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THE
Congregational ^narterlg.
VOLUME XL -NEW SERIES, VOL. L
EDITORS AND PROPRIETORS: ALONZO II. QUINT, CHRISTOPHKR GUSHING,
ISAAC P. LANGWORTHY, SAMUEL BUKNIIAM.
J ■* • *
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. " • •
, »
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— r.*': -, /-• :-,
«4
BOSTON: CONGREGATIONAL ROOMS,
40 WINTER STREET. 1869.
> . > - .;•..*•
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Univbrsity Frbss : Welch, Bicblow, ft Co., Cambkidcb.
• • • •
. • • ' : • • ••
••; • • • \ .. • •• •.• '
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• . : • •
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TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PAOB
Aduof, Samuel, by S&maelBamhAm 1
AUen, Ker. Thomw, by Samuel Bnmham . 475 Amencaa Choreh Register .... 00 American Congregational Association 176, 823,
American Congrei^ational Union 177, 826, 460, 694 Ancient ConAMiions of Faith and Family Cove-
nantJi, by Rer. £. W. Oilman . .616
AndoTer Catalogue, l>ec. 6, 1818, by Rot. A. H.
Quint, D. D 876
Are Rerirals of Religion natural? by ReT. A.
n. Quint, D. D 84
Benerliction, The, by Ber. 0. E. DaggeU, d. d. 888 Bible and it« Critics, by ReT. S. L. Bluke . 628 Biddefonl, Me., Second Church ... 241
BlOGRlPHICAL SKETCBBS:
I Adams, Samuel (with steol portrait) 1
i'^ Allen, thoman (with steel portrait) . 475
Ir Dwight, William Theodore (with steel por-
trait) 181
w Parsons, Jonathan (with steel portrait) . 827
Book Nonces:
A<lTentur«s in the Wilderness, Murray . 436 Alphabetical Index to the New Tcntament . 682 American Annual Cyclopaedia, Appleton . 434 American Year-book and National Roister,
Camp 484
Annual of Scientific DlscoTcry .8)8
A Year in Sunday School .... 682
Atlantic Monthly 314
Bible Dictionary, Smith . . 76,306,678 Brooke's Life of Robertson . .686
Banyan's Pilgrim's Progress in Verse, Dyer 804
Catholic World 687
CooTersations on the Truth of Religion,
Fenelon 441
Gowiln Deborah's Story .... 682 Changing Base, ETerett .... 314 Children of Many Lands, Strong 678
Chips from a German Workshop, MUller . 671 Companion to the Bible, Barrows 308
ConTeraations of Jeeus Christ with Reprc-
aentatiTe Men, Adams .... 809
Cradle Lands, Herbert 680
Credo 444
Cross and the Crown, The, Fiske . .3^)3
Cniden's Concordance, New Edition 681
C>-clops»iia of Biblical, Theological, and
Eccleriastical literature, McOlintock and
Strong 77
Bay Dawn and the Rain, Kor . 679
Derotional Thoughts of Eminent DiTini«,
Uanha 809
Dfjgmatic Faith, The, Garbett .674
£ccc Cesium 684
Ecclesiastical Law in the State of New York,
Uoflman 441
EMay on DiTorce, Woolsey .... 681 £Mez, Mass., History of, Crowell 76
Sridences of Christianity, Dodgo . . 309
Folsom's Tnuuriation of the Four Gofrpels 686 Foreign Missions : their Relations and Claims,
AndCTson - â– 668
Freemasons. The, Segur .... 43({
Oatea Alar, Phelps 73
Oatas Wide Open, Wood . . . . 43S fl«BenJ, The ; or, TwdTe Nights in the Hunt-
cr^a Gamp 811
QmwoMA'Mm 684
PAOB
Glimpses of Christ in Holy Scripture, Laurie 78 Gospel Treasury, MimpriM .... 680 Qranmiar of the Idiom of the New Testa^
ment, Winer 807
Great Christians of France, Saint Louis and
CalTin, Guizot 489
Hades and Heaven, Birkersteth 578
Homo Life Series, Leslie . ' . 812
Hospital Sketches, Alcott ... 584
Human Intellect, The, Porter . 808
Illustrated Bible Biography ... 74 Illustrated Library of Wonders . 444
In HoaTen we Know our Own, Blot . 579
Instruments of the Passion of our Lord Jesus
Christ, Veith 441
Invasion of the Crimea, Kinglako . 442
Irish Widow's Son, O'Leary ... 679 Isaiah, Notes on, Cowles .... 72 Jeremiah and Lamentations, Commentary
on, Henderson 812
J(»us of Nazereth, Abbott .... 79
Jubilant Voices 586
liOdy Lury'g Secret 682
Lamps, Pitcrhers, and Trumpets 583
Law of Love and LoTe as a Law, Hopkins 802 Lectures on Reason and Revelation, Preston 575 Letters of Lady Mary Wortlcy Montague,
Hale .442
lietters of Madame de S^ign^, Hale 442
Lifeof John Carter, Mills .568
Life of Father Do Ravignan , Do Ponlevoy 576 Life'H Morning ; Lifu'^ tlvcuing ; Lifu's Quiet
Ilonrs 74
Littcll '8 Living Age 77
Little Efflc'ii Home 677
Little Jook'n Four liCMons 677
Lowell, Masd., Uistorj' of, Cowley . 304
Mabel 682
Margaret : A Story of Life in a Prairie Home 808
May Btll 682
Memori.il8 of a Centura', Jennings . 569
Miris Lily's Voyage Round the World . . 814
Molly's Bible 682
Mup.s.1, the Fairj', Ingelow .... 578 Jloral Phlloaophy, Fuirchild ... 672 My (^ntpaigufl in America, Deux-Ponts . 75 National i^umionN, llnven 588
New England Iligtoric Genealogical Register 814 Now Eugland Tragedies, in Prone, Allen . 806 New TcKtanient : Tranfllated from the Greek
Text of TiHchcndorf, Noyos ... 311 Offlce and Work of the Christian Ministry,
Hoppin 488
Oliver Optic'H Magazine for Boys and GirU . 814 Onene.<w of the Cbrifltian Church, Clarke 310 Our Life in China, Nevius . ... 810 Our New Way Round the World, Coffin . 487
Our Young Folks 814
Palace and Cottage, Oliver Optic . .814
Perverse PuHsy 582
I*etor Clinton 682
Philosophy and Domestic Life, Byford 814
PictureH from Prison Life, Havnefl . 818
Pittaficlfl.M-vss., History of, Smith . 806
Plain Talk about the Protestantism of
To-day 441
Planchette. Sargent 814
Plymouth Pulpit 814
Poems, Lucy Larcom .... 78 Prince Library, Catalogue of . . .76
Proverb Series 814
Recollections ofa Busy Lift, Orooley ■• 79
IV
Contents.
Rein!niitcenc<M< nf Kiiropean TrftTcl, PociboJy d07 ReTcUtion of Law in Soripturo, Fiiir1)iUni 310
Robertnou-n Sennoiw r»S»J
Robertflon, nrooke*» Life of . . . 58(> RobinHOD'n (IIeni7 Crabb) Diary . .688
Sabbftth SfiDfCi^ for CbUdrpn't Worohfp . 448 8acramvnt8 of tho Churcb, CrittHiiden . 312
8e«dri and ShoiYOO, ThoiiipMQ ... 72 Semiuii!<, Boochcr . 7S, 48rt
Sermon:*, .Shopiinl 7H
Bermnn.o, U'nds worth 440
Shining Li^ht 577
Short and RuniliAT AoMwcrti to tho Most
Coniinon Objections ur^jCPd againi«t Religion ,
Do SeRur 570
SonofMiin.Thi*, WickeB . ... 80 Studlofi in FhiloHophy and ThooloRT, Iluvca 440 Stiidtoufi U'omon, Dupanloup . 570
Subjection of Woiuau, Mill 577
Tennf!«KccAii in Foniiaand Koonliatan, &Iar8h iHA Third Book of One Ilumlred Pieturerf . . 5^2 This and That, Mc Arthur ... 80 Upward from Sin, through Orace, to Glory,
Hotchkiffl 5(^
Yoyafi;pof the White Falcon. . . 5-<^3
Waitin;; nt tho Crou 581
Wandiirint; Rocollectloniiof a Somewhat Busy
Life, Xml 443
Watchwonlii for the Warfare of Lifo . f>S4
Waynidc llymns 73
Wine hendon, Masfl., History of, Marvin . 7i> Women's SuflTraiorn, Biuhuoll 577
WomcnofthcBilile 585
Wonis of III ip«'. Means .... HO Yeetorday, To-day, and VorcTcr, Bickersteth 30G
Church Architecture and Worship, by Rev.
Jonatiian Bilwards 511
Charch and it« New Mcmlwrs, by llev. J. B.
Miles 222 j
CoUngOrf of Special Interest to Conprepation- }
allHts, by Kev. C. OuohinK . .410
GoUcii^iate and Theol(vpr]cal Education at the I
WcjJt. by Rev. A. B. Rich . . . 543 ]
Coming Church Congregational? by Rev. A. ^ |
II. Rosii 17 :
Composition of Council, by Rev. J. Guernsey 241* Congrcgationiil Chai>ol, Sprin^eld. III. . . 558 CongregntioniU l-hurch in Wei'tmin-jter, Vt.,
by Iter. P. II. White 42
Congregational Ohurches, Stitiritica of, for
1868, by Rev. A. II. Quint, n. D. . . 81 Congregational Ministers, Lidt of, for 18>38 . 15<)
OoaiaREO.vTioAL Necroloot :
Aiken, Rev. SiUu*, d. d 423
Bailey, Mrs. R(>gena A 5K5
Blake, Rev. D. Iloyt 564
BUncnanI, Rot. Amos .... 299
Brown, Rct. Thaddeua II 291
Butler, Dea. Ebenoxer .... 422 Calhoun, Rev. GoorKB A., n. D. . . (i3
Camplitill, Rev. Geor/o W. . . . 301 GhunlHiirfi, Dea. Matthew .... 42«^ Chapman, Mrs. Marv .... 427
Cha-Je, Rer. Benj imin C 290
Clapp. Rev. Sumner G 800
Colman, Mm. Abby P 603
Corscr, Rev. Enoch 285
Ca«hing, Christopher C 432
Denison, Mrs. Laura A 287
Dunn, Rev. Richard C IV>
foster, R(!v. Bei^raiin F. . . . 2M
Vrowein, Rov. Abram 427
Olilett, Rev. TlmoUiy P 02
Iladley, Mrs. Louisa C 422
Uatch, Rev. Roger C 71
\ Ho«mer, 7<eloteii 295
Kimball, Dea. John 505
LUM, Charlei B 600
iMch, Mrs. Bliubeth T 285
Mu«h, Rev. John, D. D 66
Moore, BoT. JaiOM D 424
^rrneer, Rev. Sendol B 287
North, Rev. Altml 502
Oliphant, Mrs. Mary 288
Parker, Rev. Lucius 2S9
Phelps, Dea. WUlinra 08
Salter, Rev. John W 506
Smith, Rev. lit. race 2l»8
Spear, Rev. David 2l*«)
Talcott. Mn«. C 421
Talcott, Rev. Ilervev .... 421 Thacher, Dei. Matthews .... lii»3 Thoin])Kon, Dea. John 21»2
Tolman, Dea. John 299
Tyler, Dea. Joab 429
WatkinH, Rev. Ralden A 03
White, Rev. Pliny II 430
rongregational Quarterly Reconi 170, 320, 445, 589 Conprepitional Theological Seminaries in
1808 -tW, by Rev. A. II. Quint, d. d. . 279 Conncils, Compo-sitlon of ... . 249 Councils. Judicial Power of ... . 491 Crecli*, Relation of, to Christian Lifo . 28
Doctrine of the IIolv Spirit, bv Rev. G. R.
I/eavitt . . 392
Dwight, Rov. Willi-ini T., by Prof. E. C.
Smyth 181
E-irlieKt Ordination of a Minister of the Dutch
Church in this Country, by Pn's. T. I).
Woolscy 203
Editor's Table .... 173,315,587 Extract from Wanl's " Slm]ile Coblcr "' . 248 (icueral Asttoclations and Conferences .178
Great Question, Papal Answer to 229
Hilly Spirit, Doctrine of OXl
Index of Names 51M
Influence of the Masses on Literary Men, by
Rev. Hiram Mead .350
Judicial Power of Councils, ]>y Ilon. Emory
Washburn 491
Ust of (%>ninx?gMtionaI Ministers for IS^^.S . IW Literary Review 72, (ift2, 431, 5«J8
M-vs>?achn?«ett« General Avsoclatlon 24<)
Mai«.-»es, Influence of the, on Literary Men . SO)
New England Hymn 3fS7
Old Epitaph 258
PuiKiI Answer to the Great Question, by
Rov. Thomas lAurie, d. d. . 220
P;usons, Rev. Jonath:iu, by Rev. John
Vinton 327
Pa«tnml Kaithrnlneiis, by R4^v. J. T. llyile 379
Prcsulent Elwards slh a Reformer, by Pre*.
(i. V. Magonn, n. n 2'iO
PrwHidential Elections, by Rev. C. Cushing 275 Puritan Catechism and its Author, by Rev.
D. P. Noyes 301
Qdarterlt Record :
Churchos Formed 170,820,445,589
Mini.sU'rs l)*?ce!ise<l . . 172,322,447,591 Ministers Inatiili'd . 171,320,445.590
MinUters Married . . 172, 322, 4 17, 5;H)
Ministers OrdainM . . 170, 32«\ 44.'), r>!*9 MinisfaM-s' Wives Deceased . 172,322.447.501 Pastors Dismlpse«l . 172, 321, 44»3. r.90
Rare Tract ou Witchcraft . 40i>
B4>lation of Creeds to Christian Life, by Rev.
J. M. Whlton 28
Revivals of Religion, Are thev Natural? . S-t Scriptural Diticouate, by Rev. G. B. Safford 2i.Ki Secoud Church, Biddeford, Mo., by Rev.
J. D. EmenK>n 241
SMTlct* of Song, bv Rev. M. K. <^ros8 210
Springfield, III., C-ongregntional Chapel . 558 Statistii^fl of Congregational Churches for
1808 81
Tongue, The 542
Use of liymnR 2(V5
Wanl's, ** Simple Cobler,-' Extract fh>m . 248 Wettinuift«r,Vt., Congregational Church in 42 Witehcmft, RaraTnrton .400
Worship MHl Arehitocture, by Rev, R. 0.
Qreene 602
- *,
4%
d
THE
(tm^tt^atimal ^mttttl^.
Whole No. XLI. JANUARY, 1869. Vol. XI., No. 1.
SAMUEL ADAMS, THE LAST OF THE PURITANS.
Deacon Samuel Adams of Old South Church, Boston, wanted his son Samuel to be a minister ; the Lord wanted him to be the " father of the Revolution," and ** foreordi nation " had the victory over parental preference. "What Samuel Adams of American history might have been as a Congre- gational clergyman is conjectural, although as he was born and educated in the faith of the Puritans, and through his whole life was its consistent ex- emplar and earnest advocate, it is natural and pleasant to imagine him as one who would have been as bright and shining a light as any of those *^ candles of the Lord " that illumined the glorious morning of civil and religious freedom. What he was as an inflexible Christian patriot and political leader is written with a pen of fire on every page of our national history. Without Samuel Adams the history of our struggle for independence is chaos; with him there is a unity of thought and action, a strict sequence of events, running like a line of light through the long yeai*3 of preliminary debate, actual contest, and civil organization.
Until the publication of Wells's thorough and candid work, the life of Samuel Adams has been, in the words of an eminent statesman, "• the one niche remaining to be filled in American biography." " If," wrote John Adams in 1819, '^ the American Revolution was a blessing, and not a curse, the name and character of Samuel Adams ought to be preserved. . . . Ilis merits and services and sacrifices and sufferings are beyond all calcula- tion." At last he has his biographer, and that position in history which is his alone, and for which he has waited only too long. No analysis of the three portly volumes which comprise Mr. Wells's elaborate and satisfactory
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1860, by Samuil BmuruAM , for the Proprietors, in the Clerk*8 Office of the District Court of the District of Massachusetts.
HEW SERIES. — YOL. I., VO, 1. 1
2 Samud Adams, the Last of the Puritans. [Jan.
work * is here attempted ; where all is vital to a clear understanding of facts, abstracts are vain. But there are features in Adams's character which deserve mention in these pages.
That he was the first openly to advocate the independence of the Colonies is DOW, perhaps, generally admitted, and while for weary but hopeful months, which lengthened into years, he kept for prudential rea8ons this momentous idea in abeyance, its realization was the grand object con- stantly before him. As early as 1765, Hutchinson says that Adams freely admitted in private conversation that he was for the independence of the Colonies, and that '* from time to time he made advances towards it in public as far as would serve to the great purpose of attaining to it." f But he had studied the genius and character of the people, and the actual and prospective policy of the British government too thoroughly, and under- stood them too well to peril the sacred cause of human rights by injudicious haste. Although a genuine philosopher in political economy, and a fruitful theorist, he was intensely practical, and realized the actual necessity of first educating the people to a keen knowledge of their rights, and a fixed reso- lution to maintain them in their integrity, and thus gradually tone tliem up to the true spirit of martyrdom. He could say with truth, " I would advise persisting in our struggle for liberty, were it revealed that only one in a thousand was to survive it."
In the quiet of his study, in the silent hours of the night, while the town was sleeping, he sat at his table thinking and writing, with one grand end in view, — the defence and maintenance of human rights. Industriously, and wholly self-forgetful, he worked on, enlightening his townsmen and the colonists on the great fundamental principles of human government, until his name was a power over all the land, and its echo made the British throne to tremble. Bancroft well calls him ''a masterly statesman, and the ablest political writer in New England." His plans, whenever brought be- fore the people, were so well matured, so broad, deep, and consistent, so carefully guarded in expression and interest as, to use his own motto, to '^ keep the enemy in the wrong " ; so simple and just, and yet so comprehen- sive, that the people believed in them and in him, and naturally looked upon him as the children of Israel look:ed upon Moses, as the one divinely chosen to lead them from the house of political bondage to the political Canaan. It is no wonder that the royalist governor, who, in his council- chamber in the old State-House in Boston, trembled before the pointed
* The Life and Public Services of Samuel Adams ; being a Narrative of Iiis Acts and Opinions, and of his Agency in producing and forwarding; the American Revolution, with Extracts from his Correspondence, State Papers, and Political Essays. By Wil- liam V. Wells. 3 vols. 8vo. pp. 512, 512, 460. Boston; Liitle, 3rown, & Com- pany. 1865.
t Hutchinson, iii. 133, 264.
1869.] Samud Adams, the Last of the Puritans. 8
finger and mighty words of the pure patriot, wrote to his master that ''he [Adams] has obtained such an ascendency as to direct the town of Boston and the House of Representatives, and consequently the council, just as he pleases " ; and that he '* is perhaps as well qualified to excite the people to any extravagance in theory or practice as any person in America." It is no wonder that a little later Govenior Gage honored him by making him (with Hancock) an exception to the general pardon vouchsafed to those who would yield their consciences to the Crown. John Randolph styled this as the '' honor of being proscribed by a flagitious ministry, whose object was to triumph over the liberties of their country by trampling on those of her colonies. It is the glorious privilege of minds of this stamp to give an example to a people, and fix the destiny of nations." Threats of punishment, actual outlawry, offers of money and office, and even a peerage, were alike spumed by him; and Hutchinson, who hated him most sincerely, at last impatiently declared, '* Such is the obstinacy and inflexibility of the man, he never can be conciliated by any office or gift whatever."
Adams was of and for the people, jealous of their rights, sensitive on every point affi^cting their welfare. These sentiments inspired him in the years before the war, and during the war; and when the Constitution of the United States was being framed and adopted, his anxiety was great lest in some way the liberties of the people should be endangered. He feared centralization of power for the simple reason that his creed had for its foundation and superstructure the idea that government rested in the people, and should never be taken from them, only so far as they volun- tarily delegated authority to an extent exactly sufficient to promote their best interests. Consequently he battled vigorously so to guard the Consti- tution by proper limitations that a firm government should be established without perilling in fact or in future possibility the rights of the States as such, and, further back, the inherent rights of individuals. In a letter to Elbridge Gerry he expresses a wish
" To see a line drawn as clearly as may be between the Federal powers vested in Congress and the distinct sovereignty of the several States, upon which the private and personal rights of the citizen depend. Without such distinction, there will be danger of the Constitution issuing imperceptibly and gradually into a consolidated government over all the States, which, although it may be \vished for by some, was reprobated in the idea by the highest advocates of the Constitu- tion, as it stood without amendments/'
Again, in a letter to Richard Henry Lee, he says : —
" I have always been apprehensive that, through the weakness of the human mind, oflen discovered in the wisest and best of men, or the perverseness of the interested and designing in as well as out of government, misconstructions would be given to the Federal Constitution ivhich would disappoint the views and ex-
4 Samuel AdamSj the Lcut of the Puritans. [Jan.
pectations of the honest among those who acceded to it, and hazard the liberty, independence, and happiness of the people."
It can be said of Samuel Adams more appropriately than of Thomas Jefferson, that he was ^ the father of Democracy," using this now abused and degraded word in its old-time purity and power. He was a firm be- liever in State rights, as then understood, and in individual rights, but was as firm a believer in the national government ; and a favorite expression with him, and one which he often gave as a ^* toast," was "The States united and the States separate." In these days, taught by the terrible lesson of the years of rebellion, there is a proper sensitiveness in regard to the terra " State rights " ; the doctrine in its modem acceptation is repugnant to those who would maintain the integrity of our national government. But in the early years of our history as a nation there were forces in operation which ren- dered such views as were held by Adams and other leading men judi- cious and well founded. In those days, everything republican was experi- mental ; a course of action was to be marked out, a form of government insti- tuted, a nation to be created sufficiently unified for self-preservation and position, and yet leaving to the individual States their own distinctive rights and powers. And all this was in theory ; there was no precedent upon which to rest an argument or base a plan of operation, while the recent oppressions of the British government, whose yoke they had thrown off at a great sacrifice of blood and treasure, were too fresh in mind to allow them to endanger liberty by establishing a government which should be beyond control. As Adams*s biographer truly remarks : " Patriot statesmen could only reason upon the great principles of human freedom, apply them to the circumstances of the times, and adapt them to the genius of the people"; and that they reasoned, applied, and adapted so wisely for immediate pur- poses, and with such prescience for coming generations, must always be one of the shining instances of the Divine guidance in the affairs of men. The sophistries advanced during the late rebellion on the great subject of State and national rights and powers should not blind candid persons to a just estimate of the ditficulties under which the founders of our government labored in so adjusting the intimate questions of individual. State, and national rights as successfully to provide for the strain that must inevitably be put upon them. Adams desired that there might be " no uncomfortable jarrings among the several powers ; that the whole people may in every State contemplate their own safety on solid ground:^, and the union of the States be perpetual." Timt Mr. Adams did not hold views similar to those politicians of to-day to whom the word ** Democrat " is only a misnomer, is evident from the fact that he believed in the right of the national govern- ment to suspend the habeas corpus in certain cases, and pressed its suspen- sion during Shays's rebellion. When the fate of the condemned leaders
1869.] Samuel Adams^ the Last of the Puritans. 5
in this same rebellion was under discussion, Adams was firm for their execution. Humane and merciful in disposition, he felt that kindness to the rebels would be cruelty to the government ; and he therefore advised Gover- nor Hancock ^ to inflict that just, condign punishment which the judicial sentence had awarded on the detestable leaders of that banditti who raised the rebellion." " In monarchies," said he, " the crime of treason and rebel- lion may admit of being pardoned or lightly punished ; but the man who dares to rebel against the laws of a republic ought to suffer death." .
It has been said, on a previous page, that he early grasped the idea of a union of the Colonies. Such a union was the logical sequence of the prin- ciples he advocated, and, to a certain extent, settled for all time. But he was not precipitate. He was, on the contrary, cautious, far-seeing in his plans for the defence and assertion of human rights, but bold in action when the precise moment for action came. Always ready for every emer- gency in word or deed, he was not, as was true of some of his ardent but imprudent copatriots, rashly anticipatory, but was a patient waiter for re- sults, while on the alert to improve every opportunity for effective action. The pen was his potent weapon, but there were several occasions, when mighty questions hung in the balance, that he left his study and his manu- script, and took the foremost place in speech and action, settled the issue at stake, and then returned to his more congenial work. Thus, in 1770, when the people of Boston and vicinity, wild with excitement over the "Massacre," assembled in the Old South Church, and with earnest words sent a committee to the Lieutenant-Governor to demand that the royal troops be removed from the city, Samuel Adams was the man to face the oflBcers of the Crown, and humble them before the people. Royalty quailed, democracy triumphed ; Adams returned to tlie meeting with the promise that the two regiments should be sent to Castle Island, and the Old South rung with victorious shouts.
Wrote John Adams to John Trumbull : —
^* Who will paint Samuel Adams at tlie head of ten thousand freemen and volun- teers, with his quivering paralytic hands, in the Council-Chamber, shaking the souls of Hutchinson and Dalrymple, and driving down to the Castle the two of- fending regiments which Lord North ever afterwards called * Sam Adams's regi- ments.' " *
Again, in his Diary, the second President writes : —
'* Adams is zealous, ardent, and keen in the cause ; is always for softness, delicacy, and prudence, when they will do, but is stanch, and stiff, and strict, and rigid, and inflexible in the cause."
After a brief sketch of Otis, the Diary adds: —
<* Adams, I believe, has the most thorough understanding of Liberty and her re-
* Fisher's Life of Benjamin Silliman, ii. 390.
6 Samuel AdamSj the Last of the Puritans. [Jan.
sources in the temper and cbaracter of tbe people, though not in the law and con- stitution, as well as the most habitual, radical love of it, of any of them ; also the most correct, genteel, and artful pen. He is a man of refined policy, steadfast in- tegrity, exquisite humanity, fair erudition, and obliging and engaging manners, real as well as professed piety, and a universal good character, unless it should be admitted that he is too attentive to the public, and not enough so to himself and his fjaunily."
While Otis, in the words of BancroA, ^ in his prevailing mood shrunk from the thought of independence," Adams had it as his beacon-light across the stormy ocean on which he had launched his own and his country's hopes. Says Bancroft, in a discriminating analysis of the characteristics of the three leaders, Adams, Otis, and Hawley : —
'* The ruling passion of Samuel Adam's, on the contrary, was the preservation of the distinctive character and institutions of New England. He thoroughly understood the tendency of the measures adopted by Parliament ; approved of making the appeal to Heaven, since freedom could not otherwise be preserved ; and valued the liberties of his couutry more than its temporal prosperity, more than his own life, more than the lives of all. The confidence of his townsmen sus- tained his fortitude ; his whole nature was absorbed by care for the public ; and his strictly logical mind was led to choose for the defence of the separate liberties of America a position which offered no weak point for attack." *
All his biographers and eulogists ascribe to Adams the remarkable pru- dence of which mention has been made. This quality is very apparent in those models of composition and of argument from his pen which, in the form of addresses, the colonial authorities were at that time sending to the Ministry, and in the circular letter to each House of Representatives or Burgesses on the continent ; indeed, in all his state papers, — and they are Toluminous, — his zeal never outruns his discretion. ^This pnidence and insight into the bearings of the great cause he espoused was a perpetual check upon the suggestion of colonial independence. The propagation of such sentiments at that time would have been deeply injurious to American liberty." f On this same point, Judge Sullivan, in his sketch of Adams (1803), after quoting from confidential friends of the patriot proof that he was the first man in America who contemplated a separation of the Colo- nies from England, intimates th^t his enemies accused him of hypocrisy in concealing these views in the opening scenes of the contest with Great Britain.
** But in this," says Sullivan, ** he was justifiable ; for, unless he could believe that the whole body of the people could discern and trace political effects from their deep causes, it would have been folly in him to have exposed his views. He
• Bancroft's History, vi. 117-120.
t Wells's Biography, i. 147. It was in 1769 that he closed a speech in Boston with the then startling words, " Independent we are, and independent we will be."
1869.] Samuel Adams, the Lait of the Puritans. 7
lived in a world where one man had been burned for asserting the motion of the planets, which is now known to every one, and where the originators of new theories have suffered d^grace for exposing systems which after ages have re- spected and honored."
The able biographer of Warren, in his excellent and critical work, in a very just estimate of Adtms's character truly says, '' As a party leader he was prudent, and yet, when it was necessary, he was bold. He was keen in penetrating the designs of his opponents, and was inflexible in carrying oat his purposes ; ♦ he was " ever early, ever watchful, and never weary of toil or fatigue, until be saw all was well " ; f and Jefferson considered him as " truly a great man, wise in council, fertile in resources, immovable in . his purposes, and had, I think, a greater share than any other member of Congress in advising and directing our measures in the Northern war.'' " Without the character of Samuel Adams," says his kinsman John, <* the true history of the American Revolution can never be written. For fifty years his pen, his tongue, his activity were constantly exerted for his country without fee or reward. During this time he was an almost inces- sant writer. A collection of his writings would be as curious as volumi- nous. In it would be found specimens of a nervous simplicity of reasoning and eloquence that has never been excelled in America." } The student of history will acknowledge the justice of these views.
These general remarks upon the political career of Samuel Adams are by intention brief, and by necessity meagre in outline. Too much was crowded into his eventful life to be recorded in a few pages. But there are features in his character, lying at the foundations of all his actionS| which should be better understood, especially by those who are of the relig- ious faith of the Puritans, and who believe that our institutions, civil and religious, had their origin in the fundamental principles of Christianity. If the " Father of the Revolution," he who was the head and front of the strug- gle for liberty, he who furnished the brains of the preliminary movements and of the actual conflict, he who watched and guarded the rights of the people with a jealous care which then compelled the admiration of a wonder- ing world, and now claims the gratitude of the country for which he gave a long life of unparalleled activity, if he was a man of thorough religious con- victions, and found the natural outgrowth of these convictions in free demo- cratic institutions, it is a fact worth knowing. When Frothingham re- marks § that in Adams was personified a peculiar t1ieolo;;iGal element, that he had the rigid inflexibility that has caused him to be regarded as the last oPthe Puritans, he utters the exact truth. As a consistent exemplar and
♦ Frothingham 's Life of Joseph Warren, 25. t Niles's Principles and Acts, 477. t John Adams's Works, i. 673, 674. I Life of Joseph Warren, 26.
8 Samuel Adorns^ the Last of the Puritans. [Jan.
asserter of that true Congregationalism in doctrine and polity which lay at the foundation of our civil and religious institutions, as one wbo carried his theories into practice, and demonstrated that they had their legitimate growth and development only in those forms of government which recog- nized all the rights of man hoth in the individual and in the aggregate, Adams stands before us in bold relief against tb^ stormy background of those times of peril and promise. His deep-settled beliefs in religious mat- ters gave direction and character to all his public life, and induced an abiding faith in an overruling Providehce, a humble, and yet hopeful, trust that the God of nations was to establish on this continent a free government for a blessing to the people. His religious experiences made him calmly hopeful at all times : —
" Of despondency he knew nothing; trials only nerved him for severer strug- gles ; his sublime and unfaltering hope had a cast of solemnity, and was as much a part of his nature as if his confidence sprang from an insight into Divine decrees, and was as firm as a sincere Calvinist's assurance of his election. For himself and for others he held that all sorrows and all losses were to be encountered, rather than that liberty should perish." *
Consciously or otherwise, all his biographers and eulogists, in recording his eminent qualities, pay the highest tribute to the purest type of early New England theology; for, take from him his religious faith as a motive- power, and the vitality is gone from his whole career. His kinsman, John, once said : ^ If Otis was Martin Luther, Samuel Adams was John Calvin. If Luther was rough, hasty, and loved good cheer, Calvin was cool, abstem- ious, polished, and refined, though more inflexible, uniform, and consistent, and he was destined to a longer career than those before mentioned, and to act a more conspicuous, and perhaps a more important, part than any other man." The historian Grahame, foreigner though he was, well understood the secret springs of Adams's life, and he describes him as
" One of the most perfect models of disinterested patriotism and of republican genius and character in all its severity and simplicity that any age or country has ever produced. A sincere and devout Puritan in religion, grave in his man- ners, austerely pure in his morals, simple, frugal, and unambitious in his tastes, habits, and desires ; zealously and incorruptibly devoted to the defence of Ameri- can liberty, and the improvement of American character ; endowed with a strong manly understanding, an unrelaxing earnestness and inflexible firmness of will aftd purpose, a capacity of patient and intense application which no labor could exhaust, and a calm and determined courage which no danger could daunt and no disaster depress, — he rendered his virtues more efiicacious by the instrumen- tality of great powers of reasoning and eloquence, and altogether supported a part and exhibited a character of which every description, even the most frigid, that has been preserved, wears the air of a panegyric." f
* Bancroft, vi. 196. f Colonial History of the United States, ii. 417.
1869.] Samud Adams^ ike Last of the PurUans. 9
No better pen-portrait of a genuine Puritan could be desired ; but there is another, by Mrs. Mercy Warren, the wife of James Warren of Plymouth, one of Adams's truest friends and copatriots, which is true to life : —
^ Early nurtured in the principles of civil and religious liberty, he possessed a quick understanding, a cool head, stem manners, a smooth address, and a Roman- like firmness, united with that sagacity and penetration that would have made a figure in a conclave. He was at the same time liberal in opinion and uniformly devout ; social with men of all denominations ; grave in deportment ; placid yet severe ; sober and indefatigable ; calm in seasons of difficulty ; tranquil and un- ruffled in the vortex of political altercation ; too firm to be intimidated, too haughty for condescension, bis mind was replete with resources that dissipated fear, and
extricated in the greatest emergencies Through a long life he exhibited,
on all occasions, an example of patriotism, religion, and virtue honorary to the human character." *
The intimation that he was '* stern " in manners is scarcely sustained by the testimony of his most intimate friends ; and yet it is to be borne in mind that those were the ^ times that tried men's souls," and that the exigencies of those years of conflict left to the leaders little opportunity for the amenities of life. In his family he was a delightful and entertaining companion ; his temper was cheerful, never desponding ; his whole manner shed a sunshine of happiness upon those about him, and his acquaintances valued him no less for his gentler qualities than for his wise counsel in affairs of state.f Bancroft remarks : —
'* He was a tender husband, an aifectionate parent, and, relaxing from severer cares, he could vividly enjoy the delights of conversation with friends ; but the walls of his modest mansion never witnessed dissipation, or levity, or frivolous amusements, or anything inconsistent with the discipline of the man whose in- cessant prayer was that Boston might become a Christian Sparta. " X
His religion, like that of his brethren and of the early settlers, recognized the education of the people as indispensable to a free government. On this subject he was an enthusiast. In one of his letters to John Adams he says : " Let divines and philosophers, statesmen and patriots, unite their endeavors to renovate the age by impressing the minds of men with the importance of educating their boys and girls, of inculcating in the minds of youth the fear and love of the Deity and universal philanthropy, and in subordination to these great principles, the love of their country ; of in- structing them in the art of self-government, without which they never can act a wise part in the government of societies, great or small ; in short, of leading them in the study and practice of the exalted virtues of the Chris- tian system, which will happily tend to subdue the turbulent passions of
♦ Mrs. Mercy Warren's History, i. 211, 212. J Bancroft, v. 194.
t Wells's Life, I. 53.
r
10 Samuel AdatM, (he Last of the Puritans. [Jan.
men, and introdaoe that golden age, beautifully described in figurative lan- guage, when ^ . . . . none shall then hurt or destroy, for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord/ When this millennium shall commence, if there shall be any need of civil government, indulge me in the fancy that it will be in the republican form, or something better."
In his addresses to the legislature, while he held the office of governor, he ui^ged the subject of common schools u{H)n the members with great earnestness and force of argument, on the general principle that ^ a virtuous education is calculated to reach and influence the heart, and prevent crimes." Mr. Wells says that he took the greatest interest in common schools, visited them, listened to recitations, and was known and loved by crowds of school children, who well understood his desire for their advancement. Eliot says that he was a constant advocate of public schools, by which ^ he meant such as there are in every town in Massachusetts, which diffuse knowledge equally among all classes of people."
Such was the Puritan patriot. His riper years were the rich fruitage of his early life, of the instructions of godly parents, the associations of good men, the precepts of an open Bible. His theories of civil government nat- urally developed from that ^ liberty wherewith Christ has made us free " ; with him, human law must be consonant with Grod's law.
The early life of Adams was moulded in the old-time religious model. His father, as has been already stated, was deacon in the Old South Church for several years ; but in 1715 he, with thirteen other citizens, petitioned the authorities for leave to erect a meeting-house on Church Green, in Summer Street ; the petition was granted and the church was built, and dedicated in January, 1717, as the "New South Church," where sermons were preached by Benjamin Wadsworth of the First Church, and Cotton Mather of the Old North. Samuel Checkley, whose daughter aflerwards became Samuel Adams's first wife, was ordained pastor April 15, 1719.* Here Samuel
* Mrs. Checkley was a daughter of Rev. BeDJamin Rolfe, of llaverbill, Mass., who was killed by the Indians in the attack on that town, August 29, 1 708. She with her •ister, both small children, were, hj the presence of mind of a servant, concealed under two large tubs in the cellar, and so escaped. Henrj Adams, of Braintree, was the an- cestor of the Adams family in this country. His great-great-grandson, John Adams, second President of the United States, erected a granite column to his memory, and the inscription begins with these words : " In memory of Henry Adams, who took his flight from the Dragon persecution in Devonshire in England, and alighted, with eight sons, near Mount WoUaston." Samuel, of Boston, father of Samuel the Patriot, m. Mary, dau. of Richard Fyfleld, of Boston, 21 April, 1713, d. 8 March, 1748. Samuel Adams, b. 16 Sept. 1722, m. (1st) Elizabeth Checkley (b. 15 March, 1725; d. 25 July, 1757); 17 Oct. 1749, m. (2d) Elizabeth Wells, dau. of Francis Wells (b. 6 Dec. 1764; d. 2 Oct. 1803). Freflxed to Wells's Life of Adams is a well- arranged chronological record, which gives at a glance the eminent services of the pat- riot Ko satisfactory condensation can be made. Each month of the long life, and well- nigh each day, has its own history ; and, where all is important, selections are nnwise.
1869.] Samud Adams^ the Last cf the Pwitam. 11
Adams was baptized ; here the family attended ^ meeting," but did not ** go to church." * The patriotic colonists had an honest aversion to the "church," for ** the officers serving under the Crown were, from highest to lowest, nearly all churchmen. Hence it is not at all strange that the Episcopal Church should be looked upon with quite as much suspicion bb the government, part of which it was." f Mrs. Adams, the mother, w%s a woman of strict religious principles, and she early taught her childreti a deep reverence for holy things ; and that religious cast of mind which was 60 prevailing a trait throughout the life of her son thus had a natural origin, and, as years passed on, his consistency was as marked in his relig- ion as in his politics. Unlike many men of to-day, he did not separate one from the other ; they harmonized in all points where they were not identical. The family homestead in Purchase Street, fronting upon and commanding a fine view of Boston Harbor, was, in his boyhood, a great resort for the leading politicians of the times and the prominent citizens of the town; and here and at the famous *' Caulkers' Club," to which his father belonged (a political organization whence, probably, comes our word "caucus"), it is probable that he became imbued with those views of his country's neces- sities and dangers which led him, contrary to his father's hopes, to choose politics rather than the pulpit. Of his domestic life after he became the head of a household there are many genial descriptions which it would be pleasant to quote did space allow. Although his means were limited, by the good management of his wife, who was one of the best housekeepers in the town, — a reputation then more commonly aspired to than now, — his home presented a neat and attractive appearance, and a well-furnished table, and was noted for its open hospitality. His biographer says that
** Mrs. Adams fully appreciated the character of her husband. Besides feeling it her duty to aid, by all means in her power, in the great objects of bis life by disburdening him as much as possible of domestic cares, she was perfectly devoted
to him socially He lived within the slender means which his stipend from
the Assembly afforded him ; yet he was cheerful, and contented with his lot, and desired as a reward for his public services only a decent livelihood for his family, satisfied if the important part be was acting should aid in preserving to his countrymen their liberties and virtue. Grace was always said by Samuel Adams in person, and the little circle each night listened to the Divine Word as read by
some member of the family from the great Bible No one in the religious
society of Boston had a greater reverence for the Sabbath, and the requirements of the rigid faith of his pious ancestors, nor were any more careful in the observ- ance of them. He was a devout Christian, a sincerely religious man ; but was far from being gloomy or morose, however stern or unrelenting he was in political life."
• The family returned to the Old South in 1792. t Drake's History of Boston, 665.
12 Samtul Adams^ the Last of the Puritans. [Jan.
Everett says that ''his chief relaxation from business and the cares of life was in the indulgence of a taste for sacred music, for which he was qualified by the possession of a most angelic voice and a soul solemnly impressed with religious sentiment." The democracy of Congregationalism made him suspicious of Episcopacy, whose essence is monarchical ; and he, with others, looked with alarm at the strenuous efforts made by the British government to establish the '' Church " in the Colonies, and make it an in- tegral part of the ruling power. But the doctrine of " a church without a bishop, a state without a king" was dominant in Adams's soul. In the celebrated letter from the Assembly of the Province to their agent, before alluded to, which was written by him, as were the greater portion of the state papers of those days, he says : —
" The establishment of a Protestant episcopate in America is also very zeal- ously contended for ; and it is very alarming to a people whose fathers, from the hardships they sufiered under such an establishment, were obliged to fly their country into a wilderness, in order peaceably to enjoy their privileges, civil and religious. Their being threatened with the loss of both at once must throw them into a very disagreeable situation. We hope in God such an establishment will never take place in America, and we desire you would strenuously oppose it." *
But with this thorough distrust of Episcopacy and consistent opposition to its establishment in this country, especially if connected in any way with the civil government, as was strongly hinted at and doubtless intended, Samuel Adams was no bigot, and his first act after entering Congress was one of conciliation on a point where he might well be supposed to be unyielding. The differences in religious opinions among the members of Congress, of which body Adams was " the guiding intellect," gave rise to grave appre- hensions. The New-Englanders were mainly, if not all, Congregationalists, the New York and Southern delegates Episcopalians, and there was a slight mixture of Quakers and Presbyterians. To open a meeting of any kind in those days without prayer was unheard of; but how could these diverse elements be harmonized? It was not only a question of creeds but of politics. Jay of New York, and Rutledge of South Carolina, objected to an opening prayer, because of the great differences in religious belief ; but Adams, the strict Congregationalist, both in form of church government and in a firm belief in the ** five points " of Calvinism, the man who, of all others, was imbued with the most radical principles of civil and ecclesias- tical liberty, removed the whole difficulty with admirable tact, and with a spirit of concession most noteworthy ; for the loyalists in Massachusetts, as well as in the other Colonies, were almost universally of the Church of England, and in New England the feeling was strong against Episcopa- lians. Adams's religious position was well defined by Rev. Thomas
Thacher : —
* Wells's Biography, 1. 157.
1869.] Samuel AdamSj the Last of (he Puritans. 18
** If he preferred the mode of DiYine worship in which he was bom and ed- ucated to other religious institutions of antiquity, or to other forms in which Christianity has appeared, it was not from the prejudices of education, or mere mechanical habit ; but because he conceived our churches, when confined to their original design, were excellent schools of morality ; that they were adapted to promote the future happiness of mankind ; and because by experience he had known them a powerful auxiliary in de "ending the civil as well as the religious privileges of America. In this mode of thinking he was instituted. The purity of his life witnessed the sincerity of his profession, and with the same faith he ex- pired." ♦
He never yielded an iota of principle, but would yield everything else, and hence his conduct on this occasion.
John Adams, in a letter to his wife, describes the scene in Congress with particularity : —
'*Mr. Samuel Adams arose find said ^he was no bigot, and could hear a prayer from a gentleman of piety and virtue who was at the same time a friend to his country. He was a stranger in Philadelphia, but had heard that Mr. Duche (Dushay they pronounce it) deserved that character, and there- fore he moved that Mr. Duchd, an Episcopal clergyman, might be desired to read prayers to the Congress to-morrow morning.' The motion was seconded, and passed in the affirmative. Mr. Randolph, our president, waited on Mr. Duchd, and received for answer that, if his health would permit, he certainly would. Ac- cordingly, next morning, he appeared with his clerk and in his pontificals, and read several prayers in the established form, and then read the Collect for the 7th day of September, which was the thirty-fifth Psalm. You must remember that this was the next morning after we heard the horrible rumor of the cannon- ade of Boston. I never saw a greater effect upon an audience. It seemed as if Heaven had ordained that Psalm to be read on that morninrr. After this Mr. Duche, unexpectedly to everybody, struck out into an extemporary prayer which filled the bosom of every man present. I must confess I never heard a better prayer, or one so well pronounced. Episcopalian as he is, Dr. Cooper himself never prayed with such fervor, such ardor, such earnestness and pathos, and in lanjjuage so elegant and sublime, for America, for the Congress, for the Province of Massachusetts Bay, and especially the town of Boston/' f
Samuel Adams himself, in a letter to Warren, after stating that he moved that the prayer should be by an Episcopalian clergyman, speaks of "the most excellent extemporary prayer" which followed "the lessons of the day." t Was ever a prescribed form of prayer satisfactory in any great emergency ?
The result of this measure was most salutary ; the unexpected conces-
* Funeral Sermon by Rev. Thomas Thacher, Minister of tbo Third Parish in Ded- ham. t John Adams's Works, ii. 368, 369 ; Bancroft, vii. 131. I Force's American Archives, 4 th Series, i. 802.
14 Samuel Adams^ (he Last of the Puritans. [Jan.
sion of the rigid Puritan gratified the New-Yorkers and the Southerners, and was correctly termed by Joseph Reed " a masterly stroke of policy." It is a sad comment on this event to state that Mr. Ducb^ afterwards turned traitor ; the genius of Republicanism had not sufficient attractions for one so wedded to " Church and State."
As the State and the country emerged from the war, there was a strong tendency to depart from that piety, simplicity, and frugality which had hitherto been dominant, and which such pure-minded patriots as Adams regarded as tbe basis of the whole structure of liberty. " At a time," says £dward Everett, " when the new order of things was inducing laxity of manners, and a departure from the ancient strictness, Samuel Adams clung with greater tenacity to the wholesome discipline of the fathers." Even before the close of the war he raised his voice and used his pen against the insidious encroachments of extravagance and a lower tone of morals. Immediately after the inauguration of the State government, when Han- cock was elected governor, Boston was gay with balls and glittering enter- tainments. Hancock had wealth, and loved display, and recklessly led the people in a dangerous path, and an era of moral and spiritual social degen- eracy was initiated. Adams's views on these points give a clear insight into the ruling principles of his life, and they are not inappropriate to our own times. He says : —
'* Does it become us to lead the people to such public diversions as promote su- perfluity of dress and ornament, when it is as much as they can bear to support the expense of clothing a naked army ? Will vanity and levity ever be the stability of government either in states or in cities, or what let me hint to you is of tbe last importance, in families ? . . . . How fruitless is it to recommend the adapting the laws in the most perfect manner possible to the suppression of idle- ness, dissipation, and extravagancy, if such recommendations are counteracted by the example of men of religious influence and public station V "
Adams was not alarmed without cause at the degeneracy in public morals. Without entering into details, for which there is no space, a single remark by Minot will index the whole : —
** The usual consequences of war were conspicuous upon the habits of the people of Massachusetts. Those of the maritime towns relapsed into the voluptuousness which arises from the precarious wealth of naval adventurers. An emulation pre- vailed among men of fortune to exceed each other in the full display of their riches. This was imitated among the less opulent classes of citizens, and drew them off firom those principles of diligence and economy which constitute the best support of all governments, and particularly the republican. Besides which, what was most to be lamented, the discipline and manners of the army had vitiated the taste and relaxed the industry of the yeomen.*' *
Adams attempted to stem the tide of dissipation, and presided at public
* Minot's InsurrectionB in Masiachosetts, 13.
1869.] Samud Adams^ the Last of the Pufitam. 15
meetings held for that object* He both spoke and wrote strongly, and in his own life set an example of trae Christian citizenship that was worthy of imitation. In one of his letters he says: —
** Our Bradfords, Winslows, and Winthrops would have revolted at the idea of openiDg scenes of dissipation and folly, knowing them to be inconsistent with their great design in transplanting themselves into what they call the < outside of the world/ But I fear I shall say too much. I love the people of Boston. I once thought that city would be the Christian Sparta, But, alas I will men never he free ? They will be free no longer than while they remain virtuous. Sidney tells us there are times when people are not worth saving, meaning when they have lost their virtue. I pray God thb may never be said of my beloved town."
In commenting npon this letter, of which only a short paragraph has been given, Adams's biographer remarks : ^ That frugality and economy which Samuel Adams tried to inculcate was defeated by the conspicuous examples of the Governor and some of the wealthy families, by whom the efforts of Adams and those of his friends who still adhered to the old code of morality and frugal habits were derided as Utopian." But he did not jield in the slightest degree, and until the close of his life he exemplified the principles he so rigorously urged upon others.
Adams's political career closed early in the year 1797 by his own volun- tary announcement to the legislature that the decline of his strength and the increasing weight of years warned him of the necessity of a final retire- ment from public duties. His last public paper was a Proclamation for Fast, published on the 20th of March, 1797 ; and the closing paragraph shows that there was no abatement of his religious convictions. He prays
'* That wars may cease in all the earth, and that the confusions that are and have been among the nations may be overruled by the promoting and speedily bringing on that holy and happy period when the kingdom of our I^rd and Saviour Jesus Christ may be everywhere established, and all the people willingly bow to the sceptre of him who is the Prince of Peace."
It is pleasant to record that the last writing of Samuel Adams of which any trace remains is a letter to Thomas Paine, — who returned to this coun- try in October, 1802, after an absence of fourteen years in France, — written apparently for the sole purpose of dissuading Paine from making further attacks upon Christianity. It is in these words : —
Boston, November 30, 1802.
Sir : I have frequently with pleasure reflected on your services to my native and your adopted country. Your Common Sense and your Crisis unquestionably awakened the public mind, and led the people loudly to call for a declaration of our national independence. I therefore esteemed you as a warm friend to the liberty and lasting welfare of the human race. But when I heard you had turned
* Boston Town Becords, 1780, 1781.
16 Samuel Adams^ the La%t of the Puritans. [Jan.
yoxkT mind to a defence of infidelity, I felt myself much astonished and more grieved that you had attempted a measure so injurious to the feelings and so re- pugnant to the true interest of so great a part of the citizens of the United States. The people of New England, if you will allow me to use a Scripture phrase, are fast returning to their first love. Will you excite among them the spirit of angry controversy at a time when they are hastening to amity and peace ? I am told that some of our newspapers have announced your intention to publish an additional pamphlet upon the principles of your Age of Reason. Do you think that your pen or the pen of any other man can unchri.stianize the mass of our citizens, or have you hopes of converting a few of them to assist yon in so bad a cause ? We ought to think ourselves happy in the enjoyment of opinion, without the danger of persecution by civil or ecclesiastical law. Our friend, the President of the United States, has been calumniated for his liberal sentiments by men who have attributed that liberality to a latent design to pro- mote the cause of infidelity. This, and all other slanders, have been made with- out the least shadow of truth. Neither religion nor liberty can long subsist in the tumult of altercation, and amidst the noise and violence of altercation. Ftlix qui
caulus. Adieu.
Samuel Adams.
On Sabbath morning October 1, 1803, he died. The "Independent Chronicle " of the following Monday, in announcing the event, concisely remarks : —
" We shall now only observe that he has been a prodigy of talents and in- dustry of which the lapse of ages will not produce a parallel. In his useful career he seemed occupied with but one sentiment ; and that comprehended every circumstance which had any relation to the interests and independence of his native country, and the rights and liberty of the human race. The foe of tyrants in every form, the friend of Virtue and her friends, he died beloved as he had lived respected. Admiring posterity, penetrated by a just sense of his transcendent merits, will emphatically hail him as the undeviating friend of civil and religious liberty, and the Father of the American Revolution"
In view of his consistent and earnest advocacy of those principles of civil and religious liberty which are the origin, the strength, and the only Safety of our institutions, the words of Rev. Perez Fobes, as applied to him in his Election Sermon of 1795, may be quoted with aptness : —
** His eminent services in the cause of freedom are too deeply engraved on the
hearts of all true republicans ever to be forgotten May he not appeal to
heaven and earth, in the language of an inspired patriot of his own name, and say, ' I am old and gray-headed ; I have walked before you from my childhood to this day. Behold, here I am ; witness against me before the Lord and before hia people. Whom have I defrauded ? Whom have I oppressed ? Or of whose hand have I taken a bribe?' And the people will say: *Thou hast not de- frauded, thou hast not oppressed us, the Lord is witness. The I^rd think upon you for good, according to all that you have done for this people.'"
Such wns Samuel Adams, the " Last of the Puritans," the '* Father of the Revolution/'
1869.] The Coming Church Congregatimalt 17
THE CQPONG CHURCH CONGREGATIONAL?
As the centQries have passed away, great doctrines have successively come before the Church of Christ for careful investigation and settlement. The doctrines which are distinctively called evangelical have thus agitated the churches, each for a longer or a shorter period, during the past eighteen hundred years, till each and all of them have been substantially settled, for all time to come. No reopening of the discussion respecting them, which does not add to the problem some new factor, or give to an old factor a new value, can materially disturb the solution already reached. As these doctrines are now held, so will they be held by believers while the world stands. Slight alterations in the form of their statement and in the rela- tion of one doctrine to another there may be. But there can be no radical, fundamental change in the doctrines themselves ; otherwise, our evangelical faith rests, not upon the solid rock, but upon the shifting sand.
There remains, however, one great doctrine yet to be generally discussed and settled by the churches. It is the idea, or doctrine, of the church it- self What is the Divine idea and the Divine model of the Church of Christ ? — this is the question now looming up before the churche^i, and demanding a permanent answer. What answer will be given it is the pur- pose of this article to show.
There are three possible and actual ideas of the church, which may properly be called the monarchic, the aristocratic, and the democratic. These ideas are now firmly held and purely exemplified in existing church organizations, while in certain other organizations they overlap one an- other and commingle. We will briefly note the nature and working of each of these radically different ideas of the Church of Jesus Christ
The monarchic idea is that all believers constitute one universal organic church, presided over by one supreme visible head, in whom centres, and from whom emanates, all ecclesiastical authority : it styles itself the Church. This idea culminated in the papacy. '* For it was only then^* says Neander, ** that the church could be expected to make itself indepen- dent of the influence of the secular power, and appear as God's instrument for remodelling and shaping all human relations, when it should proceed to develop itself under the guidance of an absolute head, not subject to the power of any individual monarch, and able to keep all the scattered mem- bers of the great whole united together." The aim of the papacy has ever been to realize this idea, to bring all believers into one organic union, so that every disciple of the Master might be made subject to one visible head, the Pope, — receiving from this lord over all both creed and practice.
NEW SERIES. — VOL. I. NO. 1. 2
18 The Coming Church CongregatUmalt [Jan.
This idea, fully carried out, would make the world what it imperfectlj was during the Dark Ages, — when proud kings were forced to hold the stirrups of the Pope's saddle, and to stand barefoot in the snow at his door, and when all the people groaned in ignorance and oppression.
Afler a long and fair trial, this idea of the Church of Christ is rapidly losing ground* The people are rejecting it, and emancipating themselTes from the thraldom, both spiritual and temporal, in which it has so long held them. Of this the allocutions and encyclicals which the feeble old Pios IX. has issued give ample proof. Against threatened excommunication, the people have made Italy united and free. Austria, by a tacit under- standing between the people and the empire, has made herself one of the freest nations of £urope ; and when the Pope fulminated an allocution against ^ those abominable laws sanctioned by the Austrian government, — laws which are in flagrant contradiction of the laws of the Catholic re* ligion, with its venerable rights, its authority, and its Divine institution," as he called them, — Austria replied: ^The Holy See .... extends its rep- resentations to those objects which we in no way adjout to be under its authority." Thus in matters where the Pope once had authority almost unquestioned the world over, he is told by his recently most supple tool and defender, in the courteous language of diplomacy, to mind his own busi- ness. So alarming is the state of affairs, as viewed from the papal idea of the church, that a call has been issued for an ecumenical council to be held in 1869, — the first convoked since the one called to resist the Refor- mation, — to devise measures of resistance against the threatened speedy downfall of the papacy.
The Pope's call for this council is the wail of a falling power. The foundation on which the papacy is built is giving way ; for the monarchic idea of the church, on which it rests, shattered by the convulsions of the Reformation, is losing its hold upon the people. When kings, formerly the most subservient, laugh at those paper missiles which once stirred them to arms, the time is near when bishops too will scorn obedience to the pal- sied " Man of Sin," that they may do the will of God. When that time comes, the Church of Rome, aiming at universal empire, will break into fragments, and '' the master-piece of Satan " will be no more forever. The spirit of the age is against the monarchic, papal idea of the church, because the Spirit of Christ is against it. Hence the day of "• the Son of Perdi- tion " is in its late evening.
When the Reformation brought in a purer faith and practice, there came in naturally a better idea also of the church, though the reformers were not agreed respecting it. Many adopted an aristocratic idea, — one which places all ecclesiastical power, or government, neither in a visible head, as a pope, nor in the membership of the local congregations, but in a few men stand-
1869.] The Coming Church Congregational t 19
ing between these extremes. This idea develops into church courts of every grade, from a local session up to an ecumenical consistory, which courts daim and exercise all ecclesiastical authority and government. They govern the churches ; they are themselves the churches, — while the membership are without authority altogether, or have none greater than the election of an aristo(9*acy, which is not directly amenable to them. The real initial of power lies in the aristocracy, and not in the membership, whichf perchance, may elect that aristocracy, or a part of it. This aristoc- racy, in its lowest form, lords it over particular congregations ; and then builds up from itself, by its own action, the whole machinery of church government*
This idea aspires, also, to a national, and even to an ecumenical, organic union of believers. Were any one of the many forms of polity which it has developed to become the polity of all believers, this idea would natu- rally, indeed inevitably, seek to show the brotherhood of the saints in the establishment of an ecumenical court, rising above assemblies and confer- ences in authority, and binding all national bodies into one organic whole. It fails, however, to accomplish its purpose to make the church organically one. This idea, in its many forms of polity, has been strong only to divide the household of faith into opposing organizations. Its boasted strength is brittleness ; for each organization founded on it snaps asunder at every strain. The attempted reunion, in this country and in Europe, of the broken fragments, raises doubts in earnest minds respecting the origin, value, and permanency of that idea of the church which develops itself into forms of government so easily and oflen broken in pieces, and needing mending so frequently.
The Church of England, through the ambition of a king to substitute himself and his successors for the pope as visible head of the church, is a combination of the monarchic and the aristocratic ideas ; for, were this mixed idea to be generally adopted, there would be as many heads of the church as there are civil rulers. Out of England, the idea which under- lies the Anglican Church is, however, more simple. It is that of a priestly aristocracy, ruling by virtue of apostolic succession. This church organ- ization, like the Romish, is not easily rent asunder ; for its hoops of policy are strong. But it has expelled Puritan and Methodist, and thus divided the body of Christ ; and there are influences at work in it at the present time, both in England and in America, which must soon divide it into two parties, — one with mass and candle going over to ^ the mother of hariota and abominations of the earth " ; the other, shocked at the blasphemous pre- tensions and pagan ceremonies of " that Wicked," coming out into a juster apprehension of the idea of the church, and into a polity of greater liberty.
This aristocratic idea, as developed, also, in the Methodist denomination.
20 The Coming CTmrch Congregationalf [Jan.
secures neither unitj nor liberty. Many divisions have already occurred in that body, and another is but just now averted by admitting the member- ship to a share in the government of the church. With lay-delegation there will be rest till this wrong idea of the church galls somewhere else ; then there will arise another agitation, another struggle between liberty and despotism, another victory of the people, till at length the true idea and the Divine model of the church are reached. There is no rest within the body. Movements divisive or unifying are constantly in progress ; and they will continue till liberty and unity and rest are found in the polity of the New Testament
This idea is divisive, also, in its Presbyterian form of development Numerous divisions have taken place in this body of believers. Indeed, a Presbyterian, who longs for a better, because freer and stronger, church polity, writes, ^ The Assembly's Digest is the record of the impracticabil- ity of the harmonious working of Presbyterianism."
In all the organizations built on the aristocratic idea of the church, in- fluences are at work which indicate by their origin and direction the speedy and thorough discussion and settlement of this last doctrine of vital welfare to the kingdom of God among men, namely, the doctrine of the church itself.
There is yet another idea of the church, the democratic, — one that places the initial of all ecclesiastical power in the membership, and limits its exercise to the members and affairs of the local churches. '^ Tell it unto the church " is both the Master's warrant and limit of church authority.* Hence the membership of each church manages its own affairs as they please, subject always and only to the will of its Head and Master.
£ach church is, therefore, independent of the authority and control of all other churches, but subject to the duties of fellowship and counsel which the Scriptures and the spiritual brotherhood of believers impose. There are three things essentially involved in, and necessary to, the complete develop- ment of this idea, namely, obedience to Christ, liberty, and unity. £ach church must be spiritually minded, intent on knowing and doing the will of its glorified Head. It must also manage, without restraint or compul- sion, its own affairs, — the adoption of its articles of faith, the election and removal of its own officers, the administration of its discipline, its form of worship, its modes of activity, its charities, &c ; and then, to be perfect, it must manifest in Christian fellowship the spiritual unity of all the re- deemed, the brotherhood of saints, the integrity of the kingdom of God among men, and secure, by friendly counsel, mutual confidence and co- operation in activities and charities for the evangelization of the world* While the monarchic and the aristocratic ideas have been on trial, this
* Matt, xviii. 15 - 18.
1869.] The Coming Church Congregational t 21
democratic idea has maintained bat a precarious existence ; but, as they are found wanting, this springs into new vitality, ready to prove its Divine origin and fitness to secure most completely all the ends for which govern- ment was intrusted to the churches.
This democratic idea of the church was apprehended by Luther, but it is found imperfectly developed in the Lutheran Church. In this organiza- tion the initial of power lies with the membership of each local congrega- tion. Whatever authority church courts possess is delegated to them, and it can be recalled again at pleasure. The Lutheran Church is Congrega- tional in its idea, but Presbyterian in the development of this idea. ^ More power and freedom are claimed for individual churches than is acknowledged by Presbyterianism, and more authority and power granted to synods than is acknowledged by Congregationalism.'' '' The position occupied is between Presbyterianism and Congregationalism." A slight alteration, therefore, in the mode of its development would bring this large body of believers into exact accord with the democratic idea of the church ; for the unity of Christian fellowship is well developed and prac- tised among them.
The Baptists, too, hold the same idea of the church, but generally with , too strong a leaning towards an isolated independency of the local congre- gation. Hence with them the fellowship of the saints is not adequately exhibited, either to satisfy the natural longings of the devout heart, or to convince the world that all believers are baptized into one Name.
The same jealous shielding of their liberties from the first taint of eccle- siastical tyranny has led, also, the Congregationalists of Great Britain to suppress the proper development of Christian fellowship among the churches. They have neglected advisory councils in matters of general concern, lest, peradventure, councils called to advise might in time aspire to rule, claiming for themselves the prerogatives and powers of church jndicatories. This fear is happily now yielding under the influence 6f a more perfect way, and advisory councils are recommended to the churches.
The Congregationalists of our own country have, however, developed in equal measure and in perfect harmony the two essential elements of the democratic idea of the church, in its outward manifestation, namely, self- government and the fellowship of the churches. Their circumstances were providentially favorable for the doing of this ; for neither internal dis- sensions nor overshadowing despotism checked independency on the one hand or fellowship on the other. Under the Providence and the Word and the Spirit of God, they have given to the world the democratic idea of the Church of Christ in its proper development.
Now, which of these three ideas of the church, intrenched as they all are in present belief and practice, is the coming church to embrace ? Will it
22 The Coming Church Cangregationdlt [Jan.
go back to the falling monarchic idea, and clothe it with machineiy 8uffi- cient to govern the whole body of believers under one visible and sapreme head ? Will it adopt the brittle aristocratic idea, bringing all the disciples of our Lord into one universal organic whole, with church judicatories ris- ing in imposing grandeur up to an ecumenical consistory, which in the place of the pope shall administer the ecclesiastical government of the whole world ? or will the coming church be congregational ? Two influences determine which idea it will adopt, and what its polity will be. These are no less potent than the spirit of the age and the New Testament
Tlie spirit of the age is both a preparatory and a formative influence. It has had much to do in giving form to the government of the churches. Thus the spirit which led to the establishment of the vast, almost univer- sal, Roman Empire, prepared the way for and aided, if indeed it did not suggest to clerical ambition, the monarchic, or papal, idea of the church. So also the upheavals in the sixteenth century were but the throes at the birth of a new spirit of the age. Liberty. Monarchic ideas in church and state then received a shock from which they can never recover ; for, un- der the influence of this better spirit, new ideas of church and state were apprehended and developed, which have ever since been in conflict with the old, till now Liberty is the master spirit of the age. The child is now the grown-up Hercules.
But whatever influence the spirit of the age has had in times past on the polity of the churches, the tendency of things in our day is manifestly towards the greatest liberty in church and state that is compatible with se- curity. The spirit of liberty is surely overturning monarchic and aristo- cratic governments throughout the world. The people long for freedom in church and state. The tyrannies of the past are becoming odious. The royal utterance, ^ No bishop, no king," has the warrant of subsequent his- tory to verify its prophetic truthfulness ; for the work of levelling human distinctions towards equality, begun by the church, pervaded also the state, till the nobler sentiment found expression in the immortal declaration, '* All men are created free and equal.'* The first utterance befitted the banner of retreating monarchy; the last, the flag of advancing democracy. The former was the wail of the falling palace ; the latter, the shout of the rising people.
Without reference here to its origin, it is well to observe how the spirit of liberty is abroad in the world. Instead of being suppressed by the combinations f^ainst it, it gathers breadth and depth and volume year by year. Only three and a half centuries have passed since the great Refor- mation began ; less than a century since the Declaration of American Inde- pendence was issued, — the proclamation of universal liberty to the world ; and less than half a decade since the people, under the. worst possible cir-
1869.] The Coming ChunA C<mgTeg0^mdlf 23
comatances, pnred their own cbbsen goTerament to be the strongeBt in the world. Yet few are the thrones that hare not been shaken ; few the seeptres that do not owe their continuance to the present time to conces- sions made to the people, — to " a happy agreemenl between the people and the empiire," as Von Benit* calls them. England, France, Prussia, Italy, Aoatria, and Spain are examples known unto all. Have the people wrested from kingly hands all their rights? Do thej long for no greater liberty ? TbeinflDcnce of our example, heightened by the successful issue of our late conteet for nationality; the stream of friendly letters pouring towards the continent of Europe from this free home of the nations, more genial in its infioence npon the people's liberties there than is the Gulf Stream upon the climate of that seat of the world's power ; the deep longing afler free- dom begotten by the word and the Spirit of God in the hearts of those who have an open Bible, — all prove that the people are about to regain their lost liberties, in the establishment of governments " of the people, by the people, and for the people." Pages conld be filled with the proof of this, were it necessary to parade what is patent to all.
This tendency towards the greatest liberty consistent with security per- Tadea and disturbs also the various centralized church organizations. The ecclesiastical, like the civil yoke, chafes, and men grow restive under it. In this lies the germ of division. The centralized power will not give the churches liberty in non-essentials ; so the aggrieved chnrches separate from it, regain their liberties, live alone for a while, and then perhaps seek union sgain, carrying the liberties acquired by separation back with them into the united church. Such has been the origin of the divisions already mentioned. Mor is there yet rest in the churches ; for the membership cannot stand fast in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made them free, for they are etill entangled with the yoke of bondage. In one church organ- ization some are coDlending for the liberty of singing
" Atl hail the power of Jestu' name ! " and
" Jeaiu, lover of my soul," and
" 0, could I ipeak the maccblesa worth I "
" leaching and admonishing one another in psalms, and kymni, and spiritual nmfft, singing with grace in their hearts to the Lord." And for the exer- cise of this primitive liberty they are excommunicated. In another, the liberty of preaching the Gospel to every creature, even within the limits of another's parish, is claimed and exercised by a priest; only, however, to be tried, and publicly admonished by the bishop, whom he has solemnly promised reverently to obey, " following with a glad mind and will (bis) * See hia Rcpl; to the Allocution of the Pope against Refonni inAmlris.
24 The Coming Church Congregaiionalt [Jan.
godly admonitions, and submitting • ... to (his) godlj jodgments.** In another, the liberty of Christian fellowship is claimed and practised ; and he who followed the example of the apostles * is in danger of expulsion from the association to which he belongs. In another, the membership are tuooessfuUy contending for a share in their own government; for their clerical rulers, rather than rend the church, gracefully yield to their de- mands. Thus the yoke of bondage galls ; for all believers have not yet learned the Divine utterance of Paul, *' Let every man be fully persuaded in his own mind " ; and, as the yoke galls, bold men rise up to resist it. Ecclesiastical courts pronounce against them ; but the people shout, ^ Throw off the yoke of bondage, and enjoy the liberty of the sons of God." When this is done, the church courts will yield, as have already the kings of Europe ; for less power than supreme is better than none. .
The claims of the people to share in the government wluch is over them, whetlier civil or ecclesiastical, are beginning to be heeded. But the liberty they now enjoy is largely a deference to the popular will on the part of those who claim the divine right to govern them as they please. Will tills deference satisfy the people ? Will they rest contented, so long as tbejre hangs over them, in reserved wrath, a power which claims the right to rule them without their consent? Power lies with the people; and the people have found it out They have exercised supreme audKM^ itT« both in church and in state, without detriment to either, with great advantage to both. Our great republic is the glorious examine of the oiie» and ike Congregational diurches of the other. In each ^ the gov- erainent of the people, by the people, and for the people," subject always and only to the kws of God« challenges comparison in all things for whidi |^>Teffuaell^ civil and ecdesiastical. was ordained, with that of aotn- ctat or ■wnareb. Power lies with the people ; their exodse of it has be«D botk sweei and suoMSasfol : and will they rest till they have gathered iato their scrong hands all the n^ins of government* and admintst^- diurck and ssate for ihenu^lves* sobjecl only and always to the laws of God ? Befotxfr tiie warm br>*ath of Hbertr* srisiocTacT and mooanchy are disap- pcttria^ like the fnnsis of the moniing ; and will the people now mm KscIl ? TVt i>vi^ LiWfftT : they have loncked the beoi of her garments^ and a new B>e ha$ enteivd inliok then : they air intent upon embracing her; a»l neviNr w^ tiuey oop till slie ts wholly theirs Tbo^e wIm> for los^ wyiMT ceMwtiM^ hav« nMi«^ iImsmi of tkeir r^ls^ and Wnvr foneoed npon thpw k(»rl eanun^ will wotinne K> ke^le tW«a ; tWy will tln>w thesa m iw no»w ami tl»<*i : they will yidd when the i^'f^tUr WK^vraMfst t? too ioy«^ v» W^iffiainfJI; l<<ni nexw ^^piun ^iKaH tW $lk*i>w ve i<t$cvcsaa go Vac^ a^wi iW 4^ ^' tW i^^fVV libevti<4< Chii«^M>i s^ ciaw^sri. wiU
• Am a^ ♦-U-
1869.] The Coming Church Cangregatwnalt 25
the spirit of the age move then, till the glorious principle, bom of the Scrip* tures, — '' all men are created free and equal/' — is engraved in letters of light and peace upon the forehead of the purified church and state through- out the world. Were this tendencj, this spirit of the age, alone to settle the polity and idea of the coming church, it would make them congre- gational.
This influence, though sufficient, is not our stronghold. Indeed, the spirit of liberty which pervades the age and gives direction to the efforts has its origin in, and derives much of its power from, a greater and holier influence, — the influence of the New Testament of Jesus Christ To this mightier influence we now appeal.
The Divine idea and the Divine model of the church, as revealed in the New Testament, is congregational ; therefore the coming church will be congregationaL
The grand doct4ies which the evangelical churches hold to be funda- mental, and on the reception of which their fellowship of one another rests, have all been determined by the teachings of the Scriptures. The churches were brought conscientiously to search the Scriptures for the Divine idea of each one of them, as revealed in the words which the Holy Ghost spake, and to hold that idea fast when found. Hence there is substantial agreement among the churches respecting them. So also will there be substantial agreement among them respecting the doctrine of the church, when qnce appeal is made by them to the Bible. Then the Divine idea and model, whatever they may be, will be embraced and embodied in one form of pol- ity by all the churches of Jesus Christ.
Until the present, the aristocratic and the monarchic ideas have reposed on the assumption that the New Testament does not disclose any particular system of church government, and consequently no definite idea of the church of Christ. This assumption being taken for granted, the way is open for any idea of the church, with its appropriate polity, that the wis- dom or the interest or the ambition of men may devise ; while for each and all, in the absence of Divine authority and sanction, an equal warrant can be claimed ; save, perchance, as history or tradition might determine which form and idea have the priority of claims to be called the Church. From this assumption spring the diverse forms of church government which has divided believers, and on it do they now stand. If this as- sumption fails, they fall ; if it be justified by the Scriptures, then Congre- gationalism has as Divine a right to exist as any other form of polity, any other idea of the church ; and, being the very embodiment of democratic liberty, it is most in accord with the spirit of the age, and it will there- fore prevail, as liberty becomes universal. But is this assumption war- ranted ? Does the New Testament leave the churches without principles
26 T^ Coming Chvrch Congreffotianalf [Jan«
or precepts or examples to guide them in this important matter ? When believers turn to consider the doctrine of the church, are thej to be guided solely bj the light of nature and of experience ?
The Head of the church has not left us in the dark here, our opponents themselves being judges. We are not compelled, in the present argument, to go through the demonstration of Congregationalism from the ScriptureSy and prove with irresistible force that this democratic idea is taught in the New Testament and embodied in the apostolic churches, — this has been amplj done b j Punchard and Dexter, — for competent historians and com- mentators of every denomination acknowledge that the primitive churches were congregational. In concluding a long list of these witnesses, Pun- chard says, '' Thus, I conceive, it has been shown from the testimony of nu- merous and distinguished ecclesiastical historians, — none of whom except Dr. Owen were Congregationalists, — and who, consequently, were without any inducement to misunderstand or misinterpret factflin our favor, — that the leading principles and doctrines of the congregational system were de- veloped in the constitution and discipline of the apostolic churches ; that this organization, for substance, was retained for the first two centuries of the Christian church ; and that corruption and error followed the abandon- ment of the apostolic models." *
The idea of the church was also set forth by Christ and his apostles in the principles and precepts announced by them respecting the nature and polity of the churches. These were the stones on which they built ; these were the elements which gave outward form to their churches ; these con- stituted the idea in its essence and in its unfolding. Christ's words in Matt, xviii. 1-18 are conclusive against a priestly order, or a hierarchy of any kind, in his church ; and they teach ^ that all are equal and one in Christ," that the local congregation is the church, and that to this church as a whole, not to a hierarchy in it or above it, is the final step of discipline given by the Lord of alL So the action of the apostles and disciples in filling the place of Judas Iscariot, in electing deacons for the church in Jerusalem, and of the church at Antioch in sending out Paul and Barnabas as mia- Bionaries by the laying on of the hands of the church, and many other facts and precepts and principles, all show that the democratic idea^ of the church was set forth and understood, and practised too, by the first dis- ciples. All these are drawn out with conclusive force by our standard writers on Congregationalism, to whom we must refer the reader for a fuller statement
Claiming thus, by consent of our opponents, that the churches gathered by the inspired apostles were congregational in their idea and develop- ment, in accordance with the teachings of the Master, both personally and
* â–² View of Congregatioiialism, 180, 181 ; see also 133 - 180.
1869.] The C&ming Church Oonffregatianalf 2T
bj his spirit, we insist that to this idea and model the churches will ultimate" It/ come. For God's models are perfect ; we cannot improve upon them, — upon the eye, the nose, the hand, or any of the nnnamber^d contrivances of beauty or of utility of which the world is full. So also the ideas of God, as expressed in the facts and doctrines of grace, cause even angels to won- der and adore. And are the Divine idea and model of the church capable of improvement ? Who so bold as to attempt it ? Who presume to in- struct Grod ? Hence, in order to establish some other idea and polity, the assumption already considered must first be made, that the New Testament leaves this subject wholly open. In thus shifting the foundation on which they build from the Scriptures to an assumption, the defenders of other ideas and polities tacitly admit that if Christ and his apostles had disclosed in the record of their words and acts a particular idea and polity of the church, the same would be the Divine idea and polity, and ought consequently to be adopted by all his followers. We willingly acknowledge that this idea of Hie church is not, afler the manner of books of discipline, set forth in the New Testament ; but, after the manner which the Holy Ghost uses with other doctrines, this democratic idea of the church is fully and indisputably taught by principles and precepts and examples scattered here and there throughout the Divine record. This Divine announcement of the Divine idea and model of the church is clear enough to override education and prejudice and interest; for those reared under other forms, and sharing richly in the profits of a hierarchy, and claiming par excellence to be the Church, are constrained to acknowledge that the apostolic churches were congregational. In this admission lies the germ of a revolution which will in due time sweep away every vestige of Papacy, Episcopacy, Presbyteri- anism, — every form and combination of the monarchic and aristocratic ideas of the church, and establish in their stead throughout the world the idea and model revealed in the Scriptures. This is as inevitable as that the doctrine of the church is ever conscientiously discussed and settled, as the other great doctrines have been. The providence and the Spirit of God are now pressing the consideration of this doctrine upon the churches. Those whose ideas and practice and interests are endangered by it cannot long postpone its settlement ; indeed, their attempts to postpone but help it forward, and, when it is settled, it will be by the teachings of the New Testament.
The churches of the future will thus be built on the Divine idea and in exact conformity to the model revealed ; they will, therefore, be congre- gational. Happy the day when this shall be ; for the Scriptural idea and polity alone give in largest measure to the churches liberty, unity, strength, and purity.
28 The Relation of Creeds to Cfhristian Life. [Jan.
THE RELATION OF CREEDS TO CHRISTIAN LIFE.
We are to consider the relation which definite statements of doctrinal belief sustain toward spiritual life.
I. As to their origin^ they grow out of the spiritual life. The creed of Christendom has been elaborated from Scripture by hearts that supremely loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus grew that sweetest flower of primitive theology, the Apostles* Creed. Even the sceptic asserts that Christ was deified by the ^ enthusiasm " of his disciples, that *^ the heart of Christen- dom gave the law to its understanding." The cavil only distorts a great &ct, that Christian dogma grew up in the midst of an intense Christian life, yea, a life so immortal and self-sustaining that pagan malice with its deadliest thrusts was impotent to sky it The doctrine of the Deity of Christ was formulated by the Council of Nicsea A. d. 325, immediateln afler the close of the martyr period of the church. This was the article of faith which the confessors of Christ in vast multitudes had witnessed with dying prayers and sealed with blood. ^ And of the assembly which gave it form," says Stanley,* '' the older and by far the larger part .... had lived through the last and worst of the persecutions, and they now came, like a regiment out of some frightful siege or battle, decimated and muti- lated by the tortures or the hardships they had undergone. ... It was on their character as an army of confessors and martyrs, quite as much as on their character as an ecumenical council, that their authority reposed." The Creed of Nicsea, then, the most universally accepted confession of the Christian world to-day, is the work of men who had suffered for what they loved, who knew for what they had suffered, and who speak what they do know from heart and life. We may say, then, that creed was a genuine outgrowth of spiritual life, digesting and interpreting the Word of God.
We find substantially the same process of doctrinal development out of spiritual life repeating itself in the article of Justification through Faith. Augustine, indeed, left this in a partial confusion, from which it took a thousand years of bondage under papal legalism to work free. His con- troversy with Pelagius, however, concerning sin and grace, furnished from his own deep experience a large body of useful thought on this subject for his pupils among the reformers and their forerunners to work up. ^ In him," says Dr. Schaff, '^ the metaphysician and the Christian believer coa- lesce : he teaches nothing which he has not felt." The true biblical doc- trine is enunciated, hojirever, first in the eleventh century, in the Cur Deus Homo of Anselm, of whom Ncander says : t *' He was the Augustine of bis age. What gives him his great importance is that unity of spirit in
^ Bkloij of Urn Eaftern Church, 186. t Chnrch History, ly. 861.
1869.] The Bdaiian of Creeds to Christian Life. 29
which everything is of one piece, the harmony between life and knowledge, which in his case nothing disturbed." Such a life it was that first gave dog- matic form to the doctrine which, after five centuries more of travail among the precursors of the Reformation, Luther again brought forth, and found a nation prepared to receive it. And of Luther, how the doctrine of justifi- cation took form out of the Scriptures amid the studies and glooms and tamults of his fervid soul, it is needless to repeat what all know. His Oeuth, and that of his followers, has ever been the foster-child of a Chris- tian experience. The dogma has been the interpretation of Scripture by the glowing heart, ^ Pectus £EU»t theologum."
II. As to their influence^ doctrinal beliefii nourish the spiritual life.
Athanasius, ^ the father of theology," indeed battled for an iota at the Council of NiG»a, because, as has been truly said, a letter may be as im- portant in theology as in algebra. Yet he had among contemporaries the reputation of a reconciler, a peacemaker, ^ the Samuel of the church " ; pursued with more vindictive hatred than any man of h^ time, yet never defending himself with the weapons of persecution or retaliation. To such a life, among the fierce passions of the excitable Orient, we point as that of the pre-eminent Christian dogmatist, —
" The royal-hearted Athanase, With Paul's own mantle blest."
Augustine, too, than whom a s^l more tender, humble, devout, never breathed, may be cited in illustration. His portrait is the fit expression of his character ; in its upturned eye of faith, and its burning heart, love's ofiering, presented in his right hand, while the left hand holds in pause the pen of controversy. So scrupulous was that heart, even in the minor morals, that this couplet was engraved upon the dinner-table : —
" To carp at absent ones who thinks it meet. Shall find this table a forbidden seat."
We do not forget the faults of individuals, the harsh words of Luther, the
charges against Calvin, the austerities of the Puritans. But a man should
be judged by his peers, deeds looked at in the light in which they were
done, things that come to pass in spite of a doctrine deducted from the
charges against it. The best proof of a doctrine is found in its later rather
than its earlier fruits. Of all things human it is true that they deteriorate
in time.
" Omnia in pejns mere, ac sublapsa referri
Retro." •
That, therefore, which gains purity and power with years so far partakes of the Divine. We may point to a saint like Edwar^,* the father of New
* At one of the Unitarian anniyersarics last May the writer listened to a report of the state of that denomination in one of the large towns in the central part of the Com-
belief 8u>'
I. As Cliri^tc'i: loved il. tlieolo;.' deificil dom il fiict, r life, \
Clir: aflt'
5%e Helatian of Creeds to ChrUtian Life* 31
'hese two propositions, that definite statements of doctrine are the
'h and also the nourishment of the spiritual life, the following con-
«eein to be legitimately drawn : —
'octrinal beliefs are not the life itself. That life is love. ** He that
is bom of God." But nothing is easier, as history abundantly
than to mistake orthodoxy for faith. It is a question whether the
•I of our churches in baptizing candidates immediately after their pro-
<i of doctrinal orthodoxy, instead of after the covenant of faith, does
.o in the direction of this mistake.* The brutal violence of the
'uer GoQDcil ** at Ephesus, assembled in 449 to decide the question
.^iUl's nature, or natures ; the fierceness with which theologians have
... over the words of redeeming love, ''This is my body, given for you,"
how easy it is to cover total lack of the spirit with a cloak of zeal
c letter. Indeed, it is not easy to think kindly of those whose religious
we detest Nor is the odium theologicum as yet a fossil curiosity,
among "• liberal " Christians. " Without charity I am nothing." ^ If
Lnan love God, the same is known of him."
The life only can Iseep, assimilate, work up the doctrine. Doctrine
'.out life is food in the stomach of a corpse, sure to corrupt Let the
'^OD of a creed die out, and its theology will change. Thus rose the
inian apostasy in Massachusetts, as has been thoroughly demonstrated.f
'\en we see the clergy of the Anglican Church subscribing to her Thirty-
:e Articles, and exhibiting every phase of belief from orthodoxy to ration-
'sm, from high Protestantism to high Ritualism, we learn just how much
liance can be placed on doctrinal tests for securing consistency and purity
'' faith. Better the apostolic way, — visiting the widows and fatherless in
'leir affliction. Charity which " never faileth " (jKvlirruy cf. Gal. v. 4 ; 2
"et iii. 17) keeps " unspotted from the world " better than any subscript
'ioo. " Knowledge putteth up, but charity buildcth up." Yet we would
keep the doctrinal test also, but in its proper place and use.
8. Disparagement of precision in doctrine bt^tokens a low or unhealthy ilate of the life. Be the creed kept free from antiquated phraseology like a tree from dead wood ; reformulated from time to time, as the Christian consciousness attains to clearer thought and more exact expressions ; and let it be kept also in its legitimate use, so as to disfranchise no true be- liever, and it argues a lack of iron in the blood to be impatient of hearing
* The Articles of Faith, assent to which is required of candidates, are not a confes- sion of faith in Christ Many unconverted persons " believe " them all. The " covo- nant " is tlie proper avouchment of faitli in Christ But baptism after tlie creed, as though it were the sign and seal of ortliodoxy, instead of ufter the covenant, as the sign and seal of faith (see Shorter Catechism, 94, 95), tends to obscure the distinction be- tween ortliodoxy and faith. (See report of a committee on this suliject in the Minutes of the General Association of Massachusetts, 1867.)
t CUrk'i History of the Congregational Churches of Masiachaietts.
82 The Bdatian of Creech to Christian Life. [Jan.
it read, willing to let truth be ambiguoaslj and vaguely held, unfriendly to creeds in general. A little persecution would be good for such good people. If thej lived in a martyr period, they would soon define precisely what they did and what they did not believe. And those of them that loved the truth well enough to die for it would want to state that costly truth so truly that no unbeliever could profess it without falsehood. The mar^ church did that in making the Creed of Nicaea such that no Arian could honestly subscribe it That distinguished New England orator who some time since disparaged the Declaration of Independence as a ^* string of glittering generalities," had he lived on into the sacrifices of the civil war, would doubtless have recanted what he said in the degenerate period pre- ceding it And those '* liberal " Christians who are so hard upon creeds, were they martyred a little, would learn — that is, those that could abide the lesson — the preciousness of the truth which the heroes of the faith have bequeathed as a blood-bought inheritance to their posterity.
4. Imperfection in doctrinal belief should debar no true Christian from church-fellowship. To exclude a child from school for ignorance, to look for the fruit as soon as the root, is preposterous. Where ^ the power " of godliness is, there ^ the form " will come under favoring circumstances in time, as the skeleton develops and hardens into proper symmetry with the lapse of childhood into milnhood. Not the least of the ^ plagues " — mis- chiefs — that come upon those who add to the things written in the book is the discouragement of the children from coming early into the church. Assent to a creed is valueless, if made on the authority of another mind ; and yet it is beyond t)ie ability of most children to assent, understandingly, to the theological creeds of some of our churches. And the closer our ob- servance, with all sorts of persons, of the apostolic terms of church fellow- ship, the better for the church and the doctrine. Every regenerate per- son has a Divine right to church fellowship. ^ Grace be with all them that love our Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity," — if grace, then, by orderly approach, the means of grace. Cotton Mather says : ^ The churches of New England make only vital piety the terms of communion among them." * John Owen says : " We will never deny the communion to any person whose duty it is to desire it" f Samuel Mather shows that all Christians ought to be admitted to any of Christ's churches, t Dr. Watts, in his '^ Terms of Christian Communion," shows that the churches should, as a general rule, admit all who make a credible profession of re- ligion, take heed not to make the door of admission larger or straiter than Christ made it, and that nothing be in tlieir covenant but what is essential to common Christianity. The principle of assimilation, every man *' to his own place," together with Uie strict nmintenanco of orthodoxy and piety in
* lUt. Pi«. IntrcHt, 4. ) Apology, d4« and elaewliero.
t INuritant and their Principles, S95.
1869.] The Bdation of Creeds to Christian Life. 83
the pulpit, will be found as potent to produce all desirable uniformity of belief as anj initiatory tests in mere theology. We say, then, in the golden phrase of Cotton Mather, let ^ the terms of ctmmunion run parallel with the terms of salvation." Reform whittever is contrary to this rule as anscriptural, and also, as history shows,* an innovation upon the primitive and catholic way.
5. Articles of doctrinal belief — a creed — are essential to the historic church, and to every organization that is truly a part thereof. For the Creed, the compend of the doctrines that have from time to time been wrought out of Scripture through the experiences of study and conflict, is an important part of the history of the church. The fruits of the Chris- tian experience are precious. A " church " that discards them is an alien body, without interest or right in ^ the holy church universal throughout all the world." A lack of the historic spirit, which feeds on the fruits of the past, impoverishes the poet, the philosopher, the statesman, and no less the Christian and the church. The creed of the historic church will be a catholic creed, — not emphasizing the shibboleths of sect or schooL As the historic testimony of the church to the true meaning* of the Word of God, it will be borne in public, — read upon solemn sacramental days. Why not, when no Fourth of July celebration is complete without a public reading of the Declaration of Independence ? <* Ye shall know the truth," said Christ, ^ and the truth shall make you free." It should be owned and consented to by every one who is " set for the defence of the Gospel," min- isters and office-bearers in the church ; and for tliis use, the fuller the better ; the freer from the double entendres of biblical phraseology, the bet- ter also. For the biblical phraseology' is the very thing which the creed undertakes to interpret.
' 6. Doctrinal articles being the products of the spiritual life, the develop- ments of Christian experience from the Word of God, we have in the creed thus formed the Word of God tested by history , — a test as much more conclusive than that of any individual mind as the sum of the Christian centuries is longer than a single life. And so we may say, slightly altering Schiller's famous phrase, the history of doctrine is the judgment of doc- trine. In the evangelical creed, then, concerning man*s sinfulness and moral impotence, Christ*s atoning sacrifice, the Holy Ghost's regenerating work, the everlasting state of rewards and punishments, the deity of the Redeemer, and the tripersonality of God, we hear, not the scattered voices of individuals, but the auihorifative testimony of History herself, reaffirming the declaration of the apostle, " These things are good and profitable unto men." This is nothing less than the testimony of time to the truth of eternity.
* See the " Congrej^ational Quarterly " for April, 1862, for ao able i^stiele on "Con- fenioDS of Faith/' hearing somewhat upon this point NEW SERIES. — VOL. I. NO. 1. 3
84 Are JRwivdU qfBdigian Natural f [Jan.
ARE REVIVALS OF RELIGION NATURAL ?
An examination of the statistics of the Congregational charehes, and doubtless those of most other denominations, will show that in ordinarf times the accessions are little more than the losses by death. When the churches are carried up to higher numbers, it is in jears of revivals* A further examination will also show that in ordinary years the numbers are kept good, not by a uniform distribution of accessions, but by the large numbers who come into particular churches in revivals confined to those localities. This is the law of the churches' growth.
Are revivals healthy ? Are they anything more than morbid and de- lusive excitements ? Are they destructive of that tranquil and uniform life which is assumed to be the natural method of Christian progress ?
In reply to these common questions, I * think that a revival of religion is in perfect accordance with God's ways of working in other parts of his domain, and is therefore natural, — natural as opposite to unnatural, while harmonious with the supernatural, whose existence and control it admits.
A revival of religion presupposes religion. In that union with Grod through Jesus Christ which is religion. Divine life flows into the soul, and produces its suitable fruits. Where there is no faith in Christ, there is no Divine life, and there no revival is possible.
It is true that this Divine life within ought to be always vigorous and growing. There should be no need of the repenting of a neglectful church or a careless soul. But if a church has fallen into a low state of piety and works, no one can seriously say that the church ought not to repent of its sins, and rise into purified life and zeal. One might as well complain when the fire burning low on the hearth is kindled into a ruddy flame, or the nearly empty lamp is replenished with oil, or the debilitated body is forti* fled by food. Yet when the church's zeal is kindling, and its faith is becoming powerfully strengthened, that is a revival.
But even in a faithful and earnest church, revivals are possible. The term is not, perhaps, most appropriate ; but it has come to cover those special and extraordinary seasons which the most faithful church does not make ordinary, when a peculiar exercise of Grod's grace is visible in the conversion of great numbers at once, — seasons when labors are peculiarly successful ; harvest-times, blessed of God. This is now the most common meaning of tlie term '^ revival." That the word is used indiscriminately, both as meaning the increased internal life of the church and its increased
* The reader roast pardon the me of this pronoan, which avoids difBcolt drcninloeu- tion in lome parts of tliii paper.
1869.] Are HevivaU of Religim Natural t 85
external socceds, is doabtleM due to the fact that the latter depends upon the former, and the former insures the latter. In either the facts exist which some honest Christians heliere to be spasmodic and unnatural.
Yet it is worth ^noticing that almost all denominations of Christians look to Bpecial means in special seasons. It is needless to refer to Congrega- tiooalists, Methodists, Baptists, and Presbyterians. When they see a cloud BO iHgger than a man's hand, they make ready for abundance of rain. But Catholics have their ^ retreats," in which, at appointed times, the hours of lucoessive days are spent in special prayer and meditation ; and Episco- palians have, by the set laws of their church, a series of extra meetings every winter, closipg with a ^ protracted meeting '* of a whole week in March or April. The whole church believes in special means.
Revivals are by God's power. By his supernatural grace, some seasons are more blessed than others. It is as useless to ask why, as to ask why some years' wheat^fields are more heavy than other years', in both cases assuming that men have done their own work. It is as useless to ask how that gmoe gives new power to the church as it is to ask how Divine power nerves hearts and hands in the wheat-field. It is a foci that there are times when believers feel peculiarly drawn towards God, when peculiar solemnity is felt in congregations, when words have peculiar power. At such times unreconciled sinners are peculiarly drawn to listen, peculiarly led to feel, peculiarly forced to say, '* What must I do to be saved ? " There is as distinctly felt the spirit of God brooding over a whole community as there is ever felt a change in the atmosphere. No one who has ever can- didly participated in the events of such a time can doubt the reality of this peculiar spirit. The repetition of the word *' peculiar" is because the whole is peculiar. This great increase of spiritual power is above and beyond ordinary Christian life. It is wellnigh resistless. Is this out of harmony with God*s laws ?
First, it is analogous to God*s way in his material works. Natural life is not uniform. If it be said that religion ought to be steady, — yes, steady in the sense of permanence, but not steady in the sense of unvarying uui- fi>rmity. Though water is necessary for vegetable life, it does not rain all the time. Showers come when Grod pleases. It is by no means drought when it does not rain. The water already fallen has work to do. There are^also dew, and vapor, and sea-turns, which keep the plants fresh. Even in a dry summer, one will see, on the sunrise slope of his roof, the wfter dripping as the morning heat condenses the moisture. Religious life is continued in much the same way. But when the showers come down, and fill the wells and raise the rivers, they are great additional blessings. That the church always lives in sea-turns from eternity makes nothing con- trary to the way of nature in having occasion to thank God for showers.
86 Are RevivaU of Religion Natural t [Jan.
It IB not always spriog, nor always harvest. Thopgh the ground was frozen, it had life sheltered in it Wanner days come and melt the snow. Sunshine coaxes up the timid plants. That is nature's revival. By and by fruit sets, and is ripened for gathering. Then fruitage ends. Is the following time wasted time ? No. Shrubs and trees make wood. The tender twigs grow firmer, and they will bear fruit next year. Why is the same process unnatural in the church ? Is there not discernible a budding and setting of fruit ? Is there not a time, following great increase, when the faith of converts gets firmer and statelier ? If one complains that a system of special growth at special times is unnatural, he ought to com- plain because mountains are higher than plains, because the Gulf Stream is warmer than the waters each side of it, because the sun is not always at the same altitude, because it is not perpetual rain, because fruitage is not in every hour of the year. There is no dead level in nature ; there is no dead level in the history of the church. Results are not attained without preparatory work. In times when there seems to be little practical suc- cess, influences are accumulating which will, at the proper period, display sudden and wonderful results.
Nor do revivals lack conformity with the laws of human nature. They are in perfect accordance with these laws.
As a revival affects Christians, there will be seen, first, a humbling be- fore God. So far as he has been neglectful of duty, a Christian feels his ill desert Is this unnatural ? He feels more sensibly his dependence upon €rod. What is unnatural in this ? He feels more keenly Christ's love for him. Is gratitude unnatural ? He becomes an obedient servant of his Master. Is rightful obedience unnatural ? He is more earnest in desiring the salvation of others. Is friendship or compassion unnatural ? If he sees young men ruined by intemperance, gambling, and licentiousness, or moral men ruined by rebellion against God, if his heart bums within him to save them, is it wrong? is it inhuman ? Now if a whole church is so awakened, and so repentant, and so earnest ; if worldly-minded and hardened men in the church become soAened and gentle and spiritual ; if persons at vari- anoe with each other forgive and forget ; if prayers are warm and plentiful, and Grod is honored, — where is the wrong ?
In the conversions of sinners at such a time there seems to be nothing unnatural. One listens and reflects, and is convinced of his errors, and peqpeives his just condemnation, and asks, ^ What shall I do to be saved ? " I see nothing more unnatural in his prayers, than when I once heard the pleadings of a soldier condemned to be shot ; alas ! they were fruitless. If he submit to God, I see nothing more unnatural than when on my pocket Bible a wounded rebel boy once took the oath of allegiance, that he might so far satisfy his conscience. If the submitting penitent rejoices that he is
1869.] Are BevivaU of Religion Natural f 87
accepted, I see nothing more unnatural than the J07 I once saw in a man tried for desertion, who said to me, ^ Yon have saved mj life ! ** The results of oonversion are not morbid. For the wicked man to abandon his vices ; for the transgressor to turn to God ; for a change which makes good husbands, good children, good citizens, — it is only what every good man desires. That a multitude should at once thus be changed does not make it unnatural.
The process, also, is natural. God uses our faculties just as they are. One's attention is arrested. He thinks. He sees facts. He believes. He loves. There is in all this not a single act or feature that has not its perfect correspondence in every other part of men's lives. Attention, meditation, conviction of conscience, decision, are surely all natural methods. How- ever great may be the number of persons, every one must pass through this same general experience, and through this only. And the object to be attained in each case is, not to make a morbid man, nor a deformed man, nor a hybrid angel, but ^ the perfect man in Christ Jesus.'' The highest type of manhood is the result aimed at in every case in every revival.
It is sometimes alleged that revivals must be unhealthy because they so often follow great convulsions in society. On the contrary, this fact is an evidence of their naturalness. The financial convulsions of 1857 were fol- lowed by extensive revivals. The reason is obvious. With property van- ished, with hopes disappointed, with plans defeated, men were in a mood to look to a higher power. Their minds were opened. They were accessi- ble to religious truth. The disasters had done this preparatory work, not converting, but putting men into that thoughtful condition where conver- sion was possible. Great revivals followed the late war. The war roused the popular conscience, and made a thoughtful people, and a people who began to look at foundation principles as never before. Many a day of darkness had driven souls to prayer. Many a household needed consola- tion. Many a wife wept for a dead husband, and many a child for a dead father. Sympathies were deeply excited. In the accumulation of causes, a sobered and tender people were accessible to the Word of Grod. Then came great spiritual results. If such conjunction of circumstances renders revivals probable, what does this say, but that God's providential govern- ment arranges times and seasons ?
Again, it is objected that the special efforts used in revivals are objec- tionable ; not merely any particular kind, but all kinds. It is thought that the usual and ordinary means of grace ought to be sufficient, and any multi- plication of work or diversity of methods opposes the Divine order. Men look with suspicion on great gatherings, and on an extraordinary amount of time given to such work. But such men mistake by forgetting that it is not new powers that are used, but only the same old powers God had given, now more usefully and urgently applied. No genuine revival is
88 Are BevivaU of Religion Natural f [Jan.
carried on by anytbing but tbe truth of God ; but that truth is used more directly and systematically and discriminatingly. If a farmer avail himself of evident opportunities to secure greater results, he is not running off into independence of God, but the rather into more entire dependence.
Why should there be special gatherings of people in a revival ? Why should men leave their work to attend such gatherings ? Because people who have an intense interest in a common cause always come together in great gatherings, and give time, effort, and money to insure its success. In the political campaign just ended there were enormous gatherings. Crowded halls witnessed to the deep interest of thousands, night after night Men marched in great processions with banners and torches. Speeches were made in squares and streets at noonday. Nobody ever complained that this was unnatural or unhealthy. If political issues draw men to- gether, why should not the issues of God's kingdom on earth ? Yet, if Christians should show as much zeal in their addresses, and speak in streets and squares, what a howl would rise about these fanatics !
When our country was in its great trouble, who was not glad to see throngs assembled ? Who did not feel that fiery words from burning hearts were perfectly natural ? What patriot cared for time or labor or money ? A great wave of patriotism swept over the North. It was the revival of patriotism. The flag was a new symboL A million of men lifted high the banner, and swore to follow it to victory, and prayers and tears followed them. Is the cross of Christ less glorious to his church than the flag is to the patriot ? Is victory over sin and hell less important than victory over rebels ? Men used to be wellnigh frantic with joy over a great battle won. Why should not Christians rejoice when they see the victorious march of Jesus, not attended by long windrows of slain, but with redeemed souls ? Even now, men who address audiences in reminiscences of the war — men like Chamberlain and Kilpatrick — find crowded houses. Many of their listeners remember their own experiences. Many others have tender recollections of husbands or sons in such scenes. Why should not Christians gather when they remember how Christ saved them ? or wh^n their own children find peace in Jesus? or when one tells them stories of salvation ? Jf I keep memorials picked up on fields of battle, why should I not remember how I was freed from God's wrath ?
What is there unnatural in the using of means ? That is the way to ac- complish results. That is the way that all wise men work in all depart- ments of life. If there is little interest in some object, men of enthusiasm awaken an interest The church has never, in its most earnest periods, approached the amount of printed appeals that were scattered from Wash- ington by a political committee in 1868. The church has never, in times that called for most work, set in operation such a vast plan of public speech
1869.] Are BevivdU qf Bdigion Natural f 89
as was seen in that political month. If tlie church is wrong, it is in not doing enough. Extraordinary means ought to be employed whenever there is an opportunity. The cause demands them. When reporters of revivals say, ^ No special means employed, no meetings multiplied,'' it is a confession of wrong-dcnng. They ought to employ special means. If they do not, they are wasting glorious opportunities. When grass is ready to be cut, it is no merit to say, '^ We employ no more means than usual." The church ought to employ more means when any indications of special mercies are visible. It ought to try to bring 'men to hear the Grospel. ** Coaxing people " is disliked. Why ? Is it better to let them go to per- dition? ^ These frequent meetings are bad.** Why? Are young men better off in ruinous club-rooms than in the sound of prayer? Are daughters better off in the inevitable and unescapable evil that attends the ballroom ? If it be unhealthy to protract a meeting an extra hour into the evening, is it better to dance until nigh morning, and then go out of the heated air into the cold night ? When soldiers were wanted, there were stirring appeals to patriotism ; there was martial music and multi- tudes of flags. Special efforU filled the armies. Every man was a re- cruiting-officer. Wherein is it wrong to use special efforts to enlist souls in the service of Jesus ? The fact is, the special means used in all worldly tffiiins, when right and honest, have no more than their counterpart in the special means used in revivals.
It is true that they are often accompanied by excitement But a cer- tain degree of excitement is healthy. Are men made of stone, never to be excited ? In view of certain perils or wants, a dead level of indifference is impossible. Patriotism had its excitement. It was not wrong, but in- evitable. . Men never excited are too near enemies. I once saw men who were not excited in the midst of a battle in Georgia. In charge of a line of filled ambulances, I saw groups of men who were perfectly quiet. They had worked themselves back out of the lines. These cowards and skulkers were all perfectly free from excitement. Excited mothers used to write me for news of sons in captivity ; should there be no ripple when their children are in captivity to Satan ? There ought to be excite- ment in every heart under condemnation. On the point between heaven and hell, — " Come, ye blessed of my Father," and " Depart from me," — every true Christian would rejoice to see such persons terribly in earnest. Men were excited when a great cause was trembling in the hazards of trial by battle, and rightly excited. Great principles always excite enthusiasm. Ought the Church of God to think it a merit that the Gospel of Christ ex- cites no enthusiasm in its special battle-times ?
Kor is it against this view of revivals that some apparent conversions are delusive. It is to be expected — for it is natural — that first experiences
40 Are Hevivah of Religion Natural t [Jan.
in genuine conversions will be modified. They ripen into principles. If the first joj subsides into quiet service, it is only because the light blase of the twigs has changed to the solid fire of the logs. But of those mistaken the number is few compared with the number of those who persevere.* While the temporary converts return to their former state, the multitudey who, apparently, would never have been aroused but for revivals, keep steadily on. It is sad that any should fail ; but we do not despise the apple-trees because many spring blossoms fall off. It would not have been well to say, in war-time, '* It is of no use to enlist men, for many break down." Though some did not count the cost ; and some were feeble ; and some, wearied, lay down to die ; and some, disabled, came home ; and some shirked their duty, — yet the victories which the great armies achieved testified to the faithful valor of the many.
It is not to be said that no evils ever attend revivals. They sometimes do. Ignorant men may use unworthy and hurtful instrumentalities. Hi- balanced men may say foolish things. One-sided truth may create UMribad excitement Unsound doctrine may mislead listeners. With such the church need have no sympathy. These things are not inseparable from revivals. They are no proper part of revivals. They violate the prin- ciples of revivab. Many a revival has been free from them. All revivals can be guarded from them. Every great movement is liable to similar hurts ; and the part of wisdom is, not to cast away the system, but to avoid its perversions. In spite of all possible incidental error, the fact remains that there are times when the Holy Spirit adds greatly to the faith of Chrii^ tians, when whole communities are moved by a great impulse, when all the methods of Grod's grace are wonderfully endowed with power, and when multitudes bow before the power of the cross. In such times the working of Divine power is in conformity to its [other working in nature and man. God then, as ever, works through the faculties, uses the truth, appeals to human wants and needs, and secures the right and healthy action of the whole nature. There is not a feature of this work unnaturaL His people act as men act in all great and powerful times, and apon reoog^ nized principles only. That the supernatural power breathes life into the means ordained is mysterious, but no more mysterious than how the spring winds melt the snows. ^
Whether revivals may be had whenever sought for is a question not
* I think there is a common mistake on this point Some revivals do seem to be merely factitious excitements. A friend gave me figures of one in which, of one hun- dred and five apparent converts, only sixteen were visible twelve months afterwardi. But I have records of a revival in another charch, in the same town, where, of sixty-five apparent converts, all bat four were giving good evidence two years afterwards. I at- tribote the difference to the . difference of views of truth presented. The fiuilt in the fir8^named does not belong to revivals, bat to violating the laws of revivals.
1869.] Are HevivaU of Rdigvm Natural f 41
necessary to be discassed now. What means will naturally secure them is worthy of deep consideration. That a church which zealously labors for such reaalts may hope for them is true, for their zealous labors imply the working of Grod within them to that very intent Nor have we a right to assume that there are no reasons why revivals come at certain times. That Grod works at such times aa please him would not be arbitrary. His plans are wise, though we see no connection between their parts. He shows us enough, in the history of revivals, to prove the connection of labor and success ; he hides enough to prove that he governs.
Are such great special movements needed ? No one need long con- template the religious condition of our communities to see that there is desperate need of $ometking. With our cities full of sin, with our sparsely settled districts full of neglecters of the Gospel, with a wide-spread indiffer- ence to troth, with errorists busily at work, with unbelief hardening multi- tades, it is evident that the ordinary course of spiritual work fails to secure the greatest results. The indifference needs breaking up by powerful and extraordinary tides of grace. Communities are hardened against the regular ministrations under which they have always lived. But when 6od*s Spirit comes down in any locality, there is a force which sweeps * away its very foundations of unbelief and hardness of heart. Men who have steadily resisted the Grospel, which they have heard every Sunday for a lifetime, are overwhelmed. Mental believers catch the fire which their hearts need. A hostile public opinion shrinks back before the force of such a work. Almost every sceptic, who b ever converted, is converted in a revivaL* The arguments of errorists can stand against human logic ; they crumble before the presence of the Holy Ghost.
Revivals, therefore, instead of being regarded as morbid or unnatural, ought to be looked at as part of the laws of the progress of the church. They should be studied as such. They should be treated as such. To avoid incidental evils, they should be guarded from all that is unnatural (not supernatural) in their working. So considered, they are only the counterpart of settled military principles ; they concentrate the over- whelming forces of God on a given point, and carry it by storm.
* I haye in memorj two confirmed and able infidels, who easily resisted all the nsnal arguments. One of these chanced to go to a public meeting on the Sabbath in a time of reyivaL The peculiar solemnity of the place he could not resist. Under the preach- ing of the simplest and most direct truth on the need of personal salvation, he was con- vinced of his sins. From that hour his sceptical arguments fell dead. He sought and found peace at the cross, and that without a word of reply to his old views. The second case followed directly and immediately from the first. It is needful, of course, to instruct against the modem infidelity; but are not the most convincing answers fbmished in the salvation of souls by a power which errorists cannot deny %
42 The CongregaitUnidl Church in Wiutmimterj VI. [Jan.
THE CONGREGATIONAL CHURCH IN WESTMINSTER,
VERMONT :
ITS PASTORS AND NATIVE MINISTERS.
Tns Congregational Church in Westminster, Vt^ was orgaiuzed 11 June, 1767. Of the three hundred persons, or more, who then constituted the population of the town, onlj nine were found readj to be constituted a ehurch, and, singular to saj, not one of these was a woman. Among the constituent members were Ephraim Rannej and John Sessions, who were afterwards (4 May, 1769) elected deacons, and who held that office, the former for thirty-three years, and the latter for nearly fifty-three years. The memory of them both is still fragrant in the church, and Deacon Ranney has special claims to remembrance as the ancestor of seven preach- ers of the Gospel, of as many more members of the other learned profes- •ions, and of numerous deacons. Among the constituent members was also Jesse Goodell, who on the same day was ordained pastor of the little flock. He remained in the pastorate '^ between two and three years,** during which * period fifteen persons united by profession and sixteen by letter or by cer- ^ tificate, increasing the number of members to forty, an equal number of whom were of each sex.
In 1769 a house of worship was raised, and during that year and the following it was so far advanced as to be capable of occupancy. The pov« erty, however, of the people disabled them from completing the house for nearly thirty years. Fbr several years the body of the house was not di- vided into pews, but was furnished with long seats, holding five or six per- sons each. From time to time, as the means of the parish allowed, and oonvenience required, the seats were replaced by pews till the floor was oovercd. It was voted, 3 January, 1793, ^to make two pews, one each side of the broad alley of the seats," and to rent six pews which had pre- Tioui*ly been made. At the same time it was voted ^ to give Mr. Jonathan Kittridgo fifteen shillings in cash, to sweep the meeting-house and take care of the pall and keys for one year," and Lieutenant Zachariah Gilson and Ensign Asa Averill were chosen ^ to take care and clear the meeting-house of dogs on the Sabbath, according to their discretion." It does not appear when the \\ov»^ finally assumed the condition of a finished structure, with- in and without* but it could not have been far from 1800.
Aft«r Mr. Goodeirs ministry closed there was no settled pastor, and probably no stated preaching, for about five years. In the summer of 1774 the Rev. Joseph BuUen was ordained pastor, and sustained that re-
L
1869.] It$ PaHari and Native MinuUr%. 48
latioo about eleven jears, during which period fortjHSix persons were added to the church. After his dismisstal, an interregnum of nearly five years took place, during which there were several candidates for settlement, whose names have not been preserired. Five persons only were added during this period. The church and parish concurred in a vote, 24 June, 1790, calling Mr. Sylvester Sage to the pastorate, with a salary of one hundred pounds, lawful money, and thirty cords of good firewood, the money part of the salary '' to be paid one quarter in money, and the resi- due in wheat at five shillings per bushel, or other grain equivalent." This call was accepted, and the ordination took place 18 October, 1790. At that time the church consisted of thirty-two male and thirty-seven female members, sixty-nine in all. Considering the state of the times, and the disadvantages under which the church had labored, this was a large growth to have attained. It was a growth, however, which was the result rather of immigration and addition by letter, than of conversion and profession ; and such it continued to be, the additions by profession during the seven- teen years of Mr. Sage*s pastorate averaging only three a year.
In 1799 the members residing in the West Parish requested to be organ- ized as a separate church; and, in view of the great inconvenience to which they were subjected in attending the ordinances of the Gospel, their reasonable request was granted. This movement was a permanent benefit to the cause of Christ, as well as to the persons directly concerned in it ; but its immediate effects upon this church were injurious. The removal of thirty or more members not only weakened the church numerically and morally, but seriously diminished the pecuniary resources upon which reli- ance could be placed for the support of religious institutions. In April, 1805, Mr. Sage requested a dismissal, but the parish unanimously declined to grant it. Two years aflerward he renewed the request ; a majority of the parish voted to grant it, the church reluctantly concurred, and he was dismissed 19 May, 1807. During his pastorate ninety-five persons were .added to the church, of whom fifty-six united by profession and thirty- nine by letter.
Soon after Mr. Sage's dismissal the Rev. Jason Chamberlain, afterward Professor in the University of Vermont, commenced preaching as a candi- date for settlement, and supplied the pulpit for several months. In 1808 the Rev. Mr. Beardsley preached some months as a candidate. Early in May, 1809, negotiations were commenced with Mr. Sage to induce him to resume the pastorate ; and in the following August he was engaged to act as pastor for the term of ten years, his salary being payable half in cash and half in grain at cash price. Without the formality of an installation he thus entered upon a pastorate which continued for twenty-nine years. For several years preceding and following the commencement of Mr.
\
44 The Congregational Chareh in Weetmimter^ VI. [Jan.
Sage's second pastorate, a very low state of religion prevailed, and it was not till 1810 that anj change for the better took place. This had its ori- gin, so far as means were concerned, chiefly in the earnest and diligent labors of a young man who united with the church in January of that year.
It would seem that a similar awakening occurred in 1816, but no fiicts in regard to it can be ascertained, except that on the last Sabbath of Octo- ber in that year twelve persons united with the church by profession. In 1825 more than usual religious interest existed, and seventeen persons united with the church. With the exception of these two seasons of awa« kening, there was almost nothing in the history of the church from 1812 to 1880 of sufficient importance to deserve recording. The annual addi- tions were few, and were near y or quite balanced by removals and deaths. It was not until 1831 that any such spiritual blessings were received as added largely to the church, both in numbers and in grace. That was a year of revival throughout the American churches ; the year, indeed, in which revivals of the modem type were first experienced. It was the era of protracted meetings, anxious-seats, and other new measures, from which new and large results were obtained. This church, not without some mis- givings on the part of the pastor and many judicious Christians, adopted the new measures, and gained by them, perhaps, as much good and as little harm and loss as it was reasonable to have expected. There was great excitement both in the church and out of it, and the efiects of the move- ment were felt for several years. One of the immediate results was the addition of twenty-five persons to the church.
This revival gave origin and impulse to several benevolent and reform- atory movements, the most important of which was the organization of a temperance society in the winter of 1882-33. It soon became the prac- tice of the church not to receive as members any persons whose piety was not sufficient to restrain them from the use of .intoxicating liquors ; and in January, 1839, it was declared by a formal vote, ^that, in the present light of the temperance reform, and of Divine Inspiration, it is not expedient to receive any members to this church who make, vend, or use distilled liquors as a beverage.** In 1842 another step in advance was taken by the organization of a society which interdicted the use of alcoholic liquors of every kind, distilled or fermented.
On the first Sabbath in May, 1838, the Rev. Seth S. Arnold began to labor as acting pastor, with the understanding that he would give place to an acceptable candidate for settlement, whenever such a one should appear. In the latter part of November, 1838, a series of meetings began to be held in the afternoon and evening, and continued two weeks. The number of hopeful conversions attributed to this revival was between sixty and seventy, and, as the result of it, forty-one persons united with the church in 18S9.
f
•
1869.] Jti Pa%tor% and Native MinUten. 45
In 1839 a call was given to Mr. Calvin R. Batchelder, with an offered salary of $ 450, which he accepted, and the ordination took place 22 April, 1840. A low state of religion prevailed for nearly three years, but in February, 1843, an interesting work of grace commenced, and continued for some weeks. With the exception of an inquiry-meeting and an additional weekly prajer-meeting, none but the usual means of grace were employed, and in about two months the interest entirely subsided. During the year seventeen persons, most of them converts in this awakening, and only three of them men, united with the church. After a ministry of about five jears Mr. Batchelder requested a dismissal, and was dismissed 26 February, 1845.
The Revs. S. S. Arnold and Isaac Esty, who wiere then resident members of the church, were engaged to supply the pulpit on alternate Sabbaths, and continued so to do till March, 1846, when the Rev. William H. Gilbert became a candidate for settlement He soon received and accepted a unanimous call (with a salary of $450), and was ordained 21 October, 1846. In view of the low state of religion, the church observed a special day of fasting and prajer 10 December, 1846, but without any marked re- sults. For some jears the condition of the church was improved not so much by the addition of new members as by the exclusion of members who had proved themselves unworthy. These proceedings diminished the membership of the church, but added materially to its real strength. After a pastorate of a little more than four years Mr. Gilbert requested a dis- missal, and was accordingly dismissed 5 March, 1851.
The Rev. J. W. Pierce became acting pastor soon afler Mr. Gilbert's dismissal, and continued to sustain that relation about two years. He was succeeded by the Rev. Isaac Esty, who also supplied the pulpit two jears (from the spring of 1853 to the spring of 1855). The Rev. Edwin Sea- bury began his labors as acting pastor 27 May, 1855, and closed them 25 April, 1858. His salary was six hundred dollars. During his ministry the present parsonage was purchased and put in good repair. The Rev. Harrison G. Park began to supply the pulpit 9 May, 1858, was called to the pastorate in the following October, with a salary of five hundred dollars (including the rent of the parsonage at one hundred dollars), was installed, 17 November, 1858, and was dismissed 13 March, 1860. For fifteen years the membership of the church had now steadily declined. During that period only thirty persons had been admitted, and half of these were by letter, while more than sixty had been removed by death, dismissal, or dis- cipline. The tendency was downward, and that at a rate of progress which threatened speedy extinction.
The ministry of the Rev. Andrew B. Foster, which commenced 1 July, 1860, was the means of arresj^g and reversing this downward current. In the summer of 1861 an unusual degree of religious interest manifested
46 The Congregational Church in Westmimterj VU [Jan.
itself, principally among tlie joung. As the result of it, twentj-four addi- tions to the church took place. Mr. Foster's ministry was closed 26 April, 1863, after which the palpit was supj^ied several months by the Rev. Selah R. Arms. In August, 1864, the Rev. Frands J. Fairbanks was called to the pastorate. He was ordained 81 August, 1864, and still re- mains the pastor.
m
** The Western Church of Westminster " was organized 81 October, 1799. In the following December. the Rev. Reuben Emerson was called to the pastorate, with a salary of £ 100, payable half in cash and half in produce at cash prices. He was ordained 18 February, 1800, and after a pastorate of little more than four years, was dismissed 9 March, 1804. The Rev. Joseph Brown then supplied the pulpit for nearly two years. In Novem- ber, 1806, the Rev. Timothy Field was called to the pastorate. He was installed 20 January, 1807 ; continued in the active duties of the office twenty-eight years, and was dismissed 31 March, 1835. To him more than to any other man is the parish indebted for its civil and religions character. At the commencemept of his ministry the church numbered only fifty-six members. In 1816 a revival occurred, as the result of which sixty-seven persons united with the church at one time, and twenty at another. In 1824 another general revival took place, and ninety-three were added to the church at one time. Yet a third revival in 1831 resulted in thirty- three additions.
During most of Mr. Field's pastorate the church occupied a house of worship which had been built before the church was organized. The time of the building of it is not known. It was in existence in 1792, and open for meetings, but in an unfinished state. ^ It was a high two-story building, fronting the east ; a front door, and one on each side. It was painted white, without a steeple or a cupola even, square pews with high backs, gallery on three side.-^, filled with young folks every Sabbath, closely watched by a man appointed for the purpose, — a moderately high pulpit, a deacons' seat in front of it, of which tlie old people of to-day can hardly speak without uncovering their head^:*, so impressed were their early minds with the solemn sight of the two old deacons filling their places every Sabbath, *rain or shine.'" This house was destroyed by fire on Sunday evening, 11 January, 1829.
Mr. Field was succeeded by tlie Rev. Preston Taylor, who was pw^tor little more than a year and a half. Early in 1838 the Rev. Jubilee Well- man became pastor, and continued four years, during which time twenty- six were added by profession. In April, 1842, the Rev. Alfred Stevens began to supply the pulpit ; early in 1843 he was ordained pastor, and he has sustained that relation till the present tj^me. In 1867-68 a powerful revival took place, meetings were held for nearly forty successive evenings, and fifty or more conversions occurred.
1869.] Ji$ Paitar$ and Native Mim$ter$. 4T
PA8TOR8.
1* The ReT* Jbsse Goodell was brought up in Abuigton, Cmm., was gmdoated at Yale in 1761^ and was licensed by the Hartford NOTth Asso* dation, 4 Oetober, 17C3. AAer leaving Westminster he was in the Reyolationarj Armj, but in what capacitj is not known* He died ki 1779.
2. The Rev. Joseph Bullen was bom in Sutton, Mass^i, and was grad<» nated at Tale in 1772. He married Hannah Morse, a kinswoman of the inventor of the telegraph. His ordination at Westminster took place 6 July, 1774. He was a man of learning, talent, and piety, a fine writer, and a clear, sensible, and instructive, though not eloquent preacher. His useful* nesa, while in Westminster, was much impaired by his devotion to money- getting. He kept a store, manufactured potash, speculated in land, and was ocmsidered quite shrewd enough at a bargain. Having acquired a large quantity of wild land in Athens, he removed there in 1785, or soon after ; the relation between him and the church being informally dissolved by his asking a dismission, the church granting it, and his certifying io writing, 2fi, September, 1785, that he accepted the dismission, and re- leased the church from all obligations to him. In 1788 and 1791 he was the representative of Athens in the legislature of YermonL For several years he preached in that town with little or no compensation, and in 179Y his labors resulted in the organization of a Congregational Church, of which he and his wife were two of the eleven constituent members.
Soon after that he was appointed by the New York Missionary Society a missionary to the Chickasaw Indians, among whom he established a mis* sion near where the town of Pontotoc, Miss., is located. In 1803 he set* tied near Uniontown, Miss., and there organized a Presbyterian Church, — the first Protestant Church in that State. There and in that vicinity he labored for about twenty years, preaching the Gospel and establiahing churches. Like Paul at Corinth, he, for the mo^^t part, ^ made the Gospel of Clirist without charge," his salary for preaching half the time to the church near which he lived being only fifty-five dollars annually ; in view of which, it may well be questioned whether his shrewdness at a bargain ought not to be regarded with a good degree of charity. Having labored in the ministry more than fitly years, he died at an advanced age in 1825. He was the first Protestant minister who settled permanently in Missis- sippi, and the first Moderator of the Presbytery of that State. His only publication was a sermon preached before the General Assembly of Ver- mont in 1783.
3. The Rev. Stlyester Saqb was bom in Berlin, Conn., 24 January, 1765, a son of Deacon Jedediah and Sarah (Marcy) Sage. He was grad-
48 The Ciyngregciumal Churdi in Westmimtery VI. [Jan.
uated at Yale College in 1787, studied theology with the Bey. Cyprian Strong, D. D., of Chatham, and was licensed by the Hartford Sooth Asso- ciation in June, 1788. In 1790 he preached in Shelbume, Mass., as a can- didate for settlement, and on the question of giving him a call the church was equally divided; twenty-two voting for the call and twenty-two against it. From Shelbume he went directly to Westminster. He mar- ried, 20 January, 1791, Orpah Robinson, of Granville, Mass., of whom, however, he was deprived by death, 18 February, 1792 ; and he married, as a second wife, 7 January, 1793, Clarissa May, youngest daughter of the Rev. Eleazer May, of Haddam, Conn. After his dismissal from West- minster he went to Braintree, Mass., and was there installed as colleague with the Rev. Ezra Weld, 4 November, 1807. The Rev. Hezekiah May, of Marblehead, preached the sermon. The climate of the seaboard prov- ing unfavorable to Mrs. Sage's health, he resigned the pastorate, and was dismissed 4 May, 1809. His ministry there had continued a year and a half to a day, and his farewell sermon was from the appropriate text; ** And he continued there a year and six months, teaching the word of Grod among them" (Acts xviii. 11). From Braintree he returned to West- minster, and there he remained till his death, which took place 21 Janu- ary, 1841.
When in the prime of life Mr. Sage was a man of mark. His personal appearance was prepossessing to an unusual degree. Indeed, he was a model of manly beauty. He had ah almost perfect form, of furll size, erect and symmetrical, and his movements were at once graceful and dignified. His features were regular, and the expression which habitually rested upon them was that of kindness and benignity. It was said of him by one of his ministerial brethren, *^ If the epithet handsome were allowable to be applied to men, no one deserved it more than Mr. Sage." He was yery neat in person, and tasteful in dress, and in everything that relates to ap- pearance he was absolutely faultless. He possessed fine social qualities, and in conversation was easy, agreeable, and familiar, indulging occasion- ally in innocent pleasantry, but always preserving the quiet dignity becom- ing the position which he occupied. In the fullest sense of the word, he was a Christian gentleman.
Intellectually he held a good standing. His mind, like his body, was sound and well balanced. If he was not so acutely metaphysical or so pro- foundly logical as some of his neighbors in the ministry, he had a clearness of perception of Divine truth, and an ability to make that truth plain to others, in which he was not surpassed, if indeed he was equalled, by any of them. In the pulpit his appearance was commanding. His enunciation was deliberate and distinct, his manner solemn and impressive. His ser- mons were distinguished for clear statement, sound thought, orderly
1869.] Ms Pastors and Native Ministers. 49
raogement, purity of language, and neatness of style. In doctrine he was
strictly evangelical. He answered to the letter Cowper's description of a
preacher, such as Paul, were he on earth, would hear, approve, and
own: —
" Simple, grave, sincere ; In doctrine ancorrupt, in language plain, And plain in manner, decent, solemn, chaste. And natural in gesture ; much impressed Himself, as conscious of his awful charge, And anxious mainly that the flock he feeds May feel it too ; affectionate in looks, And tender in address, as well becomes A messenger of grace to guilty men."
Mr. Sage's reputation as a preacher was such that he was frequently in- vited to preach on special occasions. In 1803 he preached the ^ election sermon ** before the Governor and Legislature of Vermont. He preached at the installation of the Rev. Jesse Townshend at Durham, N. Y., in 1798, and at the ordinations of the Rev. William Hall, at Grafton, Yt, and the Rev. Ephi-aim H. Newton, at Marlboro', in 1814 ; of the Rev. Seth S. Arnold, at Alstead, N. H., in 1816; of the Rev. Jonathan Nye, at Glare- mont, in 1821 ; and, doubtless, on other similar occasions. His farewell aermon at Braintree, his election sermon, and his sermon at the installation of the Rev. Jesse Townshend, were given to the press.
4. The Rev. Galvin Reddinoton Batghblder, son of Zechariah and Mary (Knowlton) Batchelder, was born in Wendell (now Sunapee), N. H., 9 August, 1813. Without taking a collegiate course, he pursued classical and theological studies at Bangor Theological Seminary, where he was graduated in 1838. He was a sound scholar, a faithful pastor, and a good sermonizer. After his dismissal from Westminster he entered the ministry of the Episcopal Church. From 1847 to 1859 he was rector of St. John's Church, Highgate, during a part of which time he also taught a family school for boys. He was rector of Zion Church, Manchester, from the fall of 1859 to the fall of 1864, and since the last date has been rector succes- sively at Bellows Falls and Bethel. One of his sons, James £. Batchelder, was a soldier in the Fifth Vermont Regiment, and was graduated at West. Point in 1868.
5. The Rev. William Hinman Gilbert, son of Ezra and Rebecca (Minor) Gilbert, was bom in Weston (now Easton), Conn., 12 February,. 1817, was graduated at Yale College in 1841, studied theology one year at Andover, and two years at New Haven Theological Seminary, at which last he was graduated in 1845. From 1 April, 1845, to 1 March, 1846, he was acting pastor of the First Congregational Church in Haddam, Conn. After his dismissal from Westminster, he spent a few months at Andover, pursuing
NEW SERIES. — VOL. I. NO. 1. 4
60 The Congregational Church in Westminster^ VI. [Jan.
liis studies. He was installed 3 December, 1851, pastor in Ashfield, Mass. The Rev. Geoi'ge H. Richards of Boston preached the sermon. He was dismissed 27 August, 1855, and was installed in Granbj, Conn., 2 July, 1856. Tlie Rev. Jairus Burt of Canton preached the sermon. He closed his labors in Granby, 24 September, 1864, to go into the service of the Christian Commission and the American Bible Society among the soldiers, and continued in that service till the close of the war. He was dismissed 1 October, 1865, and within a few weeks was appointed agent of the Ver- mont Bible Society, in which service he still remains.
His published works are a Farewell Discourse in Ashfield, 1855 ; a Statement of Facts pertaining to the Division of the Congregational Church in Ashfield, 1855 ; and a Manual of the Congregational Church in Granby.
6. The Rev. Harrison Greenough Park, son of the Rev. Dr. Calvin and Abigail (Ware) Park, was bom in Providence, R. I., 28 July, 1806, was graduated at Brown University in 1824, and studied theology at Princeton and with the Rev. B. B. Wisner, d. d., of Boston. He also studied law three years with Bradford Summer, Esq., of Boston and Hon. J. Fisk of Wrentham. He was ordained pastor of the Congregational Church in South Dedham, Mass., 16 December, 1829. The Rev. Calvin Park, D. D., preached the sermon. He was dismissed in 1835, and was installed in Danvers, 1 February, 1837. The Rev. Alvin Burgess, d. d., of Dedham preached the sermon. Afler a short pastorate he was dismissed, and was then employed as travelling agent of the Mother*s Magazine, and in the publication and editorship of the Father*s and Mother's Manual. He was installed in Burlington, Mass., 15 November, 1849, Rev. R. S. Storrs, d. d.« of Braintree preaching the sermon, and was dismissed in 1851. He was installed in Bernardston, 16 August, 1854, Rev. L. L. Langstroth of Green- field preaching the sermon, and was dismissed in 1858. Since his dismis- sal from Westminster he has not been again settled in the ministry, but has preached in several places in New Hampshire.
His publications are a Memorial Sermon of the Rev. George Cowles, 1837 ; a Voice from the Parsonage, or Life in the Ministry ; a volume of Sliady Side Literature, 1854 ; and the Shortened Bed, a sermon preached at Saxton's River, 1859.
7. The Rev. Francis Joel Fairbanks, son of Emery and Eunice (Hay- ward) Fairbanks, was bom in Ashburnham, Mass., 8 September, 1835, and was graduated at Amherst College in 1862. He studied theology one year at Princeton and another at Union Theological Seminary, at which last be was graduated in 1864. He was licensed by the Worcester North Associa- tion 28 April, 1863. His sermon on the National Thanksgiving of 1864 was published in the Bellows Falls Times.
1S69.] It9 Paitors and Native Ministers. 61
PASTORS OF THB WEST CHURCH.
1. The Rev. Reuben Emerson, one of three sons of John and Cath- erine (Eaton) Emerson, who were ministers, was bom in Ashby, Mass., 12 August, 1771, and was graduated at Dartmouth in 1798. He studied theologj with the Rev. Reed Paige of Hancock, N. H., and the Rev. Stephen Farrar of New Ipswich, and was ordained at Westminster West, 18 February, 1800. The Rev. Reed Paige preached the sermon. He was dismissed 9 March, 1804 ; and was in.<talled 29 March, 1804, at South Reading (now Wakefield), Mass. In that [>astorate he continued fifty- six years, though about seven years before his death he was relieved from the responsibility of the pastorate by the settlement of a colleague. His death, which was occasioned by disease of the heart and dropsical effusion, took place 11 March, 1860.
He was a studious man, a thorough classical scholar, and well read ia general literature. He was withal, very determined, and did not swerve to the right hand or to the left to please men. His appearance in the pulpit was commanding, his voice was good, and his sermons were strong, logical, terse, and pointed. Sometimes his sermons approached to personality, especially when anything occurred in the parish to affect himself. Wliile be was pastor at Westminster, his firewood, which the parish had agreed to fumi>h, failed one cold week. The next Sabbath his people heard a ser- mon from the text, ** Where no wood is, the fire goeih out,** which con- vinced them that the fire in him had by no means gone out. His sermon warmed the parish so well that his supply of wood was amply replenished the very next day. lie once loaned his carriage to a neighbor, who re- turned it in a damaged condition. This occasioned a sermon from the text : ** Ala5«, master, for it was borrowed." Ilis only publication (known to the writer) was " Lectures on the Divine Inspiration of the Bible." (12mo, pp. 146. 1835.) It passed to a second edition.
In April, 1800, he married Persis Hurdy of Bradford, Mass., by whom he had ^ve children. One of them, Charles Milton, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1820, and is a lawyer in New Orleans.
2. The Rev. Timothy Fikld was born in East Guilford (now Madi- son), Conn., 28 September, 1775, and was graduated at Yale in 1797. He Ftudied theology with the Rev. Timothy Dwight, d.d. ; was licensed at Madison, 28 May, 1790, by the New Haven East Association ; and imme- diately went to Canaiidaigua, N. Y., a5 a candidate for settlement. He was ordained 27 February, 1800, pa>:tor of the Presbyterian Church. It was the first ordination, either Presbyterian or Congregational, in the Genessee region. From his pastorate in Canandaigua he was dismissed in June, 1805. Removing his family back to Madison, he travelled through
62 The Conffregatianal Church in Westminaterj Vt [Jan.
the eastern part of New England, preaching in various places. He was installed at Westminster West, 80 January, 1807. The Rev. Roswell Shurtliff of Hanover, N. H., preached the sermon. His pastorate closed, practically, with the year 1834, but he was not formally dismissed till 31 March, 1835. In the winter of 1843-44 he was attacked with a disease of the brain, which deprived him of his reason. He was conveyed to the asylum for the insane at Brattleboro', and there died, 22 February, 1844.
Mr. Field was a man of noble form, quick in his movements and his thoughts, and of much more than average ability and scholarship. He was quick and frequent with jokes, and could be terribly sarcastic if occa- sion required. To a young minister who was talking to him about ser- mons, and the reasons why they were not more effective, he dryly said, ^ It would not be much credit to the Lord to convert sinners under such big sermons as the young ministers try to preach." He was a stanch Whig, and always preached and voted as he believed. A parishioner objected to his voting, for the reason that he was a minister of Christ, ^^ whose king- dom is not of this world." " Are you, then, who belong to the Devil's kingdom, the only legal voters ? " was the prompt reply. His successor in the pastorate had become involved in. a neighborhood quarrel and in a law- suit, occasioned by the violent death of a dog. While this was pending, the pastor stepped in to talk upon theology with Mr. Field, and, in the course of the conversation, asked him to suggest a text for the next Sab- bath's sermon. " Beware of dogs ! " shot swift and sharp from Mr. Field's lips. Mr. Field's wife, in her old age, was tainted with Perfectionism, and annoyed him greatly with tracts and newspapers on that subject. She once came to him, complaining that no scarecrow which she could devise would keep the birds away from her cherries, and asking him to recom- mend something. ** Try them with one of your Perfectionist newspapers ** was the answer.
3. The Rev. Preston Taylor, son of Stephen and Amy (Maynard) Taylor, was bom in Ashfield, Mass., 28 November, 1793. In 1815 he mar- ried, and removed to Goshen. Without obtaining a collegiate education, he studied theology with the Rev. Walter Chapin of Woodstock, Vt, and the Rev. Rufus Nutting of Randolph, and was licensed 8 February, 1825, by the Royalton Association. He preached at Bridgewater five years, 1825-30, and was ordained to the ministry 8 February, 1826, at Barnard. The Rev. Ammi Nichols preached the sermon. He was installed pastor at Barnard, 3 November, 1830. The Rev. Thomas Shepard preached the sermon. He was dismissed 4 November, 1834 ; and was installed 31 March, 1835, at Westminster West The Rev. Charles Walker preached the ser- mon. He was dismissed 9 November, 1836. His next settlement was at Strafford, where he was installed 11 January, 1837, the Rev. Phineas
1869.] Its Pastors and Native Minisiers. 68
Cooke preaching the sermon, and was dismissed 20 November, 1838. He was installed in Waitsfield, 23 January, 1839, the Rev. John Wheeler, d.d., preaching the sermon, and was dismissed 10 August, 1842. He was act- ing pastor at East Berkshire three years, and at Sheldon from 1845 to December, 1854. In 1850 he received the honorary degree of m. a. from Middlebury. He was a judge of Franklin County Court two years, 1852 - 54. Early in 1855 he removed to Parma, Mich., lived there a year, then two years at Cooper, and then took up his residence at Schoolcraft. In 1861 he retired from active labor in the ministry. He still lives at Schoolcrafl, and is the postmaster there.
4. The Rev. Jubilee Wellman was bom 20 February, 1793, in that part of Greenfield, Mass., which is now Gill. Without going through a col- legiate course, he studied theology at Bangor, where he was graduated in 1823. He was ordained pastor at Frankfort, Me., 17 September, 1824. The Rev. Bancroft Fowler preached the sermon. He was dismissed 3 Jan- uary, 1826, and in January, 1827, he began to supply the pulpit in War- ner, N. H. A revival soon commenced, and twenty-nine persons were added to the church. He was installed 26 September, 1827, The Rev. Samuel Wood, d.d., of Boscawen, preached the sermon. In 1831 another revival occurred, and forty-eight were added. He was dismissed 15 Feb- ruary, 1837.
He preached at Bristol, Hookselt, and Meredith Bridge, a few months in each place. He was installed at Westminster West, 7 March, 1838. The Rev. Z. G. Barstow, d.d., preached the sermon. He was dismissed 5 January, 1842, and then preached two years alternately at Plymouth and Cavendish, after which he preached five years at Cavendish alone. From Cavendish he went to Lowell, where he was installed 17 October, 1840. The Rev. Joseph Underwood preached the sermon. In the Lowell pas- torate he continued till his death, which took place 18 March, 1855.
As a preacher Mr. Wellman was always acceptable and instructive, sometimes earnest and impressive, and occasionally even eloquent. He could be plain and pointed, without being personal or giving ofience. His prayers were appropriate, never tedious, and often accompanied by tears. He was dignified and gentlemanly in appearance, but readily adapted him- self to all his parishioners, however humble. His people both loved and reverenced him,
5. The Rev. Alfred Stevens, son of Nehemiah and Deborah (Goodell) Stevens, was born 30 July, 1810, at Waterford, Vt. He fitted for college at Kimball Union and Peacham academics, was graduated at Dartmouth in 1839, and at Andover in 1842 ; and was licensed 12 April, 1842, by the Andover Association. He was ordained 23 February, 1843, at Westmin- ster West The Rev. Amos Foster preached the sermon. In this pastor- ate he still remains. Two or three of his sermons have been published.
64 The CongregatioTud Chwrch in Westminster^ VI. [Jan.
He married (1), 11 August, 1844, Eliza Farrar of Troy; (2) 23 June, 18^6, Marj Ann Arnold of Westminster; (3) 25 August, Harriet N. Wood of Millburj, Mass.
NATIVE MINISTERS.
1. The Hev. Joel Rannet Arnold, son of Seth and Esther (Rannej) Arnold, was bom 25 April, 1794. His father was a soldier in the Revo- lutionary War nearly three years, made a profession of religion at the age of eighty-nine, and lived to be nearly one hundred and two years old. He received a good academical and a partial collegiate education, studied med- icine and practised it about a year, then studied theology at Alstead, N. H., with his brother, the Rev. Seth S. Arnold, and was licensed by the Monad- nock Association in 1818.
He was ordained in Chester, N. H., 8 March, 1820. The Rev. S. S. Arnold preached the sermon. He had a very successful ministry at Ches- ter. Revivals occurred, and one hundred and ten persons were added to the Church. In 1824 he received the honorary degree of M. A. from Middlebury and also from Dartmouth. He was dismissed 31 March, 1830, and from May to December of that year he preached at Winchester. He was installed at Waterbury, Conn., 26 January, 1831. The Rev. Leonard Bacon, d. d., preached the sermon. From this pastorate he was dismissed 7 June, 1836, and he was installed 15 June, 1836, at Colchester. The Rev. Laurens P. Hickuk, d. d., preached the sermon. Here, too, he had a successful ministry. The largest number admitted to the church in any one year of its existence was in 1839. He was dismissed 17 July, 1849, and then spent a year or two at his native place, during which tj/ne he was instrumental in the organization of a church at Bellows Falls, Vt, to which he preached a considerable time without compensation. From Sep- tember, 1851, to December, 1853, he was acting pastor at Middlebury, Conn. In December, 1854, he was installed over the South Chprch at Coventry. The Rev. Anson S. Atwood preached the sermon. His en- gagement was for five years, but he supplied the pulpit till April, 1860, and was not formally dismissed till 10 September, 1862. For a year, 1860-61, he supplied the pulpit in Yassalboro*, Me., and then went to Chestier, -N. H., where he resided, without charge, till his death, which took place 4 July, 1865.
His published writings were an Address at the Opening of a Cemetery at Colchester ; Strictures on a Sermon preached in Chester, on ^* Revivals of Religion in Jerusalem"; a Sermon on Chance and its Design; and two articles in the " New-Englander."
2. The Rev. Seth Shalee Arnold, son of Seth and Esther (Ranney) Arnoldi was born 22 February, 1788, and was graduated at Middlebury in
1869.] It$ Pastors and Native Ministers, 65
1814. After graduation be taught a select school at Bladensburg, Md., for a year, with the exception of the months of Julj and August, 18 13, daring which he was first sergeant of a company of volunteers for the defence of Annapolis. While teaching at Bladensburg, he commenced the study of theology with the Rev. J. Breckenridge of Washington, D. C. ; and upon returning to Westminster, in February, 1814, continued the study with the Rev, Sylvester Sage, and was licensed by the Windham Association, 27 September, 1814.
During the following winter and spring he preached four months in Mas- Bachnsetts. On the first Sabbath in May, 1815, he commenced preaching in Alstead, N. H., and was ther§ ordained pastor of the Congregational Qinrcfa, 17 January, 1816. The Rev. Sylvester Sage preached the ser- mon. In 1815, 1819, and 1826 revivals occurred in connection with his preaching. He was dismissed 23 April, 1834. Prior to his dismissal he had commenced preaching at Gilsom, N. H., and was the acting pastor there about two years. He then removed to Westminster, Vt., and sup- plied the pulpit at Walpole, N. H., nearly two years, and the pulpit in Westminster about the same length of time. A powerful revival occurred in Westminster, and fifty-five were added to the church. He was acting pastor, for shorter or longer terms, successively, in Newfane, Wardsboro*, Saxton's River, Westminster West, Springfield, and Cavendish (all in Vermont), and Troy, Westmoreland, Langjlon, Charleston, Unity, Lcmp- ster, and Alstead (all in New Hampshire). He preached in West Halifax, Vt, from 10 October, 1852, to 30 March, 1856; in Roxbury, N. H., from June, 1850, for the term of two years; and in West Townshend, Vt., from June, 1858, for the term of six years. In June, 1864, ho retired from the ministry and took up his residence in Weathersfield.
His publications are as follows: —
"A Sermon preached at Alstead, on the First Sabbath in January, 1826. With -Historical Sketches of the Town." Alstead : Newton and Tufts- 1826. pp. 48. 8vo.
"The Intellectual Housekeeper: A Series of Practical Questions to his Daughters, by a Father; or, Hints to Females on the Necessity of Thought in Connection with their Domestic Labors and Duties." Boston : Russell, Odiome, <& Co. 1835. pp. 47. 12mo.
"The Family Choir: A Collection of Hymns set to Music." 1837.
He married, 22 January, 1817, Ann House, of Alstead, N. H., by whom he had Mary Ann, b. 16 November, 1817, m. 23 June, 1846, Rev. Alfred Stevens, d. 1 March, 1857; Sophia, b. 28 June, 1820, d. 29 June, 1841 ; Olivia, b. 2 June, 1822, m. 10 September, 1843, Dr. Henry D. Hitchcock ; Caroline, b. 15 March, 1827, m. 23 October, 1850, Albert S. Waite, Esq., d. 2 May, 1852. Mrs. Arnold died 3 February, 1841, and he married, 5
56 The Congregational Church in Weitminsterj VI. [Jan.
November, 1844, Mrs, Maiy (Davis) Grout, of Afeworth, N. H. She died 22 May, 1847, and he married, 20 December, 1854, Mrs. Naomi (Jones) Hitchcock, of Charlemont, Mass.
8. The Rev. John Qutnct Adams Edoell, son of Abel and Susanna (Holden) Edgell, was bom (in the West Parish), 15 August, 1802, and was graduated at the University of Vermont in 1827, and at Andover in 1831. For nine months he was then a teacher in Phillips Academy at Andover. He was ordained pastor at West Newbury, Mass., 19 Septem- ber, 1832. The Rev. George Cowles, of Dan vers, preached the sermon. The church was weak and divided when he became its pastor, but under his ministry it became strong and united. He was dismissed 27 October, 1853, and soon became agent of the Society for Promoting Collegiate and Theolos:ical Education at the West In this service he continued about ten years, and was then compelled by failing health to retire from active life. He died at Burlington, Vt., 15 September, 1867.
He was retiring, undemonstrative, kind, and gentlemanly, an excellent •cholar, and remarkable for simplicity of purpose and great conscientious- ness in the discharge of duty.
4. The Rev. Edwin Goodell, son of Jared and Hannah (Perrin) Goodell, was bom (in the West Parish) 19 July, 1824. He was grad- uated at Dartmouth in 1850, and at Union Theological Seminary in 1853, and was ordained, without charge, at Rocky Hill, Conn., 12 June, 1854. He sailed as a missionary for Smyrna, Asia, 8 August, 1854, returned in ill health in 1855, and lived first at Birmingham, Mich., and aflerward at Bloomfield, at which last place he died 29 September, 1863. He married, 20 July, 1854, Catherine J. Trowbridge, of Birmingham.
5. The Rev. William Goodell, son of Abiel and Margaret (Brown) Groodell, was bom 18 June, 1783. He fitted for college with the Rev. Jesse Townshend of Durham, N. Y., the Rev. Theophilus Packard of Shelbume, Mass., and at Chesterfield (N. H.) Academy, entered the Sophomore Class at Middlebury in 1807, and was graduated in 1810. He taught school every winter during his college course. After graduation be was principal of Pawlet Academy one year and tutor in Middlebury College two years. During the winter vacation of 1812-13 he read theology with the Rev. "Mr. Packard, and was licensed by the Franklin (Mass.) Association in January, 1813. In the following November he began to preach in Grafton, Vt., and was there ordained pastor of the Con- gregational Church, in September, 1815. The Rev. Sylvester Sage of Westminster preached the sermon. He was dismissed in September, 1820, preached awhile in Rindge, N. H., where he received a call to settle, but did not accept it, and then spent three months in the service of the Ver^ ittOQt Docnattio Missionary Society. In February, 1822, he began to preaoh
1869.] Its Pastors and Native Mnisters. 67
in Holland Patent, N. Y., and was there installed in March, 1823. The Bev. Samuel C. Aiken, of Utica, preached the sermon. He was dismissed in March, 1829, and was not again settled in the ministry, but preached as stated supply in Russia, Deerfield, Lenox, Howard, and Napoli till 1845, after which time he did not have charge of a parish. He was a colporteur of the American Tract Society for three years, and was employed for some time as agent of the Presbyterian Board of Publication. For several years he lived at Throopsville, N. Y., and there he died 26 October, 1865.
He married, 5 May, 1814, Mary Arms of Greenfield, Mass., by whom he had two sons who died in infancy, also Ebenezer Arms, b. 2 January, 1818, and Mary White, b. 7 May, 1820. Mrs. Goodell died 14 September, 1850, and he married, 29 January, 1856, Mrs. Agnes Grandey of Throopsville.
6. The Rev. Henrt Anthony Goodhue, son of Deacon Ira and Almira (Sawyer) Goodhue, was bom (in the West Parish) 29 July, 1838. His grandfather was Deacon Ebenezer Goodhue, his great-grandfather was the Rev. Josiah Goodhue, the first pastor in Putney, and from him the line of ancestry is traceable in an unbroken series of deacons to William Goodhue, who emigrated from England to Ipswich, Mass., in 1636, and was the first deacon of the Congregational Church in that place. He was graduated at Dartmouth in 1837, and at Andover in 1862, and was ordained, 20 May 1863, pastor at West Barnstable, Mass. The Rev. Henry B. Hooker, D. D., preached the sermon. He married, 13 December, 1864, Isabella Perkins, of Plympton.
7. The Rev. Josiah Fletcher Goodhue (uncle of the preceding and), son of Deacon Ebenezer and Almira (Ranney) Goodhue, was born (in the West Parish) 31 December, 1791, on the last day of the year, month, and week, and the last hour of the day. At the age of seventeen he com- menced teaching a common school, and continued to do so for eleven suc- cessive winters. In his youth he was led by sceptical associates and infidel books to embrace sceptical views ; but when he was nineteen years old he read Leslie's Short and Easy Method with Deists, which convinced him of his error, and prepared the way for his becoming a Christian the next year.
He was graduated at Middlebury in 1821, studied theology a year at Andover, and then was tutor at Middlebury a year, at the same time pur- suing his theological studies. He was licensed by the Windham Associa- tion at West Brattleboro', 30 September, 1823. His first settlement was at Williston, where he was ordained 27 May, 1 824. The Rev. Joshua Bates, D. D., preached the sermon. He was dismissed 9 October, 1833, just ten years after he began his labors. He went immediately to Shoreham, and was there installed 12 February, 1834. The Rev. Thomas A, Merrill, D. D., preached the sermon. In 1835 a powerful revival took place, and nearly a hundred were added to the church. During his pastprate of
68 The Congregatiorud Church in Westmiruterj Vt. [Jan.
twentj-four years the additioDS were one hundred and seventy-three. He was di:smis8ed 29 April, 1857, but the disroissul did not take effect till the 1st of the following October. He then removed to Whitewater, "Wis., and there resided without charge till his death, which took place 3 May, 1863.
His publications are a Sermon on the Church of Christ One, 1831 ; a Sermon on the Character and Services of Rev. Thomas A. Merrill, d. d.* 185G ; and a History of Shoreham, 18G1.
He married, 3 June, 1824, Elizabeth W. Hooker of Rutland, Vt., by whom he had two sons and three daughters.
8. The Rev. Calvix Hitchcock, d. d., son of Heli and Phena (Good- ell) Hitchcock, was born (in the West Parish) 25 October, 1787. He was graduated at Middlebury in 1811, and at Andover in 1814, having by his own exertions defrayed the expenses of his whole course. He was or- dained at Newport, R. L, 15 August, 1815, under an engagement for five years. Tiie Rev. William Patton, d. d., of Newport, preached the sermon. He left Newport, 1 October, 1820, and was installed 28 Feb- ruary, 1821, at Randolph, Mass. The Rev. Warren Fay, D. D., of Charlestown, preached the sermon. His ministry at Randolph was suc- cessful and useful. It was marked by frequent reviials and by the general prosperity of the church. After a pastorate of thirty years, an attack of fever, accompanied with partial paralysis, so disabled him that he thought it best to retire from the active ministry. He was dismissed in June, 1851, and soon removed to Wrentham, where he lived on a farm the rest of his life. He died 3 December, 1867.
His published writings were Sermons before the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company ; before the Norfolk County Education Society ; and on the Rise and Progress of Congregationalism. He also wrote copiously for the Boston Recorder. In 1841 he received the degree of D. D. from Middlebury.
He married, 30 April, 1817, Elizabeth Russell Stevens of Newport, R. I.
9. The Rev. Joseph Addison Ranney, a nephew of the preceding, and a son of Joseph and Tryphena (Hitchcock) Ranney, was born (in the West Parish) 15 February, 1817. He was graduated at Middlebury in 1839, and then went to Mississippi, where he engaged in teaching, at the same time studying theology under the direction of the Clinton Presbytery, by which body he was approbated in May, 1841, at Manata, Miss. He preached a few months at Preston, and (hen supplied for a year the churches at Grenada and Middleton. In 1843 he was invited to the pastorate of those churches, but declined to take up his permanent residence in a Slave State.
He removed to Illinois, and for two years preached at Carlinville and Spring Cove. In February, 184Q, he became chaplain of Monticello Semiiiarji where he remained a year and a half. In the November of
1869.] Its Poiiars and Native Ministeri. 69
1847 he became acting pastor of the Presbyterian Church at Belleville. It was then a missionaiy church, but afler three years it became self-sup- porting, and he was ordained pastor. The Rev. Lemuel Grosvenor preached the sermon. In July, 1854, he closed his labors at Belleville, and within two weeks began to preach at Allegan, Mich. The church there had long been a missionary church, but it soon assumed his support, and he was installed in the pastorate. The Rev. Milton Bradley preached the sermon. His labors at Allegan closed 31 May, 1859. Immediately he received a call to the pastorate of the Presbyterian Church at Three Rivers, and was installed 21 September, 1859. The Rev. R. S. Goodman preached the sermon. In that pastorate he still remains.
His publisihed writings are an Annual Sermon, entitled, ^ Consuming Agencies and Preserving Mercies,*' 1858 ; a Thanksgiving Sermon, en- titled, ^ Condition and Hopes of our Country," 1862 ; and several addresses published in newspapers.
He married, in 1841, Phebe A. Hitchcock of Westminster ; secondly, 1 October, 1853, Wealthy Ann Hitchcock, her sister. His eldest son, Al- bert Barnes, was a soldier under Sherman, and was for a short time an inmate of Libby Prison.
10. The Rev. Timothy Emerson Rannet, brother of the preceding, was bom (in the West Parish) June, 1815, and was graduated at Middle- bury in 1839, and at Andover in 1842. He was licensed 12 April, 1842, by the Andover Association, preached a year at Barnet, Vt, and was ordained, 1 May, 1844, at Westminster West. The Rev. Charles Walker preached the sermon. In the summer of 1844 he went as a missionary to the Pawnee Indians in what is now Nebraska. Afterwards he was a mis- sionary to the Cherokees, and continued till the summer of 1861, when he returned to New England, and for some years lived on a farm in St. Johns- bury, Vt. In July, 1866, he became acting pastor at West Charlestown, and continued for a year. In the summer of 1867 he became acting pastor at Holland, apd there remains.
He married, 23 April, 1844, Charlotte Taylor of Ashby, Mass., by whom he had Joseph Emerson, b. 9 May, 1849 ; Timothy Taylor, b. 9 November, 1852 ; and some others.
NATIVE WIVES OP MINISTERS.
Frances Goodell, wife of the Rev. Alpheus Graves ; Electa Goodhue, wife of the Rev. Joseph Hurlburt ; Mary Goodrich, wife of the Rev. Wil- liam H. Gilbert ; Julia A. Harlow, wife of the Rev. Granville Wardwell ; Martha A. Harris, wife of the Rev. Samuel A. Rhea ; Phebe A. Hitch- cock and Wealthy A. Hitchcock, wives of the Rev. Joseph A. Ranney ; and Stella R. Nutting, wife of the Rev. A. D. Dascomb, — were natives of Westminster.
60 The American Church Register. [Jan.
THE AMERICAN CHURCH REGISTER.
The readers of the Quarterly are aware what importance its editors attach to all facts and statistics illustrative of the past or present condition of the denomination, and thej will therefore understand why attention is here directed to a new Church Register, prepared by Rev. Daniel P. Noyes, Secretary of Home Evangelization in Massachusetts. It is a work which furnishes facilities hitherto wanting for full and accurate record of all church and parish matters, and its general use by pastors or church offi- cers would greatly lighten the labor of compiling and arranging those sta- tistics which are a distinguishing feature of this publication.
The Church Register is an indispensable part of church record. A growing sense of its importance has for a long time been manifest; and it is clear that, in proportion as churches realize that they are properly work- ing-bodies, they must also feel the importance of such full and methodical records and registers as shall keep the condition of their work ever dis* tinctly in view. There can be no question that care to secure complete- ness of record helps to keep alive, in both ministers and churches, a sense of their proper responsibilities, and promotes system and perseverance in Christian labors.
The American Church Register provides for the record of the names of all the pastors of the church, regularly numbered, with the place and date of birth, the college, place of theological education, date of ordination and installation, and date and mode of removal; the names of all the deacons, with columns for the dates of appointment and of retirement, and for remarks and references ; the names of the church committee, — to be entered under their respective years of service ; the names of Sunday school superintendents, with columns for the dates of their election and retirement from office; the names of persons having charge of various departments of Christian labor, e. g. the superintendents of branch Sunday schools, the leaders of neighborhood meetings, the chairmen of standing committees, the superintendents of visitation, the officers and managers of charitable societies or committees, &c., &c.; the names of communicant*), regularly numbered, with date and mode of reception, date and mode of removal, and a column for remarks and references ; the names of persons baptized, with date of birth, of baptism, and of profession of faith, and a column for remarks and references ; a record of marriages, with all the particulars required by the laws of Massachusetts (which are believed to be as stringent as those of any State), also the place and date of soiemnization, with the signature of the officiating clergyman and the
-â– rha^.
1869.] The American Church BegUter. 61
names of the witnesses. In this connection is furnished a digest of the Uvrs of marriage in yarious States of the Union, prepared bj competent bands, and brought down to the date of the present publication ; a regis- ter of deaths, with columns for the names, regularly numbered, the date, age, and remarks and references; a register of attendance on public worship, morning and aflernoon, for each Sunday in the year, — one year occopying only half a page ; a register of councils, giving the name of the church inviting the council, the date and purpose of the council, the names of delegates, and a brief entry of the nature of the result, with a reference to the more full account in the records or among the papers of the church ; a similar register of conferences, giving the date, place, and names of delegates sent by the church ; perhaps more important than any others, the register of families, supplemented by a register of boarderSi domestics, and others, transient persons.
These two registers are intended to include all the persons properly under the care of the church and pastor, whether themselves distinctly owning this care or not ; all to whom it is the special duty of the church to carry the Gospel The register of families is arranged for households of different size ; and columns are provided for names, dates of birth, of join- ing the congregation, of baptism, of reception to the communion, and for remarks and references.
Every pastor needs such a parish book, and can hardly be faithful to his whole duty without its help. Properly kept and studied, it would be full of reminders and suggestions, its pages crowded with family history and individual experience, and illustrations of principles and methods and laws divine. This " Register of Families " is combined with the " Church Register," and is also published separately. Whenever desired, blank paper properly ruled for the ordinary business records of the church is bound with the volume.
This Church Register, if duly filled, will furnish materials ever ready for annual reports of church ^^ork, such as ought to be made by every church to itself and to neighboring churches met in conference. In con- nection with other suitable records it will supply particulars of great value to the historian, while all the time promoting a steady and growing devel- opment of systematic Christian activity. There are other details of ar- rangement and general structure which it is needless to specify; from what has been presented in this concise manner, pastors, church officers, and all interested in the subject, can judge of the practical value of Mr. Noyes's labors.
62 Congregational Necrology. [Jan.
CONGREGATIONAL NECROLOGY.
Rev. timothy P. GILLETT. Nearly two years aince this venerable ser- vaDt of Christ fell asleep at his quiet home in Branfoi^, Conn., in the eighty- seventh year of his age and the fifly-eighth of his ministry. He was bom Jane 15, A. D. 1780, and died November 5, 1866. His boyhood was partly spent in Torrington, Conn., where his father, Rev. Alexander Gillett, labored mo6t of the time during the fifVy-three years of his ministry. For his acquaintance with clas- sical literature, and the original languages of God's Word, his sound judgment, unfaltering devotion to the Master's service, rare control of his passions and his tongue, his thoroughly Christian life, public and private, Mr. Gillett's father was greatly respected and beloved. He held an enviable position in a circle of pas: tors to which the county of Litchfield is much indebted. Their belief in and earnest proclamation of the doctrines set forth in the Assembly's Catechism har- monized with their personal religious experience. Their characters, of rare purity and beneficence, were the legitimate fruit of these truths experimentally understood. Hooker, Mills, Hallock, Gillett, Griffin, and their associates, com- posed a fraternity not often matched. United in faith, affection, and toil, the success of one was hailed with generous satisfaction by all. Few pages in the history of New England churches contain a brighter record than the narrative of the revivals that crowned the labors of those men near the commencement of the present century. The pastor in Torrington was permitted to count among the trophies of grace at that time his oldest son, Timothy Phelps Gillett. The one thing long sought by the father now seemed altogether probable. Hia son might be an ambassador of Christ. *
Wliile a tutor in Williams College, where he was graduated in 1804, the sub- ject of this notice was intimate with Gordon Hall, Samuel J. Mills, and James Richards. From that time the work of foreign mifisions had in him an intelligent and steadfast friend, and will be forwarded by a portion of his estate.
In 1806 he received a license to preach from the Litchfield North Association; after pursuing the study of theology with President Fitch, at William«town, June 15, 1808, at the age of twenty-eight he became pastor of the church in B|:an- ford. November 29, 1808, he was married to Sallie Hodges, of Torrington, daughter of Dr. Elkanah Hodges, a prominent gentleman in his father's congre- gation. This union continued almost sixty years ; and the widow survives, in the full possession of her faculties, waiting in serene trust
When the providence of God, in the course of years, placed a considerable amount of property in his hands, the increase of worldly goods was announced by no ostentatious display. The same humility, punctual attendance on profes- sional duties, and readiness to forego personal comfort in ministering to the sick and needy, were s^ill manifest. His systematic and unobtrusive charities fore- shadowed the benevolent uses to which a considerable share of his property is to be at length appropriated.
The doctrinal sentiments of Mr. Gillett were in agreement with the accredited
1869.] Congregational Necrology. 63
i^rmbols of New England theology reaffirmed by the National Council at Boston in 1865. The publication and defence of views, forty years since, that were deemed at Yariance with Scripture and the ancient faith of our churches awakened deep and wide-spread concern. Their tendency [in the views of many] to andermine the Gospel, and endanger sound and saving religious experience, deeply impressed such men as Woods, Griffin, Nettleton, and Tyler. Mr. Gillett ifaared their fears, and took his position with those of his brethren who were itjled Old School. Ministerial associates from whom he conscientiously differed never had occasion to charge him with discourtesy in speech or deportment.
At least half a score of revivals marked Mr. Gillett's long and faithful pastorate. Attaching less importance than is customary to the refinements of style, voice, aod manner, he testified the Gospel of the grace of God with a subdued force and manifest sincerity that often leave the most salutary impressions. Constitution- tlly grave and taciturn, he perhaps seemed to strangers deficient in sympathy lod humor, fiut such impressions disappeared on slight acquaintance. Hia modest, sober, and reticent air was soon found to be allied with unaffected, over- flowing Christian kindness and cheerful pleasantry. His sanctified (<elf-control was a safeguard in sudden emergencies and trials that so often damage men's comfort and usefulness. In dealing with parties at variance with each other or with himself, this quality proved invaluable.
Reviewing the history of fifly years, Mr. Gillett could say to his people : ** In preaching, I have not shunned to declare unto you all the counsel of God. I have great reason to be humble for my unfaithfulness and deficiencies, and to ponder solemnly the questions, Have any of this people perished in consequence of my being a minister of the Gospel here ? Have all been saved who might have been saved if their minister had been more faithful with them ? Nothing has occurred to produce any outbreaks between us as pastor and church, minister and society. I know not that one unfriendly feeling now exists.*'
w. T.
Rev. GEORGE ALBION CALHOUN, d.d., for forty-eight years pastor of the Congregational Church in North Coventry, Conn., died in that place June 7, 1867.
Dr. Calhoun was of Scotch ancestry. He was born in Washington, Conn., October 11, 1788. He was early set to work by his father on the farm. He attained to a large stature; was strong, athletic, and fearless, well worthy of comparison with the brawny Highlanders of Scotia, and a leader in his youth among his companions. Though he attended for short periods the district school in his native town, his early education was very limited. When twenty-one years of age he went to school, and commenced the study of En<ili!ih grammar and arithmetic. Afler four or five months he entered the law office of Hon. Nathan Strong, but being convinced that his education was deficient, he soon returned to school, and began the study of Latin at the age of twenty-two. In 1811 he became a hopeful subject of Divine grace, but did not unite with the church till September, 1814. In 1812 he joined the Junior class in Williams College, but lefl that institution at the end of the second term, and became con-
64 Congregational Necrology. [Jan.
•
nected witli the new Hamilton College, In Clinton, N. T. He and one other constituted the first Junior and Senior classes in that institution. He graduated without a Commencement in 1814 ; and, by invitation of the faculty of Williams College, took his degree there with the class of which he had been a member. That fall he went to Andover, Mass., and passed through the three years of study in the Theological Seminary there, graduating in 1817. When he went to An- dover he was ^* without money and without a patron." It was only by severe self-denial, the greatest efforts, and the most rigid economy, that he succeeded in obtaining his theological education. Few candidates for the ministry have had greater difficulties with which to contend. He was licensed April 22, 1817.
The year afler his graduation he spent as a Home Missionary in the vicinity of Geneva, in Western New York, preaching almost daily, and laboring so diligently and continuously as permanently to injure his health. Thence he came to North Coventry, where he preached, for the first time, November 1, 1818; and was ordained as pastor of the church in that place, March 10, 1819. He devoted himself with great zeal and energy to his work. Several powerful revivals of religion were enjoyed by his people during his pastorate. He also labored in many other places, in seasons of special religious interest, with great success.
His published writings are not very numerous. Among them were a series of letters to Dr. Bacon in reply to his attack on the Pastoral Union and Theological Institute of Connecticut, and a number of occasional discourses.
He received invitations to other fields of labor of more prominence, and ofier- ing a larger salary than his country parish gave him. He was strongly urged to take charge of Home Missionary operations in Western New York, to act as State missionary of Michigan, and to be the financial agent of the Theological Institute at East Windsor. Such were his views of the sacredness of the pastoral relations that all such calls were declined. However, by an arrangement with his people, he spent one year in collecting funds for the endowment of the Theolog- ical Institute of Connecticut He was very successful in that work. That semi- nary owes much of its prosperity to his devoted and zealous efibrts. He was for many years one of its trustees.
His health having become impaired, he spent the autumn of 1830 in Maine, in behalf of the American Education Society, and afterwards visited one hundred churches in Connecticut, pleading the cause of Home Missions, and preparing the way for the Domestic Missionary Society becoming auxiliary to the American Home Missionary Society. He then went to Europe, whence he returned with health greatly improved, in November, 1831.
He was elected Fellow of Yale College in 1849, and received the degree of j>, D. from his Alma Mater, Hamilton College, in 1852.
On account of his age and approaching infirmities he resigned the active duties of his pastorate, and relinquished all claims upon his society for salary in March, 1860. He received, September 3, 1862, as colleague in the pastoral oflice. Rev. W. J. Jennings, who lived with him in perfect harmony and delightful fellowship.
For twenty months he supplied the pulpit of the first church in Coventry. In December, 1863, he was stricken down by paralysis, and laid entirely aside from the work of the ministry.' He revived after some months, and was able to go up
1869.] Congregational Necrology. 65
to the sanctaaiy and visit friends in his own and neighboring towns. In De- cember, 1866, he was again prostrated; his mind was much weakened, and he gradually waned in strength until he peacefully, as a child falls to sleep in its mother's arms, sunk to his rest, entered upon his reward, and received his crown.
He married, for his first wife. Miss Betsey Scoville, of Salisbury, November 16, 1819 ; who died very suddenly April 14, 1857. They leave two sons to bear the - honored name. He married, for his second wife. Miss Mary J. Davis, of Salem, Mass., who was the great comfort of his latter years, and who survives to mourn his departure.
Dr. Calhoun was a man of powerful frame, dignified and commanding presence, strong mind, and great activity and energy. Sincerity of heart and uprightness of life were nuirked characteristics. He was specially distinguished for his good common sense and practical wisdom. Hence he was often consulted by churches and individuals who were in difficulty, and was invhed to take part in many ecclesiastical councils. His theological knowledge was thorough and accurate. He was strongly attached to the old theology of New England. He adhered to his views of truth with unflinching fidelity ; yet was tolerant and kind towards those who diflfered from him. His ministerial brethren ever found him a genial companion, a sympathizing brother, a true-hearted friend. Great was his pru- dence. The law of charity controlled his speech and conduct. He showed that he had sat at the feet of Jesus, learned of him, and drunk in largely of his spirit. He loved the cause of Christ with intense devotion, delighted in the work of the ministry, was very successful therein, and preached the Gospel as long as his itrength would allow. The benevolent operations of the church received his hearty support and liberal contributions. He was actively associated with the leading ministers of the State in devising and executing plans for the promotion of the Redeemer's kingdom. His preaching was specially distinguished for its plainness, argumentiveness, impresslveness, and power. He laid himself and his all at his Saviour's feet, reposed confidently on his atoning sacrifice, and looked forward with a serene faith to the close of his life, to the entering into the presence of his Lord In glory, and to the union with departed Christian friends, in the world of endless bll?s. His end was peace.
Rev. RICHARD CHAPMAN DUNN died at his residence in Oneida, HI., on the Sabbath, May 24, 1868, in the forty-seventh year of his age.
He was a native of Augusta, Ga., his mother being of Massachusetts stock, his father of English. A child of the covenant, he early became a child of God. When ten years of age, he removed with his mother to Cincinnati, and in 1836 to Hlinois. He was graduated at Knox College in 1847, and at Union Seminary, New York, in 1853. The first year of his ministry he spent with two missionary churches in the State of New York. He then returned to the West, and entered upon the pastorate at Toulon, III., where he remained twelve and a half years. At the time of his decease he had been only six months in the pastoral office at Oneida.
Under his ministry two seasons of revival were enjoyed at Toulon. His en-
KEW SERIES. — VOL. I. NO. 1. 5
66 C(mgregati(mal Necrology. [Jan.
trance upon the work at Oneida was honored with a remarkable work of grace.
He was a man of poblic spirit For several years he served as Connty Super* intendent of Schools in connection with his pastoral work. He was for one tern a member of the legislature of Illinois, where, as Chairman of the Committee on • Education, he rendered service that was publicly acknowledged. At the time of his death he was one of the Board of Trustees of the State Hospital for the In- sane, which office he honored with a signal fidelity.
His mind was one of freshness and versatility, and gleamed with the scintilla- tions of wit His style was sententious, almost laconic. He was a man of a buoy- ant, though chastened, ambition. From a child he was an abolitionist. He records that one of the proudest acts of his life was his stealing oflT into a secluded place to teach an old slave-woman to read while he was yet a child. In Illinois he was prominent in aiding the escape of fugitives. Of a retiring, sensitive na- ture, his religious life took on a contemplative habit. He said to the writer that he had learned in the legislature how to promote a revival, — to make it a matter of business, to labor personally with men, to circulate documents, to expect re- sults. And he found them, for in the two succeeding years, without foreign aid, he was gladdened by two seasons of pervasive religious interest. His funeral ser- mon was preached by his classmate, Rev. J. £. Roy, of Chicago.
H. N. T.
Rev. JOHN MARSH, d. d., died in Brooklyn, N. T., August 4, 1868, afler a brief illness, in the eighty -first year of his age. He was bom April 2, 1788, in Wethersfield, Conn., where his father, after whom he was named, was pastor of the First Church about fifly years. When only ten years old he became a pupil of Dr. Azel Backus of Bethlem, Conn., entered Yale College at twelve, and graduated at sixteen in the Class of 1 804. Afler teaching for some years, and afler such prep- aration for the ministry as was common in those days, he began to preach at the age of twenty-one. In December, 1818, he became pastor of the Congregational Church in Haddam, Conn., where he continued fideen years in a laborious and successful ministry, marked by revivals of religion and multiplied conversions. While there he prepared and published liis " Ecclesiastical History,'* designed chiefly for the young, of which a sixteenth edition, revised, was printed four years ago. In 1833 he took a dismission from hU pastoral charge, in order that he might devote himself, according to the solicitations of many friends and his own philanthropic impulses, to the temperance reformation, which was then becoming a wide and powerful movement in this country. His attention had been early called to that subject, as appears from his published autobiography. Besides two other tracts which he had prepared for the use of his own congregation, in October, 1829, he sent forth that one which is best known, entitled ** Putnam and the Wolf,*' of which one hundred and fifly thousand copies were soon sold, and which was adopted by the Amerii'an Tract Society as one of its series. He had also been the secretary of the Connecticut Temperance Society from its organization, issuing his first Report in 1830. On leaving Haddam he removed to Philadelphia* where he was for three years agent of the Pennsylvania State Temperance
1869.] Congregational Necrology. 67
SocietjT. In 1836 the American Temperance Union was reorganized, having its office in Philadelphia ; and Dr. Marsh became its secretary, and the editor of its neir monthlj '^ Journal," so successfully conducted by him for almost thirty years, the office and the paper being removed to New York in January, 1837. This Society gave place to a new national organization in 1865, and the Journal was then discontinued. Multitudes of readers throughout the country have marked his diligence, vigor, and judgment in the conduct of this paper through all these yeare, and through the successive phases of public opinion on this great subject. Besides this labor, however, and his many addresses and cares connected with it, daring the war he gave himself with undiminished zeal in his advanced years to the preparation and distribution of temperance tracts for the army. Then in 1866 he published his interesting volume entitled ** Temperance Recol- teedons." which contains more than can be found elsewhere of the history of that reformation. Besides being a worthy record of a worthy life, it is a monument of die ripe and vigorous old age that could produce it. And since his official work ceased, he has not ceased to write and speak efiectively in the same cause. Within the past year he published his letter on Secret Societies, which attracted much attention. Only the week before his last illness he assumed an agency for completing the funds necessary to the erection of a new building for the Yale Theological Seminary. Already he had procured one large donation, and was planning journeys and applications for the remainder of the year with his wonted enterprise. At a period of life when most men would have sought only rest, and, notwithstanding two attacks of partial paralysis within the last seven years, he was as intent on work as ever. It seemed fitting, and certainly would have ac- corded with his own wishes, that he " ceased at once to work and live." On Thursday, July 30, he fell into an unconscious state, from which the next day he partially awoke paralyzed and unable to speak. With little suffering he lingered only till Tuesday, the 4th of August, when he peacefully passed into his rest. On the Thursday following, afler appropriate addresses and prayers at his house from Rev. Drs. Budington and Leavitt, his five children accompanied his remains to his early home in Wethersfield, Conn., where his three sisters survive him. There, on Friday, with other suitable services conducted by the present pastor. Rev. Mr. Adams, Rev. \V. W. Andrews, Rev. Dr. Tucker, and Rev. O. E. Daggett, he was borne from the venerable church, where, nearly half a century ago, his father finished his pastorate of almost fifty years, and laid by the side of precious kindred dupt. None who knew him, or who only read this brief record, can fail to mark the vigor and activity of his long life, and the conspicuous part he hv borne in one of the principal philanthropic enterprises of our times. He was distinguished not only for his devotion to that work, but, as a writer and speaker, for a clear, direct, effective style, both of composition and address, whether on the platform or in the pulpit His strength of conviction and ear- nestness of purpose gave power to his appeals. He was eminently conscientious both in his private and