History of Northampton, Massachusetts, from its settlement in 1654;

58 HISTORY OF NORTHAMPTON. [1728.
God's Spirit in their Hearts ;
against the exceptions of In-
crease Mather." Here the matter rested till twenty years
after the death of Mr. Stoddard. The discussion was revived
by Jonathan Edwards in 1749, and was continued
through the century.
Its Popularity. The doctriue advocated by Mr. Stoddard
was popular during his lifetime, and nearly
all the churches in the Hampshire Association, which em-
braced the old County of Hampshire and three towns in
Connecticut, practiced the system. At the time of the dismission
of Mr. Edwards, not more than three of the twentyfive
settled pastors within the limits of the Association
were decidedly anti-Stoddardean. ^
Tradition Coucern- In counectiou witli tliis belief, and so curling
His own Con- ously explanatory of it in part that one
might wish it were unimpeachable, comes
the tradition concerning the conversion of Mr. Stoddard
himself. Nothing appears to establish the reliability of the
story, yet the possibility of its truth wonderfully illumi-
nates the position of the Northampton pastor. It would, of
course, have more value and force, had Mr. Stoddard been
the originator of the practice he so strenuously upheld.
This tradition is related by Rev. Dr. Lathrop, who set-
tled at West Springfield soon after Mr. Edwards was dismissed,
when the recollection of that bitter struggle was
fresh in mind. His statement is that, when Mr. Stoddard
was installed over the church at Northampton, he had not
been converted. His wife, widow of his predecessor. Rev.
Eleazar Mather, becoming convinced of this fact, arranged
a series of weekly meetings with other Christian ladies of
the congregation to pray that the pastor might experience
a change of heart. "At length Mr. Stoddard was led to
notice that on a certain day of each week, in the afternoon,
his wife was wont to go out as to some appointment." His
curiosity becoming excited, he asked her " what it was that
called her away with such an unvarying regularity each
week. She told him frankly. * * * This set Mr. Stoddard
upon a course of most serious and earnest thinking,"
1 " Stoddardeanism," New Euglander, 184G, vol. 4, p. 350.