gave an address, which Mary told me afterwards "was far better than anything I ever preached." They had an after-meeting, and some conversions, and promised to come over again. Thus the work spread to another part, and I had to go there also.
Poor Mr. -- was very excited about this, and said that he "thought it most ungentlemanly." I dare say it was, and that I was somewhat uncouth; but I never stop to consider prejudices and fancies when the Lord"s work is in the way.
It was a widespread and remarkable awakening, and one not without much opposition and jealousy. I happened to say from the pulpit, that at one time before I knew the truth I used to be quite a popular man: people liked me, and clergymen let me preach in their pulpits; but now that I had something to tell for the good of souls, they seemed to agree to keep me out. Very few were so bold as the vicar of this parish, who had not only invited me, but stood by me also.
A neighbouring clergyman, who was an important man--a prebendary, and what not--wrote to the vicar to ask if it was true that I had said in the pulpit that my clerical brethren scouted me, and would not let me preach for them.
The vicar very wisely handed the indignant prebendary"s letter over to me to answer, which I did. In my reply, I took the opportunity to put in some Gospel teaching, which was supposed to be very irrelevant matter, and counted evasive. I did not deny that I had said something to the effect of which he complained, but I pleaded in extenuation that I was justified in doing so. He was more enraged by my letter than by the report he had heard, and threatened to publish the correspondence. This he did, with a letter to his parishioners, in which he warned them against revivals in general, and me in particular. He told them that I was "infatuated;" that I had "usurped the judgment seat of Christ;" that I was "the accuser of the brethren;" that I "acted the devil"s part now, and was to be his companion hereafter." I thought of giving more choice extracts from this publication, but on second thoughts I consider it better to pa.s.s it over.
CHAPTER 22
The High Church Rector, 1854
Let bygones be bygones. I am thankful to say times are changed, but the letter referred to in the last chapter, though expressing the sentiments of one man, yet showed the feeling of many others. I do not complain of it, for I must say I rather like the outspoken opposition of the natural heart; it is far better, and much less trying, than smiling indifference or hollow a.s.sent.
The work which began in this part went on and spread. The refusal of the clergy to take it up sent it to the chapels, where it was continued for miles round. For this reason I was charged then, and have been since, with encouraging Dissent, but the accusation sits very lightly on me, for I know what I would rather have. Nothing would please me so well as to have the clergy converted, and taking up the work; but if they will not, then I would rather that the Dissenters had the benefit, than that it should die out and be lost. Dissent makes division, but it is necessary for vitality, under present circ.u.mstances, and counteracts the great evil of spiritual death. The light of G.o.d ought to be in the Church of England, for it is the Lord"s candlestick in this land; but when the truth is not represented, and the Church is dark, it is a mercy that G.o.d has been pleased to raise up witnesses for Himself in other bodies.
The Calvinist, with a needless bitterness, holds up G.o.d"s sovereignty, as if man"s will were not free; the Arminian is equally energetic for man"s responsibility, as if G.o.d were not sovereign; and the Quaker is a witness for the work of the Spirit. These, and several others, each maintain their particular doctrine. They are raised up to show respectively their own portion of the light, because the Church, which has in her formularies all these great truths, is remiss in her duty.
The full blaze of light which ought to be emitted from her to all sides, is shed upon her in detail from others; and her members are too often lighted from without, and not from within.
In many parishes there was no light, and no life or testimony in the Church; and had it not been for the chapels, men and women might have perished in ignorance and error.
Imperfect and erroneous as is some of the Gospel which is preached in chapels and rooms, there was more vitality in it, and also more saving power, than in the refined and critical teaching which emanated from many of the accredited and accepted preachers of the land. Where the Church was rising up into energetic action, in too many cases it had a sectarian, and not a catholic object--that is to say, it was aiming to make Churchmen and communicants, or members of guilds, instead of proclaiming the Gospel for the salvation of souls.
The sovereignty of G.o.d, the responsibility of man, and the work of the Holy Ghost, were frequently altogether overlooked, although this is the true catholic teaching. In this I comprehend not only the bringing of souls from the power of Satan to G.o.d, that they may receive the forgiveness of sins, but also that believers might go on to have "an inheritance among them that are sanctified by faith in Christ Jesus."
Churchism, with its sacramentalism, is as sectarian as any form of Dissent, Romanism included; for it falls short of G.o.d"s object, as declared in the Word.
When the work at Golant church abated, I had more time for looking about; so I proffered a visit to the High Church rector, who had asked me to come over and tell him the secret of my success. He readily fixed upon a day, so I went over to luncheon; after which we began to talk.
The curate, who was present, and who had heard some ranters shouting and screaming in the "shires," kept on every now and then putting in a word of caution to restrain the rector from admitting too much; for little by little he was yielding to me. I spoke of letting down the nets for a draught, and catching men, not to smother and kill them in some Church system, or by some erroneous teaching, but to keep them alive. "This," I said, "is the meaning of the word in the original;" and we looked it out in the Greek. It was very interesting. We then talked over the difference between the Church system and that of the Bible. The one, I said, makes apostolic succession and the sacraments the channel of salvation; the other the Word of G.o.d, as applied by the Holy Ghost.
We had a great battle on this point, two against one; but having the Word of G.o.d on my side, I stood by my experience. I had myself been on the other side, and was then ten times more zealous and earnest than these two were. I said, "I used to preach salvation by Church and sacraments once, but I was not saved that way. I used also to teach that the new birth was by Baptism; but I was not born again when I was baptized. Were you? Are you quite sure that, with all your faith in Baptismal Regeneration, you are born again of the Spirit? Are you satisfied that you are now saved because you are in the Church?"
They were dumb. So I went on to say, "I have no party or sectarian object in my work; my only desire is to bring souls to Christ Himself for salvation. I used, as a priest, to think I was mediator between Christ and the sinner, and that I had received by delegation some power for this purpose; but now that I have been over the ground experimentally, I would as soon blaspheme G.o.d in your presence, as dare to absolve a sinner, or come between Christ and him. My orders are to bring them from the power of Satan to G.o.d, and to Christ crucified, for forgiveness of sins."
At this point the rector brought out a printed sermon by Dr. Pusey, on Justification by Faith, which he had been carefully reading. I asked him to read it to me. The first few pages contained statements of the doctrine in New Testament words, with a fair exposition of them; but when the author same to his own thoughts about the subject, he said that Baptism was the cause of justification. Here I challenged the statement, and said, "Have you any references there--any "stars" or "daggers" to that?" "Yes," he answered, "references to the Fathers." I replied, that "the Fathers were not inspired, There is no such thing as "Justification by Baptism" in the Scriptures; it is by faith only, as you will see in the fifth chapter of the Epistle to the Romans."
"Yes," he said, "that is just what Dr. Pusey means--Faith, as shown in Baptism."
"Then," I said, "according to that, in your Baptism you were justified by Faith; and as a consequence you have peace with G.o.d, and have access into grace, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of G.o.d. You will see that St. Paul connects this experience with what he calls Justification by Faith. Evidently he did not expect so much from Baptism as you do, or for a certainty he would have baptized every one he could reach; but, instead of this, he thanked G.o.d that he had only baptized a few persons whom he named (1 Cor. 1: 14-17). He had gone about for three years, teaching the Ephesian Christians, even with tears, and he called them to witness, not that he had administered the sacraments, and done priestly work among them, but that he had ceased not to teach, and to preach, "repentance toward G.o.d and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ"" (Acts 20:21).
My two High Church friends were not convinced, though they could not answer me. It was a question in their minds who was right, Dr. Pusey, or this "Fanatical Revivalist."
"Come," I said, "there is your man-servant outside in the garden; he was converted two weeks ago; and though he cannot read, I feel sure he knows more about this than the author of that learned sermon. Let us call him in and read a few pages."
We did, and told him to sit down while we read a little while.
The rector began, and, as he went on, Sam"s face lit up with joy, until the rector came to the sacramental pa.s.sages; than any one could see Sam"s interest was gone. He became very restless, and at last interrupting, said, respectfully, "If you please, sir, is there much more of that?"
"Why, Sam," said his master, "don"t you like it?"
"No, sir," he said; "that man ain"t converted at all!"
"Well, that is strange," said the rector; "I saw his interest went off just at the very point where you took exception to the sermon. You and Sam under stand something that I do not know." Thus our sermon-reading concluded, and, besides this, my witness had given his testimony.
I had stayed already two hours longer than I intended, and was tired of talking. The rector asked me to remain, and dine with him, and promised that he would send me to church in the evening in time for the service.
I agreed to this; so he kindly took me upstairs to wash and rest. Coming into the room with me, he shut the door, and said in confidence,
"I know you are right; my mother taught me all this when I was young!"
"Then," I said, "we had better kneel down and pray about it."
We did so. In his prayer he entreated very earnestly that the scales might fall from his eyes, and that these truths which he loved when he was young might be brought to him again.
He was only praying for truth, and not for pardon and salvation; so I pointed this out to him.
"Yes--yes," he said; "Lord, save me! Lord, save me! Pardon me!"
I believe he found peace before he came down; but it is more difficult to p.r.o.nounce in the case of educated, than in that of uneducated people.
In the latter, the transition from darkness to light and life is often very manifest; whereas in the case of the educated, the effect is not so clear.
However, he came down to dinner, and it was not long before he roused the anger and contempt of his wife and curate, by saying, "I am converted." They tried hard to laugh him out of it, and asked him which of the chapels he would join? They suggested he had better be a Bryanite; Mr. Haslam is king of the Bryanires; and so on!
I was happy to hear all this, and could not help telling them so: first, because the rector was counted worthy of such taunts; and, secondly, because their natural enmity was raised. I said that I hoped they would both be converted also, and that very soon.
When I was leaving for my service, the rector, in bidding me good-bye, said, that he "was sorry he could not go with me; but would I come and preach in his pulpit on Sunday?" I promised that I would.
On the way, Sam, who was driving me to church, became much excited, and seemed beside himself for joy. Putting up his arms all of a sudden, with reins and whip in either hand, in the act of praising G.o.d, he frightened the horse, so that it ran away at full speed.
"Oh, never mind---never mind!" he said, "don"t be frightened! No doubt the old devil "ud like to upset both on us; but I am sure the dear Lord will take care of us, don"t fear."
Certainly there was need, for the horse went headlong down a long narrow hill, and if anything else had been on the road, we must have come into disastrous collision. We were, however, carried safely down, and reached the church in good time.
Sam"s joy, I need scarcely say, was all about the master"s conversion, and the fact that I was to preach in their church on Sunday--two circ.u.mstances he did not fail to announce to every one he met.
He put up his horse, and stayed for the service. In the after-meeting, when he prayed, he sent up his prayer with a thanksgiving for these two things, which set the congregation praising G.o.d also.
Thus the revival, which began on one side of the river, pa.s.sed over to the other, and brought out people from another town, and also villages beyond. There was a great awakening in that part of the country. The curate found peace on the Sunday, and many more; but not the rector"s wife. She continued her opposition most vigorously.
The wisdom of the serpent is seen in capturing the wife first; but still I am sure in this case that the serpent"s wisdom was outwisdomed, for her persecution made her husband pray and work all the more earnestly.
People in these days did not regard "missions" so complacently as they do now. The very idea of preaching night after night, not for some Missionary Society, or for collections, but simply for the conversion of souls and the salvation of sinners, seemed to cast a slur upon ordinary preachers, as if they did not aim at such a thing; and upon people generally, as if we meant to imply that they needed it. Most certainly they did.
I believe ordinary preachers in the churches of that neighbourhood did not expect conversions; and most of the people were unconverted. I could not help telling them so, which only roused their wrath so much the more.
From this place I returned home; for my prolonged absence, I found, was likely to bring me into trouble. Other clergymen might go away for months, travelling or salmon fishing; but if I was absent for a few weeks, I was supposed to be neglecting my parish. On my return, I had much to tell, and did not expect to be invited out again in a hurry; for very few clergymen would willingly desire to be drawn into such a whirlwind of storm and trouble, as my visits usually involved.
CHAPTER 23