CHAP. XII.] PRINCELY BENEFACTORS. 477 setts, invested in this college did not exhaust her grace of liberality; as the seventy-five thousand dollars given to Hatfield Academy, and the fifty thousand given to the scientific department of Amherst College, and the thirty thousand to Andover Theological Seminary, loudly testify. And there, too, was Samuel Williston, of Easthampton, Massachusetts, who, in addition to two hundred and seventy thousand dollars with which he endowed Williston Academy, at Easthampton, dedicated to that and other literary institutions more than a million of dollars. The founders of the noble Wellesley College have already expended hundreds of thousands of dollars-probably a million-on that female college, with its collegiate and academic departments, and designed for the higher education of women and their collegiate instruction. It had, at last accounts, twenty-nine teachers and three hundred and thirty students; and stands abreast with the best institutions of the kind in Christendom, while thoroughly Christian. And though we may not mention a score of other generous givers, yet one quiet lady, unknown except in her own immediate circle, must be mentioned among the princely benefactors of the literary institutions of the land- Mrs. Valeria G. Stone, of Malden. A complete list of her benefactions cannot be given; but it is safe to say that her actual and contemplated gifts for the upbuilding of the Redeemer's kingdom largely to literary institutions - will amount to about one million dollars.* We have no thought of claiming a monopoly of this good work for our denomination; but simply to claim for Congregationalists the honor of being uniformly, everywhere, at all times and at all sacrifices, the friends and founders of Christian colleges, as well as of academies and higher institutions of learning, for both males and females, and common and elementary schools. And this surely is a noble characteristic. *Mrs. Stone's gifts of a strictly public kind exceed the sum named in the text by a quarter of a million of dollars. — G. B. J. CHAPTER XIII. REVIVALS, FROM THE FIRST TO 1878. THERE is another important topic on which something must be said in this summary of Congregational history, namely: the relation of the denomination to revivals of religion. For, those seasons of special awakening to spiritual and eternal things which are called revivals have ever been welcomed by evangelical Congregationalists as the most precious gifts of God, and with them the life and prosperity of our churches have ever been identified; and this may be justly regarded as one of the highest recommendations of Congregationalism. The great Lollard movement in England, about A.D. 1360-1420, out of which grew Independency and Congregationalism, was essentially a religious revival, which preceded, and prepared the way for, the English Reformation, about A.D. 1533–52; so that the denomination may in truth be said to have been born in a revival- or rather, to have been brought to life and activity by such gracious visitations from on high as are now called revivals. The immigration of the Pilgrims and Puritans into New England was a revival movement. Nothing but a quickened and extraordinary relig ious sensibility could ever have induced and sustained this most wonderful movement. such as the world never before witnessed, and at which men stood astonished, as entirely beyond their comprehension. And all the early years of our colonial life were essentially revival years; not so called by the fathers, but really and truly such, judged by their fruits; for they were years of most extraordinary consecration and devotion of Christian people to God, attended by the continued increase of their number by conversions from the world. And this was the state of things in New England for nearly or quite an entire gen eration. In point of fact, this revival spirit continued to pervade New England until the great bulk of the men and women who came to this country previous to 1640 had passed from the stage. golden age extended from about 1630 to 1660. Soon after that time we begin to hear of religious declension; though as late as 1678, Increase Mather, while complaining that conversions were becoming rare in that age of the world, yet admits that most of the churches about that time had experienced "a sprinkling of the Spirit though not that general pouring down of the Spirit that is to be desired." It was a maxim early announced and generally accepted by the first settlers of New England, that "originally, they are a plantation religious, not a plantation of trade." And the general CHAP. XIII.] ROGER CLAP'S TESTIMONY. 481 tone of feeling among the primitive settlers of this country, and their religious experiences, are well described by one of the first settlers of Massachusetts, Roger Clap, of Dorchester, when he says: "The Lord Jesus Christ was so plainly held out in the preaching of the gospel unto poor, lost sinners, and the absolute necessity of the new birth; and God's Holy Spirit in those days was pleased to accompany the Word with such efficacy upon the hearts of many, that our hearts were taken off from Old England and set upon heaven. O, how did men and women, young and old, pray for grace-beg for Christ, in those days! And it was not in vain. Many were converted, and others established in believing. Many joined unto the several churches where they lived, confessing their faith publicly, and showing before all the assembly their experiences of the workings of God's Spirit in their hearts to bring them to Christ. . . . In those days God, even our own God, did bless New England." -- This is the testimony of an intelligent layman, who came over in 1630, and was a prominent and influential citizen until 1691. He wrote his "memoirs" from which the above is copied-about 1676, for his children and children's children; that they might know what he had seen and experienced in the course of his eventful life, which was prolonged to his eighty-second year.* *See Young's Chronicles of Massachusetts, 343–67; and The Christian History, p. 72. |