Great Shelford - John Berridge (1759)



"On Monday last, I went to Shelford, four miles from Cambridge, near twenty from Everton. The journey made me quite ill; being so weary with riding, that I was obliged to walk part of the way. When I came thither, a table was set for me on the common; and, to my great surprise, I found near ten thousand people round it, among whom were many gownsmen from Cambridge. I was hardly able to stand on my feet, and extremely hoarse with a cold. When I lifted up my foot, to get on the table, a horrible dread overwhelmed me; but the moment I was fixed thereon, I seemed as unconcerned as a statue. I gave out my text, {Gal iii. 10, 11.) and made a pause, to think of something pretty to set off with; but the Lord so confounded me, (as indeed it was meet, for I was seeking not his glory, but my own,) that I was in a perfect labyrinth and found, if I did not begin immediately,

I must go down without speaking. So I broke out with the first word that occurred, not knowing whether I should be able to add any more. Then the Lord opened my mouth, enabling me to speak nearly an hour, without any kind of perplexity; and so loud, that every one might hear. The audience behaved with great decency. When the sermon was over, I found myself so cool and easy, so cheerful in spirit, and wonderfully strengthened in body, I went into a house, and spoke near an hour, to about two hundred people. In the morning I preached again to about a thousand.”

For more on John Berridge, go to 'St Mary's Church Everton' on this website.

The works of ... John Berridge, with an enlarged memoir of his life [ed.] by R. Whittingham

http://www.archive.org/details/worksjohnberrid00berrgoog

Additional Information

The marker is on the recreation ground, which may have been the 'common' referred to.

Although the account below does not actually mention revival activity, the fact that so many were there and that it was in the middle of the revival, it is not unreasonable to suppose that the glory of God was present there.


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