Orleans independent standard. [volume] (Irasburgh, Vt.) 1856-1871, 1870-04-05

thing they have left behind them sa-
vor Of good.
We come now TO the late revival,
which twelve years ago swept over
our whole land. We have not now
the time, nor are the resources yet
open which may enable US to discover
all the patent or latent causes which
produced it. We know that mems
minds had been engrossed with the
hot pursuit of wealth, hundreds Of
whom had been fearfully disappoint-
ed. In their emptiness and desola-
ton of heart, it was natural for them
to seek, if such were to be had, "the
more enduring riches of Heaven. -
We know, too, that from the pulpits
of our land there had been a great
trumpeting of truth against such wild
and reckless speculation, which ended
in fraud and proved the moral life and
conscience of the commercial world to
have become corrupt. We are told,
further, that for months, nay, years
before, devout souls, truly believing in
God as their Ruler, in a Christ as
their Redeemer, in a Heaven and in
He'll, had been secretly and earnestly
praying for some like spiritual change.
That revival was the outbreak of such
hidden forces combining with those
more apparent. When therefore men
had not any or but little hope of times
wealth and scarce anything to enlist
their thoughts or employ their pow
ers, it was comparatively easytc gath
er and affect them by religious mo-
tives.
Now here lies the grand secret of
all revivaIs; it is in the combination
of all concurrent influences which af
feet men, the organization Of effort
to whatever end, the concentration Of
the mind upon whatever truth contin-
uously presented until thought is en-
listed, emotion stirred, passion enkin,
died and action secured. There are
crises in the lifetime of individuals,
communities and nations when all
these combined forces may be made
efficient, and when patriotism, intem-
perance, auti-slavery or religious in
auence may be made to work success.
fully.
These crises are not the work of
moment They are the elimination
of forces long at work. Casual OBJ
servers seeing the tears of the peni-
tent, hearing the loving testimonies of
the convert, and marking the counte-
nances of the anxious, only in open
meeting, falsely conclude that all this
is the result Of the hours excitement.
produced by pleas and prayers and
songs. But all these are only the ripe
fruit-the golden grain-after months
and years of conviction, of soul wrest,
ling, of pastoral teaching Of parental
training. The excitement" as some
are pleased to call it, is not the cause
Of all this fervor-it is the effect of
truth long heard and pondered, of sin
long felt, now repented of, and pardon
bringing JOY and love to the soul,
which it must express.
| We have scarcely yet had time to
| observe what may he the ultimate and
permanent results of the great revi-
walls. Whatever of evil we now see
may be but the small eddies and coun-
tercurrents of the swift and strong
river whose moral force has swept
many out into a deep clear sea OF
| goodness. We know it to be fact
undisputed, that hundreds of such men
as Oryille Gardner, once base and
abominable, have been suddenly and
thus far permanently changed, and are
now working energetica!ly for the
good of their fellows.
So in the subsequent revival of Ire.
land, hundreds Of drunkards, pr0sti
tutes and other hitherto abandoned
wretches have been turned into men
and women of uprightness. How
long they will continue so, remains yet
to be proved. Their fruits will show.
One thing must be candidly looked
at in this Irish revival. 1t began in
deed without any real efficient effort
to produce it. True, the story of the
American revival may have reached
there. But the ministers and church
es where the work now prevails, had
been chronically listless and hostile as
to such movements. Prayer meetings,
at least those with any life, were a
rarity. Lay effort was a contraband
article. The preaching of the doc
trines" and the administration of the
ordinances, together with the knowl-
edge of the "Catechism.' were the
essentials, the Alpha and Omega of
those Presbyterian Churches.
Had those Irish souls been found
under the teachings of such men as
Wesley and Fletcher or Birchard and
Finney, we can say that our estimate
of its genuineness and worth might
, have been considerably modified.
But unaccustomed as they were to any
such religious movements, we are con.
strained to admit, that though men
and devils, mesmerism and magnet
ism, may have mixed in and taken
, part with the work, yet that there was
/ after all at the bottom an undercur
t rent of power that can only be &C
: counted for on the admission thai
} some secret, divine influence was ex
+ erted. What otherwise could have
| made that work so universal, so un
, ique, so harmonious in its character
, What could have produced moral ef
: fectS so beneficial, SO uniform anG
spontaneous One great master spir
p it doubtless has been there at work
/ with one design and agency.
r Now, admitting that there was in
5 deed supernatural influence working
: in those revivals, and that there is
; truly such thing as real religious
truth, amid the diversities of Christian
|. creeds, we are earnest to inquire
r what shall promote such religious
: movements; what shall make then
| pure and permanent Assuming, too
. that these recent developments of re
, ligious life are to be ultimately bene
: fetal to the subjects thereof, we hon
| estly confess amid all our perplexities