The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers: A Shifting Story. By Lisa Smith. New York: Lexington, 2012. 185 pp. $80.00 cloth.

Abstract

(ProQuest: ... denotes non-US-ASCII text omitted.)The First Great Awakening in Colonial American Newspapers: A Shifting Story . By Lisa Smith . New York : Lexington , 2012. 185 pp. $80.00 cloth.Book Reviews and NotesMuch of the material in this volume deals with George Whitefield (1714-1770), English preacher and revivalist. As a student at Oxford, he associated with those who formed the Holy Club, who would later be known as the first Methodists. Whitefield was becoming recognized as unusual because of his preaching abilities, and Martin Benson, bishop of Gloucester, determined to ordain Whitefield at the age of twenty-one, despite his prior decision to ordain no one before twenty-three. Whitefield's preaching created revivals in London, Bristol, and Bath. British newspapers picked up the story, and among their readers was Benjamin Franklin, who reprinted the story in his Pennsylvania Gazette . These papers had already reprinted more than eighty items concerning Whitefield and the revival in England.When Whitefield first came to Philadelphia, in November 1739, Franklin reported it and it was reprinted a week later by three Boston papers. Lisa Smith's research in extant newspapers shows that much of the revival-related notices in papers from Boston to Charleston were reprints. Since colonial newspapers did not have reporters in the modern sense, the printer got his news from letters, eye-witnesses, and other papers. Reporting on the awakening was overwhelmingly positive in the early years of the 1740s; it not only reported on Whitefield but also stressed the extensiveness of the movement. When Presbyterian pastor Gilbert Tennent went to New England in December 1740, the papers published seventeen items concerning his preaching, only two being negative. In his Pennsylvania Gazette , Franklin was especially positive, writing on June 12, 1740, The alteration in the Face of Religion here is altogether surprising . . . . All which, under God, is owing to the successful labors of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield.Whitefield realized that he needed various types of assistance in the New World if he was going to be successful, and one of his chief needs was for a printer. On November 5, he found a print shop near the tall and impressive steeple of Philadelphia's Christ Church, and he entered the front door and asked for the printer. He was introduced to Ben Franklin, and they began a discussion. Yes, Franklin could take on a new client, one who would supply him with a steady round of materials to print--his sermons and tracts. Then, this was no ordinary preacher, Franklin found, and he had reported on this Englishman; he was an international traveler with extensive background. Franklin was astounded when Whitefield told him of his plan for an orphanage in faraway Georgia--and that this man was planning to travel there, even though roads to Georgia were nearly nonexistent, and he knew nothing of the obstacles. As they talked, Franklin framed an opinion of the man. He became greatly impressed with the amount of experience Whitefield had behind him, despite his youth. Franklin's caution began to fade. Whitefield seemed so transparent and sincere, so concerned about the spiritual welfare of total strangers, and at the same time so visionary and driven to achieve.Franklin had read in the London papers of Whitefield's powerful voice, and this too made him curious. He asked the Englishman where he would be speaking next, and was told he was to gather a crowd around the Court House steps that afternoon. Don't you prefer speaking in a church, from a pulpit? I haven't heard of anyone speaking out of doors, with all the street noises drowning you! …