cieties have found their resources insufficient for the suddenly-developed need. Our newspapers, for the most part, either ignore these movements or are sceptical that any permanent good will result from them. What ought our attitude to be? This afternoon we may well meditate upon this important subject, and remind ourselves of the nature and consequence of some similar movements in the past.

WILLIAM BOOTH'S EFFORTS

Some of us are old enough to remember the days when William Booth began his effective public ministry, and the Salvation Army spread throughout England. His methods were decried for their vulgarity. Street-corner preaching was derided. The so-called Skeleton Army was organized to break up his meetings. At times the police took action for obstruction against his officers; but, when in the north of England a magistrate stepped from the Bench to take a place in the dock by the side of a woman in a Salvation Army bonnet, the end of official interference was rapid. And William Booth lived to receive an honorary degree from the University of Oxford.

Very similar was the experience of Wesley and Whitefield, the pioneers and leaders of the great Evangelical Movement of the eighteenth century. Whitefield was a man of the people, with a superb gift for popular open-air preaching. Wesley was

an Oxford scholar of good family, at first reluctant to do anything so unusual as preaching in field or market-place. When he took the plunge, he found his life's work. Both men at first had to endure persecution, kicks, blows and missiles from the half-savage, wholly pagan rabble of the time. Men of position, even some of the clergy, encouraged or condoned such violence. Enthusiasm was a word of contempt. In 1768 six undergraduates were brought by their tutor before the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford on the charge that they were "enthusiasts who talked of regeneration, inspiration, and drawing nigh to God." On this charge they were expelled from the University. In the end, of course, spiritual enthusiasm justified both itself and the men whose lives it enriched. Wesley, after an incredibly active open-air ministry of fifty-two years, died in 1791, respected and honoured by good men throughout England. From the fire which he kindled came the greater part of the spiritual energy which regenerated both our Church and Non-conformity at the close of the eighteenth century. Probably few in his own lifetime thought of him as a political force; he was a prophet called by God to preach the Gospel with power and great glory. But modern historians, asking why this country was preserved from the horrors of the French Revolution, find in Wesley and his fellow Evangelists the reason. He enlisted in the service of Christ many who would

otherwise have been wild and impetuous reformers. Through him the spirit of peace and righteousness became strong in the land. Though our people suffered and endured much that was evil, Wesley had taught them that, by brotherhood and not by violence, men build the Kingdom of God.

THE EIGHTEENTH CENTURY

The great Evangelical Movement of the eighteenth century is especially interesting as showing how rapidly and how far spiritual earnestness can travel. A religious awakening in South Germany led to the foreign missionary work of the Moravian brotherhood. Both here and in America its influence was felt, and in particular, by John Wesley. Wesley's early mission to Georgia failed; but Methodist success in Western England led to similar success in America. Later the stream of inspiration flowed back to England, and so fired William Carey and his friends of the Northampton Association that they started to preach the Gospel in India. In all this wonderful development there was a unity. We seem to see many movements in different lands. In reality the same Spirit was dominant in all; the same purpose and the same power, in Anglican, Methodist, Baptist and Moravian, showed that all were fundamentally one in Christ Jesus.

In the light of such facts of history, we may well inquire why it is that religious revivals, when

they begin, should be so disliked alike by the worldly and the placidly religious. Why are they commonly viewed with prejudice, and their leaders often reviled? The early Christians, products of the greatest religious movement in the history of mankind, were accused of atheism and foul vices. For a century after St. Paul's death the educated of the ancient world almost invariably excluded from their writings any mention of the new and despicable superstition. Now, several reasons combine to create this attitude. There is distrust of the unknown. An outburst of religious zeal is inexplicable; and the presence of the Spirit of God is disturbing. Those in whom it comes to dwell see the world in new light, and comfortable hypocrisies wither under its glare. Then, too, all strong emotion is unpleasant to an onlooker; the behaviour of those to whom the revelation of God comes suddenly is that of men at a crisis, tears and intimate speech, penitence and joy. When tears made white marks down the cheeks of the colliers to whom Whitefield preached, respectable people were repelled. It was to them as if some obscure contagion had broken out. We may admit that such a view is not wholly wrong. As the Dean of St. Paul's has well said, "Religion is caught, not taught." In a spiritually healthy society we may catch it unawares, and grow, as it were naturally, to feel the presence of God, His Spirit guiding and aiding us. But, when the Spirit

comes among masses of men to whom religion has meant nothing, it may come with explosive force. Organized society fears explosions; they may be dangerous. Further, as we examine the causes of dislike of religious enthusiasm, let us admit that sometimes the fire burns out quickly; no lasting good results. The parable of the sower shows that Jesus was well aware of this disappointing end. Sometimes reaction makes the whole process not merely barren but harmful. To the house swept and garnished come seven devils worse than the first. Then, too, there are always persons ready to exploit a religious movement for base personal advantage. The greater religious leaders have been strong to protect their organizations from self-seeking adventurers. St. Paul, Wesley, Booth were all, for this reason, somewhat autocratic in their rule.

JUSTIFIED BY THEIR FRUITS

Yet, when all that is to their discredit is admitted, the great uprushes of the Spirit are justified by their fruits. They bring into the presence of God men who have never been there before. In the words of the Psalmist they create clean hearts; they renew a right spirit in human society. Critics who say that the theology of revivalism is crude are in danger of forgetting that an impeccable theology may be joined to singularly barren forms of organized religion. Churches grow