LETTER OF
The GOSPEL TRUTH CHARLES G. FINNEY
1871
To James and Alice Barlow
3 June 1871
[MS in Finney Papers, 2/2/2]
Oberlin, Ohio, U.S.A.
3d June 1871.
My Dear Brother & Sister Barlow,
Miss Catherine Hill is here, &
informs me of her acquaintance
with you & has delive[re]d your
message of love to me. Besides
this, a Mr. Lowe from
Manchester# has been here,
within a few days, & has
refreshed me with intelli
gence from you. Now I can
no longer remain silent
but must write to you, at
least a few lines, to thank
you for your kind remem
brance of me, & to assure
you of my undying love
& regard for you. Miss
Hill has told me of your
children & that one of them
has been in this country
of late. & Mr. Lowe informed
[along left hand margin:]
# Now of Grand Rapids, Michigan
[page 2]
me that you are meditating
a visit to this country, & to
Oberlin. This has revived my
hope of seeing your dear faces
again, before I "put off this
Tabernacle". I beseech you to
come if the Lord will.
You have an interest in Oberlin
apart from your acquaintance
with me. I want to have you
see the place & the college, or
University as in England
it would be called. And
I should like to have you
see with your own eyes what
good your two scholarships
are doing. I keep them con
stantly in use, & give the
benefit of them to such good,
but indigent students as
I think will prove themselves
worthy of such help.
Miss Hill informed me that
[page 3]
Thomas is a Physician. I was
fearful that he would
over study & break down
his nervous system prem
aturely. How is he, & is he
likely to be able to practice
medicine on a large scale?
I suppose the son who was over
here could not well pay us
a visit, & probably did not
remember much of me. Our
college is in a highly flour
ishing condition. We are
needing to much enlarge
our buildings - Apparatus,
library, & generally our
accommodations, & we are
making enlargements
& improvements as fast as
we can obtain the means.
Much has been done &
much more projected which
[page 4]
we trust God will enable
us to secure. My own health
holds out remarkably.
I contin[u]e to preach & to teach.
I am still Pastor of the first
Church, & Prof. in college. I have
succeeded in getting relieved
of the Presidency & have twice resigned
all official relation to the college, but
without success. I also failed of
success in resigning my Pastorate.
I am therefore in the harness
& doing what I can. Are you
aware that our Friend Potto
Brown of Houghton is dead?
He died the death of the
righteous in April last, & his
works do follow him. I have
known but few like him.
The state of religion is highly
interesting with us, & continues
so from year to year. The
number of new students
[page 5]
2
from term to term affords
constant material for
revival work, & God most
graciously pours out His
Holy Spirit upon us, & a
constant work of grace
is in progress in our
midst. I want to hear
from your own lips or
pens how you get on as
individuals & how all
the dear souls around
you are progressing.
Do come & see us if you can
this summer. At any rate,
do write me without delay.
My Dear Mrs Barlow you
promised to write me
long ago, & I have waited
as patiently as I could.
but since I have seen the
friends & hear of you I
[page 6]
long more than ever
to hear direct from your
own lips or pen how your
soul is prospering. From
your long silence I have,
I hope erroneously, inferred
that you are indulging
in your old habit of self-
crimination & unbelief.
That the old fiend of dispon
dency has gotten the advan
tage of you again. Do not,
my precious Sister, "give place
to the devil". What business
has he with you? Dear Br.
Barlow I hope your great
popularity, success in busin
ess, & influence with worldly
me[n], will not prove a snare
to your feet & lead you into
complications that will mar
your spiritual life. I can
truly say the older I grow the
[page 7]
3
more precious is Jesus to me.
As I realize more & more
that I must be near
my home, the more
unspeakably great
precious, & wonderful
does the salvation of
God appear. Sometimes
it clears up to my spiritual
vision like the lifting of
a cloud from a glorious
scene from a mountain
top, & the vision is so over
whelming that the body
could not endure the
excitement but a very
short time. I can see
clearly that "blindness
in part" is essential to
our earthly existence &
mental sanity. We could
not live except in the shade.
[page 8]
I have of late been led to
pray that God will temper
my light to my strength & my
duties, giving me just
the measure of spiritual
perception that will make
me most useful whilst
I abide in the flesh.
I should be physically
prostrate in a few moments
if any thing like the full
blaze of these great realities
should lie open to me.
O, how little we can bear
of the light in which God
resides. The wonderful thought
of living with, & like Jesus.
O, when we realize it how
overcoming it is. Dear Wife,
though unknown to you in body
yet loves you in the Spirit,
joins in much love to you &
yours. My warmest love to all the
dear ones who care to hear from me.
[along the right hand margin]
C. G. Finney.
Footnotes:
This was John Robert Barlow (1852-1923). Thomas Barlow, in a note-book containing details about his brother, John Robert, referred to: "Trip to USA with Slyman" ("Remembrance Book for John Robert Barlow" Barlow Family Papers, Wellcome Institute for the History of Medicine, BAR M/6)
II Peter 2:14 reads:
Knowing that shortly I must put off this my tabernacle, even as our Lord Jesus Christ hath showed me.
Ephesians 4:27 reads: "Neither give place to the devil."
Romans 11:25.