come to lead the thirsty Pilgrims of New England to the garden of the
Lord,
"'Where living waters gently pass,
And full salvation flows.'"
It must be remembered that this most remarkable man was but twenty-six
years old, and yet England and America had been thrilled by the power of
his unexampled eloquence.
The next day he preached in Brattle Street Church, then in other
churches, hoping to afford the people an opportunity to hear. But the
multitudes were so great that no church could accommodate them, so he
resorted to the open field, as usual. Boston Common was thronged with
thousands, while three times each day he preached to them with an
eloquence which Boston had never before heard. Hundreds were won to
Jesus, and many ministers were aroused and made clearly conscious of
their need of salvation. He visited some of the adjacent towns,
especially Cambridge. His eloquent appeals aroused Harvard College from
its sleep of a century, and there occurred in that institution what
never happened before or since--a genuine revival of religion. It was a
wonder then; it would be more so now! Dr. Coleman, a graduate of
Harvard, wrote at the time: "The college is entirely changed. The
students are full of God, and will, I trust, come out blessings to their
generation. Many of them appear truly born again, and have proved happy
instruments of conversion to their fellows. The voice of prayer and of
praise fills their chambers; and sincerity, fervency, and joy, with
seriousness of heart, set visibly upon their faces. I was told yesterday
that not seven out of the hundred in attendance remained unaffected."
"That was," says one writer, "a strange day for Harvard."
This was the introduction of Methodism into New England, and Whitefield
at the time was a Methodist evangelist.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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