like the very breath of
God. I can recollect distinctly that it seemed to fan me like immense
wings. No words can express the wonderful love that was shed abroad in my
heart.

"I wept aloud with joy and love. These waves came over me, and over me,
one after the other, until I recollect that I cried out, 'I shall die if
these waves continue to pass over me.' I said 'Lord, I cannot bear any
more.'"

We will note, that although Dr. Finney says that he could not remember ever
having heard the thing mentioned by any person, yet he felt "the baptism of
the Holy Spirit." It is practically impossible that Dr. Finney could have
lived in an age and a community which was essentially strict in its
Orthodoxy, without having heard of the phrase "baptism of the Holy Spirit,"
even though the words had escaped his immediate recollection. However, the
point that characterizes Dr. Finney's experience, in common with all
others, is that of seeing an intense light, and of the realization of the
overwhelming force of love.

The relation of this experience to a creed or system of religion, is
something which, we believe, may be accounted for, as Professor James has
said, on the fact of "historical determination."

Until very recently, the idea that spirituality was impossible save in
connection with religious systems, and rigid discipline, has been quite
general.

In the case of Dr. Finney, we find that all his life previous to this
experience he had been noted for his simplicity and child-like trust.
Following his Illumination we learn that he became a man of great
influence, and power, because of "the wonderful humanity which he
radiated."

Similar in experience, in its effects, is a case related by Theodore F.
Seward, the well-known American philanthropist, Mr. Seward relates the
following story:

"The strange experience which I here relate came to a friend whom I knew
intimately, and from whose lips I received the account. It is a lady in
middle life, who has for years been an earnest seeker for truth and
spiritual light. She was alone in her room sewing.

"Thinking, as was her wont, of spiritual things and feeling a strong sense
of the presence and power of God, she suddenly had a consciousness of being
surrounded by a brilliant white light, which seemed to radiate from her
person. The light continued for some minutes, and at the same time, she
felt a great spiritual uplifting and an enlargement of her mental powers,
as if th