ave. Do they demand new doctrines? No;
but more power in preaching the truths that have outlived nineteen
centuries. Do we need a new revelation of Jesus Christ? Yes, yes, in the
fuller manifestation of Him; in the more loving, courageous and
consecrated lives of His followers. Do we need a new Baptism of the Holy
Spirit? Verily we do need it; and then our pulpits will be clothed with
power, and our preachers will have tongues of fire, and every change
will be a change for the better advancement and enlargement of the
Kingdom of our adorable Lord.

CHAPTER VII

MY EXPERIENCE IN REVIVALS.

I have always counted it a matter for thankfulness that I made my
preparation for the ministry at Princeton Theological Seminary. The
period that I spent there, from September, 1843, to May, 1846, was a
golden period in its history. The venerable Archibald Alexander,
wonderfully endowed with sagacity and spiritual insight, instructed us
in the duties of the preacher and the pastor. Dr. Charles Hodge, the
king of Presbyterian theologians, was in the prime of his power. His
teachings have since been embodied in his masterful volume on
"Systematic Theology." Dr. Joseph Addison Alexander, who, Dr. Hodge
said, was, taking him all in all, "the most gifted man with whom I was
ever personally acquainted," was in the chair of Hebrew and Old
Testament literature. Urbane, old Dr. Samuel Miller, was the Professor
of Ecclesiastical History. Those wise men taught us not only to think,
but to believe. All education is atmospheric, and the atmosphere of
Princeton Seminary was deeply and sweetly Evangelical. At five o'clock
on the morning after I received my diploma, I was off for Wyoming
Valley in Pennsylvania, the Arcadian spot made famous in the volume of
Campbell's "Gertrude of Wyoming." I spent five months there supplying
the pulpit of the Rev. Mr. Mitchell, who was absent to recruit his
health. In the Autumn I received an invitation to take charge of the
Presbyterian Church of Burlington, N.J., founded by the princely and
philanthropic Dr. Cortland Van Rensellaer, son of the Patroon at Albany.
It was the very place for a young preacher to begin his work. The
congregation was small, and, therefore, I obtained an opportunity to
study individual character. It was a very difficult field of labor, and
it is good for a minister to bear the yoke in his youth. My work at
first was attended with many discouragements. I preached as pungently as