THE NEW SCHAFF-HERZOG
4. James Davenport. '.
the law," and their doctrine of conscious religious experience. It was natural that Tennent's preaching in New England should arouse strong criticism from men of like mind with the " Old Side " of his own church.
The first and chief difficulty in New England was, however, connected with James Davenport, of Southold, L. I. The news of Whitefield's successes had led him in 1740 to begin special exhortation of his people, and in the following year he began an itinerary at Easthampton which carried him through Connecticut, and finally as far as Boston. While his piety was genuine, it is not to be doubted that he was laboring under a mental aberration which increased during his itinerant ministry. He indulged in caustic criticism of most of the ministers whom he met. In New Haven the final outcome of his work was the formation of a separate church. Even the legislature at Hartford took notice of his excesses and sent him home as a man of disordered mind. In June, 1742, he appeared in Boston, and here began in consequence that opposition to the revival which long continued and greatly affected the entire later history not only of that city but of all America. The association of ministers issued a declaration in which they gave generous recognition to Davenport's excellencies, but on account of his irregularities, they judged it their " present duty not to invite Mr. Davenport into our places of public worship." The result of this declaration was that there were preachings upon the common, a great deal of controversy and disturbance, and finally a presentment before the general court, upon which Davenport was discharged as not guilty because non compos mentis. After a while Davenport departed for home. On his arrival, and with the mending of his health, he saw his errors and published " retractations " in which he withdrew bis statements and explicitly recognized his errors. It is upon such a background that the history of Whitefield's revival movements in New England is painted. He was charged with being an " enthusiast," i.e., one who acted on stimuli furnished by dreams and sudden impulses which he mistook for inspiration, with disorderly methods, censoriousness, slander, and with deluding the people.
Edwards' defense of the revival did not ignore " imprudences," " irregularities," " indiscreet zeal," nor " outcries, agitations, and faintings of the body "; but he defended the revival, nevertheless, 5 Edwards' Decause ** nac* produced " a remark- Defense; a^e an(* Seneral alteration in the face Statistics. °* New England " in matters pertaining to religion and common morals. He defends the evangelists in respect to many things for which they had been unjustly blamed, as he thought, and maintains that there is a proper address to the emotions, and that the preaching of terror is justifiable, for the state of unrepentant man is indeed terrible. Neither did he refuse to see in physical effects of preaching " probable tokens of God's presence." Edwards left quite complete and very significant data as to the numbers affected by this revival, and their ages, from which the following table is compiled, in which no distinction is
made between males and females, who were converted, according to Edwards' explicit statement, in about equal numbers.
Age.
Number.
Age.
Number.
. . 35
It will serve the purposes of confirmation of the Edwardean table as normal and valuable, if the following table of a revival in an Iowa town, about ten years since, be given. It was conducted by a, Congregational minister.
Age.
Number.
Age.
Number.
The numerical results of the revival in the country at large can be estimated upon the basis of only partial information; a conservative estimate pats the number of additions to the New England churches in consequence of the revival at 25,000, which, as there seem to have been then about 250,- 000 population in New England, makes the proportion of conversions to the population at least ten per cent. This does not, however, completely cover the number of conversions, for a large number were already within the churches by the operation of the Half Way Covenant (q.v.), who needed conversion, and actually were converted. The whole number of conversions, therefore, when these dead churchmembers are included in the enumeration, must have been nearly 50,000. One hundred and fifty Congregational churches were formed in less than twenty years, most of which can be credited to the revival. A considerable number of separatist churches were formed, many of which contributed powerfully to the influence of practical religion; while Baptist and Presbyterian forces were largely increased. Thus, when a broad review of the numerical results is taken, it is evident at once that the reenforcement of the religious forces of the country was very great.
2. Revivals About the Year 1800: From the close of the " Great Awakening," as the revival just sketched was called, there were no general revivals in America till about the year 1800. It was the period of war, with the consequent demoralization.