To Julia Finney
5 December 1850
[Ms in Finney Papers, Supplement #33. Julia Finney often underlined the date on each of the letters she received from her father, and she also underlined the names of some of the people or places, or made other marks or comments in the margin.]
Tabernacle House. Finsbury
London 5. Dec.1850
My Dear Daughter Julia.
I have had so much to do
& so many letters to write since
I came to England, that I have of
necessity left the correspondence with
our daughters pretty much to
your mother. For some time past
I have been saying I too must
write to Julia & Ange. To night
your dear Mother is not well & is
lying down & I take my pen
before meeting to write you a line.
Your Ma has told you about our
pleasant excursion to France, of
our return to Houghton. From
thence to Worcester. On Saturday
last we came again to the great
metropolis & are now occupying
[page 2]
the same rooms in which we
spent the summer. I have prea
ched but 3 sermons since my
return. The work of the Lord still
goes on powerfully in this city
& is extending to different parts
of the city. Your mother has been
very well until within a few days
she is complaining some. And
how are you getting along now.
I suppose you are happy to see
Helen Dolson & the children & that
you see them as often as you can
consistently with going on with your
studies. We hope you & Ange will
now press on in study as fast as you
can consistently with health. We hear
very favorably from you from your Uncle
& Aunt & from Helen &c. This gives
us great joy. We had a letter from
[page 3]
Charles a few days since. He is well
but as you may well suppose very
lonely. He lives in the house alone
& none of his relatives are at O.
He says the President's House & ours
being vacant makes the Vilage look
lonely, & that the people are very an
xious for my return. We have not
heard from Norton since in the
summer & feel as if it was a
long time. We hear from Hobart &
Jemmy with great regularity, once
in two weeks. Julia. My Dear
child I suppose you have seen
a great many new things since
we left you & so have we many
more than we can tell you on
paper. If we ever meet we can
tell you many curious things.
And how do you get along with
[page 4]
music? & which of you makes
the most progress? And what is
more important which of you
is the best girl? Which of you
grows most rapidly & which
can walk, & run, & swim the
longest, the most gracefully, & the
fastest? I suppose you take a
good deal of exercise in the
open air. Have you ever been to
Mr. Tappans. To Mr. Barneys. to
Mr Whipples. to Dr. Brown or to
Samuel Cochran's. I suppose you
would hardly have known little
Willie. And do you live near
to God? I hope you will not un
gratefully neglect the savior when
he is surrounding you with so many
blessings. Will you not write to me
& answer these questions & write
whatever else you think of. Your Dear
ma Unites in much love to you C. G.Finney
Be the first to react on this!
Charles Finney (1792 - 1875)
Known as one of the leaders in the Second Great Awakening revival in America. He was a revivalist who called for deep introspection of sin and preaching of the law to bring about sin. He was known to preach 30+ nights on sin and than the last night on Christ to have people flee to Him for mercy. Used greatly in the book: "Revivals of Religion" which is a classic on the subject of revival.He preached on the true Baptism of the Holy Spirit and its necessity. In his revivalistic campaigns he was used of the Lord to bring some estimate over 50,000 souls to the Lord which many were sound converts. There has been questions raised surrounding his theology in the later years of his ministry but this does not discredit that God used him powerfully in revival and for God's kingdom.
Charles Finney was born in Connecticut to an ordinary family and life that gave little hint of the great things God had in store for him. He was a schoolteacher and then a lawyer before his conversion at age 29. Finney was filled with the Holy Spirit on the same day he was saved and immediately began witnessing to friends and family members. More than twenty people were saved in the 24 hours following Finney's conversion. Finney's personal evangelism soon became public evangelism as he began to travel and preach in extended revival meetings. He considered revival to be a natural result of following the instructions God had laid out in His Word.
During Finney's fifty years of preaching, more than 500,000 were saved. He wrote many books, the most enduring of which are The Autobiography of Charles Finney and Lectures on Revival of Religion. After ill health forced him to stop traveling in meetings, he accepted the pastorate of a church in New York City. From 1852 until 1866 he served as president of Oberlin College in Ohio. Although some of his theology was lacking, he was a powerful, Spirit-filled soul winner who brought revival to cities and towns across the eastern United States.