Daniel Baker - Pastor, Evangelist, Missionary

Daniel Baker 1791-1857. A contrast is made between the revivals under his ministry, and those of Charles Finney born 1 year later. It was usual for me to write one sermon with care, and commit it to memory for Sabbath morning; for other occasions I had only brief notes, and sometimes no written notes at all; and here I will mention an incident which turned out better than I feared. One Sabbath afternoon, just as I had announced my text, which was this— "Ephraim is a cake not turned"— John Quincy Adams, the Secretary of State, stepped in, and walking up the aisle, took his seat near the pulpit. The reverence which I had for this great man, the singularity of the text, and my want of due preparation, all united to disconcert me; I was thrown off my balance, and preached, as I then thought, and still think, a very indifferent discourse. It had, however, one excellence, not found in most of my sermons—it was very short; not more than twenty or twenty-five minutes long. When I finished, I was excessively mortified, and thought I would never see the Secretary of State in that church again; but, to my astonishment, the next week, I was told he had rented one of the best pews in the church.