of your dreadful wickedness; and let this be the last time you attempt to insult a preacher; for if you repeat your abominable sport and persecutions, the next time God will serve you worse, and the devil will get you.

99 15

During the early period, railroads were not in use in the West. In 1830, there were only twentythree miles in operation in the whole United States, and in 1835 the number of miles was but 1098. In 1840, the railway mileage was 2818; in 1850, 9021; in 1860, 30,626. In the latter year, some of the western states led. Thus, Ohio had 2946 miles; Illinois, 2790; New York, 2682; Pennsylvania, 2598; and Indiana, 2163." With the growth of railroad mileage, and the opening of new and better roads, the facility of communication was improved and the isolation of the frontier began to pass.

Throughout the whole of this period enthusiastic religious waves frequently swept over the country. One of these early awakenings was the Great Revival in the West, 1797-1805. Out on the frontier all denominations worked under difficulties. Meeting houses were poor and few. Often preaching was held by the roadside. Since ministers were scarce, church ordinances could not be administered regularly. Then too, the necessity of providing for daily needs often drove the thought of religion from. people's minds. Many of the outlying settlements were seldom visited by

ministers. The Baptist and Presbyterian clergy were rather closely confined to the churches under their immediate charge. The Methodist itinerant, however, penetrated the heart of the wilderness, preaching in the cabin or on the roadside, whenever and wherever he could make the opportunity. In the absence of ministers, a simple service of prayer, Bible reading, and singing was conducted by some layman. In these newer regions, as in the mission field to-day, a friendly feeling was often manifest in spite of doctrinal differences. It was not at all uncommon to find the different churches uniting in the larger meetings, although the Baptists were a little more aloof than the others. Periods of feverish anxiety often succeeded periods of seeming indifference. People then threw aside their ordinary tasks, journeyed dozens of miles, and camped out a week or more in order to hear the Gospel tidings. It must be remembered, of course, that many people attended out of mere curiosity, and others because there was nowhere else to go for a social time. Our modern amusements of picture shows, theaters, etc., were then unknown on the frontier. Whatever the cause, nevertheless, small cities of white tents sprang up for a while, as if by magic, and preaching went on continually." As early as 1794, one of the Methodist churches in Lincoln County, North Carolina, had held one of these meetings in the nearby forest for several

17 Cleveland, O. 0. The Great Revival in the West, 1797-1805, 22, 23.

days and nights. The camp meeting was well introduced by the beginning of the next century. Excitement was intense. This was largely the result of impassioned preaching, earnest exhortation, loud prayers, and energetic singing. Bodily exercises, as dropping, jerking, and barking, often manifested themselves, but since they too often brought disrepute upon religion, they were frequently condemned by the better educated of all denominations.' Thousands, nevertheless, were added to the churches during this period. The Elkhorn Baptist Association of Kentucky, composed of thirty-six churches, claimed 3011 additions by baptism in the year 1801. According to a minister named Rogers, the Baptists of Kentucky received over 10,000 additions by baptism in that year alone."

18

One of the greatest of these early meetings was the Cane Ridge Revival, 1801. The following extracts give a description of the meeting by a minister" who participated:

"Out of many I shall select that of Caneridge, which I attended with eighteen Presbyterian ministers and Baptists and Methodists, I do not know how many, all being either preaching or exhorting the distressed with more harmony than could be expected: The governor of our state was with us and encouraging the work.

18 Cleveland, O. O.

The Great Revival, 1797-1805, 51-54.

19 Woodward, W. W. Surprising Accounts of the Revival of Religion in the United States of America, 58, 59.

30 A son of Rev. James Finley, and nephew of Dr. Witherspoon of New Jersey College, to whom the letter quoted was written.

"The number of the people computed from 10 to 21,000 and the number of communicants 828. The whole people serious, all the conversation was of a religious nature, or calling in question the divinity of the work. Great numbers were on the ground, from Friday until the Thursday following, night and day without intermission engaged in some religious act of worship. They are commonly collected in small circles of ten or twelve, close adjoining another circle, and all engaged in singing Watts' and Harts' Hymns; and then a minister steps upon a stump or log and begins an exhortation or sermon, when as many as can hear, collect around him. On Sabbath night, I saw above one hundred candles burning at once-and I saw I suppose one hundred persons at once on the ground crying for mercy of all ages

from 8 to 60 years. Some I had satisfaction in conversing with, others I had none; and this was the case with my brethren as some of them told me. When a person is struck down he is carried by others out of the congregation, when scme minister converses with and prays for him, afterwards a few gather around and sing a Hymn suitable to his case. The whole number brought to the ground under convictions about one thousand, not less. The sensible, the weak, learned and unlearned, the rich and the poor are subjects of it. At Cianthiana, Paris, Flat-creek, Point Pleasant, Walnut Hill and George Town, great congregations are in all these places, and exercised in the manner as above described.

..

"Some, perhaps, will censure us for associating with the Baptists and Methodists. But, my dear Sir, we are all very friendly; there appears to be good doing; all are encouraging it; and is this not better than to be devouring one another? Is it not more agreeable with the command of Christ, whose every precept is love? We all preach the truth, as we think, carefully observing decorum, as far as conscience will admit, that one society may not hurt the feelings of another.'' "

1 Woodward, W. W. Surprising Accounts of the Revival of Religion, 225-229.

Thousands of men and women accepted Christ during this period of revival. The gains of the Baptists in Kentucky have already been indicated. The Methodists registered large additions also, as did the Presbyterians. The latter, however, regarded the methods with disfavor in some cases; hence their increase was neither so large nor so permanent as that of the others. Then, too, schisms occurred in their ranks, one of which-the Stone movement-will be considered in the following chapter.

In spite of the great interest manifested in religion from 1797 to 1805 and in the camp meetings of succeeding years, however, it must not be supposed that religious conditions in the West were entirely uniform or favorable. Morals, it is true, were fair at first. The grosser vices were unknown. Drinking had scarcely begun. In speaking of the conditions in Illinois, 1785-1800, Peck said:

"For the first eight or ten years of the period I have glanced over, the only professor of religion in the colony was a female, who had been a member of the Presbyterian church; yet the Sabbath was observed with religious consecration. The people were accustomed to assemble, sing hymns, and read a portion of scripture or a sermon. No one ventured to offer a prayer.'

As time went on, nevertheless, people of a different type came in. Thus Peck in his Diary for Saturday evening, November 8, 1817, made the following entry:

Peck, J. M. Annals of the West, 706.