The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1906-03-20
REVEALS, OLD AND NEW.

eminent pastor IF Leeds. England
who h. to hold 4 seric- If Union meet
| inas iu Raleigh. IS uuder-j ood nat -
! be an evangelist IL the sense ia which
! that word has come ~ bc ussd as
~signffyluE an itinerant g@caocr. great
! or small. Wloso purpose y To ki7dis
! religious enthusiasm and 10 brig
! about conversions through @UIiaa
e~xcitation Of religious ~fe71aoT.
At the same time Dr. Chadwick
may be said To be rcyiyalist whose
mission. while ciInging to old land
| marks in its substance. i in practice
! adapted 20 the varied conditions which
have arisen as the result Of a more
universal education and u wider habit
Of individual thought. Eotn the world
and the word. taken a. the practical
! application Of faith To the needs If
humanity. have become more COM
| pick. With the progress Of civiliza-
tfou. the physical and mental needs Of
the average IN a have become insi%-
tent. in equal ratio has the problem
Of how TO satisfy his spiritual dspira-
tions become the task Of the scholar
az veil as it has been and always
will Dc the province Of the enthusiast,
But the day when enthusiasm seemed
the sole agency for the spread
and susten&nce Of christianity may
be said 10 have passed. The z%ealoi.
With soul on fire and with transport
rs mis- weapon, has served his time.
There remains for the work the need
of men no less dedicated to the
central idea than they are specially
equipped by the genius Of versatility
and organization. Practical religion
has to a real degree become socloi"-
giCaI and political as well as spiritual.
But in the development Of the idea
the fundamental sp~iritualism, the
flight of faith which uphold all Chris
tan effort. are intensified and height
cned in the adaptation. Men Of the
stamp of Dr. Chadwick recognize the
need of utilizing the questions Of the
hour. the demands of conditions Of
life. the perplexities of poverty and
of property in the settlement in the
common mind of those spiritual prob
lens pressing for answer and compii-
~ III - ~ NN~ $3.50 1880
puzzle of existence. In an age when
great forces are in the slow travail
out of which shall be born an epoch
it is an easy and natural superficiality
to minimize the individual relation
to the whole. The personal hint of
self excuse is the sophistry OF a lack
of responsibility with respect to Ges-
tiny. It is easy to appreciate the temp
tation of one toiler in the mass. edu-
Gated sufficiently to appreciate his
apparent insignificance. 20 gain from
that vision a bitter sense of freedom
from obligation, to his God as Well as
to himself. Caught in the mighty tide
the atom loses the touch OF his own
share in the common impetus iii HE
rumbing reflection of his impotence
to stem the current: and in that false
equation does the soul in its resent
ment at its logic create for itself out
of its despair at it's unimportance an
arrogant personality. II is to recon
Gle this half-hearted shelter in ma
terialism with hope, to identify it With
confidence, to endoW it with charity
which is the understanding of faith
hat is the mission of the new revival
ism. Animating the Institutional wc~k
in which DIR. Chadwick is engaged. In
spiring the organized labors of the
class of men whom he represents.
fashioning the idea of meeting the
world on middle ground for the pur-
pose Of higher aims is the old Impulse
to journey n the fields and speak
and to sacrifice self for the service |
of the many which constituted tae
spirit and the success Of the earlier
and better known evangelists. I'll !
causes and the methods of the rcvi.ai-
alone are changing; the work
remains 10 be done and time continues
to supply the workers.
1t is comfortable to a faith in the
interpoSition of providence to note
the periods and the extent Of those
general movements towards religious
thought which have come to be
known as "~revivaIs.' First applied by
s~coffers in a spirit of ~reproach, the
term was Of an eXactness to make it
alone descriptive. Like between
nations, the intervals between the
great r~evivals seem for the most part
to take the span of a generation. IN
they are "~awakenings." They
seem to touch the world at once as a
thought. an unhcard of doctrine.
The simple character of their appeal
is. wonderful in its result. Habits of
change in Il night. Carefully eIab-
grated and honestly conceived theo-
ries Of action and ethics fall like a
house of cards at the breath of in
SEPARATION. Commercial communities
cave off trade for prayer. Scholars
and day laborers, women and boys
and children meet together in a COM |
JOY and a common agony. The
revival comes without warning. it
not halt to argue. 1t sweeps
opposition as Il strong wind. h it
has gone its effects remain. Lasting
changes have occurred The people
are different, if wondering.