rumbled after coffin; without a mourner to shed a tear upon the corpse, or a solitary attendant to mark the place of the grave. From one new moon to another, and from one Sabbath to another, the world went forth, and looked after the carcasses of the men who transgressed against God; and they were an abhorring unto all flesh.'

Our revolutionary war closed about the time when this French infidelity was at its height, and before its frightful results had been fully disclosed.

The government of France had taken part with us in our struggle against England. The noble-hearted Lafayette had embarked in our cause with a generous enthusiasm that deeply affected the American people. Other distinguished Frenchmen had been our friends. Now, it was at this juncture, when we were disposed to give the warmest welcome to whatever came from France, that a deep, dark tide of that horrible infidelity ploughed its way, like the Gulf Stream through the Atlantic, and heaved its huge surges on the American shore. The valleys were flooded; the swelling waves rose and buried the hills; upward the awful deluge prevailed, and rolled its black billows above the tops of the tallest mountains. In the new settlements of the west the desolation was dreadful. There were few that escaped the deadly inundation. were religious privileges, that it was extremely difficult to find materials sufficient to construct an ark, in which one entire family might be saved. It was proclaimed over all the land, that France-enlightened, scientific, fashionable France had renounced the gospel, had burned the Bible in the streets of Paris by the hands of the common hangman, and had inscribed in broad

So rare

characters, over the entrance into the common buryingground, that "death is an eternal sleep."

And moreover it was confidently asserted, by those who had opportunity to know, that Thomas Jefferson, regarded in the west as a great political luminary, had rejected the gospel, and adopted the infidelity of France; that most of our enlightened statesmen were following his example. Jefferson, as a politician, had, at that period, immense popularity; and the influence of his name, when in unison with the downward current of depravity, was mighty.

Such was the attitude of the west, in relation to religion and religious privileges, from the year 1783 till 1800-harassed by almost incessant Indian wars, impelled in the broad road by the folly and wickedness bound up in its own heart, and bewitched and bewildered by the abominable example of those whose names possessed fascination, because they were inscribed on the rolls of fame.

In the midst of this period of spiritual darkness, Paine's "Age of Reason" came forth. Paine was favorably known to the American people as a political writer during the conflict of the revolution. His works entitled "Common Sense," and "The Rights of Man," had secured for him a wide-spread reputation. And in the minds of the multitude, he was closely identified with the cause of American freedom. Rarely, in his assaults on the church of God, has that "archangel ruined," whose name is called Apollyon, been able to occupy such vantage-ground. The appeal to the American people was this: "You have thrown off allegiance to the British king; now throw off the yoke of superstition, and be freemen indeed." Paine scoffed

at all that was sacred in religion-profanely mocked and blasphemed the ordinances of God. O, it was a tremendous eruption of the bottomless pit! The shock had well nigh thrown down the hope of the church. The smoke that ascended filled all the air with blackness, and eclipsed the sun; while ashes, cinders, and lava came down, threatening to bury every vestige of good that yet remained in society.

In a letter to the editors of "The New York Magazine," the venerable Gideon Blackburn says, "About the years '98 and '99, the darkness was thick, like that in Egypt, a darkness which might be felt.' The few pious in the land were ready to cry out, 'Has God forgotten to be gracious? Are his mercies clean gone? Will he be favorable no more?'”

About this period, pious men in the west began to call on the name of the Lord with that earnestness and importunity which takes no denial. In Logan county, Kentucky, Rev. James McGready and some Christian people appointed seasons of special prayer. They also set apart days of fasting and humiliation before God.

The great revival of 1800, like that granted to the disciples on the day of Pentecost, was preceded by a season of deep humiliation and earnest prayer to God.

THE REVIVAL.

The first conclusive proofs that the Lord had heard prayer, and visited his people, were received in Logan county, Kentucky. The work began "at the house of God." It was according to the prayer of the Psalmist "Restore unto me the joys of thy salvation, and uphold me with thy free spirit; then will I

teach transgressors thy ways, and sinners shall be converted unto thee." The people of God were brought near to him. The preaching of the gospel and the ordinances of the Lord's house were to them the bread and the water of life. And while they admired the freeness, the fulness, and the firmness of God's covenant mercy, the very dust and ruins of Zion were precious in their eyes, and believing prayer in her behalf went up as a "cloud of incense" before God. Presently an awful solemnity took hold of the public mind. Persons hitherto careless flocked, in great numbers, to the place of worship. The power of preaching was greatly increased. God was "fearful in his praises." And in prayer, Christians were enabled to "come boldly to a throne of grace."

I design to give, presently, Dr. Baxter's account of these seasons, written at the time; but first I wish to lay before the reader some particulars which are imprinted on my own memory, and have remained most distinct and clear, through all the years that have intervened. The "little cloud" which had begun to pour out its blessing on the churches in Logan county, Kentucky, soon spread, like that in Elijah's day, until it covered the face of heaven. My father's residence was then in East Tennessee, some two hundred and fifty miles distant from the point where the revival first appeared; but brief was the time that elapsed until it was in the midst of our population.

1. A deep solemnity pervaded the entire community, filling the minds of old and young with awe and reverence in view of God and his holy gospel. I remember, with a distinctness that is marvellous to myself, the unparalleled impression in our neighbor

hood. We had assembled in the house of worship. Each man and woman seemed to realize the sentiment of the patriarch, "Surely the Lord is in this place." Rev. Mr. Dobbins, then of North Carolina, afterwards well known in Ohio, preached a sermon. The attention was profound. During the sermon, two young men of respectable families, well known in the congregation, began to tremble in their seats; they were perfectly silent, but their trembling was visible to all that were in the house; the people felt that the great Master of assemblies was among them. They knew that this was that mighty power of God, of which they had heard among the churches in Kentucky. How much a young mind may have erred in its estimate, I cannot say. But it then seemed to me, that the appearance of the forerunner of the final Judge, approaching our earth with the trump of God, could scarcely have added to the awfulness of the solemnity. Stout, stubborn sinners, who before had blasphemed God and scoffed at sacred things, were struck down as literally as Saul of Tarsus, on his way to Damascus. But this brings me to another branch of the subject; that is,

2. The FALLING DOWN. This was one of the forms of that bodily exercise, as it was then called, which accompanied this remarkable work. It must be borne in mind that the country had been overrun by a bold, blaspheming infidelity, which scowled at sacred things, and attempted to browbeat and bear down all that was called by the name of the Lord Jesus. Thomas Moffit, Esq., now of Springfield, Illinois, assured me, that in the part of Kentucky where his people then lived, "it was believed that, at the commencement of