s Essays on Episcopacy in Works, Vol. 2.
Non-Essential – Non-essentials are things not essential to a particular purpose. – J.M. Mason * In Catholic Communion, Works, Vol. 1, John Mitchell Mason writes: “To draw the line of distinction between the essentials and non-essentials of our most Holy Faith, it at all times a delicate and difficult task.”
Obligate – “The millions of mankind, as one vast fraternity, should feel obligated by a sense of duty and the impulse of affection, to realize the equal rights and to subserve the best interests of each other.” – Proudfit * The precise quote given has not yet been located by this writer, but there is a similar quote found in Alexander Moncrief Proudfit, Practical Godliness in Thirteen Discourses on the Duties of the Closet, and Family, and Sanctuary (1813), Sermon 9: “By inferring that there is an intimate connection between man and man, and that each is obligated to aim at promoting the perfection of the whole.”
Perdition – “If we reject the truth, we seal our own perdition.” – J.M. Mason * This quote appears in John Mitchell Mason’s essay On Religious Controversy in The Christian’s Magazine, Vol. 1 (1807).
Pestilence – “Profligate habits carry pestilence into the bosom of domestic society.” – J.M. Mason * This quote appears in John Mitchell Mason’s introduction to The Christian’s Magazine, Vol. 1 (1807).
Philosophy – “True religion and true philosophy must ultimately arrive at the same principle.” – S.S. Smith * This quote appears in Samuel Stanhope Smith’s An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Putrescible – That may be putrefied; liable to become putrid; as putrescible substances. – Ramsay, History. * David Ramsay, History of South Carolina, Vol. 2: “The daily removal of putresicble substances lessens the evils of impure air, but is inadequate to the purpose intended.”
Recallable – That may be recalled. - Ramsay * The term “recallable” appears in David Ramsay, The Life of George Washington (1807).
Reconciliation – “Reconciliation and friendship with God, really form the basis of all rational and true enjoyment.” – S. Miller * Samuel Miller stated this in his 1826 sermon The Evidence and Duty of Being on the Lord’s Side.
Redeem – “The mass of earth not yet redeemed from chaos.” – S.S. Smith and “He could not have redeemed a portion of his time for contemplating the powers of nature.” – S.S. Smith * Both quotes are derived from Samuel Stanhope Smith, An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Republicanize – To convert to republican principles; as, to republicanize the rising generation. -- Ramsay * David Ramsay, in his History of South Carolina, Vol. 1, utilizes the phrase “to republicanize the rising generation.”
Savagism – “The state of rude uncivilized men; the state of men in the native wildness and rudeness.” – S.S. Smith. Walsh. * Samuel Stanhope Smith uses the term “savagism” several times in An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Scene – “The shepherds, while watching their flocks upon the plains of Bethlehem, were suddenly interrupted by one of the most sublime and surprising scenes which have ever been exhibited on earth.” – W.B. Sprague * This quote comes from William Buell Sprague’s “Right Hand of Fellowship” at the 1825 ordination of Congregational minister William C. Fowler.
Scepticism – “Let no despondency or timidity or secret skepticism lead any one to doubt whether this blessed prospect will be realized.” – S. Miller * This quote appears in Samuel Miller, A Sermon, Delivered in the Middle Church, New Haven, Con. Sept. 12, 1822: at the Ordination of the Rev. Messrs. William Goodell, William Richards, and Artemas Bishop, as Evangelists and Missionaries to the Heathen (1822).
Semi-deistical – Half-deistical; bordering on deism. – S. Miller * The term “semi-deistical” appears in Samuel Miller, Letters Concerning the Constitution and Order of the Christian Ministry (1807).
Skirt – “Savages – who skirt along our western frontiers.” – S.S. Smith * This quote comes from Samuel Stanhope Smith, An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Stationary – “Not advancing, in a moral sense; not improving; not growing wiser, greater or better; not becoming greater or more excellent.” – S.S. Smith * The term “stationary” is used in Samuel Stanhope Smith, An Essay on the Causes of the Variety of Complexion and Figure in the Human Species (1810).
Unbending – Unyielding; inflexible; firm; applied to things; as, unbending truth. – J.M. Mason * The term “unbending” appears in John Mitchel Mason’s pastoral resignation speech, which is in his Works, Vol. 4.
Uncovenanted – Not promised by covenant; not resting on a covenant or promise. – S. Miller * The term “uncovenanted” appears several times in Samuel Miller, Letters Concerning the Constitution and Order of the Christian Ministry (1807).
Unquestioning – Not calling in question; not doubting; unhesitating. – J.M. Mason * The term “unquestioning” appears in John Mitchell Mason’s essay on the Church of God, Works, Vol. 2.
World – “There may be other worlds, where the inhabitants have never violated their allegiance to their Almighty sovereign.” – W.B. Sprague * This interesting quote comes from Sprague’s 1826 sermon on The Mediation of Christ the Ground of the Believer’s Triumph, in which he states: “I do not deny that purposes were answered in the Divine administration by the death of Christ, which have never yet been revealed to us; purposes, it may be, even more magnificent than those which relate to our own redemption. There may be other worlds than ours within the dominions of Jehovah, where a spirit of rebellion has been manifested, and the benefits of Christ’s death enjoyed. And there may be other worlds still, where the inhabitants have never violated their allegiance to their Almighty Sovereign, in which the revelation of this wonderful fact may serve as a mirror to reflect the brightest of the divine glories. But it is not with other parts of the system that we are so immediately concerned. The death of Christ, for aught we know, may exert an influence of some kind or other, wherever there are intelligent beings; but in respect to ourselves, and the world to which we belong, there is no room for doubt.”
This snapshot from Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, cross-referenced with Log College Press, provides insight into what Webster read and drew upon to help codify, as it were, the English language in America. It represents another avenue of influence by 19th century Presbyterian writers that is not widely recognized, but nevertheless is profound.
Alexander Proudfit on our national danger and duty
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In the midst of great national tribulation — in the form of fire, drought, crop failure, and an epidemic of influenza, as well as disunity and discord both in church and state — Associate Reformed minister Alexander Moncrief Proudfit preached two sermons on the day appointed by his presbytery (November 30, 1808) for “fasting, humiliation, and prayer.” The first, titled “Our Danger,” was based on Jer. 5:29: “Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this.” The second, “Our Duty,” was based on Amos 4:12: “And because I will do this unto thee; prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.”
Proudfit begins by stating the case:
This day was set apart for the solemn exercises of fasting, humiliation and prayer on account of the alarming aspect of providence to our country. We are not called merely to deprecate that wrath which apparently hangs over our nation; they are greatly mistaken who imagine that this should be our only, or even our principal exercise: we ought to be deeply impressed that our national offences are the cause of our national calamities; we ought impartially to examine what transgression on our part has kindled this hot displeasure; to acknowledge the righteousness of Jehovah in all the judgments with which we are threatened; to improve by faith the atonement of his Eternal Son as the only mean of our reconciliation; to return to him in the exercise of unfeigned repentance, and then earnestly to plead with an offended God that in the midst of wrath he would remember mercy.
As Erasmus Darwin McMaster also said four decades later in the midst of an 1849 cholera epidemic, Proudfit argues that “our national offences are the cause of our national calamities.” And as McMaster pointed to the sin of omission found in our national constitution (failure to acknowledge the Lord Jesus Christ as the true King of the nation), so Proudfit points to a Biblical duty (Ex. 18:21; 2 Sam. 23:2-4) to elect only God-fearing civil rulers, although our national constitution prohibits any such religious test for public office (Art. 6, Clause 3).
There is another evidence of public corruption which I dare not pass over unnoticed: I mean the obvious prostitution of the right of suffrage. In our free government the choice of all rulers either immediately or remotely depends on the people. This right of electing our own representation is the great privilege for which our fathers fought, and which is bequeathed to us, sealed with the blood of thousands; this is a privilege for which many of you fought, and for the purchase of which some of you bled: It is the full enjoyment of this right which distinguishes the citizen from the subject; which exalts the freeman in one country above the abject insulted, degraded slave in another country: But is not this right criminally prostituted among us? What is the primary qualification which is ordinarily fought in the candidate for public office? Do we attend to the admonition prescribed by Eternal truth, He that RULETH over men must be JUST, RULING in the FEAR of Jehovah? Have we pursued the maxim delivered by the wisest of men, and the most magnificent, prosperous of Princes, RIGHTEOUSNESS EXALTETH A NATION, and offered our suffrages for those who in private life were patterns of righteousness, and as rulers would probably use their influence for promoting it among others? Have we not more generally enquired, “where is the decided, ardent partisan; the man who will most zealously adhere to that political section to which we belong,” without regard to moral, or religious, or even intellectual qualifications? In the warmth of party-spirit have we not contributed to the advancement of those who were the known enemies of religion, and have allowed themselves in falsely slandering its ministers? On this day of humiliation as the messenger of the Lord of hosts, and as I desire to be found faithful to my trust when the storm is blackening over us, I bear my testimony against the promotion of unprincipled, immoral, impious men as a most aggravated iniquity in our land; and I believe, as firmly as I believe my existence, that without speedy and special repentance on our part, this insult to the Lord of hosts will bring wrath upon our nation, until both our ears will tingle. Has he not most solemnly forewarned us that, when righteous men are in authority the people rejoice, but when the wicked rule the land mourneth? Besides, the election of men to public office who are destitute of moral rectitude, is impolitic in the extreme, and puts in jeopardy our most important interests as citizens. Hear the sentiment of a reverend member who adorned our counsels during the struggle with Great-Britain; one in whom were united the eminent divine, the enlightened statesman, and the uncorrupted, ardent patriot. “Those who wish well to the state ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation. It is reasonable to expect wisdom from the ignorant; fidelity from the profligate; or application to public business from men of dissipated life? Is it reasonable to commit the public revenue to one who has wasted his own patrimony? Those therefore who pay no respect to religion and sobriety in those whom they send to the Legislature of any state, are guilty of the greatest absurdity, and will soon pay dear for their folly. Let a man’s zeal, professions, or even principles as to political measures be what they may, if he is without personal integrity and private virtue, he is not to be trusted. I think we have had some instances of men who have roared in taverns for liberty, and been most noisy in public meetings, who have become traitors in a little time.
The public breaking of the Sabbath is another provocation of the Lord leading to our national danger, says Proudfit.
Again, is not the holy Sabbath, that rest which is ordained for the people of God; that institution which is calculated to secure health to the body, no less than happiness to the soul; that institution which is a lively memorial of the resurrection of our crucified Lord, and furnishes a constant pledge of our own resurrection, is not this day openly prostituted without a blush, and without remorse? Is it not profaned by some in idleness and amusements; by others in unnecessary visits, and by many in the deliberate prosecution of their secular employments? Is not the peaceful worshiper often interrupted and insulted as he repairs to, or retires from the temple of his God, by the wanton transgressors of that sacred institution? And does it not render our guilt more aggravated, and expose us to severer vengeance, that this profanation of the Sabbath is permitted in part by public authority? Our Legislature has explicitly provided that no man “removing his family, or household furniture” shall be detained on that day. Does not this toleration virtually make void the command of Jehovah who had enjoined, TAKE HEED TO YOURSELVES, AND BEAR NO BURDEN ON THE SABBATH DAY, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow the Sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. Have we not reason to fear that the Lord God, provoked by our impiety, will execute upon us the vengeance denounced against the nation of Israel, I will draw out a sword after you, and make your cities waste. Then shall the land enjoy her Sabbaths as long as it lieth desolate, and ye shall be in your enemies country; even then shall the land rest and enjoy her Sabbaths.
For these and other corporate sins which are enumerated, Proudfit attributes the visitation of God in widespread appearances of the pestilence, and other scourges upon the land.
Has not a Holy God often plead his controversy with our land by a fearful pestilence? Receiving its commission from on high, has not this scourge gone abroad through our country, and visited in their turn our cities from the northern to the southern extremities of the union? In its hostile career has it not desolated for a season the sanctuaries of God; driven from their abodes thousands of our citizens, and mingled in sudden promiscuous ruin the babe, the youth and the hoary head?
The warning of impending national judgment comes from both the word and providence of God, says Proudfit.
The great God warns the wicked by his word, raising up messenger after messenger; by his providence, inflicting lesser judgments as a mean of reclaiming and saving them from more awful visitations. He thus proves to the satisfaction of every rational spectator, that he is merciful, and gracious, long-suffering and abundant in goodness and truth; that he has no pleasure in temporal destruction of nations, or in the everlasting ruin of individuals, but would rather that both should repent, and return and live.
And thus, he chose the Amos text in order to prepare his hearers to “meet” God in the way of his visitations by personal and corporate repentance and reformation.
Where is there any evidence that either our mercies or our judgments have proved effectual for reclaiming or reforming us? Are the living oracles more generally read, or more deeply revered? Is the sanctuary attended now by those who formerly lived in the neglect of its ordinances? Are the praises of God resounding now in houses, where that celestial melody was formerly unheard? Is the holy Sabbath more conscientiously sanctified through our land, or does the power of Godliness shine more illustrious in the lives of those who possess the form? Is the charge of pride, extravagance, injustice between man and man, and ingratitude to the God of our mercies less applicable now than in years that are past? Nay, has not the tide of our impiety and profligacy risen with the tide of our prosperity, and when the divine hand has been stretched out for our correction we have not seen it, neither have we trembled under these displays of the majesty of Jehovah. Is such the fact, beloved brethren, then I cannot address you in language more appropriate than the admonition of the prophet to his nation, prepare to meet thy God, O Israel.
God is slow to anger and rich in mercy, says Proudfit, and therefore delights in the repentance of sinful men and nations.
The dealings of a sovereign God toward individuals and nations obviously correspond. He spares the particular person notwithstanding numerous provocations; he affords him the means of repentance, and the offers of life; he alternately alarms and allures; he tries him now with mercies, then with judgments, before he gives commission to cut him off as utterly incorrigible: And such also is his conduct toward nations in general. He admonishes them for their impiety; he forewarns them now by his messengers, again by the movements of his providence of calamities that are approaching; he executes one threatening as a mean of awakening them to repentance, and saving them from other and severer scourges: He thus entreated with the old world one hundred and twenty years by the ministry of Noah; he thus reproved the cities of the plain by Lot as his messenger, before it turned them into ashes, making them public monuments of his vengeance. With what long-suffering did he expostulate with the nation of the Jews before he finally marked them out as the people of his wrath? How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? How shall I deliver thee, Israel? How shall I make thee as Admah? How shall I set thee as Zeboim? My heart is turned within me: my repenting are kindled together. And upon their partial reformation in the days of Samuel, of Asa, of Josiah he immediately suspended the execution of his judgments, and wrought salvation in their behalf.
For Proudfit, our duty as a people is clear. From danger incurred by our sinful ways, the only remedy is to return to the Lord by means of repentance and reformation, and to make him our refuge in times of calamity.
All should prepare for this event, by fleeing without delay to Jesus-Jehovah as their city of refuge. He is a hiding place from every storm, and a covert from the tempest…We ought to prepare for meeting our God by awakening to greater diligence in the discharge of every duty, and abounding more eminently in the work of the Lord. When the tumult of war is heard, and the enemy appears in view, the prudent soldier instantly arises; he collects his armor; he fastens every part of it in its proper place; he arranges himself in order for battle, and thus stands ready every moment for the arduous onset: When a storm is expected on the ocean; when the clouds collect and blacken; when the distant thunder is heard and the lightnings begin to blaze around, the vigilant mariner takes the alarm, and makes the requisite preparation. Such should be the christian’s conduct when the judgments of Almighty God are commissioned to pass through a nation. Of whatever kind the calamity be, whether war or famine, or pestilence; on whatever that he esteems precious the assault may be made, whether on his liberty, or religion, or life, he should aim at standing prepared; at shaking off his spiritual sloth; at having his lamp carefully trimmed and replenished with oil, from Jesus Jehovah the anointed one, burning with the purest flame; he ought to become more fervent in prayer; more edifying in his conversation; more sincere in repentance for his own iniquities, and the iniquities of the nation with which he is connected; more abundant in all the duties which are incumbent upon him as a man and a Christian. This is the best possible preparation for all the calamities of life. To all such the Lord God will become a little sanctuary when the sword of his vengeance is drawn, and his wrath consumes a guilty land. The angel spreads his pavilion around the pious Lot, when the cities of the plain are turned into ashes; the houses of the Israelites were passed over without injury, when the first born was slain in every family of the Egyptians, and the minister of justice never disclosed his commission against Jerusalem, until a mark was set upon the forehead of the men that sighed and cried for all the abominations that were done in the midst of the land. The providence of God has even miraculously interposed for the protection of his faithful followers; he has proved a wall of fire around the individual, the families, the settlements that have cleaved to him in the hour of general apostacy.
Proudfit’s concluding remarks are in fact a prayer that echoes today:
O Lord, thou sittest upon the floods, thou sittest king forever, look with a compassionate eye, on our guilty miserable world, and shorten these days of calamity; proclaim to every scourge that has desolated our earth, it is enough, stay thine hand; may the thunder of war expire; may the sword of slaughter return to its scabbard, no more to be bathed in the blood of man; let not nation any longer rise up as the destroyer of nation, but may the peaceful banner of Messiah wave in triumph around the globe; hasten the period when creation shall become one sanctuary, and men of all kindreds one assembly, in doing homage to the God of Israel. Amen, even so come LORD JESUS.
Meet Jonathan Cross: The pioneer colporteur of the Alleghany mountains
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Do you know what a “colporteur” is? It is a someone who “peddles” or hands out books, newspapers, tracts, etc. - especially, in 19th century America, religious tracts, books and Bibles. Jonathan Cross (1802-1876) was one such colporteur, who worked for the American Tract Society for over two decades. He wrote about some of his experiences in western Virginia as “the pioneer colporteur in the Alleghany mountains” in Five Years in the Alleghanies (1863).
There are autobiographical details in most of his published writings, but we turn to the History of the Presbyterian of Washington (1889) for a brief biographical sketch of this interesting pioneer, who late in life, after having served as a ruling elder for many years, became a Presbyterian minister. Rev. Jonathan Cross
Was, for about six years, a member of our Presbytery. He was born in the year 1802, in Beaver County, Pa. At the age of twenty years he became a Christian, and afterwards was made a ruling elder. His burning zeal led him to enter the service of the American Tract Society, in which capacity he labored for many years, chiefly in West Virginia, in the double work of distributing evangelical literature and of winning souls by personal appeal and prayer. It was his great success in this line of service that led him to his entrance into the ministry late in life. In 1866, at the solicitation of that godly man, Samuel Ott, Esq., he came to his only pastoral charge, the Third [Presbyterian] Church of Wheeling [West Virginia], when that church was at the point of disbanding; but great success and increase marked his work until 1872, when ill health compelled him to retire. He died at Newark, Ohio, December 18, 1876, aged about seventy-four years. In many place he is remembered as an earnest evangelist.
Elsewhere in this volume we learn that Cross was ordained as a ruling elder on September 2, 1832; and he was installed as a pastor on December 16, 1866; until his pastoral charge was dissolved on February 4, 1873.
Cross is known to students of the Westminster Shorter Catechism for his 2-volume Illustrations of the Shorter Catechism, for Children and Youth (1864). In the preface to this work, we are told that Cross had memorized the Shorter Catechism by the age of six. But his heart was not changed by God’s Holy Spirit until he became a young man, and then he became zealous to share the gospel of God’s grace with others, and the Catechism was for him a valuable tool as a Sabbath School teacher. He was experienced in the expositions of the Catechism by John Brown of Haddington, John Willison and that which goes by the name of “Fisher’s Catechism.” But he felt the need for another tool to help teach children the truths of the Bible - thus, his Illustrations of the Shorter Catechism was born.
As a colporteur for the American Tract Society (Superintendent of Colportage for Virginia and North Carolina), Cross reported the following summary of his work in 1866:
In other parts of Western Virginia, after a great deal of labor you may find a few persons who can read; then they are furnished with books, and a Sunday-school is started by them, which becomes the means of the formation of a church. That is the work of the colporteurs. They go there and plant a little seed, and by the blessing of God it increases and prospers.
I could tell you many instances of such things. We generally found the people very ignorant, and in huts and cabins which the foot of a religious man had never entered. Here we scattered the seed; and the publications of this Society were placed in their hands.
In North Carolina, under my own supervision, one hundred thousand children were gathered into Sunday-schools; and I know of no other agency which is so well calculated to meet the wants of our destitute population as the Tract Society.
Cross and other colporteurs did much to promote education in the backcountry, as he tells us in an 1851 colportage report to the American Tract Society.
In many instances families were found, numbering from five to twelve persons, who did not know a letter of the alphabet; they wanted no books, of course. The colporteur would open some book, read a passage, and exhibit some of the pictures. The eyes of the children would sparkle; ‘Mother, get me that book — I want to learn to read it.” What mother can resist such an appeal? The book is bought, or received as a gift. In a little time the child is in school. Such an occurrence as the above has been very common in the experience of our colporteurs.
The labors of Cross and other colporteurs in 19th century America did much to bring the word of God, and many edifying religious books and tracts, to people who would not otherwise have received them. Is there a place for colporteurs in 21st century America? We do not wish to see Jehovah’s Witness tracts spread abroad, but the online work of Log College Press is perhaps akin to what pioneer colporteurs did two centuries ago in that we make accessible to many, through the internet, godly literature which might otherwise lay obscure and unconsulted in libraries. For this opportunity, we are grateful to the American Tract Society, its colporteurs, the Presbyterian Board of Publication, the Presbyterian Historical Society, librarians, and the staff of Internet Archive, Google Books and many other institutions, including the PCA Historical Center, and others, for their labors in making possible what we at Log College Press do. And so, in remembering the work of Jonathan Cross, we also aim to carry it forward.
Samuel Miller and the Yellow Fever
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In keeping with a recent theme of exploring pastoral responses to epidemics centuries ago, which includes examples by men such as Ashbel Green, George Dodd Armstrong, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, E.D. McMaster, Francis J. Grimké, and William Marshall, we turn now to the story of Samuel Miller and his experience with the yellow fever in New York City.
In March 1798, from the nation’s capital (Philadelphia), U.S. President John Adams issued a proclamation declaring May 9th of that year to be a national day of “solemn humiliation, fasting and prayer.” An outbreak of the dreaded yellow fever had again struck Philadelphia, and New York City as well, and the need for fasting and prayer was widely recognized. On the appointed day, among those who delivered sermons was Ashbel Green in Philadelphia (Obedience to the Laws of God, the Sure and Indispensable Defence of Nations - not yet available to read at Log College Press) and Samuel Miller in New York (A Sermon Delivered May 9, 1798, Recommended by the President of the United States to be observed as a Day of General Humiliation, Fasting and Prayer). Miller affirms in his sermon that:
TO notice the dispensations of Providence, to examine their connexion, and to trace, as far as possible, their design, are among the most important duties of man. Through the medium of these dispensations God exhibits his own glories and our duty to us; and, of course, to neglect them is to incur the character and the guilt of those who do not regard his work, neither consider the operations of his hands.
Miller did indeed notice the events connected with the outbreak in his city as shown in the journal he wrote on his birthday later that year.
October 31, 1798. Never have I had more occasion to bless God for the return of my birth-day than now. I have just passed through the most awful scene of epidemic sickness and mortality that I ever witnessed. The Yellow Fever has been raging in the city for more than two months past. From the middle to the 25th of this month was the most mortal time. Though the city was deserted by, perhaps, two-thirds of its regular inhabitants, more than two thousand persons fell victim to the disease. I remained with a brother — a beloved brother — a practitioner of medicine — a bachelor as well as myself. We were both mercifully borne through the raging epidemic without any serious attack. Our housekeeper died of it, and I attended her funeral between midnight and day. To attempt to describe the scenes of mourning and horror which this epidemic presented — I dare it. The task transcends my power of expression. I preached every Sabbath; but only a few attended public worship; and I know not that any sensible — certainly no conspicuous — good was done (Samuel Miller, Jr., The Life of Samuel Miller, D.D. LL.D., Vol. 1, p. 118).
The following year, Miller was in a position to preach a sermon of thanksgiving: A Sermon, Delivered February 5, 1999; Recommended by the Clergy of the City of New-York, to be Observed as a Day of Thanksgiving, Humiliation, and Prayer, on Account of the Removal of a Malignant and Mortal Disease, Which Had Prevailed in the City Some Time Before. In this sermon, Miller called for joy at the relief New York had begun to experience as the horrors of the epidemic were abated to be tempered with trembling (Ps. 2:11). The voice of the rod had spoken, calling many to repentance, but now people were called upon to refrain from careless security, and forgetfulness of the awfulness of what had just transpired. They were called to give renewed appreciation and thankfulness to the mercy of God. Miller gave a detailed account of the number of deaths, including churches affected. Of the more than 2,000 fatalities which he noted, almost two hundred members from his own United Presbyterian Church alone were taken during the recent plague from August to November 1798. He notes the wisdom of many who left New York for safety.
It is pleasing to find, that the scruples which were formerly prevalent and strong, against flying from pestilence, are now entertained by few. There seems to be no good reason why those who consider it sinful to retire from a place under this calamity, should not have the same objection to flying from famine, from the ravages of fire, or from war, which are equally judgments of God. And yet those who reprobate the former, never think of condemning the latter. In fact, if it be criminal to retire from a city in which the plague rages, it must be equally criminal to send for a Physician, or to take medicines in any sickness; for they are both using means to avert danger to which the Providence of God has exposed us [Jer. 21:6-9]. It is hoped, therefore, if Providence should call us to sustain a similar stroke of affliction in future, there will be a more general agreement than ever, in the propriety of immediate removal; and that all will escape without delay, who are not bound to the scene of danger, by special and indispensible ties. Had all the inhabitants of New-York remained in the city, during the late epidemic, probably four or five times the present number, on the lowest computation, would have been added to the list of its victims. As every diseased individual or family adds force to the malignity of the atmosphere, it appears that the most benevolent principles conspire with the selfish, in prescribing immediate and general flight.
Miller’s son notes in his biography:
The city had, in 1798, somewhere about fifty thousand inhabitants. At least half of these fled from the scene of pestilence. Of the twenty-five thousand left, more than two thousand were swept into the grave between the 1st of August and the 10th of November. From the two Collegiate churches one hundred and eighty-six persons died, and Mr. Miller was himself twice slightly affected with the disease.
As Miller concluded his message, he called for his hearers to make good use of the affliction sent by God in His providence:
I cannot, however, dismiss the subject, without seriously asking, each individual in this audience, how they have profited by the solemn dispensation of Providence which they have lately passed through? Brethren, have you been led by this affliction to consider your ways; or has it left you more hardened? Have you been brought by it to repentance, love, and new obedience; or has it made you more secure, careless, and deaf to the voice of heaven? Have you come out of the furnace purified and refined; or more full of dross and corruption than before? Did none of you make vows and resolutions in the day of adversity? And are these vows remembered and fulfilled, or disregarded and forgotten? Have you turned from your evil way, and put away the accursed thing from the midst of you; or is all that guilt which drew down the judgments of God, still resting in its dreadful weight upon you? My hearers, these are not vain questions, they are even your life. Let me entreat you to answer them without partiality and without evasion; for they will be speedily asked before a tribunal where all things will be naked and open before the eyes of Him with whom we have to do.
When I look round this populous city, which was, a few weeks since, clothed in mourning, and contemplate the criminal dissipation, and the various forms of wickedness, which have so soon taken the place of those gloomy scenes, I am constrained, with anxious dread, to ask — Shall not God be avenged on such a people as this? Shall he not send greater judgments, and yet greater, in an awful succession, until we either be made to hear his voice, or be utterly consumed before him? Do not hastily imagine, from this strain of address, that because we have been lately afflicted, it would be my wish to see every innocent amusement discarded, and the gloom and sadness of the pestilential season, still remaining upon every face. By no means. To lighten the cares, and to dispel the sorrows of life, indulging in occasional and innocent amusements is at once our privilege and our duty. But do we see no other than innocent amusements prevailing around us? Are the lewdness, the blasphemy, the gaming, the unprincipled speculation, the contempt of Christian duties, and the violation of the Christian Sabbath, so mournfully prevalent in our city and land — are these innocent? Then were the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah innocent. Then are the impious orgies of infernal spirits harmless in the sight of God.
Upon each of us, then, as individuals, there is a task incumbent — the task of personal reformation and personal holiness. If it be true that one sinner destroyeth much good; it is equally true, that the fervent prayer, and the exemplary virtue of a righteous man avail much. Remember that if there had been ten righteous persons in Sodom, God would have spared the city for their sake. On the same principle, be assured, that every righteous person in a community adds to its security, and renders it less probable that Jehovah will visit it with consuming judgment. Let those who are strangers to religion, therefore, be entreated, if they regard their own welfare or that of their country, to return to God with penitence and love through Jesus Christ, and to walk before him in newness of life. Sinners! every hour that you continue impenitent, you not only endanger your own souls, but you add to the guilt of the community of which you are members. Awake from your fatal dream! Behold, now is the accepted time; behold now is the day of salvation! To-day, if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts. And let the people of God be persuaded, in these solemn times, to grow more watchful, diligent and holy. Christians! You are the salt of the earth. The importance of your example and of your prayers is beyond calculation. If there be any who have an interest at the throne of grace, and who are encouraged to repair to it with an humble boldness, it is YOU. If there be any who are under special obligation to rouse from their lethargy, and to profit by the late awful dispensation, it is YOU. Let the present season, then, form a new era in your spiritual life. Be sober and watch unto prayer. Sigh and mourn for all the abominations that are done in the land. For Zion’s sake do not be quiet, until the righteousness go forth as brightness, and the salvation thereof as a lamp that burneth.
It was several decades later that Miller’s sermons on The Duty, the Benefits, and the Proper Method of Religious Fasting (1831) were published. They contain his mature thought on the duty to join prayer and fasting, with repentance, especially in times of public calamity. These sermons have been reprinted by various publishers over the years, and they continue to testify to a duty to which God’s people are called in their proper season (see the Westminster Larger Catechism #108 on the duties required by the second commandment). According to Miller, Christians and indeed all human beings, have a duty to give heed to the voice of God in his providential mercies and afflictions, and to answer that call appropriately, by repentance, fasting, thankfulness and renewed personal reformation and holiness. The experience and teaching of Samuel Miller has great value today in the midst of such providential dealings of the Lord in the United States and the world. Read Miller’s writings on these matters both on his page, and in the biography written of him by his son, Samuel Miller, Jr.
HT: Ryan Bever
Dabney on 'The Happy Service'
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Among the collection of manuscript army sermons preached by Robert Lewis Dabney which we have at Log College Press (courtesy of Union Seminary in Richmond, VA) is one preached in August 1861 at Centreville, Virginia titled “The Happy Service.” It is based on the words of Jesus from Matthew 11:28:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
In this sermon (which was republished by Sprinkle Publications as a stand-alone booklet), Dabney offers some counsel to those who might chaff at these simple, yet profoundly true words of our Lord and Christ.
Although Jesus was not clothed in kings’ garments when He uttered those words — words which even a Roman Emperor could not utter in truth — yet as both man and God, He was and is able to fulfill the promise given.
First, Our Peace is to be found in embracing Christ and his service by faith…
Who is this, then, that calmly stands up and announces to his dying race this audacious proposal? “Come one, come all, to me; and I will give you rest.” Is this the Nazerene, the carpenter’s son; the man who “had not where to lay his head”? How dare he pledge to suffering mankind, he, in his beggary, a relief which Caesar, upon the throne of imperial Rome, with all the legions of her armies bowing to his sceptre, and all the nations of the civilized globe pouring their tributes into his royal treasury, would not presume to undertake?…
Be assured, my brethren, that the holy Jesus would have been incapable of using this language had he not been conscious that he was not only man, but God. It was because he could claim: “I and my Father are one”; “It pleased the Father that in him should all fulness dwell.” “He hath set him at his own right hand in heavenly places, and hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be head over all things to the church.” Unless the Son of man hath power on earth to forgive sins, and infinite attributes of omniscience and omnipotence, he cannot give peace to mankind. But he is both God and man.
Dabney continues by highlighting the apparent paradox of finding rest in taking a yoke.
Second, We read assurance of our peace and blessedness in Christ in the nature of the yoke which we are invited to receive. “Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.”
Here, again, there appears to the unbeliever a still greater paradox; he is invited to look for rest in assuming a yoke! It is when the yoke is unbound and the wearied ox is released to follow his own will pasture-ward, that he finds rest. So the perpetual delusion of the unbeliever is, that he can find his preferred happiness in the emancipation of his soul from the dreaded restraints of Christianity, and in this alone….
But I repeat, no man is free, or can be; all who do not bear the yoke of Christ, groan under that of sin and Satan. Such is the testimony of the Scriptures. “Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, whosoever committeth sin, is the servant of sin.” “Thou art in the gall of bitterness, and the bond of iniquity.” They are “taken captive by the devil at his will.”…These are but instances of the pinching of Satan’s yoke.
…it is not apathetic indolence or sensual ease which Christ promises, but rest for the soul. It consists of peace of conscience, harmony of the affections, and the enjoyment of legitimate and ennobling exercise for all the powers….He who bears the right yoke, or, in other words, has assigned to him the proper activities, is the man who truly enjoys his existence.
Then Dabney reminds us that Christ is the very “Lamb of God,” meek and mild to His beloved children. This is He who promises rest.
Third, We may expect rest under the yoke of Christ because of the character of our Master. “He is meek and lowly in heart, and we shall find rest unto our souls.” He is a gentle, kindly, tender master. A merciful master makes an easy service. His benevolence makes him watchful of the welfare of his servants, and considerate in dealing with their infirmities. His lowliness of heart ensures that he will never sacrifice the happiness and lives of his subjects in reckless and ambitious enterprises. He is not a tyrant to drag his wretched subjects, like an Alexander, or a Tamerlane, through frozen wilds and burning wastes, and to pour out their blood as a libation to the idol of his fame. He is the prince of peace, whose sceptre is truth and meekness and righteousness, and whose law is love. To his own people, he is the “Lamb of God,” who loved them and gave himself for them. How, then, is it possible that he, in regulating the lives and services of his ransomed ones, should impose on them any other law than one which conduces to their truest well-being? To dread the yoke of Christ is guilty mistrust and unbelief….
If, then, we would find rest to our souls, let us learn to imbibe the temper of the meek and lowly Jesus, and to bear his yoke with that devoted spirit with which he fulfilled his Father’s will in living and dying for us.
Among Dabney’s concluding remarks, he summarizes what is offered here by Christ to sinners. Let sinners and saints consider the blessedness of embracing and entering into Christ’s promise.
But now remember the blessed truth already established from the Scripture: that when a believing soul embraces the cross, Christ “crucifies the enmity thereby”; that he engages to take away the stony heart out of our flesh and give us a heart of flesh; that when he reconciles God to us by his atonement, he also reconciles us to God by our effectual calling, and sheds abroad his love upon our hearts. Then, as the regenerated sinner considers this amazing love and condescension of a Redeemer God, stooping to death to rescue him from unutterable ruin, a new-born gratitude conspires with adoration for his excellences, and he begins to say, “I love him because he first loved me.” Then the love of Christ constraining him becomes the spring of a joyful obedience; and he sings with devout delight, in the language of David, “O Lord, truly I am servant: I am thy servant and the son of thy handmaid. Thou hast loosed my bonds.” This is the way, O sinner, the yoke is made easy and the burden light! Cannot you apprehend it?
On the Lord’s Day, when the Son of God rose from the dead to conquer death and sin, and loose us from the bonds of iniquity, may His promise of rest to all those who take on His yoke by faith be an encouragement to you who are weary. Dabney’s sermon reminds us that it is a “Happy Service” indeed to be one of Christ’s precious saints walking His holy ways.
Resources on Revival
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Turn us again, O LORD God of hosts, cause thy face to shine; and we shall be saved (Ps. 80:19).
Times of chastening by the Lord are sometimes followed, in the mercy of God, by an outpouring of the Holy Spirit drawing God’s people closer and granting times of spiritual refreshing, reformation and revival. James W. Alexander notes that it was the economic collapse of 1857 that brought people to their knees which then led to a revival in New York City, and that such is often the case after “visitations” like the pestilence. It is helpful to study those periods of revival in the past, from the Reformation itself to the Great Awakening and others such times in history. At Log College Press, we have a great deal of literature for you to prayerfully consider regarding this topic.
The Reformation - James W. Alexander, The Reformation in Hungary and Transylvania; Henry M. Baird, Theodore Beza: The Counsellor of the French Reformation, 1519-1605; The Protestant Reformation and Its Influence, 1517-1917; Thomas C. Johnson, John Calvin and the Genevan Reformation; William C. Martyn, The Dutch Reformation; B.B. Warfield, The Theology of the Reformation;
The First Great Awakening - Samuel Blair, Account of the Revival of Religion; William Tennent, Jr., An Account of the Revival of Religion at Freehold and Other Places in the Province of New-Jersey;
The Kentucky Revival of 1800 - George A. Baxter, January 1, 1802 Letter re: the Kentucky revival; Lyman Beecher, Letters of the Rev. Dr. Beecher and Rev. Mr. Nettleton on the "New Measures" on Conducting Revivals of Religion; William Speer, The Great Revival of 1800;
The Princeton Revival of 1814-1815 - Ashbel Green, A Report to the Trustees of the College of New Jersey: Relative to a Revival of Religion Among the Students of Said College, in the Winter and Spring of the Year 1815;
The Baltimore Revival of 1823-1824 - William C. Walton, Narrative of a Revival of Religion, in the Third Presbyterian Church, of Baltimore: With Remarks on Subjects Connected With Revivals in General;
The New York City Revival of 1857-1858 - James W. Alexander, The Revival and Its Lessons; Samuel I. Prime, The Power of Prayer, Illustrated in the Wonderful Displays of Divine Grace at the Fulton Street and Other Meetings in New York and Elsewhere, in 1857 and 1858, Five Years of Prayer, With the Answers, Fifteen Years of Prayer in the Fulton Street Meeting, and Prayer and Its Answer: Illustrated in the First Twenty-Five Years of the Fulton Street Prayer Meeting;
The 1904 Pittsburgh Revival - Austin H. Jolly, The Pittsburg Revival;
Lectures, letters, reviews and sermons on revival - Daniel Baker, A Series of Revival Sermons and Revival Sermons (Second Series); John Breckinridge, Sprague on Revivals; and William B. Sprague, Lectures on Revival (included are letters by Archibald Alexander, Samuel Miller, Ashbel Green, Moses Waddel and many others).
Secondary Sources - In our Secondary Sources page, see Joel R. Beeke, Forerunner of the Great Awakening: Sermons by Theodorus Jacobus Frelinghuysen; Richard J.J. Chacon and Michael Charles Scoggins, The Great Awakening and Southern Backcountry Revolutionaries; Linford D. Fisher, The Indian Great Awakening: Religion and the Shaping of Native Cultures in Early America; Wesley M. Gewehr, The Great Awakening in Virginia, 1740-1790; David Harlan, The Clergy and the Great Awakening in New England; Thomas S. Kidd, The Great Awakening: A Brief History With Documents and The Great Awakening: The Roots of Evangelical Christianity in Colonial America; Perry Miller and Alan Heimert, The Great Awakening: Documents Illustrating the Crisis and Its Consequences; Kimmy Nelson, The Great Awakening and Princeton; Lisa Smith, The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers: A Shifting Story; and Marilyn J. Westerkamp, Triumph of the Laity: Scots-Irish Piety and the Great Awakening, 1625-1760.
There is much of value in these writings that not only speaks to the time periods from which they originated, but also to us today. We also have sermons, letters and more from some of the great preachers of the First Great Awakening, such as Samuel Davies and Gilbert Tennent. Take time to study this body of literature, and learn more about God’s dealings with his people, especially in the outpouring of His Spirit for the reviving of His saints.
A Virtual Tour of Princeton Cemetery
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William H. Foote once wrote of Moses Hoge (Sketches of Virginia, Second Series, p. 373):
He also visited Princeton College, which, in 1810, had conferred on him, in company with his friend, Mr. [Archibald] Alexander, the degree of S.T.D.; and passed a few days with Dr. Alexander. A cold easterly rain was falling the whole time of his visit. He examined thoroughly the condition of the two institutions, the College and the Seminary, with reference to the two in Prince Edward. He rejoiced in the extended influence of his friend Alexander, and [Samuel] Miller the co-laborer. He could not refrain from a visit to the grave-yard to meditate by the tombs of [Aaron] Burr, [Sr. and Jr.]; [Jonathan] Edwards, [Samuel] Davies, [John] Witherspoon, and [Samuel Stanhope] Smith. As he tarried in that hallowed spot, the bleak wind pierced his diseased frame, and hastened his descent into the valley of death. His heart was elevated as he went from grave to grave, and read the epitaphs of these Presidents of College and teachers of Theology; and his body under the cold rain was chilled in preparation for his own resting in the silent tomb. The conversations of Hoge and Alexander those few days, had there been a hand to record them, laying open the hearts, as by a daguerrotype, of men of such exalted pure principle, so unselfish and so unlike the mass of men - what simplicity of thought, benevolence in feeling, and elevation of piety! -- but there was no man to pen what all men would have been glad to read. Mr. Hoge took his seat in the Assembly - but his fever returned upon him, of a typhus case, and by means of the cold caught in Princeton, became too deeply seated for medicine to remove. He bowed his head meekly to the will of the Head of the Church, and fell asleep in Jesus, on the [5th] of July."
Of the Alexander family, A.A. Hodge once said (Henry Carrington Alexander, The Life of Joseph Addison Alexander, Vol. 2, p. 583):
Of this one great family, A. A. Hodge once said, “I never go to Princeton without visiting the graves of the Alexanders – father and sons – and I never think of them without having my poor staggering faith in God and in regenerated humanity strengthened. Let us uncover our heads and thank God for them.”
Princeton Cemetery is comparable to Westminster Abbey or Bunhill Fields, where so many godly saints are buried - John F. Hageman described it as "the Westminster Abbey of the United States." The number of Log College Press authors who have been laid to rest here is numerous; included are Archibald Alexander, James W. Alexander, Joseph A. Alexander, Aaron Burr, Sr., Samuel Davies, A.A. Hodge, Charles Hodge, Samuel Miller, B.B. Warfield, John Witherspoon, and so many more.
For those who are unable to visit Princeton Cemetery in person, or who wish to revisit the cemetery virtually, take a tour of this special place online here. See where the past Presidents of Princeton (including Jonathan Edwards, Sr.) are buried, along with a President and Vice-President of the United States, and many other luminaries with Princeton connections. This writer has spent many hours touring the grounds, including a visit to the grave of Charles Hodge on the 140th anniversary of his entering into glory. We can all be thankful for the technology to be able to revisit Princeton Cemetery, especially in a time of isolation.
The Southern Presbyterian Review at Log College Press
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As our friends at the PCA Historical Center, who have done much to aid students of history by indexing a valuable theological journal, have noted about The Southern Presbyterian Journal:
Published from June of 1847 through October of 1885, the Southern Presbyterian Review remains a significant publication for the study of the history, doctrine and polity of the Presbyterian Church in the U.S., a denomination more commonly known as the Southern Presbyterian Church. As one of its authors, John B. Adger noted, "Running from 1847 to 1885, its thirty-six volumes cover a very interesting term of years. Political, educational, moral, ecclesiastical, theological discussions were rife in those times. The war was coming on, and the ideas that led to it stirred men's minds and hearts."
At Log College Press, we have recently add all 36 volumes to the site for your reading pleasure. This journal included writings by Southern Presbyterian giants such as John B. Adger, Samuel J. Baird, Robert J. Breckinridge, Robert L. Dabney, John L. Girardeau, George Howe, Benjamin M. Palmer, Thomas E. Peck, William S. Plumer, Stuart Robinson, Benjamin M. Smith, Thomas Smyth, James H. Thornwell, B.B. Warfield, John L. Wilson, and others. Some additional contributors found within these pages include the Irish Presbyterian Thomas Witherow, the Scottish Presbyterian William Garden Blaikie and the German-born, New Orleans-based Jewish Rabbi Isaac L. Leucht. There is a wealth of discussion, and sometimes a diversity of views, on matters such as the office of the diaconate, church-state relations, baptism, Roman Catholicism, dancing, missions, church history, musical instruments in worship, poetry, preaching, the Christian Sabbath, evolution, eschatology, and much more.
Begin your reading here, and remember that some individual articles are found on the author pages at LCP, and some are not (or not yet). Thanks to Dr. Wayne Sparkman, author and subject indices are available at the PCA Historical Center. There is a veritable treasure trove of material here to download, digest and reference at your leisure. Enjoy!
S.J. Cassels: Our frail tabernacles should make us value that Good Land
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In the months before Presbyterian minister and poet Samuel Jones Cassels passed away in Savannah, Georgia at the age of 47, probably of tuberculosis, he was very busy with his pen, writing a number of articles for the Southern Presbyterian Review, including one which was published posthumously.
The editors of SPR published a bit of his correspondence after his death which tells us something of the sufferings of this saint, and his longing for heaven. In a letter dated April 20, 1853, Cassels wrote:
Rev. and Dear Brother, — I am gratified that there is prospect of having another article published. Not that I desire to appear so often before the public, but because I am so shut out of life by infirmity. Ah, my Brother, few know my daily sufferings. As the Apostle said, “I die daily." The pen is the almost only means of a little diversion from bodily pain. Whenever I can be so absorbed in thought as to forget the body, I have ease, sometimes exhilaration. But, for the most part, I only struggle and struggle with the decays of my frail tabernacle. But I should not thus speak, lest I seem to murmur, — for I can feebly testify, that in all my afflictions, no good word of God has failed. For the past week, I have been much afflicted; and yesterday, — fell sick, and is very sick to-day. Oh, how such things should make us value that good Land, where thorns and thistles grow not, tears are not shed, and sin has no existence!
You will find the article hastily written , and of course disfigured by bad-spelling , bad punctuation, and bad grammar, it may be. — Anything of this kind you may see, please correct, as if it were your own. I have had to erase much for the same reason. Please see that the proofs are correct.
Yours in the Gospel, and in the hope of a blessed immortality.
S.J. Cassels
On June 15, 1853, Cassels entered into that Good Land, and all his bodily sufferings came to an end. No more thorns and thistles! Only blessed peace and immortality in the presence of his beloved Savior.
Eyes open to the world around you: Julia McNair Wright
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He claimed that, while reading about nature was fine, “if a person walks in the woods and listens carefully, he can learn more than what is in books, for they speak with the voice of God.” — Helga Schier, writing about George Washington Carver (George Washington Carver: Agricultural Innovator: Agricultural Innovator, p. 79)
If God is the author of two books, Nature and Scripture (Ps. 19), we do well to attend to both. It was said of the Presbyterian minister James L. Woods (1846-1918) that:
Mr. Woods loved God and all things that He made — the trees, the flowers and the grandeur of the mountains. To him they spoke a "various language" as he held "communion with her visible forms." It was his custom to take long walks among the mountains, sometimes spending days among their fastnesses. It was when returning to his home in Lakeport from one of these rambles that he succumbed.on the 13th of June, 1918, at the close of a beautiful day. A friend wrote: How fitting that he should fall asleep in the arms of nature (Harriet E. Jones in James L. Woods, California Pioneer Decade of 1849: The Presbyterian Church (1922)).
Maltbie D. Babcock loved to hike, especially along the Niagara Escarpment to enjoy the overlook's panoramic vista of upstate New York scenery and Lake Ontario, telling his wife he was "going out to see the Father's world". Such hikes inspired his famous poem, which later became the hymn “This is My Father’s World.”
This is my Father’s world,
and to my listening ears
all nature sings, and round me rings
the music of the spheres.
This is my Father’s world;
I rest me in the thought
of rocks and trees, of skies and seas;
his hand the wonders wrought.This is my Father’s world;
the birds their carols raise;
the morning light, the lily white,
declare their Maker’s praise.
This is my Father’s world;
he shines in all that’s fair.
In the rustling grass I hear him pass;
he speaks to me everywhere.
Another Presbyterian writer who loved nature and aimed to instill that love in children was Julia McNair Wright (1840-1903). We have taken note before of her historical fiction and biographical sketches for children. Today we take note of her writings on science and nature; specifically, those focused on teaching children to open their eyes to the world around them to the glory of God.
Among the 90 or more published writings by Mrs. Wright (which we continue to upload to Log College Press as we are able) are a number of works for or about children and science or nature. She published a popular four-volume set of Nature Readers: Sea-Side and Way-Side in the late 1880s and early 1890s; and volumes for young people on astronomy and botany in 1898.
She also wrote short articles for periodicals such as Fiddler-Crabs (for The American Naturalist, May 1887); “Shall Our Children Study Natural Science?” (for the Nashville, Tennessee Southwestern Journal of Education, September 1887); The Cultivation in Young Children, of a Taste for the Literary and Scientific (for the Boston, Massachusetts American Teacher, January 1888); and Scientific Collections: How Made (also for the American Teacher, April 1888). Several nature “dispatches” written from her home in Fulton, Missouri were published in the weekly newspaper Science. Those “dispatches” consisted largely of personal, scientific observations pertaining to creatures which lived nearby.
So many of these sorts of writings by Mrs. Wright seem to have arisen because of a deeply personal appreciation for the world around her, and a desire to share that interest and passion with young people. A love of nature is apparently contagious, and for those who may be housebound, it is worth reading over some of these writings to be stirred up in the appreciation of the world outside. Even in isolation, through windows at least, one can still appreciate the beauty of the birds, the stars, the trees, and take note of many facets of God’s creation. Reading books is fine, as George Washington Carver has said, but few things can surpass a walk in the woods or through fields or at the beach, with friends or family, and with eyes open to the glory of God in his creation.
At the border of Immanuel's Land: Last words of John H. Rice
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The following instances, in which some of God's dear ministering servants, as representatives of many of 'like precious faith,' when they reached the borders of the river between them and Immanuel's land, glanced at the hills and heard something of the harmony and inhaled the fragrance blown across, are replete with interest, and should not fail to be read with profit. — Alfred Nevin, How They Died; or, Last Words of American Presbyterian Ministers (1883), pp. 11-12
Among the stories told by Nevin of faithful ministers whose last words still echo today is that of John Holt Rice (on p. 44). But for a fuller account of this particular story, we turn to the memoirs of Dr. Rice, first professor of Union Theological Seminary (then located at Hampden Sydney, Virginia), by William Maxwell and Philip Barbour Price.
As they describe “the last scene,” it was Saturday evening, September 3, 1831, and 53 year-old Rice was laying on his sick bed in agony. Many had visited him that day, and all knew that the end was near. A little bit of opium was administered to him to ease the pain. He spent time in silent prayer. Then, in Price’s words,
About 9 o'clock, rising suddenly, he threw his arms around the neck of Mrs. Rice, and with a clear, bright eye beaming with heavenly joy, exclaimed, "Mercy is — " The last word died upon his lips. "Was it ‘great’?" said Mrs. Goodrich. "No," replied Mrs. Rice, "it was a longer word." In the dim twilight of receding consciousness the dying Christian perceived that he was not understood; and, lest he should fail in the delivery of his last testimony, with great exertion, recovering his strength, he exclaimed, "Mercy is triumphant."
His head fell upon his bosom, and the words "he is gone" were uttered around the room.
Dr. Horton gently released his arms and laid him upon his pillow, and with a few more signs of breathing he expired.
Thus did he exchange “this mortal coil” for Paradise. And so entered into glory a man whose passion for spreading the gospel in Virginia and around the world was surpassed by none. Of him it might well be said, “Do you not know that a prince and a great man has fallen this day in Israel?” (2 Sam. 3:38) While his earthly remains were laid to rest at the cemetery of his beloved seminary, his hope was in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, whose mercy indeed is triumphant over all.
A Short Conversation with Archibald Alexander on Fasting and Prayer
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And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes (Daniel 9:3)
In his posthumous volume known as Practical Truths (1857), some of Archibald Alexander’s last writings were assembled together, including one piece titled A Short Conversation on Fasting and Prayer. As many are at this time called to particular seasons of fasting and prayer, it is thought that Alexander’s remarks on this subject might prove timely.
A Short Conversation on Fasting and Prayer
Yesterday a pious young minister of the Baptist denomination called upon me, and said he wished I would write a short article for the Messenger on the duty of fasting. He observed, that among Christians of our day he feared this duty was much neglected.
I referred him to a valuable discourse of the late venerable Doctor Miller on that subject, published some years since in the National Preacher, which he said he had not seen. I told him that I was not in favor of periodical fasts once a week or once a month; that there were times when we ought not to fast: as our blessed Saviour said to the disciples of John, in answer to their question, "Why do we and the Pharisees fast oft, but thy disciples fast not? Can the children of the bridechamber mourn as long as the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come when the Bridegroom shall be taken away from them, then shall they fast.”
To this my young friend assented, and observed, that soon after his conversion he determined to fast one day in the week; but after practising this for some time, he found that it was degenerating into a formal observance, and he gave up the practice. He remarked that it was evident from one declaration of our Lord, that there were cases of obstinate evils from which deliverance was not obtained without adding fasting to our prayers. The reference was to Matt. 17 :21: "Howbeit, this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting."
Fasting has made a part of all religions, true and false, and is much practised among the heathen, the Jews, the Mohammedans, the Romanists, and the oriental Christians. And because the practice has been turned to superstition, Protestants have too much neglected this duty. But eminently devout men in all ages have found fasting an auxiliary to devotion and to the mortification of sin.
Some professors neglect it altogether, under the false notion that literal fasting is not enjoined, but only penitence and abstaining from sin. There are, however, degrees of fasting, both as to the time of abstinence from food, and whether the abstinence be total or partial. The Ninevites, when brought to repentance by the preaching of Jonah, tasted neither bread nor water for three whole days. This was a severe fast. Daniel fasted for three full weeks; but this was not a total abstinence, for he says, "I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth." And Peter's fast, when he saw the vision of the sheet let down, was only until the ninth hour, that is, three o'clock of our day.
External fasting, without corresponding internal penitence and humiliation, is hypocrisy, and such fasting is severely reproved by the prophet. See Isaiah 63. And God says, "Therefore also now, saith the Lord, turn ye even to me with all your heart, and with fasting, and with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your heart, and not your garments." And our Lord warns us against ostentation in our fasting: "Moreover, when ye fast, be not as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance; for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to. fast. Verily, I say unto you, they have their reward. But thou, when thou fastest, anoint thy head, and wash thy face; that thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father who is in secret; and thy Father, who seeth in secret, shall reward thee openly."
One special occasion on which the apostles and their companions were accustomed to fast, was when ministers were to be ordained and sent forth. Thus we read in Acts 13:2, "As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Ghost said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto I have called them. And when they had fasted and prayed, and laid their hands on them, they sent them away." And again, chap. 14:23, "And when they had ordained elders in every church, and had prayed with fasting, they commended them to the Lord." Is this practice now followed by those who ordain? As fasting renders some persons sick, so that it hinders their devotion, such should adopt partial abstinence; for the Lord will have mercy, and not sacrifice. But its causing pain is one end of fasting, that we may "afflict our souls."
In this short conversation with Archibald Alexander, we are given some helpful principles regarding and insights into the nature and practice of fasting and prayer. For further study, be sure to check out the fuller work on the subject alluded to by Samuel Miller: The Duty, the Benefits, and the Proper Method of Religious Fasting (1831). The time is right for many to seek the Lord in this way, as saints of old have done, and as Alexander and Miller have counseled.
William Marshall on an age-old question: "Should I stay or should I go?"
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In recent weeks, we have written of pastoral responses to epidemics centuries ago, including examples by men such as Ashbel Green, George Dodd Armstrong, Benjamin Morgan Palmer, E.D. McMaster, and Francis J. Grimké. In today’s post, we look at William Marshall, an Associate Presbyterian minister, who, like Ashbel Green, faced the question of what to do in response to the yellow fever which raged in Philadelphia during the late 18th century.
James B. Scouller, in his Manual of the United Presbyterian Church of North America, p. 486, writes of Marshall:
When the yellow fever was in Philadelphia he wrote a “Theological Tract on the Propriety of removing from places where the yellow fever prevails.” As he was leaving the city at this time, because of the yellow fever, a friend on the other side of the street accosted him, saying: “The wicked flee when no man pursueth, but the righteous are as bold as a lion.” He immediately replied: “A prudent man foreseeth the evil and hideth himself, but the simple pass on and are punished.”
The tract spoken of here is available to be read at Log College Press. In it, Marshall begins by stating what the question is not:
it is not “Whether we can fly from God?” - God is omnipresent;
it is not “Whether the pestilential fever be a judgment from God?” - Scripture declares large-scale pestilence to be a scourge or judgment of the Lord; and
it is not “What is the duty of every individual, where the pestilence rages?” - acknowledging the general normal duty to assemble for public worship, Marshall says, quoting Thomas Boston, “That what God forbids is at no time to be done; what he commands is always duty, and yet every particular duty is not to be done at all times.”
The question Marshall aims to answer is this: “What is the duty of those who live in a place where the pestilence is spreading? Should they not remove to a more healthy situation if it is in their power?” This Marshall answers in the affirmative, for several reasons, particularly on the basis of the Sixth Commandment, which requires that we engage in “all lawful endeavours to preserve our own life, and the life of others.”
After providing his reasons in favor of people “removing” from a city afflicted by the plague for safety reasons — the title page of Marshall’s treatise cites Jeremiah 38:2: “He that remaineth in the city shall die — by the pestilence: but he that goeth forth — shall live” — he responds to five objections to this position.
Marshall concludes his essay with an encouragement to trust in the Lord but not to run rashly with presumption into danger. Read the full work — titled A Theological Dissertation, on the Propriety of Removing From the Seat of the Pestilence: Presented to the Perusal of the Serious Inhabitants of Philadelphia and New-York (1799) — here and consider how one leading 18th century Presbyterian in response to a yellow fever epidemic answered the question, “Should I stay or should I go?”
The Sabbath at Home: Silas M. Andrews
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Are you at home on the Lord’s Day today? Silas M. Andrews has a book for you: The Sabbath at Home (1840)? It encourages those not able to attend on the public worship services to spend their time wisely in keeping with the purpose of the Lord’s Day.
In this short volume, Andrews encourages families and individuals at home to read the Scriptures, pray, sing praises to God, meditate, catechize, and read godly literature. All of these are involved in profitable Sabbath observance, he says, and help us to aim our thoughts heavenward on this holy day.
He also discourages “Sunday visiting,” which under today’s circumstances (vis-à-vis the coronavirus) might seem to make sense. But his aim was primarily to help Christians avoid vain and frivolous conversation on the Lord’s Day. He does encourage visiting the sick to offer spiritual and physical comfort. This encouragement can be followed in some cases these days, but in other cases, we may avail ourselves of electronic technology to commune with others at a distance and still adhere to the thrust of Andrews’ counsel.
Andrews also connects the importance of public worship to Sabbath observance at home. How those who are at home ought to long for the courts of the Lord! Thankfully, technology can be help today in this regard, but it can never be a substitute.
This little book offers people who are at home on the Lord’s Day some valuable encouragement to redeem the time wisely. Today might well be the day when a book from 1840 speaks to us most clearly in 2020. Check it out here, and may God bless you on this Lord’s Day (3 John 2).
What do the Scriptures teach about coming to Christ? Charles Hodge answers
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Among his Princeton Sermons (1879), we have the sketch of a sermon which Charles Hodge delivered on December 7, 1856 titled “Coming to Christ.” Here Hodge — a man who was not laconic, but rather a model of brevity — gives us an outline of what the Scripture teach. After discussing — from Matt. 11:28; John 5:40, 6:37, 44, 7:37; Heb. 7:25, 11:6; and Rev. 22:17 — the nature of what is meant by “coming,” as it includes a sense of one’s need for Christ, belief and trust in Him, drawing near to Him by faith, and spiritual union and communion with Him, then Hodge adds these simple remarks, which summarize what is involved.
Two additional truths are revealed by Scripture on this point.
The unwillingness of men to come, and consequently the guilt of not coming. 2. The necessity of being drawn by the Spirit.
The Scriptures teach,
That all are invited to come.
That all the elect do come.
That coming is essential.
That it is the very thing to be done.
That none who come shall be cast out.
That the reason why men do not come is their unwillingness.
That divine assistance is necessary.
A simple outline, but it is the simplicity of the Scriptures themselves. Read Hodge’s sermon sketch, and more by him, here.
250th Birthday of John M. Mason
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Perhaps no one person in the Associate Reformed Church of that era made a greater contribution of service, or caused a greater degree of controversy than John M. Mason. He had a brilliant mind, an eloquent manner of speech, and a boundless capacity to work. He was, some would say, a man ahead of his time, and impatient to wait on others to catch up with him. — Ray A. King, A History of the Associate Reformed Presbyterian Church, p. 119
It was 250 years ago today, on March 19, 1770, that John Mitchell Mason was born. He was a major force in early 19th century American Presbyterianism, and most especially, within the Associate Reformed Church. His writings advocating more frequent observance of communion, and on occasional communion; on lotteries; concerning the election of Thomas Jefferson; and on religious controversy show his willingness to engage and challenge others on disputed matters. But while he challenged the church, and those outside the church, he loved and labored for God’s kingdom in America and around the world. He helped to establish and organize a theological seminary for the Associate Reformed Church in 1804, he founded The Christian’s Magazine in 1806, and he served as President of Dickinson College, in additional to his ministerial labors.
Four volumes of his Works, and other writings, along with a volume (by his son-in-law) of his memoirs and correspondence, are available to peruse at Log College Press. Also, be sure to take note of Mason’s place in Robert R. Lathan’s History of the Associate Reformed Synod of the South, To Which is Prefixed a History of the Associate Presbyterian and Reformed Presbyterian Churches (1882). John M. Mason was a 19th century giant among other giants of early American Presbyterianism, and his 250th birthday is the perfect time to remember his contributions to the Church, which were extensive. To God be the glory for such a servant who labored diligently for his kingdom!
