CJornell UniuerattH Slibrarg 
 
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CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 3 1924 082 449 624 
 
The original of tliis book is in 
 tine Cornell University Library. 
 
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UNIVERSALIS! IN AMERICA. 
 
 A HISTORY. 
 
 BT 
 
 RICHARD EDDY, D.D., 
 
 PBESIDENT OF THE UNITEBSAXIST HISTORICAL SO0IET7 ; MEMBER, AND LATE LIBRABIAN, 
 
 OF THE HISTORICAL SOCIBTT OE FEIlTNSTLVANIA ; AND MEMBER OF THE 
 
 RHODE ISLAND HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 Vol. I. 
 1636—1800. 
 
 BOSTON: 
 
 UNIVERSALIST PUBLISHING HOUSE. 
 1891. 
 
Copyright, 1884, 
 By Unitersalist Publishiko House. 
 
 ^^IB 
 
 THIRD EDITION. 
 
 Sniiinsitg ]presg: 
 John Wilson and Son, Cambridgr. 
 
TO 
 
 JOHN A. McAllister, 
 
 OP PHILADELPHIA, 
 
 IN GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MANY FAVORS RECEIVED IN 
 
 COLLECTING PACTS RELATING TO THE HISTORY 
 
 RECORDED IN THESE PAGES, 
 
 W^ie Folume is I9etitcatel> 
 
 BY THE AUTHOR. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 SOMETHING more than a quarter of a century 
 ago, the author began to collect material for this 
 work. His progress has been slow, and much of it 
 has been attended with difficulties which those who 
 have had no experience in historic research will fail 
 to understand. The origiaal sources of information, 
 especially in the earlier years of our history, have 
 been meagre, and scattered in many public and private 
 libraries, to reach which has required personal exami- 
 nation. Limited both ia means and time, the author 
 has found it difficult to carry on these investigations 
 as rapidly as was desired. Hence the delay in pre- 
 paring these pages for the public eye. 
 
 The present volume, as will be seen, attempts to 
 tell the story of the progress of Universalism to the 
 close of the eighteenth century, and to state the dif- 
 ferent phases of the Universalist faith up to that time; 
 It has also aimed to give what biographical informa- 
 tion could be obtained concerning the early defenders 
 and supporters of that faith ; and it is matter of deep 
 regret that so little information can be found in regard 
 to so many of these worthy men. 
 
 It is hoped that no unnecessary delays will pre- 
 vent the early completion of the work. Another vol- 
 
VI PREFACE. 
 
 ume will follow this, in which, after the narration of 
 the history in its chronological order, as in these pages, 
 special chapters will be given to Sunday Schools, Edu- 
 cation (both Academic and Theological), Hymnology, 
 and Periodical Literature. The volume will also con- 
 tain a Bibliography of Universalism, giving the title- 
 page, size or form of the edition, and number of pages 
 of whatever book, pamphlet, or tract has been printed 
 in America on this subject, both pro and con. More 
 than two thousand titles have already been examined, 
 copied, and arranged, and it is intended that this part 
 of the work shall be as thorough and exhaustive as 
 the circumstances of the case will allow. To this end 
 general co-operation is earnestly solicited ; and as no 
 inconsiderable part of our pamphlet literature has been 
 published expressly for local use, and has never come 
 into general circulation, a special request is hereby 
 made that copies may be sent to the author, who, if 
 desired, will after examination return them to the 
 owner, or if no such request shall be made, will see that 
 they are preserved in the Library of the Universalist 
 Historical Society. 
 
 Grateful to all who have hitherto aided in making 
 this record possible to public view, and especially thank- 
 ful to our Heavenly Father that health and strength 
 have been given for the preparation of these pages, this 
 volume is now submitted to the reader. 
 
 KICHARD EDDY. 
 
 Melrose, Mass., October, 1884. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 Page 
 
 Introductioii 1-12 
 
 Chapter I. 1636-1770 13-104 
 
 II. 1770-1778 105-173 
 
 ni. 1779-1786 174^266 
 
 IV. 1787-1790 267-344 
 
 V. 1791-1793 845-438 
 
 VI. 1794-1797 429-508 
 
 VII. 1798-1800 504-544 
 
 INDEX 545-554 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 General Histories of Universalism. — Different Meanings of the 
 Name " Univeksalist." — The Name first applied to Believers 
 IN THE Salvation of all Men, in England. — Earliest traces 
 of Universalism. — Univeksalist Characteristics of the early 
 Theological Schools. — Association of Universalism with 
 Learning. — Traces of Universalism in the Dark Ages. — Re- 
 vival op Universalism at the Reformation. — Controversies on 
 Universalism in the seventeenth and eighteenth Centurifs. — 
 The "Everlasting Gospel." — The "Berleburger Bibel." — 
 Universalism of Jung Stilling. — Universalism Condemned in 
 the Forty-two Articles, in 1562. — Condemnation withdrawn 
 in ihe Thirty-nine Articles, in 1562. — English Parliament in 
 1648, against Universalism. — Vane, White, Brooke, Law, Eelly, 
 CoppiN, and Stonehouse on Universalism. 
 
 UNIVERSALISM, the doctrine of the final holiness 
 of all men through the grace of God revealed in 
 Jesus Christ, has been held and defended in some form 
 in all the Christian Ages. It is not, however, the pur- 
 pose of this work to cover the entire field of its history, 
 but simply to attempt to relate the story of its rise and 
 progress in the United States. The more general his- 
 tory has already been written, — that portion of it 
 covering the period prior to the Protestant Eeforma- 
 tion, by the late Hosea Ballou, 2d, D. D., entitled " The 
 Ancient History of Universalism," and published in 
 
 VOL. I. — 1 
 
2 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 1829, but revised and republished in 1872 ; and on the 
 subsequent period, by the late Thomas Whittemore, 
 D. D., entitled "The Modern History of Universalism," 
 published in 1830, and the European portion, revised 
 and greatly enlarged, republished in 1860. Both of 
 these works are characterized by great fidelity to the 
 facts of history, and are invaluable to all who are seek- 
 ing information in regard to the opinions which have 
 been held in the Christian Church, on the doctrine 
 of human destiny. Of Dr. Ballou's work, Edward 
 Beecher, D. D., in his " History of Opinions on the 
 Scriptural Doctrine of Retribution," says: "The work 
 is one of decided ability, and is written with great can- 
 dor and a careful examination of authorities." 
 
 Many of the facts presented in Dr. Whittemore's 
 work are reproduced here, but there are added to them 
 a large number of which it is certain that he had no 
 knowledge; and as the first edition of his work, in 
 which alone are references to Universalism in America, 
 has long been out of print, it is not improbable that 
 the entire contents of this volume may be new to many 
 readers. 
 
 It may also be presumed that some into whose hands 
 this book may fall, are not in possession of any facts in 
 regard to the more general History of Universalism, and 
 that a brief sketch thereof may not be devoid of inter- 
 est to them. What must be regarded as a mere mention 
 of the facts in the case, is therefore offered here. 
 
 The name " Universalist,'' as found on the pages of 
 ecclesiastical and dogmatic histories, seldom denotes 
 a believer in the final holiness and happiness of all 
 mankind. Probably its earliest theological use was in 
 
INTBOBUCTION. 3 
 
 the latter part of the fifteenth century, when it was ap- 
 plied by way of derision to those who held to the possi- 
 lility of the salvation of all men. They were protes- 
 tants against the reprobation theories of Calvin, without 
 being fully in sympathy with the views of Arminius. 
 For the most part they were French and Germans ; and 
 it is said that their views were embraced in nearly all 
 the Protestant universities. Amyraldus and Cameron 
 were the chief apostles of this faith. They distin- 
 guished between objective and subjective grace, mean- 
 ing by the former, that salvation is offered to all men, 
 and is universal ; and by the latter, that it morally af- 
 fects the soul in converting it, and is particular, — .that 
 is, given only to the elect. They were called from the 
 standpoint of the first, " Universalists ; " and from that 
 of the second, " hypothetical Universalists." In either 
 view they were far from being what we mean when we 
 speak of Universalists. In the sense in which we 
 employ the name, it seems to have been first used in 
 England about the middle of the last century; and 
 like the name "Christian," was not original with the 
 believers, but was given them by their opponents. 
 
 Prior to this time, although there are traces of ' Uni- 
 versalism in all the Christian ages, no particular name 
 distinguished its believers. During several of the early 
 centuries Universalism was unquestioned orthodoxy ; 
 and when it ceased to be domiaant, the believers were 
 called " Origenists," and later, " The Merciful Doctors." 
 In the time of the Eeformation by Luther, it was held 
 by the Anabaptists ; but this name conveyed, of itself, 
 no idea of any theory of the divine purpose as held .by 
 those who bore it. 
 
4 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 A8 early as a. d. 130, we come upon the first notice 
 of Universalism, after the days of the apostles, in the 
 writings of the Basilidians, Carpocratians, and Valenti- 
 niana, the more prominent sects of the Gnostics. The 
 ultimate purification of the race was, according to their 
 theories, by means of the discipline of the souls of the 
 wicked through transmigration. Fifty years later ap- 
 peared the "Sibylline Oracles," in which Universalism 
 is taught as resulting from the prayers of the saints 
 affected by the miseries of the damned. The Almighty 
 is represented as granting this favor to the redeemed 
 on account of the great love which He bears to them 
 for their fidelity. In A. D. 195 Clemens Alexandrinus, 
 who was president of the Catechetical School at Alex- 
 andria, advocated Universalism on the ground of the 
 remedial character of all punishment. His pupil and 
 successor in the school, Origen, taught UniversaKsm on 
 the ground of the ever-continuing freedom of the will, 
 the deep mental and spiritual anguish occasioned by the 
 light and knowledge of the truth, until it leads to re- 
 pentance, and then the harmony of the soul with God. 
 In addition to his work at Alexandria, Origen also had 
 care for several years of the school at Csesarea. 
 
 In the school at Antioch, Diodorus, afterwards Bishop 
 of Jerusalem, defended Universalism on the ground 
 that the divine mercy far exceeds all the effects and all 
 the deserts of sin. Theodore, of Mopsuestia, a pupil of 
 Diodorus, became his successor. He held that sin is 
 an incidental part of the development and education of 
 the human race ; that while some are more involved in 
 it than others, God will overrule it to the final estab- 
 lishment of all in good. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 5 
 
 The writings of Theodore became the text-books in 
 the School of Eastern Syria, sometimes held at Edessa 
 and sometimes at Nisibis. He was the founder of the 
 sect of the Nestorians, the reputed author of the liturgy 
 used by them; a church which at one time equalled 
 in its membership the combined adherents of both the 
 Greek and Latin communions, and which has had no 
 rival in missionary zeal. In the addresses and prayers 
 of their liturgy Universalism is distinctly avowed. 
 
 These four Schools, — Alexandria, Caesarea, Antioch, 
 and Eastern Syria, — were the only Schools, properly so 
 called (that is, institutions in which scholars were gath- 
 ered, and teachers, libraries, etc. were provided for their 
 instruction), known to the early Church. What are 
 sometimes called the Schools of Asia Minor and of 
 Northern Africa, were simply certain teachers and those 
 who adopted their opinions, though not collected in 
 one place where buLldings are erected, and teachers 
 employed for purposes of instruction. In Asia Minor, 
 Irenaeus taught the annihilation of the wicked ; in 
 Africa, TertuUian taught their everlasting punishment. 
 AH the early theological schools, strictly speaking, 
 taught the doctrine of Universalism; and four out of 
 the six of what are popularly called Schools, were advo- 
 cates of this theory of human destiny. 
 
 In the middle of the sixth century Justinian con- 
 vened a local council, which pronounced Origen's doc- 
 trine of Universal salvation heretical. Doederlein, after 
 quoting, in his " Institutes of Christian Theology," the 
 decree of Justinian against Origen, says : " That was 
 not the belief of all ; and in proportion as any one was 
 eminent in learning in Christian Antiquity, the more 
 
6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 did; he cherish and defend the hope of the termiiaation 
 of future torments." Drexelius, in his defence of eter- 
 nal punishment, gives this testimony : — 
 
 "That God should doom the apostate angels and men 
 at the day of retribution to eternal torments, seemed so 
 hard and incredible a doctrine to some persons that even 
 Origen himself, who was mighty in the Scriptures, and 
 no less famous for his admirable wit and excellent learn- 
 ing, presumed to maintain in his Book of Principles that 
 both the devils and the damned, after a certain period 
 of years, the fire having purged or cleansed them from 
 their pollutions, should be restored to grace. Augustine 
 and others set forth his error, and condemned him for it. 
 But notwithstanding their condemnation, this error has 
 found a great many in the world who have given it a 
 sort of civil reception. The Aniti, heretics so called, 
 dispersed this error throughout all Spain, under various 
 interpretations." 
 
 Gieseler, the ecclesiastical historian, sa;ys : ^ — 
 
 "The belief in the inalienable capacity of improvement 
 in all rational beings, and the limited duration of future 
 punishment, was so general, even in the West, and among 
 the opponents of Origen, that, even if it may not be said 
 to have arisen without the influence of Origen's school, 
 it had become entirely independent of his system." 
 
 And Augustine bears this testimony : ^ — 
 
 " Some, — nay, very many, — from human sympathy, 
 commiserate the eternal punishment of the damned and 
 their perpetual torture without intermission, and thus 
 
 1 Vol. i. chap. ii. sect. 82. 
 
 2 Enchiridion, chap. cxii. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 7 
 
 do not believe in it ; not, indeed, by opposing the Holy 
 Scriptures, but by softening all the severe things accord- 
 ing to their own feelings, and giving a milder meaning 
 to those things which they think are said in them more 
 terribly than truly." 
 
 Although Universalism almost wholly disappears 
 during the period known as the Dark Ages, there are 
 occasional glimpses of it even in the mutilated records 
 which the Papal Church has permitted to descend to us. 
 In the seventh century, Maximus, the Greek monk and 
 confessor, taught Universalism ; in the eighth, Clement 
 of Ireland was deposed from the priesthood for teaching 
 that when Christ descended into heU he restored all the 
 damned; while in the ninth, John Scotus Erigena, a 
 famous philosopher who stood at the head of the learned 
 of the Court of France, was a bold defender of Univer- 
 salism. In the eleventh century, the Albigenses were, 
 according to papal authorities, Universalists ; in the 
 twelfth, Eaynold, Abbot of St. Martin's in France, was 
 charged before a council with holding "that all men 
 vrill eventually be saved ; " in the thirteenth, Solomon, 
 Bishop of Bassorah, discussed the question of universal 
 salvation, answering it in the affirmative. The Lollards 
 in the fourteenth century taught Universalism in Bo- 
 hemia and Austria; and at the same period a council 
 convened by Langman, Archbishop of Canterbury, gave 
 judgment against Universalism as one of the heresies 
 then taught in that province. In the early part of the 
 fifteenth century, a sect called " Men of Understand- 
 ing " taught Universalism in Flanders, advocating it on 
 the ground of the German Mystics, — as did Tauler of 
 Strasburg, and John Wessel, who, with others, have 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 been called " the Eeformers before the Eeformation," 
 whose writings Luther industriously studied and greatly 
 admired. 
 
 With the Eeformation, Universalism made a fresh 
 appearance early in the sixteenth century, chiefly 
 among the Anabaptists. The seventeenth article of the 
 Augsburg Confession, 1536, was expressly framed to 
 "condemn the Anabaptists, who maintain that there 
 shall be an end to the punishments of the damned and 
 of the devils." Denck, Hetzer, and Stanislaus Pannoni- 
 ous, were the most eminent defenders of Universalism 
 at this period. Later in the century Samuel Huber, 
 divinity professor at Wittenberg, taught Universalism, 
 as is alleged by Spanheim ; and because, says Mosheim, 
 he would not go back to the old methods of teaching, 
 " he was compelled to relinquish his office and go into 
 exile." Early in the seventeenth century, Ernest Son- 
 ner, professor of philosophy at Altorf, published " a theo- 
 logical and philosophical demonstration that the endless 
 punishment of the wicked would argue, not the justice, 
 but the injustice, of God." John William Petersen, at 
 one time Court preacher at Lutin, and subsequently 
 superintendent at Lunenberg, adopted and defended 
 Universalism with such zeal that he was cited before 
 the consistory, and, as he could not conscientiously 
 renounce his convictions, was deprived of his office and 
 forced into private life. In his retirement he published 
 three folio volumes on Universalism, entitled " Muste- 
 rion Apokatastaseos Panton," in which he mentions 
 many who had defended that doctrine. The volumes 
 appeared between the years 1700-1710. They opened a 
 century of spirited controversy, of which Mosheim says : 
 
INTRODUCTION. 9 
 
 "The points of theology which had been controverted 
 in the seventeenth century were destined to excite keener 
 disputes in the eighteenth, such ' as the eternity of hell 
 torments, and the final restoration of all intelligent 
 beings to order, perfection, and happiness.'" 
 
 Dietelmair, an opponent of Universalism, wrote on 
 its history about the middle of this century. In the 
 preface to his work he speaks of the " contests which 
 rage vehemently enough within the very bounds of the 
 orthodox church in the end of the last century and 
 the beginning of the present." 
 
 Among the defences of Universalism contained in 
 the first volume of Petersen's work was the " Everlast- 
 ing Gospel," attributed to Paul Siegvolk, which was but 
 an assumed name of George Klein-Nicolai, deposed for 
 his Universalism as preacher of Friessdorf. He pub- 
 lished other works in defence of Universalism, but the 
 most rapid and lasting popularity belonged to the 
 " Everlasting Gospel," which in forty-five years passed 
 through five editions in Germany. 
 
 In 1726 John Henry Haug, professor at Strasburg, 
 having procured the assistance of Dr. Ernest Christoph 
 Hochman, Christian Dippel, Count De Marsay, and 
 others, commenced the publication of the " Berleburger 
 Bibel," an entirely new translation and commentary of 
 the Holy Scriptures. They made themselves famihar 
 with all the writings of the Mystics, and in their great 
 work taught and defended Universalism from the Mys- 
 tical standpoint. Their work fills eight large folio vol- 
 umes, the last of which was published in 1742. Strong 
 persecution assailing them, and no printer being willing 
 to risk his office in doing their work, they were compelled 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to purchase their own type and a small press. When the 
 church which they had established was at last broken 
 up by their enemies, the members fled to America, 
 taking their press with them, and it was set up by 
 Christopher Sower in Germantown, Pennsylvania. 
 
 In 1727 appeared Ludwig Gerhard's " Complete Sys- 
 tem of the Everlasting Gospel of the Restoration of All 
 Things, together with the Baseless Opposite Doctrine 
 of Eternal Damnation." The author was at one time 
 professor of theology in the University of Eostock, 
 and his publication called forth, according to Walch, 
 no less than fourteen volumes in reply. Jung Stilling, 
 in the latter part of the eighteenth century, an able de- 
 fender of Christianity against German Eationalism, was 
 an ardent and eminent Universalist. Professor Tholuck 
 wrote, in 1835, that this doctrine "came particularly 
 into notice through Jung Stilling, that eminent man 
 who was a particular instrument in the hand of God 
 for keeping up Evangelical truth in the latter part of 
 the former century, and at the same time a strong 
 patron to that doctrine." 
 
 In England, the Protestants, in drawing up their 
 Forty-two Articles of Eeligion, in 1552, condemned 
 TJniversalism. Ten years later, when the convocation 
 revised the doctrines of the Church, the number of 
 Articles was reduced to thirty-nine, omitting, among 
 others, the Articles condemning TJniversalism. Since 
 that time Universalism has not been a forbidden doc- 
 trine in the Church of England, but has been advocated 
 and defended by some of the most eminent members 
 of its communion. 
 
 The Presbyterian Parliament of 1648, which tempo- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 11 
 
 rarily overthrew Episcopacy, passed a law against all 
 heresies, punishing the persistent holders of some with 
 death, and of others with imprisonment. "That all 
 men shall be saved " was among the heresies punished 
 in the latter manner. This law was not long operative, 
 for the Independents, headed by Cromwell, soon over- 
 threw the law-makers. Gerard Winstanley published 
 a work in advocacy of Universalism only a few days 
 after the passage of the law, which was soon followed 
 by similar works from his pen. William Earbury 
 fearlessly preached Universalism. Eichard Coppin was 
 active in its advocacy, publishing largely in its exposi- 
 sition and support, and was several times arraigned 
 before the courts for his offence. Samuel Eichardson, 
 an eminent Baptist, also wrote largely in its defence. 
 Sir Henry Vane (the younger), member of the Parlia- 
 ment dissolved by Cromwell, and in 1636 Governor of 
 Massachusetts, was a Universalist. Jeremy White, one 
 of Cromwell's chaplains, preached Universalism, and 
 published a work which has passed through several 
 editions. Jane Lead, a Mystic, was the author of sev- 
 eral Universalist books. Henry Brooke, an eminent 
 literary writer, avowed his belief in Universalism in 
 his " Fool of Quality," and in a poem on the " Messiah." 
 William Law, author of the " Serious Call," declared in 
 his " Letters," — " As for the purification of all human 
 nature, I fully believe it, either in this world or some 
 after ages." 
 
 In 1750, James Eelly, of London, who had been a 
 preacher in Whitefield's connection, shocked at the 
 doctrine of reprobation, was by meditation and study 
 led into another scheme of redemption, some of the 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 peculiarities of which may be said to have had their 
 origin with him. As John Murray, who figures so 
 largely in the " History of Universalism in America," 
 was an avowed and zealous adherent and advocate of 
 Eelly's views, a statement of this peculiar theology will 
 be found in the second chapter of this work. 
 
 Eichard Coppin, just now alluded to as being active 
 in the time of Cromwell, regarded the Scriptures as 
 having a hidden sense, their teachings being chiefly 
 allegorical; and he brought a very fertUe imagination 
 to bear in their interpretation. Ail rewards and pun- 
 ishments were held by him to be confined to this life, 
 and the future, wholly the gift of grace, had little or 
 nothing in common with the present. 
 
 Sir George Stonehouse, of the Established Church of 
 England, advocated and defended Universalism in three 
 works published between 1760 and 1773. He seems 
 to have held the theory of pre-existence, and that men 
 were sent into this world, with Adam as their head, 
 with a view to their recovery from sins committed in a 
 previous state. Salvation is the result of a present 
 acceptance of Christ, and relieves one from the further 
 penal effects of sin; restoration comes only to those 
 who, neglecting salvation here, incur all the penalties 
 of sin, and from their future prison-house cry out for 
 mercy, and being penitent, are forgiven and blessed. 
 Salvation belongs only to the present life; restoration 
 only to the future state of existence. 
 
 From this brief description of the extent and manner 
 in which Universalism has been held in other lands, 
 we turn to a consideration of its history in America. 
 
UNIYERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 CHAPTEK I. 
 
 1636-1770. 
 
 SonRCES OF UsivERsAtisM IS Amekica. — The Mystics. — Samuel 
 Gorton. — Sir Hexrt Vane. — .Foseph Gatchell. — Dr. Gkobge 
 DE Besseville. — George Rapp. — Tiioma.s Say. — German and 
 Dutch Emigrants to Pennsylvania. — The Dunkeks. — The 
 Moravians. — Episcopalian Universalists. — Eev. Richard 
 Clarkk. — Rev. Rubert Yancey. — Rev. J.vcob DuciiS. — Rev. 
 William Smith, D. D. — The proposed Pra-yer-Book. — Rev. 
 John Tyler. — Mr. Tyler's Letter to Rev. Noah Parker. — 
 Rev. Samuel Peters's letter to Mr. Tyler. — Univeesalists 
 AMONG the New E.vgland Congbegationalists. — Rev. Charles 
 Chauncy, D. D. — Rev. John Clarke, D. D. — Attacks on Chaun- 
 cy's Pamphlet and Book. — Rev. Jonathan Mayhew, D. D. — 
 Rev. Jeremy Belknap, D. D. — Rev. Joseph Huntington, D. D. — 
 Attack on Universalism by the "First Presbytery of the 
 Eastward." — The Synod of New York and Philadelphia on 
 THE Prevalence of Universalism. — Rev. Thomas Fessenden. — 
 Rev. Jacob Mann. — Rev. Samuel Mead. — Rev. Dan Foster. — 
 Rev. Mr. Taft. — Rev. Peeley Howfc. — Rev. Samuel Whiting. 
 
 UNIVEESALISM came to America through at 
 least five channels, independent of the teachings 
 of Eev. John Murray, who is commonly called the 
 Father of Universalism in the New World. 
 
 I. THE MYSTICS. 
 
 1. Samuel Gorton, who figures conspicuously in 
 
 the early history of the Massachusetts, Plymouth, and 
 
 Rhode Island Colonies, came to Boston, from England, 
 
 in March, 1636-37. Shortly after his arrival, he re- 
 
14 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 moved to Plymouth, and before long to Ehode Island 
 Mr. Bancroft (History, i. 419), speaks of him as "a 
 wild but benevolent enthusiast, who used to say heaven 
 was not a place, there was no heaven but in the hearts 
 of good men, no hell but in the mind." John Angell, 
 one of his followers, said of him : — 
 
 "He was a holy man; wept day and night for the 
 sins and blindness of the world; his eyes were a foun- 
 tain of tears, and always full of tears, — a man full of 
 thought and feeling. He was universally beloved by all 
 his neighbors, and the Indians, who esteemed him, not 
 only as a friend, but one high in communion with God 
 and heaven ; and indeed he lived in heaven." 
 
 Mr. Staples, in a biographical sketch appended to 
 a modem edition of Gorton's "Simplicity's Defence 
 Againsb Seven-headed Policy," warmly eulogizes him 
 by saying that " nothing was ever alleged against him, 
 even by his most inveterate enemies." On the con- 
 trary. Cotton Mather, whose censure of those from 
 whom he differed is not unfrequently their highest 
 praise, says, that "he degenerated into a beast," and 
 styles his opinions "blasphemous and enormous." 
 
 Mackie, in his " Life of Samuel Gorton " ^ says of 
 Gorton : — 
 
 " The Puritan writers, generally, considered him a 
 teacher of strange doctrines, similar to those imputed 
 to the Tamilists." 
 
 And, condensing from Mosheim, More, Neal, and 
 Sewell, he adds : — 
 
 " The Family of Love, so called, was a sect established in 
 the sixteenth century in Holland, by Henry Nicholas, who 
 
 1 Sparks's American Biography. 
 
THE MYSTICS. 15 
 
 maintained that he was commissioned by Heaven to teach 
 that the essence of religion consists not in the belief of 
 any particular religious creed, or the observance of any 
 peculiar form of public worship, but simply in the feeling 
 of divine love. The Service of Love was declared to be 
 the dispensation of tlie Holy Ghost, surpassing that of 
 Christ, which was the dispensation of belief, and that 
 also of Moses, which was the dispensation of law. The 
 Familists believed in the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, 
 allegorized the doctrines of revelation, and viewed the 
 facts of Scripture as not having any historical, but only 
 a spiritual importance. In England, where the sect 
 made, for a time, no little progress, they held private 
 assemblies for devotion, ' for which they tasted of the 
 severities of the government,' and were charged with 
 unbecoming laxity of morals, at the same time that they 
 were making extraordinary pretences to spiritual jaerfec- 
 tion. As the Seraphic Family danced, sang, and made 
 merry, they were denounced by George Fox as a ' motley 
 tribe of fanatics.' 
 
 " As to what were really the religious doctrines held 
 and taught by Gorton, there has been considerable diver- 
 sity of opinion. It is, indeed, perhaps quite an impos- 
 sible matter to obtain from his writings any clear and 
 adequate view of his peculiar tenets. It is more than 
 probable that he himself had no distinct apprehension 
 of them. His thoughts are very obscurely expressed in 
 his writings; his style is exceedingly involved; his 
 leading ideas are unfolded but incidentally and partially. 
 Gorton's intellectual capacity was, indeed, great ; but his 
 sentiment prevailed over his reason. His mind was rather 
 brilliant than sound, too impulsive to be clear. . . . 
 Eespecting the nature of Christ, Gorton taught that it 
 was both human and divine ; the two parts whereof were 
 neither united, nor will they ever be separated in time ; 
 and both together constitute one eternal being. Christ's 
 
16 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 death and humiliation he considered also to be of infinite 
 duration ; for with him ' are all things ever present, being 
 himself the fulness thereof.' His death and humiliation 
 he regarded, though not in the sense of those who re- 
 ceive the doctrine of universal salvation, as the propitia- 
 tion for ' the sins of the whole world.' 
 
 "Viewed in connection, these two doctrines of the 
 divinity of Christ, and of the life of the believing soul 
 in him, will appear at the present day to have somewhat 
 of a pantheistic character. Indeed, one of the early 
 writers, in speaking of Gorton, went so far as to say 
 that he ' magnified his own glorious light, that could see 
 himself to be personally Christ, God-man.' The concen- 
 trating tendency, so to speak, of Gorton's mind was 
 certainly very strong. The scope and range of his 
 thoughts were wide, but it was his habit to reduce all 
 particular truths to general ones. To behold all things 
 in Christ ; to see them revolving in him in harmonious 
 relations ; to trace all the channels of life, the impulses 
 of goodness up to him, as the one infinite, universal 
 fountain, ' needing nothing out of itself to send forth its 
 streams, but only its own fulness ; ' this was the aspirar 
 tion of his mind, and its chief delight. 
 
 " In illustration of a general tendency of this sort in 
 Gorton's mind, it may be mentioned, also, that he dif- 
 fered from his brethren of Plymouth and Massachusetts, 
 in his views of the relation between this life and the 
 future. While they, undervaluing this state of exis- 
 tence, concentrated all their hopes of happiness, if not 
 of improvement, on that which is to succeed it, he, on 
 the contrary, af&rmed that the soul now exists in eter- 
 nity ; and was reported to have taught, that there is no 
 heaven or hell save in the mind. The soul seemed to 
 him to be independent of place, as the future and the 
 past were but eternal now. 'Such doctrine,' he says, 
 ' as sets forth a time to come, of more worth and glory 
 
THE MYSTICS. 17 
 
 than either is, or hath been, keeps the manna till to- 
 morrow, to the breeding of worms in it'" (pp. 389-394). 
 
 Gorton lived in turbulent times in New England, 
 and has been generally regarded as a man inimical 
 to the early government of Massachusetts. Eecently 
 "A defence of Samuel Gorton and the Settlers of 
 Shawomet" [Warwick, E. I-J^, by George A. Brayton, 
 late Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Ehode 
 Island, has been published, disproving the old notions 
 entertained of Gorton, and showing that, under cover of 
 political offences, he was persecuted for his religious 
 opinions. He was a Mystic who had little or no sym- 
 pathy with any views differing from his own. Hence, 
 though he defended the Quaker? in their efforts for tol- 
 eration, he strongly dissented from their theology ; and 
 while agreeing with Eoger Williams and the Baptists 
 in their theory of freedom of conscience, he fought 
 against their notions of ordinances, "beating down," 
 as one of his followers expresses it, " all outward 
 ordinances of Baptism and the Lord's Supper, with 
 unanswerable demonstration." Occasionally he ex- 
 pounded his views orally, but preaching was not his 
 business. His work was chiefly done with his pen ; and 
 some of his unpublished manuscripts are still preserved. 
 He delighted in titles based on the recognition of his 
 mystical views ; and in one of his conveyances of land, 
 styles himself, "Professor of the Mysteries of Christ." 
 As might be expected, his religious opinions are not 
 very lucidly expressed or explained in his writings. 
 He took such delight in hidden meanings and in alle- 
 gory, and had such fondness for far-fetched allusions 
 and images, that a degree of obscurity hangs over his 
 
 VOL. I. — 2 
 
18 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 sentences and makes them the subject of much spec- 
 ulation. In several passages, however, his belief in 
 universal salvation seems evident. Thus, in "Sim- 
 plicity's Defence," he speaks of some who were " fearful 
 of trouble and disquiet, not knowing better, but that 
 the cross of Christ is terrible ; as though the Sonne of 
 God had not taken away the terror and angry face 
 of it, putting no less disparagement upon him, but as 
 though the sting were in death still, being ignorant 
 of this, how that by death he overcomes death, even 
 until now." The nature of man, he says, is of 
 
 "that vast emptiness, that nothing but the fulness 
 and power of an all-sufficient God can possibly supply 
 and perfect it; and so there is complete eating and 
 drinking, which is that full satisfaction and nourishment 
 that can be found in none, save only in the Son of God 
 himself ; for it is a weakness of that nature and latitude, 
 that nothing can supply ajid make up but God himself ; 
 and it is a power of that fulness and perfection that can 
 take nothing into unity with itself that maybe thought to 
 add anything (no, not in the least) unto that strength and 
 vigor that is in God ; for then it were not an Almighty 
 power of God that saves us." 
 
 In a poetical effusion prefixed to the same work, he 
 
 ' The nations shall come forth at once, yea, at one birth ; 
 Truth in the change of one, reneweth all the earth ; 
 Else were not perfect good in any one erect, 
 Nor sin were full, through th' fall, that great defect. 
 
 If change of ope, were not a world renewed, 
 What nation, then, not brought in and snbdned. 
 When truth is published, though but unto one 
 Embraced, received '! Oh, happy state of man. 
 All Gentiles brought in, who can want ? " 
 
THE MYSTICS. 19 
 
 So also, he says : — 
 
 " The light of heaven, God himself ordained 
 To be that thing whereby man is maintained 
 lu wisdom, honor, happiness, and peace ; 
 That doth from serpent, sin, death, hell, release : 
 And not conjectural, doubtful, subtil notion. 
 Set forth by art with sign of great devotion, i " 
 
 This is indeed obscure ; but we do not think that we 
 mistake its import. The mystical union of all souls 
 with Grod, or Christ, who is the fulness of life and 
 salvation to all, was a favorite thought with la&nf 
 Universalists of that day, in the Old World ; notably 
 so with Eichard Coppin, Gorton's contemporary in 
 England, an avowed Universalist, who said, as did Gor- 
 ton, " There is no heaven and hell but what is in man." 
 
 2. SiE Henry Vane, the younger. Governor of 
 Massachusetts in 1636, was also a Mystic, and some 
 of his utterances read like avowals of belief in uni- 
 versal salvation. He was a man of rare scholarly 
 attainments, a radical thinker, and a fearless exponent 
 of his convictions. 
 
 He came to Boston in 1635, and although but twenty- 
 three years of age, so impressed the people with his 
 intellectual and moral greatness that his counsels w,ere 
 sought, and in a year from his arrival he was chosen 
 Governor. About this time the colonists thought, that 
 as they were all professedly religious people, they ought 
 to make the laws of God, as delivered by Moses to the 
 commonwealth of Israel, the basis of their civil polity. 
 At the request of the General Court, Eev. John Cotton 
 drew up an abstract of the laws of' Moses, : omitting 
 
 » Simplicity's Defence, in R. I. Hist. Col. ii. pp. 29, 36) 39, 184-5. 
 
20 XraiVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 such as were of temporary obligation, and in their 
 nature peculiar to the Jewish economy. It was pub- 
 lished, but not adopted. "Another abstract, sub- 
 sequently made, and supposed to have been the joint 
 labor of Mr. Cotton and Sir Henry Vane was adopted, 
 and was printed in London, in 1641. " ^ 
 
 Hon. Edward Everett, in a Eeview of TJpham's " Life 
 of Sir Henry Vane," spoke of him as — 
 
 " the man to whom Sir James Mackintosh has ascribed 
 ' one of the most profound minds that ever existed, not 
 inferior perhaps to Bacon ; ' — and if not inferior to Bacon 
 in the intellectual, how vastly above him in the moral 
 properties of a man." 
 
 And again, he quotes Sir James as saying of Vane's 
 writings : — 
 
 " His works, which are theological, are extremely rare, 
 and display astonishing powers. They are remarkable, 
 as containing the first direct assertion of the liberty of 
 conscience." ^ 
 
 Bishop Burnett, in his "Life and Times'' (p. 108), 
 says : — 
 
 "Vane's friends told me that he leaned to Origen's 
 notion of an universal salvation of all, both of devils 
 and the damned." 
 
 Eev. Mr. Crouch, in a sermon of the "Eternity of 
 Hell Torments," published in England a century ago. 
 
 1 Annals of the American Pulpit, by WiUiam B. Sprague, D. D., 
 vol. i. pp. 27, 28. 
 
 2 North American Eeview, vol. xlii. pp. 125, 126. 
 
THE MYSTICS. 21 
 
 "In the next century (1600 to 1700) when nothing 
 was too absurd, either in government or religion, to want 
 patronage, the doctrine of Origen, among a thousand wild 
 and monstrous extravagancies, was first introduced and 
 received here. It formed part of the imintelligible creed 
 of Sir Henry Vane." 
 
 Peter Bayne, who holds that Vane has been too 
 highly extolled by his admirers, acknowledges his abili- 
 ties as a thinker, but questions the propriety of classing 
 him with the believers of universal salvation. In an 
 article on Vane the Younger, in "The Contemporary 
 Eeview," ^ he says : — 
 
 " If it is the blasphemy of blasphemies, as Vane would 
 have aflBrmed, to deny that the Almighty must by neces- 
 sity of nature, proceed 'in such manner as is exactly 
 consistent with the wisdom and justice of a most holy 
 Grod,' the greatest happiness of the greatest number 
 throughout the universe seems likely enough to be 
 brought about by His government. The will of the Infi- 
 nite Reason must be reasonable, of the Infinite Justice 
 just, of the Infinite Love loving. If, as has been main- 
 tained by some. Vane held the theory of universal salva- 
 tion as held by Origen, no theory of the universe could 
 have been either more sublime or more joyous than his ; 
 but I have seen no evidence under his own hand or from 
 his own lip to this effect, and I have seen writing of his 
 which appears to be inconsistent with Origen's opinion." 
 
 The literary and critical abilities of Mr. Bayne entitle 
 his opinions to no little weight ; but the writings of 
 Sir Henry Vane are accessible, and we may judge 
 for ourselves as to their teachings. One of his latest 
 
 1 Vol. xxi. p. 166. 
 
22 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 works was entitled: "The Retired Man's Meditations, 
 or the Mysterie and Power of Godliness." In this, 
 speaking of " The Incarnation and the fruits thereof," 
 he says : — 
 
 " We see thereby the Devil and his Angels disappointed 
 in their wicked designs ; who, by the bringing in of Sin, 
 were in hopes to have hindered the growing up of Jesus, 
 the Branch that was to spring out of this Root; but 
 David's Root, sitting as Lord at God's right hand, had 
 before obtained that power which was to subdue all eneTnies, 
 and lay them flat at his footst-ool. David's offspring, 
 therefore, was in no danger of having his course stopped, 
 or race hindered, wherein, as a Mighty Saviour and Re- 
 deemer, he was to go forth, and rescue the whole spiritual 
 seed out of the hands of Sin and Satan to bring them into 
 the true Rest, and obtain a gracious reprieve and forbear^ 
 ance for the most obstinate and rebellious also " (p. 91). 
 
 Again: speaking of Jesus as the Second Adam, he 
 
 "He did all that was needful, and all that God re- 
 quired to be done, for the remission of sin, and the utter 
 abolishing and removing it out of man's nature with an 
 absolute incapacity of ever returning mare upon the true 
 and right heirs of salvation. In respect whereof it is 
 said, that as by one man's disobedience many (that is, all) 
 were made sinners, so by the obedience of one, many 
 (that is, all) shall be made righteous , — having that ran- 
 som paid, and means provided in him to make them right- 
 eous : so that there shall be no necessity remaining upon 
 any to perish, forasmuch as sufficient provision is made to 
 bring all men to repentance and to the knowledge of the 
 truth ; that as in Adam all died, so in this sense all, again, 
 in Christ are made alive " (p. 95). 
 
THE MYSTICS. 23 
 
 Finally, he says of Christ, that 
 
 " He is made of God wisdom, righteousness, justifica- 
 tion, and redemption unto the right heirs of salvation, 
 and is become the raiisom and propitiation for all sinners ; 
 not for those only who so believe as that they shall be eter- 
 nally saved, but for the whole world, as upon the terms of 
 the first covenant, renewed in the blood of Christ, they 
 are reunited unto God, and admitted again into converse 
 and fellowship with him " (p. 104), 
 
 On another occasion he said : — 
 
 "Death, instead of taking anything away from us, 
 gives us all, even the perfection of our natures ; sets us 
 at liberty both from our own bodily desires, and others' 
 domination; makes the servant free from his master. 
 It does not bring us into darkness, but takes darkness 
 out of us, us out of darkness ; and puts us into marvel- 
 lous light. Nothing perishes, or is dissolved by death, 
 but the veU. and covering, which is wont to be done away 
 from all ripe fruit. It brings us out of a dark dungeon, 
 through the crannies whereof our sight of light is but 
 weak and small, and brings us into an open liberty, an 
 estate of light and life unveiled and perpetual." * 
 
 To what extent, if at all, Vane sought to propagate 
 his religious opinions in Massachusetts is unknown. 
 Cotton Mather 2 says that the evidence is conflicting, 
 and cites " an old New English manuscript " as saying 
 that, "before he was scarce warm in his seat" as gov- 
 ernor, " he began to broach new tenets ; " but what they 
 were is not stated. 
 
 » Quoted by Kev. Dr. Whittemore, in the "Modern History of 
 Universalism," vol. i. p. 145, from " Statesmen of the Commonwealth 
 of England " 
 
 2 In his " Magnalia," book ii. chap. v. 
 
24 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Whoever has read Wendell Phillips's eulogy on Vane, 
 will not believe that he was a man to shrink from the 
 avowal of his views, if occasion demanded it ; but as he 
 was here in turbulent times, and his stay was brief, his 
 official duties probably left him little time or opportu- 
 nity for religious controversy beside that forced upon 
 him by the Hutchinsonian agitation. 
 
 3. Universalist views, from the Mystical standpoint, 
 were also entertained in Marblehead, Massachusetts, as 
 early as July, 1684, when, as appears from the Suffolk 
 County Court files: — 
 
 " Joseph Gatehell of Marblehead was presented ' that 
 he not having the feare of God before his eyes being 
 instigated by the divill at the house of Jeremiah Gatehell 
 in discourse ab' generall Salvation (w""" he s* was his be- 
 leife) & that all men should be saved, being answered 
 that our Saviour Christ sent forth his disciples and gave 
 them comission to preach the Gospell and that who- 
 soever Eepents and beleives shall be saved; to which 
 Joseph Gatehell Answered if it be so he was an Im- 
 perfect saviour and a foole." He was "sentenced to 
 be returned from this place to the pillory to haue his 
 head & hand put in, haue his toung drawn forth out 
 of his mouth & peirct through w"" a hott Iron then to be 
 returnd to the prison there to Remayne until he sattis- 
 fye & pay all j° charges of his tryall & ffees of Court 
 w"'' came seuen pounds." 
 
 4. But by far the most, eminent among the Mystics, 
 as an avowed believer in and preacher of Universalism, 
 was Dr. George De Benneville, who came to America, 
 and settled in Pennsylvania, in 1741. Of French parent- 
 
THE MYSTICS. 25 
 
 age, he was bom in London, in July, 1703. Very early 
 in life he began to preach, and his enthusiastic manner 
 attracted such attention that the French Protestant 
 ministers in England were made uneasy by what they 
 heard of him, and made a demand that he should give 
 them a confession of his faith ; and on their hearing his 
 avowal of faith in the restoration of all souls, informed 
 him that they could not own him as a member of their 
 church. 
 
 Believing that he was called to go into France and 
 preach the gospel, he took passage at Dover for Calais, 
 and on his arrival began to preach in the market-place. 
 Arrested by the civil authorities, he was punished with 
 eight days' imprisonment, and informed that on a second 
 attempt his life would be in danger. Leaving Calais, 
 he went into Normandy, where his ancestors had lived, 
 and found some, even clergymen, who were willing to 
 associate with him, whose names he has recorded, — a 
 Durant, De la Chevrette, Dumoulin, L'Achar, and others. 
 They met in valleys and woods, and sometimes great 
 crowds gathered to hear them. Some of their number 
 were arrested, of whom several were hanged, others 
 whipped by the hands of the hangman, and branded 
 with a hot iron, and some were sent to the galleys. At 
 length De Benneville was seized, and with him, Durant, 
 of Geneva. After a month's imprisonment, they were 
 condemned to die, Durant to be hanged, and De Benne- 
 ville to be beheaded. Together they went to the place 
 of execution. Durant ascended the ladder, sung a 
 psalm, and died joyfully. De Benneville fell on his 
 knees, praying to God to forgive his murderers and ex- 
 pecting instant death; but while the executioner was 
 
26 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEKICA. 
 
 binding his hands, a courier arrived from Louis XV. 
 with a reprieve. He was taken to Paris and impris- 
 oned, and finally liberated at the intercession of the 
 Queen. After this he went to Germany, preached 
 among the French refugees there, and formed quite an 
 extensive acquaintance among the nobility of Germany 
 and Holland. Count De Marsay was one of his most in- 
 timate friends, and through him he became intimate, if 
 not associated with, Haug, Hochman, Dippel, and others, 
 who were then engaged in the translation and com- 
 mentary known as the " Berleburger Bibel." After 
 preaching in Germany about eighteen years, he was 
 taken sick, was supposed to be dead, and was placed in 
 his coffin for burial. Eeviving, he alleged, as ever after 
 he with great sincerity believed, that during his separa- 
 tion from his body, he had been both to heaven and 
 hell, and had been privileged with a view of what is to 
 take place ia " the dispensation of the fulness of times," 
 — " the restoration of all souls." He declares that he 
 heard the heavenly host shouting with one voice, and 
 saying : " An eternal deliverance ! An eternal restora- 
 tion ! An everlasting restitution of all things ! " 
 
 Eestored to health he again began to preach, but was 
 once more imprisoned, and on being set at liberty, 
 resolved to remove to America, where he arrived 
 in 1741, feeling himself called to preach the gospel 
 in the New World. Some of the believers in Germany 
 had preceded him in emigrating to our shores, and 
 others followed not long after. There were refugees 
 also from other lands, enjoying liberty of conscience 
 in Pennsylvania. Among these was Jean Bertolet, 
 from France, who had made his home in the town 
 
THE MYSTICS. 27 
 
 of Oley. Visiting German town in 1743, he was so 
 charmed with the discourse and character of De Ben- 
 neville that he persuaded him to accompany him home, 
 as the instructor of his children and physician to the 
 neighborhood. There were no churches then in Oley, 
 the nearest being about ten miles distant, if we except 
 a Moravian school-house and mission station some 
 three mUes north of the place, established about this 
 time. Here De BennevUle occasionally preached, but 
 was at length opposed by the proprietors. In 1745 he 
 married the daughter of Mr. Bertolet, and at that time 
 joined with his father-in-law ia the erection of a sub- 
 stantial mansion, still standing, one large chamber of 
 which he constructed especially for convenience as a 
 place of worship and a school-room. 
 
 " This room will seat fifty people. The original en- 
 trance was by stairs leading up on the outside of the 
 house, entering by two doors, directly over the main 
 entrance below. Including the room of entrance, one 
 hundred persons could easily be seated within sound 
 of the speaker's voice; but as the country was then 
 sparsely settled, it is not probable that his congregations 
 often reached that number." ^ 
 
 Here Dr. De Benneville resided till 1755, when, on 
 account of the violent depredations of the Indians in 
 the vicinity, he, in common with many others, became 
 alarmed and removed to Green Lane, Germantown, 
 where he resided till 1768, when he moved to Miles- 
 town, where he resided till his death in 1793. He 
 paid occasional visits to Oley till an advanced age, 
 
 1 Rev. James Shrigley, in " The Christian Leader," Oct. 4, 1883. 
 
28 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 being accompanied in his last visit by Eev. Elhanan 
 Winchester. 
 
 The German emigrants to Germantown brought with 
 them the printing press which they had used at Ber- 
 linburgh, and on it was printed, in 1753, doubtless at 
 the suggestion of De Benneville, an English edition 
 of Siegvolck's "Everlasting Gospel," the first book 
 published in America in defence of Universalism. A 
 review of this book by Eev. N. Pomp, published in 
 1774, contains the statement that the doctrine of the 
 restoration of all things 
 
 "was never more widely spread than in the present 
 century ; of which the numerous controversial writings, 
 pro and con, that have appeared in Europe within the 
 last fifty years, are .sufB.cient proof. Yet nowhere has 
 this doctrine been more successful and made greater 
 progress than here in Pennsylvania. In Europe the 
 industry of many learned and godly men has thrown 
 insuperable obstacles in its way ; but here the stream 
 has been allowed free course, and the fire has burned 
 as it would. There were already many copies of the 
 "Everlasting Gospel," which, not being privileged in 
 Germany, were purchased at a cheap rate by money- 
 making people, and brought here; and they have also 
 been industriously scattered by the press. The charming 
 title, " The Everlasting Gospel," induced many ignorant 
 people to buy the book, and the doctrine it inculcates 
 inclined many to believe." 
 
 There is no doubt that we are indebted to Dr. De 
 Benneville for the extensive circulation of this book, 
 and for industrious missionary work in spreading a 
 knowledge of Universalism. His time was for several 
 years about equally divided between the practice of 
 
THE MYSTICS. 29 
 
 medicine, in which he had great skill, and by means 
 of which he supported himself, and preaching, with- 
 out compensation, wherever opportunity offered. Until 
 prevented by old age, it was his custom to perform 
 a journey twice a year for the purpose of preaching. 
 His visits at such times were through the western 
 portion of Pennsylvania, and to Maryland and Virginia. 
 In 1790 he writes to his daughter: "In my old age, 
 since I am eighty-eight years old, my mind is stUl set 
 to preach the Gospel." The Dunker churches were 
 freely open to him, and also, for a while, the Mora- 
 vian; but the latter were at last shut against him. 
 The Moravians had, it seems, at the instigation of 
 Count Ziazendorf, estabhshed, in 1742, "The Penn- 
 sylvania Synod," embracing representatives of all the 
 German religious denominations in that province. 
 They adopted as their title " The Congregation of God 
 in the Spirit," and had for their aim the union of the 
 German churches on the basis of experimental religion. 
 Its labors were continued six years, when it was 
 changed to a Synod of the United Brethren's Church, 
 exclusively Moravian. "This interesting movement," 
 says Eev. Mr. De Schweinitz, ^ "was a beautiful but 
 premature ideal, which, in the end, served rather to 
 augment the existing differences among religionists 
 than to establish the unity of the spirit in the bonds 
 of peace." One of the sessions of the Synod was held 
 at Oley, and was made up of representatives of " Mora- 
 vians, Lutherans, Eeformed, Tunkers, Mennonites, 
 Schwenkfelders, Separatists, and Hermits." Possibly, 
 
 1 The Life and Times of David Zeiaberger, by Edmund De 
 Schweinitz, p. 106. 
 
30 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 on the demonstration of the impracticability of the union 
 sought by the Synod, the Moravians may have excluded 
 all others from their houses of worship ; and if so, no 
 special censure of De Benneville's views may have been 
 intended by his exclusion. 
 
 Dr. De Benneville in his later life manifested a great 
 aversion to the publication of anything about himself, 
 and just before his death he destroyed many of his 
 manuscripts. Among the papers which remained was 
 a German translation, in De Benneville's writing, of a 
 Commentary on the Apocalypse, by Count de Marsay. 
 This was published in Lebanon, Pennsylvania, in 1808, 
 making a thick duodecimo volume, of 634 pages. As 
 specimens of its Universalism, we here present several 
 of its comments on two passages in Revelation : — 
 
 XV. 4 : " Who shall not fear thee, Lord, and glorify 
 thy name ? for thou only art holy : for all nations shall 
 come and worship before thee ; for thy judgments are 
 made manifest." — " This shows in like manner how all 
 men, all peoples and nations shall one day come to wor- 
 ship God. But in order that they may and will do this, 
 it is necessarily required that they subject themselves to 
 God, that they return to His order and recognize Him 
 as their Sovereign and Lord : but in order to this, it is 
 necessary that their wills cease to be rebellious ; and 
 from this moment their condemnation will cease, because 
 the rebellion of their wills, the cause of their damnation, 
 has ceased. For how without this can they worship 
 God, since worship consists in this, that they acknowl- 
 edge His sovereign power, and freely subject themselves 
 to Him and render such homage and service as belongs 
 to Him ; and this willing subjection and homage must 
 be offered especially to God, who alone will be loved and 
 worshipped by His creatures freely and without force or 
 
THE MYSTICS. 31 
 
 compulsion. For God has endowed Ms creatures with 
 all their noble powers, that is, with free will, to this very 
 end, that freely and without compulsion, but out of love, 
 they should subject themselves to Him, as that wherein 
 true worship consists, and which alone is acceptable to 
 Him, and is the fulfilling of the great commandment 
 (Matt. xxii. 37), ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with 
 all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy 
 mind.' From this it follows that all nations in general, 
 and consequently all men in particular who are born in 
 this world, who have lived in it, and shall hereafter live 
 in it, — all these men, I say, endowed with intellects, 
 must of free will and without compulsion, love God, and 
 finally come to worship Him. Hence they can in no 
 manner be rebellious, nor consequently be damned for- 
 ever and ever without end. On the contrary, they will 
 one day change their rebellion into obedience, and sub- 
 ject themselves to their God. . . . Hence, these judg- 
 ments of God are, properly speaking, no judgments of 
 wrath and punishment, whose end is to destroy those 
 upon whom they are visited, either to annihilate them 
 or to torment them eternally. No, indeed, not so ! For 
 that would run directly against what such a God can do, 
 of whom the beloved Apostle says that He is Love. ■ If 
 His nature is such that He is Love, the purest Love, 
 then He cannot abandon creatures whom He made par- 
 takers of this nature, that He should not render them 
 partakers also of His felicity and render them happy 
 in union with Him, which was the end for which He 
 created them. It cannot be, I say, that as God is the 
 purest love, he should leave these miserable creatures 
 oppressed iinder the weight of His judgments, world 
 without end." 
 
 XX. 13 : " And the sea gave up the dead which were in 
 it ; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were 
 in them ; and they were judged every man according to 
 
32 UNIVEESALISM IK AMERICA. 
 
 their works." — '' Then will there be a new earth. For 
 the devil and the damned there will remain no other 
 place of imprisonment than the abyss in the centre of 
 the earth, which will continue to the restoration of all 
 things. Then will this also be changed, since all sin and 
 evil must be annihilated." 
 
 5. A phase of German Mysticism originating with 
 George Eapp, a German born at Iptingen, in Wiirtem- 
 berg, in 1757, was brought to this country in 1803, by 
 its founder, fleeing hither from persecution. At first 
 the community settled in Butler County, Pa. Ten 
 years later they moved to Posey County, Ind., and in 
 1825 returned to Pennsylvania, establishing their home 
 in Beaver County, at a place which they named 
 Economy. They are sometimes called Eappists, some- 
 times Harmonists, and not unfrequently, from the name 
 of their settlement. Economists. For a few years, com- 
 munity of goods, and the hope of the approach of the 
 millenium, chiefly distinguished them; but in 1807, 
 under the influence of what they regarded as a great 
 awakening, they voluntarily and unanimously adopted 
 celibacy, which they have maintained till the present 
 time. For several years their' society was in a flour- 
 ishing condition, and they held their ground numeri- 
 cally till 1831, numbering at times about a thousand 
 members. A pretended Count Maximilian de Leon, 
 joined them in the year last mentioned, and soon 
 sowed discord. They are now reduced in numbers 
 to about; eighty, all Germans, and no longer seek 
 accessions. 
 
 It is stated as the eighth article of their religious 
 belief, that 
 
THE MYSTICS. 33 
 
 "They believe in the ultimate redemption and salva- 
 tion of all mankind : but hold that only those who follow 
 the celibate life, and otherwise conforrh to what they 
 understand to be the commandments of Jesus, will .come 
 at once into the bright and glorious company of Christ 
 and his companions ; that offenders will undergo a pro- 
 bation and purification." ' 
 
 , As this concludes our notice of the Mystics, it may not 
 be amiss to mention here two other sources from which 
 the Universalism mentioned by Eev. Mr. Pomp as pre- 
 vailing so extensively in Pennsylvania, may have come. 
 1. Cotemporary with Dr. De Benneville, and on terms 
 of closest intimacy with him, was Thomas Say, of Phila- 
 delphia, a well-known philanthropist, and a member of 
 the Society of Friends. Born in 1709, he became a 
 believer in Universal Salvation when quite young, and, 
 singularly, through the instrumentality of what he re- 
 garded as a supernatural vision. Dying in 1796, he 
 left a manuscript of his life and writings, which was 
 published by his son. In it he says that 
 
 " The variety of God's dispensations to man is alone 
 the effect of his universal, omnipotent, and never-ending 
 love to his creatures, and which in the end must and 
 will accomplish the salvation of all men, especially of 
 those that believe." " Some," he says, " have thought that 
 the promulgation of the doctrine of universal benevo- 
 lence, and restoration of man, might do injury at this 
 time; but I believe diiferently, and think that every 
 soul which can be made fully sensible of this extraordi- 
 nary divine love to the creation will be a humbled crea- 
 ture, and often have to adore the great and powerful 
 
 1 McClintock and Strong's Cyclopffidia, vol. viii. pp. 911-913. " Star 
 and Covenant," Chicago, Nov, 13, 1880. 
 VOL. I. — 3 
 
34 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 condescending mercy of Omnipotence to itself, and to all 
 men; and have frequently to render thanksgiving and 
 praise, as at the footstool of grace and power. I hope 
 and believe that this principle will yet cover the earth 
 as the waters cover the sea (Isaiah xi. 9), so that there 
 may be none found who cannot say, ' Come, brother ; 
 come, sister.'" 
 
 There is reason to believe that many Friends, or 
 Quakers, shared this belief with him, for — 
 
 2. Many of the early emigrants from Germany and 
 Holland to Pennsylvania were avowed believers in the 
 restoration of all things, before leaving their native 
 shores. Five years before, William Penn came to 
 America, viz., in 1677, he made, in company with 
 George Fox, Eobert Barclay and others of his religious 
 belief, a visit to Holland and Germany, for the purpose 
 of spreading the knowledge of the truth as he held it. 
 In Holland he was brought in contact with the Menno- 
 nites, then divided into two parties, one of which was 
 favorably inclined to, if it did not profess and advocate, 
 Universalism. In Germany he found his chief friends 
 among the Mystics of the school of Jane Lead, whose 
 works were translated and extensively circulated in 
 Germany. Here, too, he made the acquaintance of 
 Dr. J. Wilhelm Petersen, and of Johanna Eleonora 
 von Merlau, a woman of more than ordinary mental 
 abilities, and subsequently the wife of Petersen, who, 
 as well as her husband, wrote and published in defence 
 of the doctrine of the "Kestoration of all things." 
 With the foundation principles of the Mystics, Penn 
 and his associates had much in common ; and when, a 
 few years later, Penn came into possession of his great 
 
THE DUNKERS. 35 
 
 estate in America, and threw open the State of Penn- 
 sylvania for the purpose of trying the "holy experi- 
 ment," as he styled it, of the toleration of all religions, 
 the Mennonites of Holland, and the Mystics of Ger- 
 many were among the first to become purchasers of 
 land in the new country. Eleonora von Merlau was 
 one of ten to purchase 25,000 acres for the purpose of 
 establishing thereon the town of Germantown, and it 
 was originally her intention, and subsequently that of 
 Petersen, to whom she was married in 1680, to emigrate 
 to the New World. This part of the plan never was 
 executed, but the Germans who did come and who were 
 the original settlers of Germantown, Pennsylvania, were 
 for the most part sympathizers with Petersen and his 
 wife in their religious views.^ 
 
 II. THE DUNKEES. 
 
 The second channel through which Universalism 
 came to us was the German Baptists, sometimes called 
 Tunkers, more often Dunkers, and as they prefer to be 
 called, Brethren. They originated at Schwarzenau; Ger- 
 many, in 1708; but on account of persecution caine to 
 America in 1719, and originally settled in Pennsylvania. 
 They were from the first believers in universal restora- 
 tion, but have, in the main, held it privately. A divi- 
 sion occurred in their ranks in 1725, led by Conrad 
 Beissel, mainly on the question of the Sabbath, Beissel 
 and his followers insisting on the observance of the 
 seventh day. At first the seceders resorted to a hetmit 
 life, and subsequently they established a monastical 
 
 1 Pennsylvania Magazine, vol. ii. pp. 237-282. ■ i i i 
 
36 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 society at Ephrata, Pennsylvania. Both branches held 
 to the doctrine of the restoration of all souls. 
 
 Israel Acrelius, Provost Magister of the Swedish 
 Church in America, describes a visit which he made to 
 Ephrata in 1753, for the purpose of studying the doc- 
 trines and mode of life of the followers of Beissel. He 
 found among them Peter Miiller, who had formerly 
 been a minister in the Eef ormed Church, in Germany, 
 and whom he describes as a very learned man, for whom 
 " the brethren have great respect, and not without rea- 
 son, for he is a prudent man, upon whom their order 
 chiefly depends, although he gives himself no higher 
 name than that of a simple brother." ^ 
 
 He says that during a walk from the Brethren's 
 House to the ^hurch, — 
 
 " Miiller asked me if I believed that the pains of hell 
 were eternal. To which I answered, ' Just as certainly 
 as the joy of heaven is eternal. How else ? ' I asked in 
 reply. ' Nay,' said he ; ' I do not believe that the soul, 
 which is a part of God's being, can perish eternally.' 
 * But,' said I, ' I understand that you believe that this 
 part of God's being lies for thousands of millions of 
 years in the punishment of hell, as in a sort of purifying 
 fire. Dear Mr. Miiller,' said I, 'you are a benevolent 
 man, but let not jowc charity extend so far as to wish to 
 extinguish the fires of hell. Eemember that there was 
 a great gulf between Abraham's bosom and the rich 
 man's place of punishment, so that no one could go from 
 the one place to the other.' ' Yea,' said he, ' so long as 
 you are evil and I good, we shall never agree, but if we 
 are both good, then we shall well agree. When thirty- 
 
 • History of New Sweden, by Israel Acrelius. Memoirs of the His- 
 torical Society of Fennsylrania, vol. xi. p. 374. 
 
THE BUNKERS. 37 
 
 nine [forty-nine] thousand years have passed, the great" 
 jubilee comes, when the devil shall be chained.' I un- 
 derstood well whence that came and whither it tended. 
 When we had made the distinction between aetemitas 
 (eternity) and aevitemitas (a great period), we arrived at 
 the church door, and that was the end of the matter.* " 
 
 Elsewhere, in describing some of their peculiarities of 
 belief, Acrelius says : " they believe in a purgatory, or 
 purifying fire after death ; on which account, also, 
 Father Friedsam at certain times offers prayers for the 
 dead." 
 
 The Ephrata Dunkers established a Sunday-school 
 in 1740, which is believed to have been the first Sun- 
 day-school established in America. After the battle of 
 Brandy wine, during the Kevolutionary War, their build- 
 ings were seized and used for hospital purposes, and 
 the Sunday-school was then broken up. As late as 
 1793, James Bolton, one of their number, published a 
 pamphlet, in which he severely censures the " Brethren " 
 for not giving greater publicity to the doctrine of Uni- 
 versal Eestoration, asserting that " the German Baptists 
 all believe it." 
 
 The othei- branch of the Dunker church also allowed 
 the publication of books at Germantown, in defence of 
 Universal Eestoration. Both De Benneville and Elha- 
 nan Winchester were favorably received by them, and 
 preached in their churches in several localities. About, 
 1785, John Ham, an elder in one of their churches in 
 North Carolina, began to preach the doctrine of no 
 future punishment, and, being a man of great talents 
 and of popular address, many converts were made to 
 
 ' Memoirs of the Historical Society of PennsylvaDia, vol. xi. p. 387 
 
38 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 •hi», views, chiefly in Virginia and the Carolinas. . The 
 church at large became alarmed, and at a council held 
 about that time, they decided against preaching or 
 saying anything in public about the doctrine of Ees- 
 toration. Subsequently, John Ham and his followers 
 were cut off from the fellowship of the church. 
 
 This fact in the history of the Dunkers will explain 
 what otherwise might seem contradictory, that while 
 holding to the doctrine of Universal Eestoration, they 
 repel the charge of being Universalists. " If I were to 
 say to my neighbors," said a Dunker preacher, whom 
 the writer once visited, " I have a Universalist preacher 
 stopping at my house, they would say, ' How do you 
 dare to have such a character under your roof ? ' but if 
 I should say, I have a friend with me who preaches 
 Universal Eestoration, they would say, ' Have you ? 
 I am glad ; I would like to come in and see him ! ' " 
 
 In South Carolina the doctrine of Universal Eestora- 
 tion was preached among the Dunkers with great 
 acceptance, as early as 1780. The circulation of the 
 writings of Eev. William Law was the immediate 
 incitement to energetic discourse on this view of human 
 destiny. Eev. Mr. Martin, a Dunker preacher, became 
 convinced that he ought to preach the doctrine of 
 Universal Salvation in its fulness. Giles Chapman, 
 a Dunker preacher, followed his example in 1782, and 
 soon the entire Dunker congregation became enthusi- 
 astic in the belief of Universal Eestoration. It was the 
 influence of their zeal, no doubt, which gave occasion 
 for the inquiry of the Synod of the Carolinas to the 
 Presbyterian General Assembly, in 1792 and 1794, 
 as mentioned in the closing section of this chapter. 
 
THE DUNKERS. 39 
 
 In the "Annals of Newbury," (S. C), written hy 
 Judge O'Neal, a Baptist, there is the following notice 
 of Giles Chapman: — 
 
 " Often have I heard him discourse. He was beyond 
 all doubt an eloquent and gifted preacher, and seemed to 
 be inspired with a full portion of that holy and divine 
 spirit which taught, ' God is Love.' His education and 
 means of information were limited; yet his Mighty 
 Master spake by him, as he did by the fishermen, 'in 
 thoughts that breathe and words that burn.' His min- 
 istry was much followed, and in recurring to his spotless 
 life and conversation, his continued zeal to do good, his 
 kind and benevolent intercourse with men, and the meek 
 humility with which he bore the railing of the sects who 
 differed in opinion with him, I have never entertained 
 a doubt that, whether right or wrong in abstract matters 
 of faith and theology, he was indeed a disciple of Him 
 who came into the world to save sinners." 
 
 The present membership of the Bunkers is given in 
 " The Eecord of the Faithful " (1882) as 57,799. Other 
 estimates place their number above 100,000. They are 
 most numerous in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Illinois, and 
 Indiana. 
 
 About fifty years ago, Alexander Campbell, founder 
 of the sect known as the Disciples, visited Philadelphia, 
 and attempted to induce the Dunker church in that 
 city to enroll themselves among his disciples, and thus 
 form the nucleus of a larger movement. His proposi- 
 tion was made to Timothy Banger, one of the preachers 
 in the church, an avowed and outspoken believer in 
 Universal Eestoration. Mr. Banger replied : — 
 
 " We are both for baptism by immersion, and I do not 
 
40 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 see any reason why we -should join you, that would not 
 equally reqi;ire you to join its." 
 
 Mr. Campbell answered, "You celebrate the Lord's 
 Supper twice a year, whereas we celebrate it every Lord's 
 day." 
 
 "That," replied Mr. Banger, "is only increasing the 
 number of times, but does not touch the principle. 
 What do you say concerning the washing of feet ? We 
 do that : do you ? Besides, we hold to the restitution of 
 all things : do you ? 'I 
 
 Negative replies sealed the conclusion : " Ou7- testi- 
 mony is altogether the largest and grandest ; and vainly 
 you try to argue us into relinquishment of it." ^ 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Eush, in "An Account of the German 
 Inhabitants of Pennsylvania," written prior to 1798, 
 says of the Dunkers, " They hold the doctrine of Uni- 
 versal Salvation;" and after mentioning the seceding 
 branch at Ephrata, adds : — 
 
 "The Separatists, who likewise dissented from the 
 Dunkers, reject the ordinances of baptism and the 
 sacrament; and hold the doctrine of the Friends, con- 
 cerning the internal revelation of the gospel. They hold, 
 with the Dunkers, the doctrine of Universal Salvation. 
 The singular piety, and exemplary morality of these 
 sects, have been urged, by the advocates for the salvation 
 of all mankind, as a proof that the belief of that doctrine 
 is not so unfriendly to morals, and the order of society, 
 as has been supposed." ^ 
 
 The late Eev. John A. Gurley, while on a journey in 
 the West, in 1839, thus wrote to the " Star in the West " 
 of which he was editor : — 
 
 I- A Century of Universalism, by Rev. Abel C. Thomas, p. 160. 
 2 Essays, Literary, Moral, and Philosophical, by Benjamin Eush, 
 M. D., pp. 240, 241. 
 
THE DUNKEES. 41 
 
 " On the day following the one I spent in Quincy, 
 I attended an appointment about fifteen miles distant, 
 and delivered a discourse to a very large congregation 
 of Dunkards. I was much pleased with the visit and 
 with the people. Here I became acquainted with Father 
 Wolf, a preacher of the above order, but of our faith in 
 all things relating to the doctrine of the Bible. lie is 
 a remarkable man for his powers of reasoning, and is 
 esteemed by those best acquainted with him, as possess- 
 ing natural powers of mind equal to any in the State. 
 He has preached Universalism more than twenty-five 
 years, and has been the means of converting hundreds, 
 and perhaps thousands. His success in the southern 
 part of the State has been great, and his talents and 
 character command the highest esteem and respect 
 wherever he is known. He preaches to a regular society 
 where .he resides, statedly ; and his congregations are 
 uniformly large. Great anxiety was manifested by him 
 and his society to hear an eastern preacher ; for although 
 old in the faith, they had never listened to- one connected 
 with our denomination. They desired to hear for them- 
 selves, that they might know of a certainty whether we 
 agreed with them in sentiment. I delivered therefore 
 a doctrinal sermon, to which was given the most fixed 
 attention ; and, as I proceeded, I was wonderfully pleased 
 at the appearance of the assembly. Not a word was lost, 
 and each one seemed to say, ' There ! that is just what 
 we believe ; that is our doctrine. How singular ! he 
 preaches precisely like our preachers, and uses the same 
 arguments.' And at the close of the services all seemed 
 satisfied with the sentiments put forth; and Father 
 Wolf assured me that what I had advanced was in 
 perfect harmony with his own belief, and that of his 
 denomination." 
 
42 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 III. THE MORAVIANS. 
 
 Univeksalism was also brought to America by the 
 Moravians, who came here in 1735, settling in Georgia, 
 but removing in 1741 to Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. 
 
 Although they closed their church in Oley, Penn- 
 sylvania, against Dr. De Benneville, — in consequence, 
 it is alleged, of some differences between them in mat- 
 ters of religious belief, — it is not known that those 
 differences were on the question of destiny. It is possi- 
 ble that there may have been differences among them- 
 selves on this question, as few if any of the Moravians 
 of the present day hold to Universalist views. But 
 among those who early settled in America, some were 
 pronounced Eestorationists. The views of Count Zin- 
 zendorf, their leader, on this subject, are not known ; 
 but Peter Bohler, at first pastor at Bethlehem, and 
 afterwards made Bishop of America, next in rank to 
 Zinzendorf, was outspoken in advocacy of Universal 
 Eestoration. Eev. George Whitefield, in a letter to 
 Eev. John "Wesley, in 1740, says that Bohler " lately 
 frankly confessed in a letter, ' that all the damned souls 
 would hereafter be brought out of hell.' " 
 
 Israel Acrelius, whose testimony in regard to the 
 Dunkers at Ephrata, has been cited, gives, in the same 
 volume, an account of a visit to Bethlehem, in June, 
 1754. In it he relates a conversation with one of the 
 Moravians, William Edmons, the ferryman, who said 
 " that he was assiired that no one was so great a sinner 
 that he could not expect forgiveness, and that he also 
 believed that even the traitor Judas was saved.^ " At 
 
 ' History of New Sweden, p. 417. 
 
THE MORAVIANS. 43 
 
 Bethlehem he made the acquaintance of " Mr. Eitz," one 
 of the preachers, but he does not record any conversation 
 with him ; but concerning him considerable is known. 
 He was a Dane, his full name being Matthew Eeuz, as 
 written in the Danish language. By himself it was 
 anglicized into " Eights," but his Universalist cotempora- 
 ries spelled it " Wright." " He was educated at the Uni- 
 versity of Copenhagen ; was a man of emiaent literary 
 attainments," says the late Eev. Edward Turner, " able 
 to converse, pray, or preach as well in Latin as in his 
 mother tongue. He was a Universalist in his early 
 youth, and used to speak of the affectionate remon- 
 strances of his mother against his heresy."^ While 
 residing at Bethlehem, he was sent out as a missionary 
 to the Swedish settlers on the Delaware, frequently 
 preaching at Cohansey, Penn's Neck, and Pile's Grove, 
 New Jersey. To his efforts we owe it, no doubt, that 
 Universalist churches were organized in those localities, 
 as early as 1789, if not before that time. He visited 
 New England before 1783, occasionally preaching in 
 Gloucester and Boston, and in 1783 was teaching 
 school in Taunton, Mass. 
 
 IV. THE EPISCOPALIANS. 
 
 Theee was some Universalism in the Episcopal 
 Church in America, as there also had been for many 
 years in the same church in England. 
 
 1. Eev. EiCHARD Clarke, who became rector of St. 
 Philip's Church, Charleston, S. C , in 1754, and remained 
 there till 1759, is said by Eamsay, in his "History of 
 South Carolina " to have been 
 
 1 Universalist Quarterly, vol. vi. p. 11. 
 
44 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "better known as a theologian, beyond the limits of 
 America, than any other inhabitant of Carolina. He was 
 admired as a preacher both in Charleston and London. 
 His eloquence captivated persons of taste; his serious 
 preaching and personal piety procured for him the love 
 and esteem of all good men. When he preached, the 
 church was crowded, and the effects of it were visible in 
 the reformed lives of many of his hearers, and the in- 
 creased number of serious communicants. His sermons 
 were often composed under the impressions of music, 
 of which he was passionately fond. From its soothing 
 effects, and from the overflowing benevolence of his 
 heart, God's love to man, peace and good will among 
 men, were the subjects on which he dwelt with peculiar 
 delight." 1 
 
 Dalcho, in his " Historical Account of the Protestant 
 Episcopal Church of South Carolina," says that Mr. 
 Clarke " was a Universalist, and appears to have been 
 tinctured with the doctrines of Jacob Boehmen." The 
 " Universalist Theological Magazine," published in Lon- 
 don soon after his death, says : " For nearly fifty years 
 he maintained, both by preaching and writing, the doc- 
 trine of Universal Eestoration." 
 
 Bishop Hurd, in his " History of the Rites and Cere- 
 monies of all Eeligions," speaks of him as the leader 
 in the Philadelphian Church (Jane Lead's organiza- 
 tion), and represents Clarke as saying that, this "is a 
 station of great eminence. Though that church has little 
 strength in number, splendor, or power, it has the privi- 
 lege of being beloved and commended above all churches 
 for not denying the name Jesus, the Saviour." 
 
 What immediate results in spreading Universalism 
 ^ Ramsay's "History of South Carolina,'' vol. ii. p. 452. 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 45 
 
 followed Mr. Clarke's ministry in South Carolina, we 
 do not know ; but probably his word was not without 
 effect in converting some to the belief in universal 
 holiness and happiness. By 1789 belief in Universal- 
 ism was openly avowed in Cliarleston, and a society 
 of Trinitarian Universalists was organized there some 
 little time afterwards. 
 
 In 1759 Mr. Clarke published a pamphlet entitled 
 " A Warning to the "World, or the Prophetical Numbers 
 of Daniel and John calculated." It was immediately 
 followed by an anonymous review, "Some Thoughts 
 on the Duration of the Torments of the Wicked, and 
 the Time when the Day of Judgment may be Ex- 
 pected." The reviewer says : — 
 
 "A hint is given, p. 21, 'This servant of servants is 
 Satan and his angels, whose days and years of servitude 
 wUl be double, as shall be more explained hereafter.' 
 
 " I do not see that this has been anywhere more ex- 
 plained after, as the author promises, but in defect of 
 this, many that heard him will doubtless remember how 
 he explained it before, namely, that though Satan's servi- 
 tude or punishment would be double, yet it would not be 
 endless ; but that in some of these ages of the gospel, hell 
 would be abolished, and all fallen creatures be made 
 happy. 
 
 "A doctrine this which Mr. C. defended with great 
 zeal ; and for the better support of which he has adopted 
 several tenets not contained in, but rather contrary to 
 the word of God. I could wish he had been as cautious 
 in asserting this doctrine from the pulpit as he now 
 seems to be to maintain it from the press ; his calcula- 
 tions of harmless figures may possibly have amused and 
 bewildered some people, but the doctrine of the deliver- 
 ance of the damned (of some even after no very long 
 
46 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 space of time), I fear has led many into an awful mis- 
 take ; and I believe even a Gerhard and Petersen, though 
 they have espoused the same doctrine, would be ready to 
 consider the fixing of the time of release as bordering on 
 presumption" (pp. 4, 6). 
 
 In 1762, Mr. Clarke published " A Second Warning 
 to the World," in which, it may be presumed, he took 
 some notice of his reviewer ; but neither of his pam- 
 phlets has come under our notice. 
 
 Mr. Clarke continued his interest in Universalism 
 after his return to England. When Kev. Elhanan Win- 
 chester became a Universalist, and preached his sermon, 
 entitled "The Outcast Comforted," to those who had 
 been ejected from the Baptist Church in Philadelphia, 
 for believing in the restitution of all souls, in 1782, Mr. 
 Clarke republished the sermon in London the following 
 year. 
 
 2. Eev. EoBEET Yancey, a native of Louisa County, 
 Virginia, was educated in New Jersey College, and or- 
 dained a priest in the Episcopal Church in England, by 
 the Bishop of London, in 1768. He settled in Tillots- 
 ton and Trinity Parishes, in his native county, where he 
 remained till his death, in 1774, — being cut off by con- 
 sumption -while yet a young man. Not long before his 
 death, perhaps in 1772 or 1773, he became convinced 
 that the Bible taught the doctrine of Universal Salva- 
 tion, and announced that he would preach a discourse 
 in defence of his new views. 
 
 "There was," says the author of a preface to the 
 printed copy of the sermon, " a great gathering of people 
 from the surrounding parishes to hear it. Many in their 
 fanaticism had worked themselves up to the lynching 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 47 
 
 point, and went provided with ropes and grape-vines to 
 mete out justice to this innovator upon their ancestral 
 religion; little deeming that Luther, Huss, and others 
 were innovators upon still older forms of religion. How- 
 ever, the cogency of his reasoning on his expositions of 
 Scripture, and the mild, persuasive eloquence of his lan- 
 guage, convinced many that he was right, and that Scrip- 
 ture had often been perverted. Many went away rejoicing 
 that they had not committed violence on a fellow-being, 
 while others crowded around and congratulated him on 
 his independence and success in openly attacking estab- 
 lished dogmas." 
 
 The text of this discourse was the words of Job, xxxii, 
 17 : " I said, I will answer also my part, I also will shew 
 mine opinion ; " and the theme is thus introduced : — 
 
 " Among the many questions which have arisen in the 
 Christian Church, it hath also been one, since the early 
 ages of Christ, whether the punishment of wicked and 
 impenitent men will in the next world be truly endless, 
 or only temporary. 
 
 " This question, I am informed, has raised some uneasi- 
 ness among us of late ; wherefore, I have thought it my 
 duty to answer my part, and to show my opinion upon 
 it. I have been sufficiently settled and determined in 
 my own sentiments on this head for a considerable time, 
 but did not apprehend myself obliged in duty to declare 
 them to you, because I looked upon the matter (as I still 
 do) to be of no essential importance to religion and salva- 
 tion, whichever way it is held. But as I have been some- 
 times, in public companies and to several individuals, 
 obliged either to declare my opinion or to conceal it in a 
 way which my conscience would not allow, and which I 
 thought hardly consistent with that candor, openness, 
 and truth which become a disciple of Christ ; and as it 
 has been rumored about, to the disturbance of some minds 
 
48 UNIVERSAUSM IN AMERICA. 
 
 who have probably heard the matter wrongly represented, 
 I therefore judged it best to discuss the point fully in 
 public, that every one may hear and judge for himself. 
 And you, my dear brethren and worthy friends, may I 
 not hope, may I not confide, that you will endeavor to 
 arm yourselves with candor, with honesty and humility, 
 on this occasion, and, as well as you can, to divest your- 
 selves of all prejudice, and be disposed to receive the 
 truth in meekness and love to the glory of God our 
 Heavenly Father ? 
 
 " I suppose the doctrine I shall advance will be new to 
 most of you, and what you have scarcely ever allowed 
 yourselves to think of ; and I doubt not but it may sur- 
 prise and perhaps startle you at first sight, as strange 
 and unheard of things are very apt to do. But upon a 
 more intimate acquaintance with them, we come some- 
 times as much to admire their beauty and excellency as 
 we at first wondered at their novelty and strangeness. 
 And this I trust will be the case with regard to what I 
 have to offer you this day ; which I am the more encouj- 
 aged to hope, from the trials I have already made with 
 several individuals among you, who are persons of in- 
 tegrity and upright lives, of good sense, and, as I think, 
 of true piety, who were unwilling to believe or assent to 
 any doctrine but that which forced itself upon them by 
 the irresistible evidence of its truth. In short, I do not 
 know that I have failed of success in a single instance, 
 one only excepted, among the many that I have lately 
 talked with upon this subject ; which is a consideration 
 that ought to have some weight towards giving you 
 favorable ideas of what I have to say, however strong 
 you may have been in a different persuasion. Think not, 
 my brethren, that I intend to advance such doctrine as 
 will give encouragement to sin. God forbid I should do 
 this, for that would be to fight against him for whose 
 glory I am contending." 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 49 
 
 After protesting that although disbelieving in the 
 doctrine of eternal suffering, he is far from denying 
 that " the punishments of impenitent sinners will every 
 way equal the strong and terrible representations given 
 in the Holy Scriptures," he adds : — 
 
 "The scheme I am proposing, and which divine rev- 
 elation and reason both assure me is the true one, and the 
 only one that is worthy of God — this scheme, I say, is 
 calculated to represent God in a truly glorious and 
 amiable light, and to kindle our affections and warm 
 our hearts with the most genuine love to him. And tell 
 me, which is the proper nature of the Gospel religion 
 to set us upon serving God, — out of love or out of fear ? 
 Surely, he that serves God only through fear of punish- 
 ment is a poor servant, and can hardly be acceptable. 
 But he that serves him through love is the true, the 
 faithful, the acceptable servant. Why, then, do men 
 talk of intimidating or awing the world by the preaching 
 of endless punishment, since, if it should succeed, yet it 
 will amoimt to nothing of true religion ? And if the 
 wicked are only to be restrained through fear, the laws 
 of the land might answer that end. But it is evident 
 that the doctrine of endless punishment, whether true 
 or false, answers little or no end with those for whom 
 it is intended, for they do not believe it. Then, how 
 can any other scheme, which does not encourage vice, be 
 worse than that which is not believed, and consequently 
 amounts to little or nothing ? But even supposing the 
 wicked should take encouragement from this, atid sin 
 with a higher hand, yet it is their own fault, and will 
 prove their misfortune that they do so; and it is not 
 reasonable that the truth, the amiableness of God and 
 the beauty and excellence of the gospel religion should 
 be concealed from others on their account. It is im- 
 
 VOL. I. — 4 
 
50 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 possible for me, under, my poor state of health, to take 
 notice in this discourse of all the objections that may be 
 raised. I shall therefore only consider the principal 
 ones, and shall always be ready to obviate any difficulties 
 that may arise to any of you, provided you will be so 
 kind as to let me know them. The first grand difficulty 
 that presents itself to me is that in Matthew xii., con- 
 cerning the sin against the Holy Ghost, which we are 
 told hath no forgiveness, neither in this world nor the 
 world to come : that is, such sinners are not, to expect 
 any mercy, but to suifer the full portion of punishment 
 that so great a sin deserves. Other sinners may in some 
 instances be forgiven, but these must suffer according 
 to their demerits ; and thus they have no forgiveness. 
 But this does not by any means imply that their punish- 
 ment shall have no end. It may have an end two ways, 
 — either by suffering the full demands of that crime, or 
 by the painful expiration of the soul, as the body expires 
 here. There are also great objections raised from the 
 words forever, everlasting, and eternal, in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures. It is argued from these forms of expression, that 
 future punishments must be endless. I shall make these 
 two observations concerning these modes of expression 
 in the Holy Scriptures : 1st, that sometimes they are 
 perhaps used to signify an endless duration, but it is 
 evident that at other times they only signify a temporary 
 duration; 2d, if we grant that they always mean an 
 endless duration, yet it will not follow that future pun- 
 ishments are endless." 
 
 Having argued these points with ability and learning, 
 he turns his attention to the positive proofs of Uni- 
 versal Salvation ; — 
 
 " I now proceed to offer you plain, honest words out 
 of the New Testament, — words which show their own 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 51 
 
 meaning, and have no need of being explained away, to 
 show that Christ is the glorious and universal Saviour ; 
 that he shall not finally fail in his undertaking, but hath 
 done his work so effectually that it shall absolutely have 
 the effect intended, which was the salvation of the world, 
 — not a part of the world, but the whole world, as our 
 Lord himself tells us when he says, I came not to judge 
 the world, but to save the world. And can we believe 
 that if this was his erraud, the very thing he came down 
 from Heaven for and underwent such scenes of misery, 
 he shall nevertheless be disappointed in his views and 
 his undertaking? If he did come on purpose to save 
 the world, as his own plain words, without the help of 
 explanation, tell us, he cannot fail to accomplish the 
 work, unless it be through some imperfection either in 
 his power or management, either of which is so absurd 
 to suppose, that we must, of necessity, conclude that all 
 that the Father hath given him, which is the whole 
 world, he will bring to salvation and glory in his own 
 way and time ; though multitudes, from the miserable 
 sinfulness of their natures, must first pass through great 
 tribulation and infinite scenes of distress, must be sorely 
 tortured and refined in the furnace of anguish and woe, 
 and made meet inhabitants for the fine realms of Heaven." 
 
 The Scriptures then adduced are 1st Timothy iv. 10 ; 
 John vi. 35-40 ; xii. 32 ; 1st John iii. 8. Having com- 
 mented on these, he adds : — 
 
 "I could, my brethren, give you a multitude more of 
 quotations from the Holy Scriptures, but my poor share 
 of strength will not allow me to go through with the 
 subject, unless . I suppress a great deal that I would 
 willingly speak. I shall therefore only give one more 
 plain text, namely, 'God is love.' Observe here, God 
 is not only loving and benevolent, but he is love itself. 
 
52 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 Now, consider the properties of love. Love can do 
 nothing but what is altogether kind, gracious, affection- 
 ate, benevolent, and good. How then can love itself 
 create millions of millions — infinitely more than human 
 thought can number — to be in the most extreme torment 
 through an endless duration ? The present prevailing 
 systems hold that many more will be lost than saved ; 
 and as God must have foreknown before he created man 
 who would be lost and who would be saved (for to 
 suppose him ignorant of this m&,kes him imperfect and 
 destroys the very essence of God), I can no more see 
 how it is possible for him to be love itself, and to create 
 man under these circumstances and upon those terms, 
 than I can conceive how it is possible for any person 
 to delight in punishing those in the severest and most 
 intolerable manner whom he loves with all his soul. 
 It is argued, in defence of this cruel tenet, that when 
 God foresaw the ruin of man, he foresaw the justice of it. 
 But this does not remove my difficulty, which is to un- 
 derstand how it is possible for love itself, — love, which 
 St. Paul says worketh no ill, — to make creatures, when 
 it is foreseen that they will fall into such deplorable 
 ruin and misery, notwithstanding they might justly 
 bring it upon themselves. Had God known that far the 
 greatest part of his precious creatures — his own off- 
 spring — would be seduced by Satan and plunged into 
 endless woe, would not love, perfect and entire love, have 
 constrained him to prevent such a rueful event, which 
 certainly he could most easily have done ? It is univer- 
 sally granted that God's design in creating man was 
 perfectly benevolent and good. He, being possessed of 
 the fulness of glory and felicity in himself, and being 
 in his very nature love itself, desired to communicate 
 his happiness and goodness to others ; and for that end 
 he created different orders of beings that might be ca- 
 pable of enjoying his goodness and beneficence. Among 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 53 
 
 the rest, he made man ; and nothing would have hindered 
 man from answering this blessed end had not the devil 
 seduced and beguiled him into sin. This, in a great 
 measure, prevented man from enjoying that happiness 
 and goodness of God for which he was purposely created, 
 and the devil greatly triumphed in having so far gained 
 his point. Now, shall we suppose that he shall finally 
 prevail, in completing the mischief that God hath suffered 
 him thus far to succeed in ? ShaU he totally prevent 
 the happiness of the greater part of God's people, and 
 thus totally defeat the design and intention which the 
 God of love had in creating them, insomuch that, instead 
 of their being the glorious partakers of God's happiness 
 and love, as he intended them, they are, by the strange 
 art of Satan, made the most unhappy and miserable, and 
 that to all eternity ? Oh ! monstrous opinion ! the very 
 height of absurdity! Who can believe a thing so in- 
 consistent with the Divine power and goodness ? Shall 
 the devil defeat the design of God ? If, then, he is the 
 greatest being, possessed of the greatest power, why do 
 we not worship him and call him God ? " 
 
 In reply to the objection that Universal Salvation is 
 opposed by the justice of God ; and that the preaching 
 of it will lead to laxity and sin, he answers: — 
 
 " Nor is this at all inconsistent with the justice of God 
 or any of his perfections. We do not pretend to expect 
 a remission of sins or redemption from hell without a 
 most perfect change of nature, so as to make the sinner 
 entirely formed and conformed to the Divine will, which, 
 how hard a thing soever it may be to effect (for it ap- 
 pears next to an impossibility), yet it may be possible 
 with God, for the things that are impossible with man 
 are possible with God. It is certain that nothing that 
 defileth nor worketh abomination shall ever enter the 
 pure regions of heaven. But it appears to me, as well 
 
54 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 as to the generality of the most thinking and sensible 
 part of mankind, to be most reasonable to believe that 
 the damned will in some period of duration be re- 
 claimed and reconciled to God, and so made happy. 
 But this is only matter of opinion, which I would by no 
 means desire to force upon any, but most freely allow 
 all the same liberty of thinking for themselves as I 
 desire for myself. But to think thus seems to me to be 
 inlinitely more Scriptural and more rational; and if it 
 shall have the same effect upoii your hearts that it hath 
 upon mine, I think it will be infinitely worth embracing. 
 I think I can take God to witness that it hath not had 
 the smallest tendency to encourage licentiousness, or any 
 kind of sin in me, but rather gave me glorious and ex- 
 alted views of God, and forced me to conceive of him 
 as a most amiable and blessed being, who indeed and 
 in truth, is love itself, and has no pleasure in punishing 
 any of his creatures any farther than the same is ab- 
 solutely necessary and answers a good and happy end. 
 
 " Once I looked upon God as an almighty Power, that 
 it was infinitely dangerous to offend, and thought it my 
 duty to love him, because it is commanded in the Script- 
 ures, and because I found that holy men expressed much 
 love to God ; and indeed when I saw him represented in 
 so good a light in the Sacred Scriptures, and experienced 
 much of his goodness in my life, I believe I did, in some 
 measure, love him, especially at times. But I must in- 
 genuously confess that when I came to be taught syste- 
 matical doctrines of God's predestination, reprobation, 
 and making many more to be lost than saved, and that 
 too in endless torture of soul and body in the most inex- 
 pressible degree, I could not find out a way to love God 
 so much as I feared him. I desired to love him, but 
 knew not how to do it, for you must know that we can- 
 not love what and whom we please. Consenting to love 
 is not loving. There must be something amiable and 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 55 
 
 lovely in the person or thing we love. . . . People say 
 they are not fit to be trusted with such doctrine, because 
 it will encourage sin. But I have no opinion of playing 
 the knave for the sake of religion, which I think needs 
 no such art. I have always thought and still tliink truth 
 the greatest thing in the world, that will make its way 
 and maintain its ground against all opposition, and there- 
 fore need not be afraid of being turned loose or thrown 
 at random among the multitude. Upon these principles, 
 I have ventured this strange doctrine among you. I call 
 it strange, though it is neither strange nor new, but has 
 been entertained among men of parts and understanding 
 ever since the early days of the gospel, and able pens 
 have been long since employed in defence of it. But 
 through the means of Popery and other high-flying de- 
 nominations of Christians, it hath been brow-beaten and 
 kept under ; and any man that dared to think but a hair's 
 breadth out of the established channel, was bellowed out 
 upon as a heretic and a mover of sedition among the 
 people ; and is it not amazing that the very same princi- 
 ple of Popery, which all so readily agree to condemn and 
 exclaim against, — I mean the principle that ignorance is 
 the mother of devotion and the friend of religion, — I say, 
 is it not very astonishing that those who are so ready to 
 condemn this principle should be found warmly contend- 
 ing for the very same thing themselves ? They will not 
 let the people into the true nature of future punishment, 
 lest they make an ill use of it. To do this would be 
 abominable in the papist, but it is prudent and right in 
 themselves ; it is necessary for the good government of 
 the people. If I am condemned for violating this be- 
 loved principle, in God's name let me be condemned, for 
 I will have nothing to do with the hidden things of dis- 
 honesty, but will, through God's help, honestly declare 
 to you what I believe myself to be the truth, unless it be 
 such truth as does not relate to religion, or would not 
 conduce to your happiness." 
 
56 UNIVERSALISM IN AMKEICA. 
 
 We need not wonder that these sentiments produced 
 great excitement when they were thus proclaimed. The 
 spirit and temper of the speaker disarmed violent oppo- 
 sition ; his feeble physical condition, his near and rapid 
 approach to the grave convinced his hearers of his sin- 
 cerity, and his arguments produced conviction. 
 
 3. Eev. Jacob Duch]^, famous in American history as 
 having been chosen to offer the first prayer in Congress, 
 in September, 1774, and subsequently so unfortunate as 
 to become a tory, . and to lose the friendship of the 
 American patriots, became the assistant minister of 
 Christ Church and St. Peter's in Philadelphia in 1759. 
 As early as 1764, he became a believer in Universal 
 Salvation ; Eev. Hugh Neill, then rector of the Episcopal 
 Church in Oxford, Philadelphia County, wrote that at 
 that time, " Mr. Duche was enthusiastic and mystical, 
 a follower of Behmen and William Law." Twenty-five 
 years later, while he was living in London, he was 
 visited by James Pemberton, a distinguished minister 
 of the Society of Friends, who testifies to the same 
 in regard to his religious belief.^ John Murray men- 
 tions Mr. Duche, in 1771, as among the number 
 " who, if they were not fully with me in sentiment, 
 have uniformly discharged toward me the duty of 
 Christian friends." 
 
 In a volume of published sermons, Mr. Duche 
 speaks of the atonement, satisfaction, and redemption 
 of Christ as that "all-conquering meekness which 
 must finally extinguish all that is evil in the whole 
 system of things, and leave not one single enemy to 
 God and goodness unsubdued." 
 
 1 Article on Eev. Jacob Duch^, in " The Pennsylvania Magazine," 
 vol. ii. pp. 63-72. 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 57 
 
 4. Eev. Dr. "William Smith, Principal and Founder 
 of the University of Pennsylvania, and for many years 
 president of the General Convention of the Episcopal 
 Church, was a Universalist. Mrs. Murray, in her 
 letters from Philadelphia, in 1790, speaks of Dr. Smith 
 and several of the professors of the college, as being 
 regular attendants on her husband's preaching in that 
 city. Dr. Smith is reputed to have been cne of the 
 most learned scholars, and eloquent and most popular 
 preachers of his age. Ko man acted a more influential 
 part in the reorganization of the Episcopal Church, 
 after it became politically independent of the Church of 
 England, than did he. It is generally conceded that 
 he was the leader. " He was on the committee with 
 Dr., afterwards Bishop, White and Dr. Wharton, ap- 
 pointed in 1785, to revise the Prayer-Book, and adapt 
 it to the change of circumstances occasioned by the 
 Eevolution. Their revised edition appeared in 1786 ; 
 Dr. Smith was chairman of the committee and is said 
 to have had the principal agency in the arrangement 
 of the book' " 
 
 There are two passages in that book which disclose 
 the TJniversalism of its author. 
 
 " The first was the omission of the article of the creed 
 which expresses the belief of the descent of Christ into 
 hell. In the 'proposed Prayer-Book' this article was 
 omitted in consequence of its being supposed to express 
 the belief of the existence of a hell of torment, and that 
 Christ went down into that hell. When the omission of 
 this article was objected to by the bishops in England, 
 and the article itself was re-inserted into the creed, it 
 
 1 Annals df the American Pulpit, by "William Sprague, D.D., vol 
 V. p. 160. 
 
58 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ■was only on condition that any church might omit the 
 ■words 'descended into hell,' or might adopt in their 
 stead, ' ■went into the place of departed spirits,' — ■which, 
 say the compilers of the Liturgy, are considered by the 
 church as meaning the same thing as the term, ' de- 
 scended into hell.' 
 
 " There has long been a dispute in the Church of Eng- 
 land, and in the Protestant Episcopal Church of this 
 country as to the meaning of the xviith article, concern- 
 ing 'predestination and election,^ — some maintaining that 
 it ■was intended to assert the Arminian doctrine in re- 
 spect to these subjects. The first part of the article 
 runs as f oUo^ws : — ' Predestination to life is the eternal 
 purpose of God, ■whereby (before the foundations of the 
 ■world ■were laid) he hath constantly decreed by his coim- 
 sel, secret to us, to deliver from curse and damnation 
 those ■whom he hath chosen in Christ out of mankind, 
 and to bring them by Christ to everlasting salvation as 
 vessels made to honor. Wherefore they ■which be en- 
 dued ■with so excellent a benefit of God, be called by 
 God's purpose by his spirit ■working in due season; 
 they through grace obey the calling ; they be justified 
 freely; they be made sons of God by adoption; they 
 be made like the image of his only begotten Son, 
 Jesus Christ ; they ■walk religiously in good ■works ; and 
 at length by God's mercy, they attain to everlasting 
 felicity.' 
 
 " No^w this definition of predestination has been the 
 foundation of long and acrimonious disputes in the 
 Church of England, and in the Protestant Episcopal 
 Church in the United States. To such a height did 
 these disputes arise at one time in England that a royal 
 order ■was issued, commanding all further dispute on the 
 subject to cease, stating that men of all sorts (by which it 
 meant, that men of all opinions) do take the article as 
 being in their favor, — and that therefore an article 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 59 
 
 which has been so ambiguously drawn tip as to express 
 the opposite sentiments of Calvin and Arminius shall be 
 no longer the bone of contention between the partisans 
 of the two doctrines. 
 
 " There has been a third class of persons, who have in- 
 terpreted the xviith article as expressing the doctrine of 
 Universalism. It will be observed that it is almost a 
 copy of Paul's doctrine with respect to predestination, 
 by which he declares that God hath purposed to gather 
 together in one blessed community all things in Christ, 
 both which are in heaven and in earth. The article 
 being, therefore, mainly in Scriptute language, may be 
 interpreted in the sense of Scripture. In whatever sense 
 ' predestination ' is used in Scripture, in that sense it is 
 used by some in the Episcopal Church, in the xviith 
 article. 
 
 "Dr. Smith, who took the lead, as before stated, in pre- 
 paring the articles, and in altering them so as to make 
 them express the faith of Episcopalians, proposed that 
 the article should read thus : ' Of Predestination. — Pre- 
 destination to life, with respect to every man's salvation, 
 is the everlasting purpose of God, secret to us ; and the 
 right knowledge of what is revealed concerning it is full 
 of comfort to such truly religious Christians as feel in 
 themselves the spirit of Christ, mortifying the works of 
 their flesh and earthly affections, and raising their minds 
 to heavenly things,' etc. You will observe here, that 
 the xviith article of the Church of England, as revised 
 and adopted in the ' proposed Prayer-Book,' gave a Uni- 
 versalist interpretation to that article, truly maintaining 
 that predestination to life is Go£s everlasting 'purpose 
 with respect to every mail's salvation. This article, so 
 amended or explained, was unanimously adopted by the 
 General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in 1785 ; and though it was deemed expedient afterwards 
 to relinquish the use of the ' proposed Prayer-Book,' and 
 
60 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to adopt the articles generally, as they had been hereto- 
 fore contained in the English Prayer-Book, yet the Con- 
 vention always maintained that they understood them as 
 explained in the proposed book." 
 
 The foregoing is copied from an article published 
 in 1839, by the late Eev. Dr. Timothy Clowes, who 
 was for many years in the Episcopal ministry. He 
 adds : — 
 
 " It was indeed a most remarkable event in the history 
 of the Protestant Episcopal Church, that she should 
 become, by the alteration of a few words in one of her 
 articles,- not only a tolerator of Universalism, but a 
 maintainer of it. For I can consider this transaction 
 as nothing else than a unanimous decision, by the General 
 Convention of the Episcopal Church, that the salvation 
 of all men is the everlasting purpose of God." 
 
 We quote still further from Dr. Clowes : — 
 
 " This proof of the Universalism, of the secretly main- 
 tained Universalism, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, 
 may be quite as satisfactorily deduced from the circum- 
 stance of the unanimous recommendation, by the bishops 
 and clergy and laity of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in General Convention, of the two volumes of sermons 
 of the said Dr. William Smith, which sermons are 
 beyond all doubt affirmatory of the doctrine that the 
 punishment of the wicked in a future world will not 
 be endless. And this was not a mere recommendation 
 once given, and never afterwards repeated ; but the recom- 
 mendation of these sermons, with all their Universalism, 
 is still continued. The Convention has drawn up a body 
 of instructions for the direction of students in divinity, 
 and the sermons of Dr. Smith are among those which 
 are most prominently recommended. 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 61 
 
 " We have not time at present to make many extracts 
 from these volumes ; and, besides, it would not be pos- 
 sible, without several long quotations and comparison 
 of passages, to prove Dr. Smith's Universalism beyond 
 all cavil ; for although he was undoubtedly Universalist 
 in his sentiments, and though he means to be understood 
 by the observing part of his readers to teach that senti- 
 ment, yet he seems on this subject to adopt such am- 
 biguous terms as to leave the common reader in the dark 
 as to his sentiments. This he would not have done, had 
 he been opposed to Universalism, or a believer in its 
 opposite. The Doctor, with many other divines of the 
 Episcopal Church in England and in America, with the 
 adoption of the truth of Universalism, seems to have 
 thought that it was not a safe doctrine to be publicly 
 preached. ' The time will come (says Dr. Thomas Bur- 
 net) when this doctrine, which is now whispered in the 
 ear, may be proclaimed upon the house-tops ; but that 
 time is not yet.' Dr. Smith adopts this sentiment. I 
 will quote, however, one passage, which will make it 
 clearly evident what were his sentiments, and what 
 sentiments the rulers of the Episcopal Church wish to ' 
 be impressed on the minds of their clergy, if they do 
 not even wish to have them preached to the people at 
 large. 
 
 "Dr. Smith, speaking of those who will not return 
 to God, and who die without repentance, says, 'As to 
 those who refuse to return, and will not seek God at all 
 (but continue to put their trust in vanity and lies unto 
 the end), they must lie under St. Paul's curse until the 
 end comes ; but I do not feel myself prepared to explain 
 that curse, as the good and zealous Dr. Whitby thinks 
 the pious men of old would have done, — extending it 
 beyond the end, and turning it into a prayer "that the 
 Lord would reserve them unto that great day, when he 
 at last shall sit in judgment, in order that, in his own 
 
62 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 person, lie may smite tliem with perdition ; and that 
 they may perish under his own proper and, everlasting 
 curse. " 
 
 " ' My brethren [continues the same Dr. Smith], it has 
 never been accounted heterodox or impious (unless, 
 perhaps, by the most gloomy and Pharisaical bigots) 
 in the divines of our church, or indeed of any other 
 Christian church, to treat freely of such subjects as " the 
 eternity of hell torments, and a universal restitution of 
 degraded and lapsed natures ; " and some of our most 
 eminent divines have been considered as rejecting the 
 former and favoring the latter doctrine. ' " ^ 
 
 An examination of the journals of the General Con- 
 vention of the Protestant Episcopal Church, for 1785 
 and 1786, shows that the liberal tendency in that body 
 was even more extensive than is noted by Dr. Clowes. 
 The two items of business which engrossed the atten- 
 tion of the session in 1785 were, — 
 
 (1) "To consider of and report such alterations in 
 the Liturgy as shall render it consistent with the 
 American revolution and the constitutions of the respec- 
 tive States ; and such further alterations in the Liturgy, 
 as may be advisable for this convention to recommend 
 to the consideration of the church here represented, 
 — together with ' An Ecclesiastical Constitution for the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
 America ; ' " 
 
 (2) "To address the archbishops and bishops of the 
 Church of England, requesting them to confer the Epis- 
 copal character on such persons as shall be chosen and 
 recommended to them for that purpose, from the conven- 
 tions of this church in the respective States." 
 
 1 Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, Utica, N. Y., 1839, 
 pp. 273-4. 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 63 
 
 The alterations in the articles and the Liturgy were 
 such as have already been mentioned, and in addition, 
 the omission of the Nicene and Athanasian creeds. 
 The address to the " Archbishops of Canterbury and 
 York, and the Bishops of the Church of England," sets 
 forth the peculiarities of the Constitution of the United 
 States, and the constitutions of the respective States, 
 which forbid the union of ecclesiastical and political 
 affairs, declares the preference of the writers for the 
 "venerable form of Episcopal government," and adds: 
 
 " The petition which we offer to your venerable body 
 is, that from a tender regard to the religious interests 
 of thousands in this rising empire, professing the same 
 religious principles with the Church of England, you 
 will be pleased to confer the Episcopal character on such 
 persons as shaU be recommended by this church in the 
 several States here represented, — full satisfaction being 
 given of the sufficiency of the persons recommended, and 
 of its being the intention of the general body of the 
 Episcopalians in the said States respectively to receive 
 them in the quality of bishops. 
 
 "Whether this our request will meet with insurmount- 
 able impediments, from the political regulations of the 
 kingdom in which your Lordships fiU such distinguished 
 stations, it is not for us to foresee ; we have not been 
 ascertained that any such will exist ; and are humbly 
 of opinion, that as citizens of these States, interested 
 in their prosperity, and religiously regarding the alle- 
 giance which we owe them, it is to an ecclesiastical 
 source only we can apply in the present exigency." 
 
 Having appointed a committee to publish the " pro- 
 posed Prayer-Book," the Convention adjourned; and 
 again met in Philadelphia, in June 1786. An answer 
 
64 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to their address and petition was received, and con- 
 tained the following : — 
 
 " We are now enabled to assure you, that nothing is 
 nearer to our hearts than the wish to promote your 
 spiritual welfare, to be instrumental in procuring for 
 you the complete exercise of our holy religion and the 
 enjoyment of that ecclesiastical constitution which we 
 believe to be truly apostolic, and for which you express 
 so unreserved a veneration. 
 
 "We are therefore happy to be informed that this 
 pious design is not likely to receive any discountenance 
 from the civil powers under which you live ; and we de- 
 sire you to be persuaded that we on our parts will use 
 our best endeavors, which we have good reason to hope 
 will be successful, to acquire a legal capacity of comply- 
 ing with the prayer of your address. 
 
 "With these sentiments we are disposed to make 
 every allowance which candor can suggest for the diffi- 
 culties of your situation ; but at the same time we can- 
 not help being afraid, that, in the proceedings of your 
 Convention some alterations may have been adopted or 
 intended which those difficulties do not seem to justify. 
 
 " Those alterations are not mentioned in your address, 
 and, as our knowledge of them is no more than what has 
 reached us through private and less certain channels, we 
 hope you will think it just, both to you and to ourselves, 
 if we wait for an explanation. 
 
 "For while we are anxious to give every proof, not 
 only of our brotherly affection, but of our facility in for- 
 warding your wishes, we cannot but be extremely cau- 
 tious, lest we should be the instruments of establishing 
 an ecclesiastical system which will be called a branch of 
 the Church of England, but afterwards may possibly 
 appear to have departed from it essentially, either in 
 doctrine or in discipline." 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 65 
 
 Whereupon the following was adopted : — 
 
 " Resolved, That this Convention entertain a grateful 
 sense of the Christian affection and condescension mani- 
 fested in this letter : And whereas it appears that the 
 venerable prelates have heard, through private channels, 
 that the church here represented have adopted, or in- 
 tended, such alterations as would be an essential devia- 
 tion from the Church of England, this Convention trust 
 that they shall be able to give such information to those 
 . venerable prelates, as will satisfy them that no such 
 alterations have been adopted or intended." 
 
 From this it will be seen that the Convention did 
 not regard their Universalist, and (by implication, in 
 discarding the Mcene and Athanasian creeds and re- 
 taining the so-called Apostles' Creed only) their anti- 
 trinitarian avowals, as being any •' essential deviation 
 from the Church of England." Then, proceeding to 
 take final action on the proposed " Constitution of the 
 Church," they phrased section ix. as follows : — 
 
 " And whereas it is represented to this Convention to 
 be the. general desire of the Protestant Episcopal Church 
 in these States, that there may be further alterations of 
 the Liturgy than such as are made necessary by the 
 American revolution ; therefore ' The Book of Common 
 Prayer and Administration of the Sacraments and other 
 rites and ceremonies, as revised and proposed to the use 
 of the Protestant Episcopal Church, at a Convention of 
 the said Church in the States of New York, New Jersey, 
 Pennsylvania, Delaware, Maryland, Virginia and South 
 Carolina,' may be used by the church in such of the 
 States as have adopted or may adopt the same in their 
 particular conventions, till further provision is made, in 
 this case, by the first General Convention which shall 
 
 VOL. I. — 5 
 
66 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 assemble, with sufficient power to ratify a Book of Com- 
 mon Prayer for the church in these States." 
 
 As proposed the previous year, this article was 
 simply based on "the desire of the Protestant Epis- 
 copal Church;" now it was made emphatic as "the 
 general desire," etc. 
 
 The committee " to draft an answer to the letter of 
 the archbishops and bishops of England," Dr. Smith, 
 chairman, reported a draft which was agreed to. The 
 part which bears on the subject of this history was as 
 follows : — 
 
 " It gives us pleasure to be assured that the success 
 of our application will probably meet with no greater 
 obstacles than what have arisen from doubts respecting 
 the extent of the alterations we have made and proposed ; 
 and we are happy to learn that, as no political impedi- 
 ments oppose us here, those which at present exist in 
 England may be removed. 
 
 " While doubts remain of our continuing to hold the 
 same essential articles of faith and discipline with the 
 Church of England, we acknowledge the propriety of 
 suspending a compliance with our request. 
 
 " We are unanimous and explicit in assuring your 
 Lordships, that we neither have departed nor propose 
 to depart from the doctrines of your church. We have 
 retained the same discipline and forms of worship, as 
 far as was consistent with our civil constitutions ; and 
 we have made no alterations or omissions in the Book 
 of Common Prayer, but such as that consideration pre- 
 scribed, and such as were calculated to remove objections ; 
 which it appeared to us more conducive to union and 
 general content to obviate than to dispute. It is well 
 known that many great and pious men of the Church of 
 England have long wished for a revision of the Liturgy, 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 67 
 
 which it was deemed imprudent to hazard, less it might 
 become a precedent for repeated and improper alterations. 
 This is with us the proper season for such a revision. 
 We are now settling and ordering the affairs of our 
 church, and if wisely done^ we shall have reason to 
 promise ourselves all the advantages that can result from 
 stability and union. 
 
 " We are anxious to complete our Episcopal system, 
 by means of the Church of England. We esteem and 
 prefer it, and with gratitude acknowledge the patronage 
 and favors for which, while connected, we have con- 
 stantly been indebted to that church. These considera- 
 tions, added to that of agreement in faith and worship, 
 press us to repeat our former request, and to endeavor 
 to remove your present hesitation by sending you our 
 proposed ecclesiastical constitution and Book of Common 
 Prayer. 
 
 " These documents, we trust, will afford a full answer 
 to every question that can arise on the subject. We con- 
 sider your Lordships' letter as very candid and kind ; we 
 repose full confidence in the assurances it gives ; and that 
 confidence, together with the liberality and Catholicism 
 of your venerable body, leads us to flatter ourselves that 
 you will not disclaim a branch of your church merely 
 for having been, in your Lordships' opinion, if that 
 should be the case, pruned rather more closely than its 
 separation made absolutely necessary." 
 
 " An adjourned convention " met in October, at Wil- 
 mington, Delaware. Another letter was presented from 
 the archbishops and bishops of England. 
 
 " It was impossible," they said, " not to observe with 
 concern, that if the essential doctrines of our common 
 faith were retained, less respect was paid to our Liturgy 
 than its own excellence, and your declared attachment 
 
68 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to it, had led us to expect. Not to mention a variety 
 of verbal alterations, of the necessity or propriety of 
 which we are by no means satisfied, we saw with grief 
 that two of the confessions of our Christian faith, 
 respectable for their antiquity, have been entirely laid 
 aside ; and that even in that which is called the Apostles' 
 Creed, an article is or^itted, which was thought necessary 
 to be inserted, with a view to a particular heresy, in a 
 very early age of the church, and has ever since had the 
 venerable sanction of universal reception. Nevertheless, 
 as a proof of the sincere desire which we feel to continue 
 in spiritual communion with the members of your church 
 in America, and to complete the orders of your ministry, 
 and trusting that the communications which we shall 
 make to you on the subject of these and some other 
 alterations will have their desired effect, we have, even 
 under these circumstances, prepared a Bill for conveying 
 to us the powers necessary for this purpose. It will 
 in a few days be presented to Parliament, and we have 
 the best reasons to hope that it will receive the assent 
 of the Legislature. This Bill will enable the archbishops 
 and bishops to give Episcopal consecration to the per- 
 sons who shall be recommended, without requiring from 
 them any oaths or subscriptions inconsistent with the 
 situation in which the late revolution has placed them ; 
 upon condition that the full satisfaction of the sufficiency 
 of the persons recommended which you offer to us in 
 your address, be given to the archbishops and bishops." 
 
 " But we should forget the duty which we owe to our 
 own church, and act inconsistently with that sincere 
 regard which we bear to yours, if we were not explicit 
 in declaring, that, after the disposition we have shown 
 to comply with the prayer of your address, we think it 
 now incumbent upon you to use your utmost exertions 
 also, for the removal of any stumbling-block of offence 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 69 
 
 which may possibly prove an obstacle to the success of 
 it. We therefore most earnestly exhort you, that pre- 
 viously to the time of your making such subscription, 
 you restore to its integrity the Apostles' Creed, in which 
 you have omitted an article merely, as it seems, from 
 misapprehension of the sense in which it is understood 
 by our church ; nor can we help adding, that we hope 
 you wiU think it but a decent proof of the attachment 
 which you profess to the services of your Liturgy, to 
 give to the other two creeds a place in your Book of 
 Common Prayer, even though the use of them should 
 be left discretional. " 
 
 The above being referred to a committee of two from 
 each State, they reported that : — 
 
 "Being sincerely disposed to give every satisfaction 
 to their Lordships which will be consistent with the 
 union and general content of the church they represent ; 
 and declaring their steadfast resolution to maintain the 
 same essential articles of faith and discipline with 
 the Church of England : — 
 
 "Now therefore, the said deputies do hereby deter- 
 mine and declare, 
 
 " First, That in the creed commonly called the Apos- 
 tles' Creed, these words, 'He descended into Hell,' 
 shall be and continue a part of that creed. 
 
 "Secondly, That the Nieene Credd shall also be in- 
 serted in the said Book of Common Prayer, immediately 
 after the Apostles' Creed, prefaced with the Eubrick 
 [or this]. " 
 
 On the first proposition, the New Jersey and South 
 Carolina deputies voted aye ; the votes of the deputies 
 from New York, Pennsylvania and Delaware, were 
 divided, — the clergy voting aye, and the laity voting 
 no, — and the votes of those States were not counted. 
 
70 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " And so the words are to be restored ; there being two 
 ayes, and no negative." 
 
 On the question, " Shall the creed commonly called 
 the Athanasian Creed be admitted in the Liturgy of the 
 Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of 
 America ? " New York, Pennsylvania, and South Caro- 
 lina, voted nay. New Jersey and Delaware were divided. 
 " And so it was determined in the negative.'' 
 
 The address of the Convention " To the Archbishops 
 of Canterbury and York," set forth, — 
 
 "We have taken into our most serious and deliberate 
 consideration the several matters so affectionately rec- 
 ommended to us in those communications, and whatever 
 could be done towards a compliance with your fatherly 
 wishes and advice, consistently with our local circum- 
 stances, and the peace and unity of our church, hath 
 been agreed to." 
 
 5. Eev. John Tyler, who became rector of Christ's 
 Church in Norwich, Connecticut, in 1769, and so re- 
 mained till his death, more than fifty years later, was a 
 Universalist on the Eellyan scheme. He wrote and 
 preached in its defence six sermons, from the text: 
 The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is 
 eternal life, through Jesus Christ our Lord (Eomans 
 vi. 23). They were published anonymously, in Boston, 
 in 1798, the volume bearing the title " Universal Dam- 
 nation and Salvation clearly proved by the Scriptures 
 of the Old and New Testament ; " and it is said that he 
 frequently advocated these sentiments in his regular 
 ministrations. In consequence of his making the dis- 
 tinction which John Murray did, between salvation 
 and redemption, he was often misunderstood, and was 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 71 
 
 sometimes accused of denying the sentiments taught in 
 his writings. But he retained his Universalist views 
 to the last. 
 
 Although Mr. Tyler was averse to being known as 
 other than a zealous and loyal Episcopalian, yet his 
 warm personal friendship for Mr. Murray induced him 
 to supply the latter's pulpits in Gloucester, Oxford, and 
 Boston, occasionally. In a pamphlet issued by the 
 First Parish in Gloucester, he is called a " Tory Episco- 
 palian," and is said to be one of the preachers, or 
 " strolling mendicants," with which " this town has 
 been infested." 
 
 Mr. Tyler became a Eellyan Universalist as early as 
 1782, as a letter is now extant, written by him to Eev, 
 Noah Parker, of Portsmouth N. H., dated October 22 of 
 that year, in which he gives his thoughts on certain por- 
 tions of Scripture mentioned in Mr. Parker's letter of 
 July 1. The following extract will show how intensely 
 Eellyan he had become : — 
 
 "As to those words in the parenthesis, contained in 
 the 8th verse of the 17th chapter of Eevelations (whose 
 names were not written in the book of life from the 
 foundation of the world), I find they stand in the Greek 
 Testament, and appear situated as a parenthesis, and seem 
 naturally to refer to the preceding words, ' they that 
 dwell on the earth ; ' that is, those inhabitants of the 
 earth whose names were not written in the book of life 
 from the foundation of the world shall wonder when 
 they behold the beast. Here it may be said that those 
 who dwell on the earth whose names were not written in 
 the book of life, are not men, but apostate angels. For 
 the devil is the prince of this world, — and Christ took 
 not on him the nature of angels. Therefore the names of 
 
72 UNIVERSALISII IN AMERICA. 
 
 the fallen angels (whose principality is in this world, it 
 seems), cannot be written in the book of life ; but Christ 
 took on him that seed of Abraham in whom all the fami- 
 lies of the earth are to be blessed. And if they are to be 
 blessed, then certainly it is because their names were 
 written in the book of life ; for surely, those are not to 
 be blessed of whom the book of life knows nothing. 
 And Christ is the head of every man : and consequently 
 every man the body of Christ, unless Christ is the head 
 of that which is not his body, which would be an abso- 
 lute absurdity to suppose. But we being many, are one 
 body in Christ our head ; whose members were all 
 written in God's book, we are told. And therefore, there 
 can be no human inhabitants of the earth whose names 
 were not written in the book of life from the foundation 
 of the world ; for we had grace in Christ before the 
 world was. Can it be that any part of his body who is 
 the head of every man, should not be written in the book 
 of life, when it was so particularly foretold of Christ, 
 that a bone in him should not be broken ? Is Christ the 
 head of that which is never to have life ? God said, ' I 
 am the God of Abraham,' etc. And said our Lord, he ' is 
 not the God of the dead, but of the living.' So Christ, 
 who is the life, and to whom it is given to have life in 
 himself, cannot be the head of a body that is not known 
 in the book of life ; because this would render the new 
 man, made of the twain, Jew and Gentile, extremely im- 
 perfect and greatly maimed, — the head finally obliged to 
 take up with much less than half a body, according to 
 the opinion of those who expect the greatest part of 
 human nature will finally be lost. No ; Christ is not the 
 living head of a dead body, nor of only half a body ; this 
 would be monstrous : but, because he lives we shall live 
 also. And since the free gift came upon all men unto 
 justification of life, of course all men must have their 
 names written in the book of life ; unless those are justi- 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 73 
 
 fied to life, or declared to have a right and title to life, 
 who through neglect were not named in the book of life : 
 and if so, having their names written in the book of life, 
 or not, would be a matter of little or no consequence. 
 
 " But in the next place, it may be said, ' whose names 
 were not written in the book of life' refers, agreeable to the 
 common language of Scripture, wholly to the apprehen- 
 sions of men's own minds. They who dwell on the earth, 
 while unbelievers, have no apprehension of their names 
 being written in the book of life. Their names are not, 
 to them, written in the book of life ; to them — to their 
 view — their names do not appear written. As it is said, 
 'he that believeth not is condemned already.' Condemned 
 by whom ? Not by God ; for he justifieth the ungodly. 
 It is God that justifieth ; who is he that condemneth ? 
 for it is Christ that died ; yea, rather, that is risen again 
 for our justification. But if God condemneth the unbe- 
 liever, how then did the free gift come upon all men unto 
 justification of life ? And shall their unbelief make the 
 faith of God without eifect, — who promised to bless all 
 the families of the earth in the seed of Abraham ? He 
 that believeth not is condemned already by whom, 
 then ? By his own conscience : because he believeth not 
 the record that God hath given of his Son ; and the 
 record is, that God hath given unto us eternal life, and 
 this life is in his Son. But he that don't believe this 
 record is condemned already in his own conscience, be- 
 cause he apprehends himself under sentence of death by 
 the law. Therefore, we are justified by faith. Where ? 
 In our own minds ; for as a man thinketh, so is he. By 
 grace ye are saved, through faith. Saved where ? In 
 your own minds ; for they who believe, have joy and 
 peace in believing. And this is eternal life to know 
 God, and Jesus Christ. But does this knowledge give a 
 title to life ? No ; it only discovers what was true before, 
 namely, that God hath given unto us eternal life — in his 
 
74 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Son ; and the soul, finding -where its life is, begins to par- 
 ticipate of it. So those whose names are not written in 
 the book of life, are those who have not yet found where 
 their life is hid ; and so, in their view, have not their 
 names written in the book of life. But when they come 
 to know the things that belong to their peace, then will 
 they pass from death to life — their faith will overcome 
 the world. And Christ will then write upon them the 
 name of his God, and the name of the city of his God, 
 New Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from 
 his God ; and will write upon them his new name, and 
 give them to eat of the hidden manna, and will give them 
 a white stone, and in the stone a new name written from 
 the foundation of the world, which no man knoweth sav- 
 ing he that receiveth it. Thus the Scriptures, if duly at- 
 tended to, will serve to explain their own meaning ; and 
 will prevent our interpretation of any single text in such 
 a manner as to make it directly opposite to the general 
 analogy of the Scripture. But after all that I have said, 
 those words in the parenthesis, ' whose names were not 
 written in the book of life,' etc., appear so nncouthly 
 wedged in, so useless to the sense of the passage, so 
 much like mere human artifice to serve a party design, 
 that my private opinion is, that they never appeared in 
 any of the first copies of the New Testament, but were 
 some man's marginal note ; which afterwards was wedged 
 into the text of some later copies, by some ignorant or 
 careless transcriber. And by such means, among others, 
 we have near two thousand variations, long ago discov- 
 ered, in the several Hebrew and Greek copies of the Old 
 and New Testaments, that have been critically examined. 
 And could I obtain a view of Dr. Kennicott's new transla- 
 tion, I should expect to find (in the column of the varia- 
 tion of copies) that the words of the parenthesis are 
 found in no very ancient copies. I know some will be 
 ready to say that I am so blinded by party prejudices 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 75 
 
 that I am for expunging from Scripture everything that 
 appears against my favorite tenets. But pray only con- 
 sider ; will not those unbelieving dwellers upon the earth 
 who are afterwards to believe be as likely to wonder, 
 when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet 
 is, as those unbelievers whose names were not written in 
 the book of life, if such there are ? Why should the 
 non-elect unbelievers wonder at the beast, any more 
 than the elected unbelievers ? Are the elected unbeliev- 
 ers acquainted with the mysteries of heaven and hell 
 while in unbelief, and only the rest so ignorant as to 
 wonder at them ? Surely this can never be supposed. 
 Why then should it be said, ' they that dwell on the earth 
 whose names were not written in the book of life, from 
 the foundation of the world, shall wonder when they 
 behold the beast,' etc. ? Will all the unbelievers, then, be 
 non-elected, or reprobates ? How uncouth ! How many 
 marks of interpolation ! The wisdom of God and the 
 wisdom of man can no more agree together than iron 
 and clay can firmly cement and hold equally together, 
 when put to the trial. So that for my part, I can very 
 well read the 8th verse of the 17th chapter of the Eeve- 
 lations without the parenthesis. I have no account of 
 the various readings of the copies of the book of Eevela- 
 tions, but have no doubt that an accurate account of 
 the various readings would set this matter right. Such 
 an account I earnestly wish to see." ^ 
 
 In the last sermon in the volume before mentioned, 
 Mr. Tyler makes some statements which show that he 
 was well read in the history of opinions in the Church 
 of England. He says : — 
 
 " Methinks I hear an objector to this purpose : ' How 
 comes it to pass that of all the clergy of the Church of 
 
 1 The Ladies' Repository, vol. xxv. pp. 271-272. 
 
76 UN1VER3AUSM IN AMERICA. 
 
 England, you are the only one that ever found out that 
 ib is the doctrine of the Bible that all men have a title in 
 Christ to eternal life, — that all men will finally be saved ? 
 And how does it become you, as a clergyman of the 
 Church of England, to teach a doctrine so contrary to 
 what is, and ever has been taught by that church ? So 
 no deference is to be paid to any of her bishops, or the 
 judgment or opinion of any other of her great and 
 learned men, nor indeed to the opinion of the whole 
 Christian church for seventeen hundred years ! ' I answer, 
 I am not the only one of all the clergy of the Church 
 of England that has found this doctrine in the Bible ; 
 and if I was the only one, surely I have a right to preach 
 the gospel, even the truth as it is in Jesus, if I find it, 
 whether I agree with another man or not, unless the 
 authority of men is greater than the authority of God. 
 Certainly, I have no right to preach what I think to be 
 inconsistent with the truth; however, as a clergyman 
 of the Church of England, I have a right to judge for 
 myself of the promises of God, — for the Church of 
 England in the close of her seventeenth article of religion 
 directs thus, even in these very words, ' we must receive 
 God's promises in such wise as they be generally set 
 forth in the Holy Scriptures ; ' but as she has not told 
 in her articles how God's promises are to be understood, 
 except as they are generally set forth in the Holy Scrip- 
 tures, she certainly leaves it to me to judge for myself 
 of these promises; and I do jndge them to be promises 
 of eternal life to all mankind without exception in Christ 
 Jesus our Lord. And the articles of the Church of Eng- 
 land, as I have heretofore taken notice, do set forth the 
 offering of Christ once made as a perfect redemption, 
 propitiation, and satisfaction for all the sins of the whole 
 world, both original and actual. Now I ask, if there is 
 perfect satisfaction made by Christ for every sin of the 
 whole world, how justice can ever condemn, or execute the 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 77 
 
 sentence of the law for sin upon, any one individual of 
 the human race ? When a perfect satisfaction is already- 
 made to God for all the sins of men, to demand the pay- 
 ment over again is evidently the highest injustice, — as 
 great injustice as it would have been to have punished all 
 mankind with everlasting misery if no one of them had 
 ever sinned. If every sin of the whole world is satisfied 
 for, it is plain and evident that every man must be saved. 
 For what can condemn any man, if the sins of all are 
 satisfied for ? If they are not saved, it is plain they can 
 not be punished ; but there is no middle way between sal- 
 vation and damnation ; so that you must see the Church 
 of England has in her articles taught the salvation of all 
 men, at least impliedly. And am I to be condemned for 
 differing from all the church clergy in doctrine, because I 
 preach up the doctrines of the thirty -nine articles. Is this 
 a crime, — to preach up the doctrine contained in the arti- 
 cles of the Church of England, — because, it is said, none of 
 the rest teach so, but the contrary ? Will the preaching 
 up the doctrine of the Church of England contradict the 
 doctrine of her clergy ? This would be a sad thing in- 
 deed. Can preaching the doctrine of the Church of Eng- 
 land be showing disrespect to her bishops, or great writers, 
 or clergy, who composed the thirty-nine articles ? Was 
 it not the bishops and clergy of the Church of England, 
 and was it their doctrine ; or did they set forth a doctrine 
 for the Church of England different from their own doc- 
 trine ? Put my teaching that all mankind will finally 
 be happy is not preaching contrary to what is and ever 
 has been taught by all the rest of the clergy of the 
 Church of England. For no less a man than Archbishop 
 Tillotson has been wrote against for preaching this doc- 
 trine ; and at least in one of his sermons he did intimate 
 that this was his opinion, though at the same time he 
 appeared to be in darkness and doubt about it ; and sev- 
 eral others of the clergy of the church have taught the 
 
78 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 salvation of all, men. Mr. Murdon, a church clergyman 
 now living, I suppose, has for a number of years preached 
 the same doctrine as I do, openly and fully, and has 
 printed a book upon the subject ; and yet is in full and 
 regular standing under his bishop. Dr. Steed, — a clergy- 
 man of the Church of England, who died a few years 
 ago, and was greatly admired as a preacher in most parts 
 of England, — styled by late writers ' the ingenious Dr. 
 Steed,' — in a sermon which he delivered in St. Paul's 
 Cathedral Church in London, speaking upon the redemp- 
 tion, has these words : ' Our Saviour laid down his life 
 for the sins of the whole world ; he came that, as in Adam 
 all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive, — that, as by 
 one man's disobedience many, the many, or mankind in 
 general, were made sinners, treated as such, and made 
 subject to death, the wages of sin, so by the obedience 
 of one many were made righteous.' Again, speaking of 
 Christ, says he, ' The sphere of his beneficence extended 
 backwards to the foundation of the world, and reaches 
 forward to the last conflagration ; he became the Saviour 
 of all ages, from the first birth of time to its last period, 
 — the father of mankind, from the rising of the sun to 
 the going down of the same. The blessings of his coming 
 into the world are as extensive as the world, and as last- 
 ing as eternity.' Says he, ' Behold the Son of God, pour- 
 ing forth his blood as well as prayers, even for those 
 that shed it ; behold him at once bearing the insults, ex- 
 piating the sins, and procuring happiness for mankind, 
 till at last he bows his sacred head, and shuts up the 
 solemn scene with these shoi-t but comprehensive words, 
 " It is finished." The great, the stupendous work is done ; 
 the universal sacrifice, which shall take in all mankind, 
 and which all mankind shall contemplate throughout 
 eternity with awful joy and gratitude, is completed, — 
 the benefit of whose actions and sufferings reaches to 
 all ages, all nations, all mankind. Our Saviour was a 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 79 
 
 person born for the whole world, for which he died, — a 
 blessing to all mankind from the beginning of time, 
 and whom all mankind will have reason to bless when 
 time shall be no more.' 
 
 " You may depend on it that these words were preached 
 in St. Paul's Church in London; so that as a church 
 clergyman I am not teaching a doctrine which is contrary 
 to what is or ever has been taught by all the rest of the 
 clergy of the Church of England. I don't know that I 
 have ever said anything that more strongly points out 
 the salvation of all men than these words of Dr. Steed 
 I have just now recited, though I must confess that in 
 some other passages of his sermons he says what seems 
 inconsistent with those passages I recited; but what I 
 did recite he no doubt said. But I am supposed to differ 
 from the whole body of the Christian church for seven- 
 teen hundred years. I answer, this would be a melan- 
 choly consideration indeed, if it were true ; but can the 
 tradition of the whole body of the Christian church make 
 void the gospel, the everlasting covenant of God's peace ? 
 But then, the tradition or opinion of the Christian church, 
 pretty universally, for a thousand years out of the seven- 
 teen hundred, has been in favor of popery ; therefore if 
 the opinion of the body of the Christian church is a sure 
 proof of what is the true meaning of Scripture, then 
 surely we ought all to become Roman Catholics immedi- 
 ately ; for popery has the opinion of the whole body of 
 the Christian church pretty universally in its favor for 
 ten hundred years, and the main body of the Christian 
 church against her for no more than about seven hun- 
 dred years ; and two hundred years of these seven, if the 
 opinion of the whole Christian church had been taken, 
 I strongly suspect that the vote would have turned in 
 favor of popery. If the general opinion of the Christian 
 church is any proof, to determine what is right and true, 
 why are not you all papists ? If it is no proof, why is 
 
80 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 it alleged against me ? The truth concerning the Chris- 
 tian church, I take to be this : the opinion of those that 
 called themselves Christians, almost universally through 
 the world, was in favor of popery till about the year 
 fifteen hundred; since the year fifteen hundred, Chris- 
 tians have been divided into two great classes, being gen- 
 erally Roman Catholics or Protestants, but the Eoman 
 Catholics most numerous. From the Apostles' time till 
 the introduction of popery is a period of about four or 
 five hundred years ; in which time the general opinion 
 of the bishops and clergy of the Christian church was, — 
 if we believe Dr. Whitby, who was esteemed a great and 
 learned divine of the Church of England, and very pro- 
 found in his knowledge of antiquity, having spent much 
 time in searching the records of the primitive church, 
 and cannot be supposed to give this account through any 
 prejudice in favor of this doctrine that all men will 
 be saved; for he wrote a considerable treatise against 
 Bishop Tillotson for intimating or hinting in a sermon 
 that all men would finally be saved, — says Dr. Whitby : 
 ' This hath been the constant doctrine of the church of 
 Christ, owned by the Greek and Latin Fathers ; among 
 the Greek fathers, Chrysostom, whose words are these, 
 " When the fulness of the Gentiles is come in, then all 
 Israel shall be saved, at the time of Christ's second com- 
 ing, and the consummation of all things." " They of the 
 people of Israel, who for their unbelief were deserted, that 
 God's mercy might be showed to you, — they shall not 
 always be left in unbelief," says Origen ; " but when the 
 dispensation of the fulness of the Gentiles is completed, 
 they also shall find mercy ; Israel may then also enter ; 
 for if the fulness of the Gentiles be come in, then all 
 Israel shall be saved, and there shall be one fold and one 
 Shepherd." ' Dr. Whitby adds these words : ' All the 
 Latin Fathers who have left us any commentaries or 
 notes on this epistle, meaning the epistle to the Romans, 
 
THE EPISCOPALIANS. 81 
 
 are plainly of the same mind ; as you may plainly see 
 by consulting Hilary the Deacon, Primasius, Sedutius, 
 and Haymo. From those of the prophet Hosea, — The 
 children of Israel shall abide many days without a king, 
 and without a prince, and without a sacrifice, and with- 
 out an altar, and without an ephod, and without a tera- 
 phim : afterwards shall the children of Israel return and 
 seek the Lord their God, and David their king, and shall 
 fear the Lord, and his goodness, in the latter days 
 (Hosea, chap. iii. verses 4, 5), — which Saint Augustin pro- 
 duced to prove that the carnal Israelite who now will not 
 believe shall hereafter do so, he saith, " Nothing is more 
 manifest than that by David, their king, the prophet 
 meaneth Jesus Christ, in whom they now believe not." 
 Saint Cyril saith, "Here is a manifest declaration of what 
 shall hereafter happen to the adulterous synagogue, and 
 that she shall be received again, that Israel should not 
 always be rejected, but being recalled and converted 
 again to the faith, should own Christ according to the 
 flesh to be the king of all, and that his glorious grace 
 should be afforded to her to the end of the world." Saint 
 Jerome, having cited those words of Christ, spoken to 
 the barren fig-tree, Let no fruit grow on thee forever 
 (Matt. xxi. 19), he bids us diligently consider that he saith 
 not forever and ever, but only in seculum, for that age ; 
 and when that age is past, and when the fulness of the 
 GentUes is come in, then shall this fig-tree bring forth 
 her fruits, and all Israel be saved.' — Dr. Whitby imme- 
 diately adds these words, ' So generally did this doctrine 
 obtain among the ancients ; ' and says he, ' This doctrine 
 hath the suffrage of all the ancient Fathers.' 
 
 "Now, my hearers, you are able to determine whether 
 by preaching up the salvation of all men, I have departed 
 from the opinion of the whole Christian church for so 
 long a period as seventeeii hundred years. I am sure 
 you will throw out of the question the opinion of the 
 
 VOL. I. — 6 
 
82 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Christian church, when almost swallowed up in popery 
 for a thousand years ; then I have the opinion of the 
 whole body of the Christian church, according to Dr. 
 Whitby's account, in favor of the doctrine I preach, for 
 a period of between four and five hundred years, and that 
 immediately after the apostles. But, exclusive of popery, 
 you who may believe that part of mankind perish ever- 
 lastingly, have the opinion of almost half of the Chris- 
 tian church, I mean the Protestant part, for a period of 
 between two and three hundred years; so that, throw- 
 ing popery out of the question, the Christian church 
 speak in my favor for about double the time that part 
 of them give their voice in your favor. They give 
 their voice in my favor immediately after the apostles 
 left them; part of them now give their voice in your 
 favor, after forsaking some of the superstitious fears 
 of popery. 
 
 " Now, were the primitive Christians as likely to de- 
 rive errors from the apostles, as the Protestants to derive 
 errors from the Papish Church, out of which they came ? 
 Surely not.'' 
 
 That other Episcopal clergymen in Connecticut were 
 in sympathy with Mr. Tyler in his XJniversalist views, 
 is evident from the fact that, in 1785, Eev. Samuel 
 Peters, A. M., published in London, " A Letter to the 
 Rev. John Tyler, A. M.," concerning the possibility of 
 eternal punishments, and the improbability of uni- 
 versal salvation. He says in the advertisement, or 
 preface : 
 
 " The author of the following letter having heard that 
 several of the Episcopal clergy in Connecticut, his much- 
 esteemed friends and fellow-laborers in the Lord, had 
 joined with Mr. Tyler, for whose private use these obser- 
 
THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 83 
 
 vations were primarily intended, was induced to have 
 them printed, that each of his brethren might have a 
 copy at the cheapest rate, a further evidence of his 
 wishes for their spiritual and temporal good." 
 
 V. THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 
 
 Among the Congregationalists of New England there 
 was some Universalism prior to 1770, — the date of the 
 arrival of John' Murray in America, — and in some 
 localities after his arrival, but wholly independent of 
 him and his theory of redemption. 
 
 1. Dr. Chaeles Chauncy, who graduated from Har- 
 vard iu 1721, and was ordained pastor of the Pirst 
 Church in Boston in 1727, was distinguished for his 
 learning and patriotism. He became a Universalist 
 some years before making a public avowal of his con- 
 victions, though he expressed himself freely to his 
 friends, and submitted to them his writings on the 
 subject. 
 
 About the year 1750 he undertook a close and criti- 
 cal study of the Scriptures, particularly of the epistles 
 of St. Paul, in which he closely occupied seven years 
 of the best part of his life. As a result, he came into 
 the belief of Universalism. 
 
 " I had no idea of this sentiment," he said, " till I had 
 been gradually and insensibly led into it by a long and 
 diligent comparing of scripture with scripture. For a 
 while, I could not, without considerable difiBculty, con- 
 sult the sacred writings on this point, unrestrained from 
 previously imbibed sentiments. It was with care and 
 pains that I brought myself so far to suspect the truth of 
 
84 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 common doctrines, as to be able with tolerable freedom 
 of mind to inquire whether this had a just foundation 
 in the word of God or not. But when I had once dis- 
 engaged myself from the influence of former notions, 
 so as to be able to look into the Scriptures with a readi- 
 ness to receive whatever they should teach for truth, it 
 was truly surprising to me to find in them such evident 
 traces of this doctrine." 
 
 In 1762 be published a sermon delivered at the ordi- 
 nation of a missionary to the Mohawk Indians. It is 
 entitled " All nations blessed in Christ ; " and contains 
 some cautious hints in favor of the doctrine of Universal 
 Salvation. Subsequently he published a work on the 
 " Benevolence of the Deity/' containing a few passages 
 on this subject. To these two works he appended his 
 name. Two other and more open avowals and defences 
 of the doctrine were sent out by him anonymously. Of 
 one of these, Eev. John Clarke, D. D., his colleague, in a 
 note to his sermon at the funeral of Dr. Chauncy, Feb. 
 15, 1787, says : — 
 
 "Of the numerous productions of Dr. Chauncy, the 
 most labored, and in his opinion the most valuable, is a 
 work entitled, ' The Salvation of All Men,' published in 
 London, A. D. 1784. This was begun early in life, often 
 reviewed, and completed at a time when the mental 
 powers are most vigorous. Before its publication it 
 underwent a severe examination from those whose theo- 
 logical and critical knowledge qualified them to judge of 
 such a work. Many esteemed it a valuable acquisition to 
 the religious world. And all bestowed the highest enco- 
 miums upon the learning and ingenuity of the author. 
 The Monthly Eeviewers, also, speak very handsomely of 
 this performance " (p. 28). 
 
THE CONGEEGATIONALISTS. 85 
 
 In a letter to Eev. Dr. Stiles, May 6, 1768, Dr. 
 Chauncy says: — 
 
 " The result of my studying the Scriptures with the 
 above-mentioned helps is a large parcel of materials, 
 fitted to answer several designs. The materials for one 
 design I have put together, and they have laid by in a 
 finished quarto volume for years. This is written with 
 too much freedom to admit of a publication in this coun- 
 try. Some of my friends who have seen it have desired 
 I would send it home for publication, and to have it 
 printed without a name. I question whether it will ever 
 see the light till after my death, and I am not yet deter- 
 mined whether to permit its being then printed, or to 
 order its being committed to the flames. It is a work 
 that has cost me much thought and a great deal of hard 
 labor. It is upon a most interesting subject." ^ 
 
 While Dr. Chauncy was in this state of doubt as to 
 what disposition he should make of the manuscript of his 
 larger work, he published, in 1782, his other anonymous 
 production, a small pamphlet, entitled, "Salvation for 
 All Men." It contains a preface, which Dr. Belknap 
 attributes to Dr. Clarke, Dr. Chauncy's colleague. The 
 pamphlet contains little except extracts from several 
 English Universalist writers, and the expression of dis- 
 like, if not of contempt, for John Murray, who is de- 
 scribed as " a stranger who has of himself assumed the 
 character of a preacher." It was written, as its full 
 title declares, to set forth what has been said in favor 
 of this subject by the "pious and learned men who 
 have purposely writ upon it." The pamphlet closes 
 thus : — 
 
 1 Collections of the Massacliusetts Historical Society. First Series, ■ 
 vol. X., 1809, p. 163. 
 
86 ■ UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " It is said, ' Upon supposition of the truth of universal 
 salvation, it may yet be improper and hurtful to open it, 
 as a Scripture doctrine, to the world.' To which I have 
 seen the proper answer in these words : — 
 
 " ' It would be very extraordinary, if setting a Scripture 
 truth in its genuine light should have a dangerous ten- 
 dency. To suppose such a thing would reflect dishonor 
 upon the revelation of God. It final, universal happiness 
 is a doctrine of the gospel, we need not fear its injuring 
 mankind, if they were brought sincerely and universally 
 to believe it. And indeed, all fear of this kind is founded 
 ultimately on man's ivisdom, in opposition to the wisdom 
 of God, which stands in need of no human art or contri- 
 vance, but can, without it, guard mankind against wicked- 
 ness, and make them good and faithful subjects in the 
 kingdom of righteousness.' 
 
 ''I shall only add, as a conclusion of these extracts, 
 that, if we shall all, before the completion of the scheme 
 of God, be crowned with immortality and honor, what an 
 argument have we for patience, contentment, and an en- 
 tire resignation to the divine pleasure, under the numer- 
 ous trials of this frail, vain, mortal state ! And how easily 
 reconcilable are the sufferings of the world to come with 
 the wisdom and goodness, as well as justice of God ! 
 And how absolutely are all complaints upon this head 
 silenced and refuted ! For if we are brought into being 
 expectants of a blessed im^nortality, and upon a founda- 
 tion that will not disappoint us, why then should we find 
 fault with that discipline, however severe, which may, in 
 true reason, be morally connected with the actual enjoy- 
 ment of it? We are upon this plan of things infi- 
 nitely obliged to God, and ought to love and thank 
 him for our being, notwithstanding all that we may 
 be called to pass through before we are received into 
 his presence above, where is fulness of joy forever " (pp. 
 25, 26). 
 
THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 87 
 
 It is quite likely that the puhlication of the pamphlet 
 was in the way of experiment to determine what would 
 be the fate of his larger work, should it be given to the 
 public. 
 
 If this was the case he was not long in suspense, 
 for Eevs. Joseph Eckley, Samuel Mather, Timothy 
 Allen, Samuel Hopkins, WilHam Gordon, and Peter 
 Thacher warmly attacked it in responsive pamphlets. 
 Mr. Thacher says that he was impelled to his work by 
 his "Alarm at the progress of the errors which he at- 
 tempts to refute, and at the patronage afforded them 
 by some distinguished characters in our theological 
 world." Mather dwells at great length on the signifi- 
 cance of the words rendered everlasting and forever, 
 arguing that they denote absolute endlessness. 
 
 Eev. Dr. John Clarke, in a published " Letter to Dr. 
 Mather," makes this stinging reply : — 
 
 " How could you pretend to argue the endless punish- 
 ment of the wicked from the application of the Hebrew 
 word gnolam, or the Greek word aionios, when you have 
 repeatedly said in private conversation it could be in- 
 ferred from neither ? A minister ought not to have one 
 set of opinions for the closet, and another for the public 
 view. What he asserts among his friends, he ought to 
 maintain openly, or, at least, he ought not to contradict, 
 while there are any alive to detect his indiscretion. You 
 have treated an opponent very unfairly, to offer him ar- 
 guments, which you know have no force in them, and 
 which you have rejected in private conversation." 
 
 Eckley's pamphlet was anonymous, the writer styl- 
 ing himself the " Friend to Truth." His argument was 
 that while God desired the salvation of all, and had 
 
88 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 offered salvation to all, some would fail of salvation 
 through non-compliance with the conditions. To this 
 Chauncy replied : — 
 
 "The offer of salvation being made to all, you argue 
 the atonement, upon which that offer is grounded, must be 
 complete and universal. That is, as you explain yourself, 
 in virtue of the merits and death of Christ, all men are in 
 a solvable state. This is the truth, but not the whole 
 truth. The death of our blessed Saviour rendered the 
 salvation of mankind not only a possible thing, but actu- 
 ally secured it to them in event. In a sense, we are all 
 justified, reconciled, and saved. We are born into the 
 world heirs of immortality. And the part assigned us is 
 to acquire such habits, and improve in such graces, as 
 shall fit us for the joys of heaven, at the resurrection day. 
 Hence God is styled 'the Saviour of all men, especially 
 of those that believe.' In consequence of the merits and 
 sacrifice of Christ, eternal life is secured to every indi- 
 vidual ; though believers only will be first partakers of it. 
 Others, who die in their sins must suffer the consequences 
 of their disobedience, and be reduced to a proper temper 
 of mind, before they can be rationalty and immortally 
 happy. But shall they perish forever ? God forbid. 
 The Saviour of mankind (according to your confession) 
 died for them, in common with others. An atonement 
 is already made for their sins. And * through the obedi- 
 ence of one, the free gift hath come upon them to justifi- 
 cation of life.' The consequence, therefore, must be, that 
 sooner or later, they also will reap the benefits of Christ's 
 mediatorial undertaking. 
 
 "This is still further confirmed by the reasoning of 
 St. Paul in the 5th chapter of his epistle to the Romans, 
 8, 9, and 10th verses. ' But God commendeth his love 
 towards us, in that while we were sinners, Christ died 
 for us. Much more then, being now justified by his blood, 
 
THE CONGREGATIONALIS IS. 89 
 
 we shall be saved from wrath through him. For if, when 
 we were enemies, we were reconciled to God by the death 
 of his Son, 7nuch more being reconciled, we shall be saved 
 by his life.' This reasoning, upon my principles, is strong 
 and conclusive ; upon yours, I can see no force or perti- 
 nence in it. Instead of arguing a fortiori, as the apostle 
 intended, you would make him trifle, in a manner un- 
 worthy so great a character. If I understand him right, 
 the idea he would convey is this : that inasmuch as God 
 hath taken such an extraordinary step as to deliver up 
 his only begotten Son for the sinner and ungodly, we may 
 rely on it he will not fail to accomplish his benevolent 
 purposes, even their final restoration to favor, and ever- 
 lasting salvaiioti. To illustrate my meaning, let me refer 
 you to the 6, 7, and 8th verses. Having mentioned the 
 love of God, the apostle endeavors to set forth the exceed- 
 ing greatness of it from this consideration, — that it was 
 while men were without strength, ungodly, and sinners, 
 that Jesus Christ died for them. But, if such was their 
 mortal state for whom he suffered, much more shall they 
 be saved from wrath through him. In virtue of the aton- 
 ing blood of Christ, these sinners and ungodly are in a 
 justified state. Or, as the apostle expresses himself, these 
 enemies are reconciled to God. They are all reduced from 
 that state of wrath and condemnation to which they were 
 reduced by the fall. God,, therefore, being now reconciled 
 to these sinners, enemies, and ungodly, the apostle would 
 teach us to argue that they shall eventually be saved by 
 the death of his Son. He would not have taken such 
 measures for the recovery of mankind had he not in- 
 tended to accomplish their everlasting salvation. 
 
 " The application is obvious. There is an atonement 
 for sin complete and universal ; and in consequence of it 
 the free gift has come upon All Men to justification and 
 life. But whatever you understand by this justification ; 
 whether you include more or less in it, most certainly it 
 
90 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 follows from thence that all men will he finally happy. 
 For they all being justified by his blood, shall Much More 
 be saved from wrath through him. In. other words, the 
 universal redemption, which yo^i allow, must issue in the 
 universal salvation, for which / contend " (pp. 10-12). 
 
 In a subsequent edition of his pamphlet, Eckley 
 published an appendix, in which he replied that his 
 reviewer made a mistake in supposing him to hold that 
 God desires the salvation of every individual of the 
 human race in the sense of its being an absolute choice 
 with God, and not simply an object in itself agreeable ! 
 Eev. John Murray thus notices Dr. Chauncy's pamph- 
 let, in a letter to Eev. Noah Parker : — 
 
 " As for this anonymous advocate for what he calls the 
 salvation of all men, or salvation for all men, I pity him 
 from my soul ; I see he is endeavoring, by seasoning the 
 gospel with a sufiicient quantity of fire and brimstone, 
 to render it quite a savory dish for the self-righteous 
 pharisee. He commences by sacrificing to the demon of 
 popular prejudice the obnoxious stranger; a good step 
 this toward preparing the religious world for the recep- 
 tion of his new-fangled gospel, or glad tidings of damna- 
 tion. I think your remarks on this writer very just ; but 
 how ignorant does this reasoner appear of the sentiments 
 of the holy good men whom he introduces ! No man on 
 earth can be a greater enemy to the doctrine of the res- 
 titution of all things than was Mr. John Wesley ; yet 
 this is one of the holy men who, this writer affirms, 
 was an advocate for Universal Salvation. 
 
 "Yet, in this small pamphlet there are a great many 
 good things. I think the author means well ; he sees 
 plainly the Scriptures teach that all men are redeemed, 
 and that consequently all men must finally be saved. 
 He also perceives the difference between the followers 
 
THE CONGREGATIONALISTS. 91 
 
 of the Lamb in the narrow way, and the children of this 
 world ill the broad way ; and that, not only in the pres- 
 ent visible state, but in the future invisible state, until 
 the resurrection of the just and the unjust ; that the one 
 enters into rest by believing, — dieth in the Lord, and 
 riseth to the resurrection of life. All this he perceives, 
 and all this is sacredly true ; but he doth not see that it 
 is the blood of Jesus which cleanseth from all sin, and 
 that it is not by a very long season of pain and torment 
 that the wretched race are finally brought to love and 
 serve their God and Saviour. He does not view Jesus 
 Christ as completing the destruction of the works of the 
 adversary. Could this poor soul have seen the doctrine 
 held forth in the parable of the tares of the field, he 
 would not have been obliged to look beyond the end of 
 the world, to a long season, — God only knows how 
 long, — for that glorious period when the kingdoms 
 of the world shall become the kingdoms of God and his 
 Christ." 1 
 
 Dr. Chauncy sent the manuscript of his book to Lon- 
 don, where it was published in 1784. It was an octavo 
 volume of 406 pages, and was entitled, " The Mystery 
 hid from Ages and Generations, made manifest by the 
 Gospel-Eevelation : or, the Salvation of All Men the 
 grand thing aimed at in the scheme of God, as opened 
 in the New-Testament writings, and entrusted to Jesus 
 Christ to bring into effect." 
 
 The first attempt to answer it was from the pen of 
 Eev. Stephen Johnson, of Lyme, Ct., who published 
 against it in 1786 a book of 359 pages, entitled, " The 
 Everlasting Punishment of the Ungodly, illustrated and 
 evinced to be Scripture Doctrine ; and the Salvation 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches of Sermons, by John Murray, vol. ii. p. 94. 
 
92 UNIVKKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 of All Men, as taught in several late Publications, con- 
 futed." It was not a very strong book, and probably 
 had very small circulation and influence. Dr. Chauncy's 
 positions were misstated, probably from a misapprehen- 
 sion of them, and the replies to his arguments were 
 chiefly composed of extracts from other writings of 
 Chauncy published between 1743 and 1776. 
 
 Incidentally the book was also attacked in an anony- 
 mous pamphlet published in Providence, R I., in l786, 
 entitled, " New Sentiments, different from any yet pub- 
 lished, upon the Doctrine of Universal Salvation, as con- 
 nected with doctrines generally approved," by "Adelos." 
 
 By far the most able work against it was from the 
 pen of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, published in 1790, — 
 three years after Dr. Chauncy's death : " The Salvation 
 of All Men strictly examined, and the Endless Punish- 
 ment of those who die impenitent, argued and defended 
 against the Objections and Reasonings of the late Rev. 
 Dr. Chauncy." Several editions of this have been pub- 
 lished, the later ones re-enforced by an appendix, added 
 by Eev. Dr. Emmons. 
 
 Dr. Chauncy's views as to the method of salvation 
 were peculiarly his own, and save as they may have 
 influenced some in his own denomination, never had 
 any considerable following among believers in universal 
 salvation. Hence Dr. Edwards' attack on them was 
 not considered by Universalists at large as being an 
 attack on Universalism as they held it. 
 
 A year after the publication of " The Mystery hid 
 from Ages," Dr. Chauncy published, also in England, 
 " Dissertations on the Fall and its Consequences," to 
 which his name was attached, and to it he caused to be 
 
THE CONGEEGATIONALISTS. 93 
 
 appended an advertisement of the former work, as 
 " written by the author of the foregoing Dissertations." 
 
 2. Jonathan Mayhew, who was distinguished through 
 his college course, and graduated with high honors at 
 Harvard in 1744, became pastor of the West Church in 
 Boston in 1747. As early as 1750 he had made for 
 himself so great a name that the University of Aber- 
 deen, Scotland, conferred on him the degree of D.D. 
 Bancroft, in his "History of the United States," pays an 
 eloquent tribute to Mayhew as an early and unwavering 
 friend of the American cause; and probably he was 
 more influential than any other minister in America in 
 producing the American Eevolution. 
 
 In 1755 he published a volume of sermons, in a note 
 appended to which he vigorously attacked the doctrine , 
 of the Trinity, and avowed his belief in the unity of 
 God. 
 
 In two thanksgiving sermons, preached and published 
 in 1762, he as plainly declares his belief in Universal- 
 ism. The theme of the sermons is, Tlie Nature, Extent, 
 and Perfection of the Divine Goodness. He thus ex- 
 presses himself : — 
 
 " What shall we say to the doctrine of God's having 
 reprobated a great proportion of mankind ; or, from 
 eternity devoted them in his absolute decree and purpose 
 to eternal torments, without any respect or regard to any 
 sins of theirs as the procuring and meritorious cause of 
 their perdition ? And this, at the same time, to make 
 manifest and glorify his justice ! What can be said of 
 this ; and how shall it be reconciled with the supposi- 
 tion that God's tender mercies are over all his works ? 
 
 " I will tell you, in a very few words, what I have to say 
 to it at present. And that is, first, that if any persons 
 
94 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 really hold such a doctrine, neither any man on earth 
 nor angel in heaven can reconcile it with the goodness 
 of Grod. And secondly, that I have not the least inclinar 
 tion to attempt a reconciliation of these doctrines ; being 
 persuaded that they are just as contrary as light and 
 darkness, Christ and Belial ; that one of them is most 
 true and scriptural, joyful to man, and honorable to God ; 
 and the other most false and unscriptural, horrible to the 
 last degree to all men of an undepraved judgment, and 
 blasphemous against the God of heaven and earth. 
 Neither is it possible for any man who really believes 
 what the Scriptures teach concerning the goodness -of 
 God even to think of this other doctrine but with great 
 indignation." 
 
 And he closes the sermon thus : — 
 
 "The consideration of God's goodness and mercy, 
 particularly as manifested in the Scriptures, in the re- 
 demption of the world by Christ, naturally suggests very 
 pleasing hopes, and a glorious prospect, with reference 
 to the conclusion, or final result of that most wonderful 
 interposition of grace. It cannot be denied that ever 
 since the apostasy of our first parents there have been, 
 and still are, some things of a dark and gloomy appear- 
 ance, when considered by themselves. So much folly, 
 superstition, and wickedness there is 'in this present 
 evil world.' But when we consider the declared end of 
 Christ's manifestation in the flesh, to give his life a ran- 
 som for all, and to destroy the works of the devil ; when 
 we consider the numerous prophecies concerning the 
 destruction of sin and death, and the future glory of 
 Christ's kingdom on earth ; when we consider that he 
 must reign till he hath put all enemies under his feet, 
 the last of which is death — and until he hath subdued 
 all things to himself ; when we reflect, that according to 
 the apostle Paul, where sin has abounded grace does 
 
THE CONGEEGATIONALISTS. 95 
 
 much more abound, and that the same creature (or crea- 
 tion) which was originally made subject to vanity is to 
 be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the 
 glorious liberty of the children of God; when we con- 
 sider the parallel which is instituted and carried on by 
 the same apostle betwixt the first and second Adam, in 
 his epistle to the Romans, and his express assertion in 
 another that, ' as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall 
 all be made alive, but every man in his own order ; ' in a 
 word, when we duly consider that there is a certain resti- 
 tution of all things, spoken by the mouth of all the holy 
 prophets since the world began ; when we duly consider 
 these things, I say, light and comfort rise out of dark- 
 ness and sorrow. 
 
 " And we may, without the least presumption, conclude 
 in general that, in the revolution of ages, something far 
 more grand, important, and glorious than any thing 
 which is vulgarly imagined, shall actually be the result 
 of Christ's coming down from heaven to die on a cross, 
 of his resurrection from the dead, and of his being 
 crowned with glory and honor, as Lord both of the dead 
 and the living. The word of God, and his mercy, endure 
 forever ; nor will he leave any thing which is truly his 
 work unfinished. ' As the heavens are higher than the 
 earth,' saith the Lord, ' so are my ways higher than 
 your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. My 
 word, that goeth forth out of my mouth, shall not return 
 unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please ; 
 and it shall prosper in the thing whereunto I send it.' " 
 
 " To conclude, then ; let us all, young men and maidens, 
 old men and children, love and honor, extol and obey 
 the God and Father of all, whose tender mercies are over 
 all his works ; and who has been so gracious and bounti- 
 ful to ourselves in particular. If we sincerely do thus, 
 as becometh the children of the Highest, we shall, in 
 due time, partake of his goodness, in a far more glorious 
 
96 UNIVEUSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 manner and measure than we can in the earthly house 
 of this tabernacle. We shall doubtless also have a far 
 more clear, distinct, and perfect knowledge than we can 
 possibly have at present of what is intended in some 
 apparently grand and sublime, yet difficult passages in 
 the sacred oracles, — particularly that of John the Divine, 
 with which I close : ' And every creature which is in 
 heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such 
 as are in the sea, and all that are in them, heard I say- 
 ing. Blessing, and honor, and glory, and power be unto 
 Him that sitteth on the throne, and unto the Lamb 
 forever and ever (Rev. v. 13).' " 
 
 This was a fearless utterance for that day and place, 
 and stands in marked contrast with the timidity of 
 Chauncy, with whom Mayhew was intimate, and from 
 whom, it may not unwisely be supposed, he received 
 his first hints concerning the fulness of the revelation 
 of the broader hope. It shows a man fearless to advo- 
 cate what he felt to be truth, no matter how great its 
 unpopularity. The sermons were attacked by Eev. 
 John Cleaveland, and defended by Mayhew. His death 
 occurred shortly after this. Had his life been pro- 
 longed, there is no doubt that he would have made 
 himself known as a hearty and devoted advocate of 
 Universal Salvation. 
 
 3. Jeeemy Belknap, D. D., graduated at Harvard in 
 1762, and for twelve years pastor of the Federal Street 
 Congregational Church in Boston, has left on record his 
 avowal of belief in Universalism. His correspondence 
 has been published by the Massachusetts Historical 
 Society, and in it are letters which passed between him 
 and Ebenezer Hazard, of Philadelphia. On the publica- 
 tion of Chauncy's pamphlet on "Salvation for All 
 
THE CONGBEGATIONALISTS. 97 
 
 Men," 1782, Belknap sent a copy to Hazard, who in 
 reply inquires who is the author, and adds : — 
 
 " If it is unscriptural, I am too ignorant to be able to 
 see it. I think, however, it does honor to the mercy of 
 the Deity, without doing injury to Divine justice." 
 
 Dr. Belknap, in his reply, says : — 
 
 " The design of emitting this piece was good, but I am 
 not altogether pleased with its execution, because it 
 seems to be an attempt to recommend the doctrine by the 
 force of human authority. . . . However, the truth of 
 the case is this : The doctrine of universal restitution 
 has long been kept as a secret among learned men. 
 Murray has published some undeniable truths concerning 
 it, mixed with a jargon of absurdity ; and one Winches- 
 ter among you has followed his example. ... As to the 
 doctrine itself, of which you desire my opinion, I frankly 
 own to you, that I have for several years been growing 
 in my acquaintance with it and my regard for it. I 
 wished it might be true long before I saw any just rea- 
 son to conclude it was so. . . . But at present I do not 
 see how the doctrine can be disproved, if the Scripture 
 be allowed to speak for itself, and the expressions 
 therein used be understood in their natural sense, with- 
 out any systematical or synodical comments." 
 
 4. Joseph Huntington, D. D., was a graduate of 
 Yale College in 1762. He was ordained pastor of the 
 First Church in Coventry, Conn., in 1763, and remained 
 pastor till his death, in 1794 
 
 After his death there was found among his papers a 
 manuscript volume, entitled " Calvinism Improved," 
 which contains a vigorous defence of Universalism, on 
 a theory which differed in little or nothing from old- 
 fashioned Calvinism, except in maintaining that the 
 
 VOL. I. — 7 
 
98 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Atonement of Christ was commensurate, not only in its 
 nature, but in its design, with the sins of the whole 
 human family. 
 
 The volume was published two years after his death, 
 but had a limited circulation, — 
 
 "much the greater part of the edition," says Dr. 
 Sprague, " having been consigned to the flames by one 
 of his daughters, — a lady of rare excellence, who loved 
 simple Calvinism better than ' Calvinism Improved,' and 
 whose regard for Orthodoxy seems to have been an over- 
 match even for her filial reverence." 
 
 He adds : " It has been suggested that the book might 
 have been written as a mere trial of polemic skill ; but 
 the preface puts it beyond a doubt that it contains his 
 deliberate and matured convictions." 
 
 One of the paragraphs in the introduction or pref- 
 ace is, 
 
 " The author has often been too precipitate and hasty 
 in many things ; but in no wise so in embracing the doc- 
 trine here advanced. He is now passing the meridian of 
 life ; and this opuiion of the way of salvation is the re- 
 sult of his most careful enquiry from the days of his 
 early youth." 
 
 Again he says : — 
 
 "What now appears is a small part of a system of 
 Divinity which the author has been meditating more 
 than twenty years." And again : " I have spent more 
 than twenty years in the most careful reading and atten- 
 tion to everything relating to this subject." 
 
 The introduction is without date, and so we have 
 no means of knowing just when the work was com- 
 pleted. Eev. Daniel Waldo speaks of it as a common 
 
THE CONGEKGATIONALISTS. 99 
 
 thing for Dr. Huntington to raise objections to the doc- 
 trine of future punishment, professedly to see how his 
 brethren would answer them ; and he adds : — 
 
 " I presume there is no doubt that his attention had 
 long been directed to the subject, though it was probably 
 not till a very late period that his views became fixed. 
 Had he lived a little longer, it is quite probable that he 
 would have openly and distinctly avowed them." ^ 
 
 The " First Presbytery of the Eastward " published a 
 book against Chauncy's pamphlet, entitled, " Bath Kol, 
 a Voice from the Wilderness, being an humble attempt 
 to support the sinking truths of God against some of 
 the principal errors raging at tliis time." In the preface 
 we are told that the 
 
 "low state of religion, and the awful floods of error, in- 
 duced the 'First Presbytery of the Eastward,' in session at 
 Windham [Conn. J, May 21, 1783, to appoint 'a commit- 
 tee to bring in a draught of a testimony ' against these 
 evils ; and they were specially directed to begin with 
 Origenism (or the doctrine of Universal Salvation), as 
 lying nearest the root of all the impiety and wickedness 
 now leading the fashion in places of public resort." 
 
 So out of a total of 360 pages, 222 are devoted to 
 Universalism. The spirit of the whole may be judged 
 by the manner in which the subject was introduced : 
 
 " The first card ever played in the game of catching 
 souls in this snare was by the doctrine of Universal Sal- 
 vation. The truth of the threatening which God himself 
 had expressly delivered in Paradise, the destroyer dared, 
 in the same Paradise, as expressly to deny. ' Ye shall 
 not surely die, though God has said you shall,' was the 
 
 1 Annals of the American Pulpit, vol. i. p. 606. 
 
100 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 first sermon on this subject ; it was delivered by the orig- 
 inal author of the doctrine " (p. 171). 
 
 Alluding to Murray as a zealous disciple of the Eellys, 
 the writer adds : — 
 
 " It is true that the Soeinian form of this opinion had 
 stolen a passage into this country long before the arrival 
 of the itinerant last mentioned. Some church records, 
 within forty miles of Boston, can show that it was not 
 first imported by him. And it is roundly asserted by 
 many that nothing but a stock of Dr. Burnet's honesty 
 has prevented its being fairly opened up to the world, 
 under the sanction of the name of another Doctor, thirty 
 years ago. Whether the success of the traveller men- 
 tioned above awakened a jealousy that the honor of so 
 important a discovery in theology should be carried off 
 by an illiterate stranger, or whether the great fertility of 
 the present aera in the invention of improvements in all 
 departments of learning and science stung the divines 
 now on the stage to emulation, we list not to enquire. 
 One thing is become certain, that no sooner did the 
 author of a pamphlet called ' Salvation for all Men ' give 
 the word, than great was the multitude of the preachers 
 that suddenly rose up in almost every quarter, and pub- 
 lished it. And, if the best accounts we can obtain de- 
 serve credit, this doctrine rings from so many pulpits 
 through the land already, that every minister of the gos-' 
 pel who does not wish it to become universally taught 
 and received is now called on, as he tenders the cause of 
 God and the best interests of souls, to stand forth and 
 openly disavow it " (pp. 186, 187). 
 
 It would be interesting if we could know who these 
 persons were who were advocating Universalism " from 
 so many pulpits " about this time, but such information 
 is denied us. We may be sure, however, that the 
 
THE CONGREGATION ALISTS. 101 
 
 author of " Bath Kol " did not exaggerate in saying that 
 the doctrines of Universalism were gaining ground, and 
 were especially disturbing some of the Presbyterian 
 congregations. 
 
 The Synod of ISTew York and Philadelphia took the 
 following action in 1787 : — 
 
 " Whereas the doctrine of Universal Salvation and of 
 the finite duration of hell torments has been propagated 
 by sundry persons who live in the United States of 
 America, and the people under our care ma,y possibly, 
 from their occasional conversation with the propagators 
 of such a dangerous opinion, be infected by the doctrine ; 
 the Synod take this opportunity to declare their utter 
 abhorrence of such doctrines, as they apprehend to be 
 subversive of the fundamental principles of religion and 
 morality; and therefore earnestly recommend it to all 
 their Presbyteries and members to be watchful upon this 
 subject, and to guard against the introduction of such 
 tenets among our people." 
 
 Five years later, action was taken which evinced that 
 the knowledge and belief of Universalism had extended 
 far beyond the New England States : — 
 
 " A question from the Synod of the Carolinas was in- 
 troduced through the Committee of Bills and Overtures, 
 which was as follows ; viz., ' Are they who publicly pro- 
 fess a belief in the doctrine of the Universal and actual 
 Salvation of the whole human race, or of the fallen angels, 
 or both, through the mediation of Christ, to be admitted 
 to the sealing ordinances of the gospel ? ' The Assem- 
 bly determined that such persons should not be ad- 
 mitted." (1792. Vol. i. p. 64.) 
 
 Two years later than this — 
 
102 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " a ; consideration of Dr. MoC.'s letter was resumed. 
 On the first proposition in the letter, requesting a consid- 
 eration of the sentence of the General Assembly respect- 
 ing the doctrine of Universal Salvation, passed at Carlisle 
 in 1792, the Assembly unanimously agreed to adhere to 
 its aforesaid decision." (1794. Vol. i. p. 94.) 
 
 Of course it is not supposed that Dr. Chauucy's pam- 
 phlet, or anything proceeding directly from it, wholly 
 accounts for this spread of Universalism. We shall see, 
 at some future time, what other influences and agencies 
 were at work; but it is obvious that it made a great 
 stir, and was influential in some eminent circles. 
 
 A singular coincidence was afforded near the close of 
 the last century in four adjoining towns in Western 
 New Hampshire, — five Orthodox clergymen, pastors of 
 four Congregational churches, becoming Universalists, 
 and all save one of them being dismissed for their 
 heresy. Thomas Fessenden, of Walpole, ordained there 
 in 1767, continued pastor till his death, in 1813. In 
 1804 lie published a volume entitled, " The Science of 
 Sanctity," on the 166th page of which is the follow- 
 ing:— 
 
 " The restitution of all to God and heaven will be in a 
 way consistent with all his divine perfections ; he is a just 
 God and a Saviour. All will be his willing people in the 
 day of his power, and some will be saved so as by fire. 
 
 " When the Son delivers up the kingdom, and is himself 
 subject to the Father, he will retire from government, 
 and return to the state and form of God he was in before 
 his incarnation, full of all the satisfaction, and with all 
 the honor and glory resulting from his beneficial work. 
 He will be as glorious in giving up as in receiving the 
 kingdom. 
 
THE CONGKEGATIONALISTS. 103 
 
 " The advocates for endless sin and misery still con- 
 tinue God's creation and kingdom divided and deranged ; 
 God is not and never can be all in all, according to them, 
 to the whole of it. He endures in his creation what is 
 not of his making, and what his soul hates and abhors. 
 An usurping devil is paramount to him in the number of 
 his subjects. Some of them say Christ died only for a 
 few, but all for whom he died will be saved. Others say 
 he died for all, and yet finally will lose most of his re- 
 deemed. But neither of them can give a satisfactory 
 reason for the endless duration of sin and misery, nor 
 reconcile it to the benevolence, holiness, wisdom, and 
 even justice of God. Endless punishment cannot be 
 proved to be conducive to God's glory, or the benefit of 
 the righteous, who are perfected by love and not by fear, 
 and confirmed in their happy condition without need of 
 such a spectacle of misery always before them, who 
 issuing from God, they are always, and ever will be, bound 
 to love. 
 
 " What hath caused many to deny the salvation of all 
 men is their supposing the general judgment ends the 
 Mediator's reign, and that this life, be it longer or 
 shorter, is the only time of mercy to the spirits and souls 
 God hath made. But these are shown to be mistakes by 
 many able writers on this subject, and to these the reader 
 is referred." 
 
 Dr. Davis, in his manuscript volumes of " Biographical 
 Sketches of Congregational Clergymen in New Eng- 
 land," says that Fessenden never was suspected of 
 heresy. 
 
 Eev. Jacob Mann, ordained and settled at Alstead in 
 1782, was " dismissed May, 1789, in consequence of his 
 erroneous and unsettled sentiments," having embraced 
 Universalism. 
 
104 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 His successor, Samuel Mead, ordained and settled in 
 1791, was " dismissed in 1797, on account of his unr 
 settled doctrinal views," he having become a Universal- 
 ist, publishing in 1796 a pamphlet entitled, " A Faithful 
 Hint on the Final Eeduction and Eestoration of Sin- 
 ners." 
 
 Eev. Dan Foster, pastor of the church in Charlestown, 
 became a Universalist, and published an able book in 
 review of Dr. Strong's " Endless Punishment Consistent 
 with Infinite Benevolence." 
 
 Eev. Mr. Taft, of Langdon, also became a Universal- 
 ist ; and Eev. Perley Howe, in Surry, also embraced 
 Universalism, and was dismissed for having departed 
 from the faith. In Eockingham, Vt., separated from 
 Charlestown by the Connecticut Eiver only, Eev. Samuel 
 Whiting, ordained and settled in 1773, became a Uni- 
 versalist, and was dismissed for that reason. 
 
CHAPTER 11. 
 
 1770-1778. 
 John Mukrat, His Birth and early Religious Traikisg. — His fikst 
 
 COSTACT WITH UsiVEKSALISM. —EXAMINES Mr. MASON'S EeVIEW 
 
 OF Kelly. — Keads Eelly's Union. — Hears Relly Preach. — 
 PiiAYEKFUL Examination of Univeksahsm. — Becomes a Univer- 
 salist. — Is excommunicated from the Methodists. — Beueave- 
 MENT AND Embarrassments. — Mk. Relly's Sympathy and Help. 
 — Comes to America. — Intekview with Thomas Potter. — Re- 
 sists Requests to Preach. — His First Sermon in America. — 
 Preaches in New York. — Is Constantly Employed. — Extent 
 OF the Field occupied by him. — Publishes a Rellyan Pam- 
 phlet. — Visits Gloucester, Mass. — Characteristics of his 
 Prf.aching at this Time. — Difficulties and Misunderstand- 
 ings occasioned by his Course. — Changk cf Policy. — Chap- 
 lain of the Rhode Island Brigade. — Leaves the Army. — 
 Obtains Relief for the Sufferers in Gloucester. — Violent 
 Opposition to him, and he is warned to leave Town. — Politi- 
 cal charges against him. — General Greene's Certificate. — 
 Peculiarities of Mr. Murray's Theology. — His Distinction 
 between Salvation and Redemption. — The Distinction some- 
 times IGXORKD. — Rev. Noah Parker. — Dr. Isaac Davis. — Rev. 
 Adams Stuekter. — Rev. Caleb Rich. — Peculiar Theology of 
 THE Latter. 
 
 JOHN MTJEEAY, who came to America in 1770, did 
 not seek these shores as affording him a field for 
 missionary operations, but rather to lose himself in the 
 wilds of the New World, and to pass the remainder of 
 his days in obscurity. Born in Alton, England, in 
 1741, of eminently religious parents, — his father an 
 Episcopalian and his mother a Presbyterian, and both 
 high Calvinists, — he was brought up in the most rigid 
 manner under the influence of a hard theology, fre- 
 quently experiencing, he says, " the extreme of agony," 
 
106 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " tortured by the severe unbending discipline of my 
 father, and the terrifying apprehensions of what I had 
 to expect from the God who created me." 
 
 When about twelve years of age, the Methodists 
 under the lead of John Wesley, attracted his attention. 
 His father, without giving up his Calvinistic views 
 became a member and class-leader of their society, and 
 young Murray was made the class-leader, by special 
 appointment of John Wesley, of a class of about forty 
 boys. In a few years he became an earnest preacher, 
 and subsequently, having met and heard Eev. George 
 Whitefield, became pronounced in his advocacy of Cal- 
 vinistic views. For a while, the gay society in which 
 he moved made him indifferent to religious subjects; 
 but entering anew into church relations by becoming a 
 communicant at Whitefield's Tabernacle, in London, he 
 regained his faith and devotion, and was zealous in the 
 discharge of his religious duties. 
 
 His attention was first called to the subject of Uni- 
 versalism by an appointment made for him to visit and 
 endeavor to reclaim a young woman of the Tabernacle 
 congregation who had heard and accepted the teachings 
 of James Eelly, a Universalist preacher of London. 
 
 " Accompanied by two or three of my Christian breth- 
 ren," he says, "I went to see, to converse with, and if 
 need were, to admonish this simple, weak, but as we 
 heretofore believed, meritorious female. Fully persuaded 
 that I could easily convince her of her errors, I enter- 
 tained no doubt respecting the result of my undertaking. 
 The young lady received us with much kindness and 
 condescension, while, as I glanced my eye upon her fine 
 countenance, beaming with intelligence, mingling pity 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 107 
 
 and contempt grew in my bosom. After the first cere- 
 monies we sat for some time silent. At length I drew 
 up a heavy sigh, and uttered a pathetic sentiment rela- 
 tive to the deplorable condition of those who live and 
 die in unbelief. And I concluded a violent declamation, 
 by pronouncing with great earnestness, ' He that believeth 
 not shall be damned.' 
 
 " ' And pray, sir,' said the young lady, with great 
 sweetness, 'pray, sir, what is the unbeliever damned 
 for not believing?' 
 
 " ' What is he damned for not believing ? Why, he is 
 damned for not believing.' 
 
 " ' But, my dear sir, I asked what was that which he 
 did not believe for which he was damned ? ' 
 
 " ' Why, for not believing in Jesus Christ, to be sure.' 
 
 " ' Do you mean to say that unbelievers are damned for 
 not believing there was such a person as Jesus Christ ? ' 
 
 " ' No, I do not ; a man may believe there was such a 
 person, and yet be damned.' 
 
 " ' What, then, sir, must he believe in order to avoid 
 damnation ? ' 
 
 " 'Why, he must believe that Jesus Christ is a complete 
 Saviour.' 
 
 " ' Well, suppose he were to believe that Jesus Christ 
 was the complete Saviour of others, would this belief 
 save him ? ' 
 
 " ' No, he must believe that Jesus Christ is his complete 
 Saviour. Every individual must believe for himself that 
 Jesus Christ is his complete Saviour.' 
 
 " ' Why, sir, is Jesus Christ the Saviour of any unbe- 
 lievers f ' 
 
 " ' No, madam.' 
 
 " ' Why, then, should any unbeliever believe that Jesus 
 Christ is his Saviour if he he not his Saviour ? ' 
 
 "'I say he is not the Saviour of any one until he 
 believes.' 
 
108 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " ' Then, if Jesus be not the Saviour of the unbeliever 
 until he believes, the unbeliever is called upon to believe 
 a lie. It appears to me, sir, that Jesus is the complete 
 Saviour of unbelievers ; and that unbelievers are called 
 upon to believe the truth ; and that by believing, they are 
 saved, in their own apprehension, saved from all those 
 dreadful fears which are consequent upon a state of 
 conscious condemnation.' 
 
 " ' No, madam ; you are dreadfully, I trust not fatally, 
 misled. Jesus never was, never will be, the Saviour of 
 any unbeliever.' 
 
 " ' Do you think Jesus is your Saviour, sir ? ' 
 
 " ' I hope he is.' 
 
 " ' Were you always a believer, sir ? ' 
 
 " ' No, madam.' 
 
 " ' Then you were once an unbeliever ; that is, you once 
 believed that Jesus Christ was not your Saviour, Now, 
 as you say he never was, nor never will be, the Saviour 
 of any unbeliever ; as you were once an unbeliever, he 
 never can be your Saviour.' 
 
 " ' He never was my Saviour till I believed.' 
 
 " ' Did he never die for you till you believed, sir ? ' 
 
 " Here I was extremely embarrassed, and most devoutly 
 wished myself out of her habitation. I sighed bitterly, 
 expressed deep commiseration for those souls who had 
 nothing but head-knowledge ; drew out my watch, dis- 
 covered it was late ; and, recollecting an engagement, ob- 
 served it was time to take leave. 
 
 " I was extremely mortified. The young lady observed 
 my confusion, but was too generous to pursue her tri- 
 umph. I arose to depart ; the company arose ; she urged 
 us to tarry, — addressed each of us in the language of 
 kindness. Her countenance seemed to wear a resem- 
 blance of the heaven which she contemplated. It was 
 stamped by benignity ; and, when we bade her adieu, she 
 enriched us by her good wishes. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 109 
 
 "I suspected that my religious brethren saw she had 
 the advantage of me ; and I felt that her remarks were 
 indeed unanstverable. My pride was hurt, and I deter- 
 mined to ascertain the exact sentiments of my associates 
 respecting this interview. ' Poor soul,' said I, ' she is 
 far gone in error.' — ' True,' said they ; ' but she is, 
 notwithstanding, a very sensible woman.' Ay, ay, 
 thought I, they have assuredly discovered that she had 
 proved too mighty for me. ' Yes,' said I, ' she has a 
 great deal of head-knovfleige ; but yet she may be a 
 lost, damned soul.' — ' I hope not,' returned one of my 
 friends ; ' she is a very good young woman.' I saw, 
 and it was with extreme chagrin, that the result of this 
 visit had depreciated me in the opinion of my compan- 
 ions. But I could only censure and condemn, solemnly 
 observing, it was better not to converse with any of 
 those apostates, and it would be judicious never to asso- 
 ciate with them upon any occasion. From this period, 
 I myself carefully avoided every Universalist, and most 
 cordially did I hate them." ^ 
 
 Not long after this a Mr. Mason, a layman of quite 
 high standing, who had charge of a congregation which 
 met for the purpose of elucidating difficult passages of 
 Scripture, sought an interview with him, and said : — 
 
 " ' My object in seeking to engage you in private, is to 
 request you would take home with you a pamphlet I 
 have written against Eelly's "Union." I have long 
 wondered that some able servant of our Master has not 
 taken up this subject ; but, as my superiors are silent, I 
 have been urged by a sense of duty to make a stand, and 
 I have done all in my power to prevent the pernicious 
 tendency of this soul-destroying book.' 
 
 "Although, at this period, I had never seen Eelly's 
 
 • Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 146-149. 
 
110 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ' Union,' yet my heart rejoiced that Mason, this great 
 and good man, had undertaken to write against it, and, 
 fi'om the abundance of my heart, my mouth overflowed 
 with thankfulness. 
 
 " ' All that I request of you,' said Mr. Mason, ' is to 
 take this manuscript home with you, and keep it till our 
 next meeting. Meet me in this vestry a little before the 
 usual time. Read it, I entreat you, carefully, and favor 
 me with your unbiassed sentiments.' I was elated by 
 the honor done me, and I evinced much astonishment at 
 the confidence reposed in me. But he was pleased to 
 express a high opinion of my judgment, abilities, and 
 goodness of heart, and he begged leave to avail himself 
 of those qualities with which his fancy had invested me. 
 
 " I took the manuscript home, perused it carefully, and 
 with much pleasure, until I came to a passage at which 
 I was constrained to pause, painfully to pause. Mr. Kelly 
 has said, speaking of the record which God gave of his 
 Son : ' This life is in his Son, and he that believeth not this 
 record maketh God a liar. From whence,' inferred Mr. 
 Eelly, ' it is plain that God hath given this eternal life 
 in the Son to unbelievers, as fully as to believers, else the 
 unbeliever could not by his unbelief make God a liar.' 
 ' This,' said Mr. Mason, punning upon the author's name, 
 ' is just as clear as that this writer is an Irish Bishop.' I 
 was grieved to observe that Mr. Mason could say no more 
 upon a subject so momentous. Nor could I forbear allow- 
 ing more than I wished to allow to the reasoning of Mr. 
 Relly. Most devoutly did I lament that the advantage 
 in argument did not rest with my admired friend, Mason ; 
 and I was especially desirous that this last argument 
 should have been completely confuted. I was positive 
 that God never gave eternal life to any unbeliever ; and 
 yet I was perplexed to decide how, if God had not given 
 life to unbelievers, they could possibly maJce God a liar 
 by believing that he had not. My mind was incessantly 
 
JOHN MURRAY. Ill 
 
 exercised and greatly embarrassed upon this question. 
 What is it to make any one a liar, but to deny the truth 
 of what he has said ? But if God had nowhere said he 
 had given life to unbelievers, how could the unbeliever 
 make God a liar ? The stronger this argument seemed 
 in favor of the grace and love of God, the more distressed 
 and unhappy I became ; and most earnestly did I wish 
 that Mr. Mason's pamphlet might contain something that 
 was more rational, more Scriptural, than a mere pun; 
 that he might be able to adduce proof positive that the 
 gift of God, which is everlasting life, was never given to 
 any but believers. I was indisputably assured that I 
 myself was a believer ; and right precious did I hold my 
 exclusive property in the Son of God. 
 
 " At the appointed time I met Mr. Mason in the vestry. 
 ' Well, sir, I presume you have read my manuscript ? ' — 
 ' I have, sir, and I have read it repeatedly.' — ' Well, sir, 
 speak freely, is there anything in the manuscript which 
 you dislike ? ' — ' Why, sir, as you are so good as to in- 
 dulge me with the liberty of speaking, I will venture 
 to point out one passage which appears to me not suflB.- 
 ciently clear. Pardon me, sir, but surely argument, 
 especially upon religious subjects, is preferable to ridicule, 
 to punning upon the name of an author.' — ' And where, 
 pray, is the objectionable paragraph to which you ad- 
 vert ? ' I pointed it out ; but, on looking in his face, I 
 observed his countenance fallen ; it was no longer toward 
 me. Mr. Mason questioned my judgment, and never 
 afterward honored me by his attention. However, I still 
 believed Mason right, and ReUy wrong ; for if Eelly was 
 right, the conclusion was unavoidable, all men must 
 finally be saved. But this was out of the question, 
 utterly impossible. All religious denominations agreed 
 to condemn this heresy, to consider it as a damnable doc- 
 trine ; and what every religious denomination united to 
 condemn must be false. 
 
112 CNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " Thus, although I lost the favor of Mr. Mason, and he 
 published his pamphlet precisely as it stood when sub- 
 mitted to my perusal, yet my reverential regard for him 
 was not diminished. I wished, most cordially wished, 
 success to his book, and destruction to the author against 
 whom it was written. 
 
 "In this manner some months rolled over my head, 
 when, accompanying my wife on a visit to her aunt, after 
 the usual ceremonies, I repaired, according to custom, to 
 the bookcase, and, turning over many books and pamph- 
 lets, I at length opened one that had been robbed of its 
 titlepage ; but in running it over I came to the very 
 argument which had excited so much anxiety in my 
 bosom. It was the first moment I had ever seen a line 
 of Mr. Kelly's writing, except in Mr. Mason's pamphlet. 
 I was much astonished, and, turning to Mrs. Murray, I 
 informed her I held Mr. Eelly's ' Union ' in my hand. I 
 asked our uncle if I might put it in my pocket. * Surely,' 
 said he, ' and keep it there, if you please ; I never read 
 books of divinity. I know not what the pamphlet is, nor 
 do I wish to know.' As I put it into my pocket, my 
 mind became alarmed and perturbed. It was dangerous ; 
 it was tampering with poison ; it was like taking fire into 
 my bosom. I had better throw it into the flames, or 
 restore it to the bookcase. Such was the conflict in my 
 bosom. However, in the full assurance that the elect 
 were safe, and that although they took any deadly thing it 
 should not hurt them, I decided to read the ' Union ; ' 
 and, having thus made up my mind, 1 experienced a de- 
 gree of impatience until I reached home, when, addressing 
 the dear companion of my youth, I said, 'I have, my 
 dear, judged and condemned before I have heard ; but I 
 have now an opportunity given me for deliberate investi- 
 gation.' — 'But,' returned Mrs. Murray, 'are we sufBcient 
 of ourselves ? ' — 'Ko, my love, certainly we are not ; but 
 God, all-gracious, hath said, "If any lack wisdom, let 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 113 
 
 them ask of God, who giveth liberally and upbraideth 
 not." My heart is exercised by fearful apprehensions. 
 This moment I dread to read, the next I am anxious to 
 hear what the author can say. We will, therefore, lay 
 this book before our God. There is, my love, a God, who 
 is not far from every one of us. We are directed to make 
 our requests known unto him for all things, by supplica- 
 tion and prayer. God hath never yet said to any, " Seek 
 ye my face in vain." We will then pray for his direction 
 and counsel, and we may rest in the assurance of obtain- 
 ing both.' Accordingly we entered our closet, and both 
 of us — for we were both equally interested — prostrated 
 ourselves before God with prayers and tears, beseeching 
 him, the God of mercy, to look with pity on us. We 
 were on the point of attending to doctrines of which we 
 were not, we could not, be judges, and we earnestly sup- 
 plicated him to lead us into all truth. If the volume 
 before us contained truth, we entreated him to show it to 
 us, and to increase our faith. If, on the other hand, it 
 contained falsehood, we beseeched God to make it mani- 
 fest, that we might not be deceived. No poor criminal 
 ever prayed for life, when under sentence of death, with 
 greater fervor of devotion than did my laboring soul upon 
 this occasion supplicate for the light of life to direct 
 my erring steps. 
 
 " After thus weeping and thus supplicating, we opened 
 the Bible and began to read this book, looking into the 
 Bible for the passages to which the writer referred. We 
 were astonished and delighted at the beauty of the 
 Scriptures, thus exhibited. It seemed as if every sen- 
 tence was an apple of gold in a picture of silver; and 
 still, as we proceeded, the wonder was that so much 
 divine truth should be spoken by so heinous a trans- 
 gressor; and this consideration seemed suggested as a 
 reason why I should not continue reading. Can anything 
 good proceed from such a character ? Would not truth 
 
 VOL. I. — 8 
 
114 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 have been revealed to men eminent for virtue ? How ig 
 it possible discoveries so important should never until 
 now have been made, and now only by this man ? Yet 
 I considered, God's ways were in the great deep ; he would 
 send by whom he would send; choosing the weak and 
 base things to confound the mighty and the strong, that 
 no flesh should glory in his presence. And, as my lovely 
 wife justly observed, I was not sure all I heard of Mr. 
 Relly was true ; that our Saviour had said to his disciples, 
 ' They shall say all manner of evil of you falsely ; ' and 
 the present instance may be a case in point. ' You have 
 no personal acquaintance with Mr. Eelly,' said she ; ' nor 
 do you know that any of those from whom you have 
 received his character are better informed than yourself. 
 I think it doth not become us to speak or believe evil of 
 any man without the strongest possible proof.' All this 
 was rational. I felt , its full force, and blushed for my 
 own credulity. I proceeded to read. The ' Union ' in- 
 troduced me to many passages of Scripture which had 
 before escaped my observation. A student as I had 
 been of the Scriptures from the first dawn of my reason, 
 I could not but wonder at myself. 1 turned to Mr. 
 Mason's book, and I discovered want of candor, and a 
 kind of duplicity which had not before met my view, and 
 which perhaps would never have caught my attention 
 had I not read the ' Union.' I saw the grand object un- 
 touched, while Eelly had clearly pointed out the doctrines 
 of the gospel. Yet there were many passages that I 
 could not understand, and I felt myself distressingly 
 embarrassed. One moment I wished from my sotil I had 
 never seen the ' Union ; ' and the next my heart was en- 
 larged and lifted up by considerations which swelled my 
 bosom to ecstasy. This was the situation of my mind 
 during many succeeding months, and a large propor- 
 tion of my time was passed in reading and studying 
 the Scriptures, and in prayer. My understanding was 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 115 
 
 pressing on to new attainments, and the prospect bright- 
 ened before me. I was greatly attached to my minister, 
 Mr. Hitchins ; he was eminent in his line, and a most 
 pleasing preacher. Mrs. Murray was in the habit of 
 tfOiing down his sermons in short-hand. We were de- 
 lighted with the man, and accustomed to consider him a 
 genuine gospel preacher. It happened that Mr. Hitehius 
 took a journey into the country, and was absent on the 
 Sabbath day. ' Come, my dear,' said I, ' our minister is 
 out of town; let us avail ourselves of the opportunity, 
 and hear the writer of the " Union." This is a privilege 
 which few who read books can have, as authors are gen- 
 erally numbered with the dead before their labors are 
 submitted to the public eye.' Her consent was yielded 
 to my solicitations ; but we were terrified as we passed 
 along, in the fear of meeting some of our religious breth- 
 ren. Happily, however, we reached the meeting-house 
 without encountering any one to whom we were known. 
 
 " Mr. Eelly had changed his place of worship, and we 
 were astonished to observe a striking proof of the false- 
 hood of those reports which had reached us. No coaches 
 thronged the street, nor surrounded the door of this 
 meeting-house ; there was no vestige of grandeur either 
 within or without. The house had formerly been occu- 
 pied by Quakers. There were no seats save a few 
 bsnches ; and the pulpit was framed of a few rough 
 boards, over which no plane had ever passed. The audi- 
 ence corresponded with the house. They did not appear 
 very religious ; that is, they were not melancholy ; and 
 I therefore suspected they had not much piety. I at- 
 tended to everything. The hymn was good, the prayer 
 excellent, and I was astonished to witness in so bad a 
 man so much apparent devotion ; for still, I must confess, 
 the prejudices I had received from my religious friends 
 were prevalent in my mind. Mr. Eelly gave out his 
 text : ' Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or 
 
116 UNI VERBALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the tree corrupt and the fruit corrupt ; for every tree is' 
 known by its fruit ; a good tree cannot bring forth cor- 
 rupt fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good 
 fruit.' I was immeasurably surprised. What, thought 
 I, has this man to do with a passage so calculated to con- 
 demn himself? But, as he proceeded, every faculty of 
 my soul was powerfully seized and captivated, and I was 
 perfectly amazed, while he explained wlio we were to 
 understand by the good, and who by the lad trees. He 
 proved, beyond contradiction, that a good tree could not 
 bring forth any corrupt fruit, but there was no man who 
 lived and sinned not. All mankind had corrupted them- 
 selves ; there were none, therefore, good ; no, not one. 
 
 "No Tnere man, since the fall, has been able to keep 
 the commandments of God ; but daily doth break them, 
 in thought, in word, in deed. There was, however, one 
 good tree, Jesus. He, indeed, stands as the apple-tree 
 among the trees of the wood. He is that good tree, which 
 cannot bring forth corrupt fruit. Under his shadow the 
 believer reposeth ; the fruit of this tree is sweet to his 
 taste ; and the matter of his theme constantly is, ' Whom 
 have I in heaven but thee, and there is none upon earth 
 that I desire beside thee.' I was constrained to believe 
 that I had never, until this moment, heard the Redeemer 
 preached ; and, as I said, I attended with my whole soul. 
 I was humbled ; I was confounded ; I saw clearly that I 
 had been all my life expecting good fruit from corrupt 
 trees, grapes on thorns, and figs on thistles. I suspected 
 myself ; I had lost my standing ; I was unsettled, per- 
 turbed, and wretched. A few individuals whom I had 
 known at Mr. Whitefield's tabernacle were among Mr. 
 Eelly's audience, and I heard them say, as they passed 
 out of the aisle of the church, 'I wonder how the phari- 
 sees would like our preacher.' I wished to hear Mrs. 
 Murray speak upon the subject ; but we passed on, 
 wrapped in contemplation. At length, I broke silence : 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 117 
 
 ' Well, my dear, what are your sentiments ? ' — ' Nay, my 
 dear, what is your opinion ? ' — 'I never heard truth, 
 unadulterated truth, before. So sure as there is a God 
 in heaven, if the Scriptures be the word of God, the 
 testimony this day delivered is the truth of God. It is 
 the first consistent sermon I have ever heard.' I reached 
 home full of this sermon ; took up the ' Union,' read it 
 ■with new pleasure ; attended again and again upon Mr. 
 Eelly, and was more and more astonished. Mr. Hitehins 
 returned home, but, as I conceived, very much changed, 
 — more inconsistent than ever. ' No, my dear,' said my 
 wife, ' it is you who are changed. He preaches, as I can 
 prove by my notes, precisely the same; yet it is truly 
 surprising that his multiplied contradictions have until 
 now passed without our observation.' — ' Well,' said I, 
 ' what are we to do ? Can we in future bear such incon- 
 sistencies, now that we are better informed ? Suppose 
 we keep our seats as usual ; attending, however, one-half 
 of every Sabbath to the preacher of Christ Jesus.' On 
 this we immediately determined; and, by this expedi- 
 ent, we imagined we might be gratified by hearing 
 the truth, without running the risk of losing our repu- 
 tation ; for we well knew that, as professed adherents of 
 Mr. Eelly, we could no longer preserve that spotless fame 
 we delighted to cherish. 
 
 " I now commenced the reading of the Scriptures with 
 augmented diligence. The Bible was indeed a new book 
 to me ; the veil was taken from my heart, and the word 
 of my God became right precious to my soul. Many 
 scriptures that I had not known forcibly pressed upon 
 -my observation ; and many that until now I had not suf- 
 fered myself to believe. Still the doctrine of election 
 distressed me. Unfortunately, I had connected this doc- 
 trine of election with the doctrine of final reprobation ; 
 not considering that, although the first was indubitably 
 a Scripture doctrine, the last was not to he found in, nor 
 
118 UNIVERSALISM IN AMEEICA., 
 
 could be supported by, revelation. I determined to call 
 upon and converse with Mr. Hitchins on this important 
 subject. I found him in his study, encompassed about 
 with the writings of great men. 'I wait upon you, sir, 
 for the purpose of obtaining help. The Arminians show 
 me many scriptures which proclaim the universality of 
 the atonement. I cannot answer them. What, my dear 
 sir, shall I do ? ' — ' Why, sir, the doctrines of election 
 and reprobation are doctrines we are bound to believe as 
 articles of our faith ; but I can say with the Rev. Mr. 
 Hervey, I never wish to think of them except upon my 
 knees. I never heard any one undertake to explain 
 them, who did not still further embarrass the subject. 
 One observation is, however, conclusive, and it never 
 fails effectually to silence the Arminian : that if, as they 
 affirm, Christ Jesus died for all men, then assuredly all 
 men must be saved ; for no one can be eternally lost for 
 whom the Redeemer shed his precious blood ; such an event 
 is impossible. Now, as the Arminians will not admit a 
 possibility that all will finally be saved, they are thus 
 easily confounded.' This, I thought, was very good; it 
 was clear as any testimony in divine revelation that 
 Christ Jesus died for all, for the sins of the whole world, 
 for every man, etc. ; and even Mr. Hitchins had declared 
 that every one for whom, Christ died must finally be saved. 
 This I took home with me to my wife. She saw the 
 truth that we were so well prepared to embrace mani- 
 fested even by the testimony of its enemies, and we were 
 inexpressibly anxious to hear and to understand. We 
 now attended public worship, not only as a duty, con- 
 ceiving that we thus increased a fund of righteousness, 
 upon which we were to draw in every exigence, but it 
 became our pleasure, our consolation, and our highest en- 
 joyment. We began to feed upon the truth as it is in 
 Jesus, and every discovery we made filled us with unut- 
 terable transport. I regarded my friends with increasing 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 119 
 
 affection ; and I conceived, if I had an opporiMnity of 
 conversing with the whole world, the whole world would be 
 convinced. It might truly have been said that we had a 
 taste of heaven below. 
 
 " It was soon whispered in the tabernacle that I had 
 frequently been seen going to and coming from Relly's 
 meeting ! This alarmed many, and one dear friend con- 
 versed with me in private upon the subject, heard what, 
 from the abundance of my heart, my mouth was con- 
 strained to utter, smiled, pitied me, and begged I would 
 not be too communicative, lest the business should be 
 brought before the society, and excommunication might 
 follow. I thanked him for his caution; but as I had 
 conversed only with him, I had hazarded nothing. In a 
 short time I was cited to appear before the society wor- 
 shipping in Mr. Whitefield's tabernacle. I obeyed the 
 summons, and found myself in the midst of a very 
 gloomy company, all seemingly in great distress. They 
 sighed very bitterly, and at last gave me to understand 
 that they had heard I had become an attendant upon 
 that monster, Eelly, and they wished to know if their 
 information was correct. I requested I might be told 
 from whom they had their intelligence ; and they were 
 evidently embarrassed by my question. Still, however, 
 I insisted upon being confronted with my accuser, and 
 they at length consented to summon him ; but I was 
 nearly petrified when I learned it was the identical friend 
 who had privately conversed with me, and who had pri- 
 vately cautioned me, that had lodged the information 
 against me ! Upon this friend I had called, in my way 
 to the tabernacle, confiding to him my situation. He 
 said he had feared the event ; he pitied me and prayed 
 with me. But he did not calculate upon being con- 
 fronted with me, and his confusion was too great to 
 suffer his attendance. It was then referred to me : 'Was 
 it a fact, I had attended upon Eelly ? ' I had. ' Did I 
 
120 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 believe what I had heard ?' I answered that I did ; and 
 my trial commenced. They could not prove I had vio- 
 lated those articles to which I had subscribed. I had, in 
 no point of view, infringed the contract by which I was 
 bound. But they apprehended, if I continued to appro- 
 bate Eelly by my occasional attendance on his ministry, 
 my example would become contagious ; except, therefore, 
 I would give them my word that I would wholly abandon 
 this pernicious practice, they must, however unwillingly, 
 pronounce upon me the sentence of excommunication. I 
 refused to bind myself by any promise. I assured them I 
 would continue to hear and to judge for myself ; and that 
 I held it my duty to receive the truth of God wherever 
 it might be manifested. ' But Eelly holds the truth in 
 unrighteousness.' — ' I have nothing to do with his un- 
 righteousness*, my own conduct is not more reprehensible 
 than heretofore.' They granted this ; but the force of 
 example was frequently irresistible, and if I were per- 
 mitted to follow, uncensured, my own inclination, others 
 might claim the same indulgence, to the utter perversion 
 of their souls. It was then conceded in my favor, that, 
 if I would confine my sentiments to my own bosom, they 
 would continue me a member of their communion. I 
 refused to accede to this proposal. I would not be under 
 an obligation to remain silent. I must, so often as oppor- 
 tunity might present, consider myself as called upon to 
 advocate truth. The question was then put: Should I 
 be considered a member of the society upon my own 
 terms ? And it was lost by only three voices." ' 
 
 Hardly had this happy couple entered upon the joys 
 of their new faith, when Mrs. Murray became a con- 
 firmed invalid, and in a short time died. Greatly 
 embarrassed by debts contracted in seeking his wife's 
 restoration to health, Mr. Murray was arrested by his 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 151-16a 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 121 
 
 creditors, but by the assistance of his wife's brother 
 was soon released. Deeply crushed by his bereavement, 
 he embarked in business until he was able to discharge 
 all debts, and his pecuniary circumstances were made 
 easy, but his affliction unfitted him for social enjoyment ; 
 he had no ambition for worldly gains, but cherished the 
 hope that his departure from life would not be long 
 delayed. His former religious associates deserted him, 
 and he had but one earthly friend from whose society 
 he derived pleasure and comfort. Of him he says : — 
 
 " This friend was Mr. James E,elly, the man who had 
 been made an instrument, in the hand of God, of leading 
 me into an acquaintance with the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 This kind friend often visited me ; and in conversing 
 with him I found my heart lightened of its burden. I 
 could better bear the pitiless storm that beat upon me, 
 when strengthened by the example of this son of sorrow. 
 We frequently conversed upon things of the kingdom, 
 and Mr. Eelly, observing my heart much warmed and en- 
 larged by these subjects, urged me to go forth and make 
 mention of the loving-kindness of God. ' No, no,' I con- 
 stantly replied, ' it is not my design again to step forth 
 in a public character. I have been a promulgator of 
 falsehood.' — ' And why not,' he would interrupt, ' a 
 promulgator of truth ? Surely you owe this atonement 
 to the God who hath irradiated your understanding by 
 the light of his countenance.' But no argument he made 
 use of was sufficiently strong to excite in my bosom a 
 single wish that I had either inclination or capability for 
 a character so arduous ; my heart's desire was to pass 
 through life, unheard, unseen, unknoivn to all, as though I 
 ne'er had been. I had an aversion to society ; and, since 
 I could' not be permitted to leave the world, I was solici- 
 tous to retire from its noise and its nonsense. I was, 
 
122 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 indeed, a burden to myself, and no advantage to anybody 
 else. Every place, every thing served to render me more 
 miserable, for they led my mind to the contemplation of 
 past scenes, — of scenes never more to return. Such was 
 the situation of mind, when, at the house of one of Mr. 
 Eelly's hearers, I accidentally met a gentleman from 
 America. I listened with attention to his account of the 
 country in which he had so long resided. I was charmed 
 with his description of its extent, its forests, its lakes, its 
 rivers, its towns, its inhabitants, the liberty they en- 
 joyed, and the peace and plenty which they possessed. 
 I listened to everything with astonishment ; and I turned 
 toward the New World my most ardent wishes. I com- 
 municated my desire to visit America to my mother, to 
 my brethren. I was ridiculed for entertaining a project 
 so chimerical. What, cross the Atlantic ? For what pur- 
 pose ? To whom would I go ? What could I do ? What 
 object could I have in view ? I was unable to answer 
 any of these questions. I had not a single acquaintance 
 in America ; indeed, I had no wish to make acquaintance. 
 I had nothing in prospect but a kind of negative hap- 
 piness. I did not mean to commence a voyage in pursuit 
 of bliss, but to avoid if possible a part of my misery. 
 
 " My mind for a considerable time labored with my pur- 
 pose. Many difficulties interposed. I would iniinitely 
 have preferred entering that narrow house which is ap- 
 pointed for all living ; but this I was not permitted to 
 do; and I conceived to quit England and to retire to 
 America was the next thing to be desired. Nights and 
 days of deliberation at length convinced my judgment, 
 and I was determined to depart for the New World. 
 My few friends urged me most earnestly to let them 
 apply to those who had connections in America, for let- 
 ters of introduction or recommendation. No, by no 
 means ; this would most effectually defeat my purpose. 
 I would rather not go than go thus. My object was to 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 123 
 
 close my life in solitude, in the most complete retire- 
 ment ; and with those views I commenced preparations 
 for my voyage." ^ 
 
 On the twenty-first of July, 1770, Mr. Murray sailed 
 from Gravesend, in the brig " Hand-in-Hand." After 
 an uneventful voyage, they arrived in Philadelphia early 
 in September, but finding the non-importation agree- 
 ment in force there, concluded to go to New York, 
 where the agreement had been suspended, that the cap- 
 tain might be able to dispose of his cargo. Misunder- 
 standing the answer given by the captain of a sloop 
 which they spoke, they kept in a course which soon 
 brought them over a bar into Cranberry Inlet, on the 
 New Jersey coast, where they at first feared they were 
 hopelessly grounded, but by removing a part of the 
 cargo to a sloop, the brig was able to recross the bar at 
 the next turn of the tide ; but before the sloop could 
 follow, head-winds prevented. As much of the cargo 
 transferred to the sloop was valuable, Mr. Murray had, 
 at the solicitation of the captain of the brig, remained 
 with the sloop. It was now ascertained that the sloop 
 was destitute of provisions, and so, locking up the doors 
 and hatch, Mr. Murray and the crew went on shore to 
 obtain supplies. The result Mr. Murray describes bet- 
 ter than any one else could relate it : — 
 
 " I went with the boatmen to a tavern, and, leaving 
 them there, pursued a solitary walk through the woods, 
 which seemed to surround this place. My mind was 
 greatly agitated. I was now in the New World ; and in 
 just such a part of this New World as had ai:)peared so 
 desirable in prospect. Here I was as much alone as I 
 
 > Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 186, 187. 
 
124 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 could wish, and my heart exclaimed, Oh that I had in 
 this wilderness the lodging^dace of a poor wayfaring man ; 
 some cave, some grot, some place where I m,ight finish my 
 days in calm repose ! 
 
 " As thus I passed along, thus contemplating, thus sup- 
 plicating, I unexpectedly reached a small log-house, and 
 saw a girl cleaning a fresh fish. I requested she would 
 . sell it to me. ' No, sir, you will find a very great plenty 
 at the next house ; we want this.' --- ' The next house, 
 what, this ? ' pointing to one in the woods. ' Oh, no, sir, 
 that is a meeting-house.' A meeting-house here in these 
 woods ! I was exceedingly surprised. ' You must pass 
 the meeting-house, sir ; and a little way farther on you 
 will see the other house, where you will find fish enough.' 
 I went forward. I came to the door ; there was indeed a 
 large j)ile of fish of various sorts, and at a little distance 
 stood a tall man, rough in appearance, and evidently ad- 
 vanced in years. ' Pray, sir, will you have the goodness 
 to sell me one of those fish ? ' — ' No, sir.' — ' That is 
 strange, when you have so many, to refuse me a single 
 fish ! ' — 'I did not refuse you a fish, sir. You are wel- 
 come to as many as you please ; but I do not sell this 
 article. I do not sell fish, sir. I have them for taking up, 
 and you may obtain them the same way.' I thanked him. 
 ' But,' said he, ' what do you want of those fish ? ' I in- 
 formed him that the mariners, who belonged to the sloop 
 at a distance, were at a tavern, and would be glad if I 
 could procure them something for supper. ' Well, sir, 
 I will send my man over with the fish ; but you can tarry 
 here, and have some dressed for yourself.' — ' No, sir, it 
 is proper I should see how they are accommodated.' — 
 ' Well, sir, you shall do as you please ; but, after supper, 
 I beg you would return, and take a bed with us ; you will 
 be better pleased here than at a tavern.' I gratefully 
 thanked him, and cheerfully accepted his offer. I was as- 
 tonished to see so much genuine politeness and urbanity 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 125 
 
 under so rough, a form ; hub ray astouisliment was 
 greatly increased on my return. His room was prepared, 
 his fire bright, and his heart open, 'dome,' said he, 
 ' my friend, I am glad you have returned. I have longed 
 to see you ; I have been expecting you a long time.' I 
 was perfectly amazed. ' What do you mean, sir ? ' — 'I 
 must go on in my own way ; I am a poor ignorant man ; 
 I neither know how to read nor write. I was born in 
 these woods, and my father did not think proper to teach 
 me my letters. I worked on these grounds until I be- 
 came a man, when I went coasting voyages from hence 
 to New York. I was then desirous of becoming a hus- 
 band ; but, in going to New York, I was pressed on board 
 a man-of-war, and I was taken 'in Admiral Warren's 
 ship to Cape Breton. I never drank any rum, so they 
 saved my allowance; but I would not bear an affront, 
 so if any of the officers struck me I struck them again ; 
 but the admiral took my part, and called me his " new- 
 light man." When we reached Louisbourg I ran away, 
 and travelled barefooted through the country, and almost 
 naked to New York, where I was known, and supplied 
 with clothes and money, and soon returned to this place, 
 when I found my girl married. This rendered me very 
 unhappy, but I recovered my tranquillity, and married 
 her sister. I sat down to work ; got forward very fast ; 
 constructed a saw-mill; possessed myself of this farm, 
 and five hundred acres of adjoining land. I entered into 
 navigation, became the owner of a sloop, and have got 
 together a large estate. I am, as I said, unable either to 
 write or read, but I am capable of reflection. The sacred 
 Scriptures have been often read to me, from which I 
 gather that there is a great and good Being, to whom we 
 are indebted for all we enjoy. It is this great and good 
 Being who hath preserved and protected me through in- 
 numerable dangers ; and, as he had given me a house of 
 my own, I conceived I could not do less than to open it to 
 
126 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the stranger, let him be who he would ; and especially, if 
 a travelling minister passed this way, he always received 
 an invitation to put up at my house, and hold his meet- 
 ings here. I continiied this practice for more than seven 
 years, and, illiterate as I was, I used to converse with 
 them, and was fond of asking them questions. They 
 pronounced me an odd mortal, declaring themselves at a 
 loss what to make of me ; while I continued to affirm that 
 I had but one hope : I believed that Jesus Christ suffered 
 death for my transgressions, and this alone was sufficient 
 for me. At length my wife grew weary of having meet- 
 ings held in her house, and I determined to build a house 
 for the worship of God. 
 
 " ' I had no children, and I knew I was beholden to 
 Almighty God for everything which I possessed ; and it 
 seemed right I should appropriate a part of what he had 
 bestowed for his service. My neighbors offered their 
 assistance. But " No," said I, " God has given me enough 
 to do this work without your aid, and, as he has put it into 
 my heart to do, so will I do. " — " And who," it was asked, 
 " will be your preacher ? " I answered, " God will send 
 me a preacher, and of a very different stamp from those 
 who have heretofore preached in my house. The preach- 
 ers we have heard are perpetually contradicting them- 
 selves ; but that God who has put it into my heart to 
 build this house will send one who shall deliver unto me 
 his own truth, — who shall speak of Jesus Christ and his 
 salvation." When the house was finished, I received an 
 application from the Baptists ; and I told them if they 
 could make it appear that God Almighty was a Baptist, 
 the building should be theirs at once. The Quakers and 
 Presbyterians received similar answers. "No," said I, 
 " as I firmly believe that all mankind are equally dear to 
 Almighty God, they shall all be equally welcome to 
 preach in this house which I have built." My neighbors 
 assured me I never should see a preacher whose senti- 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 127 
 
 ments corresponded with my own ; but my uniform reply 
 was, that I assuredly should. I engaged the first year 
 with a man whom I greatly disliked. We parted, and 
 for some years we have had no stated minister. My 
 friends often ask me, "Where is the preacher of whom 
 you spake ? " And my constant reply has been, " He 
 wOl by and by make his appearance." The moment I 
 beheld your vessel on shore, it seemed as if a voice had 
 audibly sounded in my ears, "There, Potter, in that ves- 
 sel cast away on that shore, is the preacher you have 
 been so long expecting." I heard the voice, and I be- 
 lieved the report; and when you came up to my door 
 and asked for the fish, the same voice seemed to repeat, 
 "Potter, this is the man, this is the person, whom I have 
 sent to preach in your house ! " ' 
 
 "I was astonished, immeasurably astonished, at Mr. 
 Potter's narrative ; but yet I had not the smallest idea it 
 could ever be realized. I requested to know what he 
 could discern in my appearance which could lead him to 
 mistake me for a preacher. ' What,' said he, ' could I 
 discern, when you were in the vessel, that could induce 
 this conclusion ? "No, sir, it is not what I saw, or see, but 
 what 1 feel, which produces in my mind a full conviction.' 
 
 " ' But, my dear sir, you are deceived, indeed you are 
 deceived. I never shall preach in this place nor any- 
 where else.' 
 
 " ' Have you never preached ? Can you say you have 
 never preached ? ' 
 
 " ' I cannot ; but I never intend to preach again.' 
 
 " ' Has not God lifted up the light of his countenance 
 upon you ? Has he not shown you his truth ? ' 
 
 " ' I trust he has.' 
 
 " ' And how dare you hide this truth ? Do men light 
 a candle to put it under a bushel ? If God has shown 
 you his salvation, why should you not show it . to your 
 fellowmen ? But I know that you will. I am sure God 
 
128 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Almighty has sent you to us for this purpose. I am not 
 deceived ; I am sure I am not deceived.' 
 
 " I was terrified as the man thus went on ; and I began 
 to fear that God, who orders all things according to 
 the counsel of his own will, had ordained that thus it 
 should be, and my heart trembled at the idea. I en- 
 deavored, however, to banish my own fears, and to silence 
 the warm-hearted man, by observing that I was in the 
 place of a supercargo ; that property to a large amount 
 had been entrusted to my care ; and that the moment 
 the wind changed I was under the most solemn obliga- 
 tions to depart. 
 
 "'The wind will never change, sir, until you have 
 delivered to us, in that meeting-house, a message from 
 God.' 
 
 " Still I was resolutely determined never to enter any 
 pulpit as a preacher. Yet being rendered truly unhappy, 
 I begged I might be shown to my bed. He requested I 
 would pray with them, if I had no objection. I asked 
 him how he could suppose I had any objection to pray- 
 ing. The Quakers, he said, seldom prayed; and there 
 were others who visited him who were not in the habit 
 of praying. ' I never propose prayer, sir, lest it should 
 not meet with the approbation of those with whom I 
 sojourn ; but I am always pleased when prayer is pro- 
 posed to me.' I prayed, and my heart was greatly en- 
 larged and softened. When we parted for the night, my 
 kind host solemnly requested that I would think of what 
 he had said. Alas ! he need not to have made this, re- 
 quest; it was impossible to banish it from my mind. 
 When I entered my chamber and shut the door, I burst 
 into tears. I would have given the world that I had 
 never left England. I felt as if the hand of God was in 
 the events which had brought me to this place, and I 
 prayed most ardently that God would assist and direct 
 me by his counsel. I presented myself before him as a 
 
JOBN MURRAY. 129 
 
 man bowed down by calamity ; a melancboly outcast, 
 driven by repeated aiflictions of body and of mind to 
 seek refuge in private life; to seek solitude amid the 
 wilds of America. 'Thou knowest,' said my oppressed 
 spirit, 'thou knowest, Lord, that if it had pleased thee, 
 I would have preferred death as the safest and most sure 
 retreat : but thou hast not seen fit to indulge my wishes 
 in this respect. In thy providence thou hast brought 
 me into this New World. Thou seest how I am oppressed 
 by solicitations to speak unto the people the words of 
 life. Thou knowest that I am not sufficient for these 
 things. Thou God of my fathers, thou God of the stran- 
 ger, look with pity upon the poor, lonely wanderer now 
 before thee. thou that sittest in the heavens, and 
 rulest in the earth, and who assurest us that a hair of 
 our head cannot fall unnoticed by thee ! — thou who 
 kindly directest us, thy poor, dependent creatures, to 
 acknowledge thee in all their ways, and to make their 
 requests known unto thee in every time of af&iction, 
 behold thy poor dependant, supplicating thee for thy 
 kind direction and protection ! If thou hast indeed put it 
 into the heart of thy servant to demand of me, the mean- 
 est and weakest of all to whom thou didst ever give 
 power to believe in the name of thy Son, to declare unto 
 him and the people of this place the gospel of thy grace, 
 God ! in mercy prepare me, prepare me for so vast an 
 undertaking, and let thy presence be with me. Strengthen 
 me, O Lord, by thy mighty Spirit. And if it be not thy 
 pleasure thus to employ me, — for thou, God, wilt send 
 by whom thou wilt send, — graciously manifest thy will, 
 that so I may not by any means be drawn into a snare. 
 Thou art the sinner's friend ; thou art the only friend I 
 have. To thee, O thou compassionate Father of my 
 spirit, encouraged by thy gracious promises, I make ap- 
 plication. Pity, oh pity, the destitute stranger ; leave me 
 not, I most earnestly entreat thee, to my own direction.' 
 
 VOL. I. — 9 
 
130 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " Thus did I pray, thus did I weep, through the greater 
 part of the night ; dreading more than death — even sup- 
 posing death an object of dread — the thought of engaging 
 as a public character. On the one hand, I discovered 
 that if there be a ruling Power, a superintending Provi- 
 dence, the account given by the extraordinary man under 
 whose roof I reposed evinced its operation ; that, if the 
 heart of the creature be indeed in the hand of the Creator, 
 it was manifest that God had disposed the heart of this 
 man to view me as his messenger, sent for the purpose 
 of declaring the counsel of his peace to his creatures. 
 On the other hand, I recollected that the heart is deceitful 
 above all things; that the devices of the adversary are 
 manifold ; and that, had it been the will of God that I 
 should have become a promulgator of the gospel of his 
 grace, he would have qualified me for an object of such 
 infinite magnitude. If I testified of Jesus according to the 
 Scriptures, I well knew upon what I must calculate : the 
 clergy of all denominations would unite to oppose me. For 
 I had never met with any individuals of that order, either 
 in the Church of Kome or elsewhere, who were believers 
 of the gospel that God preached unto Abraham, that in 
 Christ Jesus all the families of the earth should be 
 blessed; nor did they, as far as I had known, embrace 
 the ministry of reconciliation committed unto the apostles, 
 namely, that ' God was in Christ, reconciling the world 
 unto himself, not imputing unto them their trespasses ; ' 
 nor did they acknowledge the restitution of all things, 
 testified hy all God's holy prophets ever since the world 
 began. To these doctrines I supposed clergymen in this, 
 as well as in the country I had left, united in their oppo- 
 sition ; and, convinced that there were no enemies in the 
 world more powerful than the clergy, I trembled at the 
 thought of stemming the full tide of their displeasure. 
 I was persuaded that people in general, being under the 
 dominion of the clergy, would hate where they hated, and 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 131 
 
 report what they reported. Acquainted in some measure 
 with human nature and with divine revelation, I was cer- 
 tain that if I appeared in the character of a real disciple 
 of Christ Jesus, — if 1 dared to declare the whole truth 
 of God, — all manner of evil would be said of me ; and, 
 although it might be falsely said, while the inventor of 
 the slander would be conscious of its falsehood, the major- 
 ity of those who heard would yield it credit, and I should 
 become the victim of their credulity. 
 
 " I knew how Mr. Eelly had suffered in England, and 
 the apostles in Judea ; and, being a believer in the testi- 
 mony of God, I was assured if my doctrines were the 
 same my treatment would be similar. All this rose to 
 my view, and the prospect was tremendous. Thus I 
 passed the night, and the ensuing morning witnessed my 
 indisposition both of body and mind. My good friend 
 renewed his solicitations. 'WiU you, sir, speak to me 
 and to my neighbors of the things which belong to our 
 peace ? ' Seeing only thick woods, the tavern across the 
 field excepted, I requested to know what he meant by 
 neighbors. '0 sir, we assemble a large congregation 
 whenever the meeting-house is opened ; indeed, when my 
 father first settled here, he was obliged to go twenty 
 miles to grind a bushel of corn ; but there are now more 
 than seven hundred inhabitants within that distance.' I 
 was amazed; indeed, everything I saw and everything 
 I heard amazed me. Nothing, except the religion of the 
 people, resembled what I had left behind. 
 
 "My mind continued subjected to the most torturing 
 reflections. I could not bring myself to yield to the en- 
 treaties of Mr. Potter, and still I urged the necessity of 
 departing the moment the wind would answer. Mr. 
 Potter was positive the wind would not change until I 
 had spoken to the people. Most ardently did I desire to 
 escape the importunities of this good man. The idea of 
 a crowd, making a public exhibition of myself, was to 
 
132 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 my desolate, woe-worn mind intolerable ; and the sus- 
 pense in which I was held was perfectly agonizing. I 
 could not forbear acknowledging an uncommon coinci- 
 dence of circumstances; the hopes and fears of this 
 honest man, so long in operation ; yet he evinced great 
 warmth of disposition, and was evidently tinctured with 
 enthusiasm ; but, after making every allowance for these 
 propensities, it could not be denied that an overruling 
 Power seemed to operate in an unusual and remarkable 
 manner. I could not forbear looking back upon the mis- 
 takes made during our passage, even to the coming in to 
 this particular inlet, where no vessel of the size of the 
 brig ' Hand-in-Hand ' had ever before entered ; every cir- 
 cumstance contributed to bring me to this house. Mr. 
 Potter's address on seeing me, his assurance that he knew 
 I was on board the vessel when he saw her at a distance, 
 — all these considerations pressed with powerful convic- 
 tion on my mind, and I was ready to say. If God Almighty 
 has, in his providence, so ordered events as to bring me 
 into this country for the purpose of making manifest the 
 savor of his name, and of bringing many to the knowl- 
 edge of the truth ; though I would infinitely prefer death 
 to entering into a character which will subject me to 
 what is infinitely worse than death ; yet, as the issues of 
 life and death are not under my direction, am I not 
 bound to submit to the dispensations of Providence ? I 
 wished, however, to be convinced that it was the will of 
 God that I should step forth in a character which would 
 be considered as obnoxious, as truly detestable. I was 
 fully convinced it was not by the will of the flesh, nor 
 by the will of the world, nor by the will of the god of 
 this world; all these were strongly opposed thereto. 
 One moment, I felt my resolution give way; the path 
 pointed out seemed to brighten upon me ; but the next, 
 the difficulties from within and without obscured the 
 prospect, and I relapsed into a firm resolution to shelter 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 133 
 
 myself in solitude from the hopes and fears and the 
 various contentions of men. 
 
 " While I thus halanced, the Sabbath advanced. I had 
 ventured to implore the God who had sometimes conde- 
 scended to indulge individuals with tokens of his appro- 
 bation, graciously to indulge me upon this important 
 occasion ; and that, if it were his will, I should obtain 
 the desire of my soul, by passing through life in a private 
 character. If it were not his will that I should engage 
 as a preacher of the ministry of reconciliation, he would 
 vouchsafe to grant me such a wind as might bear me 
 from this shore before the return of another Sabbath. I 
 determined to take the changing of the wind for an 
 answer ; and, had the wind changed, it would have borne 
 on its wings full conviction, because it would have cor- 
 responded with my wishes. But the wind changed not, 
 and Saturday morning arrived. ' Well,' said my anxious 
 friend, ' now let me give notice to my neighbors.' — ' No, 
 sir, not yet ; should the wind change in the middle of 
 the afternoon I must depart.' No tongue can tell, nor 
 heart conceive, how much I suffered this afternoon ; but 
 the evening came on, and it was necessary I should de- 
 termine ; and at last, with much fear and trembling, I 
 yielded a reluctant consent. Mr. Potter then immedi- 
 ately despatched his servants, on horseback, to spread 
 the intelligence far and wide, and they were to continue 
 their information until ten in the evening. 
 
 " I had no rest through the night. What should I say, 
 or how address the people ? Yet I recollected the ad- 
 monition of our Lord : ' Take no thought what you shall 
 say ; it shall be given you, in that same hour, what you 
 shall say.' Ay, but this promise was made to his dis- 
 ciples. Well, by this I shall know if I am a disciple. If 
 God, in his providence, is committing to me a dispensa- 
 tion of the gospel, he will furnish me with matter, with- 
 out my thought or care. If this thing be not of God he 
 
134 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 will desert me, and this shall be another sign ; on this, 
 then, I rested. Sunday morning succeeded; my host 
 was in transports. I was — I cannot describe how I was. 
 I entered the house; it was neat and convenient, ex- 
 pressive of the character of the builder. There were no 
 pews ; the pulpit was rather in the Quaker mode ; the 
 seats were constructed with backs, roomy, and even 
 elegant. I said there were no pews ; there was one large 
 square pew, just before the pulpit ; in this sat the ven- 
 erable man and his family, particular friends, and visiting 
 strangers. In this pew sat, upon this occasion, this happy 
 man, and, surely, no man upon this side of heaven was 
 ever more completely happy. He looked up to the pulpit 
 with eyes sparkling with pleasure ; it appeared to him as 
 the fulfilment of a promise long deferred; and he re- 
 flected, with abundant consolation, on the strong faith 
 which he had cherished, while his associates would taunt- 
 ingly question, ' Well, Potter, where is this minister who 
 is to be sent to you ? ' — ' He is coming along in God's 
 own good time.' — ' And do you still believe any such 
 preacher will visit you ? ' — ' Oh, yes, assuredly.' He re- 
 flected upon all this, and tears of transport filled his 
 eyes ; he looked round upon the people, and every feature 
 seemed to say, ' There, what think you now ? ' When I 
 returned to his house, he caught me in his arms, ' Now, 
 now I am willing to depart. my God ! I will praise 
 thee ; thou hast granted me my desire. After this truth 
 I have been seeking, but I have never found it until 
 now. I knew that God, who put it into my heart to 
 build a house for his worship, would send a servant of 
 his own to proclaim his own gospel. I knew he would ; I 
 knew the time was come when I saw the vessel grounded ; 
 I knew you were the man, when I saw you approach my 
 door, and my heart leaped for joy.' Visitors poured into 
 the house ; he took each by the hand. ' This is the hap- 
 piest day of my life,' said the transported man. ' There, 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 135 
 
 neighbors, there is the minister God promised to send 
 me. How do you like God's minister ? ' I ran from the 
 company, and, prostrating myself before the throne of 
 grace, besought my God to take me and do with me 
 whatever he pleased. ' I am,' said I, ' I am, Lord God, 
 in thine hand as clay in the hand of the potter. If thou, 
 in thy providence, hast brought me into this New World 
 to make known unto this people the grace and the bless- 
 ings of the new covenant ; if thou hast thought proper, 
 by making choice of so weak an instrument, to confound 
 the wise ; if thou hast been pleased to show to a babe, 
 possessing neither wisdom nor prudence, what thou hast 
 hid from the wise and prudent, — be it so, Father, for 
 so it seemeth good in thy sight. But, my merciful 
 God ! leave me not, I beseech thee, for a single moment ; 
 for without thee I can do nothing. Oh, make thy 
 strength perfect in my weakness, that the world may see 
 that thine is the power, and that, therefore, thine ought 
 to be the glory.' Thus my heart prayed, while suppli- 
 cating tears bedewed my face. 
 
 " I felt, however, relieved and tranquillized, for I had 
 power given me to trust in the Lord, to stay upon the God • 
 of my salvation. Immediately upon my return to the 
 company, my boatmen entered the house. ' The wind is 
 fair, sir.' — ' Well, then, we will depart. It is late in the 
 afternoon, but, no matter, I will embark directlJ^ I have 
 been determined to embrace the first opportunity, well 
 knowing the suspense the captain must be in and the 
 pain attendant thereon.' Accordingly, as soon as matters 
 could be adjusted, I set off; but not till my old friend, 
 taking me by the hand, said, ' You are now going to New 
 York. I am afraid you will, when there, forget the man 
 to whom your Master sent you. But, I do beseech you, 
 come back to me again as soon as possible.' 
 
 " The tears gushed into his eyes, and, regarding me 
 with a look indicative of the strongest affection, he threw 
 
136 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 his arms around me, repeating his importunities that I 
 would not unnecessarily delay my return. I was greatly 
 affected, reiterating the strongest assurances that I would 
 conform to his wishes. 'Why should I not?' said I. 
 ' What is there to prevent me ? I do not know an individ- 
 ual in New York. No one knows me. What should induce 
 me to tarry there ? ' — ' Ah, my friend/ said he, ' you will 
 find many in New York who will love and admire you, 
 and they will wish to detain you in that city. But you 
 have promised you will return, and I am sure you will 
 perform your promise. And in the mean time may the 
 God of heaven be with you.' Unable to reply, I hurried 
 from his door ; and, on entering the vessel, I found the 
 good old man had generously attended to what had made 
 no part of my care, — by making ample provision both 
 for me and the boatmen during our little voyage. 
 
 " I retired to the cabin. I had leisure for serious re- 
 flections, and serious reflections crowded upon me. I 
 was astonished ; I was lost in wonder, in love, and praise. 
 I saw, as evidently as I could see any object visibly ex- 
 hibited before me, that the good hand of God was in all 
 ' these things. ' It is,' I spontaneously exclaimed, ' it is 
 the Lord's doings, and it is marvellous in my eyes.' It 
 appeared to me that I could trace the hand of God in 
 bringing me through a long chain of events, — to such a 
 place, to such a person, so evidently prepared for my 
 reception. And, wliile I acknowledged the will of God 
 manifested respecting my public character, I at the same 
 moment distinguished the kindness of God evinced by 
 his indulging me with a retirement so exactly suited to 
 my wishes. The house was neat, the situation enchant- 
 ing ; it was on the margin of the deep, on the side of an 
 extensive bay, which abounded with fish of every descrip- 
 tion, and a great variety of water-fowl. On the other 
 side of this dwelling, after passing over a few fields 
 (which at that time stood thick with corn), venerable 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 137 
 
 woods, that seemed the coevals of time, presented a 'scene 
 for contemplation fit, towering, majestic, and filling the 
 devotional mind with a religious awe.' I reflected, there- 
 fore, with augmenting gratitude to my heavenly Father, 
 upon the pressing invitation he had put into the heart of 
 his faithful servant to give me. And I determined to 
 hasten back to this delightful retreat, where nothing but 
 the grandeur of simple nature exhibited in the surround- 
 ing objects, and the genuine operations of the Divine 
 Spirit on the heart of the hospitable master, awaited my 
 approach. 
 
 " I had not the least idea of tarrying in New York a 
 moment longer than to see the captain, deliver up my 
 charge, and receive my baggage ; and I resolved to return 
 by the first opportunity to my benevolent friend. And 
 thus did I make up my mind. — ' Well, if it be so, I am 
 grateful to God that the business is thus adjusted. If I 
 must be a promulgator of these glad, these vast, yet ob- 
 noxious tidings, I shall, however, be sheltered in the 
 bosom of friendship, in the bosom of retirement. I will 
 employ myself on the grounds of my friend, thus earning 
 my own support, and health will be a concomitant ; while 
 I will preach the glad tidings of salvation free as the 
 light of heaven.' The business thus arranged, I became 
 reconciled to the will of the Almighty; and I com- 
 menced, with tolerable composure, another and very 
 important stage of my various life." ^ 
 
 The day of his arrival in New York had not flosed 
 before he was importuned by a number of persons to 
 preach for them, — the sailors who accompanied him in 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 196-212. The arrival of the 
 " Hand-in-Hand " in New York was announced in the " New York 
 Gazette" of Monday, October 1st. The date of Mr. Murray's first 
 sermon in America was therefore Sunday, Sept. 30th, 1770, — the day 
 on which Rev. George Whitefield died. 
 
138 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the sloop having spread the intelligence that he was a 
 preacher. " It became impossible," he says, " to resist 
 their persuasions," and so he delivered his message in 
 the Baptist meeting-house. He was detained in New 
 York more than a week waiting for an opportunity to 
 return to Good Luck, the residence of his new-found 
 friend. Potter; and during that time he "frequently 
 preached, and to crowded houses." 
 
 " So soon as an opportunity to return presented, I very 
 cheerfully embraced it ; and I felt my heart bound with 
 pleasure at the thought of that meeting which a few 
 days before I would have died to avoid. The charming 
 retreat, in the gift of my friend, was, in my estimation, 
 highly preferable to New York, and all which it could 
 bestow ; and I longed most earnestly to quit the one and 
 to return to the other. A number of friends accompanied 
 me to the vessel, and we parted with expressions of re- 
 gret. A single day produced me again in the abode of 
 genuine, Christian friendship, to which I was welcomed 
 with every demonstration of heart-felt joy. 
 
 " Here, then, I considered I had found a permanent 
 home ; that a final period was at length put to my wan- 
 derings ; and, after all my apprehensive dread from being 
 drawn ii\to the public character, now that I had a pros- 
 pect of sustaining this public character in so private a 
 manner, I was not only reconciled, but tranquillized and 
 happy. I had leisure to retrospect my past life, and I 
 was filled with astonishment when I beheld all the various 
 paths which I had trod, ultimately leading me to a uni- 
 form contemplation of redeeming love ; nor could I for- 
 bear exclaiming, ' Great and marvellous are thy works, 
 Lord God Almighty ! Just and true are thy ways, 
 thou King of saints !' " * 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, p. 215. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 139 
 
 It was impossible, however, for him to enjoy the 
 retirement which he so ardently coveted. The humble 
 meeting-house in which he officiated on Sundays was 
 thronged by people from all quarters, — " some from the 
 distance of twenty miles ; " and " multiplied invitations 
 to visit other places," were importunate. At first, he 
 says, — 
 
 " I determined I would never accede to any request which 
 should bear me from a seclusion so completely commen- 
 surate with my wishes. Alas, alas ! how little do we 
 know of ourselves or our destination ! Solicitations, 
 earnest solicitations, poured in from the Jerseys, from 
 Philadelphia, and from New York ; and it became impos- 
 sible to withstand their repeated and imposing energy." 
 
 The summons to New York seems to have wrought a 
 radical change in his views of duty in regard to enter- 
 ing a larger field. 
 
 " To a summons so pressing," he says, " I dared not 
 turn a deaf ear. In fact, a revolution had taken place in 
 my mind. It appeared to me that I was highly repre- 
 hensible in thus withdrawing myself from the tour of 
 duty which seemed appointed for me ; and I determined 
 never to seek directly or indirectly for an open door, and 
 never again refuse entering any door which Providence 
 should open. It is true, I never wished to receive an 
 invitation ; but I was aware that the direction of me and 
 my movements were in the hands of infinite AVisdom. " 
 
 His reception in New York far exceeded his expecta- 
 tions. The faith which he proclaimed was received 
 with such enthusiasm that a subscription paper for the 
 purpose of erecting a house of worship " was completely 
 filled in one day ; " and the believers warmly urged him 
 
140 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to make that city his home. He could not yet bring 
 himself, however, to desert his peaceful retreat at Good 
 Luck ; and after a few weeks' service in New York, he 
 returned to his friend Potter. But the open door was 
 now constantly set before him, and, as it was gradually 
 known that he believed more concerning the Divine 
 purpose than was taught by the clergy generally, oppo- 
 sition became manifest ; some of his hearers fell away 
 from his meetings, and local reasons for his confining 
 his labors to the Potter meeting-house lost much of their 
 weight. During the next two years, therefore, he was 
 an itinerant in a wide and constantly enlarging field. 
 It extended from Maryland, near Baltimore, on the 
 south, to Portsmouth, N. H., on the north, and included 
 many localities in New Jersey, Newark in Delaware, 
 Philadelphia, New York, Norwich and New London 
 in Connecticut, Newport, East Greenwich, Pawtuxet, 
 and Providence, R I., and Boston and Newburyport, 
 Mass. 
 
 Sometime in 1773 Mr. Murray caused a small pamph- 
 let of James Eelly's, sometimes issued as a supplement 
 to the " Treatise on Union," entitled " A Short Speci- 
 men of Apostolick Preaching," to be published at 
 Burlington, N. J. It was decidedly Antinomian in its 
 character, describing- all human works as foolishness 
 and filthiness, and affirming that the full and complete 
 righteousness of man has already been established in 
 Christ. To defray the expenses of the publication, Mr. 
 Murray was compelled to part with his horse ; a loss 
 made good to him by his friends in Newport, E. I., 
 whom he shortly after visited. 
 
 On his second visit to Boston, in 1774, he was accused 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 141 
 
 in the papers published in that city of being a follower 
 of James Eelly. This coming to the notice of persons 
 in Gloucester who had perused Eelly 's " Union," a mes- 
 senger was despatched to Boston to induce Mr. Murray 
 to visit Gloucester. He obeyed the summons, and 
 remained there nine days. 
 
 " I had travelled," he says, " from Maryland to New 
 Hampshire without meeting a single individual who 
 appeared to have the smallest idea of what I esteemed 
 the truth as it is in Jesus; but, to my great astonish- 
 ment, there were a few persons, dwellers in that remote 
 place, upon whom the light of the gospel had more than 
 dawned. The writings of Mr. Eelly were not only in 
 their hands, but in their hearts. Four years previous to 
 this period, an Englishman, a Mr. Gregory, had brought 
 with him those obnoxious pages, and loaned them to this 
 small circle of Gloucesterians, by whom they had been 
 seized with avidity ; the Father of their spirits rendered 
 them luminous to their understandings." 
 
 Eeturning to Boston for a short time, Mr. Murray 
 revisited Gloucester in December, and from that time 
 till his removal to Boston, about twenty years later, 
 Gloucester was his home, and the place where most of 
 his ministerial labors were rendered, although he still 
 continued to devote some portions of each year to itin- 
 erant service in the wide field already designated. 
 
 Up to this time Mr. Murray had seldom, if ever, 
 made a distinct public declaration of his belief in Uni- 
 versalism ; nor had he sought in his preaching to 
 make proselytes to his views ; and the thought of 
 organizing a sect, or even a society or church, in oppo- 
 sition to the then general belief in Calvinism, had prob- 
 ably never entered his mind. In many places where he 
 
142 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 preached the legitimate inferences from his arguments 
 were not fully apprehended either by the preachers or 
 people who flocked to hear him. He remarks concern- 
 ing this in the account of his first preaching in New 
 York. Of the Baptist preacher, whose house he occu- 
 pied, he says : — 
 
 " Even the minister extended to me the hand of appar- 
 ent friendship, which I accounted for upon a supposition 
 that he was ignorant of my testimony. I made use of 
 the same Scriptures which he made u^e of, and he was 
 not apiprised that I yielded them iinqualified credence. 
 I had no doubt that, so soon as he should be informed 
 that I believed what I delivered, he would condemn as 
 much as he now seemed to approve." ■" 
 
 So also in New Jersey : — 
 
 " A Baptist minister from New Jersey, believing my 
 sentiments precisely in unison with his own, conceived a 
 strong affection for me. He solicited me to become 
 a member of his church, that I might obtain a license 
 from their association. Of course I declined his friendly 
 offers, for I well knew, when he discovered 1 really be- 
 lieved the gospel which I preached, uniting with his 
 brethren, he would be as anxious to exclude me from his 
 synagogue as he now was to receive me. 
 
 "He pressed me, however, to visit him, which I did, 
 accompanied by my patron, who, to his great mortifica- 
 tion, was necessitated to leave me there. In this gentle- 
 man's pulpit I preached. I lodged in his house, and 
 received from him every mark of attention, until my 
 unbending refusal of all collections, and the partiality of 
 his friends, visibly diminished his regard. 1 had calcu- 
 lated upon this change, and it did not therefore astonish 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 214, 215. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 143 
 
 me. He was, however, a warm-hearted man, and as 
 sincere as men in general are. In this place I was intro- 
 duced to many worthy characters, who, as a part of the 
 election, obtained a knowledge of the truth as it is in 
 Jesus. Among the rest was a Justice Pangbrun, a ven- 
 erable old gentleman, who had for many years been 
 considered by his brethren as an oracle. This gentleman 
 heard me, and discovered that my testimony was not in 
 unison with the teaching to which he had listened. He 
 became sedulously intent upon detecting my errors, and 
 'he soon discovered I was wrong, and as soon kindly en- 
 deavored to set me right. But as there was no other way 
 of effectuating his wishes but by the Word of God, — for 
 I refused all other authority, — he was soon convinced, 
 upon searching the sacred writings for proofs of my 
 heresy, that it was he himself who had wandered from 
 that precious truth once delivered to the saints. With- 
 out hesitation he renounced his former views, and con- 
 tinued ever after an able and zealous advocate for the 
 truth preached by Abraham. It was now noised abroad 
 that I was an erroneous teacher. The clergyman who 
 was so warmly attached to me while he believed me a 
 Calvinistic Baptist, now commenced a most inveterate 
 adversary, and his opposition published more extensively 
 my name and peculiar tenets." '■ 
 
 The same was true at Newport and at Providence, as 
 is evident from the inquiries which were submitted to 
 him in those places. At Portsmouth he was invited 
 to become pastor of a congregation of Separatists, evi- 
 dently under the impression that he was a Calvinist. 
 At Newburyport his patrons, on his first visit, were the 
 personal friends and adherents of the late Eev. George 
 Whitefield ; and as Mr. Murray is said to have borne a 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 222, 223. 
 
144 UNIVERSALISM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 strong resemblance to that popular divine, in the anima- 
 tion of his style, and the fresh and copious power of his 
 illustrations, it is probable that they regarded him as 
 in some sort a successor to Whitefield. Certainly they 
 did not understand that he was a Universalist, for, con- 
 cerning his second visit to Newburyport and Ports- 
 mouth, Mrs. Murray says : — 
 
 "Those who adhered to him in those towns, having 
 ascertained that he absolutely believed the final restitii- 
 tion of all things, united with the many in the most' 
 unqualified censure." ^ 
 
 No doubt he was honest and sincere in adopting this 
 course, but it involved him in many difficulties, and 
 caused suspicion, and in some cases great indignation. 
 He makes a frank statement of his method, and mani- 
 festly with entire self -approval : — 
 
 "The grace, union, and membership upon which I 
 expatiated, were admitted by every Calvinist, but ad- 
 mitted only for the elect ; and when I repeated those 
 glorious texts of Scripture which indisputably proclaim 
 the redemption of the lost world, as I did not expressly 
 say, My brethren, I receive these texts in the unlimited 
 sense in which they are given, they were not apprised 
 that I did not read them with the same contracted views 
 to which they had been accustomed. When they became 
 assured of the magnitude and unbounded result which I 
 ascribed to the birth, life, and death of the Redeemer, 
 their doors were fast closed against me. For myself, I 
 was in unison with Mr. Relly, who supposed the gradual 
 dawn of light would eventually prove more beneficial to 
 mankind than the sudden burst of meridian day. Thus 
 I was contented with proclaiming the truth as it is in 
 
 ' Life of Murray, edition of 1870, p. 312. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 145 
 
 Jesus in Scripture language only, — leaving to my hear- 
 ers deductions, comments, and applications." * 
 
 Elsewhere he alludes to his custom of answering in- 
 quiries in Scripture language, and manifests surprise 
 that it has not been deemed satisfactory : — 
 
 " One capital difficulty which has encompassed me in 
 my progress through this younger world, has been the 
 extreme reluctance of inquirers to receive their answers 
 in Scripture language. Standing alone, I have sought to 
 wrap myself, or rather to intrench myself, in the sacred 
 testimony of my God ; and for this I have been accused 
 of prevarication, equivocation, and what not, merely be- 
 cause I have not generally chosen to garb my sentiments 
 in my own words. For example : the interrogator com- 
 mences with a great many compliments, and then follows, 
 — ' Do you believe all men will finally be saved ? ' — ' i 
 believe it is good and acceptable in the sight of God our 
 Saviour, who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto 
 the knowledge of the trxith' — ' But do yaw yourself believe 
 that all mankind will finally be saved ? ' — ' God hath 
 included all in unbelief that he inay have mercy upon alV 
 — ' But will all be finally saved ? ' — ' God hath spoken of 
 the restitution of all things, by the mouth of all his lioly 
 prophets, since the loorld began.' — ' But still you do not 
 answer my question.' — ' Why, sir, for anything I know, 
 the authors I have cited mean by their words precisely 
 the same as I do. I adopt their language because I con- 
 ceive it expresses my own ideas better than any set of 
 phrases I could press into my service.' This mode, how- 
 ever, has rarely given satisfaction. Persons dare not, in 
 an unqualified manner, deny the validity of Scripture 
 testimony. They can only assert it does not mean as it 
 speaks, and they earnestly repeat the question, ' Do you 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 287, 288. 
 VOL. I. — 10 
 
146 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 believe,' etc., etc. While my responses are drawn from 
 the sacred streams flowing in the book of God, from 
 Genesis to Revelation, still they importunately, some- 
 times clamorously, demand, ' But do you take those 
 Scriptures as they are spoken ? ' To which I can only 
 reply, ' I have no reason to believe that, by saying one 
 thing and meaning another, men, so upright, have formed 
 a plan to deceive me.' An attempt has then been made 
 to prove the texts in question did not, could not, mean as 
 they spake. To which I have answered, ' Multitudes are 
 on your side. Many have labored to prove God a liar; 
 but I have never yet heard any argument sufficiently 
 potent to convince me that he is so.' " ■^ 
 
 In 1776 Eev. John Cleavelahd, pastor of the Second 
 Church in Ipswich, Mass., published a pamphlet, the 
 long title to which commences, " An Attempt to Nip in 
 the Bud the Unscriptural Doctrine of Universal Salva- 
 tion." In it he styles Murray a "false teacher," and 
 says : — 
 
 " It may also be affirmed to be an infallible mark of a 
 false teacher, if at his first coming into a strange place, 
 it is his practice to make use of such language only or 
 forms of speech as he understands convey to them ortho- 
 dox sentiments until he has gained their affections, and 
 then, by little and little, as he finds it will bear, to divulge 
 his corrupt tenets in language directly contrary to what 
 he used at first " (p. 19). 
 
 Eev. Ezra Stiles, D.D., in a letter to Eev. Eli Forbes, 
 of Gloucester, in 1777, declared that Mr. Murray once 
 positively denied to him his belief in universal salva- 
 tion, " and asserted both the reality and perpetuity of 
 the future misery and damnation of those of the human 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 292, 293. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 147 
 
 race who should be found on the left hand of Jesus ; 
 and he said a number of mankind would be found on 
 the left hand of Jesus at the great day." ^ Mr. Murray 
 pronounced the declaration an unqualified falsehood, 
 and made a journey to Portsmouth for the purpose of 
 confronting Dr. Stiles with the denial, but was refused 
 an interview.^ 
 
 Under the stimulus of sympathy in Gloucester, Mr. 
 Murray's policy was entirely changed, and from this 
 time onward his preaching was more positive and bold. 
 On the breaking out of the War for Independence he 
 was importuned by Generals Varnum and Greene, two 
 of his East Greenwich friends, to take the chaplaincy 
 of the Ehode Island Brigade, then encamped at Cam- 
 bridge, Mass. He accepted, and entered upon his duties, 
 but was at once confronted by an effort for his removal 
 made by the army chaplains, who united in petitioning 
 the general commanding for his dismissal. Washing- 
 ton made answer in the 
 
 " General Orders, Sept. 17th, 1775. — The Eev. Mr. 
 John Murray is appointed Chaplain to the Ehode Island 
 Eegiments, and is to be respected as such." ' 
 
 Failing health, culminating in a severe sicknes,s, com- 
 pelled him to leave the army, after about eight months' 
 service; and after his recovery he devoted himself 
 wholly to the work of the ministry. 
 
 At this time Gloucester was suffering from the almost 
 
 ^ Answer to an Appeal, p. 10. 
 
 " Broadside. To be found in the Library of the Massachusetts His- 
 torical Society. 
 
 ^ From the original Order-Book, in the State Department at Wash- 
 ington. 
 
148 tJNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 entire destruction of its business by the war. Poverty 
 and great distress abounded, and as soon as Mr. Murray 
 had sufficiently recovered from his sickness, he returned 
 to the army, and presented the necessitous condition of 
 the town to the attention of the officers whose acquaint- 
 ance he had made. They responded by prompt and 
 generous donations. 
 
 "General Washington led the subscription with £10, 
 each of the major-generals £5, each of the brigadiers £3, 
 besides generous donations from many other respectable 
 characters, in and out of the army." 
 
 This he distributed to parties recommended by the 
 selectmen of the town, relieving thereby 
 
 " upwards of a thousand individuals, who, in consequence 
 of this very providential and seasonable support, were 
 enabled to get through the worst winter they ever ex- 
 perienced through the war."^ 
 
 The town records show that, "April 3, 1776," it 
 was 
 
 " voted unanimously/, That this town returns their sin- 
 cere thanks to the compassionate donors of a sum of 
 money sent by the hands of Mr. John Murray for the 
 ■ relief of our poor, which he lays out in provisions, and 
 distributes among them according to their necessities." 
 
 Notwithstanding these services, religious bigotry 
 maddened the people against their benefactor, and be- 
 fore the year closed, a mob collected around the house 
 of Mr. Sargent, determined to ride Mr. Murray out of 
 town; but being dissuaded from this, warned him to 
 
 ' Broadside, mentioned in previous note. 
 
JOHN MUEEAY. 149 
 
 leave at once, and threatened violence if he neglected 
 to go. Under the sanction of an old provincial law, an 
 attempt was made to expel him as a vagrant ; biit this 
 was frustrated by a deed of gift from one of his friends, 
 which constituted him a freeholder. Letters from 
 abroad were solicited against him, with the view of mak- 
 ing him an object both of political and of religious hatred. 
 In these he was accused of being a spy in the employ 
 of the British ministry, of being closeted with Tories 
 wherever he went, of having been inimical to the inter- 
 ests of the country, and grossly immoral while in the 
 army, and of being in every respect a bad and danger- 
 ous man. At this time Dr. Stiles Wrote the letter 
 already alluded to, in which, after insinuating that Mr. 
 Murray was an enemy to the patriot cause, he avowed 
 his belief that he was "a Eomanist in disguise, endeav- 
 oring to excite confusion in our churches." 
 
 Of course these attacks, and the insinuations of which 
 they were so fruitful, not only increased the rage of Mr. 
 Murray's religious foes, but also roused the wrath of the 
 patriots ; and so curses,anathemas, and sometimes stones, 
 followed his steps as he walked the streets. But fear- 
 less and undisturbed, he stood at his post, converts 
 multiplied around him, and the affection and zeal of 
 his friends increased as the opposition grew more 
 furious. In February, 1777, he was summoned from 
 his bed, being then quite sick, to appear before the 
 Committee of Safety, all the members of which then 
 present were his avowed enemies, and was there sub- 
 jected to an insulting questioning as to his business in 
 town and his right to remain. Here he bore himself 
 manfully, answered all that was charged and insinuated 
 
150 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 against him, and declared his firm determination not to 
 be intimidated by false accusations, nor by threats of 
 violence. The Committee decided that he should leave 
 town, and served a notice on him that he must " depart 
 in five days from the first of March." As he paid no 
 laeed to their warning, the matter was brought before a 
 meeting of the town, March 10, in the records of which 
 is the following minute : — 
 
 "The question was put, whether the town approve 
 of the conduct of the late Committee in desiring Mr. 
 John Murray to depart this town in five days from 
 the 1st of March, 1777. It was voted in the affirmative, 
 by 64 votes for it and only 8 against it." 
 
 But he took no notice of this, nor does there seem to 
 have been any further attempt to compel him to leave 
 the place. The following, which came to the notice of 
 the citizens not long after, was sufficient to dispose 
 of the charges against his character and patriotism, and 
 to leave further opposition wholly to his religious 
 enemies : — 
 
 "Camp at Middle-erook, May 27th, 1777. 
 
 "These may certify, that Mr. John Murray was ap- 
 pointed Chaplain to Col. Varnum's Kegiment by his 
 Excellency General Washington, dui-ing the army's lying 
 before Boston. And during his officiating in that capac- 
 ity his conduct was regulated by the laws of virtue and 
 propriety ; his actions were such as to make him re- 
 spected as an honest man and a good citizen. He lived 
 beloved, and left the army esteemed by all his connec- 
 tions and patrons. 
 
 " Nathaniel Gkeene, Major General" ' 
 
 1 The original is in the library of Tufts College. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 151 
 
 This certificate, which was doubtless useful in si- 
 lencing political opposition in many other localities, 
 enabled Mr. Murray to go from place to place with his 
 message of salvation; and, considering the distracted 
 state of the country during the war, he is to be regarded 
 eminently successful in obtaining so many opportunities 
 for the utterance of liis sentiments. 
 
 In his theological views Mr. Murray was in hearty 
 accord with James Eelly, of liOndon, and, as we shall 
 see more fully farther on, was very much disturbed, and 
 sometimes greatly embittered, when any other theory 
 of Universalism was advocated. In the foundation of 
 his theory, Mr. Eelly was Calvinistic. He accepted the 
 then common notion, that all men, having sinned in 
 Adam, justly incurred eternal damnation, and that Christ 
 had borne the infinite guilt and punishment of all who 
 should be saved. But it was not clear to him that 
 there was any ground of justice in the arbitrary trans- 
 fer of this sin and penalty to an infinitely pure being. 
 He believed the divine record that " the soul which sin- 
 neth, it shall die," and that the innocent shall not suffer 
 in the place of the guilty. How, then, could a transfer 
 of human sin and penalty to Christ be consistent with 
 that law ? 
 
 How could it be reconciled with equity ? The divine 
 sovereignty, without regard to inherent justice in the 
 plan, could not account for it; for the absoluteness 
 that Could set justice aside might just as easily, and 
 more mercifully, have gone straight to its aim, by re- 
 mitting instead of transferring sin and its deserts. To 
 say that the sufferings of Christ were merely accepted as 
 satisfaction for human deserts, only reckoned as such by 
 
152 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 God's sovereign pleasure, was no adequate explanation, 
 since they were thus only a fictitious, not a real, satis- 
 faction ; and, further, any sufferings whatever, even 
 those of a man, would have answered just as well as an 
 arbitrary acceptance of the coequal of God. The perfect 
 consistency of God's procedure, its absolute harmony 
 with justice and equity, Eelly found, as he claimed, in 
 such a real and thorough union of Christ with the 
 human race as made their acts' his and his theirs. All 
 men, he held, were really in Adam, and sinned in him, 
 not by a fictitious imputation, but by actual participa- 
 tion ; equally so are all men in the second Adam, " the 
 head of every man," and he is as justly accountable for 
 what they do as is the head in the natural body ac- 
 countable for the deeds of all the members united to 
 that head. Accordingly Christ, in his corporate capac- 
 ity, was truly guilty of the offence of the human race, 
 and could be, as he actually was, justly punished for it ; 
 and the race, because of this union, really suffered in 
 him all the penalty which he endured, and thus fully 
 satisfied justice. There is no more punishment, there- 
 fore, due for sin, nor any further occasion for declar- 
 ing the demands of the law, except to make men feel 
 their inability to obey, and thus compel them to an ex- 
 clusive reliance on Christ the head. He has effected a 
 complete and finished justification of the whole world. 
 When man believes this, he is freed from the sense of 
 guilt, freed also from all doubt and fear. Until he be- 
 lieves it, he is, whether in this world or in another, 
 under the condemnation of unbelief and darkness, the 
 only condemnation now possible to the human raoe. 
 In illustration and defence of these views, Mr. Eelly 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 153 
 
 wrote and published several works, and he evidently 
 regarded Mr. Murray as an able exponent of his theory 
 of Eedemption. Under date of " Feb. 13, 1775," Mr. 
 Eelly writes : — 
 
 " I appeal to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 
 that I am sincerely thankful, even from the bottom of 
 my heart, for my dear Brother Murray. May He make 
 him a burning and a shining light. • From my earliest ac- 
 quaintance with him, I considered him as a polished shaft 
 in the quiver of the Almighty, and thought him destined 
 to the work of the ministry." * 
 
 Of Mr. Murray's style in advocating the Eellyan 
 theory, and some of the methods of interpretation which 
 he adopted, the most satisfactory account and criticism 
 is that given by the late Hosea Ballou 2d, D.D., in an 
 article in the " Universalist Quarterly " for January, 
 1848 : — 
 
 " It would be difficult," says Dr. Ballou, " to give an 
 idea of his public discourses, they were so extempore in 
 their character, and so full of unexpected far-fetched com- 
 binations. No man ever exceeded him in rapidly weaving 
 together a web of texts, connected only by the slightest 
 verbal relations ; no man ever felt more confident than 
 he of the validity of such workmanship. Often he but 
 allegorized a Scriptural incident or circumstance that sup- 
 plied him with a few slender threads, which grew, under 
 his dexterous manufacture, into the complete garment of 
 Universal Salvation. The text, ' Thou shalt make holy 
 garments for Aaron, thy brother, for glory and beauty,' 
 denoted that Christ is our high priest, typified by Aaron ; 
 that his garments are all mankind, for he clothed himself 
 
 1 The Ladies' Repository, vol. xiv. p. 192. 
 
154 UMVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 with our nature ; that we are all holy in him, for he is 
 made unto us wisdom, sanctification, and redemption; 
 and, finally, that his garments, or all mankind, shall be 
 glorious and beautiful.^ Sometimes he illustrated his 
 text by standard points in the Calviuistic divinity. ' Be- 
 hold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the 
 world,'' shows that the sin which Christ put away by his 
 death was that of the whole world, not of a part only ; 
 and that all were thenceforth free from punishment. 
 Sometimes, again, he reasons on general principles, from 
 the character of God and the force of moral consider- 
 ations. This, however, is but seldom; his arguments 
 being usually a species of mere dialectics. In the dispu- 
 tations that were forced upon him wherever he went, he 
 never failed either to convince his opponents by sur- 
 prising turns, which seemed to flash out new light on the 
 subject, or else to perplex them by his adroitness and 
 eccentric range of thought. Not that he resorted to 
 these methods by artifice ; his own mind naturally moved 
 in the track which he followed, and the enthusiastic 
 assurance that he felt in the truth of his arguments and 
 illustrations gave them force with his hearers. 
 
 " We think he did not usually urge the Antinomian 
 bearings of his doctrine quite so offensively as did Eelly, 
 though the views of both were the same in effect. As 
 individuals, all are equally condemned by God's law; as 
 members of Christ, all are equally justified. Since we 
 bore the full penalty of divine justice in Christ's death, 
 there can be no more punishment for sin, the sufferings 
 that still follow transgression being only its necessary 
 consequence, not its punishment. This was considered 
 an important distinction. Faith in our 'union' with 
 Christ is requisite to free us from the fear of wrath and 
 from the feeling of guilt, and this faith is attended with 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches of Sermons, by John Murray, vol. iii. p. 11. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 155 
 
 love to God and man as its natural fruits, but not as 
 obedience, properly speaking. Of tbis latter we can liave 
 none save that whicb is performed for us by our 'Head." 
 A few are elected to obtain a knowledge of tlie truth in 
 this life, and tliese go into Paradise immediately at 
 death. But the rest, who die in unbelief, depart into 
 darkness, where they will remain under terrible appre- 
 hensions of God's wrath until they are enlightened. Their 
 sufferings are neither penal nor disciplinary, but simply 
 the effect of unbelief. Some will believe and be deliv- 
 ered from their darkness in the intermediate state. At 
 the general judgment, such as have not been previously 
 brought into the truth will ' come forth to the resurrection 
 of damnation ; ' and, through ignorance of God's purpose, 
 they will ' call on the rocks and mountains to fall on them, 
 and hide them from the face of Him who sitteth on the 
 throne,' while the elect shall not be judged at all, having 
 already judged themselves, but shall sit on the tribunal 
 conjointly with Christ. When 'the books shall be opened,' 
 however, in which all actions are recorded, ' every mouth 
 shall be stopped, and the whole world become guilty be- 
 fore God.' Then the Judge will make the final separ- 
 ation, dividing ' the sheep,' or universal human nature, 
 ' from the goats,' which are the fallen angels, and send the 
 latter away ' into everlasting fire.' At the same time he 
 will open another book, ' the book of life,' in which all his 
 members are recorded, and having made himself known, 
 like Joseph of old, to his ignorant, terrified brethren, he 
 will receive all mankind into ' the kingdom prepared for 
 them before the foundation of the world.' ' For the devils 
 
 ' " I have gathered this summary of his doctrines from his Letters 
 and Sketches. See also, Life (Whittemore's edition, 1833), pp. 233- 
 237, where Mrs. Murray gives a summary. For the process of the 
 General Judgment, see Letters and Sketches, vol. i. pp. 95, 114, 279- 
 283 ; ii. 222, 223, 247, 248 ; iii. 351-353. See Life, Appendix D." [Dr. 
 BaUou.] 
 
156 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 there is no explicit promise of release ; but Murray evi- 
 dently had a secret hope in their favor,^ on the ground, 
 we suppose, of what used to be called ' the uncovenanted 
 mercies of God.' 
 
 " His manner of interpreting Scripture was very ex- 
 traordinary, even when compared with the exegesis 
 adopted in the old Presbyterian Confession of Faith. It 
 can be matched, however, by specimens from some of the 
 earliest fathers, and by usages of some recent theosoph- 
 ists. Like Eelly, he sees Christ embodying all men in 
 himself everywhere in the Bible. In this verse of the 
 49th Psalm, ' Wherefore should I fear in the days of evil, 
 when the iniquity of my heels shall compass me about ? ' 
 it is Christ who speaks, meaning by his heels all man- 
 kind, who were his lower members ; accordingly, it was 
 his heel, the heel of the woman's Seed, which the Serpent 
 was to bruise, — that is, mankind.^ Isaiah says (xxiv.), 
 ' Behold, the Lord maketh the earth empty ; ' this was 
 when he was ' lifted up from the earth, and drew all men 
 unto him,' leaving the earth empty of them.^ Noah sent 
 forth a raven from the ark (Gen. viii.) ; the ark was 
 Christ, containing us, and the raven was our unclean- 
 ness, which he put away, — the raven being an unclean 
 bird.* These are but specimens of his interpretations. 
 He also seems to have adopted Eelly's rule, to apply to 
 Christ every text in which anything good is attributed 
 to men. Thus, all the beatitudes in the beginning of 
 the Sermon on the Mount are spoken only of Christ, — 
 ' Blessed are the poor in spirit, . . . they that mourn, . . . 
 the meek,' etc., for none but Christ answered this descrip- 
 tion. He, too, was the 'blessed man,' mentioned in the 
 first Psalm, who had ' not walked in the counsel of the 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, i. 386, 387 ; ii. 348 ; iii. 358. 
 
 2 Ibid. i. 45, 88, 90. 
 
 3 Ibid. i. 89. * Ibid. i. 48. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 157 
 
 ungodly, nor stood in the way of sinners,' etc' In the use 
 of this rule, however, he was by no means consistent. 
 They who had ' done good, and should come forth to the 
 resurrection of life,' were the believers, who might be 
 said, in a qualified sense, to have done good.'' Some- 
 times, also, Christ is spoken of as wicked, since he was 
 made sin for us, in his ' corporate capacity,' as the ' Head 
 of every man.' Thus, when Jeremiah says (xxx.), ' Be- 
 hold the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury ; a 
 continuing whirlwind, it shall fall with pain upon the 
 head of the wicked,' it is doubtful whether Christ, the 
 ' Head ' of our wicked race, is meant, or that ' wicked ' 
 one spoken of in 2 Thess. ii.' As the requisitions of the 
 law can be fulfilled by no man in his own person, many 
 of the Scripture injunctions are accounted for on what 
 may be called the rule of defiance. Thus, the exhorta- 
 tions, ' Strive to enter in at the strait gate,' ' work out 
 your own salvation,' etc., were given only as challenges, 
 that our impotence to perform the impossibilities might 
 be the more sensibly felt.' Some passages of this kind, 
 however, he interprets in the natural way, notwithstand- 
 ing the contrary demands of his system. But we must 
 pass on to a miscellaneous class of examples. The ' son 
 of perdition,' whom alone our Saviour had ' lost ' (John, 
 xvii.), was not Judas, but ' the man of sin ' (2 Thess. ii.), 
 or the devil, who ' sitteth in the temple of God ' (that is, 
 in ' our bodies, which are the temple of God '), and Christ 
 'lost' him when he put away sin by his own death.' 
 Isaiah says (Ivi.), ' All flesh shall come to worship before 
 me, saith the Lord. And they shall go forth and look 
 upon the carcasses of the men that have transgressed 
 
 ' Letters and Sketches, i. 229, 368. But see, also, iii. 193-198, a later 
 sketch, where this exposition is somewhat modified. 
 2 Ibid. i. 278-283. ' Ibid. i. 38. 
 
 * Ibid. i. 107, 148, 149. 6 Ibid. i. 124-127. 
 
158 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 against me ; for their worm shall not die, neither shall 
 their fire be quenched, and they shall be an abhorring 
 unto all flesh.' Now these, ' carcasses ' are the body of 
 sin and death which cleaves to every man, but which 
 shall be separated from our nature in the last day, and 
 be ' looked upon ' with abhorrence by all.^ The ' chaff ' 
 and the ' tares ' or ' children of the devil,' which are to 
 be separated from the ' wheat,' or ' good seed,' and then 
 burned, are the sins of mankind." When Christ says, 
 'Eender unto Caesar the things that are Csesar's,' etc., 
 he means by Caesar the devil; and the doctrine of the 
 text is, that all our sins are to be rendered back to the 
 devil, but our souls unto God, for they are God's.' 
 The 'abomination of desolation standing in the holy 
 place,' is all kinds of sin standing, or dwelling, in hu- 
 man nature, which has been made a 'holy place' by 
 Christ, — all sin that is mingled with God's purchased 
 possession.' The ' sin unto death ' (1 John, v.), is sin in 
 general ; for ' the wages of sin is death.' ^ The ' second 
 death ' is that which we suffered in Christ's crucifixion ; 
 the first having taken place in Adam's fall.° The man in 
 the parable who had not on ' a wedding-garment,' was the 
 devil, who shall be cast out ' speechless ' in the day of 
 judgment, etc., etc' 
 
 "From the foregoing sketch it will be seen that his 
 Universalism was based exclusively on the fact of the 
 ' Union ' of all men with Christ in such a sense that his 
 punishment and obedience were theirs. It was but this 
 one idea unfolded out to its complete extent. He does 
 not, indeed, wholly overlook other considerations; but 
 whether drawn from the character of God, from moral 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, i. 49, 69, 75, 112, 113. 
 
 2 Ibid. i. 315 ; ii. 34-36. 8 Jbid. i. 51, 115. 
 « Ibid. i. 56, 57. "^ Ibid. i. 44. 
 
 8 Ibid, ii 62. 7 Ibid. i. 58. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 159 
 
 principles, or from the direct disclosures which the 
 Scriptures give of the final state of things in the divine 
 economy, they were all of quite secondary importance 
 with him. Indeed, with his views of justice and of God's 
 law, even the arguments which he did sometimes infer 
 from the divine perfections were questionable, though 
 he does not seem to have been aware of the logical incon- 
 sistency. There was a latent consciousness, however, 
 that held him back from resting the final result on this 
 ground. But the ' Union ' was sufficient of itself ; it 
 made the result a fact already ' finished ' in reality, need- 
 ing no further confirmation." 
 
 His rigid adherence to this theory was advantageous 
 to him in some respects, for it furnished a sufficient 
 reply, in his judgment, to whatever argument or ob- 
 jection might be urged against the doctrine of the final 
 subjection of all souls ; but it not unfrequently placed 
 him at a disadvantage, and gave occasion to his oppo- 
 nents to say that he was inconsistent, and at times 
 denied what at other times he had insisted on as truth. 
 
 Thus, Eev. Mr. Croswell, of Boston, in his pamphlet 
 published in 1775, entitled, " Mr. Murray Unmask'd," 
 said : — 
 
 " Mr. John Murray, a little before his late evangelizing 
 tour to the Eastward, while preaching was pleased to in- 
 form his auditory that he had been misrepresented as 
 holding Universal Salvation, declaring he did not hold 
 that doctrine, but only Universal Redemption." 
 
 Mrs. Murray, in her continuation of her husband's 
 "Memoir," thus alludes to the charge, and accounts 
 for it: — 
 
 " He has frequently said he did not believe in Universal 
 Salvation, because he saw the majority of mankind were 
 
160 UNI VERBALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 not saved. But he -was a firm believer in Univeesal 
 Ebdbmption, because that sacred volume, which he 
 steadfastly and unwaveringly believed to be the word of 
 God, assured him the price was paid, and the whole 
 human family was redeemed. 
 
 " It was the neglecting to distinguish between salva^ 
 Hon and redemption which so frequently drew upon the 
 preacher the charge of prevarication, or, as it was termed 
 by Mr. Croswell, hiding. An article of intelligence 
 may be an established fact; it may most importantly 
 affect us ; but so long as the mind refuses to admit its 
 authenticity, we are undeniably subjected to all those 
 agonizing apprehensions which we should endure if no 
 such fact existed. And it was the salvation from these 
 mental sufferings which Mr. Murray supposed consequent 
 upon a preached, gospel ; in other words, an exemption 
 from those tortures, that consciousness of condemnation 
 which is most emphatically described when it is said, He 
 who believeth not is, or shall be, damned. 
 
 " Yet it is an established truth, that every believer was 
 once an unbeliever ; every believer, then, was once damned, 
 and it was only when he became a believer that he was 
 saved from those countless agonies which erst times 
 pierced him through with many sorrows. But he was 
 redeemed, the price was paid, ere ever he was called into 
 existence. Thus, in this view, redemption and salvation 
 are distinct considerations." ^ 
 
 Mr. Murray was at times very clear in making this 
 distinction, but at other times he was at least very un- 
 guarded in his speech, and used the two words as though 
 they were perfect synonyms. 
 
 " There is no possibility," he said on one occasion, " of 
 reconciling Scripture testimonies, except we discriminate 
 
 1 Life of Rev. John Murray, pp. 400, 401. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 161 
 
 between the salvation believed and the salvation conse- 
 quent upon believing. The first is like that all-sufficient 
 Redeemer, by whom it is wrought out and completely 
 finished; it is the same yesterday, to-day, and forever, 
 enduring continually, eternally abiding ; yea, although we 
 believe not, Christ Jestcs remaineth faithful. If, like 
 Peter, we should deny the Lord, whose purchased we are, 
 still he will never deny himself ; such is the character of 
 the first salvation, of the salvation believed. But the 
 second salvation, or the salvation consequent on believing 
 this truth, is an operation of, or upon the mind of man ; 
 and this salvation is ever fluctuating, ever unstable, like 
 the being with whom it is found." * 
 
 " I have no doctrine," he said on another occasion, 
 " but the doctrine taught by God the Saviour. I reject 
 every doctrine which the mouth of the Lord hath not 
 spoken. The apostolic churches were formed by pro- 
 fessors of the doctrine of Universal Redemption. Jesus 
 Christ and his apostles preached and defended this doc- 
 trine. All the writers of revelation were strong in the 
 faithful belief of the doctrine of Universal Salvation." " 
 
 On another occasion, he was met by a gentleman 
 who said : — 
 
 " I have heard, sir, that you publicly advocate the doc- 
 trine of Universal Salvation," and then, after the expres- 
 sion of surprise at such a report, asked him, "Is the 
 report true ? " Mr. Murray replied, " Yes, sir, it is 
 indeed very true." ' 
 
 So, in a sermon on Rom. iv. 25, he seems to ignore 
 his favorite distinction : — 
 
 "Either, therefore, Jesus Christ was delivered up for 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, iii. 192. " Ibid. ii. 422. 
 
 " Ibid. i. 246. 
 VOL. I. — 11 
 
162 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 my offences and xaised again for my justification, or he 
 was not. If he were, I am to all intents and purposes 
 saved in Jesus Christ with an everlasting salvation. If 
 he were not, I am to all intents and purposes doomed to 
 everlasting misery." * 
 
 Concerning a conversation which he had with a very 
 intelligent woman who argued against Universalism, he 
 records : — 
 
 " As fast as she made her propositions I endeavored to 
 answer, and to prove, by plain Scripture illustrations, from 
 every testimony she introduced, her salvatim, and the 
 final salvation of all men." " 
 
 Another instance occurs in a sermon preached by 
 him from the text, " By grace ye are saved." He thus 
 reports a synopsis of it : — ■ 
 
 " 1st. What are we to understand by grace ? Certainly, 
 favor. What by the grace of God ? Undoubtedly, the 
 favor of God. Thus, the grace of God bringeth salvation. 
 
 " 2dly. What is the salvation which is accomplished 
 by the grace of God ? It is not a temporal, it is a spirit- 
 ual salvation ; neither is it a temporary salvation, it is 
 an eternal salvation, firm and enduring as its Omnipotent 
 and Self-existing Author. 
 
 '< 3dly. For whom is this salvation ? Who are they 
 that are saved by grace ? This is indeed an important 
 question, much too important to be answered on the 
 authority of the creature. Let us repair to the fountain- 
 head, and, inquiring of the oracles of truth, the answer 
 which we shall receive from the lip of divine veracity 
 should most assuredly be established, should be received 
 with all acceptation. 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, i. 327. ^ Ibid. i. .346. 
 
JOHN MURRAY. 163 
 
 " Who are they that are saved by grace ? All man- 
 kind ; because all have sinned, and in their own charac- 
 ters cannot demand salvation. All mankind; because 
 our Saviour died for all men, because he gave himself a 
 ransom for all men, because it is the will of God that all 
 men should be saved and come unto the knowledge of his 
 truth, because God was in Christ reconciling the world 
 unto himself, not imputing unto them their trespasses. 
 
 " But when was this grace exemplified ? At what 
 period were all men saved ? While they were dead in 
 trespasses and sins. So says the context ; while we were 
 yet sinners, in due time Christ died for the ungodly, — 
 so says the Holy Ghost in many passages." ^ 
 
 It is evident from these extracts that " the neglecting 
 to distinguish,'' of which Mrs. Murray complains, was 
 not always the fault of the hearer. 
 
 In the summer of 1776, Mr. Murray visited Philadel- 
 phia, and while in that region published faom the 
 London edition the " Christian Hymns, Poems, and 
 Spiritual Songs, Sacred to the Praise of God our Sa,viour. 
 By James and John Eelly," at Burlington, N. J. The 
 character of this book, and the use made of it by the 
 Universalists in America, will be described in another 
 volume. It is mentioned here as affording an oppor- 
 tunity of noting some of the places in which numbers 
 of Universalists were at that time to be found. Ap- 
 pended to the " Hymns " is a list of the subscribers for 
 the book, with the number of copies taken by each. The 
 total number of the former was two hundred and twenty- 
 three, subscribing for four hundred and sixty-eight 
 copies. Providence, R. L, leads in the number of subscrib- 
 ers, forty-seven taking eighty-three copies ; Gloucester, 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, i. 370. 
 
164 XJNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Mass., leads in the number of copies, ninety-three being 
 taken by thirty-eight subscribers. Then come Norwich, 
 Ct., forty-six subscribers, eighty-three copies; Ports- 
 mouth, N. H., twenty-eight subscribers, thirty-eight 
 copies ; Boston, Mass., sixteen subscribers, thirty-eight 
 copies ; New London, Ct., fifteen subscribers, forty copies; 
 Philadelphia, Pa., and New Piochelle, N. Y., each fur- 
 nished six subscribers ; East Greenwich, K. I., four ; 
 Imlays Town, N. J., three ; Cranberry and Burlington, 
 N. J., each two ; Barnegat, and Allentown, N. J., New 
 York, and Kingsbridge, N. Y., Coventry, KilUngsworth, 
 Guilford, and Pomfret, Ct., Eoxbury, Mass., and Newport 
 E. I., one each. 
 
 Sometime during the year 1777, — probably not long 
 after General Greene's certificate concerning Mr. Mur- 
 ray's standing while in the army had put a stop to the 
 political opposition in Gloucester, — Mr. Murray again 
 visited Portsmouth, N. H., where he induced Mr. Noah 
 Parker, a respectable mechanic of that town, to enter 
 the ministry. Mr. Parker was born March 17, 1734. 
 
 "He received a good education," says Mr. Charles W. 
 Brewster, in his "Eambles about Portsmouth," "after 
 which he chose to learn a trade ; but though working 
 several hours a day at his trade, he was a profound 
 student, and became well versed in all the literature of 
 the day. He was a man of unbounded liberality of feel- 
 ing, carrying his charity so far beyond his means that 
 he would sometimes borrow to aid one in want, trusting 
 to Providence for the means of repaying." 
 
 He probably never received ordination, but continued 
 to work in his shop as a black and white smith. He at 
 once gathered a congregation in a school-house in Ports- 
 
NOAH PARKEB AND ISAAC DAVIS. 165 
 
 mouth, where his congregation regularly assembled a 
 few years, and then for a while occupied the Sande- 
 manian meeting-house. In 1784 they erected a new 
 house of worship, in which Mr. Parker continued to 
 be their minister tUl his death, Aug. 17, 1787. His 
 ministry was greatly blessed, and was eminently suc- 
 cessful. He was a decided Eellyan, and was much 
 beloved and respected by Mr. Murray, with whom he 
 frequently exchanged pulpit services'. Mrs. Murray 
 was enthusiastic in her admiration of him as an " ex- 
 emplary philanthropist." 
 
 Mr. Murray no doubt supposed that Mr. Parker and 
 himself were the only preachers of Universal Salvation 
 in the country at that time. But in November, 1777, 
 Dr. Isaac Davis, a medical practitioner, who had been 
 a preacher of the doctrine several years, died. He was, 
 it is believed, a native of Windsor, Conn., where he re- 
 sided several years ; but later in life, and to its close, his 
 home was in Somers, in the same State. Eev. Samuel 
 Peters, in his "General History of Connecticut," pub- 
 lished in 1780, mentions (edition of 1877, p. 199), 
 among the sects as existing in that State, the "Davis- 
 onians," who " teach Universal Salvation and deny the 
 existence of a hell or devils." How numerous this sect 
 was, and what their form of organization, if they had 
 any, is not now known. The probability is that its 
 numbers were small and that it did not long survive 
 the death of its founder. 
 
 Eev. Thomas Whittemore, in a " Memoir of the Uni- 
 versalist Society in Oxford, Mass.," published in vol. vi. 
 of the " Universalist Miscellany," 1849, said : — 
 
 " The doctrine of Universalism had been preached in 
 
166 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Oxford long before 1785," — the date of the legal organ- 
 ization of the society. " The attention of certain indi- 
 viduals in this town was first drawn to the subject of 
 TJniversalism by the conversations of one Dr. Isaac 
 Davis, who visited that place from Somers, in Connecti- 
 cut. He was, at this time, an aged man ; and it is said 
 he had written a book upon the subject. We have never 
 seen this book, but these statements in regard to Dr. 
 Davis are made on the strength of the testimony of the 
 aged Universalists of Oxford who were living in the year 
 1827, at which time the author of this article first visited 
 that town to glean all the facts that could be found in 
 regard to the early history of Universalism there." 
 
 The Eev. Anson Titus, who has sought to collect facts 
 with regard to Dr. Davis, says that "it is also tradi- 
 tional among the descendants of Dr. Davis in Somers," 
 that he wrote such a book. 
 
 Probably Dr. Davis's ■visit to Oxford was during the 
 revolutionary war, as in 1775 several members of the 
 " Standing Order " parish in Oxford changed their re- 
 ligious sentiments, some of whom " declared themselves 
 of the sect of Universalists," according to Whitney's 
 "History of Worcester County," as quoted by Mr. 
 Titus, in an article in the " Universalist Quarterly " for 
 October, 1881. We have no further information with 
 regard to Dr. Davis, but it is evident that he was active 
 and influential. 
 
 Adams Streeter and Caleb Eich began to preach 
 about this time. It is difficult to determine which of 
 them was first in the work. The first was born in Fram- 
 ingham, Mass., Dec. 31, 1735. He subsequently re- 
 sided in Douglas, Oxford, and Milford. The late Eev. 
 Dr. BaUou says (" Universalist Quarterly," vol. v. p. 93) 
 
ADAMS STREETEB. 167 
 
 that Mr. Streeter " was formerly a Baptist minister, and 
 became a Universalist in 1777 or 1778." lu the reso- 
 lutions passed by the Oxford society, preliminary to 
 their organization, April 27, 1785, they say that they 
 "have for a number of years past assembled on the 
 Sabbath-day for public worship, and have attended to 
 tlie instructions of Eev. Adams Streeter, and supported 
 him by free contributions from time to time."^ In 
 August of the same year, Mr. Streeters name appears 
 in the list of the members of the Universalist Society 
 at Milford. During the year 1785 he seems to have 
 divided his services between Milford, Oxford, and Prov- 
 idence, E. I. In 1786, as Eev. Elhanan Winchester 
 was to spend the winter at Providence, the society at 
 Boston requested the Providence friends "to dispense 
 with Mr. Streeter's visits at the usual periods during 
 the winter, he engaging to renew them again when Mr. 
 Winchester is about to leave you." In June the ar- 
 rangements at Providence were renewed, and continued 
 till the time of Mr. Streeter's death. Under date of 
 Sept 14, 1786, Mr. Andrews, clerk of the Providence 
 Society, communicated the following to Eev. Mr. Win- 
 chester : — 
 
 " At present we are in a state of mourning from being 
 deprived by death of the usual visits paid us by Friend 
 Streeter. He, on the road coming to visit us on Saturday 
 before the fourth Sunday in August, fell sick of a bilious 
 disorder at the house of Stephen Whipple, in Smithfield, 
 and died the Saturday evening following, retaining to 
 his last his reason and great fortitude." 
 
 At what time Mr. Murray made Mr. Streeter's ac 
 1 Universalist Miscellany, 1849, toI. ri. p. 315. 
 
168 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 quaintance is not known, but he esteemed him highly, 
 as did the congregation in Boston. 
 
 Caleb Eich was born in Sutton, Mass., August 12, 
 1750, of strict Congregational parents. From his auto- 
 biography, published in the " Candid Examiner," at 
 Montrose, Penn., 1827, the following facts with regard 
 to his life are gleaned. When he was not more than 
 nine or ten years old he began to be tortured with the 
 fear of hell. " I often looked upon insects and poisonous 
 reptiles, thinking how much better their lot was in this 
 world than mine." So he continued a great part of the 
 time tUl seventeen or eighteen years of age, when, he 
 says, " I got hold of the first link in the chain of causes 
 that led me into Universalism." Before this, however, 
 his father had become a Baptist, while his mother still 
 remained a Congregationalist. It was this division in 
 the family, and the two different meetings they at- 
 tended, that seems to have set Caleb on inquiry. 
 Hearing it said that there were more than a hundred 
 different denominations, he saw but little chance of 
 getting the truth from two only, namely. Baptists and 
 Congregationalists. He therefore resolved to study the 
 Bible for himself, earnestly praying God to give him 
 understanding of it. This he practised several years ; 
 and soon after beginning, was satisfied that the Congre- 
 gationalists were wrong about infant sprinkling being 
 the antitype of circumcision. When about twenty-one 
 he left his father's to go to Warwick, to occupy a new 
 farm about sixty miles distant. Bidding farewell to 
 his parents and friends, he started in a very melancholy 
 mood ; and when he had travelled about fifteen miles, 
 this was swallowed up in the most distressing fear of 
 
CALEB RICH. 169 
 
 hell. Praying as he travelled, he went about fifteen 
 miles further, and was partially relieved ; this he took 
 to be conversion. At Warwick he associated with the 
 Baptists, and advocated their cause. After some time 
 a conversation with his brother, with whom he boarded, 
 about God's grace, showed him his own hypocrisy, and 
 this drove him into new torture. He prayed long, and 
 at length it was suggested to him that his prayer was 
 altogether selfish, as it was only from fear of hell. 
 Then he prayed for a better motive, but found that this 
 prayer was only from the same fear of hell ; and so he 
 concluded that he could do nothing but from some selfish 
 motive, and gave himself up to God. He then had 
 a vision, which resulted in his firm assurance and acqui- 
 escence in God's will. After this he never could bear 
 to hear the fear of hell mentioned as a motive to make 
 men religious. He still adhered to the Baptists, and 
 read the Scriptures diligently. Then he was taught in 
 a dream to follow no man, not even the Baptists ; and 
 this dream he regarded as from the outpouring of God's 
 spirit upon him. He did not yet see that all men 
 would be saved, but took up a notion from the third 
 chapter of Genesis, that " all men who were created in 
 Adam, and fell in or died in him, would infallibly be 
 restored and made alive in Christ, while those who 
 were added to our first parents after their fall [' I will 
 greatly multiply thy conception and sorrows'] would 
 cease to exist after the death of the body." These 
 views he communicated to his Baptist brethren, hoping 
 that they would be a source of relief to them, as they 
 had been to himself ; but they caused commotion and 
 raised great opposition, and on account of these senti- 
 
170 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ments Caleb and his brother Nathaniel were not per- 
 mitted to be baptized, nor to belong to the society itself. 
 There was also a Joseph Goodell in the same condition. 
 These three formed a society of their own, by legal 
 warrant and procedure ; and in one year their society 
 increased to ten members. The second year the revo- 
 lutionary war broke out, and Caleb with many others 
 were called to go down to Lexington, just after the 
 battle. Here he enlisted for eight months, but got a 
 substitute, and went to his brother-in-law's at Oxford. 
 During this eight months he and others who had come 
 into his views held private meetings in Oxford and 
 Sutton, with sometimes thirty hearers. They went 
 from house to house, and sometimes continued their 
 meetings till midnight, and even day-break, dwelling 
 on the promise made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, 
 and reading the 11th chapter of Eomans. During this 
 time he went once to Thompson, Conn. The people 
 had heard of him, and wished him to preach a sermon ; 
 but as he never had preaclied, as it is called, he con- 
 sented to expound the Scriptures to them ; which he did 
 for the greater part of a day, and gained some proselytes. 
 When his eight months expired at Oxford, " our breth- 
 ren in Sutton, Oxford, Charlton, Dudley, and Douglas, 
 amounted, as I should judge, to forty or fifty persons." 
 He then returned to Warwick, where he experienced a 
 great trial with regard to his intended wife, her family 
 being much opposed to him on account of his religious 
 views, — till he converted them, and they consented to 
 the union. He was married in January, 1778. The 
 following April he had a vision or dream, by which he 
 was brought to see his mistake about those children of 
 
CALEB EIOH. 171 
 
 Eve being annihilated who were born after her trans- 
 gression. He was now confirmed in the belief of the 
 salvation of all men, — " that the first Adam, and every 
 individual of his posterity, from the beginning of the 
 world to the end, did as truly and positively pass with 
 and in Christ from death to life, and became heirs of 
 the inheritance." Now he felt himself called on to 
 preach. He " had heard of a Mr. Murray at Cape Ann, 
 but had never seen him nor had any communication 
 from him." He felt great emotion at the thought of 
 preaching, but had another dream that encouraged him. 
 In about a month (probably in May, 1778) he began to 
 preach at Warwick, and there was soon a considerable 
 addition to his society. Soon he was called upon to 
 preach at Richmond, N. H., at stated times, and col- 
 lected a considerable society there. Thomas Barns came 
 over from Jafifrey, in the same State, out of curiosity ; 
 was convinced, and invited Mr. Eich to Jaffrey, where 
 considerable numbers were soon gathered. A meeting 
 of a General Society was shortly after called at Rich- 
 mond, when Mr. Eich was chosen minister, a regular 
 church was formed, and three deacons appointed, — one 
 from Warwick, one from Richmond, and one from Jaff- 
 rey. Church discipline was established, and an annual 
 meeting was appointed at Richmond. At this annual 
 meeting letters of license to preach were given, and 
 ordinations were solemnized. 
 
 "At one of these annual meetings," says Mr. Rich, 
 "after I had preached about three years, it was agreed 
 that brother C. Eich should receive public ordination as 
 minister of the united society of Warwick, Richmond, 
 and Jaffrey, and wherever he should be called by divine 
 
172 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Providence. We sent for Elder Adams Streeter to assist 
 at said ordination. Said Streeter had been ordained in 
 the Baptist order. His faith was increased till it became 
 Abrahamic ; and accordingly the ordination was attended 
 in Richmond, accompanied with about three hundred 
 people ; and as I considered myself legally authorized, I 
 scrupled not to solemnize the ordinance of marriage. 
 But this could not fail to give great offence to the Con- 
 gregational Society in Warwick, and the first deacon of 
 said church came to inform me that every dollar that I 
 took for marrying people in that town took so much by 
 fraud from their minister. ' Yet,' said he, ' if you will 
 agree to do so no more, I will promise not to prosecute 
 you for past offences.' As he was no more a town min- 
 ister than I was, we refused to submit to this require- 
 ment, and soon they prepared war against us. I was 
 indicted before the county court for celebrating the ordi- 
 nance of marriage, not being legally authorized. I ap- 
 peared at court, made full proof of my ordination, and 
 was acquitted by the court, and had my name recorded 
 as a regular minister in the town of Warwick." 
 
 The late Eev. Eussell Streeter thus speaks of Mr. 
 Rich's peculiar theology : — 
 
 "Father Rich, in the only conversation I ever had with 
 him (1816), was the first preacher who openly contended 
 that all the (evil) consequences of sin were confined to 
 the present life. He was very earnest on this point ; he 
 argued it on the ground of the ' Treatise,' * as it appeared 
 for more than a quarter of a century, viz., that man was 
 first created in Christ Jesus, and then formed of the dust ; 
 and that as he stood related to the earth of Adam only, 
 he sinned. Hence sin, as we call it, to use his own words, 
 ' originated solely in the flesh and blood, and ended with 
 
 1 Ballou'a Treatise on Atonement. 
 
CALEB RICH. 173 
 
 the same. The spirit being of heavenly origin remained 
 pure, though blended with carnal bodies ; as pure metals 
 were the same before being separated from the earth or 
 dross, as afterwards ; as wheat was the same before being 
 separated from the chafE,' etc." ' 
 
 These views were severely criticised by Mr. Murray, 
 when he became acquainted with them, — as see his 
 "Letters," vol. ii. p. 308, — but this was not till several 
 years after Mr. Eich began to preach. 
 
 1 TJniversalist Quarterly, January, 1872, p. 76. 
 
CHAPTER in. 
 
 1779-1786. 
 
 Excommunication op Gloucester Universalists from the First 
 Church. — Articles of Association. — Mr. Murray's Field of 
 Labor during the War. — House of Worship built in Glouces- 
 ter. - Legal Troubles with the First Parish. — The first Suit 
 withdrawn, and Mk. Murray becomes Prosecutor. — Agree- 
 ment of his Friends to Indemnify him against Loss, — History 
 OF THE Case in the Courts. — Pamphlet Issued by the Glouces- 
 ter Universalists. — Replied to by the Agent cf the First 
 Parish. — Dr. Stiles' Letter. — Mb. Murray's Answer. — Final 
 Decision of the Case in Mr. Murray's favob. — Anecdotes of 
 THE Trial. — Itinerant Laboks of Me. Murray. — Suggests a 
 Meeting in Convention. — Mr. Murray's Visit to Good Luck. — 
 Death of Thomas Potter and Disposition of his Property. — 
 The Association at Oxford, Mass. — Mb. Murray to Eev. Noah 
 Parker on the Results of the Association. — The Charter of 
 Compact, and its adoption by Societies in Milford, Oxford, 
 AND Warwick. — Purchase of Chuech Property in Boston. — 
 Univebs vlists in Providence, R. I. — Rev. Elhanan Winchester. 
 
 — His Childhood and his Early Religious Views. — His Liter- 
 ary Attainments. • — His Account of how he was led to the 
 Belikf of Univeksalism. — Rev. Mr. Boggs Appointed to Disputb 
 WITH HIM. — Mr. Boggs refuses, and pronounces Me. Winches- 
 ter's course Manly and Cheistian. — Mr. Winchestee is Excom- 
 municated. — His First Universalist Sermon. — The Baptists' 
 Statement of their dealing with Mk. Winchester. — The Lat- 
 ter's Letter to Rev. Dr. Stillman. — Peculiarities op Mr. 
 Winchester's Theology. — Personal Relations of Murray and 
 Winchester. — Rev. Moses Winchester. — The Congregation 
 Gathered by Elhanan Winchester in Philadelphia Organize 
 AS Universal Baptists. — Their purchase of Mason's Lodge. — 
 Mk. Winchester's Hymn Book. — Morgan Edwards on Me. Win- 
 chester. — Rev. Clement Sumner. — Rev. Thomas Barns. — Rev. 
 Zephaniah Lathe. — Rev. Noah Murbay. — Ef.v. David Evans. 
 
 — Daniel Hall. — Gamaliel Reynolds. — Me. Murray's Letter. 
 
 — Shippie Townsend. 
 
 WHILE Mr. Murray was being persecuted and 
 threatened with mob violence, his followers who 
 were connected with the Church of the First Parish do 
 
ARTICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 175 
 
 not seem to have been molested by their church ; but 
 in February, 1777, they were "called upon to give 
 reasons, if they had any, why they absented themselves 
 from the worship and ordinances of God in His house." 
 The persons thus summoned were sixteen in number, 
 viz., Epes Sargent and wife, Winthrop Sargent and wife, 
 Ebenezer Parsons and wife, David Pearce, James Millet, 
 Lydia Prentiss, Kebecca Smith, Judith Stevens, Anna 
 Babson, Jemima Cook, Hannah Tucker, Nancy Saunders, 
 and Jemima Parsons. They made answer : " Our rea- 
 sons for absenting ourselves from your society are 
 purely of a religious nature, which is wholly between 
 Grod and 6ur own souls.'' After several church meet- 
 ings had been held, the above-mentioned, with the 
 exception of James Millet, were publicly suspended in 
 September, 1778. Thus cut off from former associates, 
 and formally separated from other Christian believers, 
 they turned their attention to the creation of an organ- 
 ization for themselves; and on the first of January, 
 1779, bound themselves together under the following 
 
 "AETICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 
 
 "ASSOCIATION OF THE INDEPENDENT CHURCH IN 
 GLOCESTER. 
 
 "Inasmuch as it hath pleased God of his great 
 mercy, in every age of the world, to choose a people for 
 himself, giving them his fear, and revealing to them his 
 secret ; and as this Great Lord of heaven and earth, the 
 Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, hath been pleased to re- 
 veal to babes what he hath hid from the wise and pru- 
 dent: we, the subscribers, gratefully affected with a 
 sense of the divine goodness in thus distinguishing us, 
 
176 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 who had nothing in us to merit his notice, think it our 
 interest and bounden duty to let our light shine before 
 men, that they may see our good works, and glorify our 
 Father which is in heaven. As therefore it hath pleased 
 God to make us acquainted with the voice of the Good 
 Shepherd, the Lord Jesus Christ, the Great Shepherd 
 and Bishop of souls, we cannot from henceforward follow 
 the voice of a stranger, nor ever give attention to such 
 who are unacquainted with the Saviour of the world. 
 But though we cannot have fellowship with them whose 
 fellowship is not with the Father and with his Son Jesus 
 Christ, yet we are determined, by the grace of God, never 
 to forsake the assembling of ourselves together, as the 
 manner of some is, but as a Church of Christ, meet 
 together in his name, being persuaded, wherever or when- 
 ever two or three are thus met together, the invisible 
 God will be present with them. 
 
 " As Christians, we acknowledge no master but Jesus 
 Christ, and as disciples of this divine master, we profess 
 to follow no guide in spiritual matters but his word and 
 his spirit. 
 
 " As dwellers in this world, though not of it, we hold 
 ourselves bound to yield obedience to every ordinance of 
 man, for God's sake; and we will be peaceable and 
 obedient subjects to the powers that are ordained of God, 
 in all civil cases ; but as subjects of that King whose 
 kingdom is not of this world, we cannot acknowledge 
 the right of .any human authority to make laws for the 
 regulating of our conscience in any spiritual matters. 
 
 " Thus, as a true independent Church of Christ, look- 
 ing unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith, we 
 mutually agree to walk together in Christian fellowship, 
 building up each other in our most holy faith, rejoicing 
 in the liberty wherewith Christ hath made us free, and 
 determining by his grace no more to be entangled by any 
 yoke of bondage. 
 
AETICLES OF ASSOCIATION. 177 
 
 " As disciples of the meek and lowly Jesus, we resolve, 
 as far as in us lieth, to live peaceably with all men ; yet, 
 as believers living godly in Christ Jesus, we expect to 
 suffer as much persecution as the laws of the country 
 we live in will admit of. But we resolve by the grace of 
 God none of these things shall move us to act inconsist- 
 ent with our character as Christians. We will as much 
 as possible avoid vain jangling and unnecessary disputa- 
 tion ; and should we be reviled, endeavor in patience to 
 possess our souls. 
 
 " As an independent Church of Christ thus bound to- 
 gether by the cords of his love, and meeting together in 
 his name, we mutually agree to receive as our Minister, 
 that is, our Servant, sent to labor among us in the work 
 of the Gospel by the great Lord of the Vineyard, our 
 friend and Christian brother, John Mueeay. This we do 
 from a full conviction that the same God that sent the 
 first preachers of Jesus Christ, sent him; and that the 
 same gospel they preached we have from time to time 
 received from him. Thus, believing him a minister of 
 the New Testament, constantly declaring the whole coun- 
 sel of God, proclaiming the same divine truth that all 
 God's holy prophets from the beginning of the world 
 have declared, — We cordially receive him as a Messenger 
 from God. And as it hath pleased God to open a great 
 and effectual door for the preaching of his Gospel by this, 
 his servant, in sundry parts of this great continent, wher- 
 ever it shall please his and our divine master to call 
 him to preach the everlasting Gospel elsewhere, we wish 
 him God-speed, and pray that the good-will of him that 
 dwelt in the bush may accompany him, and make his 
 way clear before him. But should he at any time preach 
 any other gospel than that we have received, we will not 
 wish him God-speed, but consider him as a stranger. 
 And as the great Lord of the harvest has taught us to 
 pray that he would send laborers into his harvest, and as 
 
 VOL. I. — 12 
 
178 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 he never taught us to pray in vain, but has assured us, 
 every one that asketh receiveth, though he has not told 
 us when, whenever he shall see fit to send us a messenger 
 of glad tidings, a publisher of peace, we will with grate- 
 ful hearts receive him. And as the promise of the divine 
 presence is to any two or three that meet together in the 
 Saviour's name, we are resolved by God's grace, whether 
 we are blessed with the public preaching of the word or 
 not, as often as we find convenient, to meet together to 
 supplicate the divine favor, to praise our redeeming 
 God, to hear his most holy word, and freely to communi- 
 cate whatever God shall please to manifest to us for our 
 mutual edification. 
 
 " And that we may the more effectually show forth his 
 praise, who hath called us out of darkness into his mar- 
 vellous light, we resolve to pay a serious regard to the 
 exhortations, admonitions, and instructions given to us 
 by the Spirit of God in the epistles dictated to our holy 
 apostles. We will, as far as in us lieth, do good unto all 
 men, but especially unto them who are of the household 
 of faith. 
 
 " We will, by the grace of God, in word and in deed,- 
 endeavor to adorn the doctrine of God our Saviour. 
 And as children of one father, as members of one head, 
 who are united together in Christian fellowship, will, 
 once every month, meet together to hold conference, and 
 to deliberate on whatever may tend to our mutual 
 profit." 
 
 This, — so far as we know, — the earliest form of organ- 
 ization by American Universalists, was, as will be seen, 
 rather a declaration of intention to work together as a 
 Christian body, than a form or mode for carrying on 
 their work. It made no provision for the transaction 
 of business, for officials of any kind, or for revenue. 
 And although it has place in the records of the Glouces- 
 
FIRST MKETING-HOUSE. , 179 
 
 ter society, it is neither accompanied nor followed by 
 any minute of proceedings under it as a form of organ- 
 ization. A few years after it was written it was found 
 to be defective in these respects, and, as we shall here- 
 after see, gave place to a better business form ; but it 
 was not without use in the emergency which called it 
 forth, and did good service in bringing together those 
 who sympathized with Mr. Murray's views. How 
 many, except those already named as excommunicated 
 from the First Parish Church, at first signed these " Arti- 
 cles of Association," cannot now be known, but the 
 whole number of names appended at different times was 
 sixty-one, — thirty-one men and thirty women. 
 
 It is very probable that until the close of the War 
 for Independence, the field of Mr. Murray's labors was 
 limited to Gloucester and Boston, in Massachusetts, and 
 to Newport and Providence, in Ehode Island, with fre- 
 quent visits to Portsmouth, K. H. Mrs. Murray says 
 that it was his custom to be absent from Gloucester 
 during the summer, and we may therefore suppose that 
 he spent the rest of the year in Gloucester. Here great 
 success attended his labors, and " the spacious parlors " 
 of his friend were soon inadequate accommodations for 
 his hearers. A movement was therefore put on foot 
 for the erection of a house of worship, fourteen persons 
 associating themselves together for defraying the ex- 
 pense of building. The spot selected was at the east- 
 erly end of Mr. Winthrop Sargent's garden, now the 
 westerly corner of Main and Water streets. It was a 
 one-story frame building, forty-eight feet long and 
 thirty-two and a half feet wide, and contained thirty 
 large square pews, — the prevailing, if not the only, 
 
180 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 style of church sittings at that time. These pews were 
 assigned to the fourteen associates, on the basis of their 
 subscriptions to the cost of the building ; viz., to Win- 
 throp Sargent, thirteen ; David Plumer, three ; Isaac 
 Elwell, two ; David Pearce, two ; Epes Sargent, William 
 Pearce, William Hales, Samuel Sayward, Joseph Foster, 
 Abraham Sawyer, John Somes, Bradbury Sanders, Wil- 
 liam Murphy, Philemon Haskell, — one each. The cost 
 of the building is not now known. The land on which 
 the meeting-house stood remained a part of the estate of 
 Mr. Sargent till 1799 when, " on the basis of the valua- 
 tion of 1781," a tax was assessed on the proprietors of the 
 pews, and the sum of one hundred pounds was raised 
 in payment for the land. The house was completed 
 and occupied by dedication, December 25, 1780. 
 
 On taking possession of their house of worship, the 
 hopes of Mr. Murray and his followers were doubtless 
 ardent ; and for a while they were free from molesta- 
 tion, but before long they were made to feel the most de- 
 termined opposition and annoyance. The assessors of 
 the First Parish claimed that they were still obhgated 
 to contribute, by taxation, to the support of that organ- 
 ization. The Universalists denied this liability, basing 
 their denial on the BiU of Eights prefixed to the Consti- 
 tution of the Commonwealth, which had recently been 
 adopted, the guarantees of which were, that 
 
 "all religious societies shall, at all times, have the ex- 
 clusive right of electing their public teachers, and of 
 contracting with them for support and maintenance. 
 And all moneys paid by the subject for the support of 
 public worship shall, if he require it, be uniformly ap- 
 plied to the support of the public teacher or teachers of 
 
LEGAL DIFFICULTIES. 181 
 
 his own religious sect or denomination, provided there 
 be any on whose instruction he attends." 
 
 The First Parish made answer that this provision 
 could not apply in this case, because the congregation 
 of Mr. Murray was not a church or religious society, 
 — "not being incorporated by any order or authority 
 known in this Commonwealth, — but a mere jumble of 
 detached members ; " nor was Mr. Murray a teacher, of 
 religion, but was to be regarded as one who, " without 
 a character, credentials, or ordination, has assumed the 
 character of a public teacher of piety, religion, and 
 morality, and styles himself clerk." ^ And so, on the 
 assumption that they had the right to determine what 
 was and what was not a religious sect, and who was or 
 was not a religious teacher, they proceeded to assess 
 and attempt to collect taxes from the Universalists for 
 the support of the First Parish 
 
 ■ There was a way out of this difficulty, which was 
 suggested and urged by many, but without meeting 
 their approval. It was to apply to the Legislature for 
 an act of incorporation. The answer was : — 
 
 " Providence has so ordered it, that we shoilld, in the 
 first instance, be called upon to contend for those religious 
 liberties preserved by our excellent Constitution. The 
 inconsiderableness of our party, and the prejudices raised 
 by our enemies in the minds of our fellow-citizens, point 
 us out as the proper objects of the first essay for re- 
 ligious tyranny; and should we fly to the law-makers 
 instead of that great law made by the people to govern 
 the legislature itself, we should, in our apprehension, be- 
 tray our country's freedom, and act a cowardly part. We 
 
 ' Answer to an Appeal, pp 13, 16. 
 
182 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 should feel ourselves very unhappy if there was no othet 
 security in these matters than acts of legislation, which 
 might be repealed at any time when a particular party 
 should prevail." ■" 
 
 In 1782 the First Parish enforced their demand by 
 seizing and selling at auction the goods of three mem- 
 bers of the Independent Church. From Epes Sargent 
 they took articles of silver plate, from another (perhaps 
 Winthrop Sargent) they took English goods, and from 
 another (probably David Pearce) the anchor of a vessel 
 on the point of sailing. William Pearce, a brother of 
 David, prominent in the mob which, as before referred 
 to, attempted to ride Mr. Murray out of town, had be- 
 come a convert to Universalism, and, on his resistance 
 of the tax, was lodged by the parish committee in Salem 
 jail. Failing to recover, their goods by replevin, the 
 Society instituted a suit against the First Parish, which 
 was afterwards withdrawn as not being tenable in the 
 form in which it was commenced. It was found that 
 in order for an action to be sustained in the court, it 
 must be brought in the name of the religious teacher 
 from whom the money had been diverted. Mrs. Mur- 
 ray relates that her husband's 
 
 " reluctance to this step was decided and affecting. He 
 had passed through the country without even allowing 
 or accepting contributions ; and to be considered a pro- 
 secutor for moneys said to be due to him for preaching the 
 Oospel, which he had determined to promulgate free as 
 the light of heaven ! — the very idea was a stab to his 
 long-cherished feelings. It appeared to him like pros- 
 trating the integrity of his character, and stripping him 
 
 1 An Appeal to the Impartial Public, p. 31. 
 
LEGAL DIFFICULTIES. 183 
 
 of those honors which he had fondly hoped would remain 
 forever unshorn. The situation of his mind upon this 
 occasion may be gathered from two extracts of letters, 
 addressed to him by a respectable gentleman: 'You 
 know the inducement I had to engage in this cause was 
 to be emancipated from the shackles of a pontificate, and 
 my aversion was ever determined from having the suit 
 brought in. your name, as well from your abhorrence, as 
 that the result, however favorable, would not establish 
 us upon the broad base of genuine freedom. However, I 
 am now convinced from reflection that our cause will be 
 ruined unless you assume it. Mr. Hitchborne was clear 
 it ought to have been in your name before. At our 
 pressing request he drew the last writ. Mr. Sullivan 
 has declared it must be in your name. Mr. Pyuchon 
 (allowed on all hands to be deeply versed in the intrica- 
 cies of the law) assured a gentleman he would warrant 
 success, and even undertake the conducting the cause, if 
 the proper use were made of your name. Mr. Sewall's 
 opinion is in unison with Mr. Pynchon. I hate delay 
 and indecision, and shall lament if chicane and political 
 views must prevail over the purest intentions.' 
 
 " To this letter Mr. Murray responded in terms descrip- 
 tive of much anguish of spirit, and his sympathizing 
 friend immediately replied : — 
 
 " ' I essay not to communicate the impression which 
 your letter has made upon me. Would that pen and paper 
 were adequate to express all that could be conveyed by 
 the tongue. Shall I be condemned for being of an un- 
 steady disposition, or shall I be justified in my change of 
 sentiment from the variety of events ? Be it as it may, 
 it matters not ; your letter has produced another alter- 
 ation in my mind. Your conflict between the resolution 
 you have taken, and the interest of your friends, which 
 I am persuaded is very dear to you, is carried on in your 
 breast to a degree of agony. I see how distressing it is 
 
184 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 for you, even in appearance, to stand forth and contend 
 for what you have so nobly held in sovereign contempt. In 
 this point of view it ceases to be a question. Let the 
 idea of interest perish. I had rather a large part of 
 mine, dear as it is, should be wrested from me, than that 
 you should sacrifice any portion of your peace or your 
 honor ; therefore I entreat you, my dear sir, do no vio- 
 lence to your feelings. I thank God, the truth of our 
 cause does not depend upon the decision of a court of 
 judicature ; and, admit the worst, it is only what we are 
 bidden to expect, that this world is opposed to the other. 
 Justice, however, notwithstanding my sympathy for you, 
 urges me to repeat that our lawyers see no rational pros- 
 pect of success, but from your becoming a pkincipal in 
 the business. If you can bend your mind, well; take 
 time to deliberate ; delays in law, perhaps, are not so 
 dangerous as in other affairs ; at any rate, I entreat you 
 to become more tranquil. I had rather make payment to 
 Parson Forbes than that you should thus suffer.' " ^ 
 
 Thus urged to consider the matter anew, Mr. Murray 
 became convinced that the issue affected not himself 
 alone, but every religious denomination in the Common- 
 wealth that was not of the standing order, and also that 
 persistence in his resolution was a sacrifice of the per- 
 sonal interests of his friends, and would be a cowardly 
 giving up of a right which the Constitution guaranteed 
 to all. And so he consented to bring the suit ; where- 
 upon Winthrop Sargent, David Pearce, Joseph Poster, 
 David Plumer, John Somes, Joshua Plumer, and Epes 
 Sargent, drew up and executed an agreement that, 
 
 "for the more effectual carrying on a certain process at 
 law between John Murray, clerk, and the inhabitants of 
 the First Parish of Glocester, or whatever other form iu 
 
 2 Life of Murray, pp. 329, 330. 
 
LEGAL DIFFICULTIES. 185 
 
 law may be assumed, for procuriug and establishing our 
 Religious Liberties, we do associate, mutually pledge, 
 covenant, agree, and bind ourselves jointly the one to the 
 other, as well for ourselves as our heirs, executors, and 
 administrators, to advance and pay such, sum or sums as 
 shall be necessary and adequate to the well conducting 
 of said process, the whole of which costs of suit and 
 other expenses, when terminated, to be respectively by us 
 borne in such proportions as we are taxed in the different 
 rate lists delivered to the collectors by the assessors of 
 the First Parish of Glocester, for 1781, 1782, 1783. 
 
 "And it is further agreed, that David Plumer and 
 Joseph Poster, above named, be a committee to transact 
 and conduct the causes before mentioned, and to receive 
 all moneys ; they or any of them giving receipts for such 
 sums as shall be paid them, and to be accountable to this 
 association for the expenditure of the same. 
 
 "And it is further agreed as the intent and meaning 
 of this association, to comprehend all or any expenses 
 that have arisen in conducting the cause aforesaid here- 
 tofore as well as what may arise at this present or in 
 future. 
 
 "It is further agreed that the said David Plumer and 
 Joseph Poster, committee, shall have power of assembling 
 this association at such times and place as shall be most 
 expedient. 
 
 "And it is further covenanted and agreed that this 
 association will aid, strengthen, counsel, and countenance 
 each other in the prosecution and vindication of their 
 rights against a species of usurpation and tyranny which, 
 though sanctified by the greatest number, has for its ob- 
 ject not the good order of civil society, but the subversion 
 of humanity and religious freedom." 
 
 Hon. Eufus King was retained as counsel, and the 
 case came to trial in 1783, and was continued on ap- 
 
186 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 peal and review till 1786. Mr. King removed to New 
 York before the final decision, when Judges Sullivan 
 and Tudor became Mr. Murray's counsel. Mr. Samuel 
 Whittemore was the committee or agent for the parish, 
 and TheophUus Parsons and Theophilus Bradbury were 
 his counsel. Of the trial in 1785, Mr. Sullivan gave 
 the following account in a letter to Mr. King : — 
 
 " June 25th, 1785. On Wednesday last was tried the 
 case of John Murray against the inhabitants of the First 
 Parish of Gloucester. The cause was opened by Mr. 
 Tudor and closed by me ; Mr. Bradbury and Parsons for 
 the parish. Many exceptions were taken to the form of 
 the action, but the three judges present, Sewall, Dana, 
 and Sumner, agreed the action to be well brought. On 
 our part, we proved that the Society under the teaching 
 of Murray were a sect different from [Calvinists or the 
 Standing Order] by denying the external rite of bap- 
 tism. We rested it there. The court thought we ought 
 to prove him to be a teacher of piety, religion, and moral- 
 ity, to entitle him to the action. To this we agreed, and 
 therefore produced evidence that he professed to teach 
 the Christian religion, which we thought to be a moral 
 system, and that the persons whose taxes were in consid- 
 eration attended upon him as a teacher of morality, and 
 were content to submit the cause. Upon the other side, 
 they moved to prove that his doctrines were opposed to 
 morality because he denied punishment in another world. 
 To this we objected that, although we were obliged to 
 prove him a teacher of morality, yet they would not go 
 so far as to bring before a civil tribunal the question 
 whether the motives of rewards and punishments in 
 another world were such as would induce piety; for, 
 should we at once launch into that inquiry, there would 
 be no end to it. For, suppose the clergyman in suit was 
 
LEGAL DIFFICULTIES. 187 
 
 an Episcopalian, one of the thirty-nine articles might be 
 produced against him which, perhaps, he had sworn to, 
 holding up the idea of election and reprobation, which 
 would be deemed by those who dissented from the doc- 
 trine to be opposed to every incentive to virtue or deter- 
 ment from vice. All Calvinists were involved in the 
 same observation ; the Hopkintonians worse, still worse ; 
 and it might even be said of the Armenians that their 
 distinction between foreknowledge and predestination 
 was derogatory to the perfection of the Deity ; and so no 
 end could be had to the disquisition. The court were, 
 however, against us, and in summing up or rather arguing 
 the cause, gave it as their full opinion that no teacher but 
 one who was elected by a corporate society could recover 
 money paid by his hearers to the teacher of the parish. 
 This excludes, you will observe, the Episcopalians, Bap- 
 tists, Quakers, Presbyterians, and Sandemanians from all 
 benefit arising from the third article. The jury thought 
 otherwise, and gave us a verdict. John Tracy, foreman." ^ 
 
 This verdict being in direct opposition to the instruc- 
 tions of the court, a review of the case was ordered, and 
 the final trial was had the following June. 
 
 Before that time arrived the Universalists published 
 an octavo pamphlet of thirty-nine pages entitled, "An Ap- 
 peal to the Impartial Public by the Society of Christian 
 Independents, congregating in Glocester." It was written 
 by Epes Sargent, and contained a full statement of the 
 facts and arguments in the case, as based on the Consti- 
 tution of the Commonwealth. It was immediately fol- 
 lowed by a pamphlet of twenty-three pages, entitled, " An 
 Answer to a Piece entitled ' An Appeal to the Impartial 
 Publick,' by an Association calling themselves ' Christian 
 
 ^ Amory's Life of James Sullivan, vol. i. p. 183. 
 
188 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Independents in Glocester.' " It was probably written by 
 Samuel Whittemore, Esq., the agent of the First Parish. 
 In addition to the common arguments of that day against 
 allowing churches to be founded in opposition to the 
 regular parish organization, this pamphlet contains the 
 letter of Eev. Dr. Stiles, before alluded to, in which Mr. 
 Murray is denounced as " a consummate hypocrite ; at 
 best a man of duplicity and dubiousness of conduct." 
 He represents Mr. Murray as having told him that the 
 plan he had projected ia coming to America 
 
 " was this : to come here as a follower of Mr. Whitfield, 
 and here to make himself known to him, by reminding 
 him of his communicating at the Tabernacle, and then 
 request Mr. Whitfield to put him in some secular employ- 
 ment at the Orphan House in Georgia ; for, he said, he 
 never had preached in England, and had no thoughts of it 
 here, except that he had sometimes spoken or exhorted in 
 some of the small Westlean societies before he was eigh- 
 teen years old. Upon coming here his plan was broken up, 
 as Mr. Whitfield died a few weeks before or after his ar- 
 rival. I have been informed of some of his ludicrous and 
 jocund conversation while on the passage, respecting 
 what business he should follow here, intimating his readi- 
 ness to go upon the stage, or, etc., etc. ; indicating an 
 undetermined and an unprincipled adventurer, ready, in- 
 differently, to turn himself to any course. Being ship- 
 wrecked on the Jersey shore, he was received with 
 hospitality by an opulent Presbyterian who had built a 
 meeting-house there for travelling ministers, especially 
 those sent by the synods. Mr. Murray here offered 
 himself first to preach. . . . He is unstudied and undi- 
 gested in his own scheme. At first he laughed at a 
 literal hell, and denied all future misery. Afterwards 
 he allowed some future punishment, but denies the 
 
DR. STILES' ACCUSATION. 189 
 
 eternity of it, and goes into the popish doctrine of pur- 
 gatory. In short, he is to this day unsettled in his 
 scheme, — a scheme infinitely dangerous to morality. 
 When he visited me, I asked his opinion respecting his 
 supposed tenet of universal salvation. But he positively 
 denied it to me, and asserted both the reality and per- 
 petuity of the future misery and damnation of those of 
 the human race who should be found on the left hand of 
 Jesus ; and, he said, a number of mankind would be 
 found on the left hand of Jesus at the great day. ... It 
 is said that once after supper he talked ludicrously of 
 the Lord's Supper as being only like drinking a health 
 unto the memory of an absent friend, and profanely said, 
 Here is bread and here is wine, what forbids but we 
 should have it now ? One of the company replied, Sev- 
 eral things forbid it; in order to a due partaking or 
 administering of that holy ordinance, there were two 
 things necessary, viz., proper subjects, and a proper per- 
 son to administer it; neither of which, says he, do I 
 know to be here. Murray replied, they were fit subjects, 
 and he, or any other person, had power, etc. ; and so it 
 ended. Mr. Murray denies all this with certain artful 
 duplicity or coverings ; but I had it from the mouth of 
 one of the gentlemen present, and do not doubt the fact. 
 Indeed, it is said by others that now he talks lightly 
 about outward ordinances " (pp. 9-11). 
 
 The pamphlet closes with a short address to the pub- 
 lic, in which occurs the following : — 
 
 " This town, once the seat of peace and commerce, is 
 now nodding on the brink of ruin, owing chiefly, if not 
 entirely, to this association, headed by this foreigner, 
 who, through a too great indulgence, has acquired the 
 effrontery to claim equal privileges with the learned, reg- 
 ular, and ordained ministers of this Commonwealth ; 
 
190 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 assuming their title, he sues for support. If this associ- 
 ation should be supported by law, then any one, two, or 
 three families may form themselves into the same, and 
 claim the same privileges. What then will become of 
 our colleges, incorporated parishes, and churches ? . . . 
 It is the opinion of the most judicious and feeling hearts 
 among us, that this man and his pernicious doctrines 
 have been more damage to this town than the late war " 
 (p. 22). 
 
 To this pamphlet Mr. Murray at once replied, over 
 his own signature, in a broadside published as a supple- 
 ment to the " Salem Gazette." Of the attack of Dr. 
 Stiles he said : — 
 
 "The public will be very much surprised when they 
 find that on the Rev. Dr. Stiles' writing to the Eev. Mr. 
 Forbes, I repeatedly requested a copy of the libel ; and 
 not being able to obtain it, I set out for Portsmouth. I 
 there demanded a meeting with the Doctor, insisting on 
 his either proving or retracting the false and scandalous 
 reports he sent his reverent correspondent in that letter ; 
 but, though under the influence of prejudice, that bane 
 of society, he was able to propagate a falsehood, yet (to 
 his honor be it spoken) he had not courage enough to 
 defend them. No arguments made use of by his best 
 friends could bring him to rny face. He told them, 
 indeed, that he was sure he said no harm of me, and 
 that if he had said anything to my disadvantage, he was 
 ready to ask my pardon ; that he wrote to Mr. Forbes in 
 confidence, not expecting that I would ever hear of it. 
 All this, and much more to the same purpose, can be 
 attested by the most respectable characters who waited 
 on him on the occasion. 
 
 " The public will be astonished, almost as much as I 
 
MR. MURRAY'S REPLY. 191 
 
 was, when they find the story the Doctor has furnished 
 his reverend friend with respecting my treating the sac- 
 rament irreverently, was, ten years ago, proved to him 
 by the best and most respectable authorities a gross and 
 palpable falsehood. One of the Doctor's best friends, a 
 Mr. Belcher, made it his business to inquire into the 
 affair ; and when he had found me fully justified, on the 
 respectable authority of General Greene, a letter from 
 the present Governor's lady of Rhode Island, Mr. Gordon, 
 a minister in East Greenwich, and General Varnum, who 
 were all present on the occasion where it was said I thus 
 burlesqued the sacrament, he informed Dr. Stiles of it ; 
 but though the Doctor had this information, he still, in 
 private, to help a good cause, continued to propagate the 
 lie. And many years after this, when he wrote it to Mr. 
 Forbes, this same Mr. Belcher, impelled by a love of truth 
 and justice, wrote a letter to Mr. Forbes to convince him 
 of the falsehood of this slander. This letter Mr. Forbes 
 did not think proper to publish ; a copy of it, however, 
 can be produced at a moment's warning. 
 
 "But the limits of your paper will not admit my 
 tracing my calumniators through the whole of the dirty 
 path they have taken ; the public may form some judg- 
 ment of the credits which ought to be given to the rest 
 of their vile calumnies from the specimen now laid before 
 them ; and I can in this way only declare that I am able 
 and willing, at any time when properly called on, to prove 
 the rest of the charges they have exhibited equally false 
 as slanderous. 
 
 "When we ventured to lodge an appeal before the bar 
 of the impartial public we did not call on them to attend 
 the sacrifice of any individual's reputation; we made 
 use of no personal invectives, we did not aim at poison- 
 ing the minds of our fellow-citizens with prejudice, im- 
 posing on them by vile misrepresentations ; we were 
 prevented from thus acting by motives which, we trust, 
 
192 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 will always have weight with us, viz., the fear of God, a 
 respect for the public, and a regard for ourselves. 
 
 " On the whole, it is plain what our enemies aim at : 
 they hope that personal abuse and a collection of infa- 
 mous falsehoods will so far operate on the minds of the 
 court and jury (under God the only defenders of our 
 natural and constitutional rights and liberties) as to gain 
 a verdict in their favor. And the plain intent of their 
 address is this : ' Our fellow-citizens, we call on you to 
 assist us in reprobating those wicked wretches who, 
 not having the fear of God, will not quietly part with 
 their property to us. We desire you not to look on 
 such wretches as fellow-citizens ; God hates them, we hate 
 them, and we hope you will hate them. We are holy, 
 righteous, just, and good; they are the reverse of all 
 this. We are God's own children ; they are chil- 
 dren of the devil. You ought, therefore, to believe all 
 we say, but nothing that they say. We have a right to 
 choose our own teacher ; they have not. No law ought 
 to oblige us to support any other than we hear, but the 
 law ought to oblige them to support the minister they 
 do not hear. You ought to give us their money for 
 nothing, and when they are base enough to refuse to 
 part with it freely, and we send a constable to take away 
 their property, you ought never to afford them any re- 
 dress ; for if you do not oblige them to pay our teacher, what 
 will become of your colleges, your parishes, your country ! 
 The rising generation, — all, all will go to destruction, if 
 you do not oblige them to support our teacher.' 
 
 "However, had these gentlemen confined themselves 
 to argument, and endeavored to prove that a doctor had 
 a right to demand a fee from another doctor's patient ; a 
 lawyer from another lawyer's client ; a minister from 
 another minister's hearers, — the press was free, they 
 had a right to offer their reasons ; but when, as defenders 
 
LEGAL DIFFICULTIES. 193 
 
 of the faith, they strive by bitter invectives to rob us, 
 first of our reputation, in order to influence a jury to 
 enable them to rob us of our property, and thus, in a 
 pretended zeal for piety and morality, bear false wituess 
 against their neighbor, surely every thinking, unpreju- 
 diced person must see their conduct in its true light, and 
 detest it." 
 
 At the final hearing of the case in June, 1786, Mr. 
 Murray was on a preaching tour in the State of Con- 
 necticut. Mrs. Murray has preserved in the memoir 
 of her husband the following extract from a letter 
 announcing to him the result : — 
 
 "Last Tuesday our party with their cloud of witnesses 
 were present, and called out at the bar of the supreme 
 judicial court. The cause was opened by Mr. Bradbury 
 and replied to by Mr. Hitchborne. The court adjourned to 
 the succeeding morning. I arrived just in season to hear 
 it taken up by Mr. Parsons and closed by Mr Sullivan. 
 I wish for an opportunity to render my acknowledgments 
 to this gentleman. He displayed upon this day an elo- 
 quence not less than Roman. The judges summed up 
 the whole. The first was ambiguous, the second was so 
 trammelled and inarticulate as to be scarcely understood ; 
 but the remaining three have acquired a glory which will 
 be as lasting as time. The conduct of Judge Dana at- 
 tracted particular notice. You remember he heretofore 
 labored against us. There appeared a disposition to tra- 
 verse our counsel ; in his comments on the Constitution, 
 those parts which made for us he turned against us ; he 
 asserted the tax was not persecuting, but legal ; religious 
 societies were bodies corporate, or meant to be so ; sect 
 and denomination were promiscuously used and synony- 
 mous ; and the whole was delivered with a sententious 
 gravity, the result of faculties laboriously cultivated by 
 
 vol,. I. — 13 
 
194 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 experience and study. But a revolution had now passed 
 in his mind, and when he noticed that article in the Con- 
 stitution which directs moneys to be applied to the 
 teacher of his own religious sect, he said the whole cause 
 depended upon the construction of that clause. He had 
 heretofore been of opinion it meant teachers of bodies 
 corporate ; he then thought otherwise. As the Constitu- 
 tion was meant for a liberal purpose, its construction 
 should be of a most liberal kind. It meant in this in- 
 stance teachers of any persuasion whatever, Jew or 
 Mahometan. It would be for the jury to determine if 
 Mr. Murray was a teacher of piety, religion, and morality. 
 That matter, he said, had, in his opinion, been fully 
 proved. The only question, therefore, before them was, 
 if Mr. Murray came within the description of the Con- 
 stitution, and had a right to require the money. ' It is 
 my opinion,' he decidedly declared, 'that Mr. Murray 
 comes within the description of the Constitution, and has 
 a right to require the money.' The jury received the 
 cause, and departed the court at half-past three. In the 
 evening they returned with a declaration that they could 
 not agree. The chief judge with some asperity ordered 
 them to take the papers and go out again. They con- 
 tinued in deliberation through the whole night. Thursday 
 morning they came in again, declaring their unanimous 
 agreement that the judgment obtained the preceding year 
 was in nothing erroneous. Thus have we gained our 
 cause, after trials of such expectation and severity. We 
 rejoice greatly. ' It is the Lord's doings, and marvellous 
 in our eyes ' " (pp. 335, 336). 
 
 It is said that when the jury were sent out the last 
 time, 
 
 " the foreman made an earnest appeal for Mr. Murray, 
 tirging that his supporters had as good a right to worship 
 God according to the dictates of conscience as others had, 
 
COST OF THE LAWSUIT. 195 
 
 and that he was prepared to render a verdict accordingly. 
 He then composed himself to sleep, with the remark that 
 they might arouse him as soon as they could agree." 
 
 The narrator of this incident also says : — 
 
 "Tradition has handed down the following incident 
 connected with this trial. Mr. Giddings, a Quaker, was 
 on the stand to testify that Mr. Murray's supporters had 
 a house of worship. It had been objected against them 
 that they had a secret which, in the state of public 
 affairs at that time, might be dangerous to the. liberties 
 of the people. Mr. Giddings, being questioned on this 
 point, and pressed rather closely, at length answered, 
 ' Yes, they have a secret, and it is this (quoting Ps. xxv. 
 14) : " The secret of the Lord is with them that fear 
 him, and he will show them his covenant." They have 
 no other secret, to my knowledge.' " * 
 
 The cost of this suit to Mr. Murray's supporters is 
 not known, but the amount paid by the First Parish to 
 their agent was, in small sums from 1783 to 1788, a 
 total of seventy-five pounds five shillings and four- 
 pence ; not much of it itemized, as voted by the parish 
 committee, but one item, passed on at their meeting, 
 March 23, 1787, reading thus : — 
 
 " Twenty-four pounds, it being what he [Samuel Whit- 
 temore] gave his note for to Theophilus Bradbury and 
 Theophilus Parsons, Esqrs., on interest, dated June, 
 1786, as their fees in behalf of the parish." ^ 
 
 During the progress of this trial Mr. Murray did not 
 relax his industry and zeal in the work of the ministry. 
 His wife says in the memoir that he 
 
 ' History of the Town of Gloucester, by John J. Babson, p. 435- 
 ^ Parish Committee Records, p. 120. 
 
196 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " continued uniformly to devote the summer months to 
 his multiplied adherents, from Maryland to New Hamp- 
 shire. In what manner is copiously described in his 
 'Letters and Sketches of Sermons.' In the February 
 of 1783, we find the preacher, as usual, deeply interested 
 in the cause of his great Master, and suggesting in a let- 
 ter to his friend and fellow-laborer, Mr. Noah Parker, 
 the propriety of an annual meeting of the heralds of re- 
 demption. His words are: 'Indeed, it would gladden 
 my heart if every one who stands forth a public witness 
 of the truth as it is in Jesus, could have an opportunity 
 of seeing and conversing one with another at least once 
 every year. I believe it would be attended with very 
 good effects. Think of it, my friend, and let me know 
 the result of your deliberation. I think these servants 
 of the Most High might assemble one year at Norwich, 
 one year at Boston, and another at Portsmouth, or 
 wherever it may be most convenient. I have long con- 
 templated an association of this description; and the 
 longer I deliberate, the more I am convinced of the util- 
 ity which would be annexed to the regulation ' " (pp. 336, 
 337). 
 
 In the summer of 1783 he visited Philadelphia, and 
 held his first interview with Eev. Elhanan Winchester, 
 — to be more fully described in another place. During 
 this absence from home he visited Good Luck, but 
 Thomas Potter was not there to greet him, having de- 
 parted this life in April, 1782. In his will, dated May 
 11, 1777, and proved May 2, 1782, he thus disposed of 
 the house of worship : — 
 
 " The house I built for those that God shall cause to 
 meet there to serve or worship Him [I devote] to the same 
 use still, and I will that my dear friend, John Murray, 
 preacher of the gospel, shall have the sole direction and 
 
ME. MURRAY AT GOOD LUCK. 197 
 
 management t)f said house, and one acre of land where the 
 house now stands for the use above mentioned." ' 
 
 In his "Letters and Sketches," vol i. pp. 334-341, 
 Mr. Murray thus describes this, probably his last, visit 
 to his first American home : — 
 
 " My ride to this place has been very disagreeable, — 
 the heat so intense, and the sand so deep, and no hospi- 
 table Friend Potter in view. Dear, honored friend, the 
 first patron with which I was blessed in this New World, 
 how indulgent wert thou to me ! with how much benevo- 
 lence didst thou cherish me when a stranger in thy man- 
 sion, and how didst thou labor for my advancement ! 
 
 " Many aged persons who were in the habit of attending 
 my labors have visited me. They express their honest 
 sensibility in a variety of ways, but all are overjoyed to 
 see me. They are solicitous to pour into my ear the 
 story of their accumulated sufferings. They imagine 
 they shall reap pleasure from commiseration. Yet what, 
 alas, can helpless pity do ! There is, however, much 
 pleasure in communicating our sorrows to a sympathizing 
 friend. 
 
 " I am now in the house that once belonged to the ven- 
 erable Potter, to my friend Potter. I am not, however, 
 an occupant of the same apartment which he fitted up 
 for my use and directed me to consider as my own. 
 That apartment, and the greater part of the house, is de- 
 voted to those who loved not him and knew not me. 
 Alas ! what is this world ? How often we thus exclaim, 
 thus ask, because we imagine it is not what it should be. 
 Were it under our direction it would be better managed, 
 but it is not, nor ever will be. One thing is certain, — on 
 life there is little or no dependence. This dear man, 
 
 1 From the ofGcial copy in the Secretary of State's Office, Trenton, 
 N. J., Liber N. 24, pp. 117, 118. 
 
198 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 this American ' man of boss,' was suddenly snatched 
 from the scenes of time, deprived instantly of reason, 
 and, in a few hours, of life. 'His soul proud science 
 never taught to stray.' But he was a gem of the first 
 quality, and notwithstanding the crust, which from his 
 birth enfolded him, yet by the rubs he suffered from the 
 pebbles among which he was placed, this crust was so far 
 broken as to emit, upon almost every occasion, the native 
 splendor of his intellect. Had this man in early life re- 
 ceived the culture of Nature's handmaid, what a luminous 
 figure he would have made ! But the God of nature had 
 stamped upon his soul the image of himself, — unbounded 
 henevoleiice. 
 
 " I reached this place yesterday evening. The sun was 
 just setting, and as I passed through the well-known 
 fields and saw them rich and fiourishing in all the pride 
 of nature, I felt an irrational kind of anger grow at my 
 heart, that those fields should look so exceeding gay when 
 their master had taken an everlasting leave of every 
 terrestrial scene. The depression upon my spirits, as I 
 reached the house, was indescribable. I beheld one and 
 another whose faces I had never before seen. An ugly 
 mastiff growled at me as I passed ; and this is the first 
 time, said I, that I was ever growled at in this place by 
 any of thy kind ; but he was soon silenced by a lad who 
 was brought up by my friend. ' Lord bless me ! Is not 
 this Mr. Murray ? ' — ' Why, Matt, do you remember 
 me ? ' — ' Eemember you, sir ! Remember Mr. Murray ? 
 Yes, indeed, sir.' — ' This dog does not, Matt ! ' — ' But 
 he would if he had lived in master's time ; but he is a 
 stranger.' — ' They are all strangers. Matt, are they not ? ' 
 — ' Indeed they are, all but my mistress and myself. ' — 
 ' And where is your mistress. Matt ? ' — 'I will call her, 
 sir.' — 'No, my good lad, not yet. What have yoa 
 for my horse ? ' — ' Nothing but grass. ' — ' Nothing at 
 Mr. Potter's but grass ? ' — ' Ah, sir, it is not now the 
 
MR. MURRAY AT GOOD LUCK. 199 
 
 house of Mr. Potter. ' — ' True, true, true ! Leave me, 
 my good lad, leave me.' 
 
 " I walked round the house, entered every avenue, 
 looked at my garden, — it was made for me. The trees, 
 the flowering shrubs, have run wild, aud the whole sur- 
 face of the spot is covered with weeds. This pleased 
 me ; just so I would have it. 
 
 "This is the tree planted by my own hand. How 
 flourishing ! But where is the other, planted directly 
 opposite at the same moment by my friend ? Alas ! like 
 its planter, dead. On this very spot I first saw the phi- 
 lanthropist. ' Can you assist me, sir ? ' — ' Yes, sir.' — 
 ' On what terms ? ' — 'I receive no payment, sir. He 
 who gave to me did not charge me anything; you are 
 welcome at the price.' Here our acquaintance com- 
 menced ; but it is ended, at least in the present state. I 
 shall see him no more on this side eternity. On this 
 seat we sat, and there the tear of transport rolled down 
 his furrowed cheek when we conversed upon that re- 
 demption which is in Christ Jesus. Under that oak we 
 have frequently sat, contemplating the shadow from the 
 heat, the hiding-place from the storm. At yonder gate he 
 bid me farewell, and wiped his venerable eye. At yonder 
 gate I turned ; he waved his hand, — ' God Almighty bless 
 you ; you will come again. Porget not your friends, your 
 ancient friend.' — ' If I do,' said my heart, ' may my right 
 hand forget its cunning ! ' But I forgot thee, good old 
 man, too long I forgot thee ! And now that I am at last 
 returned, thou art not here to bid me in the politest, that 
 is, in the sincerest manner, welcome. 
 
 "Mrs. Potter approached. She lifted up her hands 
 and eyes in speechless anguish, seated herself, changed 
 color, — no matter, the worst is passed. I have visited 
 the meeting-house reared by his hand for the worship of 
 his God. It is embosomed in a grove of stately oaks, all 
 trimmed, and in beautiful order. Under this shade re- 
 
200 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 poseth the man by whom the house was raised, by whom 
 the grove was planted. I beheld his grave. It was not 
 a marble, a hard marble, that informed me whose dust lay 
 there ; it was a feeling mechanic who, having experi- 
 enced much kindness from the deceased, wept when he 
 told me that spot contained the dead. I carefully ex- 
 amined the grave to see if any weeds grew there. No, 
 no, they had no business there. I could not pluck a 
 noxious nettle from his grave. There grew upon it a 
 few wild flowers, emblematic of the mind that once in- 
 habited this insensate clay. At the foot of the grave stands 
 the most majestic and flourishing of all the oaks which 
 surround the grave. It was once on the point of falling 
 a sacrifice to the axe-man, but my friend solicited for its 
 continuance, pronouncing that it would flourish when he 
 should sleep beside it. And having thus rescued it, added 
 my informant, he has since paid it particular attention, 
 which is the reason of its so far surpassing the other trees. 
 
 " Peace, peace to thy spirit, thou friendly, feeling, 
 faithful man ! Thy dust is laid up to rest near the house 
 thou didst build for God, but thy spirit rests with God in 
 the house btiilt by him for thee ; and though our dust may 
 not meet again, our spirits will meet and rejoice together 
 in those regions of blessedness where pain can find no 
 entrance, where death can no more usurp dominion, 
 where no tear of sorrow shall ever dim the joy-brightened 
 eye, for we shall part no more forever. I said there was 
 no nettle on this grave. One thing, however, was very 
 remarkable. A gourd had crept along until it came to, 
 and spread over, his grave, mixing its foliage with the 
 sweet-scented flowers that grew thereon. 
 
 "Never was place better calculated for melancholy 
 musing than this spot, so thick the grove around. The 
 little neat graveyard at the end, the shutters of the 
 house for public worship all closed up, the lonely situ- 
 ation inviting the birds, — their music serves to mellow 
 
ME. MURRAY AT GOOD LUCK. 201 
 
 the scene ; all, all, is most truly for solemn meditation 
 fit. 
 
 "In this house of worship I have once more preached. 
 It is full two years since divine service has been per- 
 formed there. I selected for my subject 1 Corinthians vi. 
 20 : ' For ye are bought with a price : therefore glorify 
 God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.' " 
 
 At the close of this sermon Mr. Murray adverted in 
 the following terms to the character of Mr. Potter : — 
 
 "Through yonder open casement I behold the grave 
 of a man, the recollection of whom swells my heart with 
 gratitude, and fills my eyes with tears. There sleeps the 
 sacred dust of him who well understood the advantages 
 resulting from the public worship of the true God. 
 There rest the ashes of him who glorified God in his 
 body, and in his spirit, which he well knew were the 
 Lord's. He believed he was bought with a price, and 
 therefore he declared that all he was and had were 
 righteously due to the God who had created and pur- 
 chased him with a price all price beyond. There rests 
 the precious dust of the friend of strangers, whose hos- 
 pitable doors were ever open to the destitute and him 
 who had none to relieve his sufferings. I myself was 
 once thrown on these shores, a desolate stranger. This 
 Christian man brought me to his habitation. ' God,' said 
 he, ' hath blessed me ; he has given me more than a com- 
 petency, and he has given me a heart to devote myself 
 and all that I have to him. I have built a place for his 
 name and worship. I would,' continued the faithful 
 man, ' erect this temple myself with what God had given 
 me. My neighbors would have lent their aid, but I re- 
 fused assistance from any one. I would myself build the 
 house, that God might be worshipped without conten- 
 tion, without interruption ; that he might be worshipped 
 by all whom he should vouchsafe to send.' 
 
202 XJNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " This elegant house, my friends, the first friends who 
 hailed my arrival in this country, this elegant house, 
 with its adjoining grove, is yours. The faithful founder 
 bequeathed it to me that pone of you may be deprived of 
 it. His dust reposes close to this monument of his 
 piety ; he showed you by his life what it was to glorify God 
 in body and spirit ; and he has left you this house that 
 you may assemble here together, listen to the voice, and 
 unite to chant the praises of the God who created, who 
 has bought you with a price, and who will preserve you. 
 
 " Dear, faithful man ! when last I stood in this place 
 he was present among the assembly of the people. I 
 marked his glistening eye ; it always glistened at the 
 emphatic name of Jesus. Even now I behold in imagi- 
 nation his venerable countenance ; benignity is seated on 
 his brow; his mind is apparently open and confiding; 
 tranquillity reposeth upon his features, and the expres- 
 sion of each varying emotion evinceth that faith which 
 is the parent of enduring peace, of that peace which 
 passeth understanding. 
 
 "Let us, my friends, imitate his philanthropy, his 
 piety, his charity. I may never again meet you until we 
 unite to swell the loud hallelujahs before the throne of 
 God. But to hear of your faith, of your perseverance, 
 of your brotherly love, of your works of charity, will 
 heighten my enjoyments and soothe my sorrows, even to 
 the verge of my mortal pilgrimage. Accept my prayers 
 in your behalf, and let us unite to supplicate om com- 
 mon God and Father for the mighty blessing of his 
 protection." 
 
 Thomas Potter left a large estate and, it was sup- 
 posed, but a few debts. One of his executors, it is said, 
 in collusion with another person, had many fraudulent 
 claims presented, to meet which necessitated the sale of 
 a portion of the estate, in which the meeting-house 
 
SALE OF THE POTTER MEETING-HOUSE. 203 
 
 property was included. The purchaser was a relative 
 of the fraudulent executor, and on Nov. 7, 1809, for 
 the consideration of one hundred and twenty-five dol- 
 lars, he conveyed the property to Paul Potter, Samuel 
 Woodmansie, John Crammer, Caleb Falkenburg, Isaac 
 Eogers, John Tilton, and David Bennet, trustees ; a 
 clause of the deed reading as follows : — 
 
 " That they shall at all times forever hereafter permit 
 such ministers and preachers belonging to the said church 
 as shall from time to time be duly authorized by the 
 General Conference of the ministers and preachers of 
 the said Methodist Episcopal Church, or by the yearly 
 conference authorized by the said General Conference, 
 and none others, to preach and expound God's holy word 
 therein." 
 
 The widow of Thomas Potter obtained a competent 
 support in the settlement of the estate, but was induced 
 by her husband's nephew to make over her property to 
 him, he promising to give her a comfortable home during 
 her Ufe ; but his property was wasted by mismanage- 
 ment or misfortune, and the widow ended her days in 
 the poorhouse.^ 
 
 There were probably difficulties in the way of im- 
 mediate action on Mr. Murray's suggestion for a Uni- 
 versalist Association, as made in the letter to Eev. Noah 
 Parker in 1783, quoted a few pages back ; but an organ- 
 ization effected in April, 1785, sought and secured this 
 desired result. There were many Universalists in that 
 part of Worcester County, Mass., comprised in the 
 towns of Oxford, Charlton, Douglas, Sturbridge, Sutton, 
 
 1 See the Ambassador, March 23, 1867, and the Christian Leader, 
 vol. xliv. no. 46, Nov. 14, 1874. 
 
204 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 and Ward (the latter now the town of Auburn), the re- 
 sult of the labors of Dr. Davis, Caleb Eich, and Adams 
 Streeter, as before mentioned, some of whom united to 
 form " The Second Religious Society in Oxford, and the 
 Third Independent Eeligious Society in the Common- 
 wealth, called Universalists." To them the issue of Mr. 
 Murray's suit against the First Parish ia Gloucester 
 possessed great interest. Should he lose his case they 
 would be seriously affected. 
 
 " We are duly sensible," they wrote to their Glouces- 
 ter brethren, " that our strength depends on our being 
 cemented together in one united body, in order to antici- 
 pate any embarrassment of our Constitutional Eights." 
 
 They therefore issued a call to the 
 
 " brethren at Gloucester, Boston, Taunton, Newport, 
 Providence, and so forth, to form an association which 
 we propose to be held at Oxford. Yet, as we wish to 
 accommodate the societies at large, we have omitted to 
 appoint a time till we shall hear from the brethren, and 
 if any other place will better accommodate the brethren 
 at large, we submit it for your advice." 
 
 This was issued July 21. A copy was sent to 
 Providence by the hand of Eev. Adams Streeter, who 
 was instructed to explain more fully the object of the 
 proposed meeting. The answer went by the same 
 hand, and the Oxford friends were informed that the 
 proposed association was a 
 
 " measure they had reason to believe to be conducive to 
 the well-being of government, especially in your State, 
 under your present form of government ; for which reason 
 we shall heartily join you in such a measure, either by a 
 committee or letters of correspondence on the matter. 
 
ASSOCIATION AT OXFORD. 205 
 
 As we are a very small and poor people here, we can be 
 of but little weight in matters of such importance ; never- 
 theless, observing your peculiar standing in government, 
 we can but earnestly recommend [you] to be careful not 
 to defend yourselves against oppression by oppressing, 
 especially in matters of religion, but let your moderation 
 be known to all men ; for we know when the minds of 
 men are irritated by undue measures, they are apt to 
 swerve from the Golden Rule, — do as you would be 
 done by. Having but little opportunity to write at this 
 time, we shall let you know our mind more particularly 
 by letter or committee at the time of meeting at Oxford, 
 which time we shall leave to yourselves, and to notify us 
 by letter." 
 
 A month later — the time for the meeting of the As- 
 sociation having been designated as Sept. 14 — the 
 various societies were notified. Mr. Murray wrote to 
 Noah Parker : — 
 
 "Although very much indisposed, I am commencing a 
 journey to Oxford, where I expect to meet a number of 
 our religious brethren from different towns in which the 
 gospel has been preached and believed, for the purpose of 
 deliberating upon some plan to defeat the designs of our 
 enemies, who aim at robbing us of the liberty wherewith 
 the Constitution has made us free." 
 
 Towards the last of September Mr. Murray again 
 writes to Mr. Parker : 
 
 " Well, I have been to Oxford, and the assembly con- 
 vened there was truly primitive. We deliberated, first, 
 on a NAME ; secondly, on the propriety of being united 
 in our common defence ; thirdly, upon the utility of an 
 annual meeting of representatives from the different 
 societies ; and, fourthly, upon keeping up a constant cor 
 
206 ONIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 respondence by letter. Each of the particulars is to be 
 laid before the societies represented by their delegates 
 on this occasion, and if approved, their approbation to 
 be announced by circular letters to the several societies." 
 
 There were present at this Association nine laymen, 
 representing the following localities : Boston, Provi- 
 dence, Milford, Bellingham, and Taunton. The minis- 
 ters in attendance were John Murray, Gloucester; 
 Caleb Rich, Warwick; Adams Streeter, Milford, and 
 Elhanan Winchester, Philadelphia. The latter preached 
 a sermon, but probably did not participate in the de- 
 liberations, at least not as a representative from Phila- 
 delphia, for he had not been appointed by the believers 
 in that city, but was, in company with his half-brother 
 Moses, spending a year in New England. The name 
 agreed upon by the Association to be recommended to 
 the several congregations for their adoption, was "In- 
 dependent Christian Society, commonly called ' Univer- 
 salists.' " They 
 
 " voted that each of the committees from Boston, and so 
 forth, shall convey to their several societies, together 
 with the name adopted, a proposal to consider the pro- 
 priety of each society's agreeing not only to be called 
 by one name, but to be cemented in one body, conse- 
 quently bound by the ties of love to assist each other at 
 any and all times when occasion shall require." 
 
 They also voted to 
 
 " propose to their constituents the propriety of an annual 
 meeting, and that the first be held in Boston the second 
 Wednesday in September, 1786." 
 
 They also unanimously voted to adopt as the form of 
 organization for their respective societies a " Charter of 
 
CHARTER OF COMPACT. 207 
 
 Compact," which had recently (September 6) been 
 drafted and adopted by the Gloucester TJniversalists, as 
 remedying some of the defects in the former " Articles 
 of Association." It was undoubtedly" laid before the 
 Association by Mr. Murray, and after a few slight alter- 
 ations, was adopted in the following form : — 
 
 "CHARTER OF COMPACT. 
 
 "As it is of the greatest importance, and conduces to 
 the safety and happiness of a Society, to form themselves 
 in a way which is most happifying and secure in the 
 great matters of Religion and Morality, and to take all 
 such salutary measures as are pointed out in the Consti- 
 tution, we therefore, who have set our names hereunto, 
 convinced by reason and truth, do by our own inclination 
 mutually engage and pledge ourselves, each to the other, 
 and enter into the following Charter of Compact. 
 
 " 1. That there be a stated annual meeting of the So- 
 ciety on the second Wednesday in April every year, for 
 the purpose of choosing a select committee, whose power 
 shall be as hereafter defined, and that there be at the 
 same time a clerk chosen to this Society. 
 
 "2. That there be funds provided by voluntary sub- 
 scription for the purpose of supporting a teacher or 
 teachers of Piety, Religion, and Morality, and for the 
 purpose of assisting poor and distressed brethren. 
 
 " 3. The powers of the Committee are to extend to the 
 calling of a meeting or meetings of the Society, when 
 they shall think proper, or on request of five of the 
 Society. 
 
 " 4. They have power to admit new subscribers : they 
 shall likewise acquaint the Clerk of their proceedings, in 
 order that he may keep a regular record. 
 
 " 5. The Clerk shall record the transactions both of the 
 
208 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Society and Committee in a book open to the inspection 
 of any one. 
 
 " 6. The Clerk shall be Treasurer of the Society, and 
 shall regularly report both of the reception and distribu- 
 tion of moneys to the Compact at every annual meeting. 
 
 " 7. All who shall subscribe and not punctually pay, 
 shall be exempt from the privileges of the Charter of 
 Compact, and the Compact have discretionary power to 
 remit subscriptions on reasonable representations made to 
 them. 
 
 " 8. The subscriptions shall be paid to the Clerk, which 
 will render useless the ofi&ce of a Collector. 
 
 " 9. Subscriptions shall be opened at the annual meet- 
 ings, and continue at those periods, unless any circum- 
 stances shall require them more frequently. 
 
 " 10. All subscribers shall have an equal vote. 
 
 " 11. All questions shall be determined by two thirds of 
 the present members, and seven shall constitute a meeting. 
 
 " 12. Every member or subscriber shall have a free 
 liberty to withdraw his name from this Charter wlienever 
 he shall see fit. 
 
 " 13. Whereas the privilege of choosing one's own re- 
 ligion is inestimable, in order to maintain that privilege 
 unimpaired, in case any person associating with us shall 
 suffer persecution from an unlawful exercise of power, we 
 do agree and resolve to afford all legal measures of extri- 
 cating him from difficulty, and of enabling him to enjoy 
 that freedom which is held forth in the Constitution. 
 
 " 14. And be it universally known, that we who have 
 set our names to this Charter of Compact for the pur- 
 poses heretofore named, are composed of, and belong to, 
 
 the Independent Christian Society in , commonly 
 
 called Universalists." ^ 
 
 1 For other papers relating to this Association, see the Universalist 
 Quarterly for July, 1874, pp. 328-344. 
 
MEETING-HOUSE IN BOSTON. 209 
 
 lu a short time this compact was adopted by the 
 societies in Milford, Oxford, and Warwick. The friends 
 in Boston wrote that they believed it to be their duty 
 to consider themselves "of one body, of which Jesus 
 Christ is the Head," but did not announce their inten- 
 tion to organize in just the way, nor under the particu- 
 lar name, that had been designated. It is probable that 
 they had an organization of some kind before the meet- 
 ing of the Association, although no records are found of 
 an earlier date than Jan. 1, 1786. They purchased a 
 house of worship in October, 1785. The date of that 
 purchase is generally given as December 29, but a letter 
 of John Murray, dated Nov. 5, 1785, says: — 
 
 " Our friends in this place have made last week a very 
 great purchase. They have bought Doctor Mather's 
 meeting-house that was, — a very elegant, commodious 
 house." 
 
 This house was a wooden structiire and was erected 
 in 1742 by the adherents of Eev. Samuel Matlier, D. D., 
 who, after being pastor of the Old North Church for 
 about nine years, was by his own request dismissed in 
 1741. With him " about thirty men and twice as many 
 women separated from the Old North " and established 
 a new society. Their house of worship was built on 
 the comer of North Bennet and Hanover streets. The 
 society was unable to continue after Dr. Mather's death, 
 hence the sale of their property to the Universalists. 
 
 The Providence friends said, in a letter to the Oxford 
 Society, Nov. 27, 1785, that 
 
 "a copy of the proceedings of the Association held in 
 Oxford on the 14th of September last, and a copy of the 
 
 VOL. I. — 14 
 
210 UNI VERS ALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Charter of Compact (so called) agreed to by the members 
 of said society at Oxford, have been laid before a meeting 
 of a small number of us in this town, who have agreed to 
 distinguish ourselves for the present by the name of The 
 Providence Universalists." 
 
 It is probable that there was no definite organization 
 in this place. As we have seen in the preceding chap- 
 ter, meetings were held as opportunity for preaching 
 allowed, which, under the circumstances, especially 
 after the death of Mr. Streeter, must have made their 
 gatherings very infrequent, and their organization prob- 
 ably amounted to no more than this, — that for the 
 purposes of correspondence one of their number was 
 appointed clerk. This was Zephaniah Andrews, to 
 whom, on the 9th of June, 1786, Mr. Winchester sent 
 the following letter from Philadelphia : — 
 
 " My dear friends in Providence, whom I love in the 
 truth, for the truth's sake which dwelleth in us, and shall 
 be in us forever. 
 
 " I send my sincere affection to you all, remembering 
 your kindnesses and friendly offices to us when we were 
 with you ; for when we were strangers you took us in, 
 when we were hungry you fed us, when we were thirsty 
 you gave us drink, when we were sick you ministered to 
 us ; and I doubt not but if we had been naked you would 
 have clothed us, and had we been in prison " you would 
 have come unto us. I pray that ray God would supply 
 all your needs, according to his riches in glory by Christ 
 Jesus. He is rich, though I am poor ; and He is able to 
 rewaid you manifold according to your labor of love ; for 
 God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labor of 
 love, and our Saviour assures us that not a cup of cold 
 water (even though given only in the name of a disciple) 
 shall lose its reward. 
 
ESEK EDDY. 211 
 
 " And now, dear friends, stand fast in the truth which 
 ye have heard, and be not turned aside therefrom by any 
 cunning craftiness of men whereby they lie in wait to 
 deceive. Endeavor to grow in grace and in the knowl- 
 edge and love of Christ Jesus our Lord, till you come to 
 his kingdom and glory. 
 
 " I heartily salute you, friends Eddy, Waterman, Hill, 
 Gladding, Andrews, Sisson, and all other my friends 
 whose names I cannot mention in particular. 
 " I rest yours, etc. 
 
 "Elhanan Winchester." 
 
 The persons named in the above were all men of 
 good standing in the community, but we have no par- 
 ticulars respecting many of them. Esek Eddy was a 
 ship-carpenter by trade, and a man of great amiability 
 and goodness. Early in life he became a member of the 
 Beneficent Congregational Church, under the pastorate 
 of Eev. Mr. Snow. During one of the earliest visits of 
 John Murray to Providence he preached in Eev. Mr. 
 Snow's meeting-house, and there Mr. Eddy heard him 
 and believed the message to which he listened. The 
 church summoned him to trial for his heresy, and when 
 he was requested to offer what he might wish to in de- 
 fence of his course, he simply repeated the apostolic 
 words, " We both labor and suffer reproach because we 
 trust in the living God, who is the Saviour of all men, 
 especially of those that believe." The trial resulted in 
 a resolution to excommunicate, which was carried out 
 publicly, the heretic being required to stand in the 
 broad aisle and listen to the reading of his sentence, 
 and of an anathema giving him over to the buffetings 
 of Satan. So great, however, was the purity of his 
 
212 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 life, and so faithful his discharge of all religious obliga- 
 tions, that the church solicited his return to its com- 
 munion. He made answer that he would cheerfully do 
 so if they would receive him back as publicly as they 
 put him out. This they refused to do, and he remained 
 the Lord's freeman. He died in 1820, in the enjoy- 
 ment and triumph of Christian faith, aged 89 years. 
 
 Rufus Waterman was a soap and candle maker. 
 " He was never a man of show, was rather a Quakei''in 
 his habits, lived respectably, but unostentatiously ; was 
 not loquacious ; but he was honest, benevolent, and 
 wealthy. ' Honest as Eufus Waterman,' was a proverb 
 in Providence." Mr. Waterman was originally a Baptist,"^ 
 and a member of the First Baptist Church several 
 years; but about 1780 he became a TJniversalist, at 
 which time he either withdrew or was excommunicated 
 from the church. He lived to an advanced age, and was 
 one of the incorporators of the first TJniversalist Society 
 in Providence in 1821. 
 
 At Milford an organization had been effected before 
 the meeting of the Association, the records showing who 
 were the members of the society in August, 1785. Of 
 the early labors in that region mention has been made 
 in a preceding chapter. At Bellingham there was no 
 organization, nor was there any in Taunton, nor in New- 
 port, East Greenwich, and Cumberland, E. I., although 
 there were a number of believers in each of these 
 places who were eager to hear the preached word as 
 often as opportunity offered. 
 
 Of Rev. Elhanan Winchester, who preached at Oxford 
 during the session of the Association, it is impossible to 
 speak with justice within narrow limits. He was a 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 213 
 
 man of peculiar gifts and of wonderful and command- 
 ins influence. He was the oldest of fifteen children of 
 Elhanan Winchester, a respectable and industrious 
 mechanic, and was born in Brookline, Mass., Sept. 30, 
 1751. At the age of five he could read with fluency, 
 it was said, anything then printed in the English lan- 
 guage. He learned rapidly, and had a retentive mem- 
 ory, devoured with avidity all books that came in his 
 way ; but of all that he read, the Bible was his favorite 
 companion. From this early and extensive acquaint- 
 ance with the Scriptures his friends naturally predicted 
 his future eminence and usefulness. 
 
 "He was of a contemplative turn, which, connected 
 with his Scriptural attainments, probably laid the founda- 
 tion of that religious character for which in subsequent 
 life he was pre-eminently distinguished." 
 
 Owing to his restricted circumstances, the elder Mr. 
 Winchester was unable to do anything for the educa- 
 tion of his children, beyond affording them the then 
 meagre advantages of the district school. "But the 
 mind of Elhanan rose superior to circumstances. His 
 thirst for learning was irrepressible." When a Latin 
 grammar was placed in his hands he qualified himself 
 in one evening, to the agreeable surprise of his teacher, 
 to recite with a class which had been studying several 
 weeks; and the same energetic and persevering spirit 
 enabled him in later years to acquire no mean knowledge 
 of Hebrew, Greek, and French. 
 
 "In his constitution, Elhanan was naturally feeble. 
 Through life he was the almost constant subject of dis- 
 ease and pain. He developed in childhood an amiable 
 disposition, and a mild, conciliating temper. ' I have no 
 
214 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 recollection of seeing him in a passion (writes a brother) 
 ■while living with my father.' ' He always made it a 
 rule (writes another) never to speak evil of any person. 
 . . . Indeed, he seemed an entire stranger to envy, and 
 was no less remarkable for his humility than his gener- 
 osity.' Mr. Vidler, in his sketch, makes a less favorable 
 statement of his youthful characteristics, on the author- 
 ity, as he says, of Mr. Wiuchester himself. It was nat- 
 ural that a man like him should speak of himself with 
 great modesty; but as his brothers and sister unite in 
 ascribing to him an unusual sweetness of mind, we have 
 chosen to follow them. So far as can be learned from 
 contemporaries, their statements may be relied on as sub- 
 stantially correct. Gentleness, forbearance under the 
 pressure of injury, and a tender regard for the feelings 
 of others, were prominent features in his juvenile char- 
 acter. The early activity of his mind, and the readiness 
 with which it embraced simultaneously a variety of sub- 
 jects, is pertinently illustrated in the following anec- 
 dote. It was received in substance from reputable au- 
 thority. 
 
 " His father was exemplary in the observance of the 
 Sabbath. He considered it holy time, and wisely taught 
 his children to regard it reverentially. He was constant 
 in his attendance upon public worship, and always im- 
 pressed upon his young family the duty of order and 
 attention in the house of God. To secure this end he 
 sometimes required them to remember the text and repeat 
 it to him on their return from meeting. ' Elhanan,' said 
 his father to him one pleasant Sabbath morning, 'you 
 will attend meeting to-day ; I wish you to keep your eyes 
 upon the minister, and inform me, when you come home, 
 from what part of the Scripture he selected his text.' 
 ' Yes, father,' was the reply. At the hour of service the 
 family set out for the place of worship. The meeting- 
 house, like many of that day, was in an unfinished state ; 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTEK. 215 
 
 the posts, beams, braces, and rafters being exposed to 
 view. The old gentleman, as usual, took his seat below ; 
 but Elhanan, escaping for a moment his observation, 
 slipped into the gallery, and placed himself in a front 
 seat. It was now too late to call him down without dis- 
 turbing the congregation, and as lie sat in full view of 
 his father, he concluded to allow him to remain undis- 
 turbed. The meeting was opened in the customary form, 
 and the clergyman soon rose and commenced his sermon. 
 The father now raised his eyes to his son, hoping to find 
 him regarding the morning injunction. To his sorrow 
 and vexation, however, Elhanan appeared entirely to 
 have forgotten it. Instead of attending to the discourse, 
 his mind seemed to be busily occupied with objects in 
 distant parts of the house. The old gentleman was ex- 
 ceedingly uneasy, and resorted to varioiis methods to 
 arrest his attention without attracting the notice of the 
 assembly, — but in vain. As the sermon progressed El- 
 hanan became apparently more engrossed in the objects 
 which first engaged his gaze. Occasionally he was ob- 
 served to cast a look upon the speaker, as though the 
 recollection of his father's charge flashed upon his mind ; 
 but soon his eyes again wandered over every part of the 
 house, and he appeared insensible to the presence of any. 
 His father was vexed beyond measure, and resolved to 
 catechize him severely for his disobedience. The meet- 
 ing at length closed, and the audience dispersed. As soou 
 as the family reached home, the old gentleman com- 
 menced rather sternly : — 
 
 " ' Elhanan, did I not bid you this morning to keep 
 your eyes upon the minister, and bring me the text at 
 noon ? ' 
 
 "'Yes, father.' 
 
 " ' Why, then, have you disobeyed me ? ' 
 
 "'I have not disobeyed you, father,' replied Elhanan, 
 looking up with a strong expression of innocence. 
 
216 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " ' My son,' hastily rejoined his father, ' do not strive 
 to conceal your fault by falsehood.' 
 
 " ' Father, I am not guilty of falsehood.' 
 
 '"My child, do not persist in this assertion. I ob- 
 served you narrowly during the whole of divine service, 
 and your eyes were anywhere but upon the minister. 
 You will not deny this ? ' 
 
 , " ' No, father, I will not deny that I sometimes looked 
 upon other objects; but indeed I have not been dis- 
 obedient, as you think. I remember the text.' 
 
 " ' Indeed ! repeat it then.' This was immediately 
 done, citing chapter and verse. 
 
 " ' Well,' resumed the father, ' I am glad that you have 
 been more attentive than I at first supposed. It would 
 have grieved me much had you convicted yourself of un- 
 truth. But, my son, I must caution you to refrain in future 
 from gazing around the house of God. Such conduct indi- 
 cates a want of just reverence for your Heavenly Father.' 
 
 " ' I am heartily sorry, father, that my conduct has 
 been censurable. I would not willingly give you pain, 
 and I will try to behave more becoming in the house of 
 God. But, father,' he continued, brightening, ' I not only 
 remember the text, but I can tell you what the minister 
 said.' 
 
 " He then enumerated the heads of the discourse, and 
 repeated large portions nearly in the words of the 
 speaker. The stern features of the father relaxed into a 
 look of complacency as he remarked, 'Your memory, 
 Elhanan, is very good, and I am pleased to observe that 
 you have exercised it so profitably this morning.' 
 
 " ' And now, father,' continued Elhanan, gathering 
 courage from his altered tone, ' if you will not be offended, 
 I will tell you the number of people present this morn- 
 ing, and the number of beams, posts, braces, rafters, and 
 panes of glass there were in the meeting-house. I counted 
 them all, and remembered the text too.' 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTEE. 217 
 
 " TMs was uttered in a tone of earnest simplicity tliat 
 totally disarmed the old gentleman of his anger. The 
 associations, too, were such as rendered it difficult to re- 
 press a smile; but, assuming a look of gravity, he 
 replied : — 
 
 " ' Well, Elhanan, I am willing to believe you meant 
 no wrong. For this time I will overlook what, perhaps, 
 under other circumstances, I should esteem an unpardon- 
 able offence. But be warned, my son, hereafter to give 
 your undivided attention to the religious exercises while 
 in the place of pubUc worship.' " * 
 
 This wonderful power of concentration of will, and 
 this ability to work without confusion on different lines 
 of mental activity, was the secret of his success as a 
 scholar under the disadvantages of his early life. The 
 late Eev. Lemuel Willis, who obtained his information 
 from his father, an intimate friend of Mr. Winchester's, 
 relates the following, which occurred some years after 
 Mr. Winchester became a Universalist preacher : — 
 
 "Though self-educated, his knowledge of languages 
 and history was great. By an interview he had with the 
 principal of the then new and flourishing academy in 
 Chesterfield, N. H., Mr. Logan, a man of collegiate educa- 
 tion and an accomplished scholar, he had his knowledge of 
 the dead languages, so called, fully called out and tested. 
 
 " While in that village, after having preached there to 
 that vast assemblage, Mr. Logan, who had heard of the 
 fame of the distinguished preacher, if he had not listened 
 to his spirit-stirring eloquence, desired to be introduced to 
 him. This wish was soon gratified, and they met at the ' 
 house of one of Mr. Winchester's friends. The conver- 
 
 ' Biography of Eev. Elhanan Winchester, by Edwin Martin Stone, 
 pp. 13-18. 
 
218 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 sation soon turned upon tlie classics, and, especially, the 
 original language of the New Testament. Mr. Logan 
 taking the lead, they first spoke of the Latin poets and 
 historians ; and the preacher was found to be quite con- 
 versant with them. The former then turned to the 
 Greek, thinking, perhaps, that a man who had not enjoyed 
 the advantages of a collegiate course of study could have 
 but little more than a smattering of that language. How- 
 ever, in this regard, too, he was mistaken. The latter 
 showed that his knowledge of Grecian literature was 
 very considerable, and particularly in relation to the 
 Septuagint, and the original Greek of the New Testa- 
 ment. But at length Mr. Winchester thought it to be 
 his turn to lead in the conversation, and he introduced 
 the subject of the Hebrew language, and would have ex- 
 changed thought with Mr. Logan in relation to the orig- 
 inal Scriptures of the Old Testament, but he was told at 
 once by the preceptor that he had never learned that 
 language, and knew nothing about it. 
 
 " Those who have read Winchester's ' Dialogues on the 
 Universal Restoration,' and his ' Lectures on the Proph- 
 ecies,' recollect that he often refers to the original Script- 
 ures of the Bible, and this he did not without a knowledge 
 of both the Hebrew and Greek languages." ^ 
 
 When nineteen years of age, Mr. Winchester united 
 with a " Baptist church on the open communion plan," 
 under the ministry of Elder Ebenezer Lyon, at Canter- 
 bury, Ct. Before the next spring he had removed to 
 Eehoboth, Mass., where he spent a year as pastor of a 
 Baptist church, over which he was ordained by Elder 
 •Lyon. At first his ministry was eminently successful, 
 but before the year closed he had adopted the plan of 
 close communion ; 
 
 1 The Universalist, Dec. 15, 1866. 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 219 
 
 "to wMch his churcli so far practically assented as to 
 exclude him for breach of covenant. During the commo- 
 tion which this affair produced at Eehoboth, he took a 
 journey into New Hampshire and Vermont, and on re- 
 turning, stopped at Grafton, Mass., where he preached 
 to the astonishment of those that attended. When 
 arrived at Eehoboth, finding the difficulties had not sub- 
 sided, he called a council to mediate between him and his 
 church. The result was the council declared he had left 
 an error to embrace the truth ; and the people declared 
 the contrary. Accordingly, Mr. Winchester then joined 
 the Baptist church in Bellingham, Mass., of which Elder 
 Noah Alden was minister. About this time he renounced 
 his Arminian sentiments, avowed the system of the cele- 
 brated Baptist, Dr. Gill, and soon became considered 
 one of the most thorough Calvinist preachers in the 
 country." 
 
 He continued preaching in various parts of Massa- 
 chusetts till the autumn of 1774, when he took a jour- 
 ney to South Carolina, and became minister of the 
 Baptist church at Welsh Neck, where he remained 
 several years, making journeys, meanwhile, to New 
 England and to Virginia. The steps by which he was 
 led to the belief of UniversaUsm, are best described by 
 himself : — 
 
 "I think it was in the beginning of the year 1778, 
 being in South Carolina, upon the River Pee Dee, where 
 I was at that time minister, that I called to see a friend, 
 who first put into my hands that valuable book written 
 by Paul Siegvolk, and which is called ' The Everlasting 
 Gospel,' of which I have lately published a new edition.^ 
 I was desired to tell what it meant to hold forth, as my 
 
 1 Published at London, 1792 
 
220 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 friend could not tell by 'any means what to make of it, 
 on account of the singularity and strangeness of the 
 sentiments therein contained, although the language is 
 very plain and clear, and by no means dark, mystical, or 
 obscure. 
 
 " I opened the book as I was desired, and dipping into 
 it here and there, for half an hour perhaps, was very soon 
 able to tell what the author aimed at, namely, that there 
 would be a final end of sin and misery, and that all 
 fallen creatures would be restored by Jesus Christ to a 
 state of holiness and happiness, after such as were re- 
 bellious had suffered in proportion to their crimes. I 
 had never seen anything of the sort before in all my life ; 
 and I seemed struck with several ideas that I glanced 
 over, — such as the inconsistency and impossibility of 
 both good and evil always existing in the universe ; and 
 especially his observations upon the word eternal or ever- 
 lasting, showing that it was used for what never had a 
 beginning and would never have an end, as the being 
 and perfections of God; and that it was also applied to 
 things which had a beginning but should never have an 
 end, — as the being and happiness of the righteous ; and 
 that it was also frequently used to express things, times, 
 and seasons, which had both beginning and end, which he 
 therefore called^eriot^ica^ eternities, and gave a great many 
 instances of this sort Avhich could not be denied ; and he 
 contended that the everlasting punishment threatened to 
 the wicked, did not belong to the first nor to the second, 
 but to the third class of these durations. 
 
 "But as I was only desired to tell what the author 
 meant, when I had satisfied my friend in that respect, I 
 laid the book down, and I believe we both concluded it to 
 be a pleasant, ingenious hypothesis, but had no serious 
 thoughts of its being true; and, for my part, I deter- 
 mined not to trouble myself about it, or to think any 
 more of the matter. And as the book had been sent a 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 221 
 
 considerable distance for my friend to read, I suppose it 
 was soon after sent back ; for I saw it no more, nor 
 heard anything further about it. The following summer 
 I went a journey into Virginia, and happening to men- 
 tion the subject to a minister there, he told me that a few 
 days before it had been a subject of controversy in the 
 public papers between a clergyman, who defended, and a 
 gentleman of the law, who denied, the proper eternity of 
 punishment; and he told me that this gentleman who 
 denied it had advanced that the translators of the Bible 
 had rendered the very same Greek word by very differ- 
 ent English words, sometimes rendering it forever, and 
 sometimes world; and that if they had uniformly ren- 
 dered it by one English word, it would have been evident 
 to all readers that no argument for endless misery could 
 have been drawn therefrom. I was told also while I was 
 in Virginia that a clergyman of the Episcopal Church 
 had, a few years before, given out that he had some 
 wonderful thing to make known to his hearers, which he 
 would preach upon some Sunday, but he did not mention 
 when. This raised the public curiosity, and great num- 
 bers attended his place of worship in hopes of hearing 
 what this wonderful thing might be ; but for a consider- 
 able time the matter was undiscovered. But at last he 
 gave out that on the next Sunday he would open this 
 great secret. Vast numbers of people flocked to hear 
 what it could be. When he came to declare what it was, 
 behold, it was a wonderful piece of news, indeed, such as 
 had never been heard before in any pulpit in Virginia. 
 It was nothing short of the doctrine of the Eestorafion ! 
 I think, to the best of my remembrance, they told me 
 that he opened and enlarged upon it for two Sundays, 
 and never preached any more, being immediately after 
 seized with sickness which terminated in his death. 
 And this was generally esteemed as a judgment that fell 
 upon him for daring to preach such a wicked, false, and 
 
222 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 dangerous opinion ; and that God cut him off from the 
 land of the living to testify his displeasure against him, 
 and to terrify others from daring to follow his example, 
 or believe his sentiments. But perhaps this might have 
 been some worthy, pious, learned man, who had long 
 concealed this grand truth in his heart, and had derived 
 much satisfaction therefrom, and longed to proclaim it to 
 others for their good ; and, at last, notwithstanding the 
 opposition that he might expect, resolved to do so, and 
 accordingly was enabled, just before his time came to 
 depart out of this world, to bear a faithful testimony 
 to this most grand and important of all God's purposes. 
 And having performed his duty, his Master called him 
 to receive his reward, and gave him the plaudit of ' Well 
 done, thou good and faithful servant, enter thou into the 
 joy of thy Lord.' ^ 
 
 " Sometime after I returned to South Carolina, a phy- 
 sician with whom I had been acquainted in Virginia 
 came to live in the parish where I was minister ; and 
 among his books I found ' The Everlasting Gospel,' by 
 Paul Siegvolk. This was the second copy that fell in 
 my way, and I read a little more therein ; but as yet 
 had not the least thought that ever I should embrace its 
 sentiments ; yet some of his arguments appeared very 
 conclusive, andl could not wholly shake them off, but I 
 concluded to let them alone, and not investigate the mat- 
 ter ; and therefore I never gave the book even so much 
 as one cursory reading, till with great difficulty I pro- 
 cured one in the city of Philadelphia, more than two 
 years afterwards. 
 
 " In the year 1779 I found myself much stirred up to 
 exhort my fellow-creatures to repent, believe, and obey 
 the gospel, and began to adopt a more open and gen- 
 
 ^ The reference here is doubtless to Rev. Robert Yancey, mentioned 
 in the first chapter. ' 
 
ELHAJJAN WINCHESTER. 223 
 
 eral method of preaching than I had used for some 
 years before, — having been deemed one of the most 
 consistent Calvinists upon the continent, much upon the 
 plan of Dr. Gill, whom I esteemed almost as an oracle. 
 But now my heart being opened, and viewing the worth 
 of souls, I felt great compassion towards them, and in- 
 vited them with all my might to fly for mercy to the 
 arms of Christ, who died for them, and who was willing 
 to save them. I was gradually led into this way of 
 preaching, without considering anything about its con- 
 sistency with strict Calvinism ; but finding myself ever 
 happy and comfortable in my own mind, and that this 
 method of preaching was highly useful, I continued to go 
 on in the same course. 
 
 " About this time I begun to find uncommon desires 
 for the conversion and salvation of the poor negroes, 
 who were very numerous in that part of the country, 
 but whom none of my predecessors, that I could learn, 
 had ever taken pains to instruct in the principles of 
 Christianity ; neither had any single slave, either man or 
 woman, been baptized until that summer in the whole 
 parish (which was very large), that I ever heard of. 
 
 " The prejudices which the slaves had against Christi- 
 anity on account of the severities practised upon them 
 by professing Christians, — both ministers and people, — 
 might be one principal reason why they could not be 
 brought to attend to religious instruction. But they had 
 no prejudice against me on this score, as I never had 
 anything to do with slavery, but on the contrary, con- 
 demned it ; and this, being pretty generally known, oper- 
 ated so upon the minds of those poor creatures that they 
 showed a disposition to attend my ministry more than 
 they had ever shown to any other. But still I never had 
 addressed them in particular, and indeed had hardly any 
 hopes of doing them good. But one evening, seeing a 
 number of them at the door of the house where I was 
 
224 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 preaching, I found myself constrained, as it were, to go 
 to the door and tell them that Jesus Christ loved them, 
 and died for them as well as for us white people, and 
 that they might come and believe in him and welcome. 
 And I gave them as warm and pressing an invitation as 
 I could to comply with the glorious gospel. This short 
 discourse addressed immediately to them, took greater 
 effect than can be well imagined. There were about 
 thirty from one plantation in the neighborhood present 
 (besides others) ; these returned home, and did not even 
 give sleep to their eyes, as they afterwards informed me, 
 until they had settled every quarrel among themselves, 
 and according to their form of marriage, had married 
 every man to the woman with whom he lived ; had re- 
 stored whatever one had unjustly taken from another, 
 and determined from that time to seek the Lord dili- 
 gently. From that very evening they began constantly 
 to pray to the Lord, and so continued, and he was found 
 of them. I continued to instruct them, and within three 
 months from the first of June, I baptized more than 
 thirty blacks belonging to that plantation, besides many 
 others, as in the whole made up one hundred, of whom 
 sixty-three were men, thirty-seven were women, all of 
 whom were born in Africa, or immediately descended 
 from such as were natives of that unhappy country. 
 
 " My preaching was not only useful to the poor slaves, 
 but also to great numbers of the white people, of whom 
 I baptized, upon profession of repentance and faith in 
 Christ, about one hundred and thirty-nine persons within 
 the same space. This was a summer of great success, 
 and I shall remember that happy season with pleasure 
 while I live. This summer I received some farther 
 dawnings of the day of the general restoration in my 
 mind, for upon considering several Scriptures, such as 
 these : ' He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be 
 satisfied ; by his knowledge shall my righteous servant 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 225 
 
 justify many ; for he shall bear their iniquities,' Isa. liii. 
 11. ''After this I beheld, and lo, a great multitude, which 
 no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and 
 tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, 
 clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands,' Eev. 
 vii. 9. I became fully persuaded that the number of the 
 finally saved would equal, if not exceed, the number of 
 the lost. And I was so forcibly impressed with this new 
 and very joyful discovery, that I not only conversed in 
 that strain privately, but boldly preached it in the con- 
 gregation, which generally consisted of nearly a thousand 
 persons upon Sundays. Some of the people to whom I 
 had mentioned something respecting the sentiment 
 thought that I was going at once to declare myself in 
 favor of the General Restoration ; but that was as yet far 
 from being the case, though some of the arguments 
 which I had glanced upon in that book, ' The Everlasting 
 Gospel,' would frequently present themselves to my 
 mind in such a forcible manner that I could scarcely 
 withstand their evidence. 
 
 " In the month of September I left South Carolina on 
 a visit to my friends in Kew England, intending, how- 
 ever, to return to my people again ; but to prevent their 
 being left destitute, I procured the Eev. Mr. Botsford 
 to come and supply them, upon this condition, that when- 
 ever I should return he should resign the congregation 
 to me again, if I required it. But he has remained the 
 constant pastor ever since. I then travelled slowly 
 through the continent, preaching to the people and con- 
 versing with my friends, to whom sometimes in private 
 I proposed some of the arguments in favor of the General 
 Eestoration whichlhadTeaA in 'The Everlasting Gospel,' 
 on purpose to see what answers they could give ; and this 
 I did especially to able ministers, but, to my, surprise, 
 often found them quite at a stand, not knowing what to 
 say. And some were almost overpowered with even the 
 
 VOL. I. — 15 
 
226 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 weak manner in which I was capable of holding forth the 
 arguments in favor of the Eestoration. And oftentimes 
 the answers that some of the greatest men gave were such 
 as tended to increase my doubts respecting endless misery, 
 rather than to remove them. I remember once, that I 
 asked the Rev. Mr. Manning, president of Rhode Island 
 College, and who was at that time one of my dearest 
 friends, what was the strongest argument that he could 
 use in favor of the doctrine of endless misery. He an- 
 swered, that it was the nature of God to lay the greatest 
 possible restraint upon sin, and therefore he had threat- 
 ened it with endless punishment, as the highest restraint 
 he could possibly lay upon it. This argument is an- 
 swered in the third dialogue. Thus, after much seeking, 
 I could find no satisfaction in the matter ; but still my 
 doubts increased. Notwithstanding I withstood the doc- 
 trine of the Restoration with all my might, and sometimes 
 preached publicly against it with all the force I could 
 muster, yet there was something in its favor that 
 gained gradually upon my mind, and sometimes brought 
 me to be willing to embrace it. I plainly saw that it 
 would reconcile almost, if not quite, all difficulties of 
 other systems ; and I thought if I should ever receive it, 
 I should be able to preach much easier and more freely 
 than ever, and with far greater satisfaction; which, by 
 experience, I have since found to be true. The ideas 
 were sometimes so transporting to me, even while I pro- 
 fessed to oppose the sentiment, that I have been con- 
 strained to set them forth in the most sublime manner 
 that I was able ; and sometimes so as actually to bring 
 those who heard me converse on the subject to believe 
 and rejoice in the Universal Restoration, while I thought 
 myself an opposer of it, and only proposed the arguments 
 in its favar to see what eifect they would have on such 
 who never heard them before. And I was often carried 
 away, even while I intended only to let my friends hear 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 227 
 
 what might be said. I remember once, while I was at 
 my father's table, in the year 1780, that I mentioned the 
 doctrine of the Restoration, and finding that none of the 
 company had even so much as heard of such a scheme, I 
 began to hold it forth, produced many arguments in its 
 favor, brought up many objections, answered them in 
 such a manner as astonished all present; and I was 
 amazed at myself, I spoke with so much ease and readi- 
 ness as I hardly ever experienced before on any occasion. 
 Nay, I was so much animated with the subject, that I 
 said that I did not doubt but that in sixty years' time, 
 that very doctrine would universally be preached and 
 generally embraced in that very country, and would cer- 
 tainly prevail over all opposition. 
 
 "This discourse made a greater impression upon the 
 minds of those who heard it, and upon my own also, than 
 I intended; and though I afterwards used the best argu- 
 ments I could in favor of the common opinion, yet I 
 found them insufficient wholly to remove the effects of 
 what I had before said. 
 
 " After spending about twelve months in the most de- 
 lightful manner, constantly journeying and preaching 
 with great success to vast multitudes of people in my 
 native country, I set off with the intention to return 
 towards South Carolina. On the way I tarried some time 
 at the Eev. Mr. Samuel Waldo's, in Pawling's Precinct, 
 State of New York, whose kind and friendly behavior 
 towards me I remember with pleasure and mention with 
 gratitude. I had a great deal of very agreeable conver- 
 sation with him upon the matter, and he did not seem to 
 oppose the ideas hardly at all, but ouly gently cautioned 
 me against receiving anything erroneous. He is a man 
 of most excellent spirit, and his family was, upon the 
 whole, the most delightful, agreeable, and happy family 
 that I ever knew. While I was at his house one of his 
 children, then about twenty years of age, seemed fully 
 
228 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 convinced of the truth of the doctrine by listening to our 
 conversation, and was filled with great joy at the idea. 
 Several religious men, who were on a journey, lodged at 
 the house while I was there, got a hint of the matter, 
 and wished to hear all that I could say in defence of it. 
 I accordingly gave them some of the principal arguments 
 in its favor, and obviated some of the most capital objec- 
 tions that could be brought against it ; and I afterwards 
 overheard them wishing that they had not been so 
 curious as to have inquired so far into the subject, for 
 they could not resist the arguments, although they seemed 
 resolved to treat the sentiments as an error. 
 
 " In this state of mind, half a convert to the doctrine 
 of the Restoration, I arrived in the city of Philadelphia, 
 on the 7th of October, 1780. I intended to have left the 
 city in a few days, and to have gone on towards South 
 Carolina, but the Baptist church being destitute of a 
 minister, they invited me to stop and preach with them, 
 to which I was at length persuaded, and for some time I 
 was much followed, and there were great additions to the 
 church. The congregations increased in such a manner, 
 especially on Sunday evenings, that our place of worship, 
 though large, would by no means contain them. At length 
 leave was asked for me to preach in the Church of St. 
 Paul, in that city, which was granted. This was one of 
 the largest houses of worship in Philadelphia, and equal 
 in bigness to most of the churches in London. I think I 
 preached there about eighteen sermons, and generally to 
 very crowded audiences, frequently more than could pos- 
 sibly get into the house. Most of the clergy of every 
 denomination in the city heard me there, and many 
 thousands of different people. I am inclined to think 
 that I never preached to so many before nor since as I 
 did sometimes in that house, and with almost universal 
 approbation. But now the time of my trouble and 
 casting down came on, and thus it was. 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. S29 
 
 " Soon after 1 arrived in that city 1 had inquired of 
 some friends for ' The Everlasting Gospel,' which I could 
 not light on for some time, but they lent me Mr. Stone- 
 house's book upon the ' Eestitution of all Things,' * which 
 I had never seen nor heard of before. This very learned 
 work I read with great care, and his reasoning, argu- 
 ments, and Scripture proof seemed to me entirely satis- 
 factory. 
 
 "The friends who procured me the works of Mr. 
 Stonehouse were concerned at my having an inclination 
 to read anything upon the subject; nevertheless, though 
 there were several of them with whom I conversed pretty 
 freely upon the matter, and who knew of my reading 
 Mr. Stonehouse's works, yet they behaved in so friendly a 
 manner towards me that they never mentioned a word 
 of it to any, until by other means it came to be known 
 and talked of. 
 
 " In the house where I lodged when I first came to the 
 city, I had, in the freedom of conversation, and with 
 some appearance of joy, expressed myself in general 
 terms upon the subject, but always in the exact words of 
 Scripture, or in such a manner as this, namely, that I 
 could not help hoping that God would finally bring every 
 knee to how and every tongue to swear ; and that at the 
 name of Jesus every knee should how, of things in heaven, 
 and things in earth, and things under the earth ; and that 
 every tongue should confess Jesus Christ to be Lord, to 
 
 1 " Sir George Stonehonse was born in Darnford, England, and was 
 educated at Oxford. He belonged to a society at Oxford called the 
 Holy Club, of which John Wesley was president. Whitfield, Charles 
 Wesley, and James Hervey were also members. In this club the 
 Kestoration was frequently debated. Stonehouse took the affirmative 
 of the question. He was eminently proficient in the Syriac lanpnage, 
 of which he wrote a grammar. He supposes our Saviour delivered 
 his discourses in that language. His first and largest work, entitled 
 'Universal Restitution a Scripture Doctrine,' was published in 1761. 
 He also wrote several other works in defence of this sentiment." 
 
230 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the glory of God the Father. And that I hoped that in 
 the dispensation of the fulness of times he might gather 
 together in one all things in Christ, both which are in 
 heaven, and which are on earth, etc. 
 
 " Such passages as these I mentioned in this manner, 
 hoping that they would be fulfilled. The people of the 
 house seemed surprised, and asked me if I believed so. 
 I answered, 'that sometimes I could not help hoping that 
 might be so.' I could hardly have imagined among 
 friends that any danger could have arisen from my ex- 
 pressing a hope that the Scriptures were true. 
 
 " However, these false friends told a minister, whom 
 for a number of years I had esteemed as my best and 
 most intimate friend, that I was turned heretic, and be- 
 lieved in the doctrine of the Universal Restoration, and 
 desired him to convince me. Some time after, he met 
 with me in the street, and in a very abrupt manner told 
 me that he had wanted to see me for some time, that he 
 might give me a piece of his mind ; that he had been in- 
 formed by such a person that I was inclined to the doc- 
 trine of the Universal Restoration, and then, instead of 
 using any argument to convince me, or taking any method 
 for my recovery, added this laconic speech, ' If you em- 
 brace this sentiment, 1 shall no longer own you for a 
 brother.' And he has hitherto beeh as good as his word, 
 having never written nor spoken to me from that day 
 to this ; and when I have since offered to shake hands 
 with him he refused; and yet he was one whom I es- 
 teemed above any other on earth, as a hearty, sincere, 
 long-tried, and faithful friend. If my intimate friend 
 treated me in such a manner, what had I to expect from 
 my open and avowed enemies ? 
 
 " I now foresaw the storm, and I determined to pre- 
 pare for it, not by denying what I had said, but by 
 examining and determining for myself whether the senti- 
 ment was according to Scripture or not. If I found that 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 231 
 
 it was not, I was determined to retract ; but if it was, to 
 hold it fast, let the consequences be what they might. I 
 had now no time to lose. I expected in a short time to 
 be called to an account and examined respecting this 
 doctrine, and obliged either to defend or deny it. I was 
 already too well persuaded that it was true, to do tlie 
 latter without hesitation, and yet not sufficiently for the 
 former. Por this purpose I sliut myself up cliiefly in my 
 cliamber, read the Scriptures, and prayed to God to lead 
 me into all truth, and not suffer me to embrace any 
 error ; and I think that witli an upriglit mind I laid 
 myself open to believe whatever the Lord had revealed. 
 It would be too long to tell all the teachings I liad on 
 this head; let it suffice, in short, to say that I became so 
 well persuaded of the truth of the Universal Restoration, 
 that I was determined never to deny it, let it cost ever 
 so much, though all my numerous friends should forsake 
 me, as I expected they would, and though I should be 
 driven from men, and obliged to dwell in caves or dens 
 of the earth, and feed on wild roots and vegetables, and 
 suffer the loss of all things, — friends, wealth, fame, 
 health, character, and even life itself. The truth ap- 
 peared to me more valuable than all things, and as I had 
 found it, I was determined never to part with it, let what 
 would be offered in exchange. 
 
 " I had now formed my resolution, and was determined 
 how to act when the trial came. Hitherto I said nothing 
 about the Restoration in public, and little in private ; 
 but I preached up the death of Christ, and salvation 
 for man through him, without restriction. This free 
 manner of preaching gave offence to some, who came to 
 hear me no more. On the evening of the 22d of Janu- 
 ary, 1781, a number of the members of the church, who 
 had heard that I held the doctrine of the Restoration, 
 met me at a friend's house, to ask me the question whether 
 I did or not. I acknowledged that I did, but did not 
 
232 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 wish to trouble anybody with, my sentiments. They de- 
 sired me neither to preach them in public nor to converse 
 of them in private. I told them that if they would pre- 
 vent people from asking me, I would say nothing about 
 the matter ; but if people asked me concerning my senti- 
 ments, I could not deny them, and if they wished to know 
 the reasons, I must inform them. And thus the matter 
 was to rest ; but some that were present wished to know 
 the foundation of my sentiments, others opposed it, not 
 wishing to hear anything in its favor. At length, it was 
 agreed that I might read the passages of the Scripture 
 upon which I judged the doctrine of the Restoration to 
 be founded, but must not add a single word of explana- 
 tion on my part, and, on their parts, they were not to ask 
 any questions or make the least opposition, for if they 
 did, I insisted upon the liberty of defending. 
 
 " Accordingly, I took the Bible, and read many passages 
 in the Old and New Testaments, which I judged to con- 
 tain the doctrine ; and the very reading of them convinced 
 several of the company of the truth of the Restoration. 
 There was nothing farther took place at that time. We 
 parted with mutual agreement, — I was not to preach it in 
 the pulpit, nor to introduce it in conversation, but I would 
 not be obliged to deny it, when asked, nor refuse to vin- 
 dicate it, if opposed ; and, on their parts, they were not to 
 speak of it to my prejudice, but to endeavor, as much as 
 possible, to keep the matter close. And so we parted. 
 But, notwithstanding all the pains that could be taken, 
 the matter got abroad, and several came to discourse with 
 me on my principles, to whom I gave such reasons, as I was 
 able, for what I believed. A little time after this, I met 
 with another copy of * The Everlasting Gospel,' which I 
 then read through with attention for the first time, and 
 found much satisfaction ; the arguments and Scripture 
 proofs therein contained seemed to me suiRient to con- 
 vince all that would read with candor and attention. 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 233 
 
 "I still continued to act only on the defensive, not 
 preaching upon the subject, nor going about to private 
 houses to make interest in my favor, but if any came to 
 me and wished me to discourse upon it, I would not 
 refuse ; and thus a number were convinced of its truth, 
 while others violently opposed it. And thus matters 
 continued until the latter end of March. Having heard 
 that the German Baptists in G-ermantown, about eight 
 miles from Philadelphia, held the doctrine of the Resto- 
 ration, I had appointed to spend the first Sunday in April 
 with them ; and this engagement had been made some 
 time. Just as I was ready to go out of the city, on Sat- 
 urday, I found that some of the members of the Church 
 had privately sent into the country and collected a num- 
 ber of the ablest ministers, who were arrived in the city 
 on purpose to debate. I gave them the liberty of my 
 pulpit as they pleased for the next day, and went out of 
 the city to go to Germantown ; and then took that oppor- 
 tunity to go and visit that ancient, venerable, and ex- 
 cellent man, Dr. George De Benneville, who received me 
 in the most kind, open, and friendly manner, and his 
 conversation was most highly edifying to me. After- 
 wards I went to Germantown, and lodged there all night, 
 ready to preach the next day. As soon as my enemies in 
 Philadelphia found that I was gone out of the city, they 
 spread a report that I had fled to avoid an interview with 
 these ministers who had come on purpose to convince me. 
 Nothing could have been more false than such a report, 
 for I had been engaged to go to Germantown, on that day, 
 for several weeks beforehand. I knew nothing of these 
 ministers being sent for until they came to town ; and I 
 had no fear but I should be able, by God's assistance, to 
 defend the cause before them; and besides, I had ap- 
 pointed to return on Monday, and did return accordingly. 
 The whole church met, both my friends and my oppo- 
 sers, and these ministers met with them. I was called 
 
234 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to attend a funeral at that time, and was at tlie house of 
 mourning, when a messenger was sent in haste to desire 
 my immediate attendance at the meeting, without any 
 delay. I found that those who were my enemies in the 
 assembly had been greatly vaunting over my friends, 
 because I was not present. They said I had absconded 
 merely to avoid a debate, in which I was sure to be con- 
 futed, as here was an opportunity that might never pre- 
 sent itself again ; and seven wise, able, and learned 
 ministers had assembled on purpose to dispute with me, 
 but that I had gone, and left ray adherents in the lurch, 
 from a consciousness that I was not able to defend my 
 cause ; with abundance more to the same purpose. My 
 friends, on the other hand, told them that I was afraid of 
 nothing but sin, and that they doubted not of my being 
 able and willing to dispute with any one of the gentle- 
 men, or all of them, one by one, if they chose it. Oh, 
 no, they replied, they knew better than that; I was 
 gone out of the way on purpose, where I could not be 
 found. My friends told them that if there was a vote 
 passed in the assembly that I should dispute with any 
 one, they would engage that I would be among them in 
 a few minutes. It was accordingly unanimously voted 
 that I should dispute with the Rev. Mr. Boggs, upon my 
 sentiments, in the presence of these ministers and of the 
 whole assembly. But when in a few minutes I came in 
 and took my place, what different countenances appeared 
 in the congregation ! All my friends were highly pleased, 
 and the others were as much confounded and disappointed 
 at seeing me come in so cheerfully and quickly, after 
 they made themselves so sure that I would not come. 
 But surely, I might have been looked upon with pity. 
 Alone to answer for myself, no one to support me ; 
 while my antagonists were seven of the ablest ministers 
 that could be obtained. 
 
 " I felt, however, that inward composure — from a con- 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 235 
 
 seiousness of having acted uprightly and sincerely in the 
 whole affair — that even caused my countenance to appear 
 easy and cheerful. 
 
 " The vote was then publicly read, and I stood up and 
 declared my readiness to comply with what was required. 
 The worthy gentleman who was chosen to dispute with 
 me then rose up, and said these words, ' I am not pre- 
 pared to dispute with Mr. Winchester. I have heard that 
 he says that it would take six weeks to canvass all the 
 arguments fairly on both sides, and I suppose he has 
 been studying upon the subject for a week or more, and 
 I have not studied it at all ; and therefore I must beg to 
 be excused.' 
 
 " When I found that he, and all the rest, wholly declined 
 disputing with me, I begged liberty to speak for two hours 
 upon my sentiments, and lay them fairly open, and the 
 ground upon which I maintained them. But this was 
 denied me. I then desired them to give me one hour for 
 this purpose ; but this was also refused. One of the min- 
 isters got up and said that their business was not to 
 debate with me, but to ask me whether I believed the 
 Restoration of bad men and angels, finally, to a state of 
 holiness and happiness, etc. 
 
 "But if they did not come to dispute with me, why was 
 the vote passed by their party, as well as by my friends, 
 that I should dispute with them ? This speaks for itself. 
 The ministers insisted upon putting the question to me, 
 'Do you believe the doctrine of the Universal Restora- 
 tion ? ' My friends objected to my answering the ques- 
 tion, unless I might be allowed to vindicate my sentiments. 
 But I said that I did not fear any use that could be made 
 of my words ; that I had always freely confessed what 
 my thoughts were when asked ; and, therefore, told them 
 that I did heartily believe the General Restoration, and 
 was willing to defend it. The gentleman that was chosen 
 to dispute with me then asked me whether I thought it 
 
236 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 strange, considering my change of sentiments, that there 
 should be such a noise and uproar made upon the occa- 
 sion, etc. I told him that I did not think it strange at 
 all, and gave him a little history of the affair, and how 
 the matter came abroad, through the treachery of some 
 whom I had esteemed as my friends ; that when I men- 
 tioned it to them I was not fully persuaded of it myself, 
 and perhaps never might have been, if I had not been 
 opposed and threatened; that I never had intended to 
 trouble the people with my sentiments, but was willing 
 to live and die with them, if they could bear with me ; 
 but that I could not use so much deceit as to deny wliat 
 I believed, when asked by any one ; that I never had yet 
 done so, and by the grace of God never would, let the 
 consequences be what they might. What I said was in 
 the presence of all my accusers, and none of them could 
 contradict me, nor had aught to lay to my charge, except 
 in this matter of the gospel of my Saviour. My dis- 
 course took such an effect upon him, that he then publicly 
 declared that my behavior in the whole affair had been 
 as became a man and a Christian, and that no one could 
 accuse me of any improper conduct. I stood some time, 
 and as none appeared to have anything farther to say to 
 me, I took my leave and went out. He accompanied me 
 to the door, and told me that he would write me upon the . 
 subject ; but whatever was the reason, he never did, nor 
 have we spoken together since. 
 
 " The ministers then advised the people to get another 
 minister ; but my friends, being numerous, insisted it 
 should be fairly determined by the subscribers at large ; 
 but this the other party would not agree to. Several 
 very fair offers were made by my friends to them, but 
 they refused them all ; and finally, by force, they kept us 
 out of the house, and deprived us of our part of the 
 property, which was at last confirmed to them by law, 
 though I think unjustly, as we were the majority at first; 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 237 
 
 but they took uncommon pains in carrying about a protest 
 against me to every member of the church, both in the 
 city and in the country, and threatening all with excom- 
 munication who would not sign it ; by which some were 
 intimidated, and by these and other means they strength- 
 ened their party. But, on the other hand, I took no pains 
 either to proselyte people to believe my sentiments or to 
 make my party strong. But I believe near an hundred 
 of the members suffered themselves to be excommuni- 
 cated, rather than sign the protest against me and the 
 doctrine which I preached. When we were deprived of 
 our house of worship, the trustees of the university gave 
 us the liberty of their hall, where we worshipped God for 
 about four years, until we purchased a place for ourselves. 
 But to return. After this meeting of the ministers, the 
 whole affair was open, and I found myself obliged to vin- 
 dicate the doctrine which they had condemned unheard, 
 not only in private but in the pulpit. Accordingly, on 
 the 22d day of April, I preached a sermon on Gen. iii. 15, 
 in which I openly asserted the doctrine of the final and 
 Universal Restoration of all fallen intelligences. This 
 was published by particular desire, with a list of the 
 plainest Scripture passages in favor of the doctrine, and 
 a number of the most common and principal objections 
 fairly stated and answered. This was my first appear- 
 ance in the world as a prose writer, which was what I 
 never expected to be, and probably should never have 
 been but for this occasion ; still less a writer of contro- 
 versy, to which I had naturally a great aversion.^ 
 
 1 The title of the aermon is : "The Seed of the Woman bruising the 
 Serpent's Head. A Discourse delivered at the Baptist Meeting-House." 
 He concludes it by saying that the doctrine of Universal Restoration 
 " is built upon the following propositions, which must be proved to be 
 false before it can be overthrown : 
 
 " I. God is love, essentially and communicatively, and loves all the 
 
238 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " After I had preached this sermon I had the Chevalier 
 Eamsay's ' Philosophical Principles of Natural and Ee- 
 vealed Eeligion ' ^ put into my hands. I read the same 
 with great pleasure and advantage, and I must acknowl- 
 edge it to be a work of great merit, and I have reason to 
 bless God that ever I had an opportunity of reading it. 
 I can heartily recommend it as one of the best works in 
 our language, and I must say that in most things I fully 
 agree with that very intelligent author. On the fourth 
 day of January, 1782, 1 preached the sermon called ' The 
 Outcasts Comforted,' from Isaiah Ixvi. 5, to my friends 
 who had been cast out and excommunicated for believ- 
 ing this glorious doctrine. This was soon after printed, 
 and the next year it was republished in London by the 
 
 beings he hath made, considered as his creatures, and is constantly 
 seeking to do them good. 
 
 " II. God's design in creating intelligent beings was to make them 
 happy in the knowledge and love of his glorious perfections. 
 
 " III. God's absolute, ultimate designs cannot be eternally frustrated. 
 
 " IV. Christ died for all ; and died not in vain. 
 
 " V. Christ came to destroy the evil principle, or sin, out of the 
 universe, which he will finally effect ; and then misery shall be no 
 more. 
 
 " Here are the merits of the cause : these propositions are some of 
 them self-evident, and the others admit of the fullest demonstration, 
 or Scripture proof ; and till these, the foundation principles, are over- 
 thrown, all attempts against the doctrine are in vain. 
 
 " Glory to God in the highest. We believe the time will come when 
 Christ ' shall see of the travail of his soul and be satisfied ; ' when ' the 
 serpent's head shall be bruised;' 'all things put under the feet of 
 the Mediator ; ' and, finally, the kingdom delivered up to the Father, 
 'that God may be All in All;' 'for of Him, and through Him, 
 and to Him are All Things, to whom be Glory forever. Amen.' " 
 
 1 Andrew Michael Eamsay was a native of Ayr, Scotland, where he 
 was born June 9, 1686. He was educated at Edinburgh, and was inti- 
 mate with Archbishop Fe'nelon, who cherished towards him the warm- 
 est friendship. He died at the age of fifty-seven. Besides the work 
 mentioned above, he advocated the doctrine of Universal Restoration 
 in " The Travels of Cyrus." 
 
ELHAXAN WINCHESTER. 239 
 
 Rev. Mr. Eichard Clarke, and was the first of my works 
 ever printed here. 
 
 "I have thus given a brief, plain, and simple account 
 of the means that have brought me to think and write in 
 the manner that I have done, and which account may be 
 considered as an historical sketch of nearly four years 
 of my life." ' 
 
 A statement of the facts from the Baptist standpoint 
 was given in the " History of the Philadelphia Baptist 
 Association," published, in 1832, in a weekly journal 
 entitled "The World." It does not materially differ 
 from Mr. Winchester's account. "The majority" — 
 Mr. Winchester's friends, says the writer of the his- 
 tory, Eev. Mr. Jones, — " proposed to have the property 
 valued, and either party take it at its value. And," 
 adds Mr. Jones, " I cannot but commend the justice and 
 magnanimity of the majority. They were in possession 
 of the property, much of which belonged to them ; nor 
 had it in their power to do much for the weal of Zion, 
 yet they had some conscience." Why this proposition 
 was not accepted, is not explained. 
 
 About the time these difficulties commenced in 
 Philadelphia, Rev. Samuel Stillman, D. D., an eminent 
 Baptist minister, then settled in Boston, Mass., and 
 whose pulpit Mr. Winchester had occupied during the 
 summer of 1776 wrote to Mr. Winchester, warning 
 him against the doctrine of Restoration and desiring 
 to restrain him from the belief of it. The letter is 
 not preserved, but Mr. Winchester's answer was the 
 following : 
 
 ' Preface to the second edition of "The Universal Restoration," 
 exhibited in four dialogues between a minister and his friend, etc. 
 By Elhanan Wincliester. London, 1792. pp. iii-xxvi. 
 
240 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "Philadelphia, March 11, 1781. 
 
 "Sib, — Waiving all subjects of an inferior nature, I 
 think it incumbent on me to canvass that which is of the 
 greatest weight and highest import, and I earnestly pray 
 the Father of Lights to illuminate both the writer and 
 the reader, that the plain simple truths of the everlast- 
 ing Gospel may come home to the heart with all that 
 force, power, and conviction upon the mind, which they 
 were graciously designed to impress. 
 
 " In order to be explicit and intelligible, I shall 
 endeavor to answer my friend's letter in general, and 
 then sum up my sentiments in as brief a manner as pos- 
 sible, which will contain an answer to each particular. 
 
 "You say I informed you my ministry was blessed, 
 and you hoped to hear of some good effects from it. 
 Blessed be God, it not only was, but continues to be, 
 blessed ; and if you do not give too willing an ear to 
 stories which have their rise in envy and malevolence, 
 if you do not suffer yourself to be imposed upon by exter- 
 nal appearances, if you attend more to the reports of 
 Christian experience than the florid eloquence of its 
 nominal professors, your hope will not be in vain, nor 
 your expectations frustrated ; but you will hear your 
 friend Winchester — zealous for God's glory and the good 
 of his creatures — has been the happy instrument of bring- 
 ing many souls to the knowledge of God ; and even now 
 they flock to truth as doves- to their windows. 
 
 " You tell me with a friendly concern, of which I am 
 not insensible, that you hear I avowedly profess Mur- 
 ray's principles. From what I read in the close of my 
 friend's letter, I should be sorry to be in the most remote 
 sense tinctured with principles so full of levity, so full 
 of absurdity, so gross, as the idea of the sheep and the 
 goats convey ; so divested of all seriousness and solidity 
 that Christianity must start with horror, and morality 
 blush with conscious shame at the bare recital. 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 241 
 
 " My friend ought first to be truly and fully assured 
 that I am bewitched, otherwise the question is unanswer- 
 able ; he ought to be perfectly convinced that I held 
 Murray's principles, or errors, or the charge is unchari- 
 table. 
 
 "As to what my friend advances concerning Mr. 
 Whitfield's sermon, and the opinion of the learned Drs. 
 Doddridge and Gill, I shall forbear to comment; and 
 only observe that there is a Bishop whose expressions 
 and sentiments I give the greatest preference to, and 
 whose simple ipse dixit I hold in higher esteem than the 
 whole collective body of divines. 
 
 "I mean the Bishop of Souls, the Head of the true 
 Christian Church, Christ Jesus, the best interpreter of 
 his own doctrine by his holy spirit, with which he en- 
 dows his ministers, servants, children, and people, that 
 they may not rest their faith upon opinions, or senti- 
 ments, or learning and science, all which serve to entan- 
 gle and perplex the mind with nice speculations, and 
 which engender strife ; but upon the more sure word of 
 prophecy. 
 
 " Whatever is to be known of God is made manifest 
 by the work of this spirit. Its office is to guide unto all 
 truth. It is this spirit that bears away with our spirits, 
 what we are, how we stand, to whom we are to be 
 accountable, and what the consequences of obedience 
 and disobedience are. It is this spirit, this illumination, 
 this divine light, which alone can and will, if properly 
 attended to, enable my worthy friend to see into the fol- 
 lowing brief explanation of my sentiments respecting the 
 glorious Gospel of Jesti.s Christ our Lord. 
 
 " God, in his written word, declares himself as the 
 everlasting, essential love. ' He that loveth not, know- 
 eth not God, for God is love.' If God be love, emphati- 
 cally so, abstractly so, he can be nothing else ; then it 
 necessarily follows, whatever he inflicts upon his crea- 
 
 VOL. I. — 16 
 
242 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 tures, must have its rise and spring in love, and in wis- 
 dom, however severe and terrible it may appear to a 
 short-sighted creature ; and if in love, it must finally 
 centre in their happiness, and nothing can be truly 
 termed so, that comes short of that undescribable feli- 
 city enjoyed in that silent Eternity of Eternities which 
 angels, the elect, the first-born, the spirits of the just 
 departed, kings, — but not without subjects, — governors, 
 or rulers of five cities, of ten cities, — but not bare walls, — 
 and all, all who have followed their Lord in the regen- 
 eration, together with all the subordinate millions, stars 
 in their several magnitudes, each in their several classes, 
 ranks, and orders, shall enjoy, when Christ, without dimi- 
 nution of his own glory, shall have delivered up — blessed 
 truth — all into his Father's hands, and God be all in all. 
 
 " If God be love in the abstract, he can have neither 
 hate, resentment, or revenge, as men count hate, resent- 
 ment, and revenge, and therefore all his dispensations 
 must tend to the one grand gracious design, — the res- 
 toration of all his creatures into that state out of which 
 they have been deluded by the adversary. 
 
 " If God be love, he must in an especial manner love 
 that which proceedeth from him. Acts xvii. 28 : Eor in 
 him we live, move, and have our being ; for we also are 
 his offspring, a part of the divine nature, however de- 
 faced by sin, and therefore must return to Him who 
 gave it. After having been fire-purged, — after the gross 
 matter being consumed, the dross separated from the 
 gold, or, in other words, the polluted creature by part 
 being consumed, — it may be qualified to stand before 
 Him who is all holy, all pure ; and in this sense God is 
 justly styled a consuming fire. 
 
 " I find it plainly and expressly declared in Eom. xi. 
 36, that of him, through him, and to him, are all (with- 
 out exception), all things, — in Col. i. 16, more expressly 
 declared : ' By him were all things [no exceptions] ere- 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 243 
 
 ated, that are in heaven, or in earth, visible and invisi- 
 ble [mark here what exactness and precision]. Whether 
 they be thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers, 
 all things were created by him and for him.' 
 
 " Read the subsequent verses attentively, my friend. 
 
 " I read in Wisdom xi. 24 that ' God loveth all things 
 that are, and hateth nothing which he hath made ; and 
 that he would not have made anything if he had hated 
 it.' In Rev. iv. 11, I read, — nay, I feel my soul tuned 
 to the universe acclaim, and it echoes responsive to, — 
 ' Thou art worthy, Lord, to receive glory, and honor, 
 and power ; for thou hast created all things, and for thy 
 pleasure they were created.' 
 
 " Once more. Paul, by the spirit, not as a sentimental- 
 ist, and I feel unity with it, 'Love thinketh no evil, 
 much less does or designs evil,' 1 Cor. xiii. 5; from all 
 which I draw this blessed, this happy, this apt, this easy 
 conclusion. 
 
 " If all things, visible and invisible, were created by 
 him, and for his pleasure, he is not a God whose pleasure 
 consists in the never-ceasing torments of the creatures he 
 has made. He is not less love, who is love, than the 
 creature he has formed, who, only feeling a spark of 
 divine love, wishes for arms wide as space to embrace 
 all God's creatures, for wings swifter than eagle's, to 
 convey them to the feet of Jesus. my friend, is the 
 river larger than the ocean, into which it disembogues 
 itself; the drop lai'ger than the bucket; the inferior 
 luminaries brighter than the sun, from which they borrow 
 their lustre ? Is he a God, whose glory is derived from 
 the never-ending torments, shrieks, and groans of the 
 creatures for whom he manifests as well as professes so 
 much love, though as many as he loves he rebukes and 
 chastens ? 
 
 " The Lord by his prophet Isaiah (xlvi. 23) says, ' I 
 have sworn by myself, the word has gone out of my 
 
244 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 mouth, in righteousness, and shall not return, that unto 
 me every knee shall bow, and every tongue shall swear.' 
 If so, Lord, we must believe that none of thy creatures 
 will be excluded from thy presence long, as thou art God. 
 If exiled, how shall they bow the knee to thee in token 
 of submission ; if excluded, how shall they swear alle- 
 giance to thee as King of kings and Lord of lords, see- 
 ing this naturally supposes another power, to which they 
 will be subject ? And this, thy Son's merits and atone- 
 ment, are made not sufficient for all, but for a very few ; 
 instead of being a propitiation for the sins of the whole 
 world, they are inefficacious to three parts in four of 
 mankind. 
 
 " What, then, shall we say to John, who, in his first 
 Epistle (ii. 2) assures us, ' He is the propitiation for our 
 sins, and not for ours only, but for the sins of the whole 
 world.' Or to Paul, in his Epistle to the Romans (v. 18), 
 where he as confidently and plainly asserts that ' As by 
 the offence of one man judgment came upon all men to 
 condemnation, even so [exactly] by the righteousness of 
 one, the free gift came upon all men to justification of 
 life ; ' from all of which I draw this comforting infer- 
 ence, that no punishment, however grievous in its execu- 
 tion, however long in its duration, which unbounded love 
 inflicts upon its creatures here or hereafter, is inflicted 
 merely for the never-ending torments of those divine 
 creatures who have had their origin in, by, and through 
 Him, who is love unchangeable. 
 
 " Now, my friend, from this antepast on earth, let us, 
 on the wings of contemplation, soar into the world of 
 spirits, and with the eye of faith view the wonders there, 
 as described in Kev. xiv. 1-4 : ' I looked, and lo, a Lamb 
 stood on Mount Sion, and with him a hundred forty and 
 four thousand, having his Father's name written in their 
 foreheads. . . . And they sung as it were a new song, 
 and no man could learn that song but the hundred and 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTEE. 245 
 
 forty and four thousand. These are they which follow 
 the Lamb whithersoever he goeth. These were redeemed 
 from among men, being the first-fruits unto God and to 
 the Lamb.' Behold, the awful sealing of these servants 
 the elect of God. But who are those that John tells 
 us of in the 9th verse, ' After this I beheld, and lo,' etc. ? 
 Who are these ? The question is answered in the 14th 
 verse. These are they which have come out of great 
 tribulation ; and who these are, we shall perhaps see. 
 'And every creature which is in heaven, and on the 
 earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, 
 and all that are in them, heard I saying, — Blessing, and 
 honor, and glory, and power, be unto Him that sitteth 
 upon the throne, and unto the Lamb forever and ever.' 
 (Rev. V. 13.) Blessing! How, my friend, shall they 
 cry ' blessing ' for excruciating, never-ending torment ? 
 Blessing to Him from whom they are forever excluded ? 
 Honor ! Shall they cry ' honor ' for reducing them to a 
 state worse than diabolical ? Glory ! Shall they cry 
 ' glory ' for casting them into a state of everlasting tor- 
 ments ? Power ! Shall they thank a power that is at 
 this strange rate insufficient to release them out of the 
 hands of devils ? Oh, what a rending is here of the glori- 
 ous system of the Gospel ! While one side acknowledges 
 God has the power but not the will, the other subscribes 
 to his having the will but not the power to be gracious, 
 though both are stamped by the seal of Scripture. That 
 which has neither beginning nor end is allowed by all 
 to be the property peculiar only to the divine uncreated 
 being ; such an infinite duration, which, though it hath a 
 beginning, yet has no end, can be the property onlj in 
 his divine creatures, his offspring rooted in God, and 
 must therefore in him be without end. Whatsoever has not 
 its eternal root in God, or his creating power, but is sprung 
 up in the creature, — such as sin, death, etc., — cannot 
 have an absolutely endless existence. No, here God is the 
 
246 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEKICA. 
 
 consuming fire, to purify, to restore to primitive purity. 
 If, then, degeneracy, or sin, which is found in fallen angels 
 and man, together with the punishment following, are of 
 an absolutely endless existence, and will continue long 
 as God be God, then sin is either a God or a divine crea- 
 ture. And would my friend maintain such tenets when, 
 in Wisdom i. 13, ' God made not death, neither hath he 
 pleasure in the destruction of the living.' Attend, seri- 
 ously attend, to what proceeds from the lip of truth in 
 Eev. xxi. 4, 5 : ' And God shall wipe away all tears from 
 their eyes, and there shall be no more death, neither sor- 
 row, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain ; 
 for the former things are passed away. And he that sat 
 upon the throne said. Behold, I make all things new.' 
 Glory to God, this is the Gospel, the blessed, glorious 
 Gospel. This is good news indeed to all, — peace to all, 
 good-will towards all, salvation to all. Then may the Con- 
 queror of Death say, gloriously triumphant, ' death, 
 where is thy sting ? ' — lost, taken away ; ' grave, 
 where is thy victory ? ' — not a soul to boast of, no, not 
 one; all redeemed, all snatched from the spoiler, all 
 answering the purpose of their creation, — the glory of 
 God. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. 
 
 " Was I to write all that is in my heart on this animating 
 subject, it would swell a letter to volumes ; I shall there- 
 fore come towards a conclusion with two observations. 
 Respecting the words ' forever ' and ' eternity : ' 1st. They 
 have several meanings, both in the Hebrew and in the 
 Greek, and in the Scripture in many places signify no 
 more than periods of time ; and therefore what is said 
 of a thing must be understood in such a manner as the 
 nature of the thing will allow, whether of God or of creat- 
 ures. 2d. When of God, an absolute, endless eternity 
 (see Gen. xxi. 33 ; Chron. v. 13, etc.) ; when of the divine 
 creatures, as in the letter above (see Matt. xxv. 46 ; Mark 
 X. 30, etc.) ; when of things which have a certain period 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 247 
 
 of time, — a beginning and end, a man's lifetime (Lev. 
 XXV. 30). 3d. The Levitical priesthood and the divine 
 worship of the Old Testament (Heb. ix. 10 ; Exod. xii. 
 14, 17, and the following chapter). 4th. The time of 
 Christ's incarnation, and before the preaching of the 
 apostles (Kom. xvi. 25 ; Heb. ix. 26). 6th. In a complex 
 sense, the age of this present world (Heb. xi. 3, compared 
 with Eph. i. 20, 27). 6th. In particular this present 
 wicked world to come to an end (Matt. xii. 32 ; xiii. 40 ; 
 Luke XX. 34 ; Gal. i. 4 ; Eph. i. 21 ; 1 Tim. vi. 17) ; in all 
 which places the word (aiori) 'ages,' or 'eternity,' in 
 Greek, is rendered by the word world. The next obser- 
 vation I shall attempt is, that if my friend will reperuse 
 Dr. Gill, he wiU find that he acknowledges that some 
 particular parts of Scripture must resolve into this doc- 
 trine, or they are unintelligible." 
 
 It is evident from the foregoing that Mr. Winchester 
 had little or no sympatliy with the theory advocated 
 by John Murray. Before the two men met they knew 
 little of, and were quite distant in their feelings towards, 
 each other. Afterwards, as we shall see, they regarded 
 each other with mutual respect and affection. 
 
 Mr. Winchester's religious views differed but little 
 from Arminian orthodoxy, except in regard to the de- 
 sign and duration of punishment, and the ultimate sal- 
 vation of all moral creatures, whether men or angels. 
 The late Eev. Dr. Ballou, in an article already quoted 
 from, in the "Universalist Quarterly" for January, 1848, 
 thus describes Mr. Winchester's theology > — 
 
 " He found in the Scriptures explicit recognitions of a 
 period when all things should be gathered together in 
 Christ; when all things should be reconciled to God 
 through him ; when all things should be subdued to him, 
 
248 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 and God become all in all ; when every knee should bow, 
 and every tongue confess, etc. Besides these, there were 
 in all parts of the Bible many evident references to such 
 a final consummation. The very plan of salvation, as 
 revealed in the Scriptures, also involved Universalism ; 
 for God would have all men to be saved, and for that 
 purpose sent his Son, who gave himself a ransom for all, 
 — a purpose that could never be abandoned. And then, 
 again, he saw the same result secured by the perfections 
 of God ; the divine nature could not fail to triumph 
 eventually over all evil, and remove it from the universe ; 
 almighty power, omniscience, and infinite love could 
 issue only in the sanctification and blessedness of all in- 
 telligent creatures. The objections urged from the 
 Scripture language — ' everlasting fire, punishment,' etc. ; 
 'forever, forever and ever,' etc. — he answered, by showing 
 the ambiguous use' of these epithets and qualifying 
 phrases, and by lexicographical criticisms on the force of 
 the original terms. Other texts adduced as objections 
 he explained by their contents, or by parallel passages, 
 according to the commonly received principles of interpre- 
 tation. In doing this, he usually argued ■ with good 
 sense, and always with perfect candor: a cavil, or a 
 sleight-of-hand treatment of a text would have been an 
 impossibility with his open-hearted sincerity and serious 
 temper. Though, like most of the eotemporary divines, 
 and even biblical scholars, he relied too much on the 
 mere verbal relations of particular texts, and therefore 
 did not give free scope to the general purport of the dis- 
 course, and though he sometimes ran into downright 
 enthusiasm, in accepting as literal the gorgeous imagery 
 of the prophecies and apocalyptic visions, yet, so far 
 as we know, he was the first to introduce among the 
 Universalists anything that can be called Scripture inter- 
 pretation. The fundamental principles of his method, 
 somewhat enlarged indeed, and modified by the general 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 249 
 
 improvements of half a century, as well as by our own 
 revisions, are those on which we now explain the Bible, 
 or any other book. 
 
 " His peculiar views of the intermediate , state and 
 of futurity (eschatology), were the following : Immedi- 
 ately after his crucifixion, the soul of Christ went first 
 to Paradise (Luke xxiii. 43), and there announced to the 
 waiting expectant saints of all former ages salvation 
 through his blood just shed. Then he descended to hell, 
 in the lower parts of the earth, and there 'preached to 
 tlie spirits in prison ' (1 Pet. iii. 4), some of whom were 
 thus converted. At his ascension, the souls both of the 
 ancient believers in Paradise and of the recent believers 
 in Gehenna, followed him in his triumphal progress into 
 heaven (Ps. Ixviii. 18; Eph. iv. 8), and were received 
 with him into glory. Before the end of the world the 
 bod.ies of all saints shall be raised, and they shall reign 
 personally with Christ a thousand years on earth in all 
 terrestrial as well as spiritual enjoj'ments. At the close 
 of this period a general apostasy will follow the loosing of 
 Satan ; and, subsequently, the innumerable hosts of re- 
 bels will be destroyed in a most terrible manner, by fire 
 from heaven. Then shall come the second resurrection 
 and universal judgment (Rev. xx.). This will be held 
 on our earth. The separation having been made, and 
 the doom pronounced, the righteous shall follow Christ 
 in his return to the highest heaven ; while the wicked 
 will be left behind for punishment (Matt. xxv.). The 
 earth will then be melted, by the final conflagration, into 
 a lake of fire, the horrible abode of lost men and angels, 
 for ages of ages. Their unutterable sufferings, however, 
 will at length bring them to submission ; though some of 
 the most perverse may continue obstinate, perhaps, till 
 the fifty-thousandth year. But when the earth shall 
 have been thoroughly purified by the flames, and all re- 
 bels, angelic as well as human, brought to repentance, 
 
250 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the new heavens and earth shall appear, and universal 
 blessedness be complete. The Son shall deliver up the 
 kingdom to the Father, and God be all in all." 
 
 In the published letters of Eev. John Murray there 
 are frequent allusions to Mr. Winchester, and four let- 
 ters which were directed to that gentleman ; but, 
 unfortunately, dates are omitted, and it is quite im- 
 possible to tell from these alone when either their 
 correspondence or their personal acquaintance began. 
 From unpublished letters to another Philadelphia 
 friend, these dates may now be established. The 
 first letter from Mr. Murray was written in the win- 
 ter or spring of 1783. Under date of April 6, Mr. 
 Murray says : — 
 
 " I am very sorry Mr. Winchester did not receive jny 
 letter, though if I should make up my judgment of him 
 from what I have heard of him, from even his professing 
 friends, as he has of me, I should be very indifferent 
 whether he had received it or not ; but as this is not the 
 case, should I meet with a safe opportunity, I do not 
 know but I may try once more, as I have a copy of what 
 I wrote still by me." 
 
 This letter was written on account of a letter which 
 his friend, Mr. B., had received from Mr. Winchester, 
 in which mention was made of Mr. Murray. Concern- 
 ing that portion of it, Mr. Murray says : — 
 
 " Of that part of your letter I know not what to think. 
 I am ignorant what information you received from your 
 correspondent, and indeed it is a light thing with me to 
 be judged by man's judgment. One thing is certain, 
 ignorance and prejudice have often laid that to my 
 charge to which I am a stranger. However, if, as I 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 251 
 
 trust, you are a true disciple of Jesus Christ, you will 
 judge no man before you hear him. I am ready at all 
 times to give a reason for the hope that is in me, in 
 meekness and fear. I confess I wish to have fellowship 
 with those whose fellowship is with the Father, and with 
 the Son Jesus Christ, and to accompany them without 
 the camp, bearing the reproach of the Saviour ; and this 
 I am persuaded I shall some way or other do." 
 
 In August of that year Mr. Murray was in Phila- 
 delphia, and made Mr. Winchester's acquaintance, the 
 latter being then in feeble health. Mr. Murray thus 
 describes the interview : — 
 
 " I have been, by invitation, to visit Mr. Winchester ; 
 he seems tottering on the verge of another world. I have 
 been edified by his remarks; and although I am not 
 united with him in sentiment in every particular, yet we 
 join issue in one glorious and fundamental truth, the 
 final restoration of the whole posterity of Adam ; and on 
 this ground I hail him as my friend and brother. Our 
 interview has been extremely affecting ; he clasped me 
 with ardor to his bosom, and dropped such tears as 
 friends are wont to shed upon meeting each other after 
 a long and painful separation. I anticipate both pleasure 
 and profit from associating with this gentleman." 
 
 Again, in a letter to Eev. Noah Parker, he expresses 
 his opinion of Mr. Winchester : — 
 
 " Since I last wrote to you I have seen and conversed 
 with the Eev. Mr. Winchester. I admire him much ; his 
 conduct and expressions evince one of the best hearts I 
 have known. I have conceived a very strong affection 
 for him, and to the confusion of the enemies of God our 
 Saviour, a very large number of respectable hearers have 
 seen him and your friend enter the pulpit together. Mr. 
 
252 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Winchester sang, and addressed the throne of grace, and 
 at his request I preached. A greater part of his congre- 
 gation are enemies to me, because, in their judgment, I 
 do not suflS.eiently expatiate upon inward holiness ; for 
 although they call themselves Universalists, yet Christ 
 is not sufficient for them ; but I have preached to their 
 preacher in private, and I have the satisfaction to 
 pronounce that he receives the grace of God with 
 avidity." ^ 
 
 In an unpublished letter to a Philadelphia friend Mr. 
 Murray writes : — 
 
 "Have you ever seen anything of Mr. Winchester 
 
 since ? God preserve that dear man. I long to see 
 
 him, or hear from him at least. If I had time I would 
 write to him. Give my heart's love to him. Tell him 
 he would have made me very happy if he could have 
 journeyed with me. This dear man will be my very 
 warm friend or my very bitter enemy ; God only knows 
 which." 
 
 The personal relations of these two men were ever 
 after of the most cordial character. They not unfre- 
 quently criticised each other's systems very freely, and 
 sometimes with no little severity, but of each other they 
 spoke with high commendation. In the fall of 1786 
 Mr. Murray heard that Mr. Winchester had spoken 
 very plainly and severely of his views ; and he writes : 
 " I replied to all this, that I could not help loving Mr. 
 Winchester, and that all this only serves to prove him 
 at least an honest man." 
 
 Moses Winchester, a half-brother of Elhanan, began 
 to preach in 1784, just as he was entering his twenty- 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches of Sermons, vol. ii. p. 112. 
 
MOSES WINCHESTER. 253 
 
 first year. He accompanied his brother to New England 
 in the fall of 1785, and officiated in the Universalist 
 house of worship in Boston frequently during that 
 visit. Speaking of the two, in a letter to a Philadel- 
 phia friend, Mr. Murray says: — 
 
 "I really think Mr. Winchester [Elhanan] is the best 
 preacher I know in this country, if he preaches always 
 as when I had the pleasure of hearing him. His brother 
 Moses has, I think, clearer views of the Gospel preached 
 unto Abraham ; but I fear he never will be so great a man 
 as his brother. I am afraid he is not so heartily engaged 
 in the cause as I could wish he was." 
 
 Most of Moses Winchester's ministry was in New 
 Jersey ; but we have no particulars in regard to it. He 
 died in 1793. 
 
 Elhanan Winchester, and his friends who were shut 
 out of the Baptist meeting-house, continued to worship 
 in the hall of the University, located on Fourth street, 
 south of Arch, in Philadelphia, for about four years. In 
 ■October, 1784, they made an effort to obtain subscrip- 
 tions for erecting a house of worship. The form of 
 subscription was forwarded to Mr. Murray for his criti- 
 cism, and under date of Oct. 21, 1784, Mr. Murray en- 
 closes his answer in a letter to a friend, with a request 
 that it be handed to Mr. Winchester, and that Mr. 
 Murray's friends will, " according to their ability, lend 
 him a helping hand." To Mr. Winchester he said : — 
 
 " I trust your endeavors to erect a convenient building 
 for the worship of the true God will be crowned with 
 success. Every genuine believer will acknowledge the 
 true God to be the only wise God and our Saviour, the 
 Saviour of all men. 
 
254 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "The quotation from the introduction with which you 
 have favored me, corresponds exactly with my wishes ; 
 yet, as there have been so many instances of religious 
 fraud practised upon similar occasions, I doubt not you 
 will readily agree to any plans proposed by liberal minds, 
 calculated to prevent anything of this kind which may 
 arise from the zeal of Pharisaical leaven, fermenting 
 in the minds of future bigots. You are well enough 
 acquainted with the nature of man, even in his best 
 estate, to know that privileges of this description cannot 
 be too cautiously guarded. Would it not be well, there- 
 fore, — I avail myself of the privilege to which friend- 
 ship entitles me, — would it not be well to submit your 
 plan to the consideration of judicious individuals not 
 immediately connected with you ? Possibly some salu- 
 tary regulations might be thus suggested. In the multi- 
 tude of counsel there is security ; and I am persuaded so 
 generous a procedure would meet a just reward. Nay, 
 such are my sentiments of you that I am confident, were 
 you able to build a house yourself, you would wish to 
 keep it like the heaven to which our gospel leads — per- 
 petually open. If yoii proceed upon the liberal principles 
 which you contemplate, my efforts to perfect your plan 
 shall not be wanting. I have already addressed many of 
 my friends upon the subject." * 
 
 The "introduction" above referred to Mr. Murray 
 communicates to Noah Parker as being, — 
 
 " Which house shall be cheerfully opened, upon appli- 
 cation to a committee to be chosen out of the congregation 
 and church, to all denominations, and especially to those 
 who teach the universal love of God, and the final 
 restitution of all things." 
 
 ■ The effort was not successful, and the project of 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, vol. ii. pp. 291, 292. 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 255 
 
 obtaining a house of worship in that manner was 
 abandoned. The plan which finally succeeded is thus 
 described by the late Eev. A. C. Thomas : — 
 
 "Not. 24, 1785, Anthony Cuthbert, mast-maker, and 
 Abraham Collins, sail-maker (they were brothers-in-law), 
 in their own names, but for the behoof of the existing 
 organization of Universalists, bought the Masons' Lodge 
 for four thousand dollars, — one fourth cash and a bond and 
 mortgage (Dec. 16, 1785) for the remainder ; and Jan. 16, 
 1786, they united in a deed of trust in behalf of the 
 ' Society of Universal Baptists,' with this preamble : 
 'Whereas, the Society of people called Baptists, known 
 by the name of the First Baptist Church in Philadel- 
 phia, did, on or about the month of March, 1781, disunite 
 from the fellowship of said Society divers of their mem- 
 bers who held and professed, and for so holding and 
 professing, the doctrine of the imiversal love of God, 
 and the final restitution of all things through Jesus 
 Christ our Lord : And whereas, the members of said 
 Society so disunited, and divers other persons holding 
 the same doctrine, have united together, and formed a 
 religious Society called the Society of Universal Bap- 
 tists,' etc. This deed of trust acknowledged that the 
 payment of one thousand dollars had been derived from 
 subscriptions for a church edifice. It reserved to Cuth- 
 bert and Collins the right to dispose of the property, if 
 necessary, to indemnify them against the bond accom- 
 panying the mortgage of three thousand dollars, and 
 vested.the use of the premises in the Society of Uni- 
 versal Baptists, the trust being subject to the incumbrance 
 referred to." ^ 
 
 At what time the Society of Universal Baptists was 
 organized is not known. The property which was pur- 
 
 1 A Century of Universalism, pp. 32, 33. 
 
256 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 chased for them was a plain brick building, erected by 
 the Free Masons in 1754, and situated on Lodge Alley, 
 a narrow street running westward from Second street, 
 north of Walnut. It was doubtless first used by the 
 Universalists on Mr Winchester's return from his east- 
 ward visit in the early summer of 1786. 
 
 While they were still worshipping in the Hall of the 
 University, Mr. Winchester prepared and published a 
 hymn-book for their use. A few of the hymns were 
 from his own pen, but the greater part were selected 
 from various authors. At this time they continued to 
 call themselves the Baptist Church, as the book is said 
 to he " Designed for the edification of the pious of all 
 denominations, but more particularly tor the use of the 
 Baptist Church in Philadelphia." 
 
 Of Elhanan Winchester, Morgan Edwards says (Bap- 
 tists in New Jersey, 1792): "He is now in London, 
 preaching ii/p the restoration of all lapsed intelligences, 
 and defending the doctrine from the pulpit and the 
 press. He has publislied a volume of dialogues be- 
 tween a believer and opposer of the doctrine, wherein 
 objections are stated and answered. He has also pub- 
 lished lectures on prophecies not yet fulfilled. The four 
 volumes are come to America. His expositions of these 
 prophecies are curious, because literal. He is also pub- 
 lishing a monthly magazine, and has published abun- 
 dance of sermons, hymns, etc. It is said of Joseph. 
 Scaliger, that he remembered all he read. Mr. Win- 
 chester's memory approaches towards his. Had this 
 surprising man's industry been equal to his retention, 
 he would now rank with the most knowing ones of the 
 age ; as it is, he has acquired knowledge of the learned 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 257 
 
 languages. He made himself very popular, in the 
 preaching way, this side the Atlantic; which popu- 
 larity reached England as early as 1781 ; for in the 
 minutes of the Association held at Bristol that year 
 are these words : ' Brother Winchester is now owned 
 of God in a surprising manner. In three months he 
 baptized two hundred and thirty-nine at Peedee, in 
 South Carolina. A remarkable work is begun at New- 
 town, Brookline, etc., by means of Brother Winchester ; 
 and what makes it more astonishing is, that Brookline 
 is the place of his nativity,' etc. He is now popular in 
 Europe, and his originalities will make him popular 
 everywhere" fpp. 139, 140). 
 
 Returning for a moment to the date of the Association 
 at Oxford, we close this chapter with a brief mention of 
 the preachers of Universalism known to have been in 
 active service at that time. In addition to Messrs. 
 De Benneville, Wright, Rich, Parker, and Adams 
 Streeter, mentioned hi a previous chapter, and Mr. 
 Murray and the two Winchesters, there were the fol- 
 lowing : Clement Sumner, of Swanzey, N. H., of whom 
 little is known, except that he was a graduate of Yale 
 College in 1758, and from that time till 1775 a Congre- 
 gationalist preacher, when he became a Universalist. 
 Little is known of his subsequent career, except that 
 he preached as opportunity was given, and that he died 
 in 1795. 
 
 Thomas Barns (we follow his own spelling), bom in 
 Merrimac, N. H., Oct. 4, 1749, became in early life a 
 Baptist ; but, under the preaching of Rev. Caleb Rich, 
 embraced Universalism in 1782, and soon after began 
 to preach. In 1785 he was living in Jaffreiy, N. H., 
 
 VOL. I. — 17 
 
258 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 and preaching in that region. The following year he 
 removed to New Fane, Vt. We shall have more to say 
 of him hereafter. Three of his daughters distinguished 
 themselves by their intelligent zeal for the spread of 
 Universalism. Lucy, the oldest, published a series 
 of "Serious and Important Questions answered from 
 the Holy Scriptures," which passed through several 
 editions. She died in 1809, at the early age of twenty- 
 nine years. Soon after her death, several of her letters, 
 essays, and poems were collected, and published in a 
 pamphlet of seventy-one pages, entitled " The Female 
 Christian." Extracts from it will be found in "Our 
 Woman Workers," by E. R Hanson, pages 12-14 Levisa 
 was associated with the Rev. George Bates in compiling 
 a memoir of her father. Sally, another daughter, was 
 a woman of remarkable mental qualities, impressing 
 every one with the clearness and power of her mind.^ 
 
 Zephaniah Lathe, of Grafton, Mass., united with the 
 Baptist church in that town, under the ministry of 
 Elhanan Winchester, in 1772. He became a Univer- 
 salist and began to preach early in 1785. 
 
 Noah Murray, born in Litchfield County, Conn., in 
 1745, served in the army during the Revolution, and at 
 its close became a Baptist preacher in Lanesboro, Mass. 
 In 1784 he became a Universalist, and at the time of 
 the meeting of the Association was preaching in Berk- 
 shire County, Mass. The late Col. Joseph Kingsbury, 
 of Sheshequin, Penn., who was intimate with Mr. 
 Murray many years, says : — 
 
 "Noah Murray removed from Hinsdale, Berkshire 
 Co., Mass,, to Shawnee, Luzerne Co., Penn., in 1785. He 
 
 * See Our Woman Workers, pp. 11-24. 
 
DAVID EVANS. 259 
 
 had commenced preaching the gospel before he came to 
 this country. He preached occasionally at Shawnee, but 
 I never heard that he formed a society of Universalists 
 in that place. In the spring of the year 1787 he left 
 Shawnee with his family, and came up the river as far as 
 Queen Esther's Plats, and took possession of a small log 
 cabin some one had erected and left. He farmed it upon 
 these flats till 1790, when he removed to a lot on the 
 flats nearly opposite the village of Athens, which lot or 
 farm is now owned and occupied by one of his grandsons. 
 Brother Murray was not idle in promoting a knowledge 
 of the gospel in this quarter, preaching Sundays as often 
 as an opportunity presented, and by social converse teach- 
 ing 'the blind the way they should go.' He had a good- 
 sized hewn-log schoolhouse to preach in at Sheshequin. 
 At the Point (Athens), he preached at first in the largest 
 house that could be procured." 
 
 David Evans, born in 1738, was a resident of New 
 Britain, Bucks County, Pennsylvania, where he was for 
 many years a deacon o£ the Baptist Church. At what 
 time he became a Universalist is not known ; but in 
 November, 1785, he published a sermon on "General 
 Election ; or, Salvation for All Men illustrated and 
 proved," which he had "preached at the Meeting of 
 the United Brethren in New Britain." He was a man 
 of more than ordinary abilities, and published several 
 pamphlets in defence of Universalism as advocated by 
 Eelly and Murray. The sermon on " General Election " 
 was read by Mr. Murray to his Gloucester audience 
 Aug. 25, 1786, as appears from the following extract 
 from a letter written by Mr. Murray the next day to a 
 Philadelphia friend : — 
 
 " Yesterday my hearers had the pleasure of attending, 
 in the afternoon, on Mr. David Evans's proving the Uni- 
 
260 XJNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 versality of Election. Thus, you see, I have preferred 
 him to your poor servant. I intend to get it reprinted 
 in Boston, and disperse them about as far as possible. 
 How glad I should have been if this sermon had been the 
 product of Elhanan's pen ; but God will send by whom 
 he will send. When you see my brother Evans, give my 
 love to him." 
 
 A month later, writing from Boston to the same 
 friend, Mr. Murray says : — 
 
 " Our friends here have, from the sermon we have seen, 
 conceived a very high opinion of Mr. Evans, and would 
 be exceeding glad to see him this way. Pray, is that 
 gentleman fixed anywhere ? Has he what they call pul- 
 pit talents ? We have now our meeting-house in Boston 
 very elegantly fitted up, and there is, when they have a 
 preacher, a very large and very attentive congregation. 
 If Mr. Evans is not already engaged, he would find an 
 open door in this place, and a hearty welcome. They 
 beg me to inform him that a visit, at least, would be very 
 thankfully received. I write you, my friend, for this 
 purpose, begging you would convey the request as soon 
 as possible." 
 
 A month later he writes : — 
 
 " I am exceeding sorry to hear of Mr. Evans's inability 
 to come." 
 
 In all, then, there were thirteen preachers of Univer- 
 salism in America in 1785 ; but it is not to be supposed 
 that they were all statedly employed ; nor is it probable 
 that in many cases they were aware of the existence and 
 work of each other. 
 
 Eev. John Tyler, Eector of the Episcopal Church in 
 Norwich, Ct., has already been mentioned as being in 
 sympathy with Mr. Murray's views, and as having occa- 
 
GAMALIEL KEVNOLDS. 261 
 
 sionally preached for him in Gloucester, and elsewhere ; 
 but he gave no prominence to this doctrine in his regu- 
 lar ministry, nor did he care to attach his name to the 
 work which he wrote in its illustration and defence. 
 
 There were two laymen, however, in Norwich, who 
 publicly advocated Universalism. Daniel Hall, a very 
 worthy and devout man attempted to preach, but soon 
 reUnquished the effort, as his success was not equal to 
 his desires. Subsequently he became a preacher among 
 the Congregationalists. Gamaliel Eeynolds, " a mason 
 by trade, but a man of strong, though uncultivated, 
 mind," became a preacher among the Separatists 
 about the year 1740. ror"lifteen or twenty years" 
 before his death, which occurred in 1805, he was a 
 preacher of Universalism, but still attending to his 
 secular busiiiess.^ He seems to have been a Eellyan, 
 but, in Mr. Murray's estimation, to have had a super- 
 ficial and somewhat erroneous view of that theory. 
 Among the unpublished letters of Mr. Murray is one 
 addressed to Mr. Eeynolds " Nov. 22, 1790." In it Mr. 
 Murray says : — 
 
 " I have been informed that you have made some very 
 capital mistakes in handling the Word of Life ; that you 
 have applied to our Saviour what the Holy Ghost applied 
 to the Grand Adversary, — as in the case of the man who 
 had not on the wedding garment, and the scape-goat, etc. 
 Now, my very dear friend, as you can have no interest in 
 propagating such very capital mistakes, I encourage hope 
 that you will in future render to Caesar the things that 
 are Csesar's, and unto God the things which are God's. 
 Let us, I entreat you, beware of making use of any figure 
 
 1 For further particulars of his life and labors, see A Historical 
 Sketch of Universalism in Norwich, Couu. By Rev. E. 0. Williams. 
 
262 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to point out our Saviour that is not consistent with his 
 character." 
 
 Mr. Eeynolds had also, it would seem, pushed some 
 of Mr. Eelly's notions to decidedly Antinomian con- 
 clusions. Mr. Murray, after reminding him that he 
 had been an instrument, in the hand of God, of bring- 
 ing him to an acquaintance with some truth which he 
 had not known before, desires to be considered by him 
 as being in the way of duty in faithfully admonishing 
 him against the influence of this pernicious error : — 
 
 "I have never heard you say much in public, and 
 though your friends have told me of many very great 
 mistakes you have made in handling the Word of Life, 
 yet, whenever I have had the opportunity of speaking in 
 yoiir company, your cordial assent to everything I ad- 
 vanced, made me at a loss how to determine on what I 
 heard. I have, therefore, only now to give you the word 
 of counsel as a brother and a real friend, that you would 
 make the Scriptures your rule by which you will deter- 
 mine to walk in your public, as I am persuaded you have 
 ever done in your private, character. Let it be one part 
 of your study to make your hearers sensible that they 
 have, by transgression, forfeited their life ; show them 
 that the wages of sin is the death of the soul; show 
 them that, in consequence of the Saviour's death, who 
 gave himself a ransom for all, the gift of God is everlast- 
 ing life through Jesus Christ our Lord, as on the belief 
 of this truth depends our actual enjoyment, as, till this 
 is believed in the heart, there can be neither peace nor 
 joy as coming from the Spirit of God, and therefore of 
 enduring nature. Endeavor, by every part of Divine 
 Revelation that tends to illustrate this grand truth, to 
 point it out. Then, having proved that your hearers are 
 all bought with a price, make them, as far as you are 
 
GAMALIEL REYNOLDS. 263 
 
 able, sensible that they are not their own; that they 
 belong to Him who paid so dear a price for their redemp- 
 tion ; that if they belong to him, he is entitled to their 
 service ; and that in serving him, whose service, after 
 all, is perfect freedom, there is great reward. If you 
 find your hearers willing to hear the voice of our divine 
 Master, you will find them, therefore, asking, ' What will 
 my gracious Master have me to do ? ' You will then, 
 if you yourself are under the influence of the Spirit of 
 Truth, lead them to the fountain-head of divine informa- 
 tion. You will point to the place, and say, ' Thus saith 
 the Lord.' If there should be some whose lazy, indolent 
 souls would strive to take shelter under a perversion of 
 the truth, by afiirming that Jesus Christ, having finished 
 the work which was given him to do, left nothing for 
 them to do, you will then inform them that, though he 
 finished the work which was given him to do, as a Saviour, 
 he did not finish the work that is given his people to do, 
 as the saved. If they should deny this, you will then 
 have recourse to the testimony of our blessed Master 
 himself, and his Apostles. If they will not walk by this 
 rule, from such you will turn away. Let me entreat you 
 to endeavor to instil into the minds of all who hear you 
 that the revelation which respects the conduct of the 
 saved is as authentic as that which respects the conduct 
 of the Saviour. 
 
 " But you will say, perhaps, How is this following the 
 example of the Apostle, who determined to know nothing 
 amongst the Corinthians but Christ, and him crucified ? 
 As a preacher of God's salvation, he never did. But in 
 the fifteenth of this first epistle to this people, did he 
 deviate from this rule ? According to some, he did ; but 
 they are mistaken. He did not ; he resolved to know 
 nothing but Christ, and him crucified, as the matter of 
 our salvation, of all men's salvation in the Saviour ; but 
 he aimed at making these same Corinthians sensible, in 
 
264 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the second verse of the fifteenth chapter, that, in order to 
 be saved in themselves, they must keep in memory what he 
 had preached unto them. The truth is, there is one salva- 
 tion which was begun and completed by Christ, as cruci- 
 fied. This is the salvation that, in the word of the 
 gospel, is preached unto all unbelievers, by the faithful 
 servants of Christ Jesus ; that hearing they may believe, 
 and believing, consequent thereon, be made partakers of 
 that salvation that the Apostle here speaks of, and which 
 salvation you may lose by losing the remembrance of 
 what was before preached. I wish you, then, my brother, 
 to be a fellow-helper with me. Preach the word, and 
 clearly, from a full conviction that no one will ever enter 
 into rest till they believe it, and that self-salvation de- 
 pends on their continuing to hold fast the profession of 
 their faith, without wavering. Show them that in life, 
 and in death, nothing can give peace but believing, and 
 that with the heart ; show them that, in consequence of 
 unbelief, multitudes of the purchased inheritance are 
 miserable in life, in death, and in the resurreotioti. Let 
 them hear the voice of our unerring Teacher, who assures 
 us that, if they die in their sins, where he is they cannot 
 come ; show them that, if they die in unbelief, they die 
 in their sins, and, therefore, where he is they cannot 
 come, for where he, is is fulness of joy. If they should 
 quibble with you, and insist on it that, as God, he must 
 be everywhere, tell them, if you think such triflers 
 are worth your notice, that state and place are not 
 synonymous. 
 
 " There are many who call themselves believers of the 
 truth, who are as much engaged in doing the work of our 
 Grand Adversary, — in weakening the force of the testi- 
 mony of God, by either leaving out of their creeds a great 
 part thereof, or explaining it away, — as any of its most 
 virulent opposers. When I hear what such and such 
 preach, in the character of Universalists, I am shocked, I 
 
GAMALIEL REYNOLDS. 265 
 
 am frightened. Nothing can be more anti-Scriptural. 
 Such doctrines deserve all that the enemy has said of 
 them ; and when /, following the lead of divine revelation, 
 am obliged to declare the contrary, on a supposition that I 
 must have taught what those who profess to be with me 
 preach, it is declared that I have changed my princi- 
 ples. . . . How painful, then, must be my feelings when 
 I find so many teaching that, Jesus having done all, there 
 remains nothing for us to do ; and if there was, it is of 
 no great consequence, for we shall all be happy in death ; 
 so we have nothing more to do than to eat, drink, and be 
 merry, for to-morrow we die ; that the judgment is past 
 already, and everything of that nature, testified to in the 
 Scriptures, is not to be understood as it is expressed ; 
 that, as for the teaching of the Apostles, it is nothing to 
 us, no farther than it consists with our convenience ; that 
 we have nothing to do with anything in the Scripture if 
 it means anything else than what respects Jesus Christ 
 as our Saviour. How very painful must it be to me to 
 hear that the friend I am writing to, should, in whole or 
 in part, be leavened with this leaven. You are, I am 
 persuaded, an honest man ; you will give, I trust, due at- 
 tention to what I have written, and do me the justice to 
 believe that I am, with real sincere affection, your friend 
 and brother in our Saviour." 
 
 Subsequently, Mr. Eeynolds visited Boston, and 
 officiated in Mr. Murray's pulpit. The latter refers 
 to him, and his preaching, in an affectionate and appre- 
 ciative manner, in his " Letters and Sketches," vol. ii. 
 p. 345. 
 
 Shippie Townsend, a block-maker, in Boston, was for 
 several years a Sandemanian. He was a man of fair 
 education, and a terse writer. After becomiag a Uni- 
 versalist, probably about 1782, he occasionally preached 
 
266 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 in Boston and Gloucester. He was a Eellyan, and was 
 probably the first layman to wield the pen in exposition 
 and defence of Universalism in New England. From 
 1785 to 1793, he published . ten or more pamphlets, 
 which, in 1794, he gathered into a volume of three hun- 
 dred and seventy-six pages, under the title of " Gospel 
 News." He died at an advanced age, in 1800. 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 1787-1790. 
 
 M». MUKKAY'S ARRANGEMENT FOR PREACHING IN BOSTON. — EeV. JoHN 
 
 Smalley's pamphlets against Univeksalism. — The Session of 
 THE Association IN 1787, PROBABLY its Last Session. — Mr. Win- 
 chester GOES to England. — Mr. Murray visits Philadelphia. — 
 Favorable reception of Univebsalism in New York. — Rev. Rob- 
 ert Annan's pamphlet against Univebsalism. — William Pitt 
 Smith, M. D., publishes "The Universalis!." — Sketch of Dr. - 
 Smith's Life. — Mb. Murray at Portsmouth, N. H. — Jonathan 
 Mitchell Sewall supplies the Pulpit at Portsmouth. — His 
 fame as a Poet. — Mr. Murray's estimate of Noah Parker. — 
 Confesses that Rev. John Tyler and Himself are the only 
 Preachers united in Sentiment. — The Rellyanism of Rev. Da- 
 vid Evans. — Rellyanism not Acceptable to the People. — 
 Mr. Murray again in Legal Trouble on account of performing 
 Markiage Ceremonies. — He sails for England. — His Preach- 
 ing there. — Relief sought and obtained foe him from the 
 Massachusetts Legislature. — His return from England, and 
 HIS Re-okdination. — He is ijiportuned to Move to Philadel- 
 phia. — His statement of thf. Labor imposed on him. — Rev. 
 Duncan McLean. — Rev; Ahtis Seageave. — Morgan Edwards 
 on Mb. Seagbave. ^ — Rev. George Richards. — Rev. David Bal- 
 Lou. — Steps taken towards a Convention in Philadelphia. — 
 Convention held in 1790. — Articles of Faith and Plan of 
 Church Government adopted. — Composition of the Conven- 
 tion. — The Trinitarian bias of the Articles of Faith. — Rev. 
 Elihu Palmer. — John Fitch, and the Philadi-.lphia Deists.— 
 Objection to the Articles of Faith, in Boston. — Mr. Murray a 
 Sabellian. — Spread of Univebsalism among the Baptists. — 
 Eev. Nicholas Cox. — Rev. William Worth. — Renewal of Ef- 
 forts TO Settle Mr. Murray in Philadelphia. — His Compensa- 
 tion IN New England. — Dr. Benjamin Rush. — Me. Murray's 
 Letter. — Bachelor's Hall. — Samuel Wetherill's attack on 
 Rellyanism. — Mb. Murray in New York, and with President 
 Washington. — The Address to the President, and his Reply. 
 — Willia.m Eugene Imlay. — Mr. Murray's Enthusiastic Recep- 
 tion IN Connecticut. — His alarm at the Errors creeping in 
 among Univeksalists. — Richard Geidley. — Mr. Murray unable 
 to Move to Philadelphia. — Further Legal Troubles. — Incor- 
 poration OF THE Church at Gloucester. 
 
 I 
 
 N consequence of the death of Eev. Adams Streeter, 
 who had for several years preached once a month in 
 
268 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Boston, the Committee of the Society wrote to the 
 Gloucester friends, under date of Dec. 8, 1786, asking 
 the consent of the latter that Mr. Murray visit them 
 every third Sunday, " until He who received gifts for 
 men, even for the rebellious, is pleased to bestow one 
 upon us, when perhaps, by their changing, neither of us 
 may be left destitute." The request was granted, and 
 the arrangement thus made continued until January, 
 1788, when Mr. Murray was induced to divide his time 
 and services equally between the two places, reserving 
 to himself, as before, the privilege of temporary absence 
 each year for the purpose of itinerant labors in several 
 localities. 
 
 Connecticut seemed to furnish him a favorable field, 
 and in consequence, Eev. John Smalley, of Berlin, made 
 an attack on Universalism, in two published sermons, 
 one in 1785, and the other in 1786. Eev. John Tyler 
 encouraged Mr. Murray in his work, if he did not openly 
 co-operate with' him. Writing to him in September, 
 1786, he says: — 
 
 " There is now with us a Mr. Noah Murray, a preacher 
 of Jesus Christ, statedly laboring in the Oblong,' and the 
 adjacent parts. I am exceedingly pleased with him, and, 
 considering his advantages, think him a very extraordinary 
 man." 
 
 The Association at Oxford, in 1785, voted, as see 
 preceding chapter, "to meet in Boston, the second 
 Wednesday in September, 1786." Probably the meet- 
 ing was held, but no record of its proceedings can be 
 
 1 A name given to a tract of land seventy to eighty miles in length, 
 by two in breadth, formerly belonging to Connecticut, now transferred 
 .to New York. 
 
ASSOCIATION AT MILFORD. 269 
 
 found, nor any mention of it in the letters of Mr. Mur- 
 ray, and others, written during that month. The fol- 
 lowing year, on the third of September, the Oxford 
 Society chose "delegates for this society, to meet at 
 Milford, at the Annual Association, on Wednesday 
 next." All the information that has been obtained in 
 regard to a meeting at that time and place, is from a 
 letter written by Mr. Murray, from New York, Nov. 13, 
 1787, to a Philadelphia friend, in which, speaking of 
 the friendliness of the clergy in that city towards him, 
 and his sentiments, he says : — 
 
 " One of them spent the evening in my company since 
 I came to town, and, though I related the story of the 
 Convention, or Yearly Meeting, at Milford, this gentle- 
 man never said one word by way of opposition ; but 
 warmly urged me to visit him in a friendly way." 
 
 There is no further mention of this Association any- 
 where, and the presumption is, that it held no other 
 session. What are believed to be sufficient reasons for 
 this conclusion, will be given farther on. 
 
 In July, 1787, Mr. Winchester surprised and startled 
 his congregation in Philadelphia, by announcing his 
 intention of making an immediate trip to England. In 
 less than forty-eight hours from the announcement of 
 his purpose, he had embarked on a vessel bound for 
 London. It is said that he left his pulpit in Philadel- 
 phia in charge of his half-brother, Moses ; but of this 
 there is some doubt. At all events, the church was 
 soon destitute of a regular ministry, and although there 
 were zealous laymen who were able and willing to con- 
 duct religious service on the Lord's Day, the congrega- 
 tion dwindled away, and but few remained to keep the 
 
270 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 organization alive. A Philadelphia correspondent of 
 Mr. Murray wrote to him that Mr. Winchester's course 
 " has in a manner dissolved one of the most thriving 
 congregations in this city." 
 
 To strengthen and encourage the scattering flock, and 
 particularly to assist his personal friends in keeping up 
 an interest in the work, Mr. Murray visited and labored 
 in Philadelphia in September and October of that year. 
 A few in the congregation did not sympathize with Mr. 
 Murray's views ; but the majority were solicitous for 
 him to remove to Philadelphia, and were confident that 
 abundant success would attend his labors. Some en- 
 couragement was doubtless given that he would accept 
 their call. Stopping at New York, on his return to 
 Gloucester, he writes from there to a Philadelphia 
 friend, Nov. 13, 1787: — 
 
 " Before I leave this city, I must inform you that our 
 friends here increase very fast indeed. Appearances 
 here are as much in favor of a spread of gospel light 
 as in your city ; the congregation as large. The City 
 Hall is as large as the Lodge, and full as attractive. 
 Many urge me very warmly to abide here. This morn- 
 ing, I was waited on by a number of gentlemen, who, 
 hearing that I had it m contemplation to reside in Phila- 
 delphia, proposed that, if I would divide my time between 
 this city and that, they would purchase a vacant meeting- 
 house in this city for me. You would be astonished to 
 see the spirit of inquiry there is in this place. . . . On 
 the whole, my friend, our Saviour has blest my poor 
 labors in this place full as much as in any place I have 
 labored in for many years past, both in public and in 
 private. Surely, surely, this is the Lord's doings ! No 
 wonder it is marvellous in our eyes ! And still, perhaps, 
 
WILLIAM PITT SMITH. 271 
 
 our Saviour has some things for me to do. I see no 
 prospect of getting away from this place ; and shall not, 
 I suppose, till the work that God sees fit to do by me, in 
 this place, at this time, is accomplished. It is not for 
 me to dictate." 
 
 During this year, two publications appeared, — one in 
 Philadelphia, opposing TJniversalism, and one in New 
 York, in its support. The former was written by Kev. 
 Eobert Annan, a Presbyterian clergyman, and was en- 
 titled " Brief Animadversions on the Doctrine of Uni- 
 versal Salvation ; in which it is proved to be utterly 
 repugnant to the principles of moral government, and 
 inconsistent with the Word of God." It was a well- 
 written pamphlet, of fifty-five pages. 
 
 The work in advocacy of TJniversalism was by 
 William Pitt Smith, M. D., of New York, and was 
 entitled " The Universalist. In Seven Letters to 
 Amyntor." It was a duodecimo volume of three hun- 
 dred and five pages. It opposes the infinity of sin ; 
 insists that eternal punishment is an impeachment of 
 God's character ; that the doctrines of the Universalists 
 do not remove any real motives to virtue, but present 
 such as are capable of exerting a powerful influence on 
 the mind and character. Many objections to TJniver- 
 salism are fully stated, and fairly answered ; and the 
 book concludes with copious extracts from the works of 
 Eamsay, Chauncy, and Winchester, the only writings 
 on TJniversalism which the author had read, and with 
 strictures on a work of Mr. Eckley, of Boston, against 
 Chauncy's writings. 
 
 In the first edition of the " Modern History of Uni- 
 versalism,"-Mr. Whittemore said of Dr. Smith: — 
 
272 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " He was a student of physic under Dr. Joseph Young, 
 and was attached to the General Hospital Department of 
 the Army of the United States during the Eevolutionary 
 War, in which he served as surgeon's mate, under his 
 preceptor, Dr. Young. He afterwards participated, as a 
 partner of Dr. Young, in an extensive medical practice 
 in the city of New York.' His professional talents, his 
 literary acquirements, his character for honor, honesty, 
 and philanthropy, were so extensively known, acknowl- 
 edged, and approved, that he became very popular,' and 
 gained a political influence which he was ambitious to 
 use for the benevolent purpose of ameliorating the con- 
 dition of the human species. He was elected a member 
 of the Legislature for the year 1796, and was a strenu- 
 ous advocate of the bill providing for the abolition of 
 slavery. His unremitting zeal and untiring exertions 
 for the attainment of that philanthropic object were 
 regarded as prominent among the causes which produced 
 his death. Anxious to fulfil all the duties which had 
 devolved on him, on . the morning of the day on which 
 the bill above mentioned was to be discussed in the 
 Assembly, which was sitting in the city of New York, 
 he rose very early, with a view to visit all his patients 
 in time to enable him to take an active part in the debate 
 on that important and interesting question. He spared 
 himself no time to breakfast or dine. The day was wet, 
 cold, and stormy. Drenched to the skin, he took his seat 
 in the house, and sat all day in his wet clothes, was taken 
 sick even before he concluded his speech, and, after a few 
 days' severe indisposition, died in February, 1796, at the 
 age of thirty-six years " (pp. 381, 382). 
 
 Mr. Murray returned to Gloucester early in December. 
 
 ' Dr. J. W. Prancis, in his Old New York, says that Dr. Smith 
 was also " Professor of Materia Medica in Columbia College," in that 
 city. 
 
JONATHAN MITCHELL SEWALL. 273 
 
 On the 16th of that month, he writes to a friend in 
 Philadelphia : — 
 
 " I was but one Sunday at home before I set out for 
 Portsmouth, where formerly dwelt my greatly valued 
 friend and fellow-laborer, Mr. Parker. God, in his 
 providence, has raised up a man to supply his place, 
 whom I should have least expected ; but God's ways are 
 not our ways, nor his thoughts as our thoughts. He 
 will send by whom he will send, and he does all things 
 well. The gentleman that now preaches in Mr. Parker's 
 meeting is a Mr. Sewall, an eminent lawyer, and a very 
 distinguished poet ; but his soul is in love with divine 
 truth, and he says it is his meat and drink to do the will 
 of God. I wish it may be the will of God to keep this 
 faithful man from the evil that is in this world ; then, 
 indeed, he will be a burning and a shining light." 
 
 Mr. Parker died, as previously stated, Aug. 17, 1787 ; 
 and at a parish meeting held Oct. 9, a committee was 
 appointed to invite Mr. Sewall to speak on Sundays. 
 It is generally believed that he did not accept ; ^ and it 
 is very probable that he did not put himself under 
 obligation for permanent pulpit service ; but the fore- 
 going shows that he did not utterly refuse to aid the 
 society in this way. 
 
 Jonathan Mitchell Sewall, who is thus referred to, 
 was bom in Salem, Mass., in 1748. 
 
 "He was," says C. W. Brewster, in his "Rambles 
 about Portsmouth," " of high standing as a lawyer, but 
 no less eminent as a statesman and poet. He was the 
 writer of the stirring song of the Revolution entitled 
 'War and Washington,' beginning, 'Vain Britons, boast 
 
 1 See an article in The Christian Leader, Nov. 15, 1873, p. 719. 
 VOL. I. — 18 
 
274 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 no longer,' * etc., which was sung in every camp through- 
 out the country." 
 
 Drake, in his " Biographical Dictionary," says of Mr. 
 Sewall : — 
 
 " His occasional poetic pieces, some of which attained 
 great popularity, were collected and published in 1801 ; 
 many were of a political cast, and were printed in most 
 of the Federal gazettes from Maine to Georgia. He was 
 noted for wit, and was eminent in social qualities. In 
 his epilogue to the ' Tragedy of Cato,' written in 1778, 
 occurs the well-known couplet, — 
 
 ' No pent-up XJtica contracts our powers, 
 But the whole boundless continent is ours.' " 
 
 Duyckinck, in his work on " Biography," says of Mr. 
 Sewall : — 
 
 " It is a name that should be better' known and 
 cherished, for it was borne by one whose lyrics warmed 
 the patriotism, and cheered the hearts, of the soldiers 
 of the Eevolution in the perils of the battle and the 
 privations of the camp." 
 
 In 1789, in anticipation of a visit of President Wash- 
 ington to Portsmouth, no little discussion occurred as 
 to the title by which he should be addressed, and sev- 
 eral were suggested. Mr. Sewall made the following 
 impromptu answer : — 
 
 " Fame spread her wings, and with her trumpet hlew, 
 ' Great Washington is come ! what praise is due ? 
 What title shall he have ? ' She paused, and said, 
 ' Not one ! His name alone strikes every title dead.' " 
 
 1 " Vain Britons, boast no longer, with proud indignity. 
 
 By land your conqu'ring legions, your matchless strength at sea. 
 Since we, your braver sons incens'd, our swords have girded on. 
 Huzza, huzza, huzza, huzza, for War and Washington." 
 
NOAH PABKEE. 275 
 
 Mr. Sewall was greatly interested in the establish- 
 ment of the Universalist Society in Portsmouth, and 
 wrote several hymns, which were printed on slips and 
 sung in the Sunday services. He died in 1808. 
 
 Immediately after the death of Mr. Parker, Mr. Mur- 
 ray wrote to a friend in London : — 
 
 "When I last addressed you, the name of Mr. IST. 
 [Noah Parker] stood foremost among the number of the 
 preachers of the truth as it is in Jesus, in this New- 
 World. But since that period, having fought the good 
 fight, and kept the faith, he hath finished his course, and 
 laid hold on that eternal life which was given him, and 
 will be given to all that love the appearing of the Lord 
 Jesus. 
 
 " I have suffered no bereavement since I came into this 
 country, beside the death of our dear departed friend, 
 Mr. Kelly, which has affected me so deeply. I mourn 
 with those who mourn ; how great this affliction to his 
 family, to his friends. The Sunday before last they 
 buried him, and last Sunday was the first Sunday his 
 hearers have been without a preacher since the Ee- 
 deemer opened his mouth and enabled him to show forth 
 his most holy praise. The gout thrown into his stomach 
 became his passport to blessedness. 
 
 " Never did man labor more diligently than our departed 
 friend in the promulgation of the gospel of divine truth, 
 both in private and in public ; it was his sole delight ; 
 and this he did without fee or reward, never receiving 
 from the people the smallest pecuniary consideration. 
 He was blessed with ability and inclination to follow 
 the example of the Apostle Paul more closely than any 
 individual I ever knew. But, alas ! his congregation is 
 now left quite destitute. God is able to raise up such 
 another, but at present there is no prospect of such an 
 
276 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 event. We know no one wlio preaclies the truth who 
 would take his place, and if any were disposed, they 
 would expect to live by the gospel. 
 
 " I do not now know of a single preacher in this country, 
 if I except Mr. T. [Tyler], of Connecticut, who is with me 
 in sentiment respecting gospel truth, although there are 
 many private Christians who are happy in the belief of 
 those glad tidings which the angels delighted to pro- 
 claim. There are, as I informed you in my last, who 
 preach another gospel, who assure us that all mankind 
 will finally, through their own doings and sufferings, 
 enter into life, forasmuch as God willeth that all men 
 should be saved and come unto the knowledge of the 
 truth. Of this number is Mr. W. [Winchester], of whom 
 I have spoken in former letters, and who is now in Eng- 
 land. He is a zealous man, and an animated preacher. 
 We can rarely discover any difference between him and 
 the Methodists, except where they speak of the never- 
 ending torments of the wicked. Here he differs from 
 them, for he supposes the wicked will be tormented only 
 a few thousand years, or ages, or millions of years, ac- 
 cording to the magnitude of their transgressions, until 
 being brought to love and serve God acceptably, they 
 will be forever happy with the Lord. 
 
 " I am, I do assure you, beyond expression distressed. 
 What are we to do ? " ^ 
 
 Unless Mr. Murray referred to his personal acquaint- 
 ance with the preachers, he must have forgotten Eev. 
 David Evans, who was, beyond question, the keenest 
 and ablest Eellyan in the country, when he said that 
 Mr. Tyler was the only preacher who was with him in 
 sentiment. 
 
 It is not at all probable that Mr. Winchester's system 
 
 1 Letters and Sketches, vol. ii. pp. 276, 277. 
 
AVERSION TO KELLYANISM. 277 
 
 as a whole was adopted by many of the preachers, for 
 he had published but little at that time, and few under- 
 stood just what his theory was until some seven or 
 eight years later, when his writings were more numer- 
 ous and more industriously circulated. But, as was 
 stated in the preceding chapter, nearly all the preach- 
 ers were converts from the orthodox sects, especially 
 from the Baptists, and, with the exception of Caleb 
 Rich, who was original in his interpretations and ex- 
 egesis, their theories differed in little or nothing from 
 what they had always held, except in regard to the 
 universal extent and efficacy of Christ's saving work. 
 Eellyanism was felt to be a forced and factitious mode 
 of interpreting the Scriptures, and except as to its iinal 
 results, was not generally accepted. The general agita- 
 tion of the question of human destiny among nearly all 
 the sects, as intimated in the first chapter, had in a 
 great measure prepared the masses who were thinking 
 on the subject to gladly accept Murray's message ; but 
 further thought led them to more rational grounds for 
 their conclusions, and hence, much to his surprise and 
 distress, they discarded his premises, but held to his 
 conclusion that the ultimate redemption of the world 
 was the doctrine of the Bible. This aversion to Eelly- 
 anism grew more and more intense and extensive, till, 
 as we shall see as we proceed, it was wholly abandoned. 
 At the period of which we are now vrriting, however, 
 — the close of the year 1787, — Mr. MuiTay had another 
 source of trouble. No sooner had his suit against the First 
 Parish in Gloucester been decided, than his enemies be- 
 gan to threaten him with legal trouble for performing 
 marriage ceremonies, alleging that he was unordained 
 
278 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 and was therefore acting illegally. A case was finally 
 selected and taken to the Supreme Court, where a 
 verdict was obtained against him, and he was sen- 
 tenced to pay a fine of fifty pounds. This fact, and his 
 conclusion with reference to it, he thus communicated 
 to a Philadelphia correspondent, January 2, 1788 : — 
 
 " I told you of a prosecution commenced against me 
 by my enemies on account of marrying. The arbitrary 
 judges will not, it seems, consider me an ordained minis- 
 ter because I am not ordained in their way, so I am in 
 consequence condemned and obliged to pay heavy fines 
 or leave the State till the General Court grants me re- 
 dress, which I trust they will in the interim, as they will 
 not meet till February. I intend taking a voyage to 
 London, and spend the winter there and come out in the 
 spring. If the Legislature should not grant me redress 
 I must leave this State, and in that case hope to take up 
 my abode in your city on my return from England. I 
 wish I could have had previous notice of this time 
 enough to have given our friends an opportunity to 
 write to Mr. Winchester, but I never thought of it till 
 yesterday." 
 
 On the 6th of January he set sail for England. 
 " Noble provision was made for him by the Bostonians, 
 and all expenses of the voyage defrayed," says Mrs. 
 Murray. Landing in Falmouth, after a long and bois- 
 terous voyage, Mr. Murray was received with great 
 kindness although in the midst of strangers, being 
 warmly commended to all Christian people by letters 
 from the churches in Boston and Gloucester. During his 
 stay abroad he preached in many places, but generally, 
 if not always, as he had at first done in America, — 
 without avowing positively his belief in Universalism. 
 
MR. MURRAY IN ENGLAND. 279 
 
 Mrs. Murray quotes from his diary on this point as 
 follows : — 
 
 " The numerous friends with whom I occasionally 
 sojourn are as anxious to detain me with them, and 
 lament the necessity of my departure, precisely as did 
 my American friends ; their hearts swell with transport 
 while I simply declare the gospel of the grace of God, 
 and they reiterate their expressions of admiration of the 
 gracious words which God enables me to utter, in like 
 manner as did the good Gloucesterian elder, Mr. Warner, 
 on my first visit to that place. We mingle our supplica- 
 tions and addresses, our thanksgivings and our praises, and 
 our hearts burn within us while we converse of the good- 
 ness of our God and the gracious purposes of redeeming 
 love; Surely it would be ill-judged, if not cruel, in such 
 circumstances to dash the cup of felicity from the lips 
 of these humble dependents upon the grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, because perhaps they do not see to the end 
 of the divine purposes. I never will preach anything 
 but the gospel of God our Saviour anywhere ; but I will 
 leave those dear people to draw their conclusions, and, in 
 the interim, I will feed them with the sincere milk of 
 the word, that they may grow thereby. . . . The people 
 everywhere hear with American attention. Clergy- 
 men, wherever I sojourn, are generally my hosts. Gospel, 
 unadulterated gospel, is pleasant to the believing soul ; 
 I content myself with showing that man is lost by sin, 
 that the law is the ministration of death, that the gospel 
 is a divine declaration of life by Jesus Christ to every 
 creature." ^ 
 
 Mrs. Murray adds : — 
 
 " When the clergymen with whom Mr. Murray associ- 
 ated during his last residence in England became ascer- 
 
 1 Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 346, 347. 
 
280 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 tained of his full and comprehensive views of the magni- 
 tude and extent of the redeeming plan, although very few 
 adopted his ideas, yet they still continued warmly at- 
 tached to the preacher ; and the letters they addressed 
 to him after his return to America, which are still in 
 being, would fill a volume." ^ 
 
 When the Legislature of Massachusetts convened in 
 "February, the following petition was presented : — 
 
 " To the Honorable Senate and the House of Represen- 
 tatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, assemMed 
 in Boston in February, 1788 : John Murray, of Glouces- 
 ter, in the County of Essex, would humbly represent to 
 your Honors, that about seventeen years ago he came 
 into this country, which he considered as the asylum of 
 religion and benevolence ; that on his arrival he began 
 to preach the gospel of peace, in doing which he met with 
 many cordial friends, some of whom, namely, a society 
 of Christians in Gloucester, distinguished themselves by 
 their uniform attachment to the message and the messen- 
 ger. And after your petitioner had occasionally labored 
 among them for a considerable time, they associated 
 together as an Independent Church, built a meeting- 
 house, and invited your petitioner to reside with them as 
 their settled minister ; and in the month of December, 
 in the year 1780, did appoint, set apart, and ordain him 
 to the work of the ministry, and to be their teacher of 
 piety, religion, and morality ; that ever since that period 
 he has considered himself, and has been considered by 
 the people he has statedly labored amongst, as their or- 
 dained minister ; and though your petitioner has, on 
 sundry occasions, visited and labored amongst his Chris- 
 tian friends in other places, it has always been with the 
 consent of his people, — they still looking on him and he 
 
 > Life of Murray, edition of 1870, p. 349. 
 
PETITION TO THE LEGISLATURE. 281 
 
 on himself as their ordained minister. It also appears 
 that the people among whom your petitioner has fre- 
 quently labored have considered him in the same light, 
 as they have formally requested license of his people of 
 Gloucester, who, after consultation, granted that license. 
 Another circumstance that tended to confirm your peti- 
 tioner in the belief of his being an ordained minister in 
 the strictest sense of the word, and according to the 
 letter and spirit of the law, was the verdict given in 
 favor of him and his people by the Honorable Supreme 
 Court and jury, when, after suffering much abuse from 
 their persecuting opponents in Gloucester, they were re- 
 duced to the necessity of applying to the laws of their 
 country for redress and protection. But their opponents, 
 dissatisfied with the verdict then obtained, demanded a 
 review ; after which review the former verdict was con- 
 firmed by the full and decided opinion of the honorable 
 court given in their favor. 
 
 " Being thus, by constitutional right and legal decision, 
 established as an independent minister, settled with, and 
 ordained by, the joint suffrages of the members of that 
 religious society, your petitioner supposed his troubles 
 from his persecuting enemies were at an end. And upon 
 consulting counsel learned in the law, who gave it as 
 their decided opinion that he was an ordained minister, 
 he proceeded to perform the ceremony of marriage to 
 such of his hearers who made application to him for that 
 purpose. But some of his opponents, unacquainted with 
 the independent mode of ordination, and presuming your 
 petitioner was not ordained, because the same ceremonies 
 were not made use of in his ordination to the use of 
 which they were accustomed, brought the question of 
 your petitioner's right of oificiating as an ordained min- 
 ister before the judges of the Supreme Judicial Court, 
 who gave it as their opinion that he was not an ordained 
 minister, in the sense of the law, as the forms of his 
 
282 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ordination were not sufficiently notorious. Your peti- 
 tioner, and the people who ordained him, conceived his 
 ordination was sufficiently notorious, as the article was 
 subscribed by every member of the society ; and the 
 honorable court considered him a public teacher of piety, 
 religion, and morality. The recent adjudication of the 
 honorable judges has involved your petitioner's little 
 flock in Gloucester in expense and exquisite distress, and 
 your petitioner is ruined, unless your Honors can inter- 
 fere for his relief. He must not only satisfy the heavy 
 penalty already forfeited to his said opponents and pro- 
 secutors, but he is liable to repeated forfeitures of like 
 penalties for every marriage he has performed since he 
 has conceived himself the ordained minister of that 
 people, which must involve his friends in expense, or 
 consign him to a jail. Nor is this all; supposing his 
 ordination invalid, he is, by the letter of the law, liable 
 to ignominious punishment. Now, as equity is said to 
 be that interference of the supreme power which allevi- 
 ates where the. law, by being too comprehensive, has 
 involved a case to which it was not, perhaps, meant to 
 extend ; and as he, and his people, his counsel, and the 
 world at large, supposed him ordained as much as an 
 Episcopalian, or any other teacher, however different the 
 mode of ordination, he most humbly prays your Honors 
 to indemnify him for any farther prosecution for any 
 marriage he may have solemnized under his supposed 
 right, and by this means rescue him from the persecuting 
 power of his malignant adversaries, restore the exercise 
 of religious rites to his oppressed and afflicted people, 
 establish in the Commonwealth, in which he has long 
 had his - residence, that peace which has been broken by 
 the malice of his enemies. Your petitioner would in 
 person have waited on such committee of your Honors as 
 may be appointed to consider this petition, but his well- 
 grounded fears that prosecutions would be multiplied 
 
LEGISLATIVE BELIEF. 283 
 
 upon him by the zeal of his religious adversaries, has 
 necessitated him to absent himself from the country of 
 his adoption and Ms dear people, until such time as the 
 clemency of your Honors might be obtained in his 
 behalf." 
 
 The congregation in Gloucester also sent in a petition 
 in aid of the foregoing, and the result was the adoption 
 of the following : — 
 
 "COMMONWEALTH OE MASSACHUSETTS. 
 
 "In the House of Representatives, March 17, 1788. 
 
 " Whereas, John Murray and others have represented 
 to this court that the said Murray, esteeming himself 
 legally qualified, had solemnized certain marriages, and 
 that, by a decision had in the Superior Judicial Court, 
 it was determined that the said Murray had no such 
 authority, praying that he might be indemnified; Ee- 
 solved. That the said John Murray be, and he hereby 
 is, indemnified from all pains and penalties which he 
 may have incurred on account of having solemnized any 
 "marriages, as aforesaid, for which there has not been 
 any prosecution commenced, or had ; and the said Mur- 
 ray may, upon trial for any of the offences aforesaid, 
 give this resolution, in evidence, upon the general issue ; 
 which shall have the same operation as if specially 
 pleaded. 
 
 " Sent up for concurrence. 
 
 " James Waeken, Speaker. 
 
 " In Senate, March ,27, 1788. 
 " Kead and concurred. 
 
 "Samuel Adams, President. 
 " Approved. 
 
 "John Hancock." 
 
284 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 On Mr. Murray's return to America, the voyage was 
 uncommonly protracted by head winds. John Adams, 
 afterwards President of the United States, was, with his 
 wife, on board; and, at his solicitation, Mr. Murray 
 preached every Sunday. This was the commencement 
 of a long and intimate acquaintance with this eminent 
 citizen and his family. Arriving in Boston in July, 
 
 "the voice of exoneration and freedom bade him wel- 
 come, and the glad acclamations of joy resounded among 
 his congratulating and most affectionate friends. A 
 summons from the Governor to attend a select party at 
 his house met him on the day of his arrival, and every 
 liberal mind partook the rational hilarity of the mo- 
 ment." 1 (Memoir, p. 350.) 
 
 Some time after his return, Mr. Murray, in writing 
 to a friend in London in regard to the success of his 
 petition to the Legislature, said : — 
 
 " I have been the happy instrument of which the God 
 of peace and mercy has made .use, to give a death-wound 
 to that hydra, parochial persecution. Persons now, un- 
 der the denomination of Independents, who believe and 
 bear witness to the truth, as it is in Jesus, are endowed 
 with every privilege possessed by the national church or 
 established religion ; and, of course, my situation since 
 my return has been abundantly more eligible than it was 
 previous to my departure." " 
 
 1 Almost his first act, after his arrival, was to record in the Town 
 Clerk's book, in Gloucester, his intention of marriage with Mrs. Judith 
 Stevens, a daughter of his friend, Winthrop Sargent. They were mar- 
 ried the 6th of October, at Salem, Mass. Mrs. Murray was an intelli- 
 gent and gifted woman. For an account of her literary abilities and 
 fame, see The Universalist Quarterly, April, 1881, pp. 194-213, and 
 April, 1882, pp. 140-151. 
 
 2 Letters and Sketches, vol. ii. pp. 351-352. 
 
MR. MURRAY'S EEORDINATION. 285 
 
 The church at Gloucester, determined to avoid all 
 further questioning of the legal status and rights of 
 j\Ir. Murray, resolved to renew his ordination. At the 
 trial of their suit against the First Parish, and in their 
 " Appeal to the Impartial Public," they had taken the 
 position that ordination consisted in the choosing and 
 setting apart of a religious teacher, and not in any 
 ceremony attendant on such choice. In the " Appeal," 
 they quoted from the Cambridge Platform of 1646, 
 which was the acknowledged standard of the standing 
 order : — 
 
 " Ordination we account nothing else but the solemn put- 
 ting a man into his place and office in the church, where- 
 unto he hath a right before by election. The essence 
 and substance of the outward calling of an ordinary 
 officer in the church, doth not consist in ordination, but 
 in his voluntary and free election by the church, and his 
 accepting of that election; whereupon is founded that 
 relation between pastor and flock, — between such a min- 
 ister and such a people. Ordination doth not constitute 
 an officer, nor give him the essentials of his office. The 
 Apostles were elders, without imposition of hands by 
 men." 
 
 To it they added : — 
 
 "This was the sense of the country at that time, and 
 it was so prevalent that, although the platform was 
 obtained, yet it could not be done without preserving 
 these sentiments. But as the word 'ordain' signifies 
 no more than to appoint, we conceive that the elec- 
 tion, and not the laying on of hands, makes the ordi- 
 nation complete. See sixth and thirteenth chapters of 
 Acts." 
 
 This conviction they still retained ; but were willing 
 
286 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 to SO far comply with the position of the Court, that 
 their former ordination had not been sufficiently pub- 
 lic, as to give to the reordination ceremony the utmost 
 publicity in their power, by publishing in the " Colum- 
 bian Sentinel," of Boston, the following, in the issue of 
 that paper, Jan. 3, 1789 : — 
 
 " Last Thursday week, Mr. John Murray was ordained 
 to the pastoral charge of the Independent Church of 
 Christ in Gloucester. After Mr. Murray had prayed, 
 and one of the congregation had announced the inten- 
 tion of the meeting, and presented him formally with a 
 call, Mr. Murray replied : — 
 
 " ' Persuaded of the truth of the declaration made by 
 the compilers of the shorter catechism, that God's works 
 of providence are his most holy, wise, and powerful, 
 preserving and governing all his creatures, and all their 
 actions ; and having a full conviction that the affairs of 
 the church are, in an especial manner, under his imme- 
 diate direction ; and that you, my Christian friends and 
 brethren, are now, as formerly, under the directing influ- 
 ence of that divine Spirit, which, taking of the things of 
 Jesus, and showing them unto me, constrained me to 
 become a preacher of the everlasting gospel, and directed 
 you to set me apart, and ordain me to be your minister ; 
 I now again, with humble gratitude to my divine Master, 
 and grateful affection for you, my long-tried and faithful 
 Christian friends and brethren, most cordially accept of 
 this call.' 
 
 " One of the committee then read the vote of the 
 church : — ' Resolved, that we, the proprietors of the In- 
 dependent meeting-house in Gloucester, the members of 
 the church and congregation usually attending there for 
 the purpose of divine worship, do, by virtue of that 
 power vested in us by the great High Priest of our pro- 
 fession, the Bishop of our souls, and the great and only 
 
MR. MURRAY'S REOEDINATION. 287 
 
 Head of the churcli, and according to the institutions of 
 the first churches in New England, and in perfect con- 
 formity to the third article of the Declaration of Eights, 
 in this public manner, solemnly elect and ordain, consti- 
 tute and appoint, Mr. John Murray, of said Gloucester, 
 clerk, to be our settled minister, pastor, and teaching 
 elder ; to preach the word of God, and to inculcate les- 
 sons and instructions of piety, religion, and morality, on 
 the congregation ; and to do, perform, and discharge all 
 the duties and offices which of right belong to any other 
 minister of the gospel, or public teacher of piety, re- 
 ligion, and morality ; and it is hereby intended, and 
 understood, that the authority and rights hereby given 
 to the said Mr. John Murray, to be our settled or- 
 dained minister, and public teacher, are to remain in 
 full force so long as he shall continue to preach the 
 word of God, and dispense instructions of piety, religion, 
 and morality, conformable to our opinions, and no 
 longer.' 
 
 " The committee then solemnly presented him the 
 Bible, saying on its presentation, ' Dear sir, we present 
 you these sacred Scriptures as a solemn seal of your 
 ordination to the ministry of the New Testament, and 
 the sole directory of your faith and practice.' His ac- 
 ceptance was affecting, — as what comes from the heart 
 reaches the heart. 
 
 " ' With my full soul I thank our merciful God for this 
 inestimable gift. With grateful transport I press it to 
 my bosom. I receive it as the copy of my Father's 
 Will, as the deed of an incorruptible inheritance, as 
 the unerring guide to my feet, and lantern to my paths. 
 Dear, precious treasure ! thou hast been my constant 
 support in every trying hour, and a never-failing source 
 of true consolation. I thank you, most sincerely do I 
 thank you, for this confirming seal, this sure direct- 
 ory ; and I pray that the Spirit which dictated these 
 
288 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 sacred pages, may enable me to make the best use 
 thereof.' A sermon by Mr. Murray, from Luke x. 2, 
 siicceeded, 'The harvest is great, but the laborers are 
 few,' etc. etc. 
 
 " The solemnity, attention, and Christian demeanor 
 that attended the whole transaction of the ordination, 
 and every other occurrence of the day, gave universal 
 satisfaction to a numerous audience." 
 
 Mr. Murray had hardly settled down to his work 
 again in Gloucester before he was importuned once 
 more to remove to Philadelphia, and earnestly pleaded 
 with to give that city a portion of his time, if he could 
 not take up his permanent abode there. He replied, 
 early in January, that he was under obligation to di- 
 vide his Sundays between Gloucester and Boston ; and 
 then added : — 
 
 " This, one would suppose, would be sufficient for me 
 at this period of my laboring life. I have, however, 
 besides this, to visit, when I am able, sundry congrega- 
 tions in various parts of the country, as Newport, Provi- 
 dence, Cumberland, Milford, Grafton, Oxford, Newtown, 
 Salem, Portsmouth, etc. 
 
 " There is no prospect of my being an idler as long 
 as I have any strength left. I have been many years 
 warmly engaged in the promulgation of divine truth, 
 according to my knowledge of it. I have freely spent 
 my youth, my health, my strength, in that employ. 
 My Saviour, my gracious Master, has been graciously 
 pleased at last to indulge me with a home, — with 
 a wife to make this home agreeable, — for which my 
 soul feels grateful. I have it still in my heart to 
 visit many ; but were I to indulge this wish, — that 
 is, supposing myself at my own disposal, — I should 
 leave the people among whom I labor a laughing-stock to 
 
MCLEAN AND SEAGEAVE. 289 
 
 the public. I should disappoint some, disgust others, 
 and ruin, at present, a very thriving cause." 
 
 The italicized words in this last sentence are a 
 quotation to his correspondent of the words which 
 the latter had just employed in describing the disas- 
 trous results of Mr. Winchester's course in leaving a 
 field in which there was ample and satisfactory em- 
 ployment. 
 
 In the same letter, Mr. Murray sends messages to 
 two new preachers, who had been mentioned by his 
 correspondent. They were Duncan McLean, and Artis 
 Seagrave. The former was then residing in Frederick 
 County, Virginia, near Winchester, where he had been 
 settled as a Baptist preacher. He became a Universal- 
 ist about the year 1786. In 1787, the Virginia Asso- 
 ciation of Baptists notified the' Philadelphia Association 
 to beware of Duncan McLean, late one of their minis- 
 ters, " who has embraced the doctrine of Universal Sal- 
 vation." In 1790, he was living in Loudon County, 
 .the same State, and preaching statedly to large audi- 
 ences, in Alexandria, and in several other localities. 
 In 1791, he accepted a call to the pastorate of the 
 church in Philadelphia ; but subsequently " reconsid- 
 ered the matter, on account of his family affairs, the 
 great work, and his usefulness in that part of God's 
 vineyard, and some other reasons." After 1792, at 
 which time he was still in Loudon County, we lose all 
 trace of him. 
 
 Artis Seagrave had been pastor of the Baptist 
 church at Cape May, N. J., from 1785 to 1788, when 
 he resigned, and removed to Pittsgrove, in the same 
 State. In 1791 he was at Pilesgrove, in 1792-1799, 
 
 VOL. I. 19 
 
290 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 at Wrightstown, after which we have no knowledge 
 of his whereabouts. Morgan Edwards says of Artis 
 Seagrave : — 
 
 " He took oversight of the Cape May church in 1785, 
 and resigned in 1788, to go to Oldman's Creek, where he 
 now (1792) practises physic and preaches to a branch of 
 Pittsgrove Church. He was much thought of at the 
 Cape till he began to preach up the extravagant vagaries 
 of the Eellites. He was born in Pittsgrove, Feb. 1, 1755, 
 and there ordained in 1782." ' 
 
 Under date of April 9, Mr. Murray thus makes men- 
 tion of a new preacher in Boston : — 
 
 " I heard a gentleman preach last Sunday morning in 
 the meeting I labor in, — in consequence of my being ill, 
 — who, for matter and manner, exceeded any I had ever 
 heard. I have no acquaintance with him ; that is, per- 
 sonal. I have heard of him ; he has been some time a 
 schoolmaster in the metropolis, and before they get 
 a settled minister in the North Episcopal Church, he 
 officiates there. Some of my hearers in this place being 
 acquainted with him, invited him, in my absence, to sup- 
 ply the pulpit. My being ill last Sunday morning gave 
 me an opportunity of hearing him myself, and I was ex- 
 ceedingly pleased. I hope he will be a sensible, warm, 
 able advocate of the truth as it is in Jesus. He labors, 
 however, poor man, under a difficulty in his first setting 
 out, — he is poor, and has a large family ; he is, therefore, 
 obliged to be very much confined to his school. However, 
 we know not what is in the womb of Providence. He is 
 young, a man of great natural and acquired abilities, and 
 I hope, a man of principle ; so that, he may be, indeed, a 
 burning and shining light. I had often heard of Mr. 
 George Richards as a very able schoolmaster, a man of 
 
 1 Baptists in New Jersey, pp. 43, 44. 
 
GEORGE RICHARDS. 291 
 
 abilities, etc. ; but never till last Christmas Day did I 
 hear of him as a preacher of the truth as it is in Jesus. 
 Who knows, my friend, but the Lord of the harvest may 
 yet send forth some able laborers into his harvest ? Let 
 it be our business to pray that he would." 
 
 George Kichards, who is thus brought to our notice, 
 was born in or near Newport, E. I., about 1755. He 
 studied the higher branches of learning under the pri- 
 vate tuition of a clergyman in Newport, who gave him, 
 as he afterwards expressed it, " as extensive advantages 
 as I could have enjoyed under Dr. Manning, President 
 of Brown University." During a portion of the Eevo- 
 lutionary War he was in the navy as purser and chap- 
 lain, under Commodore Manly ; and at the close of the 
 war he went to Boston and engaged in teaching. He 
 was thrice married, and had a numerous family. Of 
 his fifth child, Sarah Ward, born at Boston, Oct. 27, 
 1788, he says, " She was the first child dedicated by 
 John Murray in the Universal Church, Boston ; " and 
 of his eighth, Alice Jane, born at Portsmouth, N. H., 
 June 22, 1797 : " The first child dedicated by the Eev. 
 Mr. Murray, Oct. 25, 1797, at the Universal meeting- 
 house in Portsmouth, N. H., Vaughn Street." 
 
 Although the name of George Eichards has no place 
 in any " Dictionary of American Authors," or " Cyclo- 
 ptedia of American Literature," and is now almost for- 
 gotten, except by those who are interested in our church 
 history, he was, as a contributor to the periodical press 
 of his day, — as the " Massachusetts Magazine," and the 
 weekly papers of Boston, — and as editor of " The Free 
 Mason's Magazine," eminent in his day as a poet, pa- 
 triot, and Mason. In 1871, the Librarian of the Amer- 
 
292 XJNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ican Antiq^uarian Society, in his annual report, believing 
 that "George Eichards is better entitled to a place 
 among the writers of his time in prose and verse than 
 some who have been ostentatiously commemorated," 
 made brief mention of his literary work. The follow- 
 ing year, Eev. Edward Everett Hale, in the February 
 number of the "Old and New," called attention to 
 " the name and fame of that forgotten poet of American 
 freedom, and harmonious elegist of General Washing- 
 ton, the Eev. George Eichards ; " and transcribed a few 
 passages from his writings, " as illustrative at once of the 
 condition of American poetry at the end of the last 
 century, and of the modes of thought which then pre- 
 vailed about Washington himself." 
 
 Mr. Eichards remained in Boston till the fall of 1793, 
 teaching school and occasionally preaching, when he 
 became pastor of the Universahst church in Portsmouth, 
 N. H. For some unknown reason his ordination was 
 deferred till July, 1799. The parish records give the 
 following account of the ordaining service : — 
 
 "Voted, that M. Parry, M. Woodman, P. Coues, J. 
 Libby, and John Raynes, be a committee to assist in the 
 ordination of Mr. Eichards, and, in behalf of this society, 
 to deliver him the Bible as the only rule of his preach- 
 ing and practice ; and on his receiving the same, to pub- 
 licly declare him the ordained minister and teacher of 
 this society, and that he is fully authorized and empow- 
 ered to administer all gospel ordinances, and has all the 
 rights and privileges of a temporal nature that the laws 
 of the State allow to any other settled and ordained 
 minister within the same. 
 
 " Thursday, the 11th day of July, was set apart, with 
 submission to Divine Providence, for the ordaining ser- 
 
DAVID BALLOU. 293 
 
 vices. Accordingly, at ten o'clock of said day, the society 
 assembled at their tisvial place of worship. Brother Jere- 
 miah Libby, as one of the society's committee, introduced 
 the business of the meeting by a brief declaration of its 
 purposes. Elder Edward [Edmund] Pillsbury, of North- 
 wood, N. H., made the first prayer ; Brother John Foster, 
 of Taunton, Mass., preached a suitable discourse ; Brother 
 Libby delivered the Scriptures, assisted by the commit- 
 tee ; Brother Eichards returned a proper answer ; Brother 
 Eoster delivered a becoming charge ; Elder Pillsbury 
 gave the right-hand of fellowship ; Brother Foster offered 
 a concluding prayer, after which Brother Eiehards pro- 
 nounced the final blessing." * 
 
 Mr. Eichards remained in Portsmouth till 1809, when 
 he accepted an invitation to the pastorate of the church 
 in Philadelphia, where also he taught school several 
 years ; and during a portion of the time was editor of a 
 Masonic magazine. In 1814 the death of his wife and 
 various disappointments, unsettled his reason, and in 
 an insane hour he destroyed himself. He was a good 
 man, and was held in high esteem by all his associates 
 in the ministry.^ 
 
 Eev. David Ballou was another accession to the Uni- 
 versalist ministry in 1789. He was a brother of Hosea, 
 and thirteen years his senior. For ten years he preached 
 in Eichmond, N. H., and vicinity, and then removed to 
 what is now called the town of Monroe, Mass., from 
 
 ^ Historical Discourse at the Centennial Celebration in Portsmouth, 
 N. H., Nov. 16, 1873, by A. J. Patterson, D. D. ; XJniversalist Quarterly, 
 January, 1874, p. 75. 
 
 2 See Century of TJniversalism, pp. 66-71, for an account of Mr. 
 Richards' ministry in Philadelphia; and Whittemore's Life of Rev. 
 Hosea Ballou, vol. i. pp. 399-402, for the latter's estimate of his 
 character. 
 
294 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 which place he itinerated over a large region. Tie late 
 Dr. Whittemore said of him : — 
 
 " He was a man of rare intellectual powers, sagacious, 
 cool, quick to see the fallacy of an argument, able to 
 state his propositions clearly ; in fine, he was what the 
 world would call a close reasoner. But, as a speaker, he 
 was not eloquent. In his moral character he was, we 
 had almost said, blameless." ' 
 
 He died Dec. 30, 1840, aged eighty-two years. . 
 
 On Sunday, Sept. 6, 1789, at the close of services 
 which had been conducted by Eev. Artis Seagrave, a 
 meeting was held in the Lodge Hall, in Philadelphia, 
 when 
 
 " it was made known to those present that the design of 
 the meeting was to lay before them the propriety of 
 writing and sending forth a circular letter to our friends 
 in different parts of the continent holding like faith with 
 us in the salvation and restoration of all things by Christ 
 Jesus, invitipg them to a conference or association, in 
 order to agree on some general sentiment and form of 
 church discipline, which may have a tendency to jinite 
 us more in the bonds of love and uniformity, and prove 
 more to our edification and the declarative glory of 
 God." 
 
 A committee was appointed to draft such a letter, 
 who subsequently reported the following, and it was 
 agreed that it should be sent " to such persons or socie- 
 ties as the committee may deem proper " : — 
 
 " Friends and Brethren, — In the glorious belief of the 
 final restitution of all things through our Lord Jesus, we 
 address you at this time by the advice and with the con- 
 sent of the brethren in the same belief in this place, 
 
 1 Life of Hosea Ballou, vol. i. p. 31. 
 
PHILADELPHIA CIRCULAR LETTER. 295 
 
 though, not generally acquainted with you, but consider- 
 ing you as desirous to promote the truth and further the 
 progress of genuine religion, on a subject which we doubt 
 not has exercised your minds, in a measure as it has ours. 
 You no doubt have long since seen and deplored the un- 
 settled condition we are in, — without order, rule, or 
 system, floating about on the waters of unsteady helps, 
 to promote our knowledge, and unite us in one general 
 church in the bonds of love and uniformity. Impressed 
 with a sense of our state as a people, and induced to be- 
 lieve that the time is come that, by the blessing of our 
 God, and the support and endeavors of one another, 
 we may rise to, and become comforted in, the prospect 
 of numbers being brought into the truth as it is in 
 Jesus, — 
 
 " To accomplish this glorious purpose, we have had a 
 meeting of our friends on the 6th of September last, and, 
 taking the matter into our most serious consideration, it 
 was there agreed unanimously to appoint four members to 
 draw up and lay before the professors of our belief a letter 
 for approbation, copies of which were to be taken and for- 
 warded to the brethren respectively in different parts of 
 the continent ; and this being approved of, we, in behalf 
 of them and ourselves, request you to send on to us your 
 opinion of calling a general convention of suitable per- 
 sons, to meet at some suitable place, on some particular 
 time, to take our circumstances and situation into con- 
 sideration, that we may be enabled thereby, as much as 
 in our power lieth, to have one uniform mode of divine 
 
 WORSHIP ; ONE METHOD OF ORDAINING SUITABLE PERSONS 
 TO THE MINISTRY ; ONE CONSISTENT WAY OF ADMINISTER- 
 ING THE Lord's Supper, or whatever else may appear 
 desirable to any when such convention meets, having 
 regard to the practice of our Saviour, by endeavoring to 
 build upon the broadest basis of Christian benevolence. 
 " That this may meet with your approbation, and that 
 
Committee." ^ 
 
 296 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the God of all grace and wisdom may bless these our 
 weak endeavors, we subscribe ourselves your brethren in 
 the universal love of that Redeemer who willeth all men 
 to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. 
 
 " William Perkins, 
 " James Mooee, 
 "Anthony Cuthbekt, 
 " Israel Israel, 
 
 Favorable response being given, the Convention was 
 held in the "Meeting-house in Lodge Alley," commenc- 
 ing on the twenty-fifth of May, 1790, and continued in 
 session till the eighth of June. It was composed of 
 seventeen persons, seven of whom were preachers, viz., 
 John Murray, Gloucester, Mass.; Duncan McLean, 
 Trederick County, Va. ; Moses Winchester, Cohansey, 
 N. J. ; Artis Seagrave, Pilesgrove, N. J. ; Nicholas Cox, 
 Kingwood, N. J. ; William Worth, Pittsgrove, N. J. ; 
 David Evans, New Britain, Penn. The laymen were : 
 from Philadelphia, William Perkins, James Moore, 
 Anthony Cuthbert, Israel Israel, Thomas Fitzgerald ; 
 Cohansey, N. J., Jedidiah Davis; Tom's Eiver, N. J., 
 William Eugene Imlay. There were three others, 
 whose names are unknown, as the records are lost. 
 The churches represented were: Boston, Gloucester, 
 Mass. ; Frederick County, Va. ; Cohansey, N. J., Piles- 
 grove and Pennsneck, N. J. ; Philadelphia, New Britain, 
 Penn. Eev. William Worth was chosen Moderator, 
 and Eev. Artis Seagrave, Clerk. The principal busi- 
 ness transacted was the adoption of articles of faith, 
 and a plan of church government, the consideration 
 
 1 For an account of the correspondence which followed the issuing 
 of this circular, see article on " Universalist Conventions and Creeds," 
 in Universalist Quarterly for January, 1875. 
 
ARTICLES OF FAITH. 297 
 
 of sundry recommendations, to be referred to the 
 churclies before final action, and the appointment of 
 John Murray and William Eugene Imlay, to present 
 an address to President Washington. With the excep- 
 tion of the address, these matters were at once pub- 
 lished in pamphlet form, and subsequently republished 
 in Boston. Both editions have long been out of print, 
 and the following synopsis is therefore given. The 
 " Introduction " is : — , 
 
 " Under a deep sense of the unchangeable and universal 
 love of God to mankind in a Eedeemer, and in humble 
 thankfulness to His kind providence in permitting us to 
 assemble and deliberate, agreeably to the dictates of our 
 consciences, without fear of civil or ecclesiastical power ; 
 Wb, the representatives of sundry societies in the United 
 States, believing in the salvation of all men, convened 
 on the twenty-fifth of May, 1790, in the city of Philadel- 
 phia, by an invitation from the brethren in the said city, 
 holding the same doctrine, and having implored the 
 direction and blessing of God upon our endeavors to 
 extend the knowledge of His name, have adopted the 
 following Articles, and Plan of Church Government : 
 
 CHAPTEE I. 
 
 AETICLES OF FAITH. 
 
 Sect. 1. Of the Holt Sckiptukes. — We believe the 
 Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments to contain a 
 revelation of the perfections and will of God, and the 
 rule of faith and practice. 
 
 Sect. 2. Of the Supkemb Being. — We believe in 
 One God, infinite in all his perfections ; and that these 
 perfections are all modifications of infinite, adorable, 
 incomprehensible, and unchangeable Love. 
 
298 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Sect. 3. Of the Mediator. — We believe that there 
 is One Mediatok between God and man, the man Christ 
 Jesus, in whom dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead 
 bodily ; who, by giving himself a ransom for all, hath 
 redeemed them to God by his blood ; and who, by the 
 merit of his death, and the e£B.cacy of his Spirit, will 
 finally restore the whole human race to happiness. 
 
 Sect. 4. Of the Holy Ghost. — We believe in the 
 Holy Ghost, whose ofB.ce it is to make known to sin- 
 ners the truth of their salvation, through the medium of 
 the Holy Scriptures, and to reconcile the hearts of the 
 children of men to God, and thereby to dispose them to 
 genuine holiness. 
 
 Sect. 5. Of Good Works. — We believe in the obli- 
 gation of the moral law, as the rule of life; and we 
 hold that the love of God manifest to man in a Re- 
 deemer, is the best means of producing obedience to that 
 law, and promoting a holy, active, and useful life." 
 
 Chapter II. contains a " Plan of Church Government," 
 set forth in nine sections, embracing the following par- 
 ticulars : " Of a Church, The Officers of a Church, The 
 Call and Ordination of the Officers of a Church, Of 
 Divine Worship, Ordinances, The Admission and Exclu- 
 sion of Members, Of Marriage, The Instruction of 
 Children, The Communion of Churches." 
 
 " A church " was defined as consisting " of a number 
 of believers, united by covenant, for the purposes of 
 maintaining the public worship of God, the preaching 
 of the gospel, ordaining officers, preserving order and 
 peace among its members, and relieving the poor." 
 The officers were " bishops " and " deacons." " The 
 terms bishop, elder, minister, pastor, and teacher," 
 were held to be the same, " intended only to express 
 
PLAN OF CHURCH GOVERNMENT. 299 
 
 the different capacities in which the same officer is 
 called to act." Each church was empowered to decide 
 on the "call, qualifications, and gifts, of those who 
 wish to devote themselves to God in the ministry," and 
 to " solemnly set apart and ordain such persons ; and a 
 certificate of such appointment shall be to them a suffi- 
 cient ordination to preach the gospel, and to administer 
 such ordinances, hereinafter mentioned, as to them may 
 seem proper, wherever they may be called by Divine 
 Providence." 
 
 "Deacons shall be chosen by the members of the 
 church, and ordained in like manner as bishops or 
 ministers. Their business — besides receiving and ap- 
 plying the pious and charitable contributions of the 
 church for the support of the laborers of the gospel, 
 and the relief of the poor — shall be to attend to the 
 secular affairs of the church, to keep an exact register of 
 all the persons who shall be born, baptized, admitted to 
 communion, married, or who shall remove or die, belong- 
 ing to the society ; also, an account of the admission and 
 dismission of members, and of all the business of the 
 church." 
 
 With regard to the " ordinances," none were insisted 
 on as obligatory ; for, as a diversity of opinion had pre- 
 vailed in aU ages of the church, in regard to them, 
 " and as this diversity of opinions has often been the 
 means of dividing Christians, who were united by the 
 same spirit in more essential articles," this plan pro- 
 posed and agreed " to admit all such persons who hold 
 the articles of our faith, and maintain good works, into 
 membership, whatever their opinions may be as to the 
 nature, form, or obligation of any of the ordinances." 
 It was further agreed that, if a church, believing in the 
 
300 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ordinances, should have a minister who could not per- 
 form them " contrary to his conscience," " a neighboring 
 minister, who shall hold like principles respecting the 
 ordinance or ordinances required by any member, shall 
 be iavited to perform them ; or, if it be thought more 
 expedient, each church may appoint, or ordain, one of 
 their own members to administer the ordinances in. such 
 way as to each church may seem proper." 
 There was also the following section on — 
 
 " The Instruction of Children : — We believe it to be 
 the duty of all parents to instruct their children in the 
 principles of the gospel, as the best means to inspire 
 them with the love of virtue, and to promote in them 
 good manners, and habits of industry and sobriety. As 
 a necessary introduction to the knowledge of the gospel, 
 we recommend the institution of a school, or schools, to 
 be under the direction of every church ; in which shall be 
 taught reading, writing, arithmetic, and psalmody. We 
 recommend, further, that provision be made for instruct- 
 ing poor children, in the said schools, gratis. As the 
 fullest discovery of the perfections and will of God, and 
 of the whole duty of man, is contained in the Bible, we 
 wish that divine book to be read by the youth of our 
 churches as early and frequently as possible ; and that 
 they should be instructed therein at stated meetings 
 appointed for that purpose." 
 
 " ' The communion of the churches^ was to be accom- 
 plished by a ' convention of the churches held annually 
 by deputies or messengers, to inquire into, and report, 
 the state of each church, respecting the admission of 
 members, and the progress of the gospel; . . . and to 
 send forth ministers to propagate the gospel in places 
 where it had not been regularly preached, and thereby to 
 form and establish new churches.' 
 
KECOMMENDATIONS. 301 
 
 " All the general acts of the convention whicli relate 
 to. the interest of particular churches, shall be issued only 
 by way of advice or recommendation." 
 
 Chapter III. was called " Eecommendations," and con- 
 tained five sections, on tHe following subjects : " War, 
 Going to Law, Holding Slaves, Oaths, Submission to 
 Government." The one of greatest historical interest, 
 as showing their opposition to human bondage, was — 
 
 " Of Holding Slaves : — We believe it to be inconsistent 
 with the union of the human race in a common Saviour, 
 and the obligations to mutual and universal love which 
 flow from that union, to hold any part of our fellow- 
 creatures in bondage. We therefore recommend a total 
 refraining from the African trade, and the adoption of 
 prudent measures for the gradual abolition of the slavery 
 of the negroes in our country, and for the instruction 
 and education of their children, in English literature, 
 and in the principles of the gospel." 
 
 The pamphlet closes with a circular letter, addressed 
 "To the Elders and Brethren in the same Belief 
 throughout the United States of America." It said 
 of the "Articles of Faith and Plan of Church Gov- 
 ernment " : — 
 
 " The Articles are few, but they contain the essentials 
 of the gospel. We thought it improper to require an 
 assent to opinions that are merely speculative, or to intro- 
 duce words, in expressing the articles of our belief, which 
 have been the cause of unchristian controversies. The 
 plan of church government is nearly that of the Congre- 
 gational Church. We conceive it to be most friendly 
 to Christian liberty, and most agreeable to the word of 
 God." 
 
302 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 It will be noticed that, in this "Form of Church 
 Government," the Convention made no rules for itself, 
 but only for the churches of which it might be com- 
 posed. Its own laws were simply "Eules of Order," 
 variously modified at each session as circumstances 
 required. 
 
 That the conclusions embodied in these articles and 
 plans for the churches, were not hastily reached, nor 
 without the giving up of some strong personal prefer- 
 ences, for the sake of unity of effort, may be presumed 
 from what we know of the length of the session, and of 
 the composition of the Convention. The Eellyans were 
 in the minority, and yet much of the phraseology of 
 these Articles, Plan, and Eecommendations, is decidedly 
 Eellyan. This is particularly noticeable in the section 
 relating to the ordinances, and in the recommendation 
 in regard to slavery. John Murray and the Gloucester 
 Universalists were opposed to water baptism. This 
 they had distinctly avowed in their controversy with 
 the First Parish, and had testified at the trials to 
 recover the tax money: "We distinguish ourselves 
 from the church under the instruction of Mr. Forbes, 
 by our not using baptism as an external rite." ^ Eev. 
 David Evans, Thomas Fitzgerald, and perhaps one other 
 delegate from the Philadelphia Church, were, with Mr. 
 Murray, the only representatives of that opinion in the 
 Convention. All the others were converts from the 
 Baptists, retaining all their former views, except with 
 reference to the extent and efiicacy of the atonement. 
 The charity and liberality of such a majority challenges 
 our admiration. 
 
 1 Appeal to the Impartial Public, p. 13. 
 
DR. BENJAMIN BUSH. 303 
 
 The composition of the Articles of Faith, Plan, and 
 Eecommendations, was, no doubt, entrusted to a com- 
 mittee, and they were then referred to Dr. Benjamin 
 Eush for revision and arrangement. Our authority for 
 this latter statement is his own declaration, recorded 
 in a volume of manuscripts entitled " Letters and 
 Thoughts," now preserved in the Eidgway branch of 
 the Philadelphia Library. In it he makes this entry : 
 " 1790, June 5. This morning I delivered to the Con- 
 vention of the Universal Church in the Lodge (their 
 church) a copy of their Articles and Plan of Govern- 
 ment, which, at their request, I corrected and arranged 
 for them for the meeting. I saw, and was introduced to, 
 the Eev. Mr. John Murray." Dr. Eush was a Winches- 
 terian Universalist, and, as will be seen farther on, had 
 long cherished a feeling of dislike to Mr. Murray. He 
 adds : " Saw him and his wife on the 6th. In our con- 
 versation he remarked that, in reforming mankind, the 
 influence of the following description of people was nec- 
 essary, and in the order they are arranged : 1. Women ; 
 2. Schoolmasters ; 3. Ministers ; 4. Magistrates. He 
 told me that when he went to Boston, twenty years 
 ago, there was not one Universalist in that town. Now 
 they had a church there." 
 
 The Articles of Faith, although couched in language 
 that may seem to be designedly ambiguous, making 
 allowance for a large diversity of opinion to be enter- 
 tained by those who should accept them as a common 
 platform, were no doubt intended as a statement of the 
 Trinitarianism of the Convention. This is evident from 
 the subsequent action of the Philadelphia church, organ- 
 ized by the union of the Murrayites and Winchesterians, 
 
304 XJNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 in July, 1790, which at once accepted the Articles, in 
 ruling out the application of an avowed Unitarian for 
 membership, on the ground that their creed would not 
 allow them to accept him. The Philadelphia church, 
 writing to George Eichards, March 14, 1792, said : — 
 
 "No doubt Brother Gordon mentioned to you a Mr. 
 Palmer who was preaching with us when he left this city 
 for Boston. This young man offered himself to become 
 a member of our church, but before the time for admit- 
 ting him his sentiments were suspected of being Socinian, 
 if not Deistical. He was accordingly examined, and con- 
 fessed that he did believe Jesus to be the natural son of 
 Joseph and Mary, begotten by ordinary generation. This 
 made his membership with us inadmissible at that time. 
 He still continues the same, and hath withdrawn from 
 us, and hath gotten other places to preach in, where he 
 can preach that sentiment freely, and that to crowded 
 audiences." 
 
 The person thus referred to was Elihu Palmer, a 
 native of Canterbury, Conn., born in 1764. He has 
 been called a deist, and probably was so later in life ; 
 but in 1792 his disbelief in the doctrine of the Trinity 
 would have been likely to have gained him thp reputa- 
 tion of being a deist, even if he had professed unwaver- 
 ing faith in revealed religion. Denied the fellowship 
 of the TJniversalists, Mr. Palmer, with a few followers, 
 obtained a room in Church Alley, and commenced 
 preaching there in March, 1791. Somewhere in 1788 
 or 1789, John Fitch, the inventor of the steamboat, 
 and Henry Voight, his associate in that enterprise, who 
 were avowed deists, believing, as they claimed, only in 
 " the God of Nature," discovered from conversation with 
 
ELIHU PALMER. 305 
 
 others that there were a sufficient number of persons in 
 Philadelphia in sympathy with their views to justify 
 an attempt at an organization. It was not, however, 
 till February, 1790, that they succeeded in perfecting 
 their plans, and organized what they called " The Uni- 
 versal Society." In order to separate themselves and 
 their society as much as possible from all Christian in- 
 fluences, it was resolved among the members to cease 
 the use of Anno Domini, and to date their era from the 
 establishment of " The Universal Society." 
 
 The announcement that Mr. Palmer was to preach on 
 the date above mentioned, and the circumstances under 
 which his meeting was held, attracted much attention 
 throughout Philadelphia ; and " The Universal Society," 
 which at that time numbered forty members, especially 
 interested themselves to give the persecuted man, as 
 they styled him, all the aid in their power, and, if pos- 
 sible, win him over to themselves. The room where 
 the meeting was held was therefore crowded, — " The 
 Universal Society," it may be supposed, being present in 
 full strength. Mr. Palmer preached from Micah vi. 8 : 
 " Do justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with thy God." 
 In the sermon he combated the dogma of the deity of 
 Christ ; and the success of the effort was such that notice 
 was given that on the succeeding Sunday he would preach 
 again. This announcement, with the attendant circum- 
 stances, excited much feeling, remonstrance, and heated 
 opposition on the part of the leading Christian people 
 in the city. Bishop White was prominent in the cru- 
 sade against the movement; and although the owner 
 of the room in which the meetings were being held was 
 a member of "The Universal Society" he could not 
 
 VOL. I. — 20 
 
306 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 resist the pressure brought against him, but closed his 
 doors against the people on the day fixed for the second 
 sermon. " The Universal Society " soon ceased to 
 exist. ^ 
 
 Mr. Palmer then went to New York fora while, and 
 afterwards returning to Philadelphia, was attacked by 
 the yellow fever in 1793, and became totally blind. He 
 again removed to New York, where he became the head 
 of the "Columbian lUuminati," established in 1801. 
 He died in Philadelphia in 1806. 
 
 These facts with regard to Elihu Palmer have been 
 narrated chiefly because Dr. Francis, in his " Old New 
 York " (p. 91) speaks of the beginning of the Universal- 
 ist movement in New York city as being inaugurated by 
 Edward Mitchell and William Palmer, who " drew to- 
 gether a most respectable body of believers ; " and then 
 goes on to say that Palmer commenced his work in New 
 York, but " proceeded to Philadelphia for the purpose of 
 the study and practice of the law, took the yellow fever 
 of 1793, became totally blind, and gave up his law pur- 
 suits. Eeturned to New York, and resumed preaching 
 in 1796 ; and died in Philadelphia, of pleurisy, in the 
 winter of 1805 or 1806." 
 
 The similarity of these circumstances of sickness, 
 blindness,, and time and place of death, indicate that 
 Elihu and William Palmer were the same person ; but 
 the fact of association with Edward Mitchell, an in- 
 tensely prejudiced Trinitarian, in building up Universal- 
 ism in New York, is ground for positive conviction that 
 either Dr. Francis has made a mistake in his narrative, or 
 
 1 History of Philadelphia, by Thompson Westcott, chap, ccclxxxii., 
 in the Philadelphia Sunday Dispatch, May 9, 1854. 
 
ELIHU PALMER. 307 
 
 that Palmer ceased to be a Unitarian. Mr. Mitchell's nar- 
 rative of his work in New York, yet to be given in these 
 pages, makes no mention of Mr. Palmer. Eev. Nathaniel 
 Stacy, in his " Memoirs " (p. 105), says that Eev. John 
 Murray was in attendance at the New England conven- 
 tion in 1804, at Sturbridge, Mass., and that " he came 
 in company with a man from the city of New York by 
 the name of Palmer, who also delivered one discourse." 
 
 The Trinitarian intent of the Articles of Faith is fur- 
 ther evident from the action of some of the churches in 
 fellowship with the convention, as will be more fully 
 presented hereafter, in adopting, as supplemental to 
 these articles, others which explicitly set forth, explain," 
 and defend Unitarian views. On the other hand, it 
 must be said that the Trinitarian doctrine was so mildly 
 stated that the Articles of Faith were objected to in 
 another quarter, as being a virtual denial of the Deity 
 of Christ. Thus, Mr. Murray writes to a Philadelphia 
 friend from Boston in 1791 : — 
 
 "We have met with some difficulty in forming our 
 church in this place from a good old friend, who, think- 
 ing the language of convention not sufficiently clear and 
 strong in establishing the doctrine of the divinity [deity] 
 of our Saviour, wished to make some amendments in the 
 articles of faith before he could sign them. I could not 
 give my consent to any alteration, inasmuch as the lan- 
 guage was Scriptural, and, I conceived, sufficiently clear 
 and full to the purpose, and that to alter the articles, I 
 feared, would be construed as a tacit declaration that we 
 supposed the members of that convention not sound in 
 the faith. Mr. Eichards heartily joined with me, so that 
 after many evenings' debate, only one joined with our 
 old friend, and upwards of forty male members adopted 
 
308 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the articles of convention as the articles of their faith, — 
 not as the articles of convention, but as the oracles of 
 God. We are now in a fair way of going on, though in 
 order to make peace we must let this good old friend do 
 something by way of addition, and then we shall go on, 
 I trust, peaceably, and therefore prosperously." 
 
 Mr. Murray called himself a Trinitarian, and on one 
 occasion speaks of the " triune God," as in vol. ii. p. 370, 
 of his published " Letters " : — 
 
 " It is true that every part of the works of God are 
 mysterious, and that none by searching can find out God, 
 but as far as I can comprehend myself, I can catch a 
 glimpse of the grace exhibited by this triune Being, con- 
 sisting of body, soul, and spirit, made in the image of 
 God, of the triune God." 
 
 This is a comparison, however, which is sheer folly 
 on the Athanasian or Nicene definition of the Trinity ; 
 and Mr. Murray's idea of the supreme deity of Christ 
 alone, who is Father, Word, or Holy Ghost, according 
 to manifestation, was pure Sabellianism ; and as gen- 
 erally put forth by him, was identical with the views of 
 Swedenborg on this subject. Generally he was very 
 severe in his estimate and treatment of those who en- 
 tertained Sociaian ideas, but at times he was more 
 charitable. This was noticeably the case in his advice 
 to the Philadelphians in regard to the manner in which 
 Mr. Palmer ought to be treated by them. " I suppose," 
 he wrote to his most intimate friend in that city in 
 regard to Mr. Palmer, " he will please some ; but if he 
 is anything tolerable don't find fault. I admire your 
 conduct hitherto; remember we never catch birds by 
 throwing stones at them." 
 
BAPTIST COMPLAINTS. 309 
 
 We have alluded to the fact that the majority of the 
 members of the convention were converts from the 
 Baptists. In the record of events between 1780 and 
 1790, in Benedict's " General History of the Baptist 
 Denomination " (voL i. p. 275), is the following : — 
 
 " During this period a number of ministers, and with 
 them a considerable number of brethren, fell in with 
 Elhanan Winchester's notion of universal restoration. 
 The rage for this doctrine prevailed for a time to a con- 
 siderable extent." 
 
 In the " History of the Philadelphia Baptist Associ- 
 ation," by Eev. H. G. Jones, published in " The World " 
 of 1832-33, occurs the following: — 
 
 "The year 1790 presents no joyful aspect. Clouds 
 and storms, tornadoes and volcanic eruptions, echoed 
 and re-echoed from Dan to Beersheba. The doctrine of 
 ' a general provision,' like an unexpected pestilence, or as 
 the insidious, fatal samoul of Africa, came among some 
 of the churches. Whether it was indigenous or exotic, the 
 archives of the day do not inform us. This we know, it 
 led on to TJniversalism, a depot to which it as naturally 
 tends as a weight in motion on an inclined plane rushes 
 on to the lowest point of destination. Cape May and 
 Pittsgrove churches were so nearly ruined by ' a general 
 atonement,' which ended in Universalism, that scarcely 
 anything could be seen in their borders but their tears, 
 and scarcely anything could be heard but their sighs 
 and groans. And to add to the calamity, Nicholas Cox, 
 a preacher at Kingwood, now grown wiser than his 
 fathers, mounted on the fractious steed of ' general pro- 
 vision,' and rode furiously on to the barren, hopeless, 
 desolate plains of Universalism." 
 
 Of Eevs. Nicholas Cox and William Worth, the 
 
310 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 following information is given in Eev. Abel C. Thomas' 
 "Century of Universalism " (pp. 40-45) : — 
 
 " Eev. Nicholas Cox was born in Philadelphia in 1742, 
 but of what lineage we know not. He became a Baptist 
 in New Jersey, where he ministered to good acceptance 
 with several societies for a number of years. Kingwood, 
 Wantage, and other places in Warren and Sussex Coun- 
 ties, have been mentioned as the scenes of his residence 
 and labors ; but of one thing we may inferentiaUy be 
 sure : he was highly regarded among the Baptists as one 
 of their best and talented men, else the author of the 
 foregoing tirade would not have so deeply mourned his 
 conversion to Universalism. At the sacrifice of ease, 
 and of social consideration, he openly avowed the sub- 
 lime conviction of head.aud heart, and continued steadfast 
 and rejoicing to the end. 
 
 '' He spent the larger part of his life, as a preacher, in 
 the counties above mentioned, and his name, it may be 
 seen, frequently occurs in the minutes of the Philadel- 
 phia Convention. He was at the first session in 1790, 
 and at nine sessions besides, of the series. Although he 
 received invitations to settle, he never became a pastor 
 among the Universalists, but preached as a self-appointed 
 missionary, — rather, I should say, a divinely-ordained 
 evangelist. 
 
 " In 1808, while in Maryland, he received a challenge, 
 from a Presbyterian clergyman, to hold a public discus- 
 sion. Such was the defeat of the opponent of Univer- 
 salism, that the audience begged him to quit the field, 
 and not venture another challenge. 
 
 " He spent the summers of 1809 and 1810 in Virginia, 
 where he defined a circuit for himself, and zealously 
 published the good tidings of a world redeemed. It is 
 the uniform testimony of tradition that he was a close 
 reasoner, a good neighbor, and an honest man. He con- 
 
WILLIAM WOKTH. 311 
 
 tinued to preach, till within three or four years of his 
 death, which occurred in Mansfield, Warren County, N. J., 
 March 20, 1826, aged eighty-four. 
 
 " So general was the expectation that he would relin- 
 quish his faith, in the dying hour, that even his son was 
 anxious in regard to the result. He therefore took upon 
 himself to attend personally upon his father, during the 
 last illness of the old Universalist. There was much 
 conversation between them, but not a doubt was exhib- 
 ited by the dying saint ; and to the frequent inquiries of 
 his son, he uniformly answered in the fulness of heavenly 
 trust. 
 
 "Eev. William Worth was Moderator of the Convention 
 of 1790. In the 'History of New Jersey,' I find that 'a 
 Baptist Church was founded in Pittsgrove about 1743.' 
 The historian, after naming several pastors, adds this : — 
 
 " ' Eev. William Worth then took the charge, and the 
 congregation increased considerably under his ministra- 
 tion, until he became deeply engaged in land speculation 
 in the back country ; and the opinion becoming current 
 that he had become tinctured with Universalism, the 
 congregation dwindled away almost, to nothing.' 
 
 " There is no imputation ■ of wrong in the business 
 transactions referred to, and I suspect that the falling 
 away of the congregation was rather due to the hostility 
 of the church dignitaries in Philadelphia, than to the 
 intelligent free-will of the people in Pittsgrove — a view 
 which seems to be confirmed by a pamphlet, the title 
 of which is in the margin.^ The first paragraph is as 
 follows : — 
 
 " ' There lately appeared, in the minutes of the Baptist 
 
 1 " Mr. Worth's Appeal to the Public, in Answer to a late Publication 
 against him by the Baptist Association at Philadelphia, wherein his 
 Sentiments, as Believing the Universal Love of God in the Restoration 
 of all the Human Race, are Briefly Stated." Imprint, Philadelphia, 
 1790, pp. 30. 
 
312 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Association, an advertisement cautioning the churclies of 
 that denomination to beware of me, as also of the Rev. 
 Mr. Seagrave. Their words are : — "As we had reason 
 to fear, at the last Association, that Mr. Worth, of Pitts- 
 grove, was far gone in the doctrine of Universal Salva- 
 tion, we are well certified, by undoubted authority, that 
 he is now fully in that belief. We, therefore, to show 
 our abhorrence of that doctrine, and of his disingenuous 
 conduct for a long time past, caution our churches to 
 beware of him, and of Artis Seagrave, of the same place, 
 also, who has espoused the same doctrine." ' 
 
 " From the clear and candid review by Mr. Worth, I 
 make the following extracts : — 
 
 " ' If my brethren in the ministry had reason to fear 
 that I was imbibing wrong notions a year ago, as they 
 say they had, in the above-recited minute, why did they 
 not endeavor to reclaim me ? Why did they not at least 
 endeavor to point out to me the evil of my sentiments, 
 and wherein they were inconsistent with the word of 
 God ? This, however, they have never attempted. Paul 
 exhorted Titus, " after the first and second admonition, 
 to reject a heretic ; " but I am rejected without any. In 
 a civil court, no man can be condemned without a fair trial, 
 and being heard in his own defence. My brethren, how- 
 ever, did not allow me that liberty, but condemned me 
 without a trial, or even so much as giving me notice of it.' 
 
 " Dr. Jones, it seems, had sent a letter to the church 
 in Pittsgrove, by request of the Association, in which he 
 said some hard things, no less of Mr. Worth than of 
 Universalism, warning the people to be on their guard. 
 'As your number is already small, it will be a pity 
 there should be a division, as there was in Philadel- 
 phia;' referring, without doubt, to the schism under 
 Elhanan Winchester in 1781. ' The Doctor then insin- 
 uates that I had acted under covert, and disingenuously,' 
 which is answered as follows : ' This charge is both 
 
WILLIAM WORTH. 313 
 
 ungenerous and false, and, where I am known, can do 
 me no harm. Their only support of the charge is, that 
 if these were my sentiments, why did not I confess it ? 
 To which I reply : 1st. It is impossible for any honest 
 man to confess sentiments before he believes them. 
 2d. It would be foolish in any man to do it before he 
 had examined them in aU their parts, so as to be able 
 to defend them, and especially in a public character. 
 3d. As their sentiments were no bar of fellowship with 
 me, I was unwilling to give them any offence with mine. 
 4th. He that has the oversight of Christ's flock ought 
 to have judgment to feed them, and rightly to divide the 
 word of truth among them. Paul tells the Corinthians 
 that " hitherto he has fed them with milk, and not with 
 strong meat, for as yet they were not able to bear it ; " 
 and he complains of the Hebrews, that " it was time for 
 them to be teachers of others, and yet needed to be 
 taught the first principles of religion, and had become 
 such as needed milk, and not strong meat." Lastly, it 
 is a fact. I never did deny it ; but always referred those 
 who asked me the question, to my public preaching, de- 
 claring, as I now do, in the presence of my Judge, that I 
 did preach my sentiments, without disguise, and that, 
 if what I preached was Universal doctrine, it was my 
 sentiments.' 
 
 "Very gladly would I transcribe every paragraph of 
 this admirable pamphlet for republication, but will close 
 with the following comprehensive note : — 
 
 " ' From our several authors who have professedly 
 written on the subject (which Dr. Jones had frequent 
 opportunities of reading), it doth evidently appear that 
 we verily believe : That Jesus is the way, the truth, and 
 the life ; and that there is no coming to the Father but 
 in and through him : That a real belief of this most 
 precious truth is essential to our happiness ; for though 
 we are ever safe in the truth, yet we never can be truly 
 
314 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 happy until we are brought in reality to believe it : That 
 our safety in the truth is an infallible security that we 
 shall be brought to a happiness in believing : That the 
 belief of this truth doth necessarily inspire all the sub- 
 jects of it to love the brotherhood, to fear God, and to 
 honor the king, or civil government. How could the 
 Doctor, then, lay his hand on his heart, and say that 
 this doctrine, which we believe, and joyfully preach for 
 the good of mankind, is licentious, and subversive of all 
 government, human and divine ? ' 
 
 " There is so much sweetness, dignity, and solidity in 
 all this, and all that follows in this pamphlet of thirty 
 pages, that I reluctantly refrain from further extracts, 
 and am only sorry that I have not been able to gather 
 farther information concerning the author." 
 
 Mr. Murray remained in Philadelphia more than a 
 month after the close of the Convention. Writing to 
 her parents, from that city, June 19, Mrs. Murray 
 says : — 
 
 "The sentiments of the Universalists are growing 
 every day more respectable in this city. The family 
 of Dr. Franklin are among the foremost of our favorers. 
 Mrs. Bache, the doctor's daughter, says it was her father's 
 opinion, that no system in the Christian world was so 
 effectually calculated to promote the interests of society, 
 as that doctrine which shows a God reconciling a lapsed 
 world unto himself. The Philadelphians are exceedingly 
 anxious to fix Mr. Murray among them. At first a gen- 
 teel house, rent free for life, with a salary of £200 a 
 year, was proposed to him. They now propose £250; 
 and finally they add, if he will pledge his word to return 
 to them as soon as he can adjust his affairs at the east- 
 ward, they will ensure him, exclusive of his house-rent, 
 a yearly income of £400 [or $1,066.67]. The chiirch 
 belonging to the Universalists in this metropolis, not 
 
BENJAMIN KUSH. 315 
 
 being spacious enough to contain tlie number who flock 
 to hear him, application was made to the Eev. Dr. Smith, 
 Provost, or President of the College or Academy, for the 
 use of a building belonging to it, and known by the name 
 of the College Hall. A special meeting of the trustees 
 was, upou this occasion, called, and unanimous consent 
 obtained. Dr. Smith sent a message, requesting Mr. 
 
 Murray's attendance at his house. Mr. M , you will 
 
 not doubt, obeyed the summons, when he was escorted 
 to the hall by the President and Professors, who waited 
 upon hirti to the pulpit stairs, and then took their seats 
 
 in the assembly. Mr. M , after delivering a discourse, 
 
 did not immediately appoint a future lecture. The Presi- 
 dent addressed him: 'Sir, I expected you would have 
 published other opportunities ; for you must know, that 
 the use of the hall is yours, when, and as frequently, as 
 you please.' And, accordingly, in the course of the week, 
 large and respectable audiences are collected there. Be- 
 sides the President, Messrs. Magaw, Rogers, Bond, Mac- 
 dual, and Andrews, regularly attend, and Mr. M 
 
 receives from them the utmost politeness. ... On 
 
 Sunday, Mr. M is at the Lodge, the Church of the 
 
 Universalists. The Rev. Dr. Blair ^ is a confirmed con- 
 vert to Universalism. Eelly is his oracle ; though I was 
 informed, by Dr. Rush, that he has in many respects 
 gone beyond, reconciling diflieulties which Relly had not 
 attempted. Dr. Rush is a man of sense and letters, and 
 is well known in the medical and literary world. I am 
 happy that I can name Dr. Rush as an open, avowed 
 professor of, and ornament to, the religion of Jesus. 
 
 Addressing Mr. M , this morning, with much candor 
 
 he thus expressed himself : ' Why, my dear sir, you have 
 stood much alone ; how have you buffeted the storm ? 
 
 1 Probably Dr. Samuel Blair, of Germantown, formerly pastor of 
 the Old South, in Boston. 
 
316 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 What a torrent of prejudice, tradition, malevolence, and 
 calumny you have had to encounter ! Twenty years ago 
 I heard your name. You were preaching in Bachelor's 
 Hall. No consideration would have induced me to have 
 come within a mile of the place ; and had I met you in 
 the street, I should not have conceived it could have 
 been you, except I had found you with the cloven foot, 
 and with horns. But now how peaceful to myself is 
 the revolution. The Bible is a consistent book, and 
 everything that is excellent it contains.'" 
 
 The invitation to Philadelphia must have been highly 
 flattering to Mr. Murray, and the compensation offered 
 was exceedingly tempting, being equal to, if not in excess 
 of, the salary received by any minister in the country. 
 It was more than five times the amount wliich he was 
 receiving in New England. Writing from Gloucester, 
 in April, 1790, he said : " I have five dollars per week 
 in Boston, and three in this place." 
 
 Dr. Benjamin Eush, whose conversation Mrs. Murray 
 records, was, it seems hardly necessary to say, one of 
 the most eminent men of his time. Born of Calvinistic 
 parents at Bristol, Penn., in 1745, he was zealously 
 taught the tenets of the Genevan theology. Educated 
 at Princeton College, he studied medicine in Phila- 
 delphia, Edinburgh, London, and Paris ; and in 1769 
 was elected Professor of Chemistry in the Philadelphia 
 College ; in 1789 he succeeded to the chair of the theory 
 and practice of medicine in the same institution. In 1791 
 he was elected Professor of the Institutes of Medicine 
 and Clinical Practice in the University of Pennsylvania ; 
 and in 1796 he was also promoted to the chair of the 
 practice of physic, a position which he held till his 
 death, in 1813. His medical works are printed in five 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 317 
 
 octavo volumes, under the modest title of " Medical In- 
 quiries and Observations," with a sixth volume of 
 " Introductory Lectures." He was also the author of a 
 volume of " Miscellaneous Essays," of a " History of the 
 Yellow Fever, as it appeared in Philadelphia from 1793 
 to 1797;" and in all of fifty-eight works on various 
 subjects. 
 
 As a patriot, the services of Dr. Eush were equally 
 conspicuous. In the struggle for independence his voice 
 and pen were untiringly employed in the cause of his 
 country. He was a member of the illustrious Congress 
 which issued the Declaration of Independence, and his 
 name is enrolled among its honored signers. He was 
 appointed ia 1777 Surgeon-General of the Army for the 
 Middle Department, and subsequently Physician-General 
 of the military hospitals. At once he prepared "Directions 
 for Preserving the Health of Soldiers," which was " pub- 
 lished in 1777, by order of the Board of War, for the 
 American Army engaged in the War of the Eevolution." 
 Under the head of " Diet," he has the following : — 
 
 " What shall I say to the custom of drinking spirituous 
 liquors, which prevails so generally in our army ? I am 
 aware of the prejudices in favor of it. It requires an 
 arm more powerful than mine — the arm of a Hercules — 
 to encounter them. The common apology for the use of 
 rum in our army is, that it is necessary to guard against 
 the effects of heat and cold. But I maintain that in no 
 case whatever does rum abate the effects of either upon 
 the constitution. On the contrary, I believe it always 
 increases them. The temporary elevation of spirits in 
 summer, and the temporary generation of warmth in 
 winter, produced by rum, always leaves the body languid, 
 and more liable to be affected by heat and cold after- 
 
318 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 wards. Happy would it be for our soldiers if the evils 
 ended here. The use of rum, by gradually wearing away 
 the powers of the system, lays the foundation of fevers, 
 fluxes, jaundice, and most of the diseases which occur in 
 military hospitals. It is a vulgar error to suppose that 
 the fatigue arising from violent exercise or hard labor is 
 relieved by the use of spirituous liquors. The principles 
 of animal life are the same in a horse as in a man, and 
 the horses, we find, undergo the severest labor with no 
 other liquor than cool water. There are many instances 
 where even reapers have been forced to acknowledge that 
 plentiful draughts of milk and water have enabled them 
 to go through the fatigues of harvest with more pleasure 
 and fewer inconveniences to their health, than ever they 
 experienced from the use of a mixture of rum and water. 
 " Spirituous liquors were unknown to the armies of 
 ancient Rome. The canteen of every soldier was filled 
 with nothing but vinegar; and it was by frequently 
 drinking a small quantity of this wholesome liquor mixed 
 with water that the Eoman soldiers were enabled to sus- 
 tain tedious marches through scorching sands without 
 being subject to sickness of any kind. The vinegar 
 effectually resists that tendency to putrefaction to which 
 heat and labor dispose the fiuids. It moreover calms 
 the inordinate action of the solids which is created 
 by hard duty. It would be foreign to my purpose, or I 
 might show that the abstraction of rum from our soldiers 
 would contribute greatly to promote discipline and a 
 faithful discharge of duty among them." 
 
 A volume of "Temperance Sermons," published anony- 
 mously in Philadelphia, in 1790, but generally attrib- 
 uted to Dr. Eush, so roused the medical faculty of the 
 city, that the " College of Physicians " memorialized 
 Congress on the subject of intemperance, and entreated 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 319 
 
 that body, " by their obligations to protect the lives of 
 their constituents, and by their regard to the character 
 of our nation and to the rank of our species in the scale 
 of beings, to impose such heavy duties upon distilled 
 spirits as shall be effectual to restrain their intemperate 
 use in our country." In 1794 Dr. Kush published his 
 "Medical Inquiries into the Effects of Ardent Spirits 
 upon the Body and Mind," taking thus early a position 
 on this subject to which investigation causes all thought- 
 ful men to come, — that total abstinence is the only 
 ground on which intemperance can be successfully com- 
 bated. Indeed, as early as 1788, in an "Address to 
 the Ministers of the Gospel of every Denomination in 
 the United States upon Subjects interesting to Morals," 
 he said : — 
 
 "1 shall begin by pointing out, in the first place, the 
 mischievous effects of spirituous liquors upon the morals 
 of our citizens. 
 
 "They render the temper peevish and passionate. 
 They beget quarrels, and lead to profane and indecent 
 language. They are the parents of idleness and extrava- 
 gance, and the certain forerunners of poverty, and fre- 
 quently of jails, wheelbarrows, and the gallows. They 
 are likewise injurious to health and life, and kill more 
 than the pestilence or the sword. Our legislatures, by 
 permitting the use of them for the sake of the paltry 
 duty collected from them, act as absurdly as a prince 
 would do, who should permit the cultivation of a poison- 
 ous nut which every year carried off ten thousand of his 
 subjects, because it yielded a revenue of thirty thousand 
 pounds a year. These ten thousand men would produce 
 annually by their labor, or by paying a trifliug impost 
 upon any one of the necessaries of life, twenty times 
 
320 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 that sum. In order to put an end to the desolating 
 effects of spirituous liquors, it will be proper for our 
 ministers to preach against, not the abuse of them only, 
 but their use altogether. They are never necessary but 
 in sickness, and then they are better applied to the out- 
 side than to the inside of the body." ^ 
 
 The same year, according to the historian of the 
 Philadelphia Conference of the Methodist Episcopal 
 Church, Dr. Eush appeared before that body, 
 
 " and made an earnest and animated address on the use 
 of ardent spirits, taking the broad ground then so strongly 
 occupied by the conference, and since so signally taken 
 and maintained by the temperance reformation, — ' that 
 total abstinence is no less the demand of our nature than 
 it is the rule of our safety ; ' and he besought the conference 
 to use its influence to stop the vise as well as the abuse 
 of spirit-drinking." ^ 
 
 In 1811 Dr. Eush appeared before the General As- 
 sembly of the Presbyterian Church, then in session in 
 Philadelphia, and, presenting that body of ministers and 
 elders with a thousand copies of his " Enquiries," urged 
 them to take some steps to stay the ravages of intem- 
 perance. Whereupon the General Assembly " appointed 
 committees to, take into consideration the evil, and sug- 
 gest a remedy." Similar committees were subsequently 
 appointed by the General Associations of Connecticut 
 and Massachusetts, to " co-operate with those of the 
 General Assembly of the Presbyteriaji Church." During 
 1811 and 1812 these committees held several joint 
 meetings, at which they considered various measures for 
 
 ' Miscellaneous Essays, p. 115. 
 
 ^ Kev. George W. Lybaand, quoted in the report of the Pennsyl- 
 vania State Temperance Union, 1871, p. 393. 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 321 
 
 the suppression of intemperance. They finally decided 
 on the organization of temperance societies, and a form 
 of constitution having been agreed upon, they called a 
 public meeting in Boston, Feb. 5, 1813, at which time 
 the " Massachusetts Society for the Suppression of In- 
 temperance " was organized. Thus, to Dr. Eush we are 
 able to trace the temperance reform as an organized 
 movement. So careful and accurate a student of the 
 subject as James Black, Esq., of Lancaster, Pennsyl- 
 vania, than whom no man living is better acquainted 
 with the history of the temperance effort, says that 
 
 "Dr. Benjamin Eush, of the city of Philadelphia, was 
 unquestionably the father of the present temperance 
 reform." ^ 
 
 Dr. Eush was also a zealous advocate of public schools, 
 writing and publishing several essays in their behalf. 
 In 1791 he published " A Defence of the Bible as a 
 School Book." ^ He was a firm believer in the author- 
 ity of the Scriptures, making frequent and eloquent 
 avowals of his convictions, and this at a time when infi- 
 delity was common with many men of high standing. 
 
 He also took advanced ground in the reform of the 
 penal code. A law had been enacted in Pennsylvania 
 which inflicted hard labor in public for certain offences 
 which, under the old system, were punished with death. 
 The culprits were chained to wheelbarrows, their heads 
 shaved, and their bodies arrayed in a dress of peculiar 
 cut and color. In "An Enquiry into the Effects of 
 Public Punishments upon Criminals and upon Society," 
 read in the Society for Promoting Political Enquiries, 
 
 ' Report of the Pennsylvania State Temperance Union, 1871, p. 392. 
 2 Miscellaneous Essays, pp. 93-113. 
 VOL. I. — 21 
 
322 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 convened at the house of Benjamin Franklin, Esq., in 
 Philadelphia, March 9, 1787, Dr. Eush exposed the 
 errors and mischiefs of the new law, and pleaded that 
 punishments be made private, and that they be accom- 
 panied with humane treatment and religious instruc- 
 tion. His effort was met with sarcasm and ridicule, 
 and was treated as the production of a humane heart, 
 but of a wild and visionary imagination. But the 
 workings of the law convinced the people of his sagac- 
 ity in foreseeing its results, and in three years from its 
 enactment it was repealed. 
 
 A few years later. Dr. Eush published " An Enquiry 
 into the Consistency of the Punishment of Murder by 
 Death with Eeason and Eevelation." ^ In this he took 
 the position that government has no right to punish 
 even deliberate murder with death. Eev. Mr. Annan, 
 who had published an attack on Universalism, reviewed 
 Dr. Eush's effort, and a general interest was awakened 
 on the subject, resulting, in 1793, in the publication by 
 the Attorney-General of Pennsylvania of " An Inquiry 
 how far the Punishment of Death is necessary in that 
 State," in which he presented the same arguments laid 
 down by Dr. Eush. 
 
 At what time Dr. Eush became a XJniversahst we 
 cannot say, but he was a believer as early as April, 
 1781, being at that time a warm friend and supporter 
 of Eev. Elhanan Winchester, with whose peculiar views 
 he was in hearty sympathy- When Mr. Winchester 
 went to England, in 1787, being chiefly encouraged 
 thereto by Dr. Eush, who believed that a great field was 
 there open for him, he furnished him with letters of cor- 
 
 '■ Miscellaneous Essays, pp. 164-182. 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 323 
 
 dial commendation to Dr. Price and other distinguished 
 gentlemen in London, and kept up an intimate corre- 
 spondence with him during his absence. In one of his 
 letters. Dr. Eush writes : — 
 
 " The Universalist doctrine prevails more and more in 
 our country, particularly among persons eminent for 
 their piety, in whom it is not a mere speculation, but a 
 new principle of action in the heart, prompting to prac- 
 tical godliness." 
 
 Again, he says : — 
 
 " I contemplate with you the progress of reason and 
 liberty in Europe with great pleasure. Republican forms 
 of government are the best repositories of the gospel. I 
 therefore suppose they are intended as preludes to a glo- 
 rious manifestation of its power and influence upon the 
 hearts of men. The language of these free and equal 
 governments seems to be like that of John the Baptist of 
 old : ' Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths 
 straight.' The benevolent spirit which has lately ap- 
 peared in the world in its governments, in its numerous 
 philanthropic and humane societies, and even in public 
 entertainments, remind me of the first efforts of a child 
 to move its body or limbs. These efforts are strong, but 
 irregular, and often in a contrary direction to that which 
 is intended. Time and a few unsuccessful experiments 
 soon bring these motions into a proper direction. The 
 same will happen, I have no doubt, to the present kind, 
 but irregular and convulsive impulses of the human heart. 
 At present, they lead men to admire and celebrate human 
 lights and human deliverers ; but ere long, public admira- 
 tion and praise will rise to Him who is the true light of 
 the world, and who alone delivers from evils of every 
 kind. At present, we wish ' liberty to the whole world.' 
 But the next touch of the celestial magnet upon the 
 
324 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 human heart will direct it into wishes for the salvation 
 of all mankind." ' 
 
 This prophetic utterance, made at a time when Uni- 
 versalism was understood and embraced by a very few, 
 must be acknowledged by us who stand with a hundred 
 years of national and religious history at our back, as 
 an indication of wonderful foresight, a mind trained to 
 accurate philosophic thought, and a soul which staggered 
 at no obstacle. 
 
 When the suggestion was made to hold a Convention 
 of the Universalists in Philadelphia, Dr. Eush was 
 solicitous that the call for the Convention should be 
 addressed to all Christian people in the country, as he 
 believed that a common platform could be framed, 
 on which all could unite. He was overruled in this, 
 and the Convention was distinctively Universalist. The 
 probability is that his professional duties prevented his 
 giving much time and attention to the business ses- 
 sions ; but his attitude towards the cause is unmis- 
 takably set forth in Mrs. Murray's letter ; as also 
 in the fact of his revising and arranging the report 
 of the committee on Articles of Faith, and Plan of 
 Government. 
 
 There is still to be found among the papers of Dr. 
 Eush, a letter from Mr. Murray, addressed to Israel 
 Israel, one of the committee on the circular letter 
 with reference to calling the Convention, which seems 
 to be in part an answer to a letter accompanying that 
 document, and suggesting the practicability of inviting 
 to the proposed Convention representatives from 
 churches not professing Universalist views. The prob- 
 
 1 Stone's Life of Winchester, pp. 187, 197, 198. 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 325 
 
 ability is, from the fact that this letter was passed 
 over to Dr. Eush, and retained by him, that the catho- 
 licity of the movement was his suggestion. The letter 
 is as follows : — 
 
 " GLOncESTER, Nov. 3, 1 789. 
 
 "My Deae Feiend, — The packet inclosing the cir- 
 cular letter was put into my hand between meetings 
 yesterday. I sit me down this morning to reply, as 
 requested in the letter inclosing the two copies of the 
 circular letter, signed by cur mutual friends who form 
 the committee. 
 
 " Your desire is, and my desire would be, to fall on 
 some measure to have a universal church, constituted 
 on such general and generous principles as to take in all 
 who profess salvation in Christ Jesus, and maintain good 
 works. But say, my valued friends, who amongst the 
 mere professors of Christianity do not make this profes- 
 sion ? Where is the church, denominated Christian, that 
 does not profess salvation in Christ Jesus, and maintain 
 good works ? And which of all these churches making 
 this profession would be taken in by you — by us ? I 
 well know that the disciples of the meek and lowly 
 Prince of Peace are willing to join with the blood-bought 
 throng to celebrate his praise, and glorify his name by a 
 life of obedience, and, as much as is in their power, to 
 follow peace with all men ; but, notwithstanding the 
 Christian churches of all denominations profess to have 
 salvation in Christ Jesus, and pray, with apparent devo- 
 tion, that all mankind may have the same salvation 
 there, yet, you are not now to be informed, they will 
 all unite in reprobating those who believe their prayers 
 will be answered. 
 
 "No, my friends, you will never be able to form a 
 union with any of the Christian churches while you 
 really believe what they sometimes profess to believe. 
 
326 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 While yon believe the ministry of reconciliation, every 
 denomiaatian of professed Christians will be your irrec- 
 oncilable enemies. These are my thoughts of the mat- 
 ter, and as long as you worship God in the spirit, rejoice 
 in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh, so 
 long you will be considered by all' denominations, — from 
 the great Church of Rome, down to the smallest and 
 latestrf ormed branch of Dissenters, — as heretics ; and 
 in the way that they all call heresy, you must be content 
 to worship the God of your fathers. 
 
 " We are too apt to make mistakes in consequence of 
 passing all under one general name. Alas ! what are 
 names ! , Our Lord, his disciples, and the members of 
 the synagogue, all passed under the same general name 
 of Jews„ and all met in the same synagogue j and much 
 did the disciples labor to effect what your benevolent 
 hearts seem set upon ; but they could not obtain it ; their 
 brethren drove them away, and they were therefore 
 obliged to go unto the Gentiles. ' Think you,' said our 
 Saviour, ' I am come to send peace on the earth ? ' No ! 
 no ! no ! 'In the world,' said the same Saviour, ' you 
 shall have tribulation. They hated me and they shall 
 hate you.' If we wish to establish peace with the world, 
 or with any of the Christian churches in the world, we 
 must be of the world ; they will love their own, and only 
 love their own. 
 
 "When the meeting [house] was built in this town, 
 we publicly declared it open to all who professed to have 
 salvation in Christ Jesus. Not one of the clergy would 
 ever go into it. There were one or two whose senti- 
 ments we thought liberal, and we invited them, [think- 
 ing] they would accept the invitation; but they were 
 afraid. Arians, Socinians, Arminians, will hold fellow- 
 ship and communion together, but none of them will 
 have anything to do with us. 
 
 " I give it, then, as liay fixed and settled opinion, that 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 327 
 
 we never shall be able to form a friendly union with any 
 one denomination of Christian professors ; and that, if 
 ever we have any churches formed, they must be made 
 up of the outcast of the people, and the Christian world 
 now, as the Jewish world formerly, will esteem us the 
 accursed of the Lord. 
 
 " I have, however, laid the matter before my friends in 
 this place. I will do the same in Boston. The result of 
 their deliberations I will transmit as soon as possible; 
 and though I never expect any great share of a,greement 
 or affection from any other churches, yet it will give me 
 inexpressible pleasure to find the word of [our] Saviour 
 so far prevail, as that many may associate together in 
 the faith of Jesus, and in the bonds of union, and by a 
 close adherence to some plain. Christian rules, build up 
 each other in this most holy faitL 
 
 " Thus far I have written, and perhaps never met the 
 ideas of my corresponding friends ; my present friend 
 thinks not, and she is generally right; however, you 
 have my opinion so far, whether you desired [it] or not. 
 I shall now proceed as freely to give you my opinion 
 respecting the plainest part of your letter. There are 
 many, in sundry parts of this and the neighboring States, 
 who profess to believe the truth; but I do not find 
 many who are valiant for the truth. I believe there 
 are many who approve of the plan you propose, and 
 would have no objection to see churches formed on your 
 plan in every part of the continent ; but I will venture 
 to give it as my opinion, that you will not find in the 
 New England States a person who will leave home at 
 his own charge, or a society who will agree to pay the 
 expenses of any who should consent to go as a delegate. 
 In short, the professors of the faith we hold, care but 
 little about how matters go on in this world ; we are not 
 now, as formerly, blown into a flame by the bellows of 
 persecution ; our enemies are wise enough to let us 
 
328 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 alone, and I should not be surprised if we were to go 
 out. It is, then, my opinion, [that] you will not be met 
 or assisted by any individuals from these parts, or ever 
 be able to effect your plan without the assistance of your 
 enemies, — and how they will be able to assist in the 
 present state of government, I do not see. 
 
 " Since I began this letter, I have had an answer from 
 the society I preach to in this place. It corresponds with 
 the opinion I hazarded before : they wish you success, 
 but they are not able to go or send. I expect the same 
 answer from Boston ; and I know not who else to make 
 application to, as I am much confined to these places. 
 
 " I confess my heart is fully with you ; and were I 
 now disengaged as formerly, I would set out and wholly 
 devote myself to the business. I do not know that I 
 should succeed, but I do know that I should try ; and 
 from my heart I am sorry that I did not set out, on my 
 first coming into this country, on some such plan. How- 
 ever, perhaps after all, the way of man is not in him- 
 self, — perhaps it is not yet time. God has the hearts 
 of all in his hand, and he can turn them whither he will. 
 When, therefore, it is his pleasure such matters shall 
 take place, they assuredly will. Here, then, we ought — 
 here, then, we will leave it ; let our Saviour do as seemeth 
 good in his sight. . . . 
 
 "Mrs. Murray is still very unwell, but I encourage 
 hope that she will be well enough by next May to set 
 out with me to your city. In this hope I will conclude. 
 Wishing you and yours every temporal and spiritual 
 blessing, I am with true regard, my valued friends of 
 the committee, 
 
 " Your faithful friend and devoted servant, 
 
 "John Mubrat."^ 
 
 ^ Manuscripts of Dr. Benjamin Rush, vol. 22, p. 86, Ridgway 
 Branch of Philadelphia Library. The MSS. hare many valuable 
 suggestions touching our early history. 
 
BENJAMIN RUSH. 329 
 
 Concerning Mr. Murray and Dr. Eush, we add 
 two brief extracts from the volume of "Letters and 
 Thoughts," already referred to : — 
 
 "June 9 [1790]. Met Mr. Murray in the street. He 
 told me that he had heard from some of Dr. Watts' 
 friends in London ; that they had discovered among his 
 papers, after his death, a defence of TJniversalism ; but 
 that they had burned it to prevent its injuring the credit 
 of his other -n-orks. He remarked that many of his 
 hymns were Universal." 
 
 " June 15. Spent half an hour with Mr. Murray. He 
 told me that he had read but little, except in his Bible, 
 and that all his best thoughts occurred to him, without 
 study, in the pulpit. He informed me, further, that he 
 had once been a Methodist preacher under Eev. Mr. 
 Wesley." 
 
 " Bachelor's Hall," mentioned by Dr. Eush, was a 
 club-house, in the district of Kensington. It was 
 a square building, of considerable beauty, and was 
 chiefly used for balls and late suppers. It stood on 
 the main river-street, with a fine open view of the 
 Delaware. On the occasion of Mr. Murray's first visit 
 to Philadelphia, some time ia 1771, he relates ^ that 
 the Baptist minister invited him to his house, and to 
 his pulpit. He did not, however, occupy the pulpit, as 
 his new friend, angry at being confounded by Mr. Mur- 
 ray in a private discussion, after renewing the invitation 
 for him to preach to his people, closed the pulpit against 
 him on the Sabbath he was to occupy it. 
 
 "Yet I had," says Mr. Murray, "among his connections 
 a few friends, who, indignant at the treatment I had 
 
 1 Memoir, p. 224. 
 
330 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 received, redoubled their caresses. There was at this 
 time a small company who assembled at a place known 
 by the name of Baehelor's Hall. They were unacquainted 
 with the truth I delivered ; yet, willing to hear for them- 
 selves, they invited me to preach for them. Halting be- 
 tween two opinions, they solicited aid from a minister 
 of another persuasion ; and they requested me to hear 
 him, to which I readily consented. The preacher selected 
 his text : ' Behold the Lamb of God, who taketh away the 
 sin of the world.' He commenced his comment: 'My 
 friends, I shall undertake to prove that Jesus never did, 
 nor never will, take away the sin of the world.' I was 
 astonished, and the persons asking my attendance were 
 abashed. The preacher added : ' It is impossible Christ 
 can have taken away the sin of the world, for then all 
 the world must be saved.' This was unquestionable. I 
 was exceedingly gratified, and the more, as this sermon, 
 intended for my confusion, did much to establish that 
 truth of which, by the grace of God, I was a promul- 
 gator. The combined efforts of the clergy in Philadel- 
 phia barred against me the door of every house of public 
 worship in the city. Baehelor's Hall was in Kensington. 
 But at Bachelor's Hall the people attended, and a few 
 were enabled to believe the good word of their God " 
 (pp. 226, 227). 
 
 Watson, in his "Annals of Philadelphia" (vol. i. 
 p. 432), alludes to the opposition to Murray in the city, 
 by saying that Bachelor's Hall " was once lent to the 
 use of Murray, the Universalist preacher, keeping then 
 the doctrine cannon-shot distance from the city." 
 
 On the 17th of July, 1790, Mrs. Murray wrote to her 
 parents : — 
 
 " This evening, a sermon has been delivered in College 
 Hall, in opposition to the sentiments attributed to Mr. 
 
SAMUEL WETHERILL. 331 
 
 Murray. The response tliereto, which will be on Mon- 
 day evening, will detain us a day longer in this eity than 
 we intended." 
 
 This opponent was Samuel Wetherill, a member of 
 the Society of FriendB. His sermon, and also some 
 observations on Mr. Murray's reply, was published in 
 a forty-eight-paged pamphlet, entitled "A Confutation 
 of the Doctrines of Antinomianism," etc. The author 
 avows that he does not attack the doctrine of Univer- 
 salism, but that his purpose is to battle against the 
 dogmas of imputed sin, imputed righteousness, and 
 vicarious atonement. His arguments are ably stated, 
 and the spirit and temper of his work are admirable. 
 
 Eitter's " Philadelphia Merchants " has the following 
 notice of Mr. Wetherill : — 
 
 "The ancestry of Samuel Wetherill originated in 
 England, and his immediate antecedents came to Amer- 
 ica, and settled in Jersey, even before the arrival of 
 William Penn. Mr. Wetherill was originally a carpen- 
 ter by trade, and as such came to Philadelphia before 
 the Eevolution. In process of time he changed his occu- 
 pation from carpenter to that of weaver, and, 'tis said, 
 was the first weaver of jeans and fustians in America. 
 He made the best of time and circumstances ; and, being 
 a 'Whig,' and decidedly in favor of the defensive war, 
 made and sold materials for clothing the army, for which 
 he was disowned by the regular Society of Friends ; but, 
 nothing daunted, and being a man of very proper Ortho- 
 dox religious views, established at once another Priends' 
 Meeting, which, furthered by the Legislature of Pennsyl- 
 vania, by the donation and title of a lot at the southwest 
 corner of Fifth and Arch streets, enabled him and others 
 to establish their independence, and erect a building, 
 where, also, they were known as ' Free Quakers,' and, by 
 
332 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 some, as 'Fighting Quakers ; ' and here Samuel Wetherill 
 was preacher until his demise." 
 
 He was born in Burlington, N. J., in April, 1736, and 
 died in Philadelphia, Sept. 24, 1816. 
 
 On the 20th of July, Mr. Murray started homeward. 
 Travelling slowly by private conveyance, and stopping 
 to preach at several places in New Jersey, he arrived 
 in New York on the 7th of August, where he remained 
 several days, visiting friends, among whom were Presi- 
 dent Washington, and Vice-President Adams, — between 
 whom and Mr. Murray there existed no merely formal 
 friendship, as will be evident from Mrs. Murray's let- 
 ters, published in the " Universalist Quarterly " for 
 April, 1881, and April, 1882. 
 
 It would not be just, perhaps, to claim George Wash- 
 ington as a Universalist, — at least, not as a professed 
 Universalist; but the following remark, attributed to 
 him by Weems, in his "Life of Washingtoii," may 
 properly be cited as showing his Christian conviction 
 and hope. Having witnessed the results of an Indian 
 massacre of a mother and her children, Weems says that 
 Washington used these words : — 
 
 " To see these poor innocents — these little, unoffend- 
 ing angels — just entering upon life, and instead of 
 fondest sympathy and tenderness, meeting their hideous 
 deaths — and from brothers, too ! — filled my soul with 
 the deepest horror of sin, but at the same time inspired 
 a most abiding sense of that religion which announces 
 the Redeemer, who shall one day do away man's ma- 
 lignant passions, and restore the children of God to 
 primeval love and bliss. Without this hope, what man 
 of feeling but would wish he had never beep, born" 
 (pp. 49, 50). 
 
GEORGE WASHINGTON. 333 
 
 During this visit, Mr. Murray delivered, in person, 
 the "Address of the Convention " to the President: — 
 
 " SiK, — Permit us, in the name of the Society which 
 ■we represent, to concur in the numerous congratulations 
 which have been offered to you, since your accession to 
 the government of the United States. 
 
 "For an account of our principles, we beg leave to 
 refer you to the pamphlet, which we have now the 
 honor of putting into your hands. In this publicar 
 tion, it will appear that the peculiar doctrine which we 
 hold is not less friendly to the order and happiness of 
 society, than it is essential to the perfection of the Deity. 
 It is a singular circumstance in the history of this doc- 
 trine, that it has been preached and defended in every 
 age since the first promulgation of the gospel ; but we 
 represent the first society, professing this doctrine, that 
 have formed themselves into an independent church. 
 Posterity wiU hardly fail to connect this memorable 
 event with the auspicious years of peace, libbkty, and 
 free inquiry in the United States, which distinguished 
 the administration of General Washington. 
 
 " We join, thus publicly, with our affectionate fellow- 
 citizens, in thanks to Almighty God, for the last of his 
 numerous signal acts of goodness to our country, in pre- 
 serving J our valuable life in a late dangerous indisposi- 
 tion ; and we assure you, Sir, that duty will not prompt 
 us more than affection to pray that you may long con- 
 tinue the support and ornament of our country, and that 
 you may hereafter fill a higher station, and enjoy the 
 greater reward of being a king and priest to our God. 
 " Signed in behalf, and by order of the Convention, ■ 
 "John Mukrat, 
 "William Eugene Imlay." 
 
 In a few days, he received the President's reply: — 
 
334 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " To the Convention of the Universal Church, lately 
 assembled in Philadelphia. 
 
 " Gentlemen, — I thank you cordially for tlie con- 
 gratulations -whicli you offer on my appointment to the 
 office I have the honor to hold in the government of the 
 United States. 
 
 " It gives me the most sensible pleasure to find that in 
 our nation, however different are the sentiments of citi- 
 zens on religious doctrines, they generally concur in one 
 thing, — for their political professions and practices are 
 almost universally friendly to the order and happiness of 
 our civil institutions. I am also happy in finding this 
 disposition particularly evinced by your society. It is, 
 moreover, my earnest desire that the members of every 
 association or community throughout the United States 
 may make such use of the auspicious years of peace, lib- 
 erty, and free inquiry with which they are now favored, as 
 they shall hereafter find occasion to rejoice for having 
 done. 
 
 " With great satisfaction I embrace this opportunity 
 to express my acknowledgments for the interest my 
 affectionate fellow-citizens have taken in my recovery 
 from a late dangerous indisposition. And I assure you, 
 gentlemen, that in mentioning my obligations for the 
 effusions of your benevolent wishes on my behalf, I feel 
 animated with new zeal that my conduct may ever be 
 worthy of your good opinion, as well as such as shall, in 
 every respect, best comport with the character of an in- 
 telligent and accountable being. 
 
 " George Washington." 
 
 William Eugene Imlay, associated with Mr. Murray 
 in this letter to President Washington, was at that time 
 engaged in mercantile business in Imlaystown, Mon- 
 mouth Co., N. J., the place of his birth. During the 
 
WILLIAM EUGENE IMLAY. 335 
 
 "War for Independence he was commissioned " Captain, 
 Third Regiment, Hunterdon, also Captain in the Con- 
 tinental Army." In 1785 he purposed going West, and 
 received from Governor Livingston, of New Jersey, a 
 certiiicate addressed, 
 
 "To all whom it may concern," that " William Eugene 
 Imlay, who intends to settle in the Western Country, is 
 a gentleman who has, during our late conflict with Great 
 Britain, approved himself a decided and active Whig; 
 and as to his private and moral character, it is without 
 reproach. He is, moreover, a gentleman of liberal edu- 
 cation, and highly esteemed by all his acquaintances." 
 
 Another letter given at the same time and for the 
 same purpose, signed by the members of the Legis- 
 lative Council and General Assembly of New Jersey, 
 speaks of him as " having served as captain in the army 
 with reputation." If he went West, his stay was prob- 
 ably very short. In 1791, on certificates showing that 
 he had studied medicine with Samuel F. Conover, and 
 attended the lectures of Drs. Eush and Shippen in Phila- 
 delphia, he received a license to practise medicine. Sub- 
 sequently he settled at Tom's River, N. J., and there 
 practised medicine in connection with the sale of mer- 
 chandise. He died in 1803. 
 
 Leaving New York and passing into Connecticut, 
 Mr. Murray was importuned to preach in many places. 
 He thus writes to a friend : — 
 
 "New Haten, Aug. 24, 1790. 
 
 " Thus far, you find, I am on my way to Boston. You 
 wonder, perhaps, I am not more rapid in my progress. I 
 wonder I am so much so, considering how much I have 
 suffered from the heat of the weather and the warm en- 
 
336 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 treaties of so many beseefching friends. It -would give 
 you and our Christian friends in general much real pleas- 
 ure to see how the word of our Saviour prevails through 
 the country. It is gaining fast, but without much obser- 
 vation it bids fair to be durable ; it is in its progress 
 slow but sure. I have met with more encouragement 
 than I expected, and where I least expected it. 1 have 
 been stopped on the road by persons I never saw before, 
 who have most earnestly entreated me to stop and preach 
 the gospel of our Saviour in places where I had never 
 preached. Meeting-houses everywhere through this State 
 opened to me, not excepting the city of New Haven, 
 where I now am, and where, you know, resides the Pres- 
 ident Stiles, and the author Edwards, both of them so 
 violent in their opposition to me and the testimony that, 
 by the will of God, I am appointed to deliver. But let 
 me tell you, our enemies have helped the cause they in- 
 tended to destroy, and I am assured there are many more 
 in this city who believe the gospel since Mr. Edwards 
 has written so largely against it than ever there were 
 before. This gentleman has been twice to hear me since 
 I came to this city. I would to God there were more 
 sent servants of the Living God to publish these glad 
 tidings. The harvest, indeed, is great, but the laborers 
 are few. Let us then attend to our Lord's admonition, 
 ' Pray ye the Lord of the harvest that he would send 
 forth laborers.' 
 
 " My eastern connections seem uneasy that I am not 
 more in haste to return, and very much alarmed in con- 
 sequence of my so frequently expressing a wish to fix 
 my residence with you. From the complexion of their 
 letters, I have much reason to doubt the gaining their 
 consent to move to the southward. I dread what is be- 
 fore me ; it is very painful to be pulled different ways, 
 and that by inclination also. It is hard to quarrel with 
 people for giving us a preference, and very unnatural to 
 
MR. MURRAY'S JOURNEY. 337 
 
 love them the less in consequence of their increase of 
 affection ; yet I foresee that I shall suffer in consequence 
 of the affection of my friends, perhaps more than my 
 enemies were ever able to make me suffer on. any occa- 
 sion. However, I will look unto my Divine Master for 
 direction and protection, for increase of faith and in- 
 crease of patience, and power to stand still, knowing 
 that he is God." 
 
 Later, he writes to another Philadelphia friend : — 
 
 " Our proceedings in Philadelphia run on before me all 
 the way, and gave us as a people much more respecta- 
 bility. In every place where I had formerly preached 
 the word of God I was sought after, and in many places 
 where I had not. I was surprised at the appearance of 
 things in the Jersies, and was sorry it was not in my 
 power to stay there longer. In New York I had no 
 place to preach in, and the weather was intolerably hot. 
 I made what haste I could to Connecticut, and there, 
 from my first entrance into the State, in every town the 
 meeting-houses were opened to receive me, and many 
 faithful souls I met, where I did not expect to meet any. 
 Surely this is the Lord's doing, and it is marvellous in 
 our eyes. In some parts of Connecticut, however, I 
 found much to trouble me, not from my enemies, but 
 from my friends. There are some dangerous errors 
 creeping in among the people, and I am afraid they will 
 prevail. They teach that the day of the Lord is past, 
 that there is no future sorrow to be apprehended, that 
 there is no Devil but in the imagination, — in short, if 
 you ever saw the book that Mr. Eelly wrote against, 
 written by one Kichard Coppin,^ you will find the prin- 
 ciples now inculcated by some who call themselves be- 
 
 1 Richard Coppin flourished in England in the middle of the seven- 
 teenth centnry, and was the subject of many persecutions. In Whit- 
 temore's Modem History of Universalism (vol. i., edition of 1860, 
 VOL. I. — 22 
 
338 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 lievers in many parts of this State [Massachusetts] and 
 Connecticut. On this account I wish much to travel from 
 place to place, in order, if possible, to prevent the spread 
 of those anti-Scriptural notions ; at least, to let the pub- 
 lic know they are not the principles we labor to inculcate. 
 It is on this account also I wish to see churches estab- 
 lished ; they would have an eye to all such teachers, and 
 if any of them through ignorance published falsehood, 
 they would, by brethren in church connection, be taught 
 the way of God more clearly. But I find that those who 
 hold these wild notions are not fond of church fellow- 
 ship, they are fond of liberty in its wildest latitude." 
 
 Who these Universalists were, we have no knowledge. 
 Noah Murray, as we have seen, was preaching occasion- 
 ally in Connecticut. He was not in accord with John 
 Murray in many of his views, though in what particu- 
 lars we are not able to learn. Possibly he may have 
 entertained some of the views which Mr. Murray here 
 refers to. In Massachusetts, Caleb Kich was probably, 
 as intimated in a preceding chapter, preaching that sin 
 and its consequences were wholly confined to flesh and 
 blood. 
 
 pp. 109-130), will be found an extended notice of his labors and writ- 
 ings. " From all that we can collect concerning this writer, it appears 
 that he was a man of unusual strength of mind, but without the 
 advantages of literature ; that he possessed a fervid and lively imagi- 
 nation, and exercised it in giving allegorical interpretations of the 
 Scriptures, of which method of treating the word of God he seems to 
 have been excessively fond; that he held many public disputations 
 with the clergy of the Presbyterian and Independent churches, which 
 circumstance shows that he was not beneath their notice, and that they 
 viewed him as rather dangerous to their schemes of divinity ; that he 
 was calumniated and persecuted for his religious opinions, suffered 
 much in support of the doctrine that he had espoused ; and, finally, it 
 appears that he believed in the immediate happiness of mankind when 
 death dissolves the earthly tabernacle." 
 
EICHAED GEIDLEY. 339 
 
 Passing from Connecticut into Ehode Island, Mr. 
 Murray spent a few days in various parts of that State, 
 preaching to old friends, and thence went to Taunton 
 and Stoughton, Mass. At the latter place he antici- 
 pated much enjoyment in a visit to his friends of many 
 years, — the family of General Eichard Gridley; but 
 death had entered that home the day before his arrival, 
 and his joy was turned into mourning. The funeral of 
 Mrs. Gridley, and other opportunities for religious dis- 
 course which the family and neighbors sought, enabled 
 him to present Universalism to their attention as the 
 religion of certain comfort. 
 
 Eichard Gridley, born in Boston in 1710, was in 
 early life a surveyor and civil engineer. In 1744, he 
 entered military service under General Pepperell, erect- 
 ing all the batteries which compelled the surrender of 
 Louisburg, and directing with his own hand the aim 
 of the mortar which dropped a shell directly into the 
 fortress, and was the immediate cause of its evacuation. 
 He also planned the battery, and other fortifications, on 
 Governor's Island, in Boston Harbor, the year following 
 the expedition against Louisburg, in anticipation of an 
 attack from the French fleet. Fort William Henry, 
 and all the fortifications around Lake George, were con- 
 structed on his plans, and under his supervision. At 
 the second taking of Louisburg, he had charge of the 
 advanced stores of the army ; at the siege of Quebec, 
 under General Wolfe, he commanded the artillery ; and 
 when, on the restoration of peace, he went to England 
 to adjust his accounts with the government, there was 
 bestowed upon him, for his distinguished services, the 
 Magdalen Isles, with an extensive seal and cod fishery. 
 
340 XINIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 and a pension of half-pay as a British officer. On the 
 eve of our War for Independence, his reply to a letter 
 from his agent in England, as to which side he should 
 take up arms on, was, " I shall fight for justice and my 
 country." He was at once put in command of the 
 artillery, and subsequently was " appointed Chief Engi- 
 neer of the forces now raising in the Colony for the 
 defence of the rights of the American Continent." He 
 marked out the fortifications at Breed's Hill, and on 
 the day of the memorable battle, aided in working the 
 cannon against the British. At his furnace in Stough- 
 ton (the part of the town that is now Canton), he made 
 for the patriot army the first cannon and mortars ever 
 cast in this country. The breastworks and redoubt at 
 Dorchester Heights were planned by him. Of them, 
 Silliman said, in his Journal, " In history, they were 
 equalled only by the lines and forts raised by Julius 
 Caesar to surround the army of Pompey." In 1776, he 
 was " ordered by Washington to attend to the fortifica- 
 tions on Cape Ann, and protect the harbor of Glouces- 
 ter. While performing his duties here, he attended the 
 idinistrations of the Eev. John Murray ; and it was but 
 a step for one who had been an admirer of Mayhew 
 and Chauncy, to become a decided and enthusiastic 
 Universalist." When independence was gained, the 
 citizens of the town in which General Gridley had so 
 long made his home determined on celebrating the glad 
 event. It was in 1783. 
 
 " Men who have taken part in the dangers and trials 
 of the war, greet at the church door their companions in 
 arms^ Young men and maidens, brave in holiday attire, 
 come from far and near to join in the festivities. In the 
 
EICHARD GEIDLEY. 341 
 
 pulpit sits the pastor who has ministered to this people 
 for over half a century, and by his side, the distinguished 
 orator of the day. On that great day, when the thanks 
 of the people were to be returned to the immortal vete- 
 rans of the war, and when thanksgiving was to be offered 
 to Almighty God for the success of our arms, and the 
 establishment of the Eepublic, Eichard Gridley was left 
 out in the cold, uninvited, forced to remain at home, 
 and see, with feelings that can be better imagined than 
 described, the great concourse of people pass his house 
 to celebrate the return of peace, — that peace to which he 
 had contributed more than any of them. The question 
 will naturally be asked. Why was a man, so distin- 
 guished in the art of war, and with so noble a record, 
 allowed to remain away from this celebration ? When 
 Pedaretus, the Spartan, missed the honor of being elected 
 one of the three hundred who held a distinguished rank 
 in the city, he went home well satisfied, saying he was 
 glad to know there were three hundred men in Sparta 
 more honorable than he. Gridley could hardly say 
 this. Had he been guilty of some heinous crime, for 
 which he must be ostracized from the society of his 
 neighbors and townspeople ? Par from it. Gridley 
 could not understand this intentional neglect ; and he 
 inquired of an intimate friend of his, why it was that 
 he had received no invitation to the celebration. His 
 friend reluctantly answered him in these words : ' Be- 
 cause, General, you are not considered, by those having 
 the matter in charge, a Christian.' His friend alluded 
 to the fact that Gridley had become a Universalist in 
 religious belief. The old veteran paused a moment, 
 dropped his head upon his breast, and then, with sol- 
 emn and impressive speech, uttered these words : ' I 
 love my God, my country, and my neighbor as myself. 
 If they have any better religion, I should like to know 
 what it is.' " 
 
342 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 General Gridley died in 1796, and his funeral was 
 attended by Mr. Murray.^ 
 
 Arrived in Gloucester, Mr. Murray wrote to Philadel- 
 phia, Nov. 1 : — 
 
 "I sit down to write you, this time, with a much 
 greater weight on my spirits than I ever felt on any 
 former occasion. I am grateful for the affection you 
 feel for me, that made you wish me to make your loved 
 city my delightful home ; but it must not be. I am not 
 permitted, at this time, to fix my residence there. Ten 
 miles from Boston, I was met by a committee from the 
 meeting I have been long engaged in there, in order to 
 get me to consent to fix my residence with them. They 
 will not hear, with patience, any proposal for my de- 
 parture. I urged to them, at that time, and the Sunday 
 that I spent with them, to the whole Society, that they 
 had a Dr. Lathrop, and a Mr. Clarke,^ who were said to 
 
 1 For these facts, we are indebted to an oration by Daniel T. V. 
 Huntoon, at the dedication of a monument to General Gridley, at 
 Canton, Mass., May 30, 1877; and to an article on "Major-General 
 Eichard Gridley," by Kev. Edwin Davis, in the Universalist Quar- 
 terly, for July, 1876. The monument erected to his memory bears the 
 foUowiug inscriptions : — 
 
 "This monument is erected, by the citizens of Canton, to the 
 memory of Richard Gridley, as a tribute of honor and gratitude to 
 one whose life was spent in the service of his country. Born Jan. 3, 
 1710. Died June 21, 1796." 
 
 "A veteran of three wars. He commanded the artillery of His 
 Majesty's army at the siege of Louisburg ; he stood by the side of 
 Wolfe at the fall of Quebec ; and as Major-General, and Chief Engi- 
 neer of the Patriot Army, he planned the fortifications on Bunker HiU, 
 and, on the day of the battle, fell wounded." 
 
 " ' I shall fight for justice and my country.' " 
 
 " ' I love my God, my country, and my neighbor as myself.' Wash- 
 ington wrote : ' I Icnow of no man better fitted to be Chief Engineer 
 than General Gridley.' " 
 
 2 Rev. John Lathrop, D. D., was pastor of the Old North, or Second, 
 Church. After the Revolution, his congregation united with the wor- 
 
THKEATENED LAW-SUIT. 343 
 
 be in the way of truth. They replied, that every one 
 who went to hear either of them, in expectation of hear- 
 ing the gospel, found themselves miserably disappointed ; 
 that they were both time-serving men, and, indeed, did 
 not seem to have the knowledge of the truth. On the 
 whole, they declared they would not give their consent ; 
 they could not hold me, but, if I moved from Gloucester, 
 they would engage to give me as good support as any of 
 the clergy in the town of Boston have. I then informed 
 them of a proposal made me in Connecticut, which was, 
 not to settle anywhere, but, as long as I was able, pass 
 and repass from Boston to Philadelphia, visiting the 
 various places where I have preached the word of God, 
 and where I am anxiously desired to preach it. This 
 last proposal, I seem inclined to think, would be more 
 for the good of the cause we are embarked in. God only 
 knows what is to be done with me, or by me. I can come 
 to no determination at present. 
 
 " My determined foes in this place have brought me 
 into the law again. I had not been in this town one 
 hour before I was served with a writ, and am obliged to 
 defend myself once more. It is said they cannot hurt 
 me, but they have hurt me already, — they have wounded 
 my peace. They will oblige me again to have recourse 
 to lawyers, and they will put me to more expense, — at 
 least, my friends will be to more expense, — and that 
 will make my bond here so much the stronger." 
 
 The occasion of this suit was a decision of the courts, 
 that a resident of an incorporated parish could not 
 divert the tax imposed on him for the support of reli- 
 gious worship, to maintain an unincorporated society. 
 This was a reversal of the decision of 1786, and, of 
 
 shippers in the "New Brick Church," on Hanover street. Eev. John 
 Clarke, D. D., mentioned in a preceding chapter as colleague with Dr. 
 Chauncy, became the successor of the latter at the First Church. 
 
344 UNIVEESALIbM IN AMERICA. 
 
 course, threw open the whole question, which it was 
 supposed had then been decided. For some reason, 
 the suit was not pressed to trial ; but the Gloucester 
 society, weary of such annoyances, and in dread of 
 their repetition, petitioned the Legislature for an act 
 of incorporation, which was granted June 28, 1792, in 
 which they were named "The Independent Christian 
 Church in Gloucester." 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 1791-1793. 
 
 Statistics fuknisiied by Mr. Murray to Miss Hannah Adams' 
 " View of Eeligioss." — Articles of Faith adopted by the 
 Church in Boston. — Efforts made to induce other Congrega- 
 tions to adopt them. — Eev. William Hawkins. — Rev. Mr. Pol- 
 lard. — Letter of the Convention on Future Punishment. — 
 Convention Hymn-Bcok. — Composition of the Session in 1791. — 
 Rev. Michael Copfin. — Er'.v. Joab You>g. — Rev. Zebulon 
 Stbeeteb. — Rev. William Farewell. — Rev. Hosea Ballou. — 
 Sensation caused by Rev. Jonathan Maxcy's Sermon on the 
 Death of Rev. James Manning, D.D. — Mr. Murray's Pamphlet 
 on Forming a Christian Church, etc. — Prosperity in the De- 
 nomination IN 1792. — New Hymn-Book. — The Phii^adelpiua Con- 
 VE.NTiON. — Request for the Formation of a Cosventiox in New 
 England. — Another Request. — Both Granted. — Rev. Abel 
 Sarjent. — DiviNK Sovereignty and Free Will. — Teouhles oc- 
 casioned BY Disputes on. — Also, on the Question of no Future 
 Punishment. — Condition of the Denomination i.n New England. 
 
 — Rev. Abel Sakjent's "Questions to the Teachers in Israel." 
 
 — Republication ok, in German, and Discussion on. — The Phila- 
 delphia Convention of 1793. — Alice Brown, and the Church at 
 New Hanover, N. J. — Change of Place of Worship in Phila- 
 delphia. — New Church on Lombard Street. — " This Free Uni- 
 
 VEKSAL JIaGAZINE." UNITARIAN UnIVEESALISM. — FkEE ReLIGIOUS 
 
 Enquiring SociiiTY. — Christopher Marshall, on Intense Future 
 Punishment. — His Zeal for the Spread of Universalism. — 
 Christopher Gadsden, of .'■outh Carolina, a Univeksalist. — 
 Rev. J. Bailey, on the Denial of Future Punishment. — Rev. 
 William Bi.ed.soe. — Univf.rsalists in Kentucky. — Testimony 
 OF Rev. Peter Cartwright to this fact. — ^Rev. James 0. Kelly, 
 Founder of the Republican Methodist Church. — Dr. Beverly 
 Allen. — " C. H." on Anti-Trinitarianism. — Rev. Abel Sarjent 
 AGAINST Future Punishjie.nt. — Also, against Vicarious Atone- 
 ment. — New Engh.v'd Convention organized. — Mr. Murray 
 Moves to Boston in 1793. — Kev. Noah Murray, and the Conver- 
 sion OF Rev. Moses Park. — Biographical Sketch of Rev. Moses 
 Pakk. — Colonel Joseph Kingsbury. — Joseph Kinney, Esq. — 
 Mrs. Julia H. Scott. — Joseph Young, M. D., publishes "Calvi.i- 
 ISM AND Universalism contrasted." — Biographical Sketch op 
 Dr. Young. 
 
 COMING- to the year 1791, we find among the ear- 
 liest items of historic interest a letter of Mr. 
 
346 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Murray, under date of January 7, addressed to a Phil- 
 adelphia correspondent, in which is the following : — 
 
 " Miss Hannah Adams some time since wrote an ac- 
 count of the various denominations found in the Christian, 
 or, perhaps, it may with more propriety be said, in the 
 anti-Christian, world, with their various tenets. She is 
 now going to give the public a new edition of this so 
 useful and entertaining work. Her father called on me 
 awhile ago, requesting me that I would furnish them 
 with an account of our principles, and the number of our 
 connected churches or societies. I referred them to the 
 Articles of the Convention for the former, and promised 
 I would write to my Philadelphia friends for the latter, 
 so far as their means of information may extend. You 
 will, my good friend, obtain what information you can, 
 by all the inquiries you can make by letter or other- 
 wise, and send on the intelligence to me as soon as you 
 can." 
 
 The work thus referred to — "A View of Eeligions," 
 etc., etc. — contains fourteen pages of the respective 
 views of Dr. Chauncy and Mr. Murray ; devotes half a 
 page to a description of the Philadelphia Convention, 
 which is all the Universalist convention that it men- 
 tions ; and states that in Massachusetts there are " four 
 congregations of Universalists embracing the sentiments 
 of Rev. Mr. Murray. There are also Chauncean Uni- 
 versalists " (pages 257-265, 374, 384). The absence of 
 any mention of the association formed at Oxford in 
 1785, seems, under the circumstances, conclusive proof 
 that it had ceased to exist. 
 
 Mention was made in the preceding chapter of oppo- 
 sition in organizing the church in Boston to the wording 
 of the Articles of Faith, as being defective in statement 
 
CREED OF THE BOSTON CHURCH. 347 
 
 with regard to the divinity of Christ, but that the 
 opposition had been overcome, and the Articles adopted 
 without alteration. This was alleged to have been done 
 in January, 1791. A month later, as appears from the 
 records, the opposition succeeded in carrying several 
 amendments, and in recasting the Articles in the fol- 
 lowing form : — 
 
 "We believe the ScriptuTes of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments to contain a revelation of the perfections and will 
 of God, and the rule of faith and practice. 
 
 " We believe in one God, infinite in all His perfections, 
 and that these perfections are all modifications of adora- 
 ble, incomprehensible, and unchangeable love, manifested 
 to us in Christ Jesus. 
 
 " We believe that the Spirit of God will, in due season, 
 so effectually teach all men that the earth will be filled 
 with the knowledge of the Lord (whom to know is life 
 eternal) as the waters cover the sea : for it is written, 
 ' They shall be all taught of God.' 
 
 " We believe in the obligation of the moral precepts of 
 the Scriptures as the rule of life ; and we hold that the 
 love of God manifested to man in a Redeemer is the best 
 means of producing a holy, active, and useful life." 
 
 These alterations, we may suppose, were intended to 
 make a more explicit statement of Eellyanism. Cer- 
 tainly they are not any more Trinitarian than were 
 those which they supplanted. The basis of the Eellyan 
 theory, as before stated, was Sabellian. 
 
 The Boston church, having settled upon the above 
 Articles of Faith, sought to bring other congregations 
 into organized form on this basis, and to this end wrote 
 to the believers in Grafton, Attleborough, Milford, 
 Bellingham, Warwick, and Egremont, Mass., Providence, 
 
348 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 E. I., and Nobletown, Columbia Co., N. Y. How many 
 of these responded favorably is not known. The society 
 in Egremont refused to adopt it, querying " whether a 
 particular compact can be entered into to satisfy the 
 different members in so large a field." 
 
 Eev. Caleb Eich, for the Society in Warwick, re- 
 sponded, expressing a preference for the 
 
 " Articles of Faith adopted by the Convention at Phila- 
 delphia. They are, by all our brethren in these parts, 
 judged to be more consistent with the liberty of the 
 gospel than auy that ever were presented to our view 
 before. We join in saying that they are expressive of 
 our belief in the lively oracles, etc. We have adopted 
 Articles of Faith almost word for word with them, and 
 have annexed to them a covenant or uniting compact ; 
 and it is only for want of opportunity that we do not 
 enclose a copy of the same." 
 
 At the second session of the Convention at Phila- 
 delphia, in May, it was apparent, says the circular let- 
 ter, that the recommendation of the former session that 
 those who believe " with us iu the salvation of all men 
 should associate and form themselves into churches, has 
 been complied with to a degree which has equalled our 
 most sanguine expectations. Several churches have like- 
 wise formed, which are too remote to unite with us." 
 
 One new minister was in attendance on this session, 
 — Eev. William Hawkins, of Maryland, concerning 
 whom we have no further information. 
 
 Mr. Hawkins reported that Eev. Mr. Pollard had 
 commenced preaching Universalism in Maryland, and 
 had been assailed with the charge that Universalists 
 deny future punishment, and desired information as to 
 
FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 349 
 
 what theory on that subject was endorsed by the 
 Convention. Major James Moore was appointed to 
 draft an answer, and the following was approved by 
 the Convention : — 
 
 "Philadelphia, May 28, 1791. 
 
 " Dear Brother in Belief of the Truth, — We have had 
 a visit from our Brother Hawkins, who hath been re- 
 ceived as a member in our Convention met in this city 
 the 25th instant. He hath given us such a report of you, 
 and the hopeful evidences of God's universal love and 
 power prevailing in your parts and under your labors, as 
 rejoices us and for which we desire to be thankful. 
 
 " Brother Hawkins mentioned your request to the Con- 
 vention that they would furnish you with such evidences 
 of their faith as might enable you to contradict and put to 
 silence those who, either through malice or ignorancg, as- 
 sert that we deny future punishment, by holding that all 
 the fallen sons of Adam, the good and the bad, the believer 
 and the unbeliever, go and appear equally alike happy in 
 that state that shall take place after the dissolution of 
 this body. The Convention are well convinced that this 
 unjust slander doth too much prevail among those that 
 are ignorant of our true principles. Notwithstanding all 
 our writings and public declarations and private conver- 
 sations do declare to the contrary, they have ordered me 
 to write you a few lines on that subject ; and as you will 
 have an opportunity of hearing and receiving from 
 Brother Hawkins our sentiments more fully, I shall be 
 short. 
 
 " We do disclaim, neither are we in connection with, 
 any that hold the above sentiment (if such there be). 
 So far from that, we do believe that all that die without 
 the knowledge of their salvation in Christ Jesus must be 
 called unbelievers, and in the Scripture sense, do die in 
 their sins ; that such will not be purged from their sins 
 
350 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 or unbelief by death, but necessarily must appear in the 
 next state under all that darkness, fear, and torment, and 
 conscious guilt which is the natural consequence of the 
 unbelief of the truth. What may be the degree or dura- 
 tion of this state of unbelief and misery we know not. 
 But this we know, if it be the just judgment and chas- 
 tisement of our God, who is the Father of all spirits, 
 that it hath one uniform and invariable end, namely, the 
 good of the creature. For the Father chastiseth every 
 son he loveth, and if we are without chastisement 
 (whereof all ar^ partakers), we are bastards and not sons. 
 And here we see that chastisement is an undoubted evi- 
 dence of all that are chastised being sons, and we know 
 there are no bastards, for all are chastised. We do know 
 that by faith Noah believed God and became heir of 
 the righteousness which is by faith, by which he con- 
 demned the world. But we do know (at least by the 
 authority of the Apostle Peter) that after our Saviour 
 and theirs was put to death in the flesh and quickened 
 by the Spirit, he went and preached to those very identi- 
 cal spirits then in prison which sometime had been dis- 
 obedient ; and we do know by the same authority that 
 the gospel was preached also to them that are dead, that 
 they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but 
 live according to God in the spirit. We do know that 
 Sodom and Gomorrah suffered the vengeance of eternal 
 fire, but we do know by the same authority that they, 
 together with the rebellious house of Israel, shall be re- 
 stored, as is clearly set forth in the sixteenth of Ezekiel's 
 prophecy. 
 
 " But it would be needless to repeat all those divine 
 records that hold forth the restitution of all things 
 spoken of by all the holy prophets since the world began. 
 We would refer you to this matter as mentioned by Dr. 
 Stonehouse, Ramsey, Mr. Eelly, Dr. Chauncy, Mr. Win- 
 chester, and many more ; and to two small pieces now 
 
DENOMINATIONAL GROWTH. 351 
 
 ordered to be printed as an answer to Dr. Samuel Jones' 
 illiberal, unjust, foolish, and incompetent letter, written 
 by him, and adopted by the Baptist Association in New 
 York as their circular letter. 
 
 "Now, dear friend, however you may be enabled to 
 defend in public God's universal love and power, and in 
 consequence the restoration of all his creatures, and 
 preach that it is not to be perfected in time, but in the 
 dispensation of the fulness of time, yet many that even 
 thus hear your labors will go away and say you hold no 
 future punishment ; for such there are yet in the world 
 who are despisers, and will not believe although a man 
 declare it unto them. But be not discouraged, truth will 
 
 prevail. 
 
 " I am, dear brother, 
 
 " Your soul's well-wisher in Jesus, 
 
 « J. M." 
 
 The Convention also gave itself to the consideration 
 of the need of a hymn-book, and appointed a committee 
 to prepare a collection, of which we shall say more in 
 a chapter on hymnology. There were present at the 
 session delegates from eight societies, exclusive of the 
 congregations or organizations in Maryland. These 
 were, Philadelphia, New Britain, Pittsgrove, Pilesgrove, 
 Kingwood, Cape May, Upper Freehold, Shiloh. The 
 four last, all located in New Jersey, were new organi- 
 zations, chiefly composed of converts from the Baptists. 
 Those at Shiloh came off from the Seventh-Day 
 Baptists. 
 
 At the eastward there were also gains in 1791. 
 Early in the year Michael Coffin was preaching in 
 Clarendon and Pawlet, Vermont ; and Whitehall, Gran- 
 ville, and Ballston, in New York. Mr. Coffin, a native 
 
352 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 of Cavendish, Vt., was a school-teacher before entering 
 the ministry, and perhaps for some time after. He was 
 a man of a clear and logical mind, and of quick percep- 
 tion and ready wit. He itinerated for several years in 
 Vermont and New Hampshire, and in some parts of 
 Massachusetts, supplying the society in Oxford one 
 half of the time during three years, beginning in 1794. 
 Subsequently he withdrew from the ministry and set- 
 tled in Western New York, where he devoted most of 
 his time to the practice of the Thompsonian system of 
 medicine. 
 
 Joab Young also commenced to preach about the 
 same time in the region of Grantham, "Warner, and 
 Deering, N. H. Possibly he may have engaged in the 
 work a few years before this. " He was," says the late 
 Dr. Whittemore, " an ardent preacher, and excited much 
 attention, in his day. After preaching in some parts of 
 New Hampshire, he settled in Strafford, Vt., where, we 
 believe, he died." ^ 
 
 Zebulon Streeter, a brother of Adams Streeter, be- 
 fore mentioned, commenced preaching as early as 1791. 
 He was a saintly man, of great moral excellence, and, 
 as we shall hereafter see, often occupied posts of dis- 
 tinction among his brethren, especially at convention 
 seasons. His mental abilities were of a high order; 
 but his gifts of speech were meagre, and he is reported 
 to have said : " I would willingly part with all my 
 earthly possessions, if it would make me able to 
 preach with the eloquence of my brother Adams." He 
 died in September, 1808, in the town of Surrey, New 
 Hampshire. 
 
 1 Life of Rev. Hosea Ballou, vol. i. pp. 83, 84. 
 
HOSEA BALLOU. 353 
 
 William Farewell, who had embraced the doctrine of 
 Universalism not far from the year 1788, was ordained 
 at Charlestown, N. H., in 1791, Eevs. Caleb Eich and 
 Zebulon Streeter conducting the services. New Hamp- 
 shire, Massachusetts, Vermont, Maine, and some parts 
 of New York State, were his field of labor. In the 
 beginnings of his ministry, he received little or no 
 compensation for his services, but spent, it is said, 
 quite a comfortable estate. Schoolhouses, barns, groves, 
 and dwelling-houses were his ordinary places of wor- 
 ship. He was well-read in the Scriptures, and skil- 
 ful in using them in debates, which, in his day, were 
 frequent. 
 
 "His sincerity," says Eev. W. S. Baleh, "was never 
 called in question, not even by his clerical opponents, 
 who thought him deluded. All honored his mildness 
 and sweetness of temper, and respected him as a genuine 
 Christian, however severely they censured his heretical 
 opinions. It was often said of him, by his opposers, that 
 his life did more evil than his preaching.'' 
 
 He died at an advanced age, in Barre, Vt, in 1823.^ 
 •But- by far the most eminent and influential of all 
 who entered the Universalist ministry at this time, was 
 Hosea Ballon. The son of Eev. Maturin Ballou, a Bap- 
 tist clergyman, he was born in Eichmond, N. H., April 
 30, 1771. Just before reaching his nineteenth year, he 
 became the subject of a revival, and united with the 
 
 1 Several valnaWe biographical sketches of .Mr Farewell have been 
 written, — one by Rev. J. E. Palmer, published in the Christian Re- 
 pository, in 1853; one by Rev. W. S. BaJch, in the Universalist Union, 
 April, 1840; and another by Rev. Lemuel Willis, in The Universalist, 
 January, 1875. 
 
 VOL. I. — 23 
 
354 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEBICA. 
 
 church of which his father was the pastor. Almost 
 immediately, however, his attention was drawn to the 
 subject of Universalism, by conversation with James 
 Ballou, previously mentioned, a distant relative, and 
 others who occasionally attended on the ministry of 
 Eev. Caleb Eich. Stimulated by their discourse, he 
 soon, by the fresh study of the Bible, became convinced 
 of the truth of the doctrine which they advocated. He 
 then went to reside with his brother David, who had 
 become a Universalist preacher ; and with some assist- 
 ance from him in investigating the Scriptures, and at 
 his solicitation, Hosea preached his first sermon in the 
 fall of 1791. His friends who heard him "had their 
 doubts whether he had a talent for such labor." His 
 second attempt was a complete failure ; but he perse- 
 vered, and almost immediately gave his entire time to 
 the work of the ministry, and continued uninterruptedly 
 in it for nearly sixty-two years. He early exerted an 
 influence in shaping the thought of the Universalist 
 Church, and to him, more than to any other, its present 
 system of theology is due. As we progress in the record 
 of our history, we shall have frequent occasion to 
 consider his views, and his labors. 
 
 No little sensation was excited in New England by 
 the publication, in 1791, of a sermon preached by Eev. 
 Jonathan Maxcy, A. M., on the death of Eev. James 
 Manning, D. D., President of Ehode Island College, 
 now Brown University. The first edition of this ser- 
 mon contained sentences which conveyed the impres- 
 sion to its readers that the author was a believer in 
 Universal Salvation ; and, in consequence, no little con- 
 troversy followed. Mr. Murray, in transmitting a copy 
 
JONATHAN MAXCY. 355 
 
 of the sermon to his friend, Eev. Robert Redding, a 
 Baptist minister in England, tlius wrote: — 
 
 "1 enclose you, my loved friends, a funeral sermon 
 delivered by the President of Rhode Island College, on 
 the death of the late President. One of the first princi- 
 ples on which this College is founded, is, that the Presi- 
 dent, forever, shall be a Baptist. This President was 
 brought up in this College, is a member of the Baptist 
 Church, was ordained the minister thereof, is a very 
 extraordinary man, is much famed for his piety and 
 learning. But for some time past they have suspected 
 him. They have thought him tainted with heresy ; and 
 on the delivery of this sermon, the fears of his clerical 
 brethren, and the members of his church, could be sup- 
 pressed no longer. They took for granted that he be- 
 lieved with his heart the part of his sermon I have 
 marked ; and, on his not denying the charge, they could 
 not again hear him with comfort. He is no more their 
 minister ! The Trustees [of the College], however, can- 
 not think of parting with him, and wish much to keep 
 him in his present character, even though he should 
 believe, in his heart, the restitution of all things. It is 
 true, they own it is a very dangerous error to believe 
 that every part of human nature shall be finally saved 
 from sin, and sorrow, the sad consequence thereof. But 
 then, as he is really a very pious man, and a very learned 
 man, they pray he may continue. But, his constitution 
 being very infirm, he thinks it will be much to his advan- 
 tage to travel, and has, therefore, prayed them to furnish 
 themselves with a President before the expiration of the 
 year. You will give me your opinion of the sermon. 
 There are some parts of it I do not much approve." 
 
 The sermon was from the text, " The last enemy 
 which shall be destroyed is death." 1 Cor. xv. 26. 
 
356 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 After considering the respects in which death appears 
 to be our enemy, the preacher added : — 
 
 " And yet, formidable as he is, complete as his victory 
 appears, we have the joyful, solemn news to declare, 
 'this enemy shall be destroyed.' The text styles him 
 the last enemy. Yet we shall obtain the victory. The 
 devil was man's first enemy, and death is his last. Both 
 shall be destroyed. Christ ' hath abolished death ; ' he 
 was manifest in the flesh, ' that through death he might 
 destroy him who had the power of death, that is, the 
 devil.' Christ has struck the blow which will complete 
 the victory, in the destruction of death." Then, in con- 
 sidering " How shall death be destroyed ? " the preacher 
 said : " It is fully evident that, as to restoration from 
 death, all men gain in Christ what they lost in Adam, 
 because the argumentation, in the verses preceding our 
 text, evinces that Christ abolished that death which 
 Adam incurred." 
 
 Finally, the consequences of the destruction of death 
 were thus described : — 
 
 " The malice of Satan will revert upon his own head ; 
 his fraudulent designs against man's happiness will 
 terminate in the glory of God. The old serpent, — sub- 
 tile, envious, revengeful, — thought to dishonor God's 
 government, in seducing man to rebellion, and in subject- 
 ing him to mortality. But immediately ' the seed ' was 
 revealed, that should bruise the serpent's head ; that 
 should counteract and frustrate all his evil machinations. 
 ' Eor this purpose, the Son of God was manifested, that 
 he might destroy the works of the devil.' 1 John, iii. 8. 
 Christ assumed our nature, ' that through death he might 
 destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the 
 devil.' Heb. ii. 14. Satan undoubtedly supposed he had 
 defeated the gracious designs of Heaven for man's re- 
 
JONATHAN MAXCy. 357 
 
 demption, by effecting the crucifixion of Christ. But 
 even in his last effort, his malicious schemes turned to 
 his own destruction. Christ's death destroyed death. It 
 gave Satan his mortal wound. It began to dig that mine 
 which is rapidly advancing under his kingdom, aud which 
 will finally engulf it in ruin. 
 
 "Another important consequence of the destruction 
 of the last enemy is, the restoration of the dead to im- 
 mortality. A flood of glory bursts from the sun of 
 righteousness, shines through the wastes of death, and 
 discovers man restored from ruin, rejoicing in life, and 
 dressed in the robes of immortality. Eejoice, O man ! 
 Victory is thine, through the dying Saviour. Look for- 
 ward! view thy future self; how changed from this 
 imperfect state, beyond the reach of death ! Eejoice in 
 that period when the voice of God shall sound through 
 the universe, and set the prisoner free." 
 
 These expressions justified the suspicion and infer- 
 ence, that Mr. Maxcy believed in Universal Salvation. 
 Whatever he may have said to his friends in reply to 
 this inference, we do not know ; but, in 1796, he pub- 
 lished a new edition of the sermon, with a preface, in 
 which he demurs against the construction which had 
 been put upon these words. . He explains that, in his 
 view, the death threatened to Adam was natural death 
 only ; and protests that 
 
 "Nothing in the following discourse is so inconsistent 
 with orthodox divinity as some have supposed. I may 
 be in error. If I be, possibly I may not be destitute of 
 companions, even from among those who determine never 
 to deviate from opinions they have once adopted." 
 
 In a foot-note, under the expression " that Christ 
 abolished that death which Adam incurred," he says : 
 
353 UNI VERBALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " 1 Cor. XV. 22 : 'As in Adam all die, even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive.' These words make it evident 
 that those made alive by Christ are as numerous as those 
 subjected to death by Adam. Language cannot express 
 this idea with more certainty. Those, therefore, who 
 believe that the death introduced by Adam was tempo- 
 ral, spiritual, and eternal, if they would be consistent, 
 ought to believe in universal salvation. For Christ has 
 abolished from all, the death produced by Adam. Note 
 the particularity of this expression, ' even so in Christ 
 shall all be made alive.'" 
 
 His independence and catholicity, howevBr, were in 
 marked contrast with the spirit manifested by his 
 contemporaries, as witness this declaration in the 
 preface : — 
 
 " The only thing really essential to Christian union is 
 love, or benevolent affection. It is, therefore, with me a 
 fixed principle to censure no man, except for immorality. 
 A diversity of religious opinions, in a state so imperfect, 
 obscure, and sinful as the present, is to be expected. An 
 entire coincidence in sentiment, even in important doc- 
 trines, is by no means essential to Christian society, or 
 the attainment of eternal felicity. How many are there 
 who appear to have been subjects of regeneration, who 
 have scarcely an entire, comprehensive view of one doc- 
 trine in the Bible ! Will the gates of Paradise be barred 
 against these, because they did not possess the pene- 
 trating sagacity of an Edwards or a Hopkins ? Or shall 
 these great theological champions engross heaven, and 
 shout hallelujahs from its walls, while a Priestley, a 
 Price, and a Winchester — merely for difference in opin- 
 ion, though pre-eminent in virtue — must sink into the 
 regions of darkness and pain ? " 
 
 Sometime during the year 1791 Mr. Murray pub- 
 
MR. MURRAY'S THEOLOGY. 359 
 
 lished a pamphlet bearing the following title : " Some 
 Hints relative to the Forming of a Christian Church, — 
 to the Eight Understanding of the Scriptures as the 
 only Eule given by the Great Head of the Church for 
 the Direction thereof ; to the Eectifying of a few Mis- 
 takes respecting some Doctrines propagated under the 
 Christian Name. Concluding with the Character of a 
 Consistent Universalist ; in a Letter to a Friend." A 
 few pages are given to a description of the believer's 
 duties as citizens and as Christians, then a few to a de- 
 tailed plan of the manner in which, even without the 
 aid of a preacher, they can carry on regular religious 
 services ; and then occurs the following statement of his 
 idea of what the Scriptures teach : — 
 
 "The Scriptures give an account of a just God who, in 
 the law which he gave by Moses, denounces death and 
 the curse of the law upon every one who continueth not 
 in all things written in the book of the law to do them ; 
 but in the same Scriptures we have an account of the 
 same God, manifested in the flesh, as the head of every 
 man made under the law, to redeem them that were 
 under the law, being made a curse for them ; and this 
 revelation is that gospel which is glad tidings to every 
 child of Adam, because every child of Adam being once 
 under the law, and a transgressor of the law, was conse- 
 quently under the sentence of death, and subjected to the 
 curse. Jesus, having redeemed the human sinner by tast- 
 ing death for every man, being the Saviour not of a few 
 individuals only, but of all men, the gospel, which is a 
 divine declaration of this truth, is, indeed, glad tidings 
 to every fallen sinner. When we read in the Scriptures 
 of wrath, tribulation, death, etc., we know that God 
 speaketh in his legislative character, as he was manifested 
 by Moses, as the just God, who will by no msans clear 
 
360 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the guilty; but when we read of grace, mercy, and 
 peace, of life as the gift of God, of salvation began or 
 completed, we know that the same God speaketh in the 
 language of Zion, in the character of the just God and 
 the Saviour. The one is the language of the law, the 
 other is the language of the gospel. Whatever in any 
 part of the Scripture manifests sin, and the punishment 
 due to sin, is the law ; whatever exhibits Jesus as bear- 
 ing the sin of the world, and suffering the punishments 
 due thereunto, so making peace by the blood of the 
 cross, is gospel. Wherever I find the Scriptures speak- 
 ing of a reconciled God, well pleased for his (Jesus') 
 sake, I find the gospel, the believing of which gospel is 
 accompanied by a salvation from all the misery to which 
 we are exposed while we believe the law only and not 
 the gospel. 
 
 "The Scriptures speak of a judgment past and a 
 judgment yet to come. The past judgment is, first, 
 where the world was judged in the second Adam, ac- 
 cording to the testimony of the Saviour, 'Now is the 
 judgment of this world; now is the prince of this world 
 cast out,' and death executed upon them, according to the 
 righteous judgment of God. Secondly, every one taught 
 of God judges himself, and therefore he shall not be 
 judged. Judge yourselves and ye shall not be judged. 
 The judgment to come is that last great day, when all 
 who have not judged themselves, all unbelievers of the 
 human race, and all the fallen angels, through whose in- 
 fluence unbelievers are held in a state of darkness and 
 blindness, and who, as the deceivers of mankind, are re- 
 served in chains of darkness unto the judgment of the 
 great day ; these shall then all be judged by the Saviour 
 of the WORLD. But the angelic and the human sinners 
 shall then be separated, the one shall be placed on the 
 right, the other on the left hand ; the one addressed as 
 the sheep, for whose salvation the Redeemer laid down 
 
MR. muekay's theology. 361 
 
 his life ; tlie other as the accursed, whose nature he 
 passed by. The human nature, as the offspring of the 
 everlasting Father, and the ransomed of the Lord, shall 
 by divine power be brought into the kingdom prepared 
 for them before the foundation of the world ; the angelic 
 nature will be sent into the fire prepared for the devil 
 and his angels. 
 
 " The Scriptures lead us, by various and striking fig- 
 ures, to the contemplation of the Prince of Peace, and to 
 his contrast, the prince of the power of the air. Some- 
 times these figures are taken from men, sometimes from 
 things ; everything good is expressive of Christ and his 
 salvation ; everything bad, of the adversary and his de- 
 struction. The Prince of Peace came to save human 
 nature from the power and dominion of the devil and his 
 works ; he came to destroy the latter that he might save 
 the former. He was manifested to destroy the works of 
 the devil, and he shall save his people from their sins. 
 This, indeed, he hath done when he put away sin by the 
 sacrifice of himself, and this he will do when he shall 
 give his holy angels charge to collect every seed sown by 
 the enemy in the human nature ; that as tares, as evil 
 seed sown by the Evil Oue, they may be separated from 
 the good seed, which, when it was sown by the Son of 
 Man, by whom all things were made, was pronounced 
 very good, and will again be as good when the evil that 
 came from the Evil One is separated from it. The Son 
 of Man, agreeably to the records of truth, shall take out 
 of his kingdom, — which kingdom will be composed of 
 all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, for 
 the kingdoms of this world shall become the kingdom of 
 God and of his Christ, — out of his kingdom, I say, the 
 Son of Man will take out everything that offends, and 
 those who do iniquity. 
 
 " There is nothing can give offence but sin, and sin is 
 the work of the devil, — of that spirit which now work- 
 
362 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 eth in the hearts of the children of disobedience ; as, 
 then, this evil spirit is the -worker, or doer, of whatever 
 gives offence, Jesus, as the Saviour of the world, shall in 
 the fulness of time separate from his kingdom both the 
 evil worker and his evil works ; the evil workers in the 
 characters of goats, the evil works in the character of tares. 
 " When the sower of the evil seed, and all the evil seed 
 sown, shall be separated from the seed which God sowed, 
 then the seed which is properly the seed of God will be 
 like Him who sowed it, — holy and pure, as God is holy 
 and pure ; when the veil shall be taken away, and the face 
 of the covering from all people, every eye shall then see 
 the Saviour as he is, and they who see him as he is shall 
 be like him; for the Redeemer is able to change even 
 these vile bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto 
 his own glorious body, according to the mighty working 
 whereby he is able to subdue all things unto himself. 
 Thus stands the gospel of the grace of God, as revealed 
 in the Scriptures. It must be confessed, there are in the 
 Bible many things which may appear dark to us, our 
 weakness is even infantile, and the prejudices of educa- 
 tion tyrannize over the mind ; the power of the adversary 
 is great, and the purpose of God reserves the complete 
 manifestation of himself to futurity. Our Saviour 
 teaches us to look forward to a brighter day, when we 
 shall attain a perfection of knowledge, knowing as we 
 are known. Here we know but in part, but blessed be 
 our divinely gracious Teacher, who in mercy hath made 
 us acquainted with the purpose purposed on the whole 
 earth, who hath assured us it is the will of God that all 
 men should be saved and come to the knowledge of the 
 truth, while reason as well as revelation teaches us that 
 a Being who is almighty will do all his pleasure, and ful- 
 fil all his will. I wish, therefore, that as new-born babes 
 you may desire the sincere milk of the word, that you 
 may grow thereby." 
 
ORDINANCES. 363 
 
 Following this, he has a few words respecting ordi- 
 nances, in which he takes, as to baptism, substantially 
 the ground advanced in the suit against the First Par- 
 ish in Gloucester, and is catholic in his feelings towards 
 those who may hold quite diverse views in regard to 
 the Lord's Supper. 
 
 "The Universalists, as Christians, admit of but one 
 baptism, — the baptizer, Christ Jesus, and the elements 
 made use of, the Holy Ghost and fire. Yet they believe 
 that John, by divine direction, baptized with water ; but 
 even this, though established by divine authority, they 
 consider in the same point of view in which they are 
 directed to consider a variety of other ordinances that 
 were established by the same authority ; in that dispen- 
 sation they consider it merely as a figure. Water is a 
 purifying element, but it can only remove external filth ; 
 it, however, goes as far as a figure can go, and very prop- 
 erly preceded that one baptism of our divine Master 
 which should effectually cleanse from all filthiness of 
 flesh and spirit. Hence, he who baptized with water 
 said, ' He that cometh after me is mightier than I ; I, 
 indeed, baptize you with water unto repentance, but he 
 shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost and with fire.' 
 
 "We consider the ordinance commonly called the 
 Lord's Supper as a very expressive emblem of the salva- 
 tion of the human family in Christ Jesus. We are, how- 
 ever, informed that this emblem may be used worthily 
 or unworthily ; and he that eateth and drinketh unwor- 
 thily, eateth and drinketh damnation, or condemnation, 
 to himself; and we are furthermore taught that the 
 worthy receiver, in receiving, discerns the Lord's body, 
 and that the unworthy receiver does not discern the 
 Lokd's body. 
 
 " Yet, although the people called Universalists, asso- 
 ciating as Christians in church fellowship, generally 
 
364 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 adopt as their most reasonable service this divinely ex- 
 pressive ordinance, yet they do not hold themselves in 
 subjection thereto, they are subject to no shadows ; and 
 while they hold this ordinance in the highest estimation 
 as an ordinance, yet they think the exercise of charity 
 much greater, and are therefore determined that differ- 
 ence of mind or manners respecting the use of this or 
 any other ordinance shall never interrupt the gentle flow 
 of their Christian affection toward each other. Oii the 
 whole, the people called Universalists determine with 
 the Apostle, to know nothing, either as a whole or a part, 
 directly or indirectly essential to their salvation, but 
 Jesus Christ and him crucified." 
 
 The fact — or rumor of it — that many and conflicting 
 theories are held, and • called Universalism, gives him 
 great uneasiness, and he thus expresses himself : — 
 
 "I hear from many that the doctrine of God our 
 Saviour prevaileth much throughout the Union; but 
 from some examples which have come under my ob- 
 servation, I am apprehensive that he who was a liar 
 from the beginning has been practising upon the minds 
 of the credulous ; that, under the name of the Christian 
 doctrines, he has imposed heresies as far from the testi- 
 mony of the everlasting gospel as this arch-deceiver 
 can possibly fabricate. There may be as much anti- 
 Scriptural, irrational, inconsistent stuff propagated under 
 the name of the Universal, or, as some choose to term 
 it, llurray's doctrine, as there can be under any other 
 name. I have sometimes imagined that a few dreamers 
 have taken their ideas from our enemies ; and, believing 
 we defended those detestable doctrines with which our 
 calumniators reproach us, they undertake to support 
 them, though, in thus doing, they do as much violence 
 to divine revelation as any of the advocates for a partial 
 salvation. 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES. 365 
 
 "The adversary being convinced that he cannot hurt 
 the cause of truth by his own disciples, who are our 
 inveterate foes, has, therefore, raised up some advocates 
 for some truths, that, through their instrumentality, he 
 may the more effectually injure the cause of truth, and 
 still retain the ransomed of the Loed in his kingdom. 
 
 " Permit me to point out a few of the errors which are 
 preached, and received, by some individuals who call 
 themselves Universalists : — 
 
 "First, Because our Saviour hath finished the work 
 which was given him to do for us men, and for our salva- 
 tion, it is asserted that we who are saved by the Loed, 
 with an everlasting salvation, have nothing at all to do ! 
 This is a vile, detestable error ; it is contrary to reason, 
 as well as to revelation. Indeed, whatever is opposed to 
 reason is equally opposed to revelation. It is true, we 
 have not that to do, in order to save ourselves, which was 
 done by Jesus Christ; but, being completely saved in 
 Jesus Christ, we have much to do. ' Ye are,' saith the 
 Spirit of truth, ' bought with a price ; therefore, glorify 
 God in your bodies and spirits, which are- his.' Let those 
 who have believed be careful to maintain good. Good 
 what? Good ivords? ISTo, truly; good works. But in 
 what respect can works done by us be good ? Can they 
 be profitable to God ? !No ; but they can be -pleasing to 
 God, because profitable unto men. In this view, they are 
 good works ; for, as all men are dear to, and beloved by 
 the Loed, in doing good unto all according to our ability, 
 we may be said to glorify and please God. But it is said 
 by some : ' We have nothing to hope, in consequence of 
 thus doing; nor have we anything to fear from the 
 neglect of acknowledged duties ; the doctrine of rewards 
 and punishments is a legal, and, therefore, in this gospel 
 day, a justly exploded doctrine ; we know that Jesus, 
 being made under the law, hath redeemed us from the 
 curse of the law, and, therefore, hath become the end of 
 
366 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the law for righteousness, to every one that believeth.' 
 That Jesus was made, under the law, for the purpose of 
 redeeming them that were under the law ; that he hath 
 accomplished the work he came into the world to do, by 
 redeeming the lost nature ; that he is, indeed, the end 
 of the law for righteousness to every one that believ- 
 eth, — are divine truths, which we are neither able nor 
 willing to oppose. But upon this truth of God, thus 
 manifested, depends another truth. If Jesus Christ hath 
 redeemed us, then we are not our own ; we have one 
 Master, we have one "Father, the Eedeemer of men ; if 
 we obey not this Master, — if we walk not according to 
 the direction of this Father, — he will visit our trans- 
 gressions with a rod. Though we are, indeed, redeemed 
 unto God by the blood of Jesus, if we sow to the flesh, 
 we shall of the fliesh reap corruption ; for whatsoever a 
 man soweth, that shall he also reap. Though the human 
 family do, indeed, constitute the fulness of the Saviour's 
 body, they are delivered from condemnation only while 
 they walk not after the fliesh, but after the Spirit ; and 
 though the faithfulness of the just God, as the Saviour, 
 can never fail, yet he shall reward every man according 
 to his works. That work of God which was wrought by 
 the head of every man, will be rewarded by the eternal 
 salvation of all men. The work of the -mere creature, 
 being according to the nature of the creature, shall have 
 its reward. If, therefore, the ransomed of the Lord, 
 following the direction of their Lord and Master, act 
 consistent with their character, shall they not be re- 
 warded ? Assuredly they shall ; they shall be most 
 amply rewarded ; we have the promise of our blessed 
 Master, guaranteeing the reward. Whoso giveth even a 
 cup of cold water to a disciple shall have a disciple's 
 reward. Whoso giveth unto the poor lendeth unto the 
 Lord ; and, look ! what he layeth out shall be paid him 
 again. God is not unmindful of our works of faith, 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES. 367 
 
 and labors of love. What ! because we cannot purchase 
 heaven by our doings, or destroy death and hell by our 
 labors, does it follow that we have, as dwelling in this 
 world, nothing to hope, and nothing to fear ? Because 
 Jesus died for ail, are all, therefore, to live unto them- 
 selves ? Nay ; but he dying for all, all who live are, 
 therefore, bound to live, not unto themselves, but to him 
 who died for them. Let it, indeed, be proved that Jesus 
 did not die for them, — that they are not bought with a 
 price, — then they are still their own ; and if they be 
 their own, they may still live unto themselves. But no 
 one of the human race hath a right thus to presume to 
 live unto himself, inasmuch as Jesus gave himself a ran- 
 som for all, and, by the grace of God, tasted death for 
 every man. Assuredly, my friend, the ransomed of the 
 LoED will find it as much their interest as it is their 
 duty, to glorify God in their bodies, and their spirits, 
 which are his ; they will find it their interest, if they 
 have much, to give abundantly ; if they have little, to 
 do their diligence, gladly to give of that little ; for thus 
 doing, they will lay up for themselves a great reward. 
 
 " The reward to which the man Christ Jesus is entitled, 
 in consequence of the works he wrought, is the eternal 
 salvation of Jew and Gentile, as his inheritance. So 
 that all the Father had, being given unto him, they may 
 be ultimately with him to behold his glory. 
 
 " Secondly, It has been af&rmed that the day of the 
 LoED, commonly called the last day, or the day of judg- 
 ment, is past. Our Saviour having said, 'Now is the 
 judgment of this world,' such who are ever doing the 
 work of the adversary, in proving one part of Revelation 
 false by another, affirm there can be no future judgment. 
 Those who are taught of God, pursue a different method ; 
 they study to point out the consistency of divine revelar 
 tion, in order to establish its authority. The scribe^ 
 instructed in the kingdom of God rightly divides the 
 
368 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 word of truth; he clearly distinguishes between the 
 judgment of all men, in connection with their head, 
 where the offended divine Nature was the judge, — and, 
 judging according to law, and eternal truth and justice, 
 did not spare, but inflicted the threatened, deserved 
 death, on the guilty world, so that, one dying for all, 
 all were dead, — I say, he who is taught of God can read- 
 ily distinguish between this judgment and the judgment 
 so frequently spoken of in divine revelation as yet future. 
 In the former judgment, the whole human family were 
 judged; but they were gathered into one. The angelic 
 nature is also spoken of in this judgment, but in the 
 singular character; the 'prince of this world' is cast out. 
 But in the future judgment, believers in Jesus Christ 
 who have judged themselves shall not be judged. Judge 
 yourselves, saith the Holy Spirit, and you shall not be 
 judged ; but the rest of mankind will be the subjects of 
 this judgment when our Saviour shall be revealed from 
 heaven in flaming fire, taking vengeance on them who 
 know not God, and who obey not the gospel ; and they 
 shall then be punished with everlasting destruction, from 
 the presence of the Loed, and the glory of his power ; 
 the consequence of which shall be, that they shall then 
 be made to know God, and obey the gospel ; for, although 
 until this period they will, as unbelievers, suffer the pun- 
 ishment consequent on the revelation of the everlasting 
 destruction, yet it is not said they shall be everlastingly 
 punished with destruction. Were it possible to find a 
 culinary fire that never could be extinguished, but which 
 was, in the strictest sense of the word, everlasting, or 
 eternal, should any member of your. body pass through 
 that burning flame, though but a moment of time had 
 been spent in thus passing through, yet, even in that 
 moment, it would suffer the pain of eternal fire. Those 
 who build on the foundation laid in Zion, — wood, hay, 
 stubble, — their works shall be burned in this fire, and 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES 369 
 
 they, consequent thereon, shall suffer loss ; but they 
 themselves shall be saved, though it were as by fire. 
 Were they themselves to be lost, being God's workman- 
 ship, then God would also suffer loss ; but they, bad as 
 they were, ignorant as they were of God, disobedient as 
 they were in not obeying the gospel (and surely they 
 must be very ignorant of God, and very disobedient to 
 the gospel, to build with such perishable materials), — 
 yet they, themselves, shall be saved, as it were, by that 
 fire in which the Lokd Jesus shall be revealed, when he 
 comes to take vengeance on such characters. 
 
 "Yes, the books shall be opened, and the dead, both 
 small and great, shall be judged out of the things writ- 
 ten in the books. Every mouth shall be stopped, and all 
 the world become guilty before God; and while con- 
 scious of guilt, but ignorant of a Saviour, and that the 
 Saviour is the only wise God, who is just, even as a 
 Saviour, they shall call upon the rocks and mountains 
 to fall upon them, that they may, beneath the covert 
 of the falling mountains, be hidden from the wrath of 
 the Lamb. But, in this judgment, the Judge is the Sa- 
 viour. Here all judgment is committed unto Jesus, be- 
 cause he is the Son of Man, the Son of the offending, 
 suffering, affrighted nature. In that future day, upon 
 which God hath appointed the judgment, it is the Prince 
 and the Saviour who is appointed to judge the world in 
 righteousness, even that Man whom the divine Nature 
 ordained. Here, instead of head and members being 
 judged together by the head of Christ, the divine Na- 
 ture, the members are considered, in their . distinct 
 characters, as good and evil, or believer and unbeliever, 
 — as children of light, or children of darkness, — and 
 judged by their own head, for the head of every man is 
 Christ. 
 
 " Again, the business of this judgment may be consid- 
 ered in some sort different from the former. That was 
 
 VOL. I. — 24 
 
370 USIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to suffer the wages of sin ; this, after suffering the con- 
 sequence of unbelief, which is the torment of fear, to 
 stop every mouth, that the Lord alone may be exalted, 
 and to bring every one into a state of willing obedience 
 unto the gospel. In the former judgment sin was put 
 away from the lost nature by the death or sacrifice of 
 the Saviour, as the second Adam ; so that God may behold 
 the once lost and polluted nature as saved and pure in 
 Him. The last judgment is to bring each member into 
 the same state in themselves. Once more, as in the 
 former judgment, the prince of this world, who is also 
 called the God of this world, was cast out, in the last judg- 
 ment the whole of the angelic nature who fell from their 
 first habitation, and who are reserved in chains of darkness 
 unto the judgment of this great day, will, in the char- 
 acter of goats placed on the left hand of the Shepherd of 
 the sheep, be judged, and sent, as accursed, into the fire 
 prepared for them. Then shall that wicked be revealed 
 whom the Lord shall consume with the breath of his 
 mouth, and destroy by the brightness of his coming. 
 
 " Thirdly, some persons very seriously suppose that all 
 mankind will be on a level in the article of death. They 
 conceive it cannot be otherwise, seeing that Jesus hath 
 abolished death ; and they believe that in the dissolution 
 of the body the dust returns to the dust, and the spirit 
 to God who gave it. But if Jesus, having abolished 
 death, was sufBcient to put all upon a level in death, it 
 was sufficient to put all on a level in life also ; but what 
 is true in Christ is one thing, and what is believed true, 
 another. Peace and reconciliation with God is the con- 
 sequence of what is true in Christ Jesus. Peace of con- 
 science and joy in the Holy Ghost, is the consequence of 
 what is true, as believed in our hearts. Neither in life 
 nor in deatlj, in the body nor out of the body, can any of 
 the ransomed of the Lord be saved from misery until 
 they are made acquainted with God as their Saviour; 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES. 371 
 
 and although in death the spirit does not descend with 
 the body into the dust, and must be under the eye of the 
 Father of spirits ; yet where Christ is, that is, in ful- 
 ness of joy, they never can be till they have peace and 
 joy in believing. He who dies in unbelief lies down in 
 sorrow, and will rise to the resurrection of damnation, 
 or, more properly, condemnation. Blessed are the people 
 who know the joyful sound ; it is they, and they only, 
 that walk in the light of God's countenance. If this was 
 not the case, where would be the necessity of preaching 
 the gospel at all ? If, in the article of death, every one 
 for whom Christ died were made acquainted with him, 
 and consequently with the things that made for their 
 peace, why trouble mankind in life about these matters ? 
 Why go forth as sheep among wolves, suffering every- 
 thing that the malice of blind zeal can inflict, in order to 
 turn men from darkness to light, if the period to which 
 we are all hastening will effectually open the eyes of the 
 understanding ? If death destroys all distinctions, would 
 it not be well to say, ' Let us eat, drink, and be merry, 
 for to-morrow we die ? ' ' We are commanded to preach 
 the gospel, and this is a sufficient reason why we should 
 preach the gospel.' Very true, but why are we com- 
 manded to preach the gospel ? Is it not that faith may 
 come by hearing, and that, living by faith on the Son of 
 God, we may finish our course with joy ? But if every 
 one of the ransomed race are to be equally happy in 
 death, then, although they did not live by faith, they 
 nevertheless finish their course with joy, nor shall any 
 individual arise to the resurrection of condemnation. 
 This may be consolatory, but it is not Scriptural. These 
 sectarians, aware of this error, support it by another, 
 and therefore deny a futiire judgment. 
 
 "'Blessed,' saith the Holy Spirit, 'are the dead who 
 die in the Lokd ; they rest from their labors.' But if all 
 are alike in death, it may be said, 'Blessed are the dead 
 
372 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 •wlip die in their sin,' that is, in unbelief, ' for they rest 
 from their labors ; ' but this cannot be, since it is only 
 those who, believing the word of the gospel, put on the 
 LoED Jesus, and having received him as their righteous- 
 ness, sanctification, and redemption, so walk in him, that 
 can be said to die in him. These, and these only, have 
 part in the first resurrection, on whom the second death 
 can have no power. These, in the resurrection, shall 
 meet their Saviour with transport ; they shall rise to the 
 resurrection of salvation; they shall come to Zion with 
 songS ; they shall rejoice ; while the many, who are never- 
 theless redeemed, yet unacquainted with the things 
 which make for their peace, and who rise in the second 
 resurrection, shall be filled with anguish. It is from 
 these unhappy, despairing beings that the Lokd God will 
 wipe away all tears ; it is from these benighted beings 
 that the hand of divine benignity shall take away the 
 veil. Those who live and die in faith shall have no tears 
 to wipe away, no veil to remove. Tears, weeping, and 
 wailing will continue as long as unbelief, the ptocuring 
 cause, shall remain. These evils will be done away to- 
 gether, not in the article of death, but in the day of the 
 Lokd, when every eye shall see and every tongue shall 
 confess to the glory of the Father. 
 
 " Fourthly, There are many who, because the Script- 
 ures are said, and with the strictest propriety, to testify 
 of Jesus, believe that they testify of nothing or no one 
 else ; hence, under the influence of this error, they apply 
 to the Saviour what the Holy Spirit applies to the grand 
 adversary. In defending these absurd notions they 
 sometimes blaspheme the name of Jesus, and cause the 
 way of truth to be evil spoken of. There are in this 
 class of men some who will tell you that Jesus Christ 
 was the man who had not on the wedding-garment I And 
 was consequently cast out into utter darkness ! Thus, I 
 presume without design, they make a schism in the body 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES. 373 
 
 of Immanuel, they separate the Bkidegeoom, the Head, 
 the King, from his Beidb, his Body, his Kingdom ; 
 they separate what God hath joined together, although 
 on the continuance of this union depends our life ; for if 
 we were not crucified and buried with Christ as his ful- 
 ness, we shall never have a right to reign with him. 
 There is something most horrid in fixing any character 
 upon. Christ Jesus which indicates inherent pollution ; 
 but there are among those expounders to whom we 
 advert, who are fond of making their hearers stare and 
 wonder at their ingenuity ; alas, poor souls, the subtle 
 deceiver is abundantly more ingenious than they thein- 
 selves are, but they are not suflBciently acquainted with 
 his devices. 
 
 " The Scriptures testify of the divine and human nat- 
 ures ; of those natures united in Oiie j of men and of 
 angels ; of good angels who never fell ; of angels who 
 kept not their first estate ; of believers in Jesus Christ 
 who glorify his name ; of some who believe, but make no 
 open profession, because they love the praise of men 
 more than the praise of God ; of wicked men who have 
 not the knowledge of God in all their ways ; and of arro- 
 gant self-righteous pharisees, who thank God they are 
 not like other men. Among this great variety the man 
 who is under the influence of the spirit of truth will find 
 Jesus, as the skilful miner finds the vein of gold in the 
 mountain. 
 
 "The Scriptures abound with striking figures calcu- 
 lated to give us an acquaintance with the principal char- 
 acters therein, and dreadful work will he make in 
 explaining these figures who hath not the spirit of the 
 Saviour. The Redeemer of men is exhibited under the 
 characters, Father, Brother, Friend, Prophet, Priest, King, 
 Shepherd, Sheep, Lamb, Light, Life, and Peace, Bread, 
 Wine, and Water, Fruit, Balm, and Flowers. These, and 
 many other characters and figures by which Immanuel 
 
374 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 has been pleased to make himself manifest, — all indicate 
 grace, mercy, and peace. 
 
 " The adversary is represented under the character of 
 a beast of prey, seeking to devour, a prince of darkness, 
 a murderer, a liar, a deceiver, the accuser of the brethren, 
 the vulture, the serpent, the goat ; and when the people 
 of God of old are said to have worshipped devils, they 
 worshipped them in the form of goats ; hence the fallen 
 angels in the twenty-fifth of Matthew are represented 
 under the figure of goats, while the human nature is rep- 
 resented under the figure of sheep. All we, like sheep, 
 have gone astray. Under this figure of sheep there are, 
 and will be, until the kingdoms of the world become the 
 kingdoms of God and of his Christ, two characters : 
 sheejp that, hearing the voice of the Good Shepherd, fol- 
 low him, and are denominated his sheep ; and others 
 who are not of this fold, who still wander in the wide 
 waste wilderness, where there is no way. These other 
 sheep the Shepherd and Bishop of souls must bring in, 
 that there may be one fold under one Shepherd, that of 
 all the Father gave 'him none may be lost, save the son 
 of perdition ; but this son of perdition was never the off- 
 spring of God ; God is not. perdition. 
 
 " Fifthly, There are many who, willing to speak peace 
 to themselves where there is no peace, afi&rm that it is 
 not sinners, but sin, that will be brought to the judg- 
 ment ; that it is unbelief, and not the unbeliever, that is 
 damned; that it is the sins that are put on the left-hand 
 in the great day, to whom the Judge is supposed to speak ; 
 but this is absolutely ludicrous. "What is sin, distinct 
 from the subject ? Or how can sin, in an abstract point 
 of view, be the subject of rebuke or punishment ? Upon 
 this principle our Saviour suffered in vain ; nothing more 
 was necessary than to have laid our sins upon the cross 
 and made them suffer death ; but every reflecting person 
 must see and feel the absurdity of such stuff as this. 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES. 375 
 
 Sins are never spoken to ; they are frequently spoken of, 
 and there are some very striking figures by which they 
 are represented, — as the tares of the field, sown by the 
 wicked one. While the sower of the seed, as an account- 
 able, intelligent being, is the proper subject of the judg- 
 ment, the seed is spoken of as oifensive, and, like other 
 weeds, given to the devouring flame. Sometimes the 
 iniquities of our nature are spoken of as chaff, which 
 closely cleaves unto the grain while growing, but is finally 
 doomed to the consuming fire. Sometimes sin is spoken 
 of as flesh, as dead flesh, as a body of sin and death, and 
 in this character the birds of the air are summoned to 
 the supper of the great God, to eat the flesh of all men. 
 Our Saviour, when explaining unto his disciples the par- 
 able of the sower, informed them that the birds of the 
 air were the wicked ones ; they are at last called to feed 
 on the carcasses of the abominable and detestable things ; 
 but I do not recollect that in any part of divine revelation 
 sin is spoken of in the character of an accountable being ; 
 we have already seen that there can be but two charac- 
 ters the proper subjects of the judgment, — angels and 
 men ; the one on the right, the other on the left hand of 
 the Judge, who is emphatically styled the Saviour of the 
 world. 
 
 " We have, during a series of years, been charged with 
 propagating the above absurd and truly ridiculous fancies. 
 However, I conceived this folly was found only in the 
 mouths, for I could hardly think it was in the hearts of 
 our calumniators to believe that there were any who held 
 such principles. I was induced to think these falsehoods 
 were laid to our charge in order to prejudice the public 
 against us, for as I never conceived of such a doctrine as 
 either Scriptural or rational myself, so I never believed 
 any one else did. But lately I understand that this 
 sentiment hath its advocates, and I have the mortification 
 to learn that these advocates rank with Universalists ! 
 
376 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Surely, surely, such teachers are not taught by the spirit 
 that dictated to the men of God what stands recorded as 
 divine revelation. We conceive that in this particular, 
 at least, they are yet to learn. 
 
 " Sixthly, There is a class of Universalists, more 
 respectable than the former, who insist that, although 
 all mankind will finally be saved, they have much to 
 perform, or to suffer, in order to satisfy divine justice, 
 before this event can take place. All, say these Uni- 
 versalists, who have not a perfection of holiness in them- 
 selves, in the present state, — all who are not in this 
 distempered state, pure in heart, — must, before they 
 see God in glory, pass through a purgatorial fire, and 
 there suffer some thousands of years, until they have 
 paid the utmost farthing of the debt they owed the 
 just God, according as the account stands in the book 
 of the law; but when they have suffered, the unjust 
 for the unjust, then they shall come forth with pure 
 hearts, filled with fervent affection to him who gra- 
 ciously condescended to let them pay their own debt. 
 These are called Universalists; and, indeed, they are 
 Universalists, in the strictest sense of the word, for, as 
 they do not conceive it is the blood of Jesus which 
 cleanseth from all sin, so they imagine that the same 
 mode of procedure which is adopted for the salvation 
 of all men, will equally apply to fallen angels, and they 
 therefore believe in the salvation of devils. That our 
 Saviour passed by the nature of angels, and took upon 
 him the seed of Abraham, makes, in the view of these 
 Universalists, no difference ; for, as mankind must, after 
 all, suffer for their own sins, devils can do the same, and 
 therefore be saved in the same way. What God will do 
 with the fallen angels, after they are sent into the fire 
 prepared for them, I know not : ' Men are the books we 
 ought to read ; the proper study of mankind is man.' 
 "We go no farther in our inquiries than our own 
 
CONFLICTING THEORIES. 377 
 
 nature ; so far, these Uuiversalists accompany us, but 
 leave us here ; and we are better pleased to find tliem 
 advocates for salvation in any way, than if they were 
 laboring to prove the eternal ruin of the greater part 
 of God's offspring. Yet we conceive these sectarian's 
 cannot, with any degree of propriety, be called Univer- 
 salists on apostolic principles ; nor does it appear that 
 they have any idea of being saved by or in the Lobd, 
 with an everlasting, or with any salvation. It is diffi- 
 cult to know what they will have to thank God for, at 
 last, they having paid their own debt, and satisfied divine 
 justice in their own persons. I wonder not that such 
 Uuiversalists as these are opposed, and with success, by 
 the partialists. Such Uuiversalists have nothing to do 
 with the ministry of reconciliation ; the doctrine of the 
 atonement and acceptance in the beloved, is out of their 
 plan ; such doctrines are considered by them as un- 
 friendly to holiness ; such Uuiversalists as these are as 
 far from the doctrines of the gospel, on one side, as their 
 opponents are on the other. These are pharisaical Uui- 
 versalists, — Uuiversalists who are willing to justify 
 themselves ; and such Universalism as this will be much 
 more acceptable to an adulterous generation than the 
 Universalism found in the ministry of reconciliation; 
 to wit, that Ood was in Christ reconciling the world unto 
 himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them. We 
 are very much at loss to account for the suffering of 
 Christ at all, on the plan adopted by these Uuiver- 
 salists ; he either suffered for the unjust or he did not ; 
 if he did not suffer for the unjust, he must have suffered 
 very unjustly, inasmuch as he did not personally deserve 
 sufferings, he in himself being holy, harmless, and unde- 
 filed. If he did suffer for the unjust, he either satisfied 
 divine justice, or he did not; if he did not, then his 
 resurrection is not our justification, nor did he put away 
 sin by the sacrifice of himself ; then he cannot be the 
 
378 TJNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Saviour of the world, or of any individual in the world ; 
 nor can God be just, if lie justifies the ungodly, and, of 
 course, with respect to sinners, as their Saviour, he died 
 in vain. 
 
 ' " If he did satisfy divine justice, and make reconciliar 
 tion for iniquity, then this man is our peace, and we 
 have the atonement, and God is well pleased for his 
 righteousness' sake ; then he hath redeemed us from 
 the curse of the law, and is just, although a Saviour. 
 The inconsistent plan adopted by this class of Univer- 
 salists, is supported, like all others of the same com- 
 plexion, by false views of some divine passages in the 
 book of God. When they considered the tares and the 
 goats as wicked men, sent into everlasting fire, to do 
 what Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, came to do, and 
 which, by a single word, he can and will show them he 
 hath done, they must, of course, continue in this ever- 
 lasting fire until the business be done, — until complete 
 satisfaction be made. 
 
 " The truth is, Jesus is even now the Saviour of all 
 men, especially of those who believe ; all that was neces- 
 sary, on God's part, for the complete salvation of all 
 men, was finished when Jesus accomplished what the 
 prophets prophesied of him, saying, 'He shall finish 
 transgression ; he shall make an end of sin ; he shall 
 make reconciliation for iniquities, and shall bring in 
 everlasting righteousness.' Nothing more is now neces- 
 sary, than for God to say, ' Let there be light ! ' and in a 
 moment, in the twinkling of an eye, he can cause such 
 a change to pass on his purchased possession as shall 
 make them like unto their glorified head. Yes, by a sin- 
 gle word, he can, by the mighty power whereby he is able 
 to subdue all things unto himself, change even these vile 
 bodies, that they may be fashioned like unto his own 
 glorious body. Why the Saviour does not do this now, 
 I know not, any more than I know why he did not 
 
CONFLICTING THEOEIES. 379 
 
 assume our nature a thousand years sooner than he did ; 
 or why he suffers any to pass out of this state of exist- 
 ence, unacquainted with him as their Saviour, living all 
 their lifetime in bondage to the fear of death. All I 
 can, all I ought to say, is, that the Judge of all the earth 
 does right, and will continue to do right. The Election 
 obtains, in this their Jay, the knowledge of the things 
 that make for their peace, and the rest are blinded. But 
 we rest in full assurance that the period will come when 
 every eye shall see, when the face of the covering shall 
 be taken from all people, and the veil from all nations ; 
 when the earth shall be filled with the knowledge of the 
 LoKD ; when they shall all know him, from the least of 
 them unto the greatest of them ; and to know God is life 
 eternal." 
 
 A seventh class is referred to as those who call 
 themselves Universalists, but " as the manner of some 
 was in the apostolic age, forsake the assembling of 
 themselves together." 
 
 The first, second, and fourth classes of Universalists 
 thus described, were doubtless Eellyans, who carried 
 to an extreme, if they did not in some cases uncon- 
 sciously caricature and burlesque, that system of the- 
 ology. Mr. Eelly, in his exaltation of intellectual faith- 
 
 >as the chief Christian virtue, and his depreciation of 
 moral works, certainly gave no resistance to, but seems 
 
 1 rather to have invited, Antinomian views. It was natu- 
 ral that the acceptance of his main theory should have 
 been accompanied, in some minds, with extreme notions 
 of some of its features. A new sect always affords an 
 open door for the entrance of unevenly balanced minds, 
 and it must be expected that they will bring strange 
 vagaries with them. Mr. Murray alludes, in his pub- 
 
380 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 lished works, to conversations with such characters; 
 and also intimates that, in various sections, he finds 
 persons who had read the writings of Mr. Eelly, and 
 had more or less imbibed his views.^ But, though Mr. 
 Murray strenuously resisted the inferences which others 
 drew from Mr. Belly's writings, it must be obvious, 
 from his own presentation of the theory, that many of 
 those inferences were not unnatural. Eellyanism was 
 a fanciful scheme, throughout, and it opened the way 
 for stUl wilder notions. It must be said, however, that 
 it was not more fanciful than was the old popular 
 theology, with its supposed allegories of the Mosaic rit- 
 uals, its literal, and sometimes ludicrous, construction 
 of numerous texts, and its wholly external and substi- 
 tutional work of Christ ; and that the defenders of that 
 theology found themselves perpetually assailed by those 
 in their own ranks who perverted, or rendered still more 
 fanciful, the orthodoxy of that day. 
 
 As the third class which Mr. Murray mentions, — 
 those who suppose "that all mankind will be on a level 
 in the article of death," — he doubtless refers to Caleb 
 Eich and his followers, as we have no account of any 
 others, at that time, to whom this description may be 
 supposed to apply. It is not, as will be seen by refer- 
 ence to what has been said of the views of Mr. Eich, a 
 just statement of his theory, although Mr. Murray may 
 have so understood it. In preceding pages in this chap- 
 ter, a quotation from Mr. Murray's letters shows that 
 he encountered some of this class of Universalists in 
 Connecticut, as well as in Massachusetts. He ascribes 
 to them views similar to those held by Eichard Cop- 
 
 ^ See Letters and Sketches of Sermons, vol. ii. pp. 13, 211. 
 
CONFLICTING THEOEIES. 381 
 
 pin, of England, to whom Mr. Relly had replied. The 
 statement made in the pamphlet we are now notic- 
 ing, is substantially Mr. Eelly's statement in the reply 
 referred to. 
 
 The fifth class of Universalists, — those " who affirm 
 that it is not sinners, but sin, that will be brought into 
 judgment," — we know nothing of. So far as our knowl- 
 edge extends, they are not mentioned, except in one 
 instance, to be noticed farther on. 
 
 The sixth class were the Winchesterians. They were 
 numerous at the time this pamphlet was published. 
 Mystical interpretations of the Bible were exceedingly 
 distasteful to them, and they had introduced what was, 
 in the main, a more rational exegesis, which was fast 
 supplanting, if it had not already supplanted, except 
 in the localities where Mr. Murray was personally 
 laboring, the peculiar theories of interpretation neces- 
 sitated by the Eellyan scheme. Mr. Murray was deeply 
 stirred by this growing change, and he elsewhere ex- 
 presses himself with great bitterness, as, indeed, he was 
 inclined to feel towards all deviations from his own 
 theory of redemption. It was difiicult for him to be 
 just in his statements of opposing theories. He certainly 
 has not given a fair presentation of Mr. Winchester's 
 views. 
 
 We may suppose, without prejudice, that Mr. Mur- 
 ray's chief object in publishing his "Hints'' was to 
 overcome, if possible, the tendency to depart from Eel- 
 lyanism ; and that he has here made as clear a state- 
 ment of the peculiarities of that theory as he has left 
 us any account of. For this reason, it has historical 
 significance, and is worthy of being preserved. 
 
382 XJNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 The year 1792 was a prosperous one in the rapidly 
 growing Universalist Church. Such was the increasing 
 interest in Boston that Mr. Murray yielded to the solici- 
 tations of his friends there, and gave one-half of his 
 time to the supply of their pulpit. The church edifice 
 becomiag too small for the congregation, it was enlarged 
 to twice its original size. " An excellent organ was set 
 up," and a new hymn-book, the history and peculi- 
 arities of which will be noticed in another place, super- 
 seded the hymns of James and John Eelly. 
 
 The circular letter issued by the Philadelphia Con- 
 vention, in session from May 25 to 29, says : — 
 
 "We have the satisfaction to inform you that the 
 number of churches and societies joined and united with 
 us have increased to fifteen, exclusive of twenty-five soci- 
 eties that have not yet met us in convention." 
 
 Eleven churches were represented by " messengers " 
 at that session, namely, Philadelphia, New Britain, Pike 
 Eun, Penn. ; Wrightstown, Cape May, Pittsgrove, 
 Shiloh, Kingwood, K J. ; Georges Hills, Md. ; Drum- 
 mond Town, Morgantown, Va. The Pike Eun, Georges 
 Hills, and Morgantown churches, situated a long dis- 
 tance west of Philadelphia, asked to be set off in a con- 
 vention by themselves, and their request was granted. 
 A similar request was made by the Boston Church, as 
 follows : — 
 
 "As there appears to be a great improbability that 
 your Annual Conventions will ever be attended by as 
 many delegates from the four New England States as 
 there are or may be churches, by reason of the ilengthy 
 way to so remote a part, and the great poverty of infant 
 
NEW CONVENTIONS. 383 
 
 societies, who will long be without funds, it has therefore 
 been thought advisable that a Convention should be 
 holden in some central part of the four New England 
 States, and that all the churches and societies in these 
 States and Vermont [probably New York is meant] 
 might be invited to attend. This Convention, if holden 
 in the fall, would present an opportunity to you of re- 
 ceiving accounts therefrom in the spring ; and your 
 letters in May might be forwarded to us for consideration 
 at the September meeting ; and our doings of September 
 transmitted for your consideration at the May Conven- 
 tion. Thus a continual exchange of knowledge, or coun- 
 sel, would take place ; and whilst from you we became 
 acquainted with the state of the churches beyond Phila- 
 delphia, the brethren at Philadelphia and to the south- 
 ward would be certified by us of the standing of the 
 churches in these parts. Should it seem meet unto you, 
 dearly beloved, that the within be attended to, and that 
 beneficial effects would result therefrom, we should be 
 pleased with receiving a few lines confirming us in the 
 sentiments thus expressed." 
 
 The Convention appointed a committee to reply, and 
 their answer was approved during the session : — 
 
 "Your information of a proposal of forming a Conven- 
 tion in your parts meets our hearty approbation, upon 
 the full assurance of continuing such a mutual connection 
 as you mention. And perhaps it may be best to have a 
 general meeting of delegates from the several Conven- 
 tions that may be established in some future period. 
 And we are happy to tell you of a similar request of 
 forming a Convention in the West." 
 
 The significance of this request, or proposal, and the 
 answer to it, in connection with the fact that the Asso- 
 
384 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ciation formed at Oxford in 1785 had ceased to exist, 
 will be apparent. If the Universalists of Massachu- 
 setts had kept the old organization alive, there would 
 have been no occasion to suggest the forming of a new 
 one. 
 
 A new minister, Abel Sarjent, pastor of the three 
 western churches, was in attendance at this session. 
 Unfortunately, we know very little concerning him. 
 The letter from the Pike Eun church said : — 
 
 " Our beloved brother, Abel Sarjent, who has faithfully 
 labored these four years in this country, is now, we ex- 
 pect, about to leave us, and we have no room to say 
 aught against it, for he has faithfully labored these four 
 years, and in this country has been instrumental in con- 
 vincing very many ; and we may say it has been chiefly 
 upon his own charges, and he is now thereby so reduced 
 that he is in a likely way to be distressed by the law for 
 want of cash to defray his necessary charges in life, and 
 we cannot help him because it is impossible to obtain 
 cash in this country." 
 
 When Mr. Sarjent began to preach, we have not 
 been able to ascertain. He was a man of keen mind, 
 good acquirements, an original thinker, " as we shall 
 presently see, and of great industry. The letter of the 
 church of Georges Hills also spoke of Mr. Sarjent as 
 
 " a man who has to our knowledge exposed himself now 
 for a long time to uncommon difficulties in the labors of 
 the gospel and for the name of Jesus Christ our Lord; 
 and though he has been often reproached on that account, 
 yet by a due and strict examination we have found the 
 reports to be false in respect of his reproach, and him 
 fully worthy of his place and standing with us (accord- 
 
FREE WILL AND DECREES. 385 
 
 ing to the word of God) as a member in full communion 
 and good standing in our church, and also as our pastor." 
 
 The vexatious questions of divine sovereignty and 
 free will were thrust upon the Convention by this 
 Maryland church in the following portion of their 
 letter : — 
 
 " We have lately passed an act in our church that any 
 member holding that all things that come to pass were 
 irrevocably decreed so of God, and therefore nothing 
 coming to pass is contrary to, or a transgression of, the 
 will of Deity, but everything is consistent with his will 
 that does come to pass, shall not be held in fellowship. 
 And the church unanimously and cheerfully voted that 
 no such member ought by any means to be held in fel- 
 lowship or his standing be retained in the church ; for 
 we conceive that the harboring of such a sentiment or 
 doctrine in a church tends in every way to the dishonor 
 of the church and cause they profess, and is destructive 
 of the order of Christ ; for if every transgression is con- 
 sistent with the decrees, or order, or wUl of the Deity, 
 then of consequence the commands must be inconsistent 
 with the decrees, or order, or will of the Deity, and the 
 commands and orders of God to us as individuals are 
 rendered void, and every transgression and disorder 
 justified. 
 
 "In consequence of the above, we have thought proper 
 to propose the following queries to you : A conformity to 
 the decrees of God must be conformity to the order of 
 God, and how can a due subjection and conformity to the 
 order of God be reprovable ? Is not a reproof a mani- 
 festation of disapprobation ? And will God disapprove 
 of the due execution of his own order or decrees ? How 
 can this be called transgression or disobedience, when all 
 has been done exactly agreeable or consistent with the will 
 
 VOL. I. — 25 
 
386 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the Deity, except God command us to act contrary to his 
 will ? We beseech you, brethren, to send us a full answer 
 to this epistle, especially to the above queries." 
 
 Eevs. Artis Seagrave and Nicholas Cox were in- 
 structed to prepare an answer, which they reported to 
 the Convention on Monday morning. The records show 
 that it was " read by paragraph, and approved," the 
 whole of the morning session being given to the con- 
 sideration of it. The copy retained by the Convention 
 is as follows : — 
 
 "In Convention, Philadelphia, May 27, 1792. 
 
 " Dear Brethren and Fellow-Heirs in the Salvation of 
 Jesus, — We received your letter by Brother Sarjent, and 
 rejoice to hear that God has inclined your hearts to be- 
 lieve the gospel, and openly profess the Universal 
 Saviour ; but lament, at the same time, to hear that there 
 is any animosity or division like to take place among 
 you or any of the dear brethren in your part of the world 
 respecting speculative points in doctrine ; and unf eignedly 
 lament that you have made any decree in your church 
 either to exclude any, or refuse to receive any, merely 
 on account of their sentiment respecting their ideas of 
 the purposes or decrees of God, — these things being 
 beyond the full comprehension of you or us while we see 
 through a glass darkly. These same different opinions 
 have made great confusion and disorder in many soci- 
 eties for ages, and we never find that they had any good 
 tendency. And we do not wonder that men should quar- 
 rel and anathematize one another for sentiment, while they 
 believed that the love of God depended on the belief of 
 the creature ; but for those who believe as you and we 
 do, that the love of God in Christ Jesus is yea and 
 amen ; and that his love to us does not depend on our 
 belief of any theory, but that our knowledge of his love 
 
FREE WILL AND DECREES. 387 
 
 to US in Jesus, and that antecedent to our belief, is the 
 cause of our happiness, our love to God, and union with 
 one another in one common Saviour ; and that in propor- 
 tion to our light or evidence of the truth is our faith, and 
 consequently our joy in the Lord, — for us to refuse or 
 exclude any of our fellow-heirs and blood-bought pur- 
 chase of the Lamb, while they profess to love God, and 
 do not in works deny him, but differ from us in some 
 ideas of the purposes of God, we humbly conceive is con- 
 trary to the principles of universal love we profess, and 
 the examples of our dear Head and Master, who reproved 
 the disciples for forbidding any merely because they did 
 not exactly follow them. 
 
 "These things, dear brethren, were considered when 
 many of us first met in convention to consult on some 
 plan of articles of faith and church government. We 
 met with different ideas ; many of us believed, and still 
 believe, the sentiments for which you condemn your 
 brethren, according to the act of the church mentioned 
 by you, — though not expressed in the same words, per- 
 haps, as you have used to express your abhorrence of 
 them by ; and some of us are in sentiment opposed to 
 these ideas, but we are far from believing that either 
 sentiment ought to exclude any from union in the 
 church. We agreed to disagree in these things, to think 
 and let think according to the measure of light given 
 to us, without censuring one another for said senti- 
 ment. 
 
 " You have requested us to decide on the sentiments 
 you spoke of in your letter ; but, dear brethren, we do 
 not think it our province as a Convention to decide on 
 any such sentiments, or attempt to establish any rule of 
 orthodoxy. This prerogative, we think, belongs only to- 
 our Master. All of us are brethren, and have no right 
 to lord it over God's heritage. We are short-sighted, 
 weak, fallible, and partial creatures ; and who are we 
 
388 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 that we should judge another man's servant ? We are 
 not the judge of the quick, nor of the dead ; we do not, 
 therefore, choose to judge, lest we be judged, and that 
 justly, too, for our ignorant and partial judgment ; and 
 were we to contend in Convention about the sentiments 
 you mention in your letter, what would be the conse- 
 quence ? — or even about many other ideas ? as, per- 
 haps, not two can think alike in all things. Why, the 
 consequence would be to divide, differ, and finally de- 
 stroy our fellowship as a Convention ; and perhaps spread 
 the disorder through the churches we represent, and in- 
 stead of building one another up in tlie essential point, 
 to wit, faith in Jesus, the Saviour of men, we should go 
 on contending who should be greatest in the kingdom of 
 heaven ! 
 
 " You, dear brethren, have, by sending a letter desiring 
 to join, and be received into, the Convention, professed 
 union and a desire of fellowship with the churches that 
 compose this Convention, as you have adopted the 
 Articles of Faith and Plan of Church Government set 
 forth May 25, 1790. These Articles do not require a 
 member of the church to believe or disbelieve the senti- 
 ments you have condemned by the act of your church, 
 neither does the form of church government authorize a 
 church to exclude any member believing in Jesus, for 
 anything but acting contrary to good moral character, 
 and departing from our Articles of Faith. Yet, by the 
 act of your church, though we joyfully receive you, some 
 of us, and perhaps the greatest part of us, must be de- 
 nied communion with you, on the supposition that our 
 sentiments may sometimes lead us to vice ! Has not this 
 been the pretext for all religious persecution in the anti- 
 Christian world ? But may the Lord grant that each of 
 us, dear brethren, that have named the name of the Lord 
 as the Saviour of the world, may depart from this in- 
 iquity, and try to live godly in Christ Jesus, though 
 
FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 389 
 
 those that do not yet know the trutjh may say of us, as 
 they did of Paul, we destroy the law by owe faith. 
 
 " And, dearly beloved and longed for in the Lord, per- 
 mit us as fellow-heirs with you, not to command you, but 
 entreat you, to consider that the sentiments you have 
 mentioned with such abhorrence ought not to be a bar to 
 Christian fellowship in the Church of Christ. And we 
 hope you will so consider it, and not let your law be like 
 that of the Medes and Persians. Let him that cannot 
 bear strong meat have the liberty of eating herbs, and 
 they that are too young to digest herbs, eat milk. And 
 whether you eat or drink, do all to the glory of God, 
 and try to exercise that charity in Jesus that suffereth 
 long and is kind, vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, 
 rejoiceth not in iniquity, thinketh no evil, but rejoiceth 
 in the truth, beareth all things, hopeth all things, believ- 
 eth all things, and never faileth. Try in all things to 
 cultivate a spirit of love and union among yourselves ; 
 let the strong bear the infirmities of the weak." 
 
 The following letter, written by the Moderator of the 
 Convention, shows that the doctrine of no future pun- 
 ishment was already advocated in some of the churches, 
 and, with other differences, was creating divisions : — 
 
 "Philadelphia, May 27, 1792. 
 " Dear Brethren in belief of the restoration of all things : 
 Unknown to any of you personally, and perhaps 
 unheard of, yet to as many as see this and who love 
 the Lord Jesus Christ, greeting : 
 "By our brother Sarjent, who is received by the Con- 
 vention now met in this place, as the messenger from 
 three different churches in your parts, we are informed, 
 and do lament to hear, that there is discord among you 
 who have embraced this great truth. And althougb an 
 apostle says (1 Cor. xi. 19), ' For there must he also here- 
 
390 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 sies among t/ou,' etc., yet we would hope better things of 
 you. Do not rend the body of Jesus, 'for we are mem- 
 bers of his body, of his flesh, and of his hones ' (Eph. vi. 
 30). ' But the body is not one m^m^er, but many. Let 
 not the foot say^ Because I am not the hand I am not of 
 the body.' 
 
 " As an individual I address you, and, according to in- 
 formation, find you are not divided about the extent of 
 salvation, but with respect to the mode of it. True, in- 
 deed, within my own knowledge I find those who have 
 embraced this glorious truth much divided in this matter. 
 But with us we are happy enough to find that these divi- 
 sions tend more to cement than to separate us ; for by 
 this we learn forbearance, brotherly kindness, charity. 
 You need not exercise forbearance or charity towards 
 those who think in all respects with you. I see quite as 
 much difference in the explanation of the mode of salva- 
 tion with those who have embraced this doctrine, as there 
 appears among other sects of contending Christians who 
 have agreed in this, namely, that but a small part of 
 mankind will be saved. But shall we take them for our 
 example with respect to contention ending in divisions ? 
 God forbid. Yea, rather let us set them an example of 
 forbearance, and constrain them to say, See how Uni- 
 versalists love one another. 
 
 " Quarrel no more about the decrees and foreknowledge 
 of God, our common Father. They amount to the same 
 in the breasts of the different parties that hold them. 
 And never let me fix my conclusions to my brother's 
 premises. He can and doth reconcile them to himself. 
 ' With his own Master, he stands or falls.' And blessed 
 be his Master, we may add, ' he shall stand ; for God is 
 able to hold him up.' Again, we find that those disputes 
 too often engender wrath and misrepresentations even of 
 our own sentiments ; for it is almost the invariable con- 
 sequence of flying from one extreme to fall into the 
 
FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 391 
 
 otlier. Hence the different opinions, — such as an end- 
 less hell of misery, or no hell at all in a future state ; or 
 a hell of punishment considered as a place of atonement, 
 — all which I conceive to be equally wrong. Surely, 
 we may safely say that he who ' believeth on the Son hath 
 eoerlasting life ; and he that believeth not shall not see life, 
 but the wrath of God abideth on hiin.' But as all have 
 been in a state of unbelief, ' this shall not see life,' etc., 
 must only mean, while under this state ; and as ' God 
 hath concluded them all in unbelief, that he might have 
 mercy on all,' and as believing surely gives us a mani- 
 festation of this mercy, as many as die without such 
 knowledge must come to it in another state or dispensa- 
 tion, or be deprived of it time without end. You do not 
 believe that death itself will give them such a manifesta- 
 tion ; and as the consequence of this ignorance is pain 
 and misery, we know this must await them till such a 
 manifestation takes place. As for the degree or duration 
 of this blindness and misery, we are not able to say ; but 
 know it must end in the time of the restitution of all 
 things. And therefore we cannot, from divine record, 
 believe in what is called an endless hell ; nor can we be- 
 lieve that the chastisement, suffering, or whatever called, 
 we may endure in a future state or dispensation, can 
 make any atonement or compensation for the offence we 
 have committed. This belongs to our great sacrifice, and 
 that only. 
 
 " Again, I beg, do not divide, wrangle, and destroy one 
 another with doubtful words of disputation. But him- 
 that is weak in the faith receive ye. Do not cast him 
 out, but receive him. What shall I say more ? Shall I 
 tell you that I not only believe that these jarring senti- 
 ments do and will disturb every religious society engaged 
 to know the truth, but also there is a sample of them in 
 every man's own mind, as an individual who is in pur- 
 suit of salvation ? And if this is so, it ought to make 
 
392 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 US bear with one anotlier. Again, I say, do not rend the 
 body of Jesus, nor weaken a single member of it. Re- 
 member that you are watched on all hands. Be there- 
 fore as a city set on a hill, not ashamed to be seen at 
 noonday, and let others so see your good works as to be 
 constrained to glorify your Father who is in heaven. 
 And the most essential good work you can do is to love 
 and assist one another. 
 
 " From your brother in belief of the truth, 
 
 "James Mooke. 
 
 " To the divided brothers at Pike Run, Washington County, 
 Pennsylvania.^' 
 
 The Church at Boston gave the foUowiag statement 
 in regard to the condition of the cause at the east- 
 ward : — 
 
 " The Church at Boston consists of nearly eighty 
 members, who have signed the Articles of Faith, and 
 uniting compact, having fellowship with each other in 
 the belief of the truth, and the order of the gospel. 
 Very many of these, both men and women, see it con- 
 sistent with their profession to present the fruit of their 
 loins in dedication to the Everlasting Father ; and also 
 to break bread in remembrance of the Lord Jesus, with 
 singleness of eye, and a thankful heart. There are 
 others who, having, as they judge, passed beyond all 
 shadows, and laid hold of the substance, look with in- 
 difference upon the things that are seen. A spirit of 
 harmony, however, prevails between both, and he that 
 regardeth and he that regardeth not, avoid judgment 
 each of the other, remembering that to their own Master 
 they stand or fall. In addition to these, we may speak 
 of three or four times the number already mentioned, 
 who usually worship with us, and lend a patient and 
 open ear to the glad tidings of great joy. In a few 
 words, the Society inoreaseth by the good pleasure, of 
 
EEPORT FROM NEW ENGLAND. 393 
 
 our God; and we hope and trust that they may show 
 themselves temperate in all things, and be a pattern 
 unto believers. 
 
 " The Society at Gloueester, Cape Ann, hath been grad- 
 ually lessening by deaths ; and many young people have 
 intermarried among other churches, and sat down be- 
 neath the shadow of another ministry. The situation 
 of our brethren in this town, which is not at present so 
 lovely in prospect as heretofore, may also possibly have 
 arisen, in part, from their being destitute of the preached 
 word for one half of the year, consequent on which, some 
 have forsook the assembling of themselves together at 
 these intermediate seasons, and, instead of progressing 
 in knowledge and love, have rather lapsed into a state 
 of lukewarmness. These remarks, it is but candid to 
 observe, do not apply to the whole of that Society. 
 There are those whose lamps are trimmed, in whose 
 vessels are oil, and whose lights shine before men to 
 the glory of their Heavenly Father. Neither do we, 
 dearly beloved, mention the above in a spirit of censure. 
 For them, the beginning of our strength in the gospel, — 
 for them, a kind of first-fruits unto God of his workman- 
 ship in this land, we feel sorrow and heaviness of heart, 
 lest any, having run well, should now be hindered. And 
 if there are any consolations in Christ, — comfort of 
 love, or fellowship of the Spirit, — fulfil ye, then, we 
 beseech you, our joy ; look on these, the things of oth- 
 ers, and may their hearts receive the brotherly word of 
 exhortation, in due season. 
 
 "At Attlehorough, Massachusetts, there is a small 
 society, collected from that and the adjacent towns. 
 As yet, we have received no accounts of their walk 
 with each other, or what confession of faith they hold 
 to. But, by report from Brother Richards, who abode 
 with them one day and a night, they are come out, and 
 come in, from real principle. 
 
394 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " In Milford, Massachusetts, there are many professors. 
 These have had it in contemplation to build a meeting- 
 house ; but we rather think it will be a late date before 
 it is accomplished. The brethren in this place are averse 
 to system, and generally walk as it seemeth right unto 
 every man. 
 
 " At Bellingham, Grafton, and some other places, such 
 as Oxford, etc., the word is preached once a month. 
 Numbers attend on these occasions, and declare them- 
 selves well pleased ; but there is no society, upon a 
 regular basis, if we except Oxford. 
 
 " Warwick, Egreniont, Hardwick, and Petersham, con- 
 tain several warm friends to the cause. They have come 
 into order in several of these towns, and have not only 
 profession, but also possession. 
 
 "In the State of New Hampshire, the brethren are 
 and have been much scattered. The death of our 
 Brother Parker, which we trust was life unto him in 
 the Lord, left the brethren at Portsmouth without any 
 visible help in teaching. Some attempts were made to 
 supply his place. The watchmen watched, the builders 
 labored, but in vain. Not long since, our elder, Mr. 
 Murray, visited the society, and they appeared well- 
 disposed to unite together, if it was only once in three 
 months that they could hear the good report. We hope 
 that the bands of their union may be strengthened, and 
 their hearts knit together. 
 
 "Rhode Island has but a few who profess the Uni- 
 versal love of God to man. Of these, the brethren in 
 Providence assemble part of the First day in a private 
 house, and the other part of the day they tarry at 
 home, or worship elsewhere. Those that are at New- 
 port, join neither with the world nor with each other. 
 They are afraid of months, of days, and of years ; and, 
 to avoid being entangled with what they deem a yoke 
 of bondage, they keep from even the appearance of 
 
LEGAL TKOTJBLES IN NEW JERSEY. 395 
 
 assembling at any time. Brethren ! these things ought ^ 
 not to be so ! 
 
 " Vermont. By recent accounts therefrom, the wilder- 
 ness blossoms with the Eose of Sharon. The truth of 
 the gospel spreads far and wide in those parts, and the 
 oracles of reason are being daily exchanged for the lively 
 oracles of the living God. 
 
 " Connecticut, as Brother Barns informs us, is re- 
 nouncing early-imbibed prejudices, for late-discovered 
 truths. The meeting-houses are very generally opened 
 to our speakers, and the spirit of opposition declines 
 apace. 
 
 "New York, or rather the interior parts of that State, 
 are beholding more and more of the light that shall 
 increase unto the perfect day ; and many rejoice in the 
 healing rays of the Sun of Eighteousness. 
 
 "This faithful portrait, dearly beloved, hath its bright 
 and pleasing, its dark and painful, colorings. The 'cloud 
 and the pillar of fire,' were the attendants of Israel, 
 until they entered the land of promise. They remain 
 unto this day." 
 
 In New Jersey, legal difficulties disturbed some of 
 the churches. At Kingwood, the Universalists had a 
 severe struggle for the possession of their house of wor- 
 ship, the minority of a former Baptist Society being 
 determined to take the whole, without allowing them 
 any compensation for their share. In 1791, they re- 
 ported to the Convention that a committee of mutual 
 friends had settled the difficulty ; but in 1792, they had 
 to report this condition of things : — 
 
 " Our opponents have frequently locked the meeting- 
 house against us, and as often some of our people have 
 opened it. Now they have gone so far as to get out a 
 State warrant for four of our people, and took them 
 
396 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 before three Justices, who, although they were our ene- 
 mies, allowed adjournment, in order, as we thought, to 
 bring forward our evidences ; but when they appeared, 
 they would not hear them, but bound over two of the 
 four to the February Court ; the other two tliey dis- 
 charged. The Grand Jury sat, but found no bill against 
 them ; but because our opponents plead that their prin- 
 cipal evidence could not come, one of them was dis- 
 charged ; the other continued under his recognizance 
 till the May term. There being then no Grand Jury, 
 our attorney plead that it was unreasonable that a per- 
 son who was charged with breaking open a meeting-house 
 should be bound any longer ; whereupon he was dis- 
 charged. What effect this may have upon our enemies, 
 we know not, — only that they gave us no trouble last 
 Sunday, for we met in peace, thanks to the Lord." 
 
 In September, Eev. Abel Sarjent was in Baltimore 
 where he published the following: — 
 
 " Various Questions to the Teachers in Israel : 
 
 "As I was passing through the streets of Baltimore, in 
 deep meditation, beholding the great activity of many 
 shining gentlemen, as well as those of the fairer sex, — 
 especially those in the bloom of life, — I was led into 
 the following queries, which I humbly request some 
 teachers in Israel (that may find themselves capable) 
 to answer : — 
 
 "We know that a wise master-builder, when he is 
 about to perform any building, is fixed in his intention 
 what to perform ; the plan by which to bring about the 
 performance is devised; and the first stroke that he 
 strikes is expressive, not only of the builder's design, 
 but, also, that he intends and expects to bring this design 
 to be fully effected, and, therefore, makes the attempt to 
 
QUESTIONS TO TEACHERS. 397 
 
 execute the same ; and the first stroke that he strikes 
 is the attempt. 
 
 " If he be a wise builder, he will not make the attempt 
 till he has first set down and well considered the cost, and 
 every obstruction that may come within his knowledge 
 to prevent the accomplishment of the desired effect ; 
 lest, after he has attempted, if he should fail, all that 
 behold him begin to mock, saying, ' This man began to 
 build, and was not able to finish.' (Luke xiv. 27-33.) 
 
 " I. Must not God, who is the Builder of all creation, 
 in creating such noble beings, which are superior to all 
 the rest of his lower creation, have had some particular 
 and grand design concerning the final state of those 
 beings ? 
 
 " II. Is it possible for any being inferior to God, by 
 freedom of will or anything else, to prevent the effect- 
 ing of that which God intended to effect ? No doubt, 
 many may oppose, and thereby involve themselves in 
 ten thousand sorrows ; but is it possible for God finally 
 to fail, or to have any of his intentions frustrated ? 
 
 " III. Is God, who is infinite in knowledge, capable of 
 a succession of ideas ? 
 
 "IV. Was it essential to God to hate a part of his 
 creatures (that is, if there be such a thing, as some say 
 there is), or did sin — that mean production of the devil — 
 produce such a disposition in God, and so cause him to 
 act towards some of his creatures in a way contrary 
 to what he essentially intended ? 
 
 " V. If the devil's design, in introducing sin into the 
 world, was to ruin a part, or the whole, of mankind, 
 which God originally designed for happiness, and the 
 devil's design should be effected in any wise, will it not 
 thence necessarily follow, that the devil has manifested 
 himself more powerful in effecting his designs, than what 
 God has in effecting his? And if, in consequence of 
 this, God should become an enemy to some to whom he 
 
398 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 was once a friend, will it not follow, that the devil, 
 by introducing sin into the world, has produced a change 
 of disposition in God towards some of his creatures, 
 while the devil himself remains unchangeably the same 
 in disposition that he was from the beginning [of his 
 existence as a devil] ? 
 
 " VI. If it be a truth that there is a part of mankind 
 for whom Christ did not die, can it be the duty of that 
 part to believe that Jesus is their true and full Saviour ? 
 And if they were to believe it to be a truth, that Christ 
 did not die for them, could that belief make them happy 
 [or save them from endless woe] ? 
 
 " VII. If God's word shall accomplish that which he 
 pleases, and prosper in that whereto it was sent (Isaiah 
 Iv. 8-12), and God pleases that all should obey and be- 
 lieve the truths therein contained, and his word was 
 sent to accomplish that pleasure, what must be the final 
 result ? 
 
 "A Univeksal Fkiend to Mankind." 
 
 Some mechanics in McAllister's town (now Hanover), 
 York County, Penn., became interested in these ques- 
 tions, and caused them to be translated into German, 
 and circulated in that place, where they attracted so 
 much notice as to create a controversy, in anonymous 
 letters, signed : " A Friend to Sound Eeason and Reve- 
 lation," " An Inhabitant of Hanover," " Friends to the 
 Restitution." The first and last signatures are said to 
 have been used by some of the mechanics, and the other 
 was employed by the Lutheran clergyman, in opposition 
 to Universalism. The latter lost his temper, and be- 
 came so abusive that the mechanics refused to continue 
 the debate, unless he would confine himself to decent 
 language and sound jreason. The letters were after- 
 wards published in pamphlet form, in the German Ian- 
 
CHURCH IN NEW HANOVER. 399 
 
 guage, by the " Friends of the Eestitution," prefaced, in 
 English and German, by the questions which prompted 
 the discussion. 
 
 In 1793, the attendance at the Convention was not as 
 large as in 1792 ; but two new churches were received 
 into fellowship, — one " in Hartford County, near Havre 
 de Grace, Md.," and one " lately constituted in Burling- 
 ton County, N. J., near Jacobstown, and known by the 
 name of New Hanover." Of the first, we have no 
 further information. The latter was a small organiza- 
 tion, the leading spirits in which were John Brown and 
 his wife Alice, especially the latter, who was a very 
 intelligent and zealous woman, the daughter of Eev. 
 John Coward, a distinguished Baptist preacher of that 
 part of ISTew Jersey. Mr. Brown was a man of business, 
 and probably of some means, as he donated to the 
 church an acre of land for a meeting-house, and a free 
 burial-ground. Alice Brown was a liberal contributor 
 towards building the house of worship, and had almost 
 the entire charge of its erection. In 1793, Eev. Abel 
 Sarjent was the pastor of this church, but he did not 
 remaia long with them ; and they seem never to have 
 had a settled minister again. Empson Kirby was an 
 elder in the church, and was thereafter their con- 
 stant messenger to the Convention. At one time they 
 reported to the Convention : — 
 
 "Though we are few, we endeavor to keep up our 
 meetings, mindful of the blessed promise of our Lord, 
 who says that, ' where two or three are met in his name, 
 there he will be in the midst ; ' and we do think that we 
 find the promise fulfilled at times ; but we wish you to 
 visit us as often as any of you can find it convenient. 
 
400 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 We have not had a Universalist minister with us for 
 almost a year." 
 
 Another year they say : " We have had several join 
 us since the last Convention, and believe we should 
 have more if we were favored with preaching." ^ 
 
 The Boston church reported increased prosperity, 
 saying : " Since the assembling of yourselves together, 
 at the last annual meeting, we have been greatly en- 
 larged." The Convention responded : — 
 
 " Our hearts were greatly refreshed by the good news 
 your letter brought us, of the more general spread of the 
 glorious gospel in your parts. And we have no doubt 
 you will be glad when we tell you, it is more so here 
 than has been heretofore. It is certain that truth is 
 spreading in various parts, and there are so many calls 
 for preaching that it is impossible for the few preachers 
 we have among us to supply them." 
 
 The church in Philadelphia had changed their place 
 of meeting, and were holding services hi the Anatomical 
 Hall, Fifth street, between Chestnut and Walnut streets. 
 Eev. Hugh White, who was also a school teacher, was 
 their minister, and one of their representatives to this 
 session of the Convention. Nothing more is known of 
 him than that he died later in the summer, of yellow 
 fever. Major James Moore, also, died with the fever, 
 the same season. The church, shortly after the meet- 
 ing of the Convention, purchased a lot on Ijombard 
 street, above Fourth street. This street was at that 
 time being built up with residences for merchants, and 
 other men of affluence, and the expectation was that it 
 
 1 See A Century of Universalism, pp. 189-199. 
 
UNITARIAN UNIVEESALIbM. 401 
 
 would continue to be the fashionable street of the city. 
 Here the church began to build ; but the appearance 
 and spread of the yellow fever operated, with other 
 causes,, to weaken and cripple it, and the building was 
 but partially finished for several years. 
 
 In June of this year (1793), Eev. Abel Sarjent issued 
 the first number of " The Free Universal Magazine," of 
 which we shall speak more fully in another place. It 
 is mentioned here for the purpose of calling attention 
 to the fact that, at that early date, Universalism was 
 held and advocated on a Unitarian basis. The Maga- 
 zine publishes, with commendation, a lengthy Creed, 
 "adopted by some of our churches, and presented to 
 the consideration of others." 
 
 Its first article reads : — 
 
 "We believe that there is one God, and that there is 
 none other but he ; that there is but one person in the 
 Godhead, and that the fulness of Godhead is included in 
 this one character, Fathee ; that God is a Spirit, infinite, 
 eternal, and unchangeable. In his Being, love, wisdom, 
 power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. A Being 
 who acts, in all he does, entirely from his own Essence, 
 independent of cause or motive by him seen in any 
 of the actions of creatures to excite or move him 
 thereunto." ' 
 
 There are some mystical passages in these Articles 
 of Faith, but Christ is clearly spoken of as " the Son of 
 God, the first and greatest intelligence that was ever 
 produced, or brought forth, by the infinite love, wisdom, 
 and power of the invisible Deity." 
 
 1 The Creed, in full, may be found in the Universalist Quarterly, 
 January, 1878. 
 VOL. I. — 26 
 
402 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Provision was made, in these Articles, for the estab- 
 lishment of free religious inquiring societies, which 
 should be conducted under the direction of the 
 Church; and the same number of the Magazine con- 
 tains a series of 
 
 " Queries Proposed and Answered at the Opening of 
 the Free Eeligious Enquiring Society, under the Direc- 
 tion of the Free Universal Church of Christ, at New 
 Hanover, in Burlington County, N. J., — with a few more 
 added : — 
 
 " Question. — What is life ? 
 
 " Answer. — Life is that certain power, order, and 
 consciousness, from whence all action, sensation, and in- 
 telligence is derived ; and that life is God, and was made 
 manifest in the flesh of Jesus Christ. 
 
 "<?. — What is death? 
 
 " A. — Death is an extinction of the enjoyment of, and 
 communion with, life. Death is not a cause, or producer 
 of an effect ; but it is merely an effect, entirely empty 
 and fruitless ; derived from a cause which, of course, 
 must of necessity cease to exist, when the cause upon 
 which its existence depends is removed. 
 
 " Q. — What is the cause upon which the existence of 
 death depends ? 
 
 " A. — The cause upon which the existence of death 
 depends is a deviation from order, which is transgres- 
 sion ; by this, man was involved in disorder, and fell into 
 darkness ; and so the whole nature of man sunk into con- 
 fusion, and thereby lost immortality, which could not be 
 enjoyed out of order ; so man became subjected to ruin, 
 and to a return to dust again, from whence he was 
 taken. 
 
 " Q. — What is the resurrection ? 
 
 " A. — The resurrection is a re-partaking of immortal- 
 ity, or the being brought into a re-communion with 
 
QUERIES. 403 
 
 immortality (which is God), which never can be enjoyed 
 by any but in that order which God at first ordained for 
 that purpose ; because God cannot violate his own order, 
 nor depart from it to esta;blish order; God cannot go 
 out of his own order to bring any that have deviated 
 from it back into order again. 
 
 " Q. — What is condemnation ? 
 
 " A. — Condemnation is the sentence of a violated law 
 (or order) in the conscience against the violator ; which 
 forbids the violator's peace and rest; which distress 
 cannot be removed but by the violator's obtaining a 
 righteousness which the same law violated will ap- 
 prove of. 
 
 " Q. — How are we to understand the words ' forever,' 
 ' forever and ever,' and ' everlasting,' etc. ? 
 
 " A. — We can understand these words no other way 
 than that they are expressive of undetermined periods ; 
 because it is evident from many places in Scripture that 
 these words are expressive, sometimes of a longer, and 
 sometimes of a shorter, duration of time (see Genesis 
 xvii. 8 ; Exodus xii. 14, 17 ; Numbers x. 8 ; 2 Samuel vii. 
 16 ; Exodus xl. 15 ; Jonah ii. 6 ; Exodus xxi. 6). There 
 is but one rule given in Scripture, whereby we may un- 
 derstand or ascertain the meaning of these expressions, 
 or the duration of time expressed by them ; and that rule 
 is the following, namely, by the nature of the objects imto 
 which those expressions are applied; for instance, in 
 Jonah ii. 6, the word forever is applied to the earth 
 with her bars being about Jonah in the past tense ; now 
 the nature of this object unto which the word forever is 
 here applied was such that we know, from divine testi- 
 mony, that it did not exist any longer than three days 
 and three nights ; the word forever, therefore, in this 
 instance, could be expressive of no longer duration than 
 three days and three nights. 
 
 " Again, in Exodus xxi. 6. Here the object unto which 
 
404 UNIVEBSAUSM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the same word is applied is the servitude of the servant 
 to his temporal master ; and the nature of this object is 
 such, we do assuredly know, that it could not exist any- 
 longer than the servant's lifetime. The word ' forever,' 
 therefore, in this instance, could not be expressive of any 
 longer duration than the servant's lifetime. 
 
 "Again, Exodus xl. 15 (everlasting priesthood). Here 
 the object unto which the word ' everlasting ' is applied 
 is not a priesthood that is made after the power of an 
 endless life (Heb. vii. 16), but to one that is made after 
 the law of a carnal commandment, and was to continue 
 no longer than throughout their generations. The word 
 'everlasting,' therefore, in this instance, could not be 
 expressive of any longer duration than the continuance 
 of the existence of that priesthood. 
 
 " Again, Gen. xvii. 8. Here the word ' everlasting ' is 
 applied to the time of Israel's possessing the land of 
 Canaan. Therefore, the word 'everlasting,' in this in- 
 stance, could not be expressive of any longer duration 
 than the time that the children of Israel were to con- 
 tinue to possess the temporal land of Canaan; as all 
 must grant that that was the object unto which the word 
 was applied. 
 
 " From the remarks already made, it is too evident to 
 be denied that the words ' forever,' and ' everlasting,' 
 etc., are to be understood by the objects unto which they 
 are applied, and are never expressive of any longer durar 
 tion than the existence of those objects ; some of which 
 are longer, and some shorter, as has been shown. As 
 to the words 'forever and ever,' they are allowed, by 
 almost all, to be related to those already mentioned, and 
 therefore are to be understood in the like manner. 
 
 " When these expressions are applied to the life of the 
 saints, they are expressive of endless duration, because 
 the object unto which, in this case, the words are applied, 
 is of that nature that it must necessarily exist without 
 
QUERIES. 405 
 
 end ; hence it is called an endless life. (See Heb. vii. 
 16.) But when the same words are applied to the death 
 of the wicked, they are expressive of a limited and timely 
 duration ; because, in this case, these words are applied 
 to an object [death] which divine testimony assures us 
 cannot exist without end, or always, but will be de- 
 stroyed, and, therefore, will cease to exist. So says the 
 Apostle (1 Cor. xv. 26-54), and so saith the divine Reve- 
 lation (xxi. 4). A7id there shall be no more death. 
 
 " In the Word of God, we are informed of an endless 
 life, but not of an endless death. By the same Word, we 
 are informed of a coming period when there shall be no 
 more death ; but not when there shall be no more life. 
 But as God is life, and is able to triumph victoriously 
 over all that stands in opposition to him, so life will 
 triumph gloriously over death, to the subduing of its 
 power, and bringing it perfectly to naught. 
 
 "When the words 'everlasting,' and 'forever,' are 
 applied to the joys and triumphs of the saints, they 
 are to be understood expressive of endless duration, be- 
 cause the object unto which they are applied [namely, the 
 triumphs and joys of the saints], divine testimony assures 
 us, will continue to exist, world without end. [Isaiah 
 xlv. 17 : But Israel shall be saved in thb Lord, with an 
 everlasting salvation; ye shall not be ashamed, nor con- 
 founded, world without end.'] But when those expressions 
 are applied to the blindness, shame, and miseries of the 
 wicked, they are to be understood as expressive of a lim- 
 ited duration, and of no longer duration than the exist- 
 ence of the objects unto which they are applied, which, 
 divine testimony assures us, must sooner or later cease 
 to exist. [See Eev. xxi. 4 ; 1 Cor. xv. 28 : And there 
 shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying ; neither 
 shall there be any more pain, but God shall be All ist 
 Ax,jj. Isaiah xxv. 7, 8 : And he will destroy in this 
 mountain the face of the covering east over all people, and 
 
406 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the veil that is spread over all nations. He will swallow 
 ttp death in victory y and the Lord God will wipe away tears 
 from off all faces, etc.] 
 
 " Hence, from the Word, we are taught to believe that 
 the righteous shall never be ashamed, world without 
 end ; but we are not thereby informed that any shall 
 be ashamed, or blind, or wretched, or miserable, world 
 without end. We also are by the Word informed that 
 there is a period before us promised, when there shall be 
 no more sorrow, crying, nor pain, — but not when there 
 shall be no more joy, pleasure and happiness ; but we are 
 well assured by the sacred records, that the latter shall 
 be continued in endless existence, by the continuance of 
 the existence of its cause, namely, life and order, with him 
 that has the power of it; while the existence of the 
 former shall be discontinued, by a total destruction of the 
 existence of its cause, namely, sin and disorder, with him 
 that has the power of it ; so death shall be destroyed out 
 of existence, with him that has the power of death. 
 Amen." 
 
 Evidently, this was a period of great freedom in the 
 investigation and expression of opinions in the Univer- 
 salist ranks, not only within the territorial limits repre- 
 sented in the Convention, but far beyond ; and at times 
 it threatened division and alienation among the believ- 
 ers. A few extracts from the pages of " The Free Uni- 
 versal Magazine," will show the extent and character of 
 these investigations. 
 
 In advocacy of the doctrine of intense future pun- 
 ishment, Christopher Marshall, who furnished several 
 articles for the Magazine, thus wrote: — 
 
 " Sin is of such a horrid and tormenting nature, that 
 there shall be indignation and wrath, tribulation and 
 anguish, upon every soul of man which doeth evil, both 
 
CHRISTOPHER MARSHALL. 407 
 
 Jew and Gentile (Rom. ii. 9) ; and that to such a de- 
 gree, that many will not only wish they had never been 
 born, nor seen the light of the sun, but will even gnaw 
 their tongues with pain, and curse their God, and their 
 king, and look upwards. Nevertheless, after this dark 
 and horrid night of Aionion torments, they will, by 
 the blood of the everlasting Covenant, be sent forth 
 out of that pit wherein is no water. They shall hear 
 the voice of the Lord reproving them, as Job did, and 
 wiU clothe themselves with as manifold and greater hu- 
 mility than he (Job xlii. 2, 6), as their torments were 
 severer." 
 
 The author of the above was an avowed and active 
 Universalist, although never connected with a Univer- 
 salist church, or congregation. He was born a Quaker, 
 in 1709, and was expelled from their Society at the 
 commencement of the Eevolution, for maintaining the 
 lawfulness of defensive war. Having at this period 
 accumulated quite a fortune, he retired from business, 
 and gave himself, with great ardor, to the support of 
 the American cause ; and was " on friendly and confi- 
 dential terms with many of the leading men in the 
 Continental Congress, and the new government of 
 Pennsylvania." His attention was probably directed 
 to Universalism by the perusal of Siegvolk's " Everlast- 
 ing Gospel," which he greatly admired, and generously 
 distributed copies of it to eminent men who enjoyed his 
 friendship. In his diary for May 9, 1775, he thus 
 mentions the result of one of these gifts : — 
 
 "Christopher Gadsden [member of Congress from 
 South Carolina] came to see me, and dined with me. 
 In conversation, he expressed the great satisfaction he 
 had derived in reading some of the books he had re- 
 
408 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ceived from me, when he last went , home to Carolina 
 from this city, particularly Paul Siegvolk's book, entitled 
 ' The Everlasting Gospel,' and those two books entitled 
 ' The World Unmasked, or The Philosopher the Greatest 
 Cheat,' requesting that if it should please God that he 
 and I should live to see peace and harmony once more 
 restored among us in these parts, I would promote a 
 correction of ' The Everlasting Gospel,' and have it, with 
 the two other volumes of the ' World Unmasked,' fairly 
 and neatly printed, unto which he would subscribe 
 largely, and, upon completing them, I might draw on 
 him to the amount of sixty guineas, which he would 
 immediately pay. This conversation gave me great 
 pleasure." 
 
 Nearly a year later he makes this entry : — 
 
 " March 18, 1776. After dinner went down to Samuel 
 and John Adams' lodgings ; not at home. I left there 
 with the maid the works of George Stonehouse, neatly 
 bound and lettered, namely, ' Universal Restitution,' 
 ' Scripture Doctrine,' ' Universal Restitution Further De- 
 fended,' and ' Christ's Temptations Real Eacts,' etc., as a 
 present." 
 
 During Mr. and Mrs. Murray's visit to Philadelphia 
 in the summer of 1790, they were for a while the guests 
 of Mr. Marshall, and Mrs. Murray writes with great 
 enthusiasm of his library, and of his manuscripts which 
 she perused. He died in 1797, having executed his 
 will a year before, in which he made an explicit dec- 
 laration of his faith that Christ " will, in the ages to 
 come, ' put an end to sin, finish transgression, and bring 
 in everlasting righteousness ' unto all lapsed beings, as 
 it stands recorded in the Scriptures." 
 
FUTURE PUNISHMENT. 409 
 
 Another correspondent of the Magazine, Eev. J. 
 Bailey, of Kentucky, thus alludes to several differences 
 of opinion, and among them to denial of future pun- 
 ishment : — 
 
 " I am sorry to hear that there is any likelihood of a 
 jar amongst the few witnesses for God's universal love 
 at this time especially, as they are under the united 
 frowns of all other Christian societies ; and the declara- 
 tive interest of Christ and his everlasting gospel much 
 depends upon their unity. 
 
 " Though I confess that Calvinism, as it relates to the 
 decrees of election and reprobation, appears to me to be 
 replete with blasphemy, inasmuch as it makes the blessed 
 and adorable God the author of all wickedness ; never- 
 theless we ought to exercise great tenderness towards 
 those brethren who hold with election in the universal 
 system, provided they keep up the idea of the future dis- 
 pensations of Christ, in the distribution of rewards and 
 punishments, till the close of the mediatory office of 
 Christ, when God shall be All in All. 
 
 " Those who hold the salvation of all men, exclusive of 
 the future dispensations of Christ in the distribution of 
 rewards and punishments (if there be any such), upon 
 the most charitable conclusion, I humbly conceive they 
 are not aware how near they are bordering on gross 
 deism, and an implicit, if not a wilful, denial of the 
 sacred Scriptures ; and hope they will see that that part 
 of their principles is a moth in their system, and will 
 become a check to the progress of the truth, inasmuch as 
 it stands in direct opposition to such a number of plain 
 and unequivocal texts that pronounce future punishment 
 upon those who die impenitent, which have as good a 
 right to compose a part of our creed as the most gracious 
 promises. 
 
 "But I need not enlarge upon this subject. I see you 
 
410 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 have discovered the deformity of Calvinism, and am 
 happy that you have entered your protest against it. It 
 is an error that I have long since contested in the regular 
 Baptist and Presbyterian societies, and have often de- 
 clared myself an adversary to it, both in public and pri- 
 vate ; and from report have greatly feared what you have 
 said in your little book, — ' that th6re would be a divis- 
 ion in the Universalist Society on account of it ; ' know- 
 ing that whenever a Universalist imbibes Calvinism, and 
 especially if he denies a state of rewards and punish- 
 ments after death, it amounts fully to Antinomianism." 
 
 Of the writer of the above little is known, except 
 what he communicated to the Magazine June 16, 1793. 
 Writing from " Lincoln County, Kentucky, Eush Branch 
 Meeting-house," he said : — 
 
 " It is now about nineteen months since we (William 
 Bledsoe and myself) were expelled from our former soci- 
 ety (the Separate Baptists) for the belief of the iinal 
 restoration of all things to a union with, and enjoyment 
 of, God in Christ Jesus ; and we have had to bear up 
 under a storm of slander, prejudice, ignorance, and ill- 
 will. Notwithstanding all this, the Universal cause yet 
 gains ground. We have four churches constituted in this 
 country, five ordained ministers, and several young gifts. 
 We hold conferences twice a year by messengers from 
 the churches. The number of members now in Society 
 in Kentucky is about two hundred, we hope all walking 
 in love ; besides many other Christians in different soci- 
 eties who believe in the universal love of God, who have 
 not joined with us in society yet, for reasons best known 
 to tliemselves." 
 
 From still another and very different source we de- 
 rive evidence of the spread of Universalism in Kentucky 
 
KENTUCKY UNIVERSALISTS. 411 
 
 at this period. Eev. Peter Cartwright, a Methodist 
 preacher, makes several allusions to it in his "Auto- 
 biography." On page 40 he says : — - 
 
 « Eev. James O. Kelly left the M. E. Church in 1792. 
 He was a popular and powerful preacher, and drew off 
 many preachers and thousands of members with him. 
 He formed what he called the Republican Methodist 
 Church, flourished for a few years, and then divisions 
 and subdivisions entered among his followers. Some of 
 his preachers turned Arians, some Universalists, and 
 some joined the so-called New Lights, and some returned 
 to the M. E. Church." 
 
 On page 28, he mentions that a Dr. Beverly Allen, 
 who had been a travelling preacher iii the Methodist 
 Episcopal Church, became a Universalist ; and on page 
 29, he says that in Logan County, in 1793, there was 
 a "Baptist minister, an old man of strong mind and 
 good, very good, natural abOities, who, having been 
 brought up a rigid Calvinist, and having been taught 
 to preach the doctrine of particular election and repro- 
 bation, at length his good sense revolted at the horrid 
 idea, and having no correct books on theology, he 
 plunged into the opposite extreme, namely. Universal 
 Redemption." 
 
 Finally, on page 48, he speaks of a revival commenc- 
 ing in 1801, and spreading through almost the entire 
 inhabited parts of Kentucky, Tennessee, and the Caroli- 
 nas ; and says that, as one result of it, " Universalism 
 was almost driven from the land." 
 
 " C. H.," a New York correspondent of the Magazine, 
 of whom nothing further is known, furnished an article 
 on anti-Trinitarianism, in which he said : — 
 
412 UNI VERS ALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " It is not at all surprising that the doctrine of Univer- 
 sal Salvation and anti-Trinitarianism should meet with 
 so little comparative success, and be so coolly received. 
 . . . And as for the doctrine of the Trinity, I am of 
 opinion it was first broached by some new-fangled soph- 
 ist, and promulgated by fallacious cavillers, till at last it 
 stole into the creeds of established churches, where it 
 has remained so long uncontradicted. And I believe 
 that there are very few men of sense belonging to those 
 churches which profess these doctrines but are convinced 
 of their absurdity, though from their peaceable disposi- 
 tion and diffidence, as before hinted, they do not openly 
 oppose them." 
 
 The entire article is emphatically and strongly Uni- 
 versalist, and in a succeeding number of the Magazine 
 there is a report of a " Speech delivered at a Debate in 
 a Literary Society in New York," by " C. H.," on the 
 question, " Whether the doctrine of Universal Salvation 
 is agreeable to Scripture or not ? " taking decidedly and 
 with ability the Universalist side. 
 
 Drs. Smith and Young are in the list of subscribers 
 to the " Free Univeral Magazine,'' and it is not improb- 
 able that they were members of the debating society 
 which considered Universalism in New York in 1793. 
 
 The editor of the Magazine took ground against the 
 doctrine of future punishment. The following queries 
 and answers from his pen were addressed to " Mr. and 
 Mrs. Brown '' : — 
 
 * 
 
 " Query I. Is it not the inward or celestial man, who 
 in Scripture is called the new creature ? 
 
 " If any man be in Christ he is a new creature ; though 
 the outward man perish, saith . Paul, the inward man 
 (which I suppose to be the new man) is renewed day by 
 day. See Eph. iii. 16 ; Romans vi. 22 ; 2 Cor. iv. 16. 
 
QUERIES. 413 
 
 ■ " I think it is said concerning the inward or new man, 
 that he is created after God, in righteousness and true 
 holiness. See Eph. ii. 24 ; Colos. iii. 10. 
 
 " Query II. Is it the old or outward man that com- 
 mits the sins we are guilty of, or is it the new and inward 
 man that is a sinner ? 
 
 " He that, or whoso, is born of God (which must be 
 the new man) sinneth not, or doth not commit sin ; he 
 cannot sin, because he is born of God (1 John iii. 9). In 
 this the children of God are manifest, and the children 
 of the devil. They which are the children of the flesh 
 are not the children of God. See Romans ix. 8. 
 
 " The promise was but to the seed ; and the children of 
 the promise only are counted for the seed. See Romans 
 ix. 8. 
 
 " Query III. Is it the child of the flesh, the old man, 
 that rises from the child of God, or the new man that 
 rises ? 
 
 " Jesus said concerning those that rise from the dead 
 (speaking unexceptionally), 'They are the children of 
 God, and are equal to the angels of God.' See Luke xx. 
 36. And John says that the children of God do not 
 commit sin. See 1 John iii. 9, 10. 
 
 " The Apostle saith, ' If any man be in Christ, he is a 
 new creature ; old things are passed away, behold all 
 things are become new.' And surely all that rise from 
 the dead must be new creatures, and must be in Christ ; 
 for ' in Christ shall all be made alive.' 
 
 " It is the new man, and not the old, that rises from 
 the dead, and the new man never committed sin. How 
 can there be a punishment for sin after the resurrection ? 
 
 " Query IV. If to those who are raised from the dead 
 old things are passed away, and all things are become 
 new, pray what sins are those who rise from the dead 
 punished for ? If only the new man, who is called the 
 child of God, rises from the dead, and if the new man 
 
414 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 never sinned, pray how can he be punished according to 
 his works ? Surely if his works were not sinful then 
 he cannot deserve punishment. Reader, judge ! hearer, 
 answer." 
 
 Mr. Sarjent also took ground against the doctrine of 
 vicarious atonement and imputed righteousness. He 
 said, — 
 
 "From whence have we derived the idea of Christ's hav- 
 ing already satisfied the demands of the law, or justice, 
 for all men ? or that the personal righteousness of Christ, 
 short of its being wrought in us, and independent of our 
 partaking thereof, is that which justifies us ? Pray what 
 did justice demand of the creature ? Not that one man 
 should be righteous for all the rest, and the rest remain 
 unrighteous ; for this could not have established order in 
 the creation ; but that all should obey, and be holy before 
 God. This is what the law required ; this is what the 
 command called for ; and this is what justice demanded ; 
 and surely that which justifies us is what justice de- 
 manded, except the demand is changed, which cannot be. 
 
 "True, it is said that as by the disobedience of one 
 man many were made sinners, so by the obedience of 
 one shall many be made righteous. Mark, nought is 
 made righteous already, but shall be made so. Mankind 
 was never affected by the sin of Adam to condemnation 
 in any greater degree than they were made partakers of 
 that sin ; so shall we not be affected by the righteousness 
 of Christ to justification in any greater degree than we 
 are made partakers of that righteousness. 
 
 " The law of God was a divine rule or system of life 
 from eternity, established by him, not from an expecta- 
 tion of any advantage arising thereby to himself from 
 the creature ; but it being a transcript of his moral per- 
 fections, and expressive of his nature, God was pleased 
 to appoint it as the only rule of life wherein we might 
 
NO IMPUTED RIGHTEOUSNESS. 415 
 
 enjoy communion with God and immortality, and so be 
 truly happy. Hence the creature's salvation and happi- 
 ness are the chief objects which render the creature's 
 conformity to the law and reconciliation to God neces- 
 sary, because God stands in no need of anything from 
 creatures. Upon this does the creature's salvation and 
 happiness depend, and in this does the creature's salvation 
 and happiness consist ; therefore it is inconsistent to sup- 
 pose that one man's righteousness should be accepted 
 in place and instead of all the rest, and they accepted 
 and justified thereby, short of their partaking of that 
 righteousness, or in any greater degree than in propor- 
 tion to their partaking thereof. 
 
 " From these observations I humbly conceive that it is 
 just as impossible or improper to say that Christ is hap- 
 piness and life for us, independent of our partaking of 
 that life and happiness, as to say he has satisfied the law 
 and justice in our stead, independent, or short of, our 
 partaking of God's righteousness and becoming reconciled 
 to God. 
 
 "For us to be justified, and for the law and justice to 
 be satisfied -with us, I conceive, is for us to be brought 
 into, and confirmed in, a justified state ; that is, a state 
 ■which the divine law and justice approves of, and which 
 state is attainable in this life. But some men may ask 
 me how. I answer, by a derivation of that life divine 
 from Jesus, the quickening Spirit ; which will never fail 
 to be granted unto every soul who receives Jesus Christ 
 as he is held fortli in the gospel ; for ' to as many as receive 
 him, to them gives he powerr to become the sons of God.'' 
 
 " By deriving a new and spiritual life from Christ, 
 who is called the Beead of life, the soul becomes quick- 
 ened from a state of death in trespasses and sins ; is 
 raised from a temporary life to the enjoyment of an end- 
 less life (Heb. vii. 16), and by this the soul becomes 
 transformed by the renewing of the mind, being begotten 
 
416 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 from above ; the new man, the descendant of the second 
 Adam, becomes constituted in the old ; and the new and 
 inward man, being not a child of the flesh, but a child of 
 promise, is counted for one of the seed to whom the 
 promise was made, being, by the spirit of adoption, made 
 a child of God, and so an heir of God, and a joint-heir 
 with Christ; and therefore shall be glorified together 
 with him. This is that spiritual Jew which is a Jew 
 inwardly, and who is circumcised in heart ; and this is 
 that Israelite in whose heart is written, and in whose 
 mind is printed, the spiritual law of God, and whose 
 praise is not of men — being hidden (Psalm Ixxxiii. 3), 
 and invisible to the world (1 John iii. 1), — but of God ; 
 being found approved in the eye of the law and justice, 
 and therefore is commended of the Lord (2 Cor. x. 18). 
 
 "This inward, or new man, distinct from the outward 
 and old man, is every way perfectly justifiable in the eye 
 of the law and justice ; being perfectly conformed there- 
 unto, and delighting therein continually. ' I delight in 
 the law of God after the inward man.' This is justifica- 
 tion ; this is reconciliation to God ; and this is that child 
 of God that cannot commit sin. This is the time, and 
 not before, that law and justice is satisfied with (or ap- 
 proves of) that soul ; and this is the time that the salvar 
 tion (or deliverance) of that soul is effected; for now, 
 and not before, is the time that the soul is brought to 
 call on the name of the Lord; and '■whoso calleth on 
 his name' (saith the Prophet and the Apostle) 'shall 
 be delivered.' 
 
 "If our obedience to the law, as individuals, be not 
 necessary, as above hinted, in order to our justification 
 as individuals, how could our disobedience, as individuals, 
 render us condemnable. I humbly crave an answer." 
 
 So also, in answer to a correspondent, Mr. Sarjent 
 wrote the following on the " Satisfaction of Justice " — 
 
EEV. ABEL SARJENT. 417 
 
 " Justice at first required obedience from every indi- 
 vidual of the human race, and as justice is unchangeable 
 in its requisitions, nothing short of such obedience can 
 possibly be satisfactory to justice. Mere punishment 
 can never be satisfactory to pure justice, but universal 
 obedience is ; because this is what justice requires ; and 
 as Jesus is engaged to establish universal obedience by 
 reconciling all things to God, it is considered with G-od 
 as already done in him, because he is not liable to be de- 
 feated in any of his undertakings ; therefore justice in 
 this sense is satisfied in Jesus." 
 
 These views, so similar to those avowed by Caleb 
 Eicli, and afterwards by Hosea Ballou, found a zealous 
 exponent in Eev. Abel Sarjent, who probably was igno- 
 rant of the existence of the above-mentioned worthies. 
 It is unfortunate that we have no knowledge of the steps 
 by which he was led to these conclusions, and that with 
 the end of the first and only volume of his magazine he 
 vanishes from our sight. In 1793 he resided at New 
 Hanover, N. J., supplying the pulpit of the church in 
 that place, and also preaching at Shiloh and Cape May, 
 in the same State. Before the year closed he had 
 moved to Baltimore, where he was keeping a "book- 
 store at the head of Market Street," whence he issued 
 his prospectus for a second volume of the magazine, 
 " to commence as soon as five hundred copies are sub- 
 scribed for ; " but as the first volume had but one hun- 
 dred and forty-eight subscribers, it is probable that 
 the conditions of commencing a second were never 
 complied with. What became of him after March, 
 1794, we cannot ascertain. Until recently the author 
 has supposed him to be identical with the editor and 
 publisher of "The Lamp of Liberty," a Universalist 
 
 VOL. I. — 27 
 
418 tJNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 magazine irregularly published in Cincinnati in 1827; 
 but a letter of Eev. J. Kidwell, written in 1847, de- 
 scribes the editor of that magazine as bearing the name 
 of Abel M. Sergent, who was in early life, and until 
 1802, a Baptist, when he became a believer in the 
 annihilation of the wicked, and after that organized a 
 sect called the Halcyons, and then another new sect, 
 and finally " became a Universalist of the Origen cast." 
 This man could not possibly have been the editor of 
 " The Free Universal Magazine." 
 
 On the 4th of September, 1793, a " General Conven- 
 tion" of the "Universal Churches and Societies in 
 Massachusetts, Ehode Island, New Hampshire, Ver- 
 mont, Connecticut, and New York," was held at Oxford, 
 Mass. No record of its proceedings has been preserved. 
 It issued a circular letter, signed by John Murray, 
 moderator, and George Eichards, clerk; and we have 
 no means of knowing what others were in attendance, 
 except Eev. Michael Cof&n, who was then preaching in 
 Vermont and the adjacent portions of New York. The 
 circular letter is addressed — 
 
 "To their brethren in the faith of the gospel, resident 
 at Boston, Gloucester, Eehoboth, Bellingham, Milford, 
 Providence, Attleborough, Grafton, Oxford, Charlton, 
 Sutton, Thompson, Ward, Richmond, Warwick, Orange, 
 Winchester, Clarendon, ApoUett [Pawlet], Kingsbury, 
 Whitehall, Granville, Ballstown [Ballston], Milton, 
 Portsmouth, Alstead, Langdon, Chesterfield, Hardwick, 
 Petersham, Grantham, Warner, Deering, Woodstock, Pres- 
 ton, Wallingford, etc. ; and to every church and society 
 scattered abroad in the States of Massachusetts, Rhode 
 Island, New Hampshire, Connecticut, Vermont, and New 
 York." 
 
MR. MURRAY MOVES TO BOSTON. 419 
 
 We are not to suppose that societies or churches ex- 
 isted in all these thirty-six places ; and it is now im- 
 possible to designate, with few exceptions, which of 
 them had organizations. 
 
 Tliis Convention, under slightly different names from 
 time to time, has not failed to hold an annual session 
 from 1793 to the present time. It is the parent of the 
 present " UniversaUst General Convention," there being 
 no ground for the opinion which very generally prevails 
 in the denomination that our present general organiza- 
 tion grew out of the Oxford Association of 1785. It is 
 very certain that no session of that body was held after 
 1787. The fact that the New England Universalists 
 sought advice, if not authority, from the Philadelphia 
 Convention of 1792 with regard to organizing a con- 
 vention for the "four New England States," is pre- 
 sumptive evidence that no convention or association 
 was then in existence in that locality, and may be con- 
 sidered as conclusive proof that the Oxford Association 
 of 1785 had become defunct. 
 
 In October, 1793, Mr. Murray moved to Boston, 
 " stipulating with the Gloucesterians," Mrs. Murray 
 says, " that he should occasionally visit them, and that 
 they should be allowed to command his presence upon 
 every distressing or important exigence; and the dis- 
 tance being no more than an easy ride .of a few hours, 
 the adjustment was accomplished without much diffi- 
 culty. Yet did the preacher continue dissatisfied until 
 the establishment of his successor, in the midst of his 
 long-loved and early friends." 
 
 Eev. George Eichards, in a letter written in 1802, 
 says that " Mr. Murray has confessed since he left Cape 
 
42^ UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Ann, tliat he has had reasons to be sorry for it." ^ 
 Mr. Mtirray's installation in Boston took place on the 
 23d of 'October, being conducted by the senior deacon, 
 Oliver W. Lane.^ 
 
 Aon incident occurred in the northeast part of Penn- 
 sylvania in 1793, which had much influence in pro- 
 motiing the cause of Universahsm ui that then new and 
 rapidly improving section of the country. Eev. Noah 
 Murray, mentioned in a previous chapter, had settled 
 in the Wyoming Valley in 1785, and in 1789 had been 
 appointed a justice of the peace for Luzerne County. 
 In 1791 he had made his home in Athens, in that 
 county, and was preaching there and in the neighboring 
 town of Sheshequin, the friends of Universalism in 
 those two places having effected a more or less com- 
 plete organization. In Sheshequin a small society of 
 Baptists had been brought together by the zealous 
 labors of Eev. Moses Park, who was employed during 
 the week as a teacher of a common school, and also as 
 a teacher of music, while on Sundays he preached the 
 gospel as held by the Baptists. Mr. Park was much 
 alarmed at the success which attended Mr. Murray's 
 labors, and having great coniidence in the truth as held 
 by the Baptists, believed that he could easily silence 
 his heretical neighbor. In this conviction he was joined 
 by Joseph Kinney, Esq., a Baptist deacon, "a great 
 reader and a close and logical reasoner, irreproachable 
 in his 'integrity, and a man of mark among his towns^ 
 men.'" A challenge was therefore sent to Mr. Murray 
 to meet these gentlemen in a dispute on Universalism 
 
 ' TJniversalist Quarterly, July, 1872, p. 282. 
 
 " See Life of Murray, edition of 1870, pp. 361-363. 
 
EEV. MOSES PARK. 4211 
 
 at the residence of Mr. Kinney. Mr. Murray granted 
 them an immediate opportunity ; and at sunset,, one 
 evening in the summer of 1793, they sat down. Bibles 
 in hand, to the contest, "Mr. Park having procured 
 the only large Bible with a Concordance there was in 
 the country." Sunrise the next morning found them 
 still sitting there, the challengers acknowledging their 
 defeat, and rejoicing in the belief of the doctrine of 
 universal salvation. 
 
 The late Colonel Joseph Kingsbury wrote a bio- 
 graphical sketch of Mr. Park, which was published 
 in "The Herald of Gospel Truth and Watchman of 
 Liberty," at Montrose, Penn., Jan. 16, 1833 ; it gives 
 many facts in regard to him, which we here briefly sum- 
 marize. Moses Park was born in Preston, Conn., Aug. 
 1, 1766, and at ten years of age moved with his father 
 to the Wyoming Valley, from whence they were com- 
 pelled to flee for their lives at the time of the Indian 
 massacre, July, 1778, and returned to Connecticut. 
 Here the lad availed himself of further educational 
 advantages, and at the age of seventeen began to 
 teach school in Warwick, N. Y. While there he 
 united with the Baptist church, and on returning 
 to Preston in 1789, joined by letter the Baptist 
 church in Stonington. Two years later he moved to 
 Sheshequin, bearing with him a certificate from the 
 church that he had "for some time past been a 
 regular member of the First Baptist church in Stoning- 
 ton, and still so remains. The church esteem him to 
 have a gift in preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ our 
 Lord." 
 
 Of the controversy with Eev. Mr. Murray, and the 
 
422 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 subsequent career of Mr. Park, his biographer thus 
 writes : — 
 
 " As it is almost forty years since the writer of this 
 memoir heard the particulars of this controversy, he can- 
 not state it iu detail; nor does he recollect the texts of 
 Scripture brought forward by the challenger in defence 
 of his cause, except one, and this was the forty-fourth 
 verse of the eighth chapter of John : ' Ye are of your 
 father the devil, and the lusts of your father ye will do.' 
 This was brought forward with a view to prove that the 
 wicked were the children of the devil. But Mr. Murray 
 compelled his opponent to acknowledge that the devil 
 was not the father of a single child of the human family, 
 but that God was the Father of us all. He also proved 
 to the satisfaction of Mr. Park, by this same John, that 
 that which was meant by this text was, to be destroyed : 
 ' For this purpose was the Son of God made manifest, 
 that he might destroy the works of the devil.' There- 
 fore, if mankind were not the workmanship of the devil, 
 — not made by him, — it was not man that was to be de- 
 stroyed, but the principle of sin attached to him, which 
 the devil was the father of, and which the Son of God 
 came to destroy. 
 
 " Suffice it to say, that all the strong texts, and 
 all the arguments brought forward by Mr. Park, were 
 swept away like thistle-down before the wind. He ac- 
 knowledged himself beat ; and not only beat, but con- 
 verted to Universalism ! His Baptist brethren did not 
 possess the same magnanimity. One of them had so 
 much of the works of the devil about him, and so inimi- 
 cal was he to Mr. Murray in consequence' of this defeat 
 of his minister, that he said, ' If Esquire Murray should 
 finally be saved, and go to heaven, he did not want to go 
 there himself.' Mr. Murray replied: 'You cannot help 
 yourself, Brother S , you have got to go there. When 
 
EEV. MOSES PARK. 423 
 
 our Saviour has destroyed the works of the devil, with 
 which you are now connected, you will be perfectly will- 
 ing to go in my company.' 
 
 " Our Brother Park, immediately following the above 
 controversy, commenced preaching TJniversalism. He 
 was the first preacher of this doctrine that the writer 
 of this article ever heard ; and this was on the sixth day 
 of June, 1794. It was new to the writer at the time. 
 Moreover, it appeared somewhat strange to one who had 
 been brought up according to the strictest sect of the 
 Presbyterians. It nevertheless appeared to be a glorious 
 doctrine. And what made it appear the more so, was 
 the discovery the writer soon made, that it was a doctrine 
 easily proved. 
 
 " Mr. Park was now forsaken by his Baptist friends ; 
 and to so high a pitch were their prejudices excited, 
 that they refused to give him the hand in salutations. 
 They could not deny that he was a Christian in practice,, 
 and therefore they considered him the more dangerous. 
 They said he would be sorry for deserting them, and 
 would finally come back to their faith. He replied, ' It 
 would be coming back, and not going forward, to return 
 to them.' 
 
 "Mr. Park continued to preach the gospel in this 
 place till the year 1797. At this time, much was said 
 about New Connecticut, now Ohio. And Mr. Park, 
 although of a slender constitution; started for that 
 country in May of this year. At this time, he had two 
 children. With these, and his wife, he bid adieu to his 
 connections and friends in this quarter, and after a long 
 and fatiguing journey arrived in the country in which 
 he had contemplated settling. He made a stand near 
 the Chagrin River, and took up a lot of land, which, at 
 this time, was twenty-five miles from any inhabitants. 
 For six months after he arrived at this place, he saw no 
 human beings (except his own family), but two hunt- 
 
424 UNIVERSALISII m AMEEICA. 
 
 ers, who occasionally called at his hut. The dountry 
 soon after this began to be rapidly settled ; and in May, 
 1799, Mr. Park was appointed a Justice of the Peace. 
 His commission came from Arthur St. Clair, who, at this 
 time, was Governor of the territory northwest of the 
 Eiver Ohio. Previous to this, however, Mr. Park had 
 been attacked by a violent fit of sickness, which hap- 
 pened at a time when no physicians were to be had, and 
 no nurses, except his wife. This sickness, with the 
 mighty forest he had previously encountered, nearly 
 destroyed his constitution. The unhealthiness of the 
 country, and his feeble situation, induced his friends in 
 Pennsylvania to advise his return to Sheshequin. Ac- 
 cordingly, in September, 1801, he returned to Sheshe- 
 quin, having sold his farm at Chagrin for a price 
 sufficient to purchase a small farm in this place. This 
 he shortly sold again, for an advanced price, and bought 
 another farm, in the town of Athens, on the east side, 
 and adjoining the Susquehanna Eiver, about a mile 
 below the village of Athens. Having now a situation 
 sufficiently eligible to support himself and family, he 
 commenced preaching again the doctrine of God's im- 
 partial grace to mankind. Believing himself now amply 
 provided for, in a pecuniary sense, he would take no 
 compensation for dispensing the gospel. ' Freely it came 
 to him, and freely he would administer it.' He con- 
 tinued thus, laborihg week days to the extent of his 
 feeble constitution, and Sundays preaching, until 1812, 
 when he was taken with cramp-convulsion fits, which 
 nearly put an end to his life. His Baptist friends still 
 kept their eyes upon him; and believing now that he 
 was soon to depart ' to that bourne whence no traveller 
 returns ' — believing that he could not recover to contra- 
 dict their stories — they circulated reports that he had 
 renounced his belief in the doctrine of Universal Salva- 
 tion. He did recover, however, and when told of the 
 
REV. MOSES PARK. 425 
 
 reports of Ms former friends, he said 'they were too 
 fast ; he was yet here to answer for himself.' He did 
 answer for himself, and continued to preach the gospel 
 of the Lord Jesus until the fall of 1816, when he was 
 again taken sick, which confined him to the house, 
 mostly, through the winter following. In March, his 
 second son went under the ice, and was lost. And 
 although he bore this and his other aflictions with 
 the greatest meekness and resignation, yet altogether it 
 was too mighty for his broken constitution, and he sank 
 under it. He died the 30th day of May, 1817. He got 
 up in the morning as usual, and had partly dressed him- 
 self, when he spoke to his wife and said he felt faint. 
 These were the last words he ever spoke. He sat him- 
 self down ia a chair. His wife was by his side instantly, 
 and supposed him to be in a fainting fit. But his spirit 
 had left its frail tenement. It departed without a sigh 
 or a groan. And thus terminated the life of one of the 
 best men the world ever knew. He was an' affectionate 
 husband, a kind and indulgent father. Benevolent and 
 charitable to all, a friend to mankind, and as meek as 
 Moses of old. 
 
 " Mr. Park, in his last sickness, was often asked about 
 his faith in the doctrine he had preached. He ever an- 
 swered, ' My faith grows stronger, and heaven brightens 
 before me as I draw near my end.' He often prayed 
 that he might be permitted to depart without seeing the 
 anguish of his family. His prayers were answered. 
 
 "As a preacher of the gospel he was second to few 
 that have ever been among us. His style was unstudied, 
 plain, and simple, yet flowing and somewhat diffuse. Ele- 
 vated with his subject, he would soar into eloquence and 
 sublimity, and never became dry and uninteresting. Elo- 
 quent and affectionately persuasive in his manner, his 
 words were like the 'dew of Hermon that descended 
 upon the mountains of Zion.' Though he dwelt with 
 
426 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 joy on the theme of the great salvation, he preached it 
 to inspire in others the same joyous hope and sincerity 
 of homage, and made it subservient to the information 
 of mankind. Possessed of tender sensibility, on funeral 
 occasions his sympathetic feelings would sometimes sup- 
 press the power of utterance ; but this only seemed to 
 give him access to the af&ieted soul, and invite its con- 
 fidence in the Divine benignity and compassion, and in 
 the words of mercy which he spake. 
 
 " The influence of his life was equal to the eloquence 
 of his preaching. Plain without rusticity, humble with- 
 out servility, polite without effort, and friendly without 
 affectation, he united dignity with condescension, and 
 familiarity with a virtuous elevation of soul. In short, 
 he was truly a follower of the Saviour; 'he lived the 
 doctrines which he taught,' and verified by a well-ordered 
 life in his intercourse with men, that his faith worked 
 by love, and that his soul was purified by the ' undefiled 
 religion' which he taught. In conclusion, we can say, 
 ' Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord.' " 
 
 The author of the above sketch was a native of 
 Enfield, Ct., where he was born May 9, 1774. When 
 twenty years of age he went to Sheshequin as a land- 
 surveyor, and soon, as himself states, became a con- 
 vert from Presbyterianism to Universalism, under the 
 preaching of Mr. Park. He was a man of strict integ- 
 rity, and of more than ordinary abilities, as is evident 
 from the trusts committed to him as agent for the large 
 landed estates of Le Eay de Chaumont, Count de Chas- 
 telleux, the Bank of North America, and other parties 
 to whom lands were granted by the United States in 
 payment of loans made during the Eevolution. From 
 his conversion till his death he was an exemplary 
 member of, and generous contributor to, the Univer- 
 
JOSEPH YOUNG, M. D. 427 
 
 salist Society in Sheshequin. His descendants rejoice 
 in the same belief; one of them, a granddaughter, — 
 the Eev. Myra Kingsbury, — being an ordained preacher 
 of our faith. 
 
 Joseph Kinney — a brief statement of whose char- 
 acteristics has already been quoted from the " History 
 of Bradford County, Penn.," and who, as we have seen, 
 was associated with Mr. Park in the discussion with 
 Mr. Murray — was also born in Connecticut, in 1755, 
 being a native of Plainfield. He was a soldier in the 
 Eevolution, and settled at Wyoming in 1778, where he 
 taught school. In 1783 he moved to Sheshequin, and 
 became a farmer. In 1790 he was appointed a Justice 
 of the Peace for Luzerne County, then a large territory 
 in which was included the present Bradford County. 
 His granddaughter, Mrs. Julia H. Scott, was eminent 
 among us as a poetess, and a devoted Universalist. 
 
 We close the account of the year 1793 with a brief 
 notice of an eminent layman in New York, — Joseph 
 Young, M. D., — who published that year a small duo- 
 decimo volume entitled, " Calvinism and Universalism 
 Contrasted: in a Series of Letters to a Friend." The 
 author was born in 1733, and — 
 
 "acquired his professional education under the tuition 
 of his elder brother, Dr. Thomas Young, who died in 
 Philadelphia in the year 1777, and of whom Dr. Eush 
 speaks in one of his books on yellow fever. Both the 
 brothers were men of talents and eminence in their pro- 
 fession. At the commencement of the American revo- 
 lutionary war Dr. Joseph Young resided in the city of 
 Albany, at which place the general hospital of the con- 
 tinental army was established ; in which department 
 the Doctor served as chief prescribing physician from 
 
428 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 its first establishment to its final dissolutioQ. He pre- 
 scribed for the first patient brought into that, hospital, 
 and also for the last but one at the close of the war. 
 He afterwards removed to the city of New York, where 
 he continued his professional pursuits, and acquired an 
 extensive practice, till the year 1796, when he retired 
 from business, — or, perhaps more properly speaking, 
 when he ceased to receive compensation for his pro- 
 fessional services. He was blessed with a vigorous, inde- 
 pendent and enterprising mind ; his professional talents 
 were of the first order ; his acquirements extensive ; his 
 integrity unsuspected ; his veracity undoubted ; his honor 
 without a spot ; his moral character blameless ; in short, 
 so far as fame spread his reputation, he was esteemed 
 and respected as an intelligent, a benevolent, a virtuous 
 and good man. He died without disease and without 
 pain, on the 18th day of April, 1814, at the age of eighty- 
 two years." ' 
 
 Dr. Young was the teacher and patron of Dr. William 
 Pitt Smith, the author of the book in defence of Uni- 
 versalism, published in 1787, and noticed in the chapter 
 treating of that date. 
 
 I Whittemore's Modem History of UniversaliBm, 1830, pp. 380, 381. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 1794-1797. 
 
 Rev. Elhanan Wiuchester's return from England. — A Great 
 Door OPEN TO Him. — Replies to Thomas Paine' s "Age of Rea- 
 son." — The New England Convention in 1794. — Shippie Town- 
 SEND's Catechism. — The Convention adopted the Philadeuhia 
 Platform cf Articles of Faith, and Form of Church Govehs- 
 mext. — Klders Michael Coffin and Joab Young, sext out as 
 Missionaries. — Dniversalism in Duchess County, N. Y. — Im- 
 promptu Ordination op Rev. Hosea Ballou. — Rev. Joseph Ste- 
 phens. — His Book, " The Grkat Workshop." — A Western 
 Convention. — Sharon, Conn., and Egremost, Mass. — Rev. 
 James Bkiggs. — The Philadelphia Church. — Rev. Joseph 
 Priestly, LL. D., and the U.xitakians of Philadelphia. — Ship- 
 pie Townsend's "Gospel News." — Reprint of "Petitpiekre on 
 Divine Goodness." — The New England Convention in 1795. — 
 The Philadelphia Convention in 1795. — Reports of Churches. 
 
 — Mr. Winchester in Philadelphia. — Preaches in New York.— 
 Rev. Hosea Ballou advocates Unitarian Universalism. — Early 
 Unitarian Societies. — Timid Policy op the Unitarians. — 
 Growth of Unitarian Views among Universalists. — The New 
 England Convention in 1796. — Rev. Zebulon Streeter. — Dif- 
 ferences OF Opinion. — The Philadelphia Convention op 1796. — 
 Rev. Tho ji as Jones. — High Price of Living. — Compensation of 
 Preachers. — Dr. Rush on Mr. Wikchestek's Preaching. — Mk. 
 Winchester in New York. — Goes to Haktford, Conn. — Preaches 
 There. — Universalist Society in New York. — Rev. Edward 
 Mitchell. — Dr. Priestly in Philadelphia. — His Universalism. 
 
 — Rev. Nathan Strong's work against Universalism. — Mr. 
 Winchester's Last Sermon. — His Sickness and Death. — The 
 New England Convention in 1797. — Mr. Murray pUBLisHts a 
 Pamphlet ON " Universalism Vindicated." — It is Re-published 
 IN Rome, N. Y., in 1799. — Extracts from the Pamphlet. — Its 
 Favorable Reception by some of the Boston Clergymen. — 
 Secret Universalism in Boston. — Death of Rev. Dr. John 
 Clark. — Me. Mdrrat's estimate of Him. 
 
 EAELY in 1794, Eev. Elhanan Winchester returned 
 from England. Visiting his parents in Brookline, 
 Mass., he preached several times in that town, supplied 
 Mr. Murray's pulpit in Boston often, and also preached 
 
430 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 in Roxbury, Hull, Oxford, South Brimfield, Charlton, 
 Grafton, Milford, Cambridge, Newton, Hingham, Dud- 
 ley, Weston, Monson, Warwick, Athol, Dana, and many 
 localities in Western Massachusetts ; Windham, Can- 
 terbury, Norwich and Scotland, Connecticut. Crowds 
 flocked to hear him, and his labors were as successful 
 as they were unwearied. In a letter to his brother he 
 said : — 
 
 " I never saw the country so open to me as it is now. 
 I preached twenty-five sermons in the month of Septem- 
 ber, which, considering my state of weakness, is as much 
 as could be expected. If I had the health and strength 
 now that I had twenty-four years ago, when I first began 
 to preach, I could labor to far more advantage and better 
 purpose than ever I did. But I bless God for the success 
 I have had in winning souls to Christ, and I hope to 
 obtain at last the approbation of my Judge, and then all 
 will be well.'' 
 
 Later in the year, he wrote to a friend in London : — 
 
 " I have the greatest door open that I ever saw, inso- 
 much that I am surprised at the alteration since I was here 
 last. I have preached in a great many meeting-houses of 
 different denominations, and to great numbers of people, 
 as often as eight or nine times a week, and with greater 
 acceptance than ever I did." 
 
 In the midst of all these public labors he found time 
 to write and publish " A Defence of Divine Eevelation, 
 in ten Letters to Thomas Paine ; being an Answer to his 
 first part of ' The Age of Eeason.', " This volume of 
 113 pages, octavo, was a successful attempt to offset 
 Mr. Paine's attempt to show the fallacy of the Bible 
 from the Bible itself, by making manifest its truth 
 
PROGRESS. 431 
 
 from the evidence afforded in the Bible. A competent 
 critic has said : — 
 
 " The style and spirit of the work are excellent. The 
 author has met Mr. P.'s flippant and profane wit with 
 practical good sense, his bold and unproved assertions 
 with solid argument, his low scurrility with manly mod- 
 esty, and his empty bombast with the words of truth and 
 soberness." * 
 
 At the session of the New Epgland Convention at 
 Oxford, in September, 1794, Mr. Winchester was pres- 
 ent, and presided as moderator, Eev. Joab Young being 
 clerk. The circular letter is the only document extant 
 with reference to this session. It omits Alstead and 
 BaUston from the list of places mentioned the pre- 
 vious year, and adds the following: Scituate, Marlow, 
 Westmoreland, Croyden, Cornish, Enfield, Canaan, 
 Springfield, Boscawen, Hopkington, Heniker, Ware, 
 Hillsborough, Campbells-Gore, Charlestown, Claremont, 
 Hartland, Pomfret, Bridgewater, Barnard, Eeading, Cav- 
 endish, Eockingham, Chester, Andover, Derby, Towns- 
 hend, Wardsborough, Newfane, Putney, Middleton, 
 Durham, Woodstock, Sturbridge, Brookfield, New Lon- 
 don, Norwich, Stonington. In all thirty-eight new 
 places since the preceding September. Eev. Mr. Mur- 
 ray, since his removal to Boston, had itinerated exten- 
 sively in Massachusetts, Ehode Island, and Connecticut ; 
 and Eev. Hosea Ballou was " travelling almost incessantly 
 in New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and Connecticut." * 
 Of Mr. Winchester's labors we have already spoken, 
 and it is prob^ible that all the preachers of our faith at 
 
 1 Kev. E. M. Stone's Biography of Winchester, p. 217. 
 ' Whittemore's Life of Ballou, vol. i. p. 102. 
 
432 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 that time occupied more or less extensive missionary 
 fields, as it is certain that their labors were highly 
 gratifying. 
 
 An abstract of the proceedings of the Convention was 
 incorporated in the circular letter. The items, except 
 those which related to routine business, were as fol- 
 f ollows : — 
 
 " Chose a committee to compose a short piece, simpli- 
 fying a system of religion adapted to the capacity of 
 children, to instruct them in the first rudiments of the 
 Gospel of Christ." 
 
 Who the members of this committee were does not 
 appear, nor is there any record of their making report 
 of their doings. A catechism was issued that year, 
 however, by Shippie Townsend, a prominent member of 
 the church in Boston. He wrots it, he says, " having 
 been requested by some worthy friends to endeavor to 
 put into their hands something in this way as an assist- 
 ant in instructing their children." Possibly this request 
 may refer to the vote of the Convention. The catechism 
 presents the Eellyan theory of Universalism. 
 
 Another item of business was this : — 
 
 " Adopted the Philadelphia platform of articles of faith 
 and form of church government, and recommended that 
 the same be observed by the churches and societies form- 
 ing this Convention." 
 
 So far as recommendation could effect it, this action of 
 the Convention brought all the Universalists of the land 
 into harmony of belief in regard to the great essentials 
 of doctrine, and was an emphatic endorsement of organ- 
 ization and discipline. 
 
ORDINATION OF REV. HOSEA BALLOU. 433 
 
 The last recorded item of business related to mission- 
 ary work : — 
 
 "Chose Elders Michael Coffin and Joab Young mis- 
 sionaries, to go forth in a circuitous manner and preach 
 the everlasting gospel to the inhabitants of the above- 
 mentioned States for the space of one year." 
 
 What places were visited in consequence of this vote, 
 we do not know. A writer in the " Christian Ambassa- 
 dor," Feb. 11, 1860, gives an account of early Universal- 
 ist preaching in Dutchess County, N. Y., mentioning 
 several families in Amenia who were then friendly to 
 the doctrine, and saying : — 
 
 " These people were visited by a Universalist clergy- 
 man, whose name is not now remembered, but who 
 preached in the house of Samuel Swift as early as 
 1796." 
 
 Possibly this may have been one of the results of the 
 Convention's missionary appointment. 
 
 A singularly impressive incident at this session was 
 the imexpected and impromptu oi'dination of Eev. 
 Hosea Ballou, who had for the past three years wholly 
 given himself to the work of the ministry, although not 
 settled as pastor over any society. 
 
 "At one of the public services of the Convention 
 this year, — probably the last service, — Mr. Winchester 
 preached. He was a man of much waraith of feelmg 
 and great readiness of utterance. Young Mr. Ballou was 
 in the pulpit with him, and as Mr. Winchester drew 
 towards the close of his sermon, his remarks began to 
 have a clear reference to the service of an ordination, 
 especially to the delivery of the Scriptures to the candi- 
 date. He took up the Bible, and pressing it against the 
 
 VOL. I. — 28 
 
434 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 breast of the young man, he said, 'Brother Ballon, I 
 press to your heart the written Jehovah ! ' The effect 
 upon the congregation was sudden and powerful. After 
 holding the sacred volume in this manner for a moment, 
 he spoke to Elder Young in an imperative but affection- 
 ate tone, saying, ' Brother Young, charge him ; ' which the 
 elder proceeded to do. The delivery of the Scriptures 
 and charge were then regarded as distinct services. We 
 have frequently heard Mr. Ballon say that he did not 
 know he was to receive ordination until Mr. Winchester 
 commenced the remarks which were peculiar to such a 
 service." * 
 
 The Philadelphia Convention held its session for 1794 
 in October, which proved an unfortunate change from 
 May, as there was much sickness at that time in the 
 city, and many at a distance were afraid to attend. 
 Four preachers were present, and seven churches were 
 represented by messengers. One new preacher, Eev. 
 Joseph Stephens, pastor of the church at ShUoh, N. J., 
 was in attendance. Mr. Stephens came to New Jersey 
 in 1789 from Caswell County, N. C. ; and from the 
 first of January in that year until April 3, 1793, was 
 pastor of the Baptist church at Upper Freehold. On 
 the last-named date he was " granted a letter of recom- 
 mendation and dismission." July 22, the same year, the 
 church at Upper Freehold " suspended him from Com- 
 munion on accusations against him prior to the conven- 
 tion of the church ; and receiving a letter from him, 
 when met, in which he declares his sentiments in favor 
 of universal salvation," the suspension was to remain 
 in force " until he gives satisfaction ; " and a " commit- 
 
 ^ Whittemore's Life of Rev. Hdsea Balloa, vol. i. p. 106. 
 
REV. JOSEPH STEPHENS. 435 
 
 tee to wait upon Mr. Stephens to admonish him and 
 cite him to attend upon the church at our next meet- 
 ing of business," was duly appointed. How long he 
 remained at Shiloh, or continued to preach as a Uui- 
 versalist, we have not been able to learn. Many years 
 after the close of his pastorate at Upper Freehold he 
 taught school in that neighborhood. He died at Phila- 
 delphia, May 2, 1847, in the eighty-sixth year of his 
 age. 
 
 In 1837 Mr. Stephens published a book designed to 
 show the reader how to obtain wealth and be happy.^ 
 In the closiug part of the work, having spoken of the 
 gospel as " unsearchable riches," he adds : — 
 
 " The great object of the Saviour upon his entering on 
 the grand work of our redemption was to bruise the 
 head of the serpent (see Gen. iii. 15). The bruise re- 
 ferred to must be considered mortal, from which he never 
 was to recover. But prior to his dissolution he will be 
 at the head of the rise and fall of empires ; his works of 
 darkness will be known and practised through every part 
 of the habitable globe. He has had great success in op- 
 posing the moral government of God. He has exceed- 
 ingly corrupted the minds of the more wealthy part of 
 creation, and stimulated his tens of thousands by fair 
 promises, to rebel against their rightful Lord and Sov- 
 ereign. But let us remember that the grand object of 
 the Saviour's mission was to destroy the works of the 
 devil (see 1 John iii. 8). Tor this purpose the Son of 
 God was manifested, that he might destroy the works of 
 the devil.' 
 
 ' The Great Workshop ; or, the Way to Amass Wealth and be 
 Happy. Connected with the Way to Keep and Appropriate it, both 
 in a Temporal and Moral Sense, by Joseph Stephens. Philadelphia, 
 18.37. 18mo. 214 pages. 
 
436 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "What are we to understand by the works of the 
 devil ? Answer : All manner of works which may con- 
 sist in thought, word, or deed opposed to the moral gov* 
 ernment of God. 
 
 " By what means are the works of the devil to be 
 destroyed ? Answer : By the word of God, which is con- 
 tained in the Old and New Testaments. It is compared 
 to a hammer which demolishes, or breaks into pieces ; to 
 fire which consumes, to the wind more violent than a 
 tornado, and to water, which allays thirst and purifies 
 the heart. Sometimes the works of the devil are de- 
 stroyed by judgments. 
 
 " Are there no other means employed to demolish the 
 devil's temple ? Yes. As the devil has a great number 
 of ministers in his service who are continually propagat- 
 ing lies, so it behooved the great Saviour of the world to 
 nominate and qualify men to oppose and refute them out 
 of the sacred writings. . . . 
 
 " But is it possible to destroy the devil ; is he not an 
 infinite being ? Answer : I presume not, as that which 
 is infinite cannot be destroyed. Notwithstanding he is 
 said to be the prince of the power of the air, yet his influ- 
 ence is exceedingly limited ; he can't go beyond his chain. 
 The devil wUl be permitted to rule in the hearts of the diso- 
 bedient a certain period unknown ; but he will finally fall a 
 victihi with all his principalities and powers by the power 
 of the destroying angel of the everlasting covenant. . . . 
 
 "A great part of the Christian world cannot believe 
 that the object Christ had in view was to destroy the 
 devil, because they read that a great fire was prepared 
 for both him and his angels. How do they know but 
 what this great fire spoken of was originally designed to 
 destroy him ? It is very strange that Christians should 
 be opposed to his destruction, when it is their daily 
 prayer that his kingdom might be destroyed, and why 
 not the king with it ? " (Pages 151-155.) 
 
WESTEEN CONVENTION. 437 
 
 After adducing citations from the Scriptures showing 
 the purpose of God and the mission of Christ, he 
 adds : — 
 
 "From the foregoing investigations of positive dec- 
 larations spoken by our blessed Eedeemer and his apos- 
 tles, we learn this undeniable truth, that the great object 
 our Saviour had in view was to save all for whom he 
 gave his life a ransom from sin, connected with all its 
 dangerous consequences. But we do not see as yet this 
 great object accomplished ; still we are to believe that the 
 great Saviour will accomplish the great and necessary 
 work. And as this great salvation is to be brought about 
 through the means which our Lord has devised and ap- 
 pointed, all the faithful heralds of the cross should arise 
 and put on the armor of light " (p. 158). 
 
 From the records of the session of the Philadelphia 
 Convention in 1794, we extract the following : — 
 
 "Brother David Evans informs us that in November 
 last, he visited the Brethren and Church at Pike Run, in 
 Washington County, Pennsylvania, of the same faith 
 and gospel order with us, where he received certain 
 information that said church, and the church at Morgan- 
 town, the church at George's Hill, the church at Clarks- 
 burg, and the church lately constituted at Short Creek, 
 of the same faith, on account of their great distance 
 from us, had formed themselves into a Convention, and 
 had their first meeting at Morgantown, the preceding 
 August. That he had access to their Minutes, wherein it 
 appeared that their second Convention was appointed to 
 meet at Pike Kun, last August, when, as their Minutes 
 express, they would deliberate on the propriety of corre- 
 sponding in future with us by letter and messengers. 
 
 "Resolved, That this Convention do acquiesce and re- 
 joice in tlie proceedings ot said Convention ; and that we 
 
438 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 have not received any letter from them is perhaps owing 
 to the present troubles in that country. That this Con- 
 vention will endeavor to correspond by letter with them, 
 and in order thereto, do request that Brother Evans do 
 write them in our behalf, and that he enclose a copy of 
 the Minutes of our present proceedings." 
 
 The " troubles in that country," no doubt allude to 
 what is known as the Whiskey Insurrection, — a diffi- 
 culty which made sad wreck of all religious enterprises 
 in that section of the Union. There is no further men- 
 tion of the Western Convention, nor of the Churches 
 belonging to it, and the presumption is that the ex- 
 treme poverty of the people, greatly augmented by the 
 political disturbances, caused the abandoment of all 
 organizations. 
 
 The records also show that " a letter from a sister 
 church in Sharon, Conn., consisting of fifty members, — 
 also from a sister church in Egremont, County of Berk- 
 shire, Mass., consisting of thirty members, — was read." 
 These letters set forth that each of these churches had 
 "made choice of Mr. James Briggs, Preacher of the 
 Gospel," to represent them in the Convention. Their 
 information in regard to the Convention had been 
 gleaned from "The Free Universal Magazine ; " and it is 
 probable that they had no knowledge of the newly- 
 organized Convention in New England. Of Eev. James 
 Briggs we have not been able to obtain further infor- 
 mation. 
 
 The Philadelphia Church reported to the Con- 
 vention : — 
 
 " As to ourselves we are less in number than we were 
 heretofore. The Lord has been pleased to take some 
 
HOUSE OF WORSHIP IN PHILADELPHIA. 439 
 
 from amongst us by death, and our number at present is 
 thirty-six. Our Heavenly Father hath been pleased to 
 put it into our hearts to build a house for worship, 
 which we began and carried on so far as you may 
 see." 
 
 Dr. Joseph Priestley, who was then in Philadelphia, 
 had drawn around him a few Unitarians, who came to 
 the aid of the Universalists in so far completing their 
 church edifice as to enable them to use it for religious 
 services. Writing to Eev. Theophilus Lindsay, in June, 
 1794, Dr. Priestley said : — 
 
 " A place of worship is building here by a society who 
 call themselves Universalists ; they propose to leave it 
 open to any sect of Christians three days in the week, 
 but they want money to finish it. My friends think to 
 furnish them with money, and engage the use of it 
 for Sunday mornings.'' 
 
 This arrangement was perfected, the Unitarians ad- 
 vancing " some hundreds of dollars " for the completion 
 of the church. " When the house was first occupied for 
 worship," says Eev. A. C. Thomas,-' "the walls were 
 without plastering, and the only seats plain benches. 
 I was told that the first pulpit was a rough platform 
 made by a mastmaker and a shoemaker." 
 
 Two books were published in 1794, one of which 
 exerted a wide-spread influence, and the other is rarely 
 seen, and seldom mentioned. 
 
 The first, " Thoughts on the Divine Government," by 
 Ferdinand Oliver Petitpierre, was reprinted from an 
 English edition, by some one interested in the spread 
 of Universalist views, in Hartford, Conn. The work 
 
 1 " Century of TJniversalism," p. 65. 
 
440 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 was originally published in French, at Hamburg in 
 1786. The author was minister of Chaux-de-Fonds, a 
 village in Switzerland, in the canton of Neufchatel, and 
 was known as a Universalist as early as 1770. His 
 book passed through several editions in America, and 
 exerted a great influence. Of it Dr. Whittemore 
 said : ^ — 
 
 "The work is one of the most pleasing defences of 
 Universal Salvation which has ever been published. 
 The author commences by maintaining that to make 
 jnankind happy is the primary object of God's moral 
 government. His will is to save them, and the means 
 by which he effects their salvation is by bringing them 
 to the knowledge of the truth. He has revealed himself 
 to the understanding of man, in nature and in revela/- 
 tion. These it is our duty to study; the latter with 
 particular caution, without prejudice, and with a sincere' 
 desire to know what is truth. ' Here I solemnly pro- 
 test,' says the author, ' in the presence of the Almighty, 
 that in reading and meditating on his word to know his 
 will and designs towards us, I have with sincerity and in 
 his fear sought truth in its purity, with simplicity of heart, 
 without hope or fear of its agreeing or disagreeing with 
 that catechism which I was taught to receive in my 
 youth, without sufficient examination, — well convinced 
 that if such or such opinions were true, I should find 
 them confirmed in Scripture ; if false, they would not 
 become true by my obstinately persisting to believe them 
 without examination. So that I had nothing to lose, or 
 rather I had everything to gain, by bringing them sin- 
 cerely to this test ; since the only thing of importance to 
 me was to fly from error, and to come at the knowledge 
 of the truth.' In the body of the work he treats of the 
 
 1 "Modern History of Uniyersalism,'' pp. 153-157. 
 
DIVINE GOODNESS. 441 
 
 infinite goodness of God, its nature, design, duration, and 
 effects : the proofs of the divine goodness are deduced 
 first, from his design in the creation of man, which must 
 have been benevolent, and second from the testimonies 
 of the sacred writers, who represent God to be kind, and 
 his love to be stronger than that of the fondest earthly 
 parent. The consequences which may be deduced from 
 the infinite goodness are very fully considered. He 
 maintains it is utterly impossible that there should be 
 anything in the divine mind opposed to this goodness ; 
 his holiness, his justice, his authority, his majesty, his 
 glory, spring up out of his goodness, and are but branches 
 of it. Holiness is consistent with the love of God to 
 sinners, inasmuch as he loves them as his creatures, but 
 hates their iniquity, and he will therefore purge it from 
 them, and make them clean ; and all those Scriptures in 
 which the sacred writers speak of God's hating man, 
 should be interpreted agreeably with this supposition. 
 The justice of God is that immutable will to dispense 
 to every one what best corresponds to his moral state. 
 Men are sinners, and God punishes them with severity ; 
 but this severity is dictated by goodness, and all the 
 punishments God inflicts are declared to be for the sin- 
 ner's good. How certain then that justice, the principle 
 which dispenses rewards and punishments, is but a modi- 
 fication of goodness itself ! How opposed to this is the 
 dreadful doctrine of eternal punishment, an error which 
 grew up out of a misconception of the meaning of the 
 word rendered everlasting ! God punishes always to 
 reform, a fact which the author establishes with the 
 most irresistible reasoning. Divine Justice never pro- 
 ceeds to extreme rigor in punishing, until every gentler 
 means has been exhausted without effect; it never em- 
 ploys that rigor only so much and so long as shall be 
 necessary to the destruction of sin, and the conversion 
 of the sinner ; and when the sinner is sincerely penitent, 
 
442 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 God will graciously forgive. These being the principles 
 on which all punishments are administered, the eternal 
 duration of suffering is absolutely impossible, a position 
 the author establishes by a great variety of texts ar- 
 ranged in several classes. The first class is composed 
 of those in which the sacred writers, comparing the 
 severity of God with his favor, represent the former to 
 be temporary, but the latter to be without end; the 
 second, those in which he declares he will not always 
 chide ; and the third, those which assert that he is our 
 creator, and that he wiU not desert the work of his hands ; 
 again he confirms it by those which assert the universal 
 destination of men to holiness and happiness ; and lastly 
 by a passage, invariably produced for an opposite purpose, 
 viz. 'these shall go away into everlasting punishment' 
 in which the word rendered punishment, he maintains, 
 quoting the authority of Wittenbaeh and Grotius, signi- 
 fies a remedial, corrective discipline. The infinite au- 
 thority of God is entirely founded upon his goodness. 
 The erroneous supposition that God has a right from 
 his mere authority to reprobate men to eternal pain, is 
 shown to be unfounded ; and it is maintained that God's 
 authority is the right to confer happiness in his own 
 way. As to the majesty and glory of God, it is shown 
 that goodness gives them all their lustre, as there can be 
 no perfections of the divine character more nearly allied 
 to goodness than they. Thus the author proves that 
 ' all the sublime perfections of God as they exist in 
 him, and in the manner they are displayed to his crear 
 tures, far from containing any contradiction or oppo- 
 sition to each other, are in a constant and beautiful 
 harmony ; and admirably conspire to spread perfection 
 and happiness throughout the universe.' 
 
 " Another consequence of the infinity of divine good- 
 ness is, that every act of God must be an act of infinite 
 goodness ; even the permission of what we call evil can- 
 
ANTI-UNIVERSALISM. 443 
 
 not be exempted from this construction. And the author 
 contends that each individual may say, ' every event 
 that has befallen me, from the first moment of my exist- 
 ence to the present, as weU as whatever will befall me 
 throughout all eternity, is the greatest possible good 
 that the infinite bounty of my Creator can bestow.' In 
 fact, he excludes real evil from the universe, and main- 
 tains that nothing is evil while connected with the end 
 God designs to promote thereby. Eternal punishment is 
 real evil, an infinite evil, which everything conspires to 
 exclude from the plan of God. This most excellent 
 treatise is closed with a survey of the practical conse- 
 quences which flow from such a view of the divine plan : 
 it inspires the heart with joy ; creates within us a love 
 of God, a reconciliation to his will, a desire to serve and 
 obey him ; and, in fine, all religion is based upon it ; and 
 every system opposed to goodness is false and perni- 
 cious in the highest degree. The doctrine of a limited 
 future punishment is admitted, though not particularly 
 defended." 
 
 The second work was an octavo of 117 pages, pub- 
 lished anonymously at New London, Conn., and entitled, 
 " Universalism Contrary to Scripture." It was no doubt 
 called forth by the preaching of John Murray in that 
 town or vicinity; as the author says, in a foot-note on 
 page 35 : — 
 
 "The expositions of the Universalists, referred to 
 in this work, are principally taken from Mr. Murray's 
 preaching, especially Matt. xxv. 31 to the end, Luke 
 xiii. 23-30, and Luke xvi. 19 to the end, by the writer 
 of this pamphlet, who was an attentive hearer." 
 
 The author's sole attack is on Eellyanism, the only 
 form of Universalism of which he seems to have any 
 knowledge, and his handling of the subject is logical, 
 
444 UNIVJiESALISM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 ingenious, and in a good spirit. We present a brief 
 extract ; — 
 
 " Universalists say salvation is only through and in 
 consequence of an antecedent union of all Adam's race 
 •with Christ. The Scripture represents the contrary, — 
 that salvation by Christ is not to Adam's posterity col- 
 lectively, but individually, and is only through faith, 
 which makes the union. Their opinion is only supported 
 by similitudes, figures, and fiction, or detached passages 
 and particular texts, which they wrest to their own opin- 
 ion. But the contrary is founded on the whole tenor of 
 Scripture, and on plain passages too, as, God commands 
 all men everywhere to repent. And this is his com- 
 mand : that we should believe on the name of his Son ; 
 that he died for all ; that they which live," etc. (p. 107). 
 
 In 1795, the New England Convention met at Ben- 
 nington, Vt. The only record preserved of its business 
 is these two items : " Brother John Murray was chosen 
 moderator, Brother Hosea Ballou, clerk ; " and, " Exam- 
 ined and approved the credentials of the several attend- 
 ant messengers, and transacted all such special business 
 as came before the Convention." Until the session in 
 1800, there are no records of proceedings, the circu- 
 lar letters for each year being all that the Convention 
 published, or preserved for its records. 
 
 The Philadelphia Convention met in 1795 in Octo- 
 ber. The attendance was small, — only four churches 
 being represented. Israel Israel, of Philadelphia, was 
 appointed moderator of the session. Mr. Israel was a 
 prominent and influential citizen, having been chair- 
 man of the Philadelphia Committee of Safety during 
 the Revolution, and subsequently sheriff of the city and 
 county of Philadelphia. The Convention — 
 
CIRCULAR LETTER. 445 
 
 "Agreed that Brother Israel be appointed to write to 
 the Convention in the State of Vermont [i. e. the New- 
 England Convention, which had recently held its session 
 in Bennington], giving them information of the number 
 and state of the churches here, also requesting them to 
 write in like manner to our next convention; and that 
 they would write their opinion on the propriety of having 
 a triennial convention, composed of delegates from the 
 annual conventions ; and that Brother Evans write in like 
 manner to the Convention in the western part of this 
 State." 
 
 The circular letter, written by the clerk of the session, 
 Eev. David Evans, was as follows : — 
 
 " Dear Brethren, — Through the love and kindness of 
 God our Saviour, we have had this our annual meeting ; 
 and although we have not had the happiness of seeing 
 the faces of several of our dear brethren whom we ex- 
 pected and did greatly desire would meet with us, yet 
 our meeting, under the influences of God our Saviour, 
 was in a good degree comfortable, feeling the importance 
 of the most precious truth which we profess worthy in 
 earnestness and meekness to be contended for, whether 
 many or few do from the heart embrace it. Dear breth- 
 ren, let us heartily encourage each other in this good 
 work ! May every part of our conduct in life manifest 
 unto the world that the most precious truth which we 
 profess, when from the heart believed, is truly reform- 
 ing as well as comforting ! and those who are not careful 
 in this, we have cause to conclude that they are only 
 nominal, and not real, believers. And forasmuch as there 
 is a lamentation that so many of our churches are desti- 
 tute of ministerial supplies, let us be united in prayer 
 to God that he would raise for his Israel many pastors 
 after his own heart, who shall feed his people with 
 knowledge and understanding. 
 
446 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "We have agreed that our next convention be at 
 Philadelphia, last Tuesday of October next, at three 
 o'clock, p. M. 
 
 " Dear brethren, praying that the God of perfect purity 
 and love will give you and us the teachings of his spirit 
 to lead us into all truth, that the Divine purposes which 
 are all founded in infinite wisdom and goodness be ac- 
 complished, we subscribe ourselves your brethren in the 
 belief of the great salvation." 
 
 It was also agreed that the following letter to delin- 
 quent churches should be appended to the above : — 
 
 " Dear Brethren, — It hath been cause of much lamen- 
 tation to us that you and so many of the churches have 
 sent neither letters nor messengers to this convention. 
 We pray God our Father that you may not be left to 
 forsake your first love. And in addition to our circular 
 letter, we think meet to write to the delinquent churches, 
 earnestly entreating them to send letters and messengers 
 to our next convention, and the reason of their neglect 
 or failure at this time." 
 
 Tlie causes of "delinquency" may have been many 
 and various ; but a notable one was the scarcity of min- 
 isterial laborers, and the iafrequency of meetings for 
 religious worship consequent thereon. " As to the 
 state of our church," wrote the Philadelphians, "we 
 are still without a pastor, but are in some hopes our 
 good Lord will give us one to go in and out before us. 
 At present our friend and brother, Mr. Winchester, 
 preaches to us." 
 
 The church at Shiloh reported : — 
 
 " We have cause to lament that we are once more left 
 in a widowed state as to a minister ; yet we have cause 
 to bless God that we still have an existence as a church, 
 
MR. WINCHESTER'S LABORS. 447 
 
 though small. We are few in number, at best, and there 
 is such a declination in religion in this part that we 
 barely meet at any time. We have no minister to lead 
 us, and several of our members have fallen away from 
 
 the faith, and have turned again to , and since our 
 
 last, one is dead ; so by this means we have become very 
 small. Now, dear brethren, if you will join with us in 
 prayers that the Lord of the harvest will send laborers 
 into the harvest, and with your prayers join your en- 
 deavors to visit and help us, then we believe the Lord 
 will add his blessing, and we shall become a flourishing 
 branch in the vineyard of God." 
 
 So, too, the church at New Hanover : — 
 
 "Though we are few, we endeavor to keep up our 
 meetings, mindful of the blessed promise of our Lord, 
 who says that, ' where two or three are met in his name, 
 there he will be in the midst.' We do think that we find 
 the promise fulfilled at times ; but we wish you to visit 
 us as often as any of you can find it convenient. We 
 have not had a Universalist minister with us for almost 
 a year." 
 
 Eev. Elhanan Winchester, as we have previously 
 said, returned to America in 1794. In the summer 
 of 1795, he again took up his abode in Philadelphia, 
 rented a house, and probably intended to make that 
 city his future residence, his intimate friend, Dr. Ben- 
 jamin Eush, having arranged to have him supply sev- 
 eral medical students with board. He supplied the 
 pulpit of the Philadelphia church, as regularly as his 
 health would permit, during the remainder of that 
 year, with occasional visits to New York, where large 
 congregations listened to his message. July 10, he thus 
 writes from that city : — 
 
448 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "We have begun to get a large acquaintance in this 
 city, but I have only preached twice since our arrival 
 here, but expect to preach again this evening in Hun- 
 ter's Hotel, where I preached last evening ; for all the 
 churches here are so shut up that I can get none of them 
 to preach in. I have, however, got the circus, — a large 
 place where feats of horsemanship are shown, — which 
 will contain many people." 
 
 Three days later, he writes to the same correspondent : 
 
 "I preached yesterday twice in the circus. In the 
 evening there was a large congregation of near a thou- 
 sand people. They have just opened a subscription 
 towards building a meeting-house open to all parties ; 
 they have nearly an hundred pounds already subscribed, 
 although the book is but just opened. It is expected 
 that large encouragement will be given." 
 
 We have no further information with regard to this 
 attempt at erecting a place of worship, and the proba- 
 bilities are that Mr. Winchester's failing health pre- 
 vented his following up the favoring opportunity. Ten 
 years before this, according to Mrs. Murray's statement 
 (" Life of Murray," page 339), " a church had been pur- 
 chased in Kew York, which they forebore to open until 
 it could be dedicated by the peace-speaking voice of 
 the promulgator." What became of this property, if 
 the purchase was completed, — of which there may be 
 some doubt, — we are not informed. 
 
 By far the most significant event in 1795 — cer- 
 tainly the one which exerted the most permanent in- 
 fluence — was the presentation of Universalism on a 
 Unitarian basis, by Kev. Hosea Ballou. " He probably 
 became a Unitarian," says his biographer, Eev. Dr. 
 
UNITARIAN UNIVEESALISM. 449 
 
 Whittemore, "in 1794." ^ But his first sermon from 
 this standpoint, so far as we have any knowledge, 
 was preached in Sturbridge, Mass., a year later. Eev. 
 Edward Turner, who listened to the sermon, and con- 
 versed with the preacher after service on the novel 
 grounds he had maintained in his discourse, has left 
 this record : — 
 
 "The Universalists appear to have taken the lead of 
 other denominations in announcing Unitarian views of 
 the person of Christ and of the nature of the atonement. 
 Though, as we have before said, the preachers of this 
 order were understood to found their belief on Calvin- 
 istic principles; yet there might be some among them 
 who had attained to clearer and more rational concep- 
 tions of the sense of the Scriptures in relation to these 
 topics. We can speak of the change in their mode of 
 preaching from memory only. It was not till the year 
 1795 that we noticed any change at all. Others, it is pos- 
 sible, may have discovered it before. There may have 
 been many preachers who electrified and astounded some 
 of their auditors with the announcement of the doctrine 
 of Christ's subordination to the Father, and with the 
 novel idea of reconciliation as affecting human beings 
 alone.' We however heard these statements, and the 
 arguments in support of them, for the first time, in the 
 year above mentioned. The preacher on that occasion 
 was the author of the ' Treatise on Atonement.' " " 
 
 As already noticed, Unitarian views had so far pre- 
 vailed in Pennsylvania and New Jersey as to be formu- 
 lated into a creed, assented to by several Universalist 
 churches, and published to the world with a recom- 
 
 1 Life of Rev. Hosea BaUou, vol. i. p. 118. 
 
 2 Universalist Quarterly, vol. vi. January, 1849, pp. 13, 14 
 VOL. I. — 29 
 
450 UNIVERSALISM K^ AMERICA, 
 
 mendation that they be favorably received by others, 
 at least tw.o years before, Mr. Ballou preached them in 
 New England ; but it is not probable that they found 
 favor with many. Least of all is it to be supposed that 
 Mr. Ballou had any knowledge of their prevalence in 
 that section of the country ; while it is certain that 
 their influence was limited, and that the organizations 
 soon ceased to exist. 
 
 Not a book on the subject of the Unitarian contro- 
 versy had at that time been published in America. Dr. 
 May hew of Boston had made an assault upon the 
 doctrine of the trinity thirty years before Mr. Ballou 
 preached his sermon ; but of this Mr. Ballou had never 
 heard. Nor had he any knowledge of Eev. Dr. Free- 
 man and his Unitarian work at King's Chapel, result- 
 ing in the modifying of the liturgy as early as 1785, 
 concerning which , work Dr. Freeman wrote to Rev. 
 Theophilus Lindsey, of England, in July, 1786 : — 
 
 "The liturgy of our church was during a long time 
 unpopular ; but your approbation, the note of Dr. Price 
 annexed to a letter of Dr. Lush, and the mention which 
 Dr. Priestley is pleased to make of it in his sermon upon 
 the 6th of November, have raised it in esteem. ... I 
 wish the work was more worthy of your approbation. 
 I can only say that I endeavored to make it so by 
 attempting to introduce your liturgy entire ; but the 
 people of the chapel were not ripe for so great a change. 
 Some defects and improprieties I was under the neces- 
 sity of retaining, for the sake of inducing them to omit 
 the most exceptional parts of the old service, the Athana- 
 sian prayers. Perhaps in some future day, when theis 
 minds become more enlightened, they may consent to a 
 further alteration." 
 
TIMID UNITAEIANS. 451 
 
 Twenty-five years, however, elapsed before this hope 
 was realized. A new edition of the liturgy was pub- 
 lished in 1811, of which Eev. Thomas Belsham, in his 
 " Life of Lindsey," said : — 
 
 "Nothing is to be found which is inconsistent with 
 the purest principles of Unitarian worship as such; and 
 with a very few alterations, chiefly verbal, it might be 
 made perfectly unobjectionable." 
 
 Three years before Mr. Ballou's sermon, Unitarian 
 societies had been formed in Portland and Saco, Me. ; 
 but Mr. WeUs, of Boston, writing to Mr. Belsham in 
 1812, said: — 
 
 " The churches at Portland and Saco of which you 
 speak, hardly ever saw the light, and exist no longer." 
 
 And he makes the confession, -^ 
 
 " With regard to the progress of Unitarianism I have 
 but little to say. Its tenets have spread very extensively 
 in New England, but I believe there is only one church 
 professedly Unitariaji." 
 
 Although he claims that " most of our Boston clergy 
 and respectable laymen (of whom we have many enlight- 
 ened theologians) are Unitarians ; " yet " the contro- 
 versy," he adds, "is seldom or never introduced into 
 the pulpit." 
 
 And he justifies this timid policy by saying that — 
 
 " This state of things appears to me so favorable to the 
 dissemination of correct sentiments, that I should per- 
 haps regret a great degree of excitement in the public 
 mind upon these subjects. The majority would eventu- 
 ally be against us. The ignorant, the violent, the ambi- 
 tious, and the cunning would carry the multitude with 
 them in religion as they do in politics. One Dr. M., in a 
 
452 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 contest for spreading his own sentiments among tlie 
 great body of tlie people, would, at least for a time, beat 
 ten Priestleys. Not to dwell upon the consideration that 
 Unitarianism consists rather in not believing, and that it 
 is more easy to gain proselytes to absurd opinions than 
 to make them zealous in refusing to believe. With what 
 arms, when the ol irokkoX are the judges, can virtue, and 
 learning, and honor contend with craft, and cunning, and 
 equivocation, and falsehood, and intolerant zeal ? Learn- 
 ing is worse than useless ; virtue is often diffident of her 
 own conclusions, and at any rate more anxious to ren- 
 der men good Christians than to make Christians of her 
 own denomination; and that self-respect, which is the 
 companion of virtue, disdains to meet the low cunning 
 of her adversaries, or to flatter the low prejudices of her 
 judges. I think, then, it must be assumed as an axiom 
 that a persevering controversy upon this question would 
 render the multitude bigoted and persecuting Calvinists. 
 Then come systems and catechisms in abundance. Every 
 conceited deacon, every parishioner who has, or thinks 
 he has, a smattering in theology, becomes the inquisitor 
 of his pastor. In such circumstances learning and good 
 sense have no chance. They cannot be heard. ... I do 
 not know that you will approve my sentiments, nor am I 
 very confident of their justness ; but I have seen the con- 
 test between truth and falsehood, before the multitude; 
 between everything which is respectable and everything 
 which is detestable, so unequal in politics that I dread 
 the event in matters of religion. Still, I would be no 
 advocate for timidity, much less for anything like 
 equivocation, or evasion ; and it must be confessed 
 that prudence often degenerates into these vices.'' 
 
 Dr. Freeman wrote to Mr. Lindsay in May, 1796 : 
 
 " I am acquainted with a number of ministers, partic- 
 ularly in the southern part of this State, who avow and 
 
TIMID UNITARIANS. 453 
 
 publicly preach this sentiment. There are others more 
 cautious who content themselves with leading their 
 hearers, by a course of rational but prudent sermons, 
 gradually and insensibly to embrace it. Though this 
 latter mode is not what I entirely approve, yet it pro- 
 duces good effects. For the people are thus kept out 
 of the reach of false opinion, and are prepared for the 
 impressions which will be made on them by more 
 bold and ardent successors, who will probably be raised 
 up when these timid characters are removed off the 
 
 These "timid characters" seem to have shaped the 
 policy of the Unitarians of America for full twenty 
 years after Hosea Ballot's bold advocacy of the doctrine 
 of the Divine unity ; for, as a sect, the Unitarians were 
 not known in this counitry until after the year 1815. 
 
 " The late Professor Norton was one of the most for- 
 ward to speak out. There had been a struggle in 1805 
 in regard to the election of the elder Dr. Ware to the 
 Hollis Professorship of Divinity at Harvard University ; 
 but no one came out openly in favor of Unitarianism 
 until 1815, and this was brought about almost by acci- 
 dent. Rev. J. S. Buckminster said in 1809 in a letter 
 to Mr. Belsham, of England : ' Do you wish to know 
 anything of American theology ? I can only tell you 
 that except at the small town of Boston and its vicin- 
 ity, there cannot be collected from a space of one hun- 
 dred miles six clergymen who have any conceptions of 
 rational theology, and who would not shrink from the 
 suspicion of anti-Trinitarianism in any shape.' In 1812, 
 Mr. Norton, already named, came out with the first vol- 
 ume of the ' General Repository,' in which he defended 
 ' Liberal Christianity.' As long afterwards as 1819, when 
 Mr. Norton was elected Professor of Biblical Criticism, 
 
454 UNIVERSALISll IN AMERICA. 
 
 Dr. Chanuiiig, who was then a member of the Corpo- 
 ration, objected to giving him the title of Professor, 
 through fear it might injure the college to make so con- 
 spicuous its connection with one holding such opinions ; 
 but he was willing to assign him the duties and salary 
 of the ofB.ee. In 1815 broke out the Unitarian contro- 
 versy, which, as we have said, originated in an accident, 
 namely, the unlucky event of a copy of Belsham's ' Life 
 of Lindsey ' (an English work), falling into the hands of 
 an Orthodox editor in this country. In this work, the 
 private letters of eminent American anti-Trinitarians to 
 their English brethren were published. When these pri- 
 vate letters thus became known to the Orthodox party, 
 they at once determined to compel, if possible, the anti- 
 Trinitarian party to avow themselves. The most cele- 
 brated controversy that ever took place in this country 
 between the Trinitarians and their opponents then en- 
 sued; and the Unitarians (as they came afterwards to 
 be called) were compelled, as it were, to come out openly 
 and take their position. We commend to the attention 
 of the reader a very valuable article, from the pen of 
 the late lamented Professor Norton, on matters embraced 
 in this paragraph, which will be found in the ' Christian 
 Examiner ' for September, 1849." * 
 
 Mr. Ballou, as we have said, reached his conclusions 
 unaided by human teachers. His authority and his 
 sole umpire was the Bible. In a letter to Eev. Thomas 
 Whittemore, in November, 1829, he said : — 
 
 " I had preached but a short time before my mind was 
 entirely freed from all the perplexities of the doctrine 
 of the Trinity, and the common notions of Atonement. 
 But in making these advances, as I am disposed to call 
 
 ^ Eer. Dr. Whittemore, foot-note on pages 112, 113 of vol. i., Life 
 of Rev. Hosea Ballou. 
 
Unitarian univeksalism. 455 
 
 them, I had the assistance of no author or writer. As 
 fast as these old doctrines were by any means rendered 
 the subjects of inquiry in my mind, they became ex- 
 ploded. But it would be difficult for me now to recall 
 the particular incidents which suggested queries in my 
 mind respecting them, it may be proper for me here to 
 state one circumstance which, no doubt, had no small 
 tendency to bring me on to the ground where I have for 
 many years felt established. It was my reading some 
 deistieal writings. By this means I was led to see that 
 it was utterly impossible to maintain Christianity as it 
 had been generally believed in the church. This led me 
 of course to examine the Scriptures, that I might deter- 
 mine the question whether they did really teach that 
 Jesus Christ died to reconcile an unchangeable God to 
 his creatures. You cannot suppose that I was long in 
 finding that, so far from teaching such absurdities, the 
 Scriptures teach that God was in Christ reconciling the 
 world unto himself. The question respecting the Trinity 
 was by the same means as speedily settled. But 1 can- 
 not say for certainty in what year I became a Uni- 
 tarian ; but it was long before I wrote my treatise on 
 atonement.'' 
 
 But Mr. Ballou was not a man to stifle his convictions 
 when once they had become established in his own 
 mind. He must speak what he believed, and must seek 
 to lead others to the knowledge of what he regarded as 
 the truth. Opposition was of course aroused ; " and," 
 he says, " I found it as difficult to convince my elders 
 of the errors of Calvinistic tenets as other people of the 
 error of the doctrine of endless punishment." It was 
 not long, however, before his open avowal and strong 
 demonstration of the truth bore abundant fruit. 
 
 " The other ministers," said the late Eev. Dr. Ballou, 
 
456 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 in an article in the " Universalist Quarterly '' for Janu- 
 ary, 1848,— 
 
 " gradually followed him in this reform ; and as early as 
 1805 the -work may be said to have been completed, 
 though Mr. Murray at Boston, and Mr. Mitchell at New 
 York still maintained the former views with great strenu- 
 ousness. But from this time onwards the Universalist 
 ministry in this country has, with only three or four ex- 
 ceptions, publicly avowed and often defended. Unitarian 
 sentiments on these points, both in the pulpit and from 
 the press." 
 
 The New England Convention met in September, 
 1796, at Winchester, N. H. No record is preserved of 
 the number in attendance, nor of the business done. 
 Eev. Zebulon Streeter was moderator, and also the 
 writer of the circular letter to the churches. This is 
 the first mention that we have of Mr. Streeter in con- 
 nection with the ministry and the Convention ; but 
 among the papers of the late Rev. Dr. Ballou is a 
 memorandum of a conversation held with the senior 
 Hosea Ballou in 1847, when the latter mentioned Zeb- 
 ulon Streeter as being already in the ministry when he 
 began to preach in 1791. The late Eev. Lemuel Willis, 
 said of Mr. Streeter : — 
 
 " He was a saintly man, and adorned the doctrine of 
 God our Saviour with a well-ordered life and a Christian 
 conversation. He was long a preacher of the final salva- 
 tion of the entire race, and was quite a patriarch in the 
 denomination ; and hence he was appointed to preside as 
 moderator of the General Convention for a long number 
 of years in succession. He was not only a man of great 
 moral excellence and very amiable, but was a person of 
 much dignity of character and bearing. Although in 
 
ZEBULON STBEETER. 457 
 
 some respects his brother Adams was his superior, it is 
 said, yet he was an able minister of the New Testament ; 
 and did a great deal by his noble talents as a public 
 teacher and by his lovely Christian spirit both in pub- 
 lic and in private." ^ 
 
 He was probably an able writer rather than a gifted 
 speaker. 
 
 It is said that some of the brethren in attendance at 
 the Convention in 1796, were disposed to contend upon 
 matters calculated to produce discord and disunion, but 
 that Mr. Streeter's excellent advice convinced them of 
 the folly of contention. However this might have 
 been, the circular letter gives evidence that diversities 
 of opinion were liable to lead to profitless dispute, and 
 warns against it : — 
 
 " It is true that different professors of the Abrahamic 
 faith have dissimilar views concerning the modes in 
 which so great a salvation will be individually made 
 known to the purchased possession ; but we collectively 
 and separately^ seriously, affectionately, meekly, entreat 
 our brethren that they would not give themselves over 
 to vain disputations on the manner in which Jehovah 
 worketh the council of his will. Rather rest ye contented 
 that God, who hath promised, is faithful to perform; 
 and cheerfully receive all those who are blessed with 
 gifts of edification, however diverse their gifts may be, 
 preferring no man above his fellow-man, and rendering 
 honor to none save unto Jesus Christ, the only Holy and 
 the only Reverend." 
 
 " Mr. Streeter's death took place," says Mr. "Willis, 
 " in September, 1808, in the town of Surrey, N. H. His 
 age at the time of his decease I do not know; but 
 
 1 The Universalist, June 26, 1875. 
 
458 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 I do know that he was lovingly spoken of as the ven- 
 erable Zebulon Streeter, and I am sure that he was 
 revered." 
 
 The Philadelphia Convention of 1796 convened in 
 Philadelphia in October. The Minutes of the session 
 have not been preserved. It was a time of trial in 
 all religious denominations, and the attendance at the 
 Convention was small. The church in Philadelphia 
 reported that their numbers were few, and that they 
 had long been without a minister, but " of late Mr. 
 Thomas Jones arrived from Europe," and was now their 
 preacher. 
 
 "We lament," they wrote,- "the cold and lifeless state 
 of Christianity in general, in this day of falling away. 
 But more especially in our sister churches, who once 
 professed to be for Christ, and were zealous to meet and 
 confer with each other, some of whom neglected to send 
 letters or messengers to our last yearly meeting." 
 
 Besides the Philadelphia church, the churches of 
 New Britain and New Hanover were the only ones to 
 send reports. 
 
 Eev. Thomas Jones, the clerk of the session and 
 newly settled pastor in Philadelphia, was a recent and 
 valuable acquisition to the Universalist ministry in 
 America. He was bom at Narbath, Pembrokeshire, 
 South Wales, April 5, 1763, and was educated for the 
 Calvinistic Methodist ministry at Trevacca, Wales, at 
 the seminary established and supported by the Count- 
 ess of Huntingdon, a zealous Whitfieldian Methodist. 
 Graduating in 1785, he was at once ordained and set- 
 tled at Berks, England. In 1788 he was brought by 
 the study of the Scriptures to the belief of Universal- 
 
COST OF LIVING. 459 
 
 ism, which he at once openly professed and preached. 
 His church instead of casting him off, severed its con- 
 nection with the Methodists, and retained him till his 
 removal to this country, eight years later. He came 
 here at the earnest desire of Eev. John Murray, who 
 was interested in settling a pastor in Philadelphia. 
 Eight years after coming to America, he moved to 
 Gloucester, Mass., and became pastor of the church 
 there, where he remained until his death, August 20, 
 1846. 
 
 As intimated above, this was a trying year for reli- 
 gious organizations ; not only on account of the preva- 
 lence of infidel notions, which had infected some of the 
 so-called wise men of the nation, and were in many 
 cases regarded, after the example of France, by many 
 of the common people as an adjunct of Democracy, 
 but also on account of the extreme high prices of the 
 necessaries of life. This scarcity and high price was 
 due to the war then prevailing on the continent of 
 Europe. Mr. Murray mentions it as being exceedingly 
 embarrassing to salaried men. In a letter to Eev. Eob- 
 ert Eedding, he says : — 
 
 "I suffer much from it, though I have twenty-two 
 dollars a week. But I pay four hundred dollars a year 
 for my house, and have but nine pounds of bread for a 
 dollar, five pounds of butter for a dollar, a good piece of 
 beef 9d. a pound, veal 7d., vegetables dear in propor- 
 tion ; milk 6d. a quart, eggs Is. a dozen ; wood,' before it 
 is put on the fire, six dollars a cord. We have no other 
 fuel here. We give our maid in the kitchen 6s. a week. 
 We burn twenty-five cords of wood a year. You may 
 judge from this rough sketch how it is at present in this 
 country. At this time I do not know a dearer country 
 
460 L'NIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 to live in in the world. But these are merely temporary- 
 ills. We encourage hope it will be better when the war 
 is over." 
 
 Kev. Duncan McLean writes to a friend from his 
 home in Loudon Co., Virginia : — 
 
 " I preach statedly in Alexandria to great audiences, 
 and in several other places at considerable distances 
 from my own residence. This is attended with toil, and 
 my support hitherto hath been inconsiderable ; in fact, 
 I have' often suffered respecting the conveniences of 
 life." 
 
 The church at Pike Eun, Pennsylvania, reported 
 concerning their minister : — 
 
 " Our beloved brother Abel Sarjent, who has faithfully 
 labored these four years in this country, is now we 
 expect about to leave us. We have no room to say 
 aught against it, for he has faithfully labored, and has 
 been instrumental in convincing very many, and we may 
 say it has been chiefly upon his own charges ; and he is 
 now thereby so reduced that he is in a likely way to be 
 distressed by the law for want of cash to defray his 
 necessary charges in life, and we cannot help him, be- 
 cause it is impossible to obtain cash in this country." 
 
 At a little later date than this, Eev. George Richards, 
 in a letter to Rev. Edward Turner, urging him to settle 
 in Gloucester, Mass., said : — 
 
 " I think it improbable that their present circumstan- 
 ces will admit of more than seven dollars per Sabbath ; 
 but with the addition of marriages, presents, &c., it will 
 amount to more, and I should suppose that you might 
 count on four hundred and fifty dollars a year, ... I 
 should imagine that much of your family's support was 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 461 
 
 derived from preaching ; and as the country brethren 
 seldom rise above five dollars, and as they seldom em- 
 ploy the whole year, that consequently your prospects 
 are not above two hundred 'dollars cash per year ; and 
 this acquired by an immensity of riding and travelling 
 in all weathers." 
 
 Mr. Richards was obliged to give a large portion of 
 his time to school teaching, in order to obtain enough 
 to support his family ; and the same was true of Mr. 
 Jones in Philadelphia. This state of affairs naturally 
 accounts for the inactivity of many of the preachers and 
 congregations, as lamented over by the Convention. 
 
 Mr. Winchester preached in Philadelphia during the 
 winter and spring of 1796. Dr. Eush, in a letter dated 
 March 4th, says : — 
 
 " Mr. Winchester preaches on Sunday evenings to 
 crowded audiences, but they are composed chiefl.y of the 
 second and lower classes of our citizens. He is as usual, 
 eloquent, scriptural, and irresistible in his reasonings 
 upon all subjects." 
 
 The following June, his health failed so rapidly that 
 Mr. Winchester went to New York, where he spent 
 several months, but was probably unable to preach. A 
 year before, at the suggestion of Hon. Timothy Picker- 
 ing, with whom he enjoyed an intimate acquaintance, 
 he had written and published a " Political Catechism," 
 which he dedicated to the universities and seminaries 
 of learning in America. In it he warns the people of 
 the United States of — 
 
 "the baneful effects of infidelity, and lucidly exposes 
 the evil tendency of French principles. It is well calcu- 
 lated to impress the minds of American youth with a 
 
462 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 sense of the value of their religious and civil liberty, 
 and of the importance of their country in a political and 
 commercial view. It was generally approved, and passed 
 through several editions. By many it was thought well 
 adapted to the use of schools, and it appears that nego- 
 tiations were commenced by his friends in Providence 
 for the supply of the New England States." ^ 
 
 Aware of his rapidly approaching death, Mr. Win- 
 chester was solicitous for the future maintenance of his 
 wife ; and to this end contemplated giving to the world 
 a revised and uniform edition of his writings. Hence 
 his removal to New York, where he intended to super- 
 vise this work. The plan did not succeed; probably 
 his strength did not allow the care and labor which 
 the project demanded. Dr. Francis says : " Winches- 
 ter's Lectures on Universal Eestoration and on the 
 Prophecies, had been circulated in New York, with a 
 strong recommendatory letter in their behalf from the 
 pen of Dr. Benjamin Eush."^ This may have been a 
 new New York edition. 
 
 During his stay in New York, Mr. Winchester en- 
 joyed a friendly intimacy with Governor Jay, and other 
 distinguished gentlemen, who were more or less in 
 sympathy with his views. In October he went to 
 Hartford, Conn. Having dined, he sauntered out to 
 view the place. 
 
 " Observing a funeral procession, he joined it and 
 entered the enclosure of the dead. The assemblage was 
 large, and the scene to him solemn and affecting. Ad-, 
 dresses at the grave were then of frequent occurrence. 
 
 ' Stone's Life of Winchester, p. 224. 
 2 Old New York, p. 94. 
 
ELHANAN WINCHESTER. 463 
 
 The place and occasion induced in him a strong desire 
 to speak to his dying fellow-men. The coffin was just 
 lowered into its earthly receptacle, when he arrested the 
 attention of the multitude by breaking forth in tlie sub- 
 lime words of Jesus to the afflicted sisters of Lazarus, ' I 
 am the resurrection and the life.' The effect was elec- 
 tric. A strain of almost supernatural eloquence now 
 saluted the ear, and engaged the eager gaze of the spell- 
 bound throng. The stranger's manner, his clerical habit, 
 and the sepulchral hue of his countenance, conspired to 
 agitate their hearts with various and indescribable emo- 
 tions ; and the tearful eye of many gave evidence to the 
 power of his remarks. If the thoughtful were impressed 
 with the importance of living for death and eternity, the 
 Christian mourner could rejoice in the immortal hopes 
 of the gospel ; and when he ceased to speak, the inquir- 
 ies. Who is he ? Whence came he ? broke spontane- 
 ously from every lip. 
 
 " There were at this time, several gentlemen in Hart- 
 ford who cherished a kindred faith. With these Mr. 
 Winchester was not long in forming an acquaintance, 
 and at the house of one of them he continued to reside 
 until his decease. When it became noised abroad that 
 the stranger at the grave was a clergyman, a general de- 
 sire was expressed to hear him preach. Mr. Winchester 
 accordingly delivered one or two lectures that week. In 
 the mean time arrangements were matured for the per- 
 formance of public worship on the approaching Sabbath. 
 Xo building or hall sufficiently capacious being availa- 
 ble, the theatre was first obtained for that purpose ; and 
 thus, probably for the first time in our country, a house 
 of plays was converted into a house of prayer. Here 
 the meetings were repeated with encouraging success. A 
 respectable congregation soon gathered, and had Mr. 
 Winchester been willing to accept a permanent settle- 
 ment, a meeting-house would have been erected, and a 
 
464 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 society organized. He continued to preach in the thea- 
 tre every Lord's day, and in one of the meeting-houses 
 on Wednesday evenings until the beginning of Decem- 
 ber, when, in consequence of the inclement weather, 
 a chamber in the house of Mr. Thomas Tisdale (an 
 ardent friend), capable of accommodating about four 
 hundred persons, was fitted up for religious worship. 
 Here Mr. Winchester continued his meetings until dis- 
 ease confined him to the bed of death. ' His texts were 
 generally selected from the Pentateuch, the Psalms, the 
 book of Isaiah, and the Revelations ; and his discourses 
 probably ran much on the types of the law, the promises 
 of the gospel, and the fulfilment of prophecy.' " ^ 
 
 Some two months before Mr. Winchester went to 
 New York, a movement was commenced which re- 
 sulted in the formation of a Universalist society in that 
 city. The circumstances are thus related by one who 
 took an active part in organizing and sustaining the en- 
 terprise, — the late Eev. Edward Mitchell : — 
 
 " Late in March, or on the afternoon of Friday, the 1st 
 of April, 1796, George Eoberts, who we believe was 
 then the presiding elder of the Methodist society of the 
 city of New York, called on Abraham E. Brouwer, at his 
 house, and informed him that he did not come to contro- 
 vert the subject of universal salvation with him, but to 
 inform him that, as he held that doctrine, it was not 
 proper that he should at the same time hold an office in 
 the church. The reply of Mr. Brouwer was, ' I have fre- 
 quently offered my class-paper to Mr. Dickens, and he 
 has as often refused to take it ; but now, sir, you are 
 welcome to it,' and accordingly handed it to him. When 
 Mr. Eoberts was about to go away, Eobert Snow, who 
 had long been the intimate friend of Mr. Brouwer, pre- 
 
 1 Stone's Life of Winchester, pp. 227-229. 
 
ORGANIZATION IN NEW YOEK. 465 
 
 sented himself from the street, and the term ' brother ' 
 was reciprocated between them. Mr. Eoberts went awav, 
 and Mr. Snow went in. He was soon informed of what 
 had taken place, and after some conversation, Mr. Snow 
 came to the house of the writer, and asked him to go 
 with him to Brother Brouwer's. Here the writer was 
 soon informed of what had taken place. After a long 
 consultation, we thought it probable that the intention of 
 Mr. Roberts was to follow up his act of discipline by ex- 
 pulsion ; but, to put the matter beyond doubt, we deter- 
 mined to wait on him the next morning, which we did. 
 Mr. Snow was our spokesman, and informed him that our 
 visit was in consequence of his visit of the preceding even- 
 ing to our brother, Brouwer, and that we thought that as 
 he had taken from Mr. Brouwer his class-paper, perhaps 
 he intended to excommunicate. His reply was, 'That 
 was my intention.' He was then told that on the subject 
 of religion we were all of one mind ; that what he in- 
 tended to do with one, we supposed he would do with 
 all ; and that as it was not common to exclude from a 
 religious society for a mere difference of opinion, and as 
 we were all men in business, our characters were dear to 
 us, and we requested that he would be so good as to give 
 ixs a certificate stating that it was not for any immorality 
 of conduct, but for this difference, that we were thus ex- 
 cluded. He answered that there would be a meeting of 
 the leaders that evening, and that he would lay the mat- 
 ter before them. 
 
 " In the course of the day we waited on Mr. Daniel 
 Smith, who had formerly been a settled preacher in the 
 city, but who was then a local preacher, and with whom 
 we were on very good terms of intimacy, and of whom we 
 requested that, as he would be at the meeting that even- 
 ing, he would not advocate our cause, but urge a decision 
 of it. The meeting was held, and the subject of the 
 morning stated. Mr. Smith asked Mr. Eoberts : ' Brother 
 
 VOL. I. — 30 
 
466 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Roberts, do you ask our opinion that you may know what 
 we think, or that you may be governed by it?' The 
 answer was : ' I cannot say that I will be governed by 
 your opinion unless it agrees with my own.' The meet- 
 ing broke up without coming to any decision. 
 
 " Thinking ourselves aggrieved by the situation in 
 which Mr. Roberts' conduct had placed us, we wrote him 
 a note on the subject, urging him to a decision of our 
 case; that if upon fair inquiry we should be deemed 
 worthy of expulsion, he would proceed to that without 
 delay ; that if the contrary, he would then publicly ac- 
 knowledge us as acceptable members of the Methodist 
 church in the city of New York. The answer was, that 
 he was yet of the same mind as he was when he con- 
 versed with us, and that he would act accordingly, unless 
 we would previously withdraw. After waiting two weeks, 
 another note was written to him, still urging him to a 
 decision ; and if it was not agreeable to him to do this 
 publicly, then proposing a more private one, by a note 
 from him, and furnishing a form of private exclusion 
 and one of continuance, notwithstanding our being Uni- 
 versalists. This was answered by a note, stating that he 
 had found that it was his duty not to be hasty in his 
 conclusions, and that neither authority nor resolution 
 were wanting in him to carry this business into effect. 
 To us this appeared very much like saying, I will exclude 
 you, but I will choose my own time to do it. We also 
 thought that he might hope, by delaying the exercise of 
 the authority which he supposed he had, to find something 
 else that would serve as an excuse independent of our 
 religious opinions ; and, after waiting another week, we 
 took leave of him and the church to which he belonged 
 by a note, saying : — 
 
 Sir, — As you cannot, or will not, do ua the justice to which 
 we are entitled, we do not choose any longer to continue in this 
 
ORGANIZATION IN NEW YORK. 467 
 
 condition. Therefore, from the date hereof we shall no longer 
 consider ourselves as members of the Methodist Society, nor sub- 
 ject to its precarious discipline. 
 
 Signed, 
 
 Abm. E. Brodwer. 
 EoBT. Snow. 
 
 Edward Mitchell. 
 New Yoek, 20th April, 1796. 
 
 " Some time after, we were read out of the Methodist 
 Society as withdrawn. 
 
 " The circumstances in the above statement are correct ; 
 for though it is now more than thirty-seven years since 
 they took place, they were of such interest in their nature, 
 and of so much importance in their results, — they have 
 been so often the subject of conversation both with friends 
 and enemies, — that they could not be easily forgotten, and 
 they are now fresh in the memory of the writer ; and the 
 more so, as a difference of opinion has ever existed be- 
 tween him and Mr. Brouwer relative to their separation 
 from the Methodist Church,^ — the latter insisting that 
 they had only withdrawn, while the former maintained 
 that they had been as literally turned out as that man 
 had been who, having been invited into a house, was 
 afterwards told that unless he took his leave he should 
 be put out by force ; and, after some altercation, thought 
 fit to walk out. Was he or was he not turned out ? The 
 original letters of Mr. Roberts are now in existence, as 
 are also the rough drafts of the letters of B., S., and M., 
 in the handwriting of Robert Snow. 
 
 " Thus situated, belonging to no church, we seriously 
 considered what was our duty as professors of religion, 
 on the subject of worship. We knew that we could read 
 the Scriptures together, pray to God for each other, sing 
 the praise of God our Saviour, and be helpers to each 
 other in our common faith. We therefore determined to 
 worship together, hoping for the enjoyment of the prom- 
 
468 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ise of Christ, that where two or three are gathered to- 
 gether in his name, he would be with them. 
 
 " As it is necessary that wherever men associate for 
 any permanent purpose they should distinctly understand 
 by what rules they would govern themselves in their 
 associate character, so we thought it best to gather up 
 these rules; and while we were engaged in this work, 
 sundry persons who had previously belonged to the Meth- 
 odist Society, and who with us hoped for the final hap- 
 piness of all men, united with us, and among these Barnet 
 Mooney, a highly esteemed friend, whose sound, good 
 sense was of great service to us in the formation of our 
 constitution: he was the writer of the preamble to it. 
 By its title we find its date, for it is called ' Constitution 
 of the Society of United Christian Friends, established 
 at New York, May, 1796.' 
 
 " This constitution is signed by Abraham E. Brouwer, 
 president, and Jacob Clinch, clerk. 
 
 " In the course of this year we made a small selection 
 of hymns for our own use, and published them with our 
 constitution annexed. The preface to this little book 
 was written by Robert Snow, and we find it signed by 
 Abraham E. Brouwer, elder, and Jacob Clinch, clerk. 
 
 " The prominent features of this constitution were as 
 follows : — 
 
 " Article I. declared the title, ' United Christian 
 Friends.' 
 
 " Article II. sec. 1, required that an elder be chosen by 
 ballot to serve one year, and not to be eligible for the 
 succeeding year ; and his duty was to watch over the in- 
 terests of the society. Sec. 2 requires a steward to be 
 chosen by ballot for one year, and not to be eligible for 
 the succeeding year, to receive and pay all moneys, to 
 provide for the Lord's Supper and feast of charity, and 
 report his accounts every three months. Sec. 3 requires 
 a clerk to be chosen by ballot to serve one year, to keep 
 
ORGANIZATION IN NEW YORK. 469 
 
 the Minutes, and register the names of the members of 
 the society. 
 
 "Article III. divides the society into classes, of not 
 more than twelve, nor less than six, — each class to choose 
 its own leader, whose duty it was to see each member 
 once a week, to inquire after their spiritual welfare, and 
 to advise, reprove in love, comfort, or exhort, as occasion 
 might require ; to report to the elder and steward the case 
 of such in his class as were sick or needy ; and they 
 three, or a majority of them, to give the requisite relief. 
 The leader was not to serve the same class for more than 
 three months successively. 
 
 " Article IV. sec. 1, requires the observance of the 
 Lord's Supper. Sec. 2 appoints the first Sunday evening 
 of each month to celebrate a feast of charity, to continue 
 two hours, the last three quarters to be appropriated to 
 speaking of particular experience. Sec. 3 says the so- 
 ciety shall meet at convenient times for worship and 
 mutual edification. Sec. 4 appoints the fourth Tuesday 
 of May in each year to elect their servants. Sec. .5 ap- 
 points the iirst Tuesday in February, May, August, and 
 November to transact business. 
 
 " Article V. provides for the reception of new members, 
 who must have been previously approved unanimously, 
 and were required to answer in the afiS.rmative on being 
 questioned, (1) As to belief in the existence of God the 
 Creator, and accountability at the day of judgment. 
 (2) Faith in Jesus Christ as the promised Messiah, and 
 that he was sent into the world for the salvation of man- 
 kind. (3) That the Scriptures are a revelation from God, 
 and a sufficient rule of faith and practice. (4) A deter- 
 mination to be devoted to God. (5) A punctual attend- 
 ance on the means of grace. These answers being given, 
 the elder gave the right-hand of fellowship in the pres- 
 ence of the society. 
 
 "Article VI. acknowledges baptism as an ordinance of 
 
470 UNIVBRSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 the gospel; but as to the subjects and mode of adminis- 
 tering, each member is left to his own discretion. 
 
 "Article VII. is of the expulsion of members, and 
 makes the rule as found in Matthew xviii. 15-17. 
 
 "Article VIII. is of laws, and requires the assent of 
 three-fourths of the members present, before the law 
 shall pass. 
 
 " These articles close with a declaration of willingness 
 to permit the use of their religious means to Christians 
 of any name, provided the party be first introduced to 
 the elder by a member. 
 
 " It is a matter of regret that the first church book of 
 the society is not now to be found. The one now in use 
 begins with a constitution differing from the first, and is 
 dated August 1, 1798. The list of members which im- 
 mediately follows begins with the date of 1796, May 1, 
 which appears to fix the day of the society's being 
 formed. Fourteen names are of this date ; and it is not 
 unworthy of notice that of these fourteen, ten are now 
 dead. One soon returned to England, his native coun- 
 try, and has never since been in America ; one has for 
 some time been prevented by ill health from taking an 
 active part ; one appears no longer interested. So that 
 of the founders, the writer alone is left (June, 1833), an 
 active member of the Society of United Christian Friends. 
 The society first worshipped in a room in the house of 
 Abraham E. Brouwer, but the number of the members 
 increasing, it was judged expedient to build ; and a house 
 was accordingly erected near where the free Episcopal 
 church in Vandewater Street now stands. Shortly after 
 the erection of their first house, the writer proposed that 
 the society should be incorporated, but it was not ap- 
 proved. His secular affairs calling him to remove from 
 the city, he was absent part of 1798 and 1799, returning 
 May, 1799. During his absence, Mr. Murray of Boston 
 visited the city and preached, but not in the house of the 
 
ORGANIZATIOS IN NEW YORK. 471 
 
 society. November 12, 1800, it was determihed that a 
 proposition made a month previous to have the society 
 become a body corporate, and to hold an election on the 
 17th inst. for trustees, should be accepted. And the 
 election was held accordingly on the 17th of November, 
 1800. On December 3 of the same year, Eobert Shaw 
 declined acting any longer as elder. A deputation im- 
 mediately waited on him to persuade him to continue ; 
 but his answer was that he could no longer hold that 
 office for which he found himself inadequate. He and 
 Mr. Brouwer left the society at this time, and their names 
 have opposite them the word withdrawn. December 
 15, 1800, another constitution was adopted, something 
 different from the second, inasmuch as it entirely omits 
 class-meetings. March 24, 1807, the constitution which 
 has governed the society ever since was adopted. It differs 
 from those preceding by omitting the feast of charity. 
 
 " When it is considered that the first members of the 
 society had all been members of the Methodist society, 
 it is not to be wondered at that they should have class- 
 meetings and the feast of charity. The first is well cal- 
 culated for those who know little more of religion than 
 that they desire to flee from the wrath to come ; and for 
 such we believe it was first principally intended ; and 
 if continued with propriety may be useful to those who 
 have made further progress in the faith. And the feast 
 of charity, as conducted among the Methodists, may, with 
 their views of religion, be very profitable to them. In 
 the Society of United Christian Eriends it was a very 
 temperate repast, a friendly, social meal; and its ten- 
 dency was to refresh the wearied mind, and to cement 
 the bond of brotherhood. The only danger to be appre- 
 hended from such meetings is, that in conversation some 
 may be led to express themselves in a way that may 
 appear like debate ; and this must ever be unprofitable. 
 If it be asked. Why, then, were the class-meetings and 
 
472 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 feasts of charity laid aside ? the answer is easy. Neither 
 of them is the command of God, and therefore not strictly 
 obligatory on men. The first was observed for more 
 than four years, and the last for more than ten years. 
 During this time many members were added to the 
 society who, for various reasons, considered these insti- 
 tutions as not required of God, nor necessary in them- 
 selves, and therefore in the formation of the present 
 constitution they were omitted. In June, 1803, the 
 society determined that the writer be ordained as a regu- 
 lar minister, and he was ordained accordingly on the 18th 
 of July in that year." ^ 
 
 Mr. Mitchell was a native of the north of Ireland, 
 and in early life was a bookseller. At the time he 
 came out from the Methodist church the form of Uni- 
 versalism entertained by him and by his associates was 
 that preached by Mr. Winchester, but after the preach- 
 ing of Mr. Murray in New York, alluded to in the 
 extract just given, Mr. Mitchell and the society generally 
 became Eellyans.^ 
 
 In 1810 Mr. Mitchell settled in Boston as the col- 
 league of Eev. John Murray; but after a year's ab- 
 sence, he returned to New York, and was re-.settled 
 as pastor of the Society of United Christian Friends. 
 In 1818 they built and took possession of a new house 
 of worship at the corner of Duane and Augustus streets. 
 Mr. Mitchell died Aug. 8, 1834. How long after his 
 death the meetings were continued, if at all, we are not 
 informed. Mr. Cook says, in the letter referred to in 
 the footnote : — 
 
 1 The Christian Universalist, by Edward Mitchell, pp. 25-34. 
 
 2 See a letter from Edward Cook, the last presiding elder of the 
 society, in the Christian Ambassador, May 7, 1853. 
 
DR. JOSEPH PRIESTLEY. 473 
 
 " In regard to the society, though dormant, it yet ex- 
 ists. Its property is in the hands of trustees, and when 
 in the providence of God he shall send a preacher like 
 the lamented Mitchell, its members will be gathered 
 from the churches to which they have been scattered, 
 and again form a body of 'United Christian Friends.'" 
 
 This was written thirty years ago. The present con- 
 dition of the society's affairs is unknown. 
 
 In the winter of 1796, Dr. Joseph Priestley gave a 
 series of "Discourses relating to the Evidences of 
 Revealed Eeligion " in the " Church of the Universal- 
 ists at Philadelphia." They were at once printed, mak- 
 ing an octavo volume of 426 pages. The second part 
 of Thomas Paine's " Age of Eeason " was published in 
 that city during the delivery of these discourses, and 
 many of its positions were criticised and refuted by 
 Dr. Priestley. In the concluding discourse occurs the 
 following language, showing what he regarded as 
 the teachings of revelation on the subject of human 
 destiny : — 
 
 " A familiar acquaintance with the Scriptures will pre- 
 serve upon the mind a lively sense of God and his moral 
 government. It will continually bring into view, and 
 give you a habit of contemplating, the great plan of 
 Providence respecting the designs of God in the creation 
 of man, and his ultimate destination. You will by this 
 means have a clearer view of the Divine wisdom and 
 goodness in the government of the world, even in the 
 most calamitous events, as in the corruption of true re- 
 ligion, as well as in the reformation of it. You will 
 perceive signs of order in the present seemingly dis- 
 ordered state of things, and will rejoice in the prospect 
 of the glorious completion of the scheme in universal 
 
474 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 virtue and universal happiness. Such views of things as 
 these, which will be perpetually suggested by the reading 
 of the Scriptures, have the greatest tendency to ennoble 
 and enlarge the mind, to raise our thoughts and affections 
 above the low pursuits which wholly occupy and distract 
 the minds of the bulk of mankind ; they will inspire a 
 most delightful serenity in the midst of the cares and 
 troubles of life, and impart a joy which the world can 
 neither give nor take away " (pp. 422, 423). 
 
 At the conclusion of this series of discourses, Dr. 
 Priestley gave another discourse, entitled " Unitarianism 
 Explained and Defended." This was also published, 
 and some portions of it were, it is said, reviewed by 
 Mr. Winchester. Dr. Priestley concluded this discourse 
 with the following manly avowal and argument : — 
 
 " Having given this account of my faith with respect 
 to articles of the greatest secondary importance, I shall 
 take th^ liberty (especially as I have been indulged with 
 an opportunity of pleading what I believe to be the 
 cause of truth in this place) to express my concurrence 
 with the minister and the congregation worshipping here, 
 in their opinion concerning the final happiness of all the 
 human race, — a doctrine eminently calculated to promote 
 alike gratitude to God and benevolence to man, and con- 
 sequently every other virtue ; ' and since this doctrine is 
 perfectly consistent with the belief of the adequate 
 punishment of all sin, it is far from giving any encour- 
 agement to sinners. 
 
 " The doctrine of eternal torments is altogether inde- 
 fensible on any principles of justice or equity ; for all the 
 crimes of finite creatures being of course finite, cannot in 
 equity deserve infinite punishment. The Judge of all 
 the earth, who appeals to men that all his ways are 
 equal, we may rest assured will do that which is right. 
 
DR. PRIESTLEY'S UNIVERSALISM. 475 
 
 Nay, in the Tnidst of judgment he ever remembers mercy, 
 and he lias declared that he retaineth not anger forever. 
 
 " But I do not lay much stress on particular texts of 
 Scripture in this case, because it does not appear to me 
 to have been the proper object of the mission of Christ 
 or of any other prophet, to announce this doctrine ; nor 
 does it appear that any of them considered the subject in 
 its full extent. But it may be inferred from the general 
 maxims of God's moral government, and from the spirit 
 and tendency of the whole system of revelation. Since 
 all the dead are to be raised, the wicked as well as the 
 righteous, it is highly improbable that this will be 
 merely for the sake of their being punished and then 
 consigned to annihilation, as if they were incapable of 
 improvement. 
 
 " No human beings can be so depraved as that it shall 
 not be in the power of proper discipline to reclaim them, 
 so as to make them valuable characters. What great 
 things have the excellent regulations of the public prison 
 in this city effected in this respect ! They are regula- 
 tions worthy to be imitated in all the United States and 
 through the whole world. How often do vices arise 
 from false views of things, occasioned by the circum- 
 stances in which men are unavoidably placed, which, 
 therefore, a more favorable situation and better informa- 
 tion would easily cure ! The natural operation of all 
 pnnishment here is the reformation of the offender ; and 
 if human nature will continue to be the same thing that 
 it now is, it must have the same operation hereafter, and 
 the time that is often the only thing wanting to produce 
 its proper effect at present, will not be wanting then. 
 
 " Many vicious persons, and especially unbelievers, are 
 men of great natural talents and powers, capable of the 
 happiest exertions if only well directed ; and is their 
 Maker incapable of giving them that due direction ? 
 After having made use of them for the wise and benevo- 
 
476 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 lent purposes of his providence here in promoting, as 
 they indirectly do, the virtue and happiness of others, 
 will he cast them away as of no further use ? For, as I 
 have observed, moral as well as natural evils are neces- 
 sary in this state of trial and discipline. Would not any 
 man be justly censured for destroying any animal that 
 might be rendered useful merely because he was vicious ? 
 Or would any parent abandon a child for any fault that 
 he could be guilty of ? It would be said that Judicious 
 treatment would cure those vices, whatever they were. 
 And is the Divine Being less skilful or less benevolent 
 than man ? 
 
 " Consider, further, how is it possible for good men to 
 whom the happiness of heaven is promised, to have any 
 enjoyment of that happiness themselves, if those for 
 whom they cannot but have the strongest aifection, espe- 
 cially their children and other near relations and friends, 
 be, I do not say consigned to everlasting torments, but 
 even annihilated, or in any other way only excluded from 
 all possibility of attaining such a state as will make their 
 existence a blessiug to them ? If David lamented as he 
 did the death of his rebellious son Absalom, what would 
 he have felt in the idea of his utter destruction ? A 
 parent myself, allow me to speak to the feelings of 
 others who are also parents. But is not God the true 
 parent of us all ? Are not our children as much his as 
 they are ours ? And is an earthly parent who is deserv- 
 ing of the name incapable of wholly abandoning any of 
 his children ? and will God, whose tender mercies are 
 over all his works (Psalm cxlv. 9), and whose love and 
 compassion far exceed ours, abandon any of his ? Like 
 a true parent, he will ever correct in measure anc^ with 
 m,ercy. 
 
 " I shall conclude with a quotation from Dr. Hartley's 
 ' Observations on Man,' in which I find the doctrine of 
 the final happiness of all men is ably defended. It is 
 
REV. NATHAN STRONG. 477 
 
 the conclusion of liis great work. 'I have now gone 
 through with my observations on the frame, duty, and 
 expectations of man, finishing them with the doctrine of 
 ultimate unlimited happiness to all. This doctrine, if it 
 be true, ought at once to dispel all gloominess, anxiety, 
 and sorrow from our hearts, and raise them to the high- 
 est pitch of love, adoration, and gratitude towards our 
 God, our most bountiful Creator and mercifid Father, and 
 the inexhaustible source of happiness and perfection. 
 Here self-interest, benevolence, and piety all concur to 
 move and exalt our affections. How happy in himself, 
 how benevolent to others, and how thankful to God 
 ought that man to be who believes both himself and 
 others born to an infinite expectation ! Since God has 
 bid us rejoice, what can make us sorrowful ? Since he 
 has created us for happiness, what misery can we fear ? 
 If we be really intended for ultimate unlimited happiness, 
 it is no matter to a truly resigned person when, or where, 
 or how. Nay, could any of us fully conceive, and be duly 
 influenced by, this glorious expectation, this infinite bal- 
 ance in our favor, it would be sufficient to deprive all 
 present evils of their sting and bitterness. It would be 
 a sufficient answer to all our difficulties and anxieties 
 from the folly, vice, and misery which we experience in 
 ourselves and see in others, to say that they will end in 
 unbounded knowledge, virtue, and happiness ; and that 
 the progress of every individual in his passage through 
 an eternal life, is from imperfect to perfect, particular to 
 general, less to greater, finite to infinite, and from the 
 creature to the Creator.' " 
 
 Dr. Huntington's work, " Calvinism Improved," men- 
 tioned in the first chapter as having been published 
 in 1796, was the same year attacked by Eev. Nathan 
 Strong, of Hartford, Conn., in a work entitled, "The 
 Doctrine of Eternal Misery Reconcilable with the 
 
478 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Benevolence of God," and a truth plainly asserted in 
 the Christian Scriptures. Mr. Strong had been brought 
 up in Coventry, — Dr. Huntington's residence at the 
 time his book was written, — and his father had been 
 a predecessor of Dr. H. Of the review, the late Eev. 
 Dr. Whittemore said in the first edition of his " Modem 
 History of Universalism " : — 
 
 " The ground taken in opposition to Dr. H. was, that 
 benevolence in God was not a love of individual happi- 
 ness, but of the happiness of society, or the greatest 
 quantity of good ; and that the endless misery of a part 
 of mankind was consistent with benevolence, inasmuch 
 as it was the means of promoting the general good. But 
 we are unable to see for what reason Mr. Strong's book 
 should ever have been called an answer, much less a 
 refutation, of Dr. H.'s theory. The latter, so far from 
 denying, had maintained that endless punishment was 
 a doctrine of the Scriptures ; he had found fault with 
 Universalists in general for trifling with the original 
 word translated forever ; and in reference to the ques- 
 tion, 'Does the Bible plainly say that sinners of man- 
 kind shall be damned to interminable punishment ? ' he 
 answered, ' It certainly does, as plainly as language can 
 express, or any man, or even God himself, can speak.' 
 Nor did he deny that endless misery was consistent with 
 divine justice. On this subject he was perfectly plain. 
 ' The endless duration of punishment,' said he, ' appears 
 obviously just, no more than we deserve, and not in the 
 least cruel for God to inflict. To argue, as some do, 
 that it is not jttst for God to punish eternally for tran- 
 sient sins in this world, is the perfection of absurdity, 
 and arises from a total ignorance of God and ourselves 
 in the true character and relation of each.' Why a 
 work designed to refute such a theory should bear the 
 
DEATH OF MR. WINCHESTEU. 479 
 
 title Mr. Strong gave his book, we cannot imagine" 
 (pp. 385, 386). 
 
 Early in April, 1797, Mr. "Winchester, who was still 
 in Hartford, preached a sermon from St. Paul's fare- 
 well address to the elders of the Ephesian churches 
 (Acts XX. 28-35), under the impression that it was 
 the last he should ever preach. A few days showed 
 that his presentiment had been well founded ; he never 
 again entered his pulpit. His disease progressed rap- 
 idly, and baffled all efforts of skilful physicians. He 
 felt that death was approaching, but fearing no evil, 
 he contemplated his departure from earth with resigna- 
 tion and even with joy. An eye witness thus described 
 his death-bed : — 
 
 "Here was to be seen the most disordered and dis- 
 tressed state of body, with a mind more calm than his 
 most indifferent spectators, serene and brightening at 
 the near approach of death like the increasing light of 
 the morning without clouds, as the dying man called 
 on his attendants to bear witness to his unshaken faith 
 and reliance on that system of the gospel he had so 
 fully published and frequently inculcated from the pul- 
 pit. On the morning of April 18 he was summoned to 
 his rest. A few moments before his departure he re- 
 quested that a particular hymn, ' Farewell, dear friends 
 in Christ below,' might be sung, in which he attempted 
 to join. After a few stanzas his voice sunk in exhaus- 
 tion. His friends, alarmed, paused. Rallying a little, 
 he said, ' Sing on, — be not afraid, — sing on to the end.' 
 They obeyed ; and when the hymn was completed he 
 ceased to breathe." * 
 
 1 Stone's Biography of Winchester, pp. 230, 231. 
 
480 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 The New England Convention met at Milford, Mass., 
 in 1797. Appended to the circular letter, which is the 
 only document extant, is the following : — 
 
 " As a further recommendation, we propose that when 
 our elders are called to travel to places where they are 
 not known, some society or brethren give them a line to 
 signify that they are received by us as preachers of the 
 gospel, and persons of good moral character." 
 
 Up to this time, therefore, we suppose that the Con- 
 vention had not issued letters of fellowship. The plan 
 of government adopted by them at their organization 
 delegated this power, as also that of ordination, to the 
 churches. The full text of the provision on this subject 
 is as follows : — 
 
 " Such persons as possess those qualifications and gifts 
 which the Scriptures prescribe for a bishop, and who 
 wish to devote themselves to God in the ministry, shall 
 be invited to preach before the members of the church ; 
 and if after trial they shall appear to be under the in- 
 fluence of the spirit of the gospel, and to possess such 
 endowments as are requisite for the profitable exercise 
 of the duty of a bishop or minister, the church shall 
 solemnly set apart and ordain such persons; and a cer- 
 tificate of such appointment shall be to them a suffi- 
 cient ordination to preach the gospel, and to administer 
 such ordinances hereinafter mentioned as to them may 
 seem proper, wherever they may be called by Divine 
 Providence. 
 
 "And as the great design of forms in ordaining min- 
 isters is to prevent weak and immoral persons from exer- 
 cising the ministerial office, we admit ordination by any 
 church in which forms have been observed, to be valid ; 
 and when persons so ordained shall apply to become 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 481 
 
 members of any of our churches, they shall (if other- 
 wise qualified) be admitted, not only as members, but 
 ministers also.'' 
 
 There are no documents relating to the Philadelphia 
 Convention this year. 
 
 Mr. Murray published in 1797 an octavo pamphlet 
 of xvi. and 96 pages, entitled, " Universalism Vindi- 
 cated, being the substance of some observations on the 
 revelation of the unbounded love of God made to the 
 patriarch in the field of Padan-aram (Gen. xxvui. 14), 
 and confirmed by the joint suffrages of the prophets 
 and Apostles, delivered some time since to a society in 
 Boston who statedly worship the only wise God our 
 Saviour." The passage of Scripture referred to contains 
 the promise to Jacob : " In thee and in thy seed shall 
 all the families of the earth be blessed." 
 
 Two years later, the pamphlet was republished in 
 what was then considered the far west, in the village 
 of Eome, Oneida Co., N. Y. Placed in smaller type it 
 then filled 83 pages, — an undertaking that must have 
 involved no little expense, and which indicates that 
 some believers in Universalism had penetrated that re- 
 gion, and were zealous for the spread of the truth. 
 The sermon is purely Eellyan in its argument and in 
 its interpretation of Scripture figures of speech. One 
 of the opening paragraphs is a good specimen of the 
 latter : — 
 
 "In the subject before us we hear the voice from 
 heaven uttered by the Jehovah that stood above the lad- 
 der, declaring that the seed of this patriarch should be 
 as the dust of the earth. This figure no doubt points out 
 the innumerable multitudes that should spring from this 
 
 VOL. I. — 31 
 
482 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 favored stock. This figure was used by the same gracious 
 Being when he preached the gospel to the grandfather of 
 this youth; but there he added another most glorious 
 figure. Having turned the patriarch's attention to the 
 earth, and in effect declaring it as impossible to number 
 the individuals that should spring from him as the par- 
 ticles of which it was composed, and having, by fixing 
 the patriarch's attention to the earth, led him to con- 
 sider the origin of the dusty part of his seed as of earth 
 earthly, he then turned his attention to the heavens, 
 directing him to view the stars, and said unto him. So 
 shall thy seed be. Accordingly we hear an Apostle, under 
 the influence of the spirit of him who spoke to Abraham 
 and Jacob, declaring, as one star differeth from another 
 star in glory, so shall be the resurrection of the dead; 
 thus the seed, how dishonorable and corruptible soever 
 it may have been while bearing the image of the earthly, 
 shall in its resurrection state be honorable, incorruptible, 
 and glorious, bearing no more the image of the earthly, 
 but forever bearing the image of the heavenly ; so that 
 even the vile body should be changed, and according to 
 the mighty working whereby the Almighty God is able 
 to subdue all things unto himself, be fashioned like unto 
 the glorious body of the Son of God " (pp. 3, 4). 
 
 Having shown that the prediction could not have 
 included the descendants of Abraham only, since the 
 blessedness is promised to "all the families of the 
 earth," Mr. Murray continues : — 
 
 "As this, of all other subjects, is to us and to all the 
 families of the earth, of the most importance, whether 
 we consider the character of the speaker, the character 
 spoken to, or the characters spoken of, we shall consider 
 this sequel of our subject with peculiar attention in the 
 following order : 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 483 
 
 " First, the Seed; Secondly, What this Seed shall con- 
 tain ; Thirdly, What shall be the portion of the contained ; 
 and close with some observations on the whole. 
 
 " And first, the Seed. Though we have seen from the 
 figures made use of that the seed cannot be numbered, 
 yet in sundry parts of divine revelation we are led to 
 the contemplation of the seed of whom Moses and the 
 prophets spake from the beginning, so that no sooner 
 did the serpent beguile our general mother, than we hear 
 of the seed as the bruiser of the serpent's head. Search 
 the Scriptures, saith our Divine Master ; they testify, 
 saith he, of me. But in no part of divine revelation does 
 the Spirit testify more clearly of our Saviour than under 
 this character ; and that in this place we are led to see 
 Jesus iu an especial manner exhibited is clear from the 
 Apostle, who, speaking of the gospel preached unto Abra- 
 ham, saith, 'To Abraham and his seed the promises were 
 made — not unto seeds, as of many, but unto thy seed, 
 which is Christ.' 
 
 " Though the seed of Jacob in their individual capacity 
 were for number as the sands of the sea, yet we find 
 them as collected in the Shilo, unto whom the gathering 
 of the people should be exhibited in the singular char- 
 acter, 'I in them, and thou in me, that we may be per- 
 fect in one. In thee and in thy seed,' etc. The name 
 this patriarch was destined to bear was Israel ; hence 
 his descendants are denominated the children of Israel. 
 But this name is by the royal prophet applied to Jesus. 
 Speaking in the character of the Messiah, we hear him 
 saying, 'Many a time they have aflicted me from my 
 youth (may Israel now say), yet have they not prevailed 
 against me. The ploughers ploughed my back ; they 
 made long their furrows.' 
 
 " Though the Scriptures, in which we think we have 
 eternal life, very clearly testify of Jesus as the only life 
 of the world in general, or of any individual in it, — 
 
484 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 thcwagh his character as containing in himself all ful- 
 ness is in €very part of revelation plainly manifested, — 
 yet the question, What think you of Christ ? was never 
 more pertinent than at present, especially when we con- 
 sider there are so many false Christs in the world, who 
 have deceived many. We are taught to believe that the 
 Scriptures are the -only rule given for our direction ; but 
 as they testify of Christ, and as it is in him they all 
 consist, they can be of little use to us except they lead 
 us into an acquaintance with him whom to know is life 
 eternal. The Apostle was so sensible of this that he 
 determined to know nothing among the Corinthians but 
 Chbist, and him crucified. Accordingly, though none 
 of the Apostles attended more to the Scriptures, yet he 
 made use of them principally for the purpose of mani- 
 festing Jesus, of whom Moses and the prophets spake, 
 who idied for the sins of the people, according to the Scrip- 
 tures. And as peace, and rest, and deliverance from con- 
 demnation, with many other advantages, are dependent 
 on and connected with believing in Jesus Christ, and as 
 we 'Cannot believe in him of whom we have not heard, it 
 is of the last importance that we attend to the voice that 
 testifies of him. In attending to this voice from heaven, 
 we shall find that in him all fulness dwelt ; in his human 
 character th.%. fulness of the human nature ; in his divine 
 character the fulness of the divine nature. In the former 
 he is the seed, how multiplied soever. In this seed dwelt 
 all the fulness of the Godhead ; so that he is the only 
 wise God, and the Saviour of the world ; he is the second 
 Adam, and the Lord from heaven. 
 
 " But we come in the next place to consider, Secondly, 
 What this seed contains. The Scriptures declare that 
 the first Adam was a figure of the second ; it is therefore 
 the Lord from heaven bears the name of Adam. Adam 
 was considered by the writers of revelation in a publio, 
 not Ja, ,^vaie character, and not only acting for his pos- 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 485 
 
 terity, but containing in himself their fulness. This 
 truth appears generally acknowledged, as we frequently 
 hear that ire Adam all die ; nor do we find that this truth 
 is called in question by many who deny that in the 
 second Adam all are made alive; but whatever we see 
 in the figure we have a right to expect in the substance, 
 else we could not discover any justice in the figure, 
 according to the plan in infinite wisdom laid. But that 
 Adam contained in himself the fulness of human nature, 
 is clear from the death, which, consequent on his trans- 
 gression, passed upon all men. If it should be said that 
 death passed upon all men in consequence of all men 
 sinning, we answer, It does not appear from divine reve- 
 lation, that the descendants of Adam would have sinned 
 if their father had not ; besides, we find death passing 
 on them who had not, in their own persons, sinned ac- 
 cording to the similitude of Adarri's transgression. 
 
 " But it is not in this figure only that we see Jesus. 
 In a very great variety of figures we see Jesus manifested 
 as containing in himself the individuals which constitute 
 his fulness, — as the one river, composed of innumerable 
 drops of water ; the one tree, composed of innumerable 
 branches ; the one temple, containing an infinite variety 
 of materials ; the one bread, composed of innumerable 
 grains of wheat. What, saith the Apostle, is the bread 
 we break, is it not the communion of the body of Christ ? 
 But what is a communion but a gathering together, so 
 that the people, being like the grains of wheat that rep- 
 resented them, many collected in the seed, may be one in 
 Christ, or the fulness of his body ? 
 
 « But beside the many speaking figures made use of 
 by the Spirit of God to illustrate the truth of, and as it is 
 in, Christ Jesus, which for brevity's sake we are obliged 
 to pass over, there are many plain, clear, positive por- 
 tions of divine testimony which directly lead the mind 
 of the honest inquirer to the knowledge of the truth as 
 
483 UNIVERSALISM IN AMEKICA. 
 
 it is in Jesus : as, It pleased the Father that in hiin 
 (Jesus), the seed, all fulness should dwell; God hath 
 appointed a day in the which he will gather all things 
 into one ; Of him (the Jehovah) are ye in Christ Jesus ; 
 Accepted in the beloved, complete in him ; We are 
 his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus ; For he is 
 our peace, who hath made both one; For to make in 
 himself of twain one new man, and that he might recon- 
 cile both in one body ; In whom (Jesus) all the build- 
 ing (not buildings), fitly framed together (not asunder), 
 groweth into au holy temple (not temples) in the Lord ; 
 In whom you also are builded together for an habitation 
 (not habitations) according as he (the Jehovah) hath 
 chosen us in him (Jesus) ; In whom we have redemp- 
 tion, in whom also we have obtained an inheritance. 
 
 "Jesus having by the grace of God tasted death for 
 every man, and being by the power of the divine nature 
 raised from the dead, ascended in the same nature in 
 which he descended ; and we are now taught to consider 
 this nature, thus raised and seated at the right hand of 
 the Majesty on high, as the next in dignity to the divine 
 nature ; so as to be as much one with the divine nature 
 as the soul of any individual of the human kind is with 
 the body it inhabits. The head of every man is thus 
 raised far above all principalities, and powers, and might, 
 and dominion, and every name that is named, not only 
 in this world, but also in that which is to come. God 
 hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be 
 the head over all things to the church (the called out), 
 which is his body (not bodies), the fulness of him that 
 filleth all in all. Accordingly the Apostle, or rather the 
 spirit speaking by the Apostle, informed the people, in- 
 forms us, that ' Though we are dead in trespasses and 
 sins, yet God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love 
 wherewith he loved us even when we were dead in sins, 
 hath quickened us together with Christ, and hath raised 
 
ME. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 487 
 
 US up together, and made us sit together in heavenly 
 places in Christ Jesus, that in the ages to come he might 
 show the exceeding riches of his grace (pp. 5-9). 
 
 " But if the promised seed included in himself — as 
 the second Adam, as every man's head, as the new inan — 
 the fulness of the human nature in his birth, so he did 
 in his life ; otherwise it does not appear that he could, in 
 consequence of his obedience to the law under which he 
 was made, become the Lord our Righteousness, which is 
 one of the names by which he is properly called ; and if, 
 as the second Adam, he had not in himself the fulness 
 of the human nature, the righteousness of God which he 
 the only wise God our Saviour wrought out, would not, 
 could not, as we conceive, with any degree of propriety 
 be declared unto all and upon all them that believe ; for 
 there is no difference. Again, if the people had not 
 been in him, in all he wrought, they could not be the 
 righteousness of God in him, nor could he, according to 
 justice, be the life of the world ; for neither the world in 
 general, nor any individual of the world, can be the sub- 
 ject of life, according to the rule of divine truth and 
 justice, without that righteousness which alone gives a 
 legal title thereto. If, saith divine truth, thou wilt enter 
 into life, keep the commandments ; this is according to 
 the Law, — and heaven and earth shall pass away before 
 one jot or tittle of the Law shall pass unfulfilled. When 
 Jesus came to seek and to save, it was not in violation of 
 the Law. I came not, saith he, to destroy the taw, but 
 to fulfil it. Hence then, he is the life of the world in 
 consequence of the union subsisting between him and the 
 people, as exemplified under the figure of the head and 
 members of which the spirit spake, when by the Apostle 
 he said, / would not have you ignorant that the head of 
 ever.y man is Christ. Now, as in nature what is done by 
 the head is with spirit, justice, and propriety said to be 
 done by the w/iole man, so what was done by Jesus as 
 
488 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 every man's head, made under the Law, is according to 
 strict justice in God's sight considered as done by every 
 man. The revelation of this is indeed glad tidings to 
 every creature. 
 
 " But we are not only bound to believe that the ful- 
 ness of the human nature was in the seed, our second 
 Adam, in his birth and in his life, but also in his death. 
 This is on the very best authority confirmed. Our 
 Saviour, speaking of the death he was to die, said, And 
 I, when I am lifted up from the earth will draw all men 
 unto me. 
 
 " This, the spirit iuforms us, he spake signifying what 
 death he should die; but certainly not merely with re- 
 spect to the manner of his death, — for he could have 
 died as an individual in that or any other way, without 
 drawing all or any individual of mankind unto himself. 
 But he drew all men unto himself that in his death they 
 may all die, according to the Law which had declared, 
 the soul that sinneth shall die. But having thus drawn 
 all men unto himself, the love of Christ constrained the 
 Apostles to judge that if one died for all, which they 
 were assured the Saviour did, then were all dead. This 
 is, perhaps, what was intended by the Prophet Isaiah, 
 when he said. Behold, the Lord m.aketh the earth empty ! 
 Were we taught to consider the prophets as mere histo- 
 rians sent to foretell or relate events as they respected 
 only the temporal concerns of the children of men, then 
 we should glean but little knowledge of our Saviour, 
 or salvation hy him,, in consulting them ; but if we credit 
 him of whom they spake, we shall find they testify of 
 him in the various characters and scenes in which he 
 was ordained to appear. Now, as when he was lifted up 
 from, the earth, in his crucifixion, and on that occasion 
 drew all men unto himself, the Prophet, in the beautiful 
 language he was directed to make use of, pointed out 
 this grand event by saying, Behold, the Lord maketh the 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 489 
 
 earth empty ! Should we forget that the prophets testify 
 of Jesus, and read these Scriptures without the smallest 
 expectation of finding him, we should be very much per- 
 plexed to know how to keep peace with the prophets, in 
 the plain language of their revelation. We do not see 
 at any period of time this prophecy literally fulfilled; 
 and should it be confined to the land of Judea, there 
 would still be a difftculty, as we do not find that this 
 spot of earth was ever in this point of view made empty : 
 it was constantly occupied by the natives or by stran- 
 gers. In fact this, as well as sundry other parts of 
 divine revelation, can never appear what divine revela- 
 tion must of necessity be, true, except we consider it as 
 true in Jesus, in whom all things consist. If, when our 
 Saviour was suspended on the cross between heaven and 
 earth, he contained in him,self, as the second Adam, the 
 fulness of the human nature ; if Jew and Gentile were 
 reconciled in one body on the cross, — then the Lord made 
 the earth empty. The land, saith the Prophet, shall be 
 utterly emptied, and utterly spoiled, for the Lord hath 
 spoken this word. If it should be said that after it was 
 declared. The Lord m,aketh the earth empty; maketh it 
 waste ; he soattereth abroad the inhabitants thereof, that 
 scattering abroad the inhabitants thereof does not cor- 
 respond with the idea of their being collected in their 
 head when he was lifted up from the earth, we answer, 
 their being scattered was an event that took place soon 
 after the crucifixion, according to the divine prediction ; 
 and so far is this from opposing the truth as it is in 
 Jesus, that, coming in connection with it, it serves as a 
 corroborating evidence of the former truth. 
 
 " Again, in the prophecy of Jeremiah, ' Thus saith the 
 Lord, take the wine cup of this fury at my hand, and 
 cause all the nations to whom I send thee to drink it ; 
 and they shall drink, and it shall be if they refuse to 
 take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt thou say 
 
490 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 unto them, Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, Ye shall cer- 
 tainly drink.' And we are expressly told, all the king- 
 doms of the -world which are on the face of the earth 
 shall drink this cup. It would be extremely difficult to 
 find this truth anywhere but in the garden of Geth- 
 semane, when the head of every man — the part of the 
 body which drinks — said, ' Father, if it be possible, let 
 this cup pass from me.' Should it be said he drank the 
 bitter cup alone, let it be observed it is the head alone 
 that drinks, but not in a separate state from the body ; 
 hence as the head tastes for the whole body, so Jesus, as 
 the head of the body tasted death for every man, which 
 every man was the fulness of his body. Can it be 
 doubted that this was the cup our Lord adverted to 
 when the fond mother petitioned for the preferment of 
 her sons, and the Saviour asked them. Are ye able to 
 drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized 
 with the baptism I am to be baptized with ? They, igno- 
 rant, as his disciples generally were at that period, of 
 the full purport of their Lord's sayings, answered, we 
 are able; and he, in his ovm way replied. Ye shall 
 indeed drink of the cup, and be baptized with the bap- 
 tism. But if this cup was the cup put into his hands to 
 drink in the garden alluded to, and this baptism was, as 
 is generally believed, the baptism of his sufferings and 
 death, where or how could this divine testimony be ful- 
 filled any way but in himself ? The people, we are told, 
 were crucified with Christ, buried with him by baptism 
 into death. There, indeed, the word of the Lord was 
 divinely accomplished. 
 
 " But it is not in the birth, the life, and death of Christ 
 alone the fulness of Jew and Gentile was found, but in 
 his resurrection also ; for as many as were in him on the 
 cross were in him in the grave and in hell ; and as many 
 as were in him constituting his fulness in hell and in the 
 grave, were with or in him in his resurrection state. 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 491 
 
 This he was assured of when he said, Thou wilt not leave 
 my soul in hell, nor suffer thy holy one to see corruption. 
 The Spirit expressly declares that we are risen with 
 Christ. Jesus appeared the second time without sin, 
 namely, the sin of the world, which was laid upon him, 
 which he bare in his own body on the tree, and which, as 
 the Lamb of God, he took away, putting it away by the 
 sacrifice of himself ; for though as an individual he was 
 without sin, yet as the aggregate of human nature, he 
 bare all their sins, and as one with them, justly suffered for 
 them ; but having by his one sacrifice put away sin, fin- 
 ishing transgression, making an end of sin, in the account 
 ni. justice, he appears in the fulness of his body the sec- 
 ond time without sin, and presents them before the Father 
 without spot ; and to the fulness of this body the divine 
 nature speaks when he says. This is my beloved S071, this 
 day have I begotten thee. The Apostle, instructed by the 
 spirit who takes the things of Jesus and shows them, 
 said, He hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the 
 resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, in which sin- 
 less resurrection state the Apostle had, and every one 
 taught by, and a believer of God, has, the answer of a 
 good conscience toward God. The Apostle had not this 
 answer of a good conscience toward God by the putting 
 away the filth of the flesh, but by the resurrection of 
 Jesus Christ from the dead, in whom he was presented 
 without spot, and blameless in love. 
 
 "But it is not in the birth, the life, the death, and res- 
 urrection of Christ alone the fulness of his body was, 
 but in his ascension also. It was the same body that was 
 bom that lived ; it was the same body in whom dwelt all 
 the fulness of the Godhead that died ; it was the same 
 body that rose from the dead ; it was the same body which 
 arose from the dead that ascended into that heaven which 
 must contain him until the times of the restitution of all 
 things ; it was the same Jesus that descended, who, after 
 
492 UNIVEBSALISH IN AMERICA. 
 
 his resurrection, ascended far above all heavens, that, he 
 might fill all things. Hence the Spirit by the Apostle 
 assures us we are not only raised up with Christ, but 
 are made to sit together in heavenly places in Christ 
 Jesus. 
 
 " Thus we find, according to the Scriptures, that Jesus, 
 having entered into the holiest of all with his own blood, 
 presents the people in Iiimself, and they are accepted in the 
 beloved. The figurative high-priest with the figurative 
 sacrifice, in figure carried all the tribes of Israel into the 
 holiest of all, and in his own person presented them be- 
 fore the mercy-seat. If the high-priest was accepted, the 
 tribes of Israel were accepted, for their high-priest pre- 
 sented them on his breastplate before the Lord ; hence 
 the people who were on the other side the rail, in their 
 individual capacities, were kept in suspense till they 
 heard the sound of the bells that hung between the pome- 
 granates on the bottom of the sacerdotal garment, but on 
 hearing these they knew their high-priest lived, and 
 because he lived they would live also, and they shouted 
 for joy ; so every believer in the high-priest of our pro- 
 fession will rejoice with joy unspeakable when they hear 
 his voice from within the rail saying, Because I live ye 
 shall live also. 
 
 " But we come in the third place to inquire, what is 
 the portion of all the families of the earth consequent on 
 being in this seed ? Eternal praises to the Fa.ther of the 
 spirits of all flesh, who assures us that the portion of all 
 the families of the earth in this Seed is blessing, — not 
 blessing and cursing, or blessing some families and curs- 
 ing others, or blessing at one time and cursing at another ; 
 no, he that teaches his disciples to bless and curse not, 
 but even to bless them, by whom they are despitefully 
 treated, though they really suffer in consequence of such 
 treatment, will assuredly act on his own principles. 
 
 " But, first : In the promised seed all the families of 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 493 
 
 the earth are blessed with righteousness. This they cannot 
 have anywhere but in this seed ; for ever since the ' Fall 
 no mere man hath ever kept the commandments of God.' 
 It follows that ever since the Fall there have been none 
 righteous anywhere but in this seed; so, also, can no 
 family of the earth avoid having this righteousness in 
 this seed, for the seed is holy, and if the first-fruit is holy, 
 so is the lump. Hence the name whereby he is and shall 
 be called is the Lord our Righteousness. Eighteousness 
 is a perfect obedience to the righteous law of God. No 
 mere man ever produced this ; but Jesus did. Hence he is 
 become the end of the law for righteousness, not only 
 unto all in general, but also to them that believe in par- 
 ticular. To all, then, who were unable to obey the law of 
 God in their own persons Jesus is given as the law-ful- 
 filler ; and as the righteousness of God, which is Imman- 
 uel's obedience to the law, is unto all, and as God so loved 
 the world as to give them his Son, this Son thus given is 
 with strict propriety denominated the Lord our Right- 
 eousness. And this, with strict truth, every family of the 
 earth and every individual of each family may say, and 
 each and every individual ought to believe this for him- 
 self; and therefore he who believeth not this is justly 
 , condemned for no"t giving credit to this truth. 
 
 " Secondly. All the families of the earth are in this 
 seed blessed with justification. This is the certain con- 
 sequence of the righteousness they were by the grace of 
 God in the given Son blessed with. It would be an 
 abomination to justify the wicked ; hence when we hear of 
 the ungodly being justified, we find it is by the blood of 
 Jesus. It is therefore that the assembly of divines who 
 composed the shorter catechism assure us that ' justifica- 
 tion is an act of God's free grace, wherein he pardoneth 
 all our sins, and accepteth us as righteous in his sight, — 
 only for the righteousness of Christ imputed to us, and 
 received by faith.' It is imputed before faith, but re- 
 
494 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 ceived by faith. It is imputed to all, but received by 
 none but them who believe. Hence these glad tidings 
 are preached to every creature, that all men might see in 
 this act of God's free grace the things which make for 
 their peace. 
 
 " Thirdly. In this Seed all the families of the earth are 
 blessed with sanctification, or holiness, without which no 
 man can see the Lord. Considering the uncleanness of 
 all the families of the earth, and the impossibility of the 
 unclean standing in the presence of Him who is oi purer 
 eyes than to behold iniquity, the blessing of all mankind 
 with sanctification in Christ Jesus is an act of as free and 
 as mMch grace as the blessing them with justification. 
 But the gracious God never blessed any individual with 
 justification that he did not bless with sanctification, for 
 whom, he justified he sanctified ; and it is of God who 
 sent Jesus to bless every one of us and all the families 
 of the earth, by saving us and thcTn from sin, that we are 
 in Christ Jesus, who is made unto us sanctification. 
 Without sanctification there could be no glorification ; it 
 is only the pure in heart can see God ; but as no family 
 of the earth can boast of heart-purity in their own per- 
 sons, as is clear not only from divine revelation but 
 from the testimony of all God's children from the be- 
 ginning of the world, it is as clear that it is only 
 in the Seed, which is Christ Jesus, that any family of 
 the earth can be in the present state blessed with 
 sanctification ; and from the same divine revelation it is 
 as clear that this blessing cometh on all the families of 
 the earth in Christ Jesus : otherwise he could not be the 
 Saviour of all men. 
 
 " Fourthly. In this seed all the families of the earth 
 are blessed with life. This by the transgression of the 
 first Adam was forfeited ; but in the second Adam, aiid 
 by his obedience, is recovered ; and the life thus recovered 
 is by the favor of God given to the world. The wages 
 
ME. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 495 
 
 of sin is death, but the gift of God is everlasting life. 
 God so loved the world he gave them his Son, and in this 
 Son he gave them life. The world to whom this Son was 
 given was dead in trespasses and sins, but in giving them 
 the Sou the lover of the world gave them life ; and there- 
 fore this gift of God is emphatically styled the Life of 
 the world. 
 
 " As death and darkness in the language of revelation 
 are so nearly related as frequently to be considered 
 synonymous, so light and life seem expressive of the 
 same thing. In the Word that was made flesh, we are 
 told, was life, and this life was the light of men, which 
 is afterwards called the true light which enlighteneth 
 euert/ man that cometh into the world. When Christ, 
 saith the Apostle, who is our life, shall appear, then shall 
 ye also appear with him in glory. Because, saith the 
 Saviour, / live, ye shall live also. In this seed, as the 
 dwelling-place of all generations, we live; and as this 
 seed, which is Christ, is the same yesterday, to-day, and 
 forever, the life which the families of the earth have in 
 him must be an everlasting life. Nor can any of the fam- 
 ilies of the earth ever lose this life, because it is hid with 
 Christ in God ; and as it is only in him any of the fam- 
 ilies of the earth, however excellent they may be in 
 themselves, can have life, he that hath not the Son 
 hath not life, nor can he see life. But God so loved the 
 world he gave them the Son ; nor will he ever take this 
 gift away from the world, for the gifts, as well as the 
 callings, of God are without repentance. God will never, 
 therefore, repent that he so loved the world as to give 
 them his Son, and in this Son life; having loved the 
 world he will forever love them, for he changeth not ; he 
 is of one mind, without variableness, or even the shadow 
 of turning. 
 
 " Fifthly. In this seed all the families of the earth are 
 blessed with peace. Peace is made for them by the blood 
 
496 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 of the cross. The council of peace was between them both, 
 — the head of every man, which is Christ, and the head 
 of Christ, which is the divine nature. There is no peace, 
 saith my God, to the wicked ; hence, as the commission 
 of sin constitutes this character, and as there is no man 
 that liveth and sinneth not, it is clear that no man can 
 be justly entitled to peace in himself or out of this Seed. 
 God's covenant is called a covenant of peace, but Jesus, 
 the promised Seed, is declared to be the covenant of the 
 people. It is therefore we hear the prophet declare. 
 This man shall be our peace, even when the Assyrian 
 Cometh into our land. When the angels were sent to 
 proclaim the birth of the world-Saviour they proclaimed 
 peace on earth, and this was glad tidings to all people. 
 The Saviour, therefore, sent forth his servants to preach 
 peace to them that were nigh and to them that were afar 
 off; and when he was going for a little time to leave 
 them he said, My peace I leave with you. These things, 
 saith the Saviour, have I spoken, that in me ye might have 
 peace. The Apostles who preached peace by Jesus, who, 
 they assure us, was Lord of all, inform us we are called 
 to peace ; that the kingdom of God is joy and^eoce, the 
 fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, and peace. 
 
 " Jesus himself is our peace, who hath made both one, 
 Jew and GentUe, and hath broken down the middle wall 
 of partition between us, having abolished in his flesh the 
 enmity to make in himself of twain one new m,an, so mak- 
 ing peace, and that he might reconcile both in one body 
 by the cross, having slain the enmity thereby, and came 
 and preached peace to you which were afar off, and to 
 them that were nigh ; for through him we both have ac- 
 cess by one spirit unto the Father. Thus we find that the 
 fulness of Jew and Gentile are the subjects of the peace 
 wherewith they are blessed in the seed of Abraham : 
 the enmity is abolished in his flesh ; both are reconciled 
 in one body. Yea, the blind and the ignorant are the 
 
MR. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 497 
 
 subjects of this peace. Hence the things which are hid 
 from their eyes are the things which not only make for 
 peace, but for their peace from whose eyes they were hid. 
 
 " When the God of peace would comfort his people he 
 told them that their seed should inherit the Gentiles, and 
 make the desolate places be inhabited; for, saith the 
 Lord, thy Maker is thy Husband, the Lord of Hosts is 
 his name, the God of the whole earth shall he be called. 
 In a little wrath, saith the Jehovah, I hid my face for a 
 moment, but with everlasting kindness will I have mercy 
 on thee ; and Jehovah said to the servant that he upheld, 
 to his elect in whom he took delight. It is a light thing 
 that thoii shouldest be my servant to raise up the tribes 
 of Jacob, and to restore the preserved of Israel. I will 
 also give thee for a light to the Gentiles, that thou may- 
 est be my salvation unto the ends of the earth. 
 
 " Again : Thus saith the Lord, The Redeemer of Israel 
 and his Holy One, kings shall see and arise. Wherefore ? 
 Because they are faithful ? No, because of the Lord that 
 is faithful. Thus saith the Lord, In an acceptable time 
 have I heard thee, and in a day of salvation have I helped 
 thee ; and I will preserve thee, and give thee for a cove- 
 nant for the people. For what purpose ? — to establish 
 the earth, to cause to inherit the desolate heritages, that 
 thou mayest say to the prisoners, Go forth; to them 
 that are in darkness. Show yourselves. They shall feed 
 in the ways, and their pastures shall be in high places ; 
 they shall not hunger nor thirst, neither shall the heat 
 nor sun smite them, for he that hath mercy on them shall 
 lead them. Behold, these shall come from far. But 
 who are these prisoners ? — children of darkness, on 
 whom the God of the whole earth should have mercy, 
 and who should, in the greatness of his goodness, through 
 the instrumentality of the Seed, his servant, lead these 
 blind by a way they knew not, — even the way of peace, 
 which is the way everlasting. 
 
 VOL. I. — 32 
 
498 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "But, Sixthly : In this seed all the families of the 
 earth are blessed with reconciliation. Hence we find 
 the reconciled God committing to the Apostles the min- 
 istry of reconciliation, charging them to tell the world 
 that God was in Christ reconciling them unto himself, 
 not imputing unto them their trespasses ; commanding 
 them to tell every creature that Jesus was made sin for 
 them, that they may be made the righteousness of God 
 in him. And that this reconciliation was a matter 
 begun, carried on, and completed on behalf of the lost 
 world, in the Saviour of the world, without the crea- 
 ture's knowledge or assent, is plain from the Apostle's 
 beseeching the people he made this declaration to, to be 
 reconciled to God. So that we see, as clear as we see 
 the sun at noonday, that the peace made on the cross 
 confirmed the reconciliation on God's part, on behalf of 
 those who in themselves were enemies to God. But this 
 reconciliation was preached unto them, that they may 
 be on believing it reconciled to God. Thus we see that 
 God is reconciled, and well pleased for his righteousness' 
 sake in whom he was reconciling the world unto him- 
 self ; and in order that this may be done in a way per- 
 fectly conformable to every rule of equity and justice, 
 the whole world of mankind were, to the eye of the just 
 God to whom they were accountable, collected in their 
 Head, Jesus, — nor they alone ; their iniquities were col- 
 lected there also. The Lord laid on him the iniquities 
 of us all, and not only the iniquities of us all, but all our 
 iniquities ; for the spirit of God assures us that Jesus 
 bare all our sins in his own body on the tree. And that 
 there may be nothing to prevent a reconciliation taking 
 place on the principles of strict justice, it pleased the 
 Lord to bruise him on whom and in whose body the 
 iniquities were ; and his soul, being exceeding sorrowful, 
 even unto death, was finally made an offering for sin ; so 
 that he as a sin offering was delivered up to death for 
 
ME. MURRAY'S PAMPHLET. 499 
 
 MS all. Jesus therefore finishing the transgression, mak- 
 ing an end of sin, putting it away from before God by the 
 sacrifice of himself, the cause being thus removed the 
 effect ceases ; God is reconciled ; his justice has all it 
 demanded ; his truth is fulfilled ; mercy and truth have 
 met together ; righteousness and peace have embraced 
 each other. The consequence is, Glory to God in the 
 highest, and on earth peace and good-will to men ! 
 
 "Thus, my beloved friends, we are assured by the 
 voice of Jehovah from above the ladder, that, how 
 wretched soever his offspring may be in this distempered 
 state of things, however low they may have fallen, how 
 far soever they may have been led captive by their lusts 
 (which war against their souls), how long soever they 
 may be suffered to bear the image of the earthy, — the 
 lover of their souls who so loved them as to give them 
 his Son, and in this Son grace, before the world was, hath 
 assured us that in consequence of all the families of the 
 earth being in this seed blessed, they shall be brought 
 ultimately into the glorious liberty of the Sons of God ; 
 they shall be brought out of the estate of sin and mis- 
 ery in which they are, and brought into a state of salvar 
 tion from all these sins and sorrows by a Eedeemer ; for 
 we have heard the voice of our faithful Creator saying 
 unto the patriarch, In thy Seed shall all the families of 
 the earth he blessed. May we venture to believe this ? 
 Is this indeed the word of Jehovah ? It is or it is not. 
 If it is not, what reason have we to believe any other 
 testimony delivered under the same signature ? If it is 
 not true, how then can we be directed by this rule, 
 which we have been taught to believe — ' The only rule 
 given for our direction ? ' Are we blessed with a revela- 
 tion in which we gain the knowledge of what we never 
 could have known without it, and yet are we not allowed 
 to take this revelation as it is given ? How then can it 
 properly be called a revelation, if it does not reoeal the 
 
500 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 mind of the speaker ? If God did not mean what he 
 said to Jacob, how are we ever to find out what he 
 meant ? We have no other revelation from him, and if 
 we have no other from him, by what rule can any one 
 determine what he meant ? But should any one under- 
 take to reveal, as the mind of God, not only what is not 
 expressed, but something diametrically opposite thereto, 
 this could not be called divine revelation, inasmuch as 
 the revealer would be merely human. Should it be said 
 that many parts of divine revelation cannot, on many 
 accounts, be clearly understood ; suppose this should be 
 granted, does it follow that there is no part of divine 
 revelation that can be understood ? Should this be the 
 case, then it would clearly follow that we have no revela- 
 tion at all. But if there is any part of revelation that 
 may be considered clear and plain, it is the subject 
 before us ; and as it is the gospel ordained to be preached 
 to everi/ creature, we should suppose it was designed as a 
 revelation to every creature " (pp. 14-27). 
 
 The foregoing seems to be the clearest written of any 
 of Mr. Murray's published discourses, and gives a com- 
 prehensive Adew of his peculiar theology, which was all 
 based on his theory of the union of Christ with human- 
 ity. He regarded it, we think, as his best presentation 
 of his opinions, and was evidently flattered by the re- 
 ception given to it by the public. In sending a copy to 
 the Eev. Eobert Eedding of England, he thus speaks 
 
 of it : — 
 
 "November 8, 1797. 
 
 "I now send you another book. I send it to you. 
 I give you in this another proof of my good opinion of 
 you, and my confidence in you. I do not consider you 
 a believer in the doctrine contained therein ; yet I send 
 it to you. I did not consider some of the clergy of this 
 
SECRET UNIVEESAUSM. 501 
 
 town believers of the gospel which is the subject of this 
 pamphlet ; yet I sent it to them, and was not a little 
 surprised when one of them, a Doctor Clark,' told me 
 that though he would not say that his brethren of the 
 clergy believed every thing contained therein, yet he 
 had the pleasure to assure me they were all very much 
 pleased therewith, and said they thought it did me much 
 honor. But I am told by one of their order that there 
 are but three of the clergy in this town who are not be- 
 lievers of the gospel God preached to Abraham. I 
 frequently meet with ministers at public entertainments, 
 who in a whisper tell me they have been for some 
 years believers in the doctrines I preach, but are afraid 
 to tell their people so. So it was of old. There were 
 many of the chief rulers who believed, but they pro- 
 fessed it not openly. However, the time will come when 
 they will not be afraid to make an open confession 
 of it ; when they will not stagger at the promises through 
 unbelief, but being taught of God, they will be strong 
 in faith, giving glory to God. 
 
 " I need not tell you, my loved friend, that whatever 
 this book contains I believe is the truth of God. If I 
 did not I should not publish it. If I did not I should 
 not preach at all ; or, if I did, I should not know what 
 to do with the Scriptures. If I did not, I should differ 
 from all God's holy prophets, by whose mouth God 
 spake ever since the beginning of the world. But be- 
 lieving as I do, I feel my heart disposed to love God and 
 my brother also. Nor can I censure any one for not 
 believing ; for faith is the gift of God. In fact, I have 
 often wondered that so much has been said respecting 
 believing, and so little said of the matter to be believed. 
 Let me see the truth, I can no more help believing it 
 
 1 Probably Rev. John Clarke, D.D., successor to Dr. Chauncey. See 
 Chapter I. 
 
502 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 than I can help breathing ; and till I can see it, till I 
 am able to see the truth of any proposition, I can no 
 more believe it than I can make a world. I conceive, 
 therefore^ there cannot be a more inconsistent character 
 in the world, than an uncharitable, censorious believer of 
 the truth as it is in Jesus. But no more of this. You 
 will read my feeble attempt at investigating truth, and 
 in your own dear good way, tell me where I am wrong. 
 You know I shall take very kindly everything from 
 you." ^ 
 
 Of Eev. Dr. Clarke, Mr. Murray writes to another 
 friend : — 
 
 "April 9, 1798. 
 
 " I suppose you have heard of the sudden death of Dr. 
 Clark. I saw him on Saturday ; he was never better in 
 mind, in body, or estate. He preached on Sunday well, 
 very well; in the afternoon he preached again — not 
 long ; he began his text : ' Thou art holy, Thou that 
 inhabitest the praises of Israel.' He proceeded but a 
 little way before he was called; for he dropped down 
 in the pulpit ; had no more sense ; died before next morn- 
 ing. Happy man ! he left the world in the meridian 
 of his days and fame. There was a pompous proces- 
 sion from his house to his meeting, and Dr. Howard 
 prayed, and Dr. Thatcher preached. ... I have lost in 
 Dr. Clark the best friend I had in the clerical char- 
 acter, at least in this town ; his death is indeed a 
 public loss ; but soon, very soon, we shall follow. I 
 believe I owe Dr. Clark the kind treatment I have lately 
 met with from the clergy of this town, and this has been 
 pleasing to me. How friends drop ! Who would have 
 thought him a subject for apoplexy ? . . . I paid with 
 great sincerity the tribute of respect to Dr. Clark's mem- 
 
 1 Universalist Quarterly, October, 1869, pp. 424, 425. 
 
KEV. DR. CLARK. 503 
 
 ory yesterday afternoon, that was his due. It was this 
 good man I fixed on the last time I was sick, and till his 
 death, to attend my funeral. It must, in conformity 
 with custom, I presume, be attended. I shall pity 
 whoever are asked to oflBlciate ; at least I now pity them ; 
 I shall not then. There is too much parade on these 
 occasions." * 
 
 1 The Ladies' Repository, vol. xiv. p. 191. 
 
CHAPTER VII. 
 
 1798-1800. 
 
 The Philadelphia Conventiok op 1798. — The New England Con- 
 vention IN 1798. — S. Delanoe's Pamphlet. — Rev. Akiel Ken- 
 deick's Keply to Delanoe. — Rev. Samuel Shepaed's Pamphlet 
 against Univeksalism. — Sin, and not Sinners, Punished. — Mb. 
 Murray's Letter to Hosea Ballou. — Mr. Ballou in Me. Mur- 
 ray's Pulpit in Boston. — Mrs. Murray disturbed. — Mb. Jona- 
 than Balch hek Mouth-piece. — The Committee of the Society 
 apologize to Mr. Ballou. — Mh. Murray's Views on the Subjec- 
 tion OP the Son. — Mk. Ballou refuses to give Ekcoukagement 
 
 THAT HE WILL SETTLE IN BoSTON. ThE NeW ENGLAND CONVENTION 
 
 IN 1799. — Rev. Walter Feeriss. — Rev. N. Stacy's Account of 
 THE Convention. — The Eastern Association Organized. — Cap- 
 tain Joseph Pearce. — Eev. Thomas Barns in Maine. — The 
 Suicide's Funeral. — Correspondence between Rev. Joel Fos- 
 ter, A. M., AND Rev. Hosea Ballou. — Mr. Balluc's Interpreta- 
 tion of Scripture at this time. — Mr. Ballou' s Belief in Future 
 Punishment. — New England Convention in 1800 Appoints Com- 
 mittees ON Ordination and Discipline. — Issues Letters of 
 License. — Rev. Edmund Pillsbuky. — Rev. John Foster. — Rev. 
 Miles T. Wooley. — Rev. Edward Turner. — Rev. Joshua Flagg. 
 — Rev. Edwin Ferriss. — His "Plain Restitutionist." — Legis- 
 lation. OP THE New England Convention. — The Temperance 
 Question. — UsivERSALibT Preachers in the United States at 
 THE Close of the Eighteenth Century. 
 
 THE session of the Philadelphia Convention in 1798 
 was held in May. It was called, and the time 
 designated, by the church in Philadelphia, as appears 
 from the letter addressed by that church to the Con- 
 vention : — 
 
 "In consecLuence of our city's being visited last fall 
 with, an awful sickness, and not knowing but its fate 
 might be of the same nature in that which is coming, we 
 took under consideration the propriety of recommending 
 a Convention for this year at the same time that was 
 fixed at its first establishment. And conceiving it to be 
 
PAMPHLET CONTROVERSIES. 505 
 
 proper, took the liberty of addressing those letters which 
 you received for that purpose. We would recommend 
 that the Convention make a permanent establishment as 
 to the time of their convening in future." 
 
 Probably the sickness spoken of had prevented a 
 session in 1797, as the New Britain church said in their 
 letter : " We do much approve the conduct of our sister 
 church in Philadelphia in proposing the present Con- 
 vention." 
 
 The Philadelphia, Kingwood, New Britain, and New 
 Hanover churches reported to the session in 1798. 
 The Minutes are imperfect, and impart little knowledge 
 of the business transacted, beyond the fact that the 
 Convention adjourned to meet in May, 1799. 
 
 The New England Convention met in September, 
 1798, in Hardwick, Mass. Neither records nor cir- 
 cular letter, if the latter was issued, are now to 
 be found. 
 
 Sometime in the year 1798, a writer by the name of 
 S. Delanoe issued a pamphlet in reply to William Hunt- 
 ington's "Advocates for Devils Refuted," an English 
 pamphlet directed against Winchester, and which had 
 been re-published in Philadelphia in 1796, and indus- 
 triously and extensively circulated. We have never 
 seen Mr. Delanoe's pamphlet, and have no further 
 knowledge of him ; but he was probably a resident of 
 Vermont or New Hampshire. Rev. Ariel Kendrick, a 
 Baptist preacher in Woodstock, Vt., published the same 
 year, " A Brief Reply to a Pamphlet lately published by 
 S. Delanoe [under the fictitious name of 'Candor'], 
 in favor of Universalism." From this " Reply " we un- 
 derstand that Mr. Delanoe was a Rellyan. 
 
606 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 The same year Kev. Samuel Shepard, pastor of a 
 Baptist church at Brentwood, N. H., published "The. 
 Principle of Universal Salvation Examined, etc. ; in an 
 Epistle to a Friend." It appears to have been addressed 
 to some one who had formerly been a Baptist, but was 
 now a Universalist, and probably a preacher of Uni- 
 versalism, and who professed to believe that sins, and 
 not sinners, are sent into punishment. We get no clew 
 to the name or location of this person. He is the only 
 writer from whose publications we have seen any quo- 
 tations indicating the belief that sins, and not sinners, 
 were punished. Mr. Murray, it will be remembered, 
 was quoted under date of 1791 (chapter iv.), as attribut- 
 ing this belief to some Universalists. 
 
 In October, 1798, Mr. Murray addressed the following 
 letter from Boston to Mr. Ballou, then in Hardwick : 
 
 My dbae Beothee, — You are sensible, I presume, that 
 some time past you delivered in this town some matters 
 not quite pleasing to me. I cannot act a hypocritical 
 part, and appear what I am not ; I have since, however, 
 not only heard you deliver the truth, but have been much 
 delighted by the account I have heard from Gloucester of 
 your labors there. You will see by what follows I am 
 sincere in my commendations as in my censures ; and as I 
 expressed my dislike when I felt it, I am now going to 
 give you full evidence of my hearty approbation and my 
 readiness to promote your interest. I am going for a few 
 weeks to the southward. I have recommended you to 
 my friends to supply my place. I have spoken of you in 
 such a manner as is pleasing to them. I wish sincerely 
 you may come unto them directly, and I wait only your 
 answer to set out. I cannot say how long I shall be ab- 
 sent ; I contemplate five or six weeks. Were I a single 
 
MB. MURRAY'S LETTER. 507 
 
 man I would leave my whole support with you as a com- 
 pensation for your time ; but as I leave two-thirds of me 
 behind, I shall give about half of my promised support. 
 I am willing to allow you ten dollars a Sunday while I 
 am absent. Your living will cost you nothing ; you may 
 visit the adjacent parts of the country in the vicinity of 
 Boston all the week if you choose it, or visit the friends 
 in this town, where you will be sure of a welcome. You 
 will preach to many strangers here, and be by this means 
 more abundantly known ; and, I presume, if you fare no 
 better than I do when I journey, you will gain more 
 towards the support of your family here for the time you 
 continue here, than you would for the same time any- 
 where else ; so that in every point of view it will be your 
 interest to come here. Should you have made other en- 
 gagements you can plead the necessity of attending on 
 the present occasion as a mere temporary matter, which 
 may not occur again, and that some time back you 'en- 
 couraged your friends in this town to believe you would 
 supply them should they stand in need of you. You will 
 have the goodness to write directly to let us know what 
 we have to depend upon, and if you cannot come send 
 Mr. Coffin or Mr. Lathe. I should hope, however, that you 
 will be able and willing to come yourself; and should 
 you come, Mrs. Murray, who had the pleasure of hearing 
 you sundry times in Gloucester much to her satisfaction, 
 will be glad to see you at her habitation as often as pos- 
 sible. I hope the presence of the Saviour will be with 
 you, warming your heart and the hearts of your hearers ; 
 and should I ever return I trust we shall rejoice together 
 in this hope. I remain, 
 
 Your affectionate friend and devoted servant, 
 
 John Murkat. 
 
 Appended to the letter was the following from one of 
 the members of the society : — 
 
508 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Dear Bkothek, — I have only to add that a number 
 of our brethren have requested me to request you to 
 come if possible. They are very earnest for it, and I 
 doubt not but you will be much gratified in the friendly 
 visit. For my part I must beg your compliance with 
 Mr. Murray's request. I am, 
 
 Your sincere friend and brother, Moses Hale.' 
 
 The proposal was accepted by Mr. Ballou, and he 
 preached ten Sundays in Mr. Murray's pulpit. An in- 
 cident connected with the close of this engagement is 
 thus narrated by the late Dr. Whittemore, whose author- 
 ity for the statement was Mr. Ballou himself : — 
 
 " On the last Sunday of the engagement, in the after- 
 noon, he took occasion to call up the passage 1 Cor. xv. 
 26-28, in which Jesus is spoken of as delivering up the 
 kingdom to God the Father. Mrs. Murray, by the way, 
 believed that the Son who is to deliver up the kingdom 
 to the Father was the ' son of perdition,' and that God 
 would finally succeed in getting the kingdom out of his 
 hands. Mr. Ballou believed that it was the Son of God 
 who would deliver up the mediatorial kingdom to God, 
 when he had brought all things into subjection to him- 
 self, and God should then be All in All. Mr. Ballou did 
 not desire to oppose the sentiments of Mrs. Murray ; but 
 it came out of course that he believed that the son was the 
 Son of God ; and that as the Son was to deliver up the 
 kingdom to the Father, he himself could not be the Father. 
 The sermon was received .with extraordinary attention 
 throughout. The concluding prayer was offered, and Mr. 
 Ballou arose to read his last hymn. Mrs. Murray (who, by 
 the way, was a most uneasy spirit) had employed the time 
 of the concluding prayer to beckon a Mr. Tirrell to her 
 pew, whom she despatched to the singing-seats to request 
 
 1 From a copy preserved among the papers of the First Universal- 
 ist Society, Boston, in the Universalist Historical Society's Library. 
 
SCEte IN THE BOSTON CHURCH. 509 
 
 Mr. Jonathan Balch, who sat there, to give notice that the 
 doctrine which had been preached by Mr. Ballou on that 
 afternoon was not the doctrine which was usually 
 preached in that house. Just as Mr. Ballou rose to an- 
 nounce the hymn, Mr. Balch, to the great astonishment 
 of the congregation, broke forth from the singing-seats 
 with an annunciation in substance as follows : ' I wish to 
 give notice that the doctrine which has been preached 
 here this afternoon is not the doctrine which is usually 
 preached in this house.' Mr. Ballou listened attentively 
 to Mr. Balch's remark, and after saying, 'The audience 
 will please to take notice of what our brother has said,' 
 proceeded to read the hymn, which was sung. The 
 people were indignant at Mr. Balch, who had so unneces- 
 sarily disturbed the congregation and treated Mr. Ballou 
 with rudeness. A meeting of the parish committee was 
 called by the sexton being sent round to notify each 
 member thereof before he left his pew; and that com- 
 mittee, in company with a number of the leading mem- 
 bers of the society, waited on Mr. Ballou in the evening, 
 and apologized for the coarseness and indecorum of Mr. 
 Balch, and stated that the congregation decidedly dis- 
 approved what he had done. In the old meeting-house 
 it was customary always for a part of the congregation 
 to pass out through the vestry on the back part of the 
 house, and as they passed, some of them exchanged 
 thoughts with some warmth on the subject of Mr. Balch's 
 interruption, and generally in condemnation of it. Such 
 were the facts in regard to Mr. Balch's proclamation 
 against Mr. Ballou's opinions. It was a matter of Mrs. 
 Murray and of Mr. Balch as her instrument; but the 
 congregation at large were chagrined and wounded by 
 the transaction, and the committee took immediate meas- 
 ures to assure Mr. Ballou of this fact." * 
 
 1 Life of Rev. Hosea Ballon, vol. i. pp. 146-148. 
 
510 UNIVEESALISM IN AMEBIC A. 
 
 Mr. Murray did not hold with Mrs. Murray that it 
 was the " son of perdition " who was to be subjected to 
 the Father, but the human race collectively. In a 
 sermon on 1 Cor. xv. 28, he says : — 
 
 " What are we to understand by subduing ? Undoubt- 
 edly, bringing into subjection. But bringing into 
 subjection implies previous rebellion. It is impious, 
 therefore, to suppose that this son to be brought into 
 subjection was Christ Jesus. Was Christ Jesus, in his 
 individual character, ever in a state of rebellion ? Yet 
 we are told, most irreverently, that, at the final consum- 
 mation of all things, we shall behold a universe ot Deists ; 
 for Christ Jesus shall be brought into a state of subjec- 
 tion. But such conclusions can only be formed by those 
 who have never learned, or who have forgotten, that the 
 characters, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, are merely 
 designed as an accommodation to our limited under- 
 standing, and are but various exhibitions of the same 
 one eternal God. . . . The offspring of God, the human 
 family, was first exhibited in the singular character ; in 
 this character they sinned, and in this character they 
 must be saved: accordingly we are admonished to have 
 a single eye. (Matthew vi. 22.) ' The light of the body 
 is the eye ; if, therefore, thine eye be single, thy whole 
 body shall be full of light.' And hence, Jesils Christ, as 
 the head of every man, is called the light of the world ; 
 and when all things shall be subdued unto him, who is 
 the light of the world, then shall the Son also, who was 
 made subject to vanity, be subjected to vanity no more. 
 Human nature, in the aggregate, shall be brought into 
 subjection to him who is able to subdue all things unto 
 himself; until that period, partial reforms may take 
 place, but the day of retribution will be the day of 
 final subjection. " ^ 
 
 1 Letters and Sketchea of Sermons, vol. iii. pp. 277, 278. 
 
MR. MURRAY IN PHILADELPHIA. 511 
 
 Dr. Whittemore says : — 
 
 "The ten Sabbaths which Mr. Ballon had spent in 
 Boston during Mr. Murray's absence, had given the 
 Universalists of that town an opportunity to become 
 better acquainted with him than they ever had been 
 before. The congregations while he preached were cer- 
 tainly not diminished at all ; and he was regarded by 
 many of the congregation as an extraordinary man for 
 talent and knowledge of the Scriptures. He was at this 
 time thirty years of age. Several individuals, who had 
 been much impressed with his talents, his eloquence, his 
 opinions, and the clearness with which he stated and 
 proved them, suggested to him, if he would remove to 
 Boston and become the pastor of a new society, they 
 would at once proceed to erect a house for him. But his 
 decision was instantly formed. ' I cannot,' said he, ' do 
 anything to injure Brother Murray, nor the beloved 
 society to which he ministers.' And he expressed the 
 hope that the subject might not be mentioned to him 
 again." * 
 
 During Mr. Murray's visit to Philadelphia, — then 
 the Capital of the general government, — he renewed 
 his friendship with President John Adams, and made 
 the acquaintance of many men then eminent in political 
 life. He thus writes : — 
 
 " Philadelphia, February, 1799. 
 
 " I dined with the President every week, drank coffee 
 with him sometimes ; was frequently invited by, and was 
 able once to accept the invitation of dining with, the 
 Secretary of State [Timothy Pickering], in whose com- 
 pany, however, I had frequently the pleasure of diaing 
 in company of sundry other great characters. On New 
 
 1 Life of Rev. Hosea Ballou, vol. i. p. 162. 
 
512 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Year's day, I paid my respects, as did hundreds besides, 
 to the President, by whom I was introduced to the Min- 
 isters and Secretary of War, etc. On the President's 
 introducing me to Mr. Henry [James McHenry], Secre- 
 tary of War, he observed, pointing to your humble ser- 
 vant, ' This gentleman has performed a great feat since 
 he has been in this city, — next to a miracle ; he has 
 drawn the Vice President [Thomas Jefferson] to a place 
 of worship.' I had told him that the Vice President was 
 one of my audience on the past Sunday morning. The 
 Secretary of War replied, ' That is not the only feat of 
 that nature he has performed to my certain knowledge ; 
 he has drawn many out to his place of worship that have 
 not been in any other for many years.' " ^ 
 
 In 1799, the New England Convention met in 
 Woodstock, Vt., — Hosea Ballou, moderator, Walter 
 Ferriss, clerk. This is the iirst mention of Walter Fer- 
 riss among Universalists. He was a native of PawHngs, 
 Duchess County, N. Y., where he was bom Jan. 20, 
 1768. Before entering the ministry he was a land 
 surveyor. His ordination occurred in 1801, at which 
 time he was pastor of " the United Societies of Char- 
 lotte, Hinesburg, and Monkton, Vt." As will be seen 
 hereafter, he was eminent in the denomination for 
 several years. His death took place at Ferrisburgh, 
 Vt., April 6, 1806. 
 
 The proceedings of this Convention are not on record. 
 From an interesting account of it by the late Eev. 
 Nathaniel Stacy, who was present, we give the following 
 paragraphs : — 
 
 "I shall not attempt to describe the sensations I 
 experienced on approaching and entering the house of 
 
 1 The Ladies' Repository, vol. xiv. pp. 191, 192. 
 
REV. NATHANIEL STACY. 513 
 
 worship, for it would be impossible. It seemed as though 
 light beamed in matchless glory from above, and heaven 
 had thrown wide open its portals of beauty ! The words 
 of the speaker were like a precious healing balm to my 
 soul. There were but three preachers present, — our 
 venerable father, Hosea Ballou, now livLag in Boston, 
 Mr. WiUiam Farwell, and Mr. Walter Ferriss. Both of 
 the latter have long since been numbered with the con^ 
 gregation of the dead. Mr. Ballou preached ; and one of 
 his discourses was on the parable of the rich man and 
 Lazarus, and it swept away the last vestige of doubt 
 and darkness from my mind. I followed the clergymen 
 around as closely as possible, so as to catch every word ; 
 ventured into the council-chamber in the intermission, 
 where they, together with many other friends, were 
 assembled, and where also the excellent choir, led by 
 the celebrated teacher Mr. West, performed several 
 ezcellent pieces adapted to the occasion ; and the preach- 
 ing and the singing and the social converse so enrap- 
 tured my soul, that, young and bashful as I was, I could 
 hardly refrain from crying out, in the language of the 
 celestial messenger, ' Glory to God in the highest, and on 
 earth peace, good-will toward men.' And I really felt as 
 the entranced disciples did at the transfiguration of the 
 Saviour, ' It is good for me to be here.' And my aston- 
 ishment was excited beyond measure when I came to 
 look around among the attendants who thronged the 
 room, and saw several of my acquaintances, who appeared 
 as happy as myself, and whom I had supposed to be vio- 
 lently opposed to the doctrine ; and to whom, conse- 
 quently, I had never dared to express a thought, after I 
 became favorably impressed with a belief of its truth. 
 
 " I now felt myself in a new world ; and although 
 among old acquaintances, surrounded by new friends, 
 bound together by stronger ties than I had ever before 
 experienced. This meeting had a very happy effect in 
 
 VOL. I. — 33 
 
514 l'MVEesajLism in America. 
 
 this country. BBsides its tendency to lead many into 
 the belief of the truth who had never before entertained 
 a favorable opinion of it, and to establish those who were 
 wavering, it brought together congenial minds, and intro- 
 duced them to an acquaintance with each other, which 
 served to strengthen and embolden them in the cause, 
 to extend their influence, and enlarge the sphere of 
 their action ; by which means the cause of divine truth 
 advanced with greater rapidity. 
 
 " An incident occurred at this meeting, which I think 
 is worth recording, because it shows the bitterness of 
 spirit which actuated the opposers of this great salva- 
 tion, and the effect of a calm, dignified, and fearless 
 perseverance in the spirit of kindness. I was not an 
 eye-witness, but I was told of it ; indeed, it was a sub- 
 ject of common observation and remark, and had a very 
 salutary effect upon the reasonable part of community ; 
 for it led them to make a comparison between the influ- 
 ence of the two doctrines. The friends of Universalism 
 had applied to the proper authorities for the use of the 
 court-house for the meeting, and obtained their consent ; 
 and the doors were accordingly opened. But the sheriff 
 of the county, — one Eice, a bigot, without religion, as 
 his character too plainly testified, — undertook to frighten 
 them away by placing himself before the door with a 
 drawn sword in his hand, no doubt thinking that the 
 importance of his office, and a little blustering, would 
 break up the meeting. But at the appointed hour the 
 clergy, with Mr. Ballou at their head, walked deliberately 
 to the house ; and as they approached the door where 
 this wonderful majesty of law had placed himself and 
 was flourishing his broad^sword, Mr. Ballou, with his 
 wonted urbanity and pleasantness, addressed the little 
 man in the language of the Saviour, 'Peter, put up thy 
 sword into his place,' and walked by the shame-smitten 
 sheriff into the house. I was told that he hung down 
 
REV. THOMAS BAKNS. §15 
 
 his head, and" withoiit uttering a word walked off to his 
 house, — probably with a less-exalted opinion of his own 
 importance than when he placed himself at the court- 
 house door." ^ 
 
 There are no Minutes of the Philadelphia Convention 
 for 1799, and the probability is that no session was 
 held. 
 
 This year a new association was organized in what 
 was then the district of Maine, and called the Eastern 
 Association. The town of New Gloucester, which was 
 within its bounds, had been settled a few years before 
 by a few families from Gloucester, Mass., many of 
 whom had been connected with the Universalist' con- 
 gregation. Among these was Captain Joseph Pearce. 
 For several years, as there was no preaching near 
 enough for the settlers to attend, Mr. Pearce met with 
 his neighboirs at each other's houses, on Sundays, for 
 religious worship and conversation. It fell to his lot to 
 take the lead in these services ; and before long it was 
 discovered that there were so many TJniversaHsts in 
 New Gloucester and the adjoining towns that he was 
 empowered to obtain a minister of their faith to tajce up 
 his abode with them. At once he wrote to his brother 
 William, on Cape Ann, for assistance, who proposed to 
 Eev. Thomas Barns to visit the district, and made gener- 
 ous offers of assistance, if he would settle there. Mr. 
 Barns had been supplying the Gloucester pulpit most of 
 the time since the spring of 1794, but his family remained 
 on his farm in Woodstock, Conn.; and be was therefore 
 pleased with the prospect of a field of labor ^here he 
 could give his personal attention to farming, and have 
 1 Memoirs of the Life of Rev. Nathaniel Stacy, pp. 55-57. , , 
 
516 UNIVEKSAUSM IN AMEEICA. 
 
 his family with him. Accordingly, he visited the" dis- 
 trict in the fall of 1798, and concluded to make it 
 his home, removing there in the winter of 1799, and 
 locating on a farm in the town of Poland, where he 
 continued to reside till his death, in October, 1816. His 
 engagements in moving to Poland were, that he should 
 preach at Norway, Falmouth, and New Gloucester, 
 every fourth Sunday. The remaining Sabbath he was 
 employed in adjacent towns, occasionally preaching at 
 Livermore, Turner, Danville, Freeport, and Poland. In 
 January, 1802, he was ordained at Gray, over the 
 united societies of Norway, New Gloucester, Falmouth, 
 and Gray. In October, 1799, delegates from these 
 societies met in Gray, and organized the Eastern As^ 
 sociation. 
 
 The following incident in the early ministry of Mr. 
 Barns in Maine illustrates at once the state of religious 
 feeling among the so-called Orthodox of that day, their 
 confessed inability to comfort the mourning, and the 
 great light and cheer which Universalism imparted to 
 the bereaved : — 
 
 " In one of the towns where an aged Orthodox minis- 
 ter had been located a number of years, resided a very 
 respectable family, mostly members of the church, con- 
 sisting of husband and wife, or father and mother, and 
 several grown-up children. Among the latter was a son, 
 the pride, the hope, the joy, of the family. From some 
 unknown cause, this son became delirious, and was for 
 some time confined, and every means employed to re- 
 store him to sanity and happiness. At length, symptoms 
 of returning reason appeared, and though far from being 
 fully restored, it was deemed best to allow him his lib- 
 erty, and carefully watch all his movements, to prevent 
 
EEV. THOMAS BAENS. 517 
 
 him from doing harm to himself or others. For a time 
 he was vigilantly watched, and strong hopes of perfect 
 recovery entertained. But one day, while the family 
 relaxed their vigilance, he watched his opportunity, en- 
 tered the barn, got a rope and hung himself, and was 
 dead when discovered. This was a most awful and 
 afflicting stroke to the family-. 
 
 "The father, in the overwhelming agony of his emo- 
 tions, goes to his minister, tells him the sad tidings, and 
 requests him to attend the funeral and administer the 
 consolations of the gospel to himself and family. His 
 venerable pastor listens to his request, pauses, drops a 
 tear of pity, and replies, ' Brother, I cannot comply with 
 your request.' ' Why not ? ' ' Because I have been 
 long and intimately acquainted with your family. I 
 know the strong affections you entertained for your son ; 
 the sad and awful manner of his exit. I know not of 
 one word of consolation for you in the gospel ; and my 
 feelings will not allow me to preach as duty would re- 
 quire on so sad an occasion ! ' ' What, then, shall I do ? ' 
 
 ' Go to the neighboring town of , where Brother 
 
 has lately been settled. He is a comparative stranger to 
 you and your family. He can do his duty on such an 
 occasion without experiencing the distressing emotions 
 that I should.' 
 
 " Accordingly, the afflicted father posts to the minister 
 of the neighboring parish, makes known his misfortune, 
 and requests him to attend, and preach the funeral ser- 
 mon. ' But why do you not get your own minister ? ' He 
 frankly tells him that he has applied and been refused, 
 and the reasons therefor. ' Well,' says the young Ortho- 
 dox clergyman, after a pause, 'if your own minister 
 cannot preach and do his duty on this occasion, neither 
 can I ; for, like him, I know not of a single text in the 
 whole Bible that can afford you the least consolation; 
 and I cannot preach this funeral sermon.' 
 
518 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 "With a still sadder heart, the grief-stricken father 
 returns, — again visits his pastor and implores him with 
 tears to attend, and preach the funeral sermon of his 
 departed son. ' I cannot ^- 1 cannot,' is the reply ; ' my 
 feelings will not allow it. Alas! I pity but I cannot 
 comfort you.' ' What shall I do ? Alas ! what can I 
 do ? ' exclaims the father, in unutterable agony. ' I know 
 not,' exclaims the minister. ' I cannot advise you. Stop 
 — yes, yes, I can. I will tell you what to do. There is 
 old Father Barns, the Universalist, who lives in Po- 
 land;, he will attend and preach. Go for him at once. 
 If there is one text, one word of consolation, for you in 
 all the Bible, he will find it. Get him 5 the church shall 
 be opened ; the members will attend ; I will attend and 
 hear him.' 
 
 " For the last time, the father starts on his melancholy 
 task of procuring a minister to attend the funeral of his 
 son. He calls at the house of the Universalist minister. 
 ' Is Mr. Barns at home ? ' 'He is, sir ; he is threshing 
 grain at the barn.' He approaches and enters. No 
 sooner does the venerable farmer-minister see him than 
 he drops his flail, approaches, and takes the afflicted man 
 by the hand, saying, ' My dear friend, I am happy to see 
 you. I have heard of your misfortune, — a severe and 
 trying affliction. I sympathize deeply with you. But 
 God doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the children of 
 men ; but though he cause grief, yet will he have com- 
 passion, according to the multitude of his mercies.' 
 
 " The afflicted man then made known the object of his 
 call, and Father Barns readily agreed to go and preach 
 at the funeral. The time arrives. The meeting-house 
 is open. The occasion being extraordinary in the compar- 
 atively new country, a vast concourse assembles, include 
 ing nearly or quite all the members of the church and 
 many from other churches, with both the clergymen who 
 had declined preaching. The venerable Barns enters 
 
REV. THOMAS BARNS. 519 
 
 the pulpit. All eyes and ears are open, and especially 
 those of the aged Orthodox pastor, who, the reader will 
 believe, was really anxious to have the mourners com- 
 forted, though he knew not himself how to comfort 
 them. Deep and solemn silence prevails. The intro- 
 ductory services are appropriately gone through, and 
 the preacher turns to and reads his text, 1 Cor. iv. 6 : 
 ' Therefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord 
 come, who both will bring to light the hidden things of 
 darkness, and will make manifest the counsels of the 
 hearts ; and then shall every man have praise of God.' 
 Scarcely had the text been pronounced, when the aged 
 Orthodox minister clapped his hands in ecstasy, crying 
 aloud, ' He 's got it, he 's got it ! — the very text of all the 
 Bible for the occasion.' 
 
 "The preacher then went on to illustrate and apply 
 his text, showing that weak and short-sighted mortals, 
 not understajiding the dark dealings and mysterious dis- 
 pensations of Divine Providence, are too prone to doubt 
 or distrust the Divine Goodness, to arraign his wisdom 
 and question his justice or benevolence ; that we now 
 see but in part and know but in part, but when that 
 which is perfect is come, that which is in part shall be 
 done away ; we now see as through a glass darkly, but 
 hereafter we shall see as we are seen, and know as we 
 are known ; and when all the designs of God in apparent 
 iUs are seen through, and his benevolent purposes under- 
 stood, aU that is now dark will become light, — the very 
 counsels of aU hearts will be seen through, and the rear 
 sons why God permitted such counsels to exist be under- 
 stood ; benevolence will be seen to be at the bottom of 
 all Jehovah's designs, and every man shall have the 
 praise of God's unbounded goodness in his heart as well 
 as on his tongue. 
 
 " The sermon took strong hold of the whole congrega- 
 tion, and produced a most powerful and happy effect. A 
 
520 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Universalist society was soon established in the place, 
 and the stated and regular ministration of the truth en- 
 joyed, dating from the time that Father Barns preached 
 the above sermon at the funeral of the unfortunate 
 suicide." * 
 
 In 1799 a pamphlet appeared, entitled, " A Literary 
 Correspondence between Joel Foster, A. M., Minister 
 of the Congregational Society in New Salem, and Hosea 
 Ballou, an Itinerant Preacher of the sect called Uni- 
 versalists. In which the Question concerning Future 
 Punishment and the Eeasons for and against it are 
 considered." 
 
 Mr. Foster, although a Congregationalist, was evi- 
 dently no Calvinist, but decidedly Arminian in his 
 theology. He seems, too, to have had a hope that the 
 doctrine of endless punishment might perhaps not be 
 strictly true at last ; not because it was not threatened 
 in the Bible, but — as he approved Archbishop Tillot- 
 son's theory — because God had power to remit his 
 threatenings, if he so willed. It is quite probable that 
 his position may have been generally understood in the 
 community before his correspondence with Mr. Ballou 
 commenced, and possibly Mr. Ballou may have been 
 aware of this when he first addressed him. The corre- 
 spondence commenced before either had any personal 
 acquaintance with the other. Mr. Ballou wrote the 
 first letter, Oct. 4, 1797, telling Mr. Foster that he had 
 heard of his character " as that of a judicious and 
 pious clergyman," and adding, " I, being young, have 
 need of the assistance of those who are more learned 
 
 I Rev. Dolphus Skinner, in the Evangelical Magazine and Gospel 
 Advocate, Jan. 5, 1844. 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 521 
 
 and experienced than myself." The questions which he 
 propounded were : 
 
 " First. Is it possible for any being not to answer the 
 final purpose intended by God in his creation ? 
 
 " Second. Do the Scriptures teach us that God in- 
 tended the eternal misery of any of the human kind, or 
 to glorify himself in their endless wretchedness ? 
 
 " Third. Was it the mission of Christ to die for, and 
 finally save, the human race ? " (p. 6.) 
 
 Mr. Foster answered on the 9th of October : 
 
 " This day I received your very unexpected favor of the 
 4th inst. You are a stranger to me, but I am disposed to 
 believe that your desire for a correspondence was per- 
 fectly well-meant. The apparent spirit of candor, which 
 characterizes your letter, merits the .honor of my notice, 
 — if it can be thought an honor to you " (p. 5). 
 
 After criticising the verbal form of some of Mr. Bal- 
 lou's statements, Mr. Foster proceeded to answer his 
 questions : — 
 
 " ' Is it possible for any being not to answer the final 
 purpose intended by God in his creation ? ' As a philoso- 
 pher, or as a divine, I am willing to give you my opinion 
 upon this question, namely, that it is not possible. Nor 
 am I ignorant what inference.you will be ready to draw 
 from it. But before you proceed to make any conclusion 
 from it, you will do well to recollect that philosophers 
 and divines may differ in their opinion of what they 
 call the final purpose of God in the creation of man. 
 Whether it did at all extend to individual actions, and 
 the final appropriate consequences of them, has been 
 much of a question ; or whether it was merely the pur- 
 pose of God to make men intelligent and free agents, 
 and to endue them with a strict philosophical and moral 
 
622 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 liberty. If we agree that the latter was the real aud 
 true purpose of God, then the necessary consequence is, 
 that they are capable of working out their, own happi- 
 ness or ruin under such means of probation as an all- 
 wise and gracious Creator should see cause to institute. 
 But if we suppose the purpose of God extended to and 
 necessitated each individual volition and action, then we 
 reduce men to the condition bf mere machines, and 
 throw down all distinction between virtue and vice " 
 (pp. 8, 9). 
 
 " I have no objection to your second question, as being 
 a proper theological question, namely, 'Do the Scrip- 
 tures teach us that God intended the eternal misery of 
 any of the human kind ? ' etc. In answer to this, I do ■ 
 not think that the Scriptures say, in so many words, that 
 God intended the eternal misery of some of the human 
 kind ; nor do I think it strictly just and proper to say, 
 that it was the antecedent, unconditional intention or 
 decree of God, that any of the human kind, in a personal 
 acceptation, should be eternally miserable. But I know 
 of no way to avoid saying that the gospel does threaten 
 eternal destruction, punishment, or misery to certain 
 characters of our race. Just as our laws and government 
 threaten capital punishment to certain offenders, but do. 
 not antecedently designate the individuals who shall suf- 
 fer such punishment " (pp. 9, 10). 
 
 The third question Mr. Foster thought susceptible of 
 a division. He had no hesitation in afiBrming "that 
 Christ died for the whole human race ; " but that all 
 men would be benefited by his death, he would not 
 assert ; but seemed to hold the contrary opinion. He 
 did not commit himself to affirming the strictly endless 
 duration of the sinner's punishment. His summing up 
 was: — 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. , 523 
 
 " It is very possible that, after all I have had leisure 
 to write, you may still be fixed in the opinion that it is 
 incongruous to believe God will everlastingly punish any 
 of his creatures, under whatever predicament, and may 
 still solace yourself in the contemplation that all will 
 be brought to happiness in some future distant period 
 in the divine economy. I am not authorized to say that 
 such a belief will have aliy ill effect upon your heart or 
 life ; nor have I any aversion to the doctrine, if it can 
 be found in the holy oracles ; nor am I very solicitous 
 to be convinced of the truth of it, even if it be true, or 
 to preach it to others. If there is to be a chance for 
 the condemned to emancipate themselves from a state 
 of punishment, they will doubtless know it when they 
 come to that state ; and to teU them of it beforehand 
 might only abate their awe and dread of divine punish- 
 ment, which in all probability would be no great service 
 to them" (p. 12). 
 
 Mr. Ballou's second letter, dated November 2, is here 
 given in full, that the peculiar bent of his mind at that 
 period may be fully understood, and especially that we 
 may see the manner in which he was then interpreting 
 Scripture, and feeling his way along towards the more 
 rational exegesis which he afterwards adopted : — 
 
 "To add to the pleasures of this morning, I have the 
 happiness of the reception of your much-wished-for favor 
 of October 9. I am happy, very happy, that my letter 
 gained your approbation as ' perfectly well-meant ; ' for, 
 notwithstanding any inaccuracy that might appear in my 
 questions, they were in simplicity and sincerity devoted 
 to one whom I considered as an able informant. 
 
 " You are good enough. Sir, to certify me that you were 
 not disobliged by the trouble I gave you. I am happy, 
 Sir, in that ; and I assure you I would not disoblige you 
 
524 UNIVEBSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 in soliciting a continuance of our correspondence, for I 
 consider myself more than compensated for my labor — 
 not trouble — in your favor already obtained. 
 
 " You will not take it amiss if I proceed to make some 
 remarks on those parts of your letter which to me appear 
 the most essential. In the first place, of the inaccuracy 
 you see in my statements. I acknowledge the temperate 
 sweetness in which you treat this subject, and cannot say 
 but that an apology might justly have been expected. 
 However, I shall beg leave to insert certain reasons which 
 still remain in my mind in favor of the statement. I 
 need not remind you that my statement does not urge 
 that those questions, justly answered, designate the Chris- 
 tian faith in every particular, nor even in some principal 
 points ; but that they do in some measure, I argue from 
 the following reasons : First, the question, Is it possible 
 for any being not to answer the final purpose of God 
 intended in his creation ? justly answered, is pertinent 
 to the idea of the power and wisdom of the Creator, 
 which I may justly say are essential to the Christian 
 faith, and are among the names or titles of our Redeemer. 
 Now observe, although this first question does not so par- 
 ticularly refer to the goodness of God, yet the idea of 
 power and wisdom is contained therein. With regard to 
 the other principal communicable attribute of the Deity, 
 which is love, it is briefly comprehended, or at least in 
 some measure, in the other two questions ; for if we con- 
 sider the Scriptures as a divine revelation, — which I do 
 most religiously believe, — the question. Do the Scrip- 
 tures teach us that God intended the eternal misery of 
 the human kind, or to glorify himself in their endless 
 wretchedness ? justly answered, has in some measure an 
 allusion to his goodness, or kindness to the human race. 
 The last question, justly answered, would, I think, be 
 very explicit in the Redeemer's process. Now, Sir, if 
 the power, wisdom, and goodness of God in creation and 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 525 
 
 redemption are not in some measure the foundation of 
 the Christian faith (I write with difRdence), I doubt 
 whether I have ever believed like a Christian. 
 
 "Notwithstanding what I have written on this sub- 
 ject, I am not altogether ignorant that the Christian 
 faith retrospects as well as anticipates. Now with re- 
 gard to what the Christian faith views in a retrospective 
 sense, there are certain facts comprehended which are 
 said in Holy Scripture to have had au existence, par- 
 ticularly those which relate to the process of Christ. 
 But, farther, I consider that the Christian faith retro- 
 spects farther than even prophecy concerning the pro- 
 cess of Christ, and contemplates, or the mind by faith, 
 the all-gracious will of our heavenly Father in creation, 
 on which particular the Scriptures are not silent ; and 
 when we consider the Christian faith as anticipating, it 
 centres in the before-mentioned properties of the Deity, 
 viz., wisdom, power, and goodness, — in a word, the ful- 
 ness of the plan of God as it respects man in a spiritual 
 sense, so far as it can be rationally understood by us, is, 
 I conceive, comprehended in the Christian faith. 
 
 '•' I would not be understood, by anything that I have 
 written, that I consider your observations on this par- 
 ticular as ill-meant, but would rather beg leave to dis- 
 sent a little, or confess myself in the dark respecting it. 
 
 " To my first question you say, ' As a philosopher, or 
 as a divine, I am willing to give you my opinion that it 
 is not possible.' You then observe you are not igno- 
 rant of what inference I shall draw from your answer. 
 It appears that you had an idea of my inference, pro- 
 vided I had drawn it before I had recollected certain 
 differences which exist in the opinions of philosophers 
 and divines respecting these matters. Dear Sir, do you 
 think my inference will be differently drawn on account 
 of this consideration ? I assure you, no ; for my infer- 
 ence, I hope, will be according to your very ingenious 
 
526 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 answer, that is to say, that the ultimate end and design 
 of Grod, which he intended in the creation of man and 
 all other beings, cannot fail of being accomplished. 
 
 "Now, after my inference, I have an observation to 
 make on the different notions and opinions of philoso- 
 phers and divines on the will of God as it respects voli- 
 tion and action. Observe, Sir, however the will of God 
 respects sinful volition or action, whether little, none, or 
 much, it does not determine the final intention of the 
 Creator ; for the consequence of sinful volition and action, 
 which according to the Scriptures is misery and woe, is 
 subsequent to action ; and I cannot conceive that any, 
 philosopher or divine could even have an excuse for be- 
 lieving or supposing that the final intention of the Cre- 
 ator can stop short of the last event which concerns the 
 creature ; for if so, we must suppose that the Creator 
 has constituted beings for a longer duration than he had 
 any eventful purpose depending. 
 
 " I cannot but observe on the machinery of man, sup- 
 posing that to be the truth concerning him. You say 
 that such an idea throws down all difference between 
 virtue and vice. This idea. Sir, you consider as philo- 
 sophical ; but on what principle, or why, does this destroy 
 that difference ? Philosophy, you are certain, teaches 
 us that fixed laws bring forward or into existence dif- 
 ferent circumstances, qualities, or operations. These cir- 
 cumstances may have different names, as virtue and vice 
 are different in name. 
 
 " Would you pardon me. Sir, if I should appear igno- 
 rant enough to suppose that what you have written on 
 my second question does not include an answer ? You 
 say, ' Nor do I think it just and proper to. say . that it 
 was the antecedent, unconditional intention or decree of 
 God that any of the human kind, in a personal accepta- 
 tion, should be eternally miserable.' Now you > are cer- 
 tain that what is here quoted from your answer idtiies not 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 521 
 
 say that God did not, or that he did, intend the eternal 
 misery of the human kind in some way or other ; and 
 what you have said concerning the Scriptures teaching 
 eternal misery does not determine the question whethei 
 God intended them thus to suffer. May I tell you, Sir. 
 that you mistook a certain statement of your own foi 
 the question ? At least, I may say I consider it so. The 
 question was not whether man by his impenitency could 
 make himself eternally miserable ; it was whether the 
 Scriptures taught that it was God's will that they should 
 be thus wretched. I have here an occasion for an observa- 
 tion for which I am happy to be obliged to you : ' I do 
 not mention this inaccuracy because I have any pleasure 
 in little criticisms,' but because I think it necessary that 
 questions of importance should be answered particularly, 
 according to their merit. 
 
 " You will indulge me. Sir, while I endeavor to show 
 wherein I think the Scriptures you quoted do not allude 
 to what you seem to apply them. I have, according to 
 your very charitable idea, read those passages which you 
 so carefully reminded me of with candor ; and did I be- 
 lieve that the Scriptures taught the idea of eternal, oi 
 never-ending, misery, I could not suppose that those pas- 
 sages had an allusion to it. The first you quote is in 
 Matthew xxv. That Christ was laboring, in this chap- 
 ter, by the means of parables, to show the change of 
 dispensations, is obvious ; that is, the close of the law 
 dispensation and the opening of the gospel. In the para- 
 ble of the virgins this idea is clearly to be seen. Ob- 
 serve, he saith, verse 10 : ' and the door was shut.' It 
 is written of this bridegroom that he hath the keys of 
 David, and openeth and no man shutteth, and shutteth 
 and no man openeth. And here we view him as closing 
 the first dispensation, or shutting the door of the law, at 
 which the stumbling ones of Israel have knocked ever 
 since, but are not able to open it ; for it is said he shut- 
 
528 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 teth and no man can open. What follows in th.e parable 
 of the virgins is a just description of the awful situ- 
 ation of Israel thus blinded ; after this is introduced the 
 parable of the talents, in which certain particulars of 
 the above-mentioned event are illustrated, the one talent 
 referring to or signifying the law of Moses, which law, 
 though it was good coin, — that is, holy, just, and good, — 
 yet being given to man in the earthly character, in which 
 character no man but Christ ever fullilled its divine pre- 
 cepts. Now they to whom it was given, being judged by 
 the mouth of the law, were condemned ; and then follows 
 the same in effect as to the foolish virgins. The two tal- 
 ents figure John's dispensation, which being committed 
 to him whom the Lord was pleased to make faithful, was 
 profitable even to John ; therefore he testifieth that as 
 the friend of the bridegroom his joy was fulfilled ; there- 
 fore he entered into the joy of his Lord. But observe 
 here, it did not belong to him to take the one talent. 
 No ; none but he who came not to destroy the law, but 
 to fulfil it, even Christ, who had the five talents, could 
 take the law from the earth, magnify it, and make it 
 honorable ; and none but he had power to obtain the one 
 talent. He in the next place proceeds to show, by the 
 parable of the sheep and goats, who were to be judged 
 when he came in his glory, which glory signifies his 
 mediatorial character. The better to time this event, we 
 observe what he saith (Matthew xvi. 28) : ' Verily I say 
 unto you, there be some standing here who shall not taste 
 of death till they see the Son of Man coming in his king- 
 dom.' The particular coming of Christ in this parable is 
 that of his coming in the gospel dispensation, with his 
 ministers or apostles, who were the angels here meant ; 
 which coming and judgment began at the day of Pente- 
 cost. What we learn by the sheep and goats, in this pas- 
 sage, are believers and unbelievers ; what we understand 
 by all nations being gathered before him is that all were 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 529 
 
 before the gospel dispensation, or that that dispensation 
 would fall on them all. What we learn by the right 
 hand and left is law and gospel ; as Christ is the man 
 of God's right hand, the right hand represents the gos- 
 pel, the left hand the law. Now he who believeth in 
 Jesus, heareth his voice, in gospel language, saying, in 
 gospel language. Come, ye blessed of my Father ; enter 
 into the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation 
 of the world, etc. And we may observe that the gospel 
 speaks the same language to all ; but alas ! the unbeliever 
 is still under the law, and hears the voice of the Judge, 
 from the mouth of the law, saying, Depart, ye cursed, 
 etc. And then follows the same torment, in effect, as 
 was denounced in the other parables. 
 
 " With regard to what you said on the duration of the 
 misery of the wicked, which solution you draw from the 
 same word's being applied to it as is applied to the happi- 
 ness of the saints, little need be said, seeing you acknowl- 
 edge that you are not to be informed that this word is 
 sometimes applied to circumstances and things which are 
 not strictly eternal. I will therefore only give you the 
 criterion on which I try this point : Although this is not 
 to be determined from the bare word, yet we may try it 
 on plain Scripture rule. Let us ask, then. Can misery 
 continue any longer than the cause continues ? Answer : 
 No. In the next place, What is the cause of misery ? 
 Answer : Sin. In the next place. Will sin ever be de- 
 stroyed, or will it endure to all eternity ? Answer : 
 ' Seventy weeks are determined on thee, and on thy peo- 
 ple, in which he will finish sin, and bring in everlasting 
 righteousness,' etc. Now let us ask. What is the cause 
 of the happiness of the saints ? Answer : Righteousness, 
 even that of Christ's. Now observe, he finishes sin, 
 which is the cause of misery, and brings in everlasting 
 righteousness, which is the cause of happiness. Now, 
 as it is impossible to prove that righteousness will ever 
 
 VOL. I. — 34 
 
530 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 come to an end, the happiness of the saints will con- 
 tinue. 'Because I live, ye shall live also.' Although I 
 consider this point fairly investigated, yet I will remind 
 you of one text which in itself is conclusive to this 
 effect (Eev. xxi. 4) : ' And there shall be no more death, 
 neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any 
 more pain,' etc. 
 
 " The next passage you quote to me is that in Luke xii. 
 In this passage the same thing is meant as in those para- 
 bles before explained. Observe : ' When once the master 
 of the house hath risen up, and hath shut to the door, 
 and ye begin to stand without and knock at the door, 
 saying, Lord, Lord, open unto us,' etc. Here we view 
 him as before, shutting the door of the law, and the 
 Jews who were blinded, as before observed, knocking at 
 that door ; then it is said to them the same in effect, as 
 is said to them in the other parables. You may observe 
 something of this saying, speaking of the way of life, or 
 the strait gate, verse 24 : ' For many, I say unto you, 
 shall seek to enter in, and shall not be able ; ' observe, 
 they seeking to enter in at the door of the law were 
 not able. 
 
 "Then follows an account of the collecting of the 
 Gentiles from the east, west, north, and south, and of 
 their sitting down in the kingdom of God, while the 
 Jews were cast out. And he closes this passage by say- 
 ing (verse 30) : ' And behold there are last which shall 
 be first, and there are first which shall be last.' That is, 
 in other words, ' Publicans and harlots shall enter the 
 kingdom of God before you ; ' which intimates that they 
 should enter afterwards. The next Scripture to which 
 you refer me is that in 2 Thess. i. You quote to me 
 what is said from verse 3 to 10 ; but my observation will 
 be particularly on the everlasting destruction mentioned 
 in verse 9. This! coming of the Lord Jesus in flaming 
 fire must mean his coming in the spirit of the gospel ; 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 531 
 
 for this flaming fire must be of an heavenly nature, or 
 Christ and his angels would not be found in it. But the 
 particular mistake generally made in the explanation of 
 this passage is that of the creature's being banished from 
 the presence of the Lord, — which is an impossibility, — 
 for that of the punishment's proceeding from the presence 
 of the Lord, and from the glory of his power. Now 
 observe, the presence of the Lord destroys all sin and 
 false eonceptioHS, our self-righteousness, etc. ; and this is 
 punishment to the creature, as saith the Apostle : ' If 
 any man's work be burned, he shall suffer loss;' but 
 observe, 'he himself shall be saved, yet so as by fire:' 
 
 " The last passage you quote in vindication of eternal 
 misery is Rom. xiv. 15. Dear Sir, is it not an alarming 
 idea to suppose that the weight of eternal things hangs 
 on the caprice of a man's eating a piece of meat a little 
 uncharitably ? — ' Destroy not him with thy meat for 
 whom Christ died.' Now the Lord saith to Israel, ' 
 Israel ! thou hast destroyed thyself ; but in me is thy 
 help.' How much easier would you suppose it to be for 
 the whole house of Israel, thus destroyed, to be helped, 
 than one whom another had destroyed with his meat ? 
 
 "You say, it still remains to be proved that all men 
 will ever obey Christ, etc. To prove this, I need recite 
 but one passage, and that is, saith the Lord, ' Then will 
 I turn to the people a pure language, that they may all 
 call on the name of the Lord, and serve him with one 
 consent.' 
 
 " Suffer me now to observe, though you very generously 
 say, to my third question, that Christ died for all men, 
 etc., yet you do not answer the question whether it 
 was his mission finally to save all mankind. You ob- 
 serve that there are two questions in my third ; then 
 most certainly they each deserved an answer. Observe, 
 whether to die for, and finally save, were both in the 
 mission of Christ, is but one question. 
 
532 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 " Now, Sir, although. I could not wish to trouble you, 
 yet, while I thank you for your very kind letter, I can 
 do no less than desire a farther correspondence, if your 
 necessary avocations will admit. And, Sir, should you 
 please to write again, I should be very happy if you 
 would answer those questions in my former letter which 
 remain unanswered, — if you consider them so. In this 
 I would submit to your judgment. Also some questions 
 which I shall here state, leaving you, Sir, to judge of 
 what denomination they are; — 
 
 "First. Did God know, from eternity, each event 
 which would take place in time, even containing the 
 idea of each volition and action of his creatures ? 
 
 "Second. Was it possible for anything to fail of 
 being, which God, with an absolute knowledge, knew 
 would be ? 
 
 "Third. Did 'the Father send his Son into the world to 
 die for those whom it was impossible should be saved ? 
 
 " Kind Sir, if what I have written contains any idea 
 disrespectful to you, I pray you would consider it as 
 unmeant in me. 
 
 " Do not consider that what I have written on those 
 passages to which you refer me was written for your 
 instruction ; but that you might know why I could not 
 accommodate them to what you seem to. 
 
 " P.S. Pardon whatever you see illiterate " (pp. 13-26). 
 
 Mr. Foster's reply to these questions was : — • 
 
 "I will answer them to the best of my knowledge, and 
 so explicitly that you shall not again be at a loss for my 
 meaning. 
 
 " To your first question I answer, I know not. 
 
 " To your second. Yes. 
 ' "To your third. No" (pp. 30, 31). 
 
 In Mr. Foster's next letter he says : — 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 533 
 
 " I will conclude by asking you two questions, in my 
 turn, both naturally suggested by something dropped in 
 your answer, viz. : — 
 
 « First. Do you believe there is any moral difference 
 between virtue and vice ? or any difference but in name 
 only? 
 
 "Second. Do you believe in any punishment at all 
 after this life ? " 
 
 Mr. Ballou answered the first question, " Yes, if I 
 understand the question." And the second, " No." 
 Subsequently, the parties met on the road to Orange, 
 and engaged in conversation on the subject of their 
 letters. In a letter of later date Mr. Ballou says: — 
 
 "If you recollect. Sir, in the little opportunity 
 which we had on the road, I observed to you, that I did 
 not believe in future misery, 'because it was a matter 
 in which I was not established; and therefore could 
 not say that I believed that in which I was not estab- 
 lished. 
 
 " I am now satisfied in the idea of a future state of 
 discipline, in which the impenitent will be miserable." 
 
 Mr. Foster's next letter was his last. He says: — 
 
 " I recoUect what you observed, on the road to Orange, 
 concerning your not being established in the point re- 
 specting any punishment after this life. You now pro- 
 fess yourself ' satisfied in the idea of a future state of 
 discipline,' etc. I am at a loss on what grounds you 
 obtain this satisfaction ; or how you can know that the 
 miseries of the future life are disciplinary, and not rather 
 strictly penal." 
 
 In Whittemore's "Life of Ballou," copious extracts 
 are made from this correspondence ; but Mr. Whitte- 
 more was unable to procure a complete copy of the 
 
534 UNIVEESALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 pamphlet, and so could not give Mr. Ballou's final 
 letter. It was as follows : — 
 
 " Your last valedictory letter (as you intend it), you 
 must know, leaves our correspondence in a very unfin- 
 ished state, on my part, provided you publish the epis- 
 tles. On perusing your last letter but one, I conceived 
 that our correspondence on the subjects brought forward 
 might not be so profitable as on the particular idea of 
 the general restoration. I did not answer your letter in 
 particular, but observed that the subjects were of a nature 
 which I had rather not debate in public. 
 
 "You inform me that my desire not to have our 
 correspondence published is untimely, as you have put 
 the first part into the printer's hands. On account of 
 some strokes in the former queries, which respect the 
 system of fatality, which are undecided in sentiment, 
 I choose not to have them published. However, I have 
 no particular aversion to having them published, as the 
 reader will understand that I do not contend for the 
 strict idea of fatality as it respects the particular actions 
 of mankind. 
 
 "But it is of necessity. Sir, that I answer your last 
 but one more particularly, if you publish it, as I was not 
 particular in my last to you, having an idea of coming 
 more particularly on a different query. But I shall be 
 concise, observing only on two points, which refer to my 
 main query : The first is, the way which you take to 
 exonerate or free yourself from my inference. The way 
 you have taken is, in effect, to say that God has no final 
 intention to make his creatures happy in the enjoyment 
 of himself, nor miserable by being excluded his favor. 
 This, sir, is indeed the only way to free yourself ; but 
 what freedom do you enjoy in this ? It is saying, that 
 the final intention of Jehovah, respecting his creatures, 
 does not extend so far as their final existence ! and that 
 
BALLOU AND FOSTER. 535 
 
 his intention respecting man affects him in time, but not 
 to all eternity. 
 
 " Lastly, I will only connect with this idea what you 
 have said respecting the foreknowledge of God, in which 
 you profess to believe in his positive foreknowledge of 
 all events ; but you say that his foreknowing all events 
 did not make them certain or necessary. Whether his 
 foreknowing the events made them certain or not, it is 
 evident that they were certain, or it could not be said that 
 God certainly knew them ; for God could not know that 
 an event would take place, if that event was uncertain. 
 If all events that ever exist were certain, — as must be the 
 case if God had a positive knowledge of them, — then 
 they must be considered as unavoidable by the creature. 
 
 "Whether God, from eternity, took particular cogni- 
 zance of all minute events, is a question in my mind ; but 
 that he did of all events which concern our eternal state, 
 I firmly believe. Consider, Sir, your own idea of God's 
 foreknowledge, connected with your idea of his final 
 intention respecting his creatures. Here you make his 
 knowledge extend farther than his final intention, and 
 that if any of the human race are endlessly happy, he 
 unconditionally knew it, but did not unconditionally de- 
 termine it ; also, that if any of the human race are 
 endlessly miserable, he positively knew it, but did not 
 positively determine it. 
 
 "Thus I end, thinking it not proper, in this corre- 
 spondence, to answer your last, as you did not expect 
 it, but rather stated your queries for my peculiar advan- 
 tage, for which I am obliged to you. Sir, in gratitude. 
 
 " Wishing you, Sir, divine peace in spiritual experience, 
 and all who may read these queries everlasting consola- 
 tion and good hope, I remain, yours and theirs in love." 
 
 In 1800 the New England Convention so far departed 
 from the Philadelphia Convention's " Form of Church 
 
536 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 Government," which it had adopted in 1794, as to take 
 the matter of license, fellowship, ordination, and dis- 
 cipline into its own hands. Seven of the nine votes 
 passed at this session were on these suhjects. " Letters 
 testimonial of license to preach " were granted to " Miles 
 T. Wooley, Edward Turner, Joshua Flagg, and Edwin 
 Ferriss." " Fellowship" was granted to " Edmund Pills- 
 bury, John Foster, and Samuel Mead ; " and provision 
 was made for the " ordination of Walter Ferriss," and a 
 committee was appointed " to examine the credentials 
 of applicants for ordination, and to ordain, if so re- 
 quested, in the recess of the Convention ; and if circum- 
 stances possibly admit, that Brother Miles Treadwell 
 Wooley be gratified in his request for ordination, 
 when accompanied by proper testimonials from the Con- 
 necticut societies." A committee of discipline was also 
 appointed, and charged to investigate a particular case 
 which had been brought to the notice of the Con- 
 vention. 
 
 Eev. Samuel Mead, we have spoken of in the first 
 chapter. Rev. Edmund Pillsbury was a convert from 
 the Baptists, and was living at Northwood, N. H., 
 where he had been settled over a Baptist church in 
 1779. He became a Universalist about 1797. No par- 
 ticulars in regard to his life have been preserved. 
 
 Eev. John Foster was a native of Stafford, Ct., and 
 was the son of Eev. Isaac Foster, pastor of the Congre- 
 gational church in West Stafford. The son was a Con- 
 gregational minister at Paxton, Mass., and subsequently 
 at Taunton, and was dismissed from the pastorate in 
 the latter place in 1799. He then became a school- 
 teacher in Stonington, Ct., where he embraced Univer- 
 
REV. EDWARD TURNER. 537 
 
 salism, and for a while preached in the city of New 
 York. Dr. Francis, in " Old New York," says : " I 
 have heard many speakers, but none whose voice ever 
 equalled the volume of Foster's. It flowed with de- 
 licious ease, and yet penetrated everywhere. He besides 
 was favored with a noble presence." On his appear- 
 ance in New York, permission was sought for his occu- 
 pying the pulpit of the church miuistered to by Eev. 
 Edward Mitchell ; but the request being denied, a place 
 of meeting was opened for him in Eose Street, and 
 afterwards in Broadway, near Pearl. He continued 
 there two or three years, and then resumed his old 
 labor of school-teaching. He died at an advanced age 
 in Norwich, Ct., his later years not fulfilling the prom- 
 ise of his youth. His only publication was a pamphlet 
 of forty-eight pages, entitled " Universal Salvation, Ar- 
 gued in Four Discourses, delivered in the City of New 
 York, A. D. 1807." 
 
 Of Eev. Miles T. Wooley but little is known. At 
 the time he was licensed he resided in Connecticut. 
 Subsequently he removed to Otsego County, New York, 
 where, some time in March, 1803, he organized " The 
 First Universalist Society of the County of Otsego," — the 
 first Universalist organization west of New York city, 
 and still in existence, worshipping in its church at Fly 
 Creek, in that county. Mr. Wooley was eccentric, and 
 did not long remain in the ministry. 
 
 Eev. Edward Turner was a native of Medfield, Mass., 
 where he was born July 28, 1776. He became a Uni- 
 versalist when sixteen or seventeen years of age, at 
 which time he was a student at Leicester Academy. 
 Two years later he seems to have been intimately ac- 
 
538 UNIVEKSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 quainted with Eev. Hosea Ballou, with whom, as already 
 noticed, he at that time conversed freely concerning the 
 Unitarian views which Mr. Ballou was then promul- 
 gating. His first sermon was preached at Bennington, 
 Vt, in 1798. When licensed, he was residing in Stur- 
 bridge, Mass. He was active for many years in denomi- 
 national work, occupying many positions of trust and 
 honor, and always sought after as an able and instruct- 
 ive preacher. " He was," says the late Dr. Ballou, " one 
 of the most active and influential of the Universalist 
 ministry," in 1811. The late Dr. Brooks, who published 
 in the " Universalist Quarterly " for April and July, 
 1871, a biographical sketch of Mr. Turner, remarks: 
 " Mr. Turner, it is probably not too much to say, was 
 the foremost man in our early church in respect to schol- 
 arly and literary attainments." During the restoration- 
 ist controversy — of which we shall have more to say 
 under its special date — Mr. Turner withdrew from the 
 Universalist denomination and, subsequently, preached 
 among the Unitarians. He died Jan. 24, 1853, in his 
 seventy-seventh year. 
 
 Rev. Joshua Flagg was born in 1773. He was a man 
 of great native ability, but his usefulness was marred 
 by his numerous eccentricities and his intense preju- 
 dices. His death occurred in Dana, Mass., in November, 
 1859, when he had passed his eighty-sixth year. The 
 following just and appreciative notice appeared in the 
 announcement of his death, in the " Universalist 
 Register " for 1861 : " Though of rude vigor and contro- 
 versial spirit in his early days, when persecution and 
 violent opposition were met on every side, yet his 
 devotional spirit and earnest sincerity in later years 
 
REV. EDWIN FEERISS. 539 
 
 won general regard, and the clergy of his town, gen- 
 erally, attended his funeral and paid due tribute of 
 respect to his memory." 
 
 Eev. Edwin Ferriss was a brother of Walter Ferriss, 
 previously mentioned. He was born Feb. 20, 1777. 
 At the time of his being licensed to preach he was 
 living at Pawlingstown, N. Y., near the borders of 
 Vermont. In 1802 he removed to Otsego County, N. Y., 
 and there preached occasionally, but devoted most of 
 his time to the cultivation of his farm. He was a 
 plain man, of Quaker habits, thoroughly conscientious, 
 and faithfully following the Hght as it was made mani- 
 fest to him. On one occasion, he withdrew from the 
 fellowship of the Universalists because they seemed to 
 him to have no system of belief, no set of opinions in 
 which all united, save the one idea of universal restora- 
 tion. About this time (1827) he wrote and published 
 a small book entitled " The Plain Eestitutionist," in the 
 preface to which he says : — 
 
 " Being fully convinced that I owe to the public world 
 of mankind a systematic statement of my religious senti- 
 ments, that every person who pleases may read and 
 plainly understand for himself my serious views of the 
 sacred Scriptures, and of the nature of the righteous plan 
 of divine grace, I am disposed to lay before the religious 
 world what has been made plainly to appear to me as 
 sacred truth. I feel this obligation so to do strongly 
 impressed upon me as one voluntarily standing alone in 
 the world as to my connection with any religious de- 
 nomination. I once was a member of the General Con- 
 vention of Universalists, but finding by careful inquiry 
 among the brethren that although they were well agreed 
 that all men will finally be saved, yet no regular system- 
 
540 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 atic plan of grace to effect tliat desirable result was found 
 to exist as a unanimous standard of doctrine among the 
 Universalists. Many of them, I found, differed from me 
 in theory. I found we could no longer walk together, 
 and of course thought it my duty peaceably to withdraw 
 from their connection, which they as peaceably consented 
 to, and I was dismissed from being a member among 
 them, but still continued to preach the same doctrine 
 as before." 
 
 Like Caleb Eich, Mr. Ferriss starts with the theory 
 that man was created in the divine image, but formed 
 in flesh and blood ; but the divine image is Christ, in 
 whom all men are originally contained, and through 
 the flesh they become alienated from their Head. 
 Obedience to the spiritual demand of Jesus reinstates 
 them. To this obedience the gospel calls, and man re- 
 traces his way by repentance and regeneration. Pun- 
 ishment is inflicted on the sinner, not on Christ, and 
 punishment beyond this life is certain for the incorrigi- 
 ble; but all discipline is a means, and will result in 
 leading to obedience. 
 
 The same year of the publication of his book he 
 returned to fellowship with the denomination ; but in 
 1831 he wrote to the standing clerk of the Chenango 
 Association : — 
 
 "I withdraw for the present from the work of the 
 ministry, and from any connection with the order of 
 Universalists. But still I do not deny my belief in the 
 doctrine. I would also inform you and them, that it is 
 not because I have any charge against the order of Uni- 
 versalists, but having other business of a worldly nature, 
 which very much occupies and troubles my mind at pres- 
 
RECOMMENDATIONS. 541 
 
 ent. I therefore canuot attend to the ministry with that 
 energy which becomes a gospel preacher." 
 
 Whether he preached after this date is unknown. 
 He died in Porter, Michigan, May 4, 1839. 
 
 The Convention, in 1800, also instructed their mod- 
 erator, Eev. George Eichards, to " correspond with the 
 societies to the southward," meaning, no doubt, those in 
 fellowship with the Philadelphia Convention ; " and 
 also with the Eastern Association," organized the previ- 
 ous year. It took steps towards order and regularity 
 in its work, a due observance of the Christian ordi- 
 nances, and protecting itself from evil-speaking tongues, 
 by adopting seven recommendations, covering the fol- 
 lowing subjects, — that societies not then represented 
 send messengers to the next Convention, and also for- 
 ward a particular account of their condition ; that all 
 messengers be chosen annually on the first Sabbath in 
 June ; " that all societies not favored with preaching 
 do, nevertheless, constantly assemble on the first day of 
 the week, and if they have no other gift among them, 
 that they attend to the reading of the Scriptures ; " 
 that all societies " pay peculiar solemnized attention to 
 regularity and discipline ; " that the societies " consider 
 whether the ordinances of the New Testament are not the 
 commandments of the Lord, the Saviour ; " that mem- 
 bers of the Convention " assemble on the evening of the 
 day previous to their regular meeting," that delays in 
 the morning session may be avoided; "that the council 
 of the Convention do assemble in future at the private 
 house of a brother or sister, as it becometh us to abstain 
 from the appearance of evil." It is a fair inference from 
 this last recommendation that some session, or sessions, 
 
542 UNlTERSALISSt IN AMERICA. 
 
 had been held in a public house, and if, as is most prob- 
 able, this " appearance of evil " arose from the fact that 
 intoxicating liquors were sold at such places, this may 
 be placed among the first efforts of any ecclesiastical 
 body in America to discountenance the use of intoxi- 
 cants. At that time, and for many years after, the use 
 of intoxicants so prevailed among all the sects, espe- 
 cially at associations, dedications, and ordinations, that, 
 ordinarily, the bills for the liquors furnished were the 
 largest item in the expenses of such occasions. The late 
 Eev. Stephen E. Smith is authority for the statement 
 that at the session of the General Convention at West- 
 moreland, N. H., in 1814, a resolution was passed that 
 "Societies be requested not to furnish liquor at the 
 subsequent meetings of that body." ^ There is no doubt 
 that this is the earliest action of the kind taken by any 
 sect, as it was not till thirteen years later that even 
 temperance societies advocated total abstinence, and 
 the publication of Dr. Lyman Beecher's lectures on 
 intemperance induced religious bodies to discuss the 
 subject and to pass resolutions on it. 
 
 We have now brought our sketch of the history of 
 Universalism in America down to the close of the 
 eighteenth century, the period to which we limited 
 our effort in this volume. In the bounds of the 
 New England Convention there were then the follow- 
 ing preachers : — 
 
 In the District of Maine, Eev. Thomas Barns, Poland. 
 
 In Massachusetts, Eevs. John Murray, Boston ; Ho- 
 sea Ballou, Dana ; Edward Turner, Sturbridge ; Caleb 
 Eich, Warwick ; Ebenezer Paine (of whom we have no 
 
 ^ Evangelical Magazine and Gospel Advocate, March 17, 1848. 
 
MINISTERS IN SERVICE. 543 
 
 further knowledge), Williamsburg ; James Babbitt (a 
 man of fair abilities and of irreproachable character), 
 Dana ; John Foster, Taunton ; Zephaniah Lathe, Graf- 
 ton, and Joshua Flagg, residence unknown. Possibly, 
 also, Eevs. James Briggs and Samuel Smith, in Berkshire 
 County. 
 
 In New Hampshire, Eevs. David Ballon, Eichmond ; 
 Edmund Pillsbury, Northwood; George Eichards, Ports- 
 mouth, and Zebulon Streeter, residence unknown. 
 
 In Vermont, Eevs. Joab Young, Strafford; William 
 Farwell, Barre. 
 
 In Connecticut, Eevs. Miles T. Wooley, residence un- 
 known; Gamaliel Eeynolds, Norwich, and Eev. Solo- 
 mon Glover, Newtown. The latter became a Univer- 
 sahst preacher in 1800, and was ordained in 1801. He 
 always resided at Newtown, living and dying in the 
 house in which he was born. It is said that for twenty 
 years he was the only preacher of Universalism in Con- 
 necticut. He was a man of strong native abilities and 
 of a pure life. He died in 1842, at the advanced age 
 of ninety-two years. 
 
 In New York, Eevs. Walter and Edwin Eerriss, 
 PawHngstown. 
 
 The following named were in active service in the 
 territory usually represented in the Philadelphia Con- 
 vention : — 
 
 In Pennsylvania, Eevs. David Evans, New Britain ; 
 Thomas Jones, Philadelphia; Noah Murray, Athens; 
 Moses Park, Sheshequin. 
 
 In New Jersey, Eevs. Artis Seagrave, Pilesgrove, 
 Nicholas Cox, Kingwood ; William Worth, Pittsgrove ; 
 Joseph Stephens, Shiloh. 
 
544 UNIVERSALISM IN AMERICA. 
 
 In Maryland, Eevs. William Hawkins and Mr. 
 Pollard. 
 
 And, possibly, Eevs. Duncan McLean and Donald 
 Holmes in Virginia. 
 
 In all, there were certainly between thirty and thirty- 
 five preachers of Universalism, possibly more, in the 
 United States. Societies or churches were organized in 
 several localities, in number about equal to — some- 
 what in excess of — the number of preachers, and, like 
 them, scattered and wide apart in a large territory. 
 Everywhere the people were eager to hear ; and devoted, 
 saintly men were at great personal sacrifice going forth, 
 at the call of God, to occupy the opening fields. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 ACRELius, Israel, on Universalism 
 among the Dunkers, 36 ; and 
 among the Moravians, 42. 
 
 Adams, Miss Hannah, on Universal- 
 ists and Universalism in 1791, 345. 
 
 Adams, President John, introduces 
 Mr. MiiiTay to members of his 
 cabinet, 512. 
 
 "Adelos," writes against Chauncy, 
 92. 
 
 Albigenses, The, said to have been 
 Universalists, 7. 
 
 Allen, Dr. Beverly, 411. 
 
 Allen, Rev. Timoth}', attacks Dr. 
 Chauncy's pamphlet, 87. 
 
 Andrews, Zephaniah, clerk of the 
 "Providence Universalists," 210. 
 
 Annan, Rev. Robert, his pamphlet 
 against Universalism, 271. 
 
 "An Appeal to the Impartial Pub- 
 lic," 187. 
 
 "Answer to an Appeal," 187. 
 
 Articles of Association of the Inde- 
 pendent Church in Gloucester, 175. 
 
 Articles of Faith adopted by the 
 Pniladelphia Convention in 1790, 
 Trinitarian in their character, 303; 
 suspected of leaning to Unitarian- 
 ism by the Boston Church, 307; 
 adopted by the New England 
 Convention in 1794, 431. 
 
 Attleborough, Mass., Universalists 
 in, in 1792, 393. 
 
 Augustine's testimony to the number 
 of Universalists, 6. 
 
 Babbitt, Rev. James, 543. 
 Babson, John J., gives incidents in 
 VOL. I. — 35 
 
 the trial of Mr. Murray's suit vs. 
 the First Parish, 194. 
 
 " Bachelor's Hall," Philadelphia, oc- 
 cupied by Mr. Murray, 329. 
 
 Bailey, Rev. J., 409. 
 
 Balch, Rev. W. S., on Rev. William 
 Farewell, 353. 
 
 Ballon, Rev. David, 293. 
 
 Ballou, Rev. Hosea, 353; belief in 
 future discipline, 533 ; clerk of 
 N. E. Con. in 1795, 444; corre- 
 spondence with Rev. Joel Foster, 
 520 ; declines offers for his removal 
 to Boston, 511 ; encounters opposi- 
 tion in preaching Unitarian views, 
 455; his unexpected ordination, 
 433; itinerant labors in 1794, 431; 
 letter to Rev. T. Whittemore on his 
 Unitarian opinions, 454; supplies 
 Mr. Murray's pulpit, 508 ; the par- 
 ish committee apologize for his 
 treatment by Mr, Balch and Mrs. 
 Murray, 509; Unitarian views of, 
 448. 
 
 Ballou, Rev. Hosea, 2d, D.D., his 
 ancient history of Universalism, 2; 
 his account of Mr. Murray's theol- 
 ogy, 153; on Mr. Winchester's the' 
 ories, 247; on the spread of Unita- 
 rian views among Universalists, 
 455. 
 
 Banger, Rev. Timothy, 39. 
 
 Barns, Lucy, 258. 
 
 Bams, Rev. Thomas, 257, 515, 542; 
 at the suicide's funeral, 516. 
 
 Barns, Sally, 258. 
 
 " Bath-Kol," a book against Univer- 
 salism, 99. 
 
 Bayne, Peter, on classing Sir Henry 
 
546 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Vane with Universalists, 21. 
 
 Bellingham, Mass., Universalists in, 
 in 1792, 394. 
 
 Belltnap, Rev. Dr. Jeremy, 96. 
 
 Belsham, Rev. Tiios., on King's 
 Clia'pel liturgj-, 451. 
 
 Benedict's "History of tlie Baptists," 
 on the inroads of Universalism, 
 309. 
 
 Berleburger Bibel, the, 9. 
 
 Blacic, James, on the temperance at- 
 titude and rank of Dr. Benjamin 
 Rush, 321. 
 
 Bledsoe, Rev. William, 410. 
 
 Bohler, Rev. Peter, 42. 
 
 Bolton, James, 37. 
 
 Boston, the Universalists of, pur- 
 chase a meeting-house, 209 ; organ- 
 ize a church, 347; Mr. Murray 
 gives them half his time, 268 ; Mr. 
 Murray resides with, 419. 
 
 Brewster, C. W., on Jonathan M. 
 Sewall, 273. 
 
 Brooke, Henry, 11. 
 
 Brown, John and Alice, 399. 
 
 Buck, Mrs. Levisa, 258. 
 
 Buckminster, Rev. J. S., letter to 
 Mr. Belsham on Unitarian pro- 
 gress, 433. 
 
 Campbeli/, Rev. Alexander, seeks 
 alliance with the Dunkers, 39. 
 
 Cartwright,Eev. Peter, on Universal- 
 ism in Kentucky, 411. 
 
 Channing, Rev. Dr., objects to giv- 
 ing Mr. Norton the title of profes- 
 sor, 454. 
 
 Chapman, Rev. Giles, 38. 
 
 Charter of Compact, adopted bj' Uni- 
 versalists of Gloucester, 207; by 
 Association at Oxford, 207; by 
 societies in Milford, Oxford, and 
 Warwick, 209. 
 
 Chauncy, Rev. Dr. Charles, 83; at- 
 tacks on his writings, 87; his 
 pamphlet and book in favor of 
 Universalism, 84; letter to Dr. 
 Stiles, 85; replies to Eckley, 88. 
 
 Clarke, Rev. Dr. John, 84, 352; Mr. 
 Murray's estimate of, 502 ; replies 
 
 to Rev. S. Mather, 87; sickness 
 and death, 502. 
 
 Clarke, Rev. Richard, 43 ; publishes 
 Mr. Winchester's sermon in Eng- 
 land, 233. 
 
 Cleaveland, Rev. John, his pamphlet 
 against Universalism, 146. 
 
 Clowes, Rev. Dr. Timothy, 60. 
 
 Coffin, Elder Michael, 331; is ap- 
 pointed missionary, 433. 
 
 Collins, Abraham, 253. 
 
 Congregationalists, Universalists 
 among the, S3. 
 
 Connecticut, Universalists in, in 
 1792, 393. 
 
 Coppin, Richard, 11, 12, 337, n., 380. 
 
 Croswell, Rev., of Boston, charges 
 Mr. Murray with denial of belief 
 in Universalism, 159. 
 
 Cox, Rev. Nicholas, 310; on free- 
 will and decrees, 386. 
 
 Cuthbert, Anthony, 255. 
 
 Davis, Dr. Isaac, preaches Univer- 
 salism, 165. 
 
 Davis, Rev. Edwin, on Major-Gen- 
 eral Richard Gridley, 342. 
 
 De Benneville, Dr. George, 24; his 
 place of worship at Oley, Pa., 27. 
 
 Delanoe, S., replies to Huntington, 
 505. 
 
 Doederlein, testifies as to the abili- 
 ties of the early Universalists, 5. 
 
 Drexelius, on the early spread of 
 Universalism, 6. 
 
 Duch^, Rev. Jacob, 56. 
 
 Dunkers, The, advocated Universal- 
 ism, 35; establish a Sunday school, 
 in 1740, 37; take action against a 
 public avowal of Universalism, 38 ; 
 present membership of, .39. 
 
 Dutchess Co.,N. Y., early Universal- 
 ists in, 433. 
 
 Earbitby, William, 11. 
 
 Eastern Association, organization of, ■ 
 
 in 1799, 515. 
 Eckley, Rev. Joseph, attacks Dr. 
 
 Chauncy's pamphlet, 87. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 547 
 
 Eddy, Esek, one of the " Providence 
 Universalists," 211. 
 
 Edwards^ Morgan, on Eev. Elhanan 
 Winchester, 256; on Kev. Artia 
 Seagrave, 290. 
 
 Edwards, Rev. Dr. Jonathan, writes 
 against Chauncy, 92. 
 
 Egremont, Mass., Universalista in, 
 in 1792, 394; 1794, 438; on adop- 
 tion of creed in 1791, 348. 
 
 Episcopalians, discussions in their 
 convention on omitting tlie creeds, 
 62; put TJniversalism in ihe " Pro- 
 posed Prayer-Book," 60; Univer- 
 salism among, 43. 
 
 Erigena, John Scotus, defends Uni- 
 versalism, 7. 
 
 Evans, Eev. David, 259; an able 
 Kellyan, 276; Mr. Murray's esti- 
 mate of, 260; visits the Western 
 Convention, 437; writes circular 
 letter for the convention in 1795, 
 445. 
 
 Fabewell, Kev. William, 353. 
 
 Ferriss, Rev. Edwin, 539; a disciple 
 of Caleb Rich, 540. 
 
 Ferriss, Eev. Walter, 512. 
 
 Fessenden, Rev. Thomas, 102. 
 
 First Parish in Gloucester, excom- 
 municates Mr. Murray's hearers, 
 175; taxes the Universalists and 
 seizes their goods, 181 ; suit brought 
 against by Mr. Murray, 184; cost 
 of the suit, 195. 
 
 " First Presbytery of the Eastward," 
 attacks Rev. Dr. Chauncy's pam- 
 phlet, 99. 
 
 Flagg, Eev. Joshua, 538. 
 
 Foster, Eev. Dan, 104. 
 
 Foster, Rev. Joel, correspondence 
 with Rev. Hosea Ballou, 620. 
 
 Foster, Rev. John, 536. 
 
 Francis, Dr. J. W., on Dr. William 
 Pitt Smith, 272, n.; on William 
 [Elihu] Palmer, 306. 
 
 Franklin. Benjamin, his family Uni- 
 versalists, 314; his own opinion, 
 314. 
 
 Freeman, Eev. Dr., letter to Rev. 
 
 Theophilus Lindsey on modification 
 
 of King's Chapel liturgy, 450 ; on 
 
 the timid policy of the Unitarians, 
 
 452. 
 Free Universal Magazine, 401. 
 Free-will and decrees, discussion on, 
 
 385. 
 Future punishment, discussions of 
 
 the question of, 348, 389, 409, 
 
 412. 
 
 Gadsden, Christopher, interested in 
 the spread of Universalism, 407. 
 
 Gatchell, Samuel, sentenced to the 
 pillory for his Universalism, 24. 
 
 Gerhard, Ludwig, 10. 
 
 Gieseler on the early spread of Uni- 
 versalism, 6. 
 
 Gloucester, Mass., Articles of Associ- 
 ation of the Independent Church 
 in, 175; Charter of Compact 
 adopted by the Universalists of, 
 207 ; condition of Universalism in, 
 in 1792, 393; early Universalists 
 iu, 141 ; incorporation of the Uni- 
 versalist church in, 344 ; Mr. Mur- 
 ray makes it his home, 141; the 
 committee of safety of, warn Mr. 
 Murray to leave town, 149; the 
 First Parish in, taxes the Univer- 
 salists, 181 ; Universalists in, agree 
 to indemnify Mr. Murray in a suit 
 vs. the First Parish, 184 ; Universa- 
 lists in, excommunicated from the 
 First Parish Church, 175; Univer- 
 salist meeting-house in, 179. 
 
 Glover, Rev. Solomon, 543. 
 
 Gnostics, Universalism of the, 4. 
 
 Gordon, Rev. William, attacks Rev. 
 Dr. Chauncy's pamphlet, 87. 
 
 Gorton, Samuel, 13. 
 
 Grafton, Mass., Universalists in, iu 
 1792, 394. 
 
 Greene, Gen. Nathaniel, certifies to 
 Mr. Murray's standing in the Ar- 
 my, 150. 
 
 Gridley, Gen. Richard, 339; becomes 
 a Uni versalist, 340 ; bigotry against 
 him, 341 ; his labors in the Revolu- 
 tion, 340; his monument, 342, u. 
 
548 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Gurley, Rev. John A. and the Dnn- 
 kers, 40. 
 
 Hale, Moses, letter to Kev. H. Bal- 
 lon, 508. 
 
 Hale, Kev. E. E., notice of Rev. 
 George Richards, 292. 
 
 Hall, Daniel, 261. 
 
 Ham, John, disowned by the Dun- 
 kers for preaching no future pun- 
 ishment, 38. 
 
 Hardwick, Mass., Universalism in, 
 in 1792, 394. 
 
 Hartford County, Maryland, Univer- 
 salists in, organize in 1793, 399. 
 
 Hawkins, Rev. William, 348. 
 
 Hazard, Ebenezer, 96. 
 
 Hopkins, Rev. Samuel, attacks Dr. 
 Chauncy's pamphlet, 87. 
 
 Howe, Rev. Perley, 104. 
 
 Huber, Samuel, teaches Universal- 
 ism, 8. 
 
 Huntington, Rev. Dr. Joseph, 97 ; his 
 "Calvinism Improved," 98,477. 
 
 Huntington, William, attacks Uni- 
 versalism, 505. 
 
 Huntoon, Daniel T. V. on Gen. Rich- 
 ard Gridley, 342, n. 
 
 Hymn-Books, Kelly's, republished by 
 Mr. Murray, 163; Elhanan Win- 
 chester's, 256; Philadelphia Con- 
 vention's, 351; Boston, 382; Ed- 
 ward Mitchell's, 468. 
 
 Imlay, William Eugene, 334; ap- 
 pointed by the Philadelphia Con- 
 vention in 1790 to draft an Address 
 to President Washington, 297. 
 
 Incorporation of the Independent 
 Christian Church in Gloucester, 
 344. 
 
 Israel, Israel, 444. 
 
 Jaffkey, N. H., unites with Rich- 
 mond, N. H., and Warwick, Mass., 
 in forming a general society, 171. 
 
 Jefferson, Thomas, hears Rev. Mr. 
 Murray preach, 512. 
 
 Johnson, Rev. Stephen, writes against 
 Rev. Dr. Chauncy, 91. 
 
 Jones, Rev. H. G., his account of the 
 dealings of the Baptist church with 
 Rev. Elhanan Winchester, 239; on 
 the Universalist dfefection among 
 the Baptists, 309. 
 
 Jones, Rev. Thomas, 458. 
 
 Justice, satisfaction of, 417. 
 
 Kendrick, Rev. Ariel, against Uni- 
 versalism, SOS- 
 Kentucky, early Universalists in, 
 409. 
 
 Kidwell, Rev. J., on editor of " The 
 Lamp of Liberty," 418. 
 
 Kingsbury, Col. "Joseph, 421, 428; 
 his account of Rev. Noah Murray, 
 258. 
 
 Kingsbury, Rev. Myra, 427. 
 
 Kinney, Joseph, Esq., 427 ; challenges 
 Rev. Noah Murray and is con- 
 verted, 420. 
 
 Kirby, Empson, an elder in the New 
 Hanover church, 399. 
 
 " Lamp of Liberty, The," 417. 
 
 Lane, Deacon Oliver W., conducts 
 the installation service of Mr. Mur- 
 ray at Boston, 420. 
 
 Lathe, Rev. Zephaniah, 258. 
 
 Lathrop, Rev. Dr. John, 342. 
 
 Law, William, 11. 
 
 Lead, Jane, 11. 
 
 Lollards, The, Universalists, 7. 
 
 Mann, Rev. Jacob, 183. 
 
 Marsay, Count De, his commentary 
 on the Apocalypse, 30. 
 
 Marshall, Christopher, 406, 408. 
 
 Massachusetts legislature indemni- 
 fies Mr. Murray from penalties for 
 illegal marriages, 283. 
 
 Mather, Rev. Samuel, attacks Rev. 
 Dr. Chauncy's pamphlet, 87. 
 
 Maxcy, Rev. Jonathan, sermon on 
 death of Rev. Dr. Manning, 354. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 549 
 
 Maximus, the Greek Confessor, 
 taught Universalism, 7. 
 
 Mayhew, Rev. Dr. Jonathan, 93. 
 
 McAllisterstown, Pa., debate on Uni- 
 versalism in 1792, 398. 
 
 McLean, Rev. Duncan, 289; his la- 
 bors and compensation in 1796, 460. 
 
 Mead, Rev. Samuel, 104; fellow- 
 shipped, 536. 
 
 "Men of Understanding," believers 
 in Universalism, 7. 
 
 Milford, Mass., Universalists of, 
 adopt Charter of Compact, 209; 
 condition of, in 1792, 394. 
 
 Mitchell, Rev. Edward, 472 ; on Uni- 
 versalist society in New York, 464. 
 
 Moravians, The, Universalism among, 
 42. 
 
 Moore, Major James, 400; on future 
 punishment, 349, 389. 
 
 MiiUer, Peter, 36. 
 
 Murray, Mrs. Judith, 284, n.; her let- 
 ter from Philadelphia, 314; makes 
 astatementof her husband's views, 
 159; opposes Rev. HoseaBallou's 
 views, 508. 
 
 Murray, Rev. John, a Methodist 
 class-leader and preacher, 106 ; ap- 
 pointed by the Philadelphia Con- 
 vention in 1790 to draft an address 
 to President Washington, 297; at 
 the Association at Oxford, 206; at 
 Philadelphia in 1790, 314; called 
 him!%elf a Trinitarian, but was 
 really a Sabellian, 308; commences 
 suit against the First Parish in 
 Gloucester, 182; conceals his views 
 in his first sermons in America, 
 142; also while visiting England, 
 279; death of his first wife, 120; 
 declares that Rev. John Tyler is 
 the only minister in sympathy with 
 his views, 276; difficulty in form- 
 ing a church in Boston, 307; enters 
 the army as chaplain, 147; esti- 
 mation in which he was held by 
 Mr. Relly, 153; finds many errors 
 among Universalists in Connecti- 
 cut, 337 ; first knowledge of Uni- 
 versalism, 106; first sermon in 
 America, 133 ; first visit to Glouces- 
 
 ter, 141 ; gains his suit against the 
 First Parish in Gloucestei-, 194, 
 gives half his time to the Boston 
 society, 268; hears Mr. Relly 
 preach, and becomes a Universal- 
 ist, 115; his early religious train- 
 ing, 105 ; his voyage to America, 
 123; his theology, 151; his dis- 
 tinction between salvation and re- 
 demption, 159; his standing in the 
 army, 150; his second marriage, 
 284, n. ; his opinion of Rev. E. 
 Winchester's preaching, 253; his 
 admiration of the abiUties of Rev. 
 David Evans, 260; his opinion of 
 Rev. George Richards, 290; his 
 preaching in Connecticut in 1790, 
 335; his pamphlet on forming a 
 Christian church, and on diverse 
 views among Universalists, 359; 
 his views of Baptism and the Lord's 
 Supper, 302, 363 ; his pamphlet on 
 "Universalism Vindicated," 481; 
 his exposition of 1 Cor. xv. 28, 510 , 
 his intimacy' with political charac- 
 ters in 1799, 511; his itinerant 
 labors, 140, 196, 431; is excom- 
 municated from the tabernacle, 
 119; interview with Thomas Pot- 
 ter, 123; is charged by Rev. Dr. 
 Stiles with denying his belief in 
 Universalism, 146; is brought be- 
 fore the Committee of Safety of 
 Gloucester, and warned to leave 
 town, 150; is prosecuted for ille- 
 gal marriages, 278; is re-ordained, 
 285; is importuned to move to 
 Philadelphia, 288, 314; interviews 
 with Dr. Rush, 315, 329; justi- 
 fies his concealment of his sen- 
 timents, 144; last visit to Good 
 Luck, and sermon there, 197; let- 
 ter to Gamaliel Reynolds, 261 ; let- 
 ter to Rev. Robert Redding on Rev. 
 Mr. Maxcy's sermon, 354; letter 
 to the same on secret Universal- 
 ism in Boston, 500; letter to Rev. 
 H. BaTlou, 506; makes the ac- 
 quaintance of Rev. Elhanan Win- 
 chester, 251; moves to Boston, 4] 9; 
 moderator of N. E. Convention in 
 
550 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 1799, 444; notices Rev. Dr. Cliaun- 
 cy's pamphlet, 90; obtains relief 
 lor the suffering poor iu Glouces- 
 ter, 148 ; on inviting all Christians 
 to the convention in Philadelphia, 
 325 ; on Statistics of Universalisin 
 in 1791, 346 ; on salary and cost of 
 living in 1796, 4S9; preaches in 
 New York, 137; publishes a pam- 
 phlet on "Apostolick Preaching," 
 140; publishes an edition of Kelly's 
 Hymns, 163; petitions to the 
 Massachusetts legislature for re- 
 lief, 280; preaches at "Bachelor's 
 Hall," 329; reads and criticises a 
 review of "Kelly's Union," 109; 
 reads the "Union," 112; replies 
 to Kev. Dr. Stiles, and to "An 
 • Answer to an Appeal," 190; relief 
 granted by the legislature, 233; re- 
 turns to America, 234 ; secret of 
 his adherents in Gloucester, 195; 
 suggests a yearly meeting in asso- 
 ciation, 196; tribute to Thomas 
 Potter, 201; tribute to Noah Par- 
 ker, 275; visits Philadelphia and 
 New York, 270; visits England, 
 278 ; visits President Washington 
 and Vice-President Adams, 332. 
 Murray, Rev. Noah, 258, 268, 338, 
 420; is challenged to a discussion 
 by Kev. Moses Park, 420. 
 
 New Hampshire, Universa'.ists in, 
 in 1792, 394. 
 
 New Hanover, N. J., ITniversalist 
 church in, 399; condition of in 
 1795, 447; Free Religious Inquir- 
 ing Society in, 402. 
 
 New Y'ork City, Universalists of, in 
 1787, urge Mr. Murray to reside 
 there, 270; organization in 1792, 
 395. 
 
 New York State, Universalists in, in 
 1792, 394. 
 
 Norton, Prof., publishes the " Gen- 
 eral Repository," 453. 
 
 Oxford, Mass., Dr. Isaac Davis 
 teaches Universalisin in, 166; or- 
 
 ganization of Universalists In, 204; 
 association formed in, 205 ; charter 
 of compact adopted, 207; state of 
 Universalism iu, in 1792, 394. 
 
 Paine, Rev. Ebenezer, 542. 
 
 Palmer, Elihu, denied fellowship by 
 the Universalists, 304; preaches 
 for the " Universal Society " of 
 deists, 305 ; becomes a deist, 306. 
 
 Palmer, Rev. J. E., on Kev. William 
 Farewell, 353, n. 
 
 Park, Rev. Moses, challenges Rev. 
 Noah Murray to a discussion and 
 is converted, 420; his character 
 and ministry, 421. 
 
 Parker, Noah, becomes a preacher, 
 164; death of, 273; Mr. Murray's 
 tribute to, 275. 
 
 Pearce, Capt. Joseph, 515. 
 
 Penn, William, among tlie Mennou- 
 ites in Holland, 34. 
 
 Peters, Rev. Samuel, 82. 
 
 Petersen, John William, 8; his in- 
 vestments with a view of emi- 
 grating to America, 37. 
 
 Petersham, Mass., Universalists in, 
 in 1792, 394. 
 
 Petitpierre, Ferdinand Oliver, 439. 
 
 Philadelphia Universalist Conven- 
 tion, first session of, in 1790, 296 ; 
 articles of faith and plan of church 
 government adopted by, 298; re- 
 vision of articles and plan by Dr. 
 Benjamin Rush, 303 ; recommen- 
 dation on the instruction of chil- 
 dren, 300; recommendation on 
 slavery, 301 ; on hymn-book, 351 ; 
 on the question, of future punish- 
 ment, 349 ; session of 1791, 348 ; 
 1792,382, 1794,434; 1795, 444; 
 1796, 458; 1797, 481, 505; 1798, 
 504; 1799, 515. 
 Philadelphia Universalists, organize 
 in 1784 as " Universal Baptists," 
 255; issue a call for a convention, 
 294; build a new house of worshjp, 
 439; condition of, in 1795, 446; 
 1796, 458. 
 Pike Run, Penn., letter to Universal- 
 
INDEX. 
 
 551 
 
 ists in, 389 ; Western convention 
 organized in, 437. 
 
 Pillsbury, Rev. Edmund, 536. 
 
 Pollard, Rev. Mr., 348. 
 
 Potter, Thomas, first interview with 
 Rev. John Murray, 123; builds a 
 meeting-house, 126; insists that 
 Mr. Murray must preach, 127 ; be- 
 qiieaths his meeting-house to Mr. 
 Murray, 197 ; fraudulent settle- 
 ment of the estate, and the meet- 
 ing-house sold, 202; poverty and 
 death of his widow, 203 ; Mr, Mur- 
 ray's tribute to, 201. 
 
 Presbyterian Assembly and Synod 
 take action against Universalism, 
 101. 
 
 Priestley, Rev. Dr. Joseph, assists the 
 Philadelphia Universalists in build- 
 ing their house of worship, 439 ; 
 avows his belief in Universalism, 
 473. 
 
 "Proposed Prayer-Book," Univer- 
 salism of the, 57. 
 
 " Providence Universalists, The," 
 210. 
 
 Ramset, Andrew Michael, 238, n. 
 
 Rapp, George, 32. 
 
 Rappists, establishment of the, in 
 America, 32. 
 
 Raynold, Abbot of St. Martin's, a 
 Universalist, 7. 
 
 Relly, Rev. James, 11; preaches a 
 sermon which converts John Mur- 
 ray, 115 ; befriends Mr. Murray 
 and urges him to preach, 121; a 
 copy of his " Union " in Glouces- 
 ter, 141 ; his theology, 151 ; his esti- 
 mate of Rev. John Murray, 153 ; 
 his reply to Richard Coppin, 381. 
 
 Relly, James and John, an edition of 
 their hymn-book published by Mr. 
 Murray, 163. 
 
 Reuz [Wright or Rights], Rev. Mat- 
 thew, 43. 
 
 Reynolds, Gamaliel, 261. 
 
 Rhode Island, Universalists in, in 
 1792, 394. 
 
 Rich, Rev. Caleb, autobiography of. 
 
 168 ; at the association at Ox- 
 ford, 206; becomes a Universalist 
 preacher, 171; his theology, 372, 
 338 ; his ordination, 172 ; letter on 
 
 , the articles of faith, 348. 
 
 Richards, Rev. George, 290: his lit- 
 erary abilities, 291; ordination of, 
 292 ; on Mr. Murray's leaving Cape 
 Ann, 419 ; on compensation of 
 ministers, 460; teaches school, 461. 
 
 Richardson, Samuel, 11. 
 
 Richmond, N. H., unites with Jaf- 
 frey, N. H., and Wai-wick, Mass., 
 in forming a general society, 171. 
 
 Rome, N. Y., re-publication of Mr. 
 Murray's pamphlet in, in 1799, 481. 
 
 Rush, Benjamin, M. O., an avowed 
 Universalist, 315, 322; his learn- 
 ing and position, 316; interviews 
 with Mr. Murray, 329; letters to 
 Rev. E. Winchester, 323 ; temper- 
 ance writings and efiorts, 317 ; re- 
 vises the articles of faith and plan 
 of church government for the Phil- 
 adelphia Convention, 303; seeks to 
 unite all Christians in one conven- 
 tion, 324. 
 
 SALVATiotr and restoration. Sir 
 George Stonehouse's distinction 
 between, 12. 
 
 Sargent, Epes, author of "An Ap- 
 peal to the public," 187. 
 
 Sarjent, Rev. Abel, 384, 417; com- 
 bats the doctrines of future pun- 
 ishment, vicarious punishment, and 
 satisfaction of justice, 412, 414, 
 416; his labors and compensation, 
 460; publishes "Questions to 
 Teachers in Israel," 396 ; publishes 
 " The Free Universal Magazine," 
 401; proposals for publishing the 
 second volume, 417. 
 
 Sa.v, Thomas, 33. 
 
 " Science of Sanctity, The," by Rev. 
 Thos. Fessenden,"l02. 
 
 Scott, Mrs. Julia H., 427. 
 
 Seagrave, Rev. Artis, 289 ; clerk of the 
 Philadelphia Convention in 1790, 
 296; on free-will and decrees, 386. 
 
552 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 "Seed of the Woman, The," Mr. 
 
 Winchester's sermon on, 237. 
 
 Sergent, Abel JVI., and " The Lamp 
 o£ Liberty," 418. 
 
 Sewall, Jonathan Mitchell, 27-3; his 
 poetic gifts, 274. 
 
 Sharon, Conn., Universalist church 
 in, in 1794; 438. 
 
 Shepard, Rev. Samuel, attacks Cni- 
 versalism, 506. 
 
 Shiloh, N. J., Universalist church in, 
 351; condition of, in 1795, 446. 
 
 Sibylline Oracles, Universalism 
 taught in, 4. 
 
 Siegvolck, Paul [George Klein-Nico- 
 lai], 9; his "Everlasting Gospel " 
 ;published in Germautown, 28 ; in- 
 fluence of his book on Elhanan 
 Winchester, 219-229. 
 
 Smalley, Rev. John, publishes seiv 
 mons against Universalism, 268. 
 
 Smith, Rev. Dr. William, 57. 
 
 Smith, William Pitt, M. D., pub- 
 lishes "The Universalist," 271; 
 pupil of Dr. Young, 428. 
 
 Solomon, Bishop of Bassorah, a Uni- 
 versalist, 7. 
 
 Stephens, Rev. Joseph, 434; pub- 
 lishes "The Great Workshop," 
 435. 
 
 Stiles, Rev. Dr. Ezra, charges Mr. 
 Murray with denying his belief in 
 Universalism, 146; letter against 
 Mr. Murray, 188. 
 
 Stillman, Rev. Dr. Samnel, 239. 
 
 Stonehouse, Sir George, 12, 229, n. 
 
 Streeter, Rev. Adams, 166; at the 
 Association in Oxford, 206. 
 
 Streeter, Rev. Russell, describes the 
 theology of Bev. Caleb Rich, 172. 
 
 Streeter, Rev. Zebulon, 362, 456; 
 moderator of the New England 
 Convention, 1796, 456 ; on differ- 
 ences in opinion, 457. 
 
 Strong, Rev. Nathan, writes against 
 Universalism, 478. 
 
 Sumner, Rev. Clement, 257. 
 
 Taft, Rev., 104. 
 
 Thacher, Rev. Peter, attacks Rev. 
 
 Dr. Chauncy's pamphlet, 87. 
 
 Thomas, Rev. Abel C, allusions to, 
 and quotations from his " Century 
 of Universalism," 40, 255, 293, 
 310, 439. 
 
 Titus, Rev. Anson, writes an account 
 of Dr. Isaac Davis, 166. 
 
 Townsend, Sliippie, an intelligent and 
 active layman, 265 ; publishes a 
 catechism, 432. 
 
 Turner, Rev. Kdward, 537; on Uni- 
 tarian Universalists, 449. 
 
 Tyler, Rev. John, 70, 260, 268; his 
 book, 70; letter to Rev. Noah Par- 
 ker, 71; sympathy with Mr. Mur- 
 ray's views, 276. 
 
 Unitarian policy, timidity of, 451, 
 463. 
 
 Unitarian sect, causes of its. exist- 
 ence, 453. 
 
 Unitarian Universalism, 448, 455. 
 
 Unitarian Universalist creed, 401. 
 
 Universal Baptists, the society of in 
 Philadelphia, 255; misfortune to, 
 on the removal of Mr. Winchester, 
 269. 
 
 Universalism, action taken against 
 by the Presbyterian Synod and 
 Assembly, 101; actively promulr 
 gated by Rev. David Evans, 259 ; 
 advocated by the Rappists, 32; as 
 taught by Caleb Rich, 172 ; Clem- 
 ens and Origen, 4; Diodorus, 4; 
 Dr. George De Benneville, 24 ; El- 
 hanan Winchester, 247 ; John Mur- 
 ray, 151, 359 ; Samuel Gorton, 13 ; 
 Sir Henry Vane, 19 ; Theodore of 
 Mopsuestia, 4 ; the Congregation- 
 alists, 83; the Dunkers, 36; the 
 Episcopalians, 43 ; the Gnostics, 4 ; 
 the Moravians, 42; the Sibylline 
 Oracles, 4 ; brought to America 
 by the Mystics, 13 ; condemned 
 by Justinian, 5; in the Augsburg 
 Confession, 8; in the 42 articles, in 
 1552, and bj' the Parliament of 
 1648, 10, 11; controversies on in 
 the 17th and 18th centuries, 9; 
 defenders of at tlie time of the 
 
INDEX. 
 
 553 
 
 Reformation, 8 ; debate on, in Mc- 
 Allister's town. Pa., in 1792, 392; 
 different theories of, as stated bj' 
 Mr. Murray, 364, 457 ; earliest no- 
 tices of in Christian history, 4; 
 early believers in Gloucester, 141; 
 gains of, in 1791, 348, 351 : gen- 
 eral histories of, 1; how the first 
 believers in were designated, 3: 
 legal difficulties of believers in, 
 at Gloucester, Mass., and King- 
 wood, N.J., 181, 395; Priestley, Dr. 
 Joseph, avows his belief in, 473; 
 progress of, in Pennsylvania, in 
 1774, 28; progress of, in 1792, 
 382; in 1793, 418; secretly held 
 in Boston, in 1797, 501; some 
 of the places where it was be- 
 lieved in 1776, 164; spread of, in 
 the early church, 6; state of, in 
 New England and New York, in 
 1792, 392; taught in the earliest 
 theological schools, 5; traces of, in 
 the dark ages, 7. 
 
 TJniversalism and Restoration, dis- 
 tinction between by the Dnnkers, 
 38. 
 
 "TJniversalism Vindicated," pam- 
 phlet by Mr. Murray, 481. 
 
 Universalist, earliest theological 
 meaning of the name, 2; denotes 
 a believer in the salvation of all 
 souls, 3. 
 
 Universalist Association in 1785, call 
 issued for, 204; organized at Ox- 
 ford, Mass., 204; Charter of Com- 
 pact adopted by, 207 ; name recom- 
 mended to the societies by, 206 ; 
 session of 1787 the last that was 
 held, 269. 
 
 Universalist Convention in New Eng- 
 land, request for the organization 
 of, 382; organized in 1793, 418; 
 session of 1794, 431; 1795, 444; 
 1796, 456; 1797, 480; 1798, 505; 
 1799, 512; 1800, 535, 541; adopts 
 the Philadelphia platform of faith 
 and plan of church government, 
 432 ; earlv attitude on the subject 
 of temperance, 542; legislates on 
 fellowship and ordination, 536; 
 
 ministers in the bounds of, in 1800, 
 542. [For other Universalist con- 
 ventions see Philadelphia Conven- 
 tion, and Western Convention.] 
 
 Vane, Sir Henry, 11, 19. 
 Vermont, Universalists in, in 1792, 
 ■395. 
 
 Warwick, Mass., Universalists in, 
 adopt charter of compact, 209; 
 adopt articles of faith, 348; condi- 
 tion of, in 1792, 394; unite with 
 Richmond and Jaffrey, N. H., in 
 forming a general society, 171. 
 
 Washington, George, on Christian 
 hope, 332; Address of the Phila- 
 delphia Convention to, 333; his 
 reply, 334. 
 
 Waterman, Rufns, one of "The 
 Providence Universalists," 212. 
 
 Wells, Mr., on extinction of the 
 early Unitarian movement, 451 ; 
 justifies the timid policy. 451. 
 
 Western Convention of Universal- 
 ists, request for organization of, 
 ! 382; organized in 1793, 437. 
 
 Wetherill, Samuel, preaches against 
 
 Mr. Murray's views, 331. 
 , White, Rev. Hugh, 400. 
 i White, Jeremy, 11. 
 
 Whiting, Rev. Samuel, 104. 
 
 Whittemore, Samuel, author of " An- 
 swer to an Appeal," 188. 
 
 Whittemore, Rev. Thomas, D.D., 
 his history of Universalism, 2; 
 gives an account of Dr. Isaac 
 Davis, 165 ; on Rev. David Ballou, 
 294; on William Pitt Smith, M.D., 
 272; on Rev. Dr. Strong's work 
 against Universalism, 478. 
 
 Willis, Rev. Lemuel, on Rev. Wil- 
 liam Farewell, 353, n. 
 
 Winchester, Rev. Elhanan, a Bap- 
 tist preacher, 218 ; at the Associa- 
 tion in Oxford, 206 ; at Hartford, 
 Conn., 462; at the ordination of 
 Rev. Hosea Ballou, 433; corre- 
 spondence with Dr. Benjamin 
 
554 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Rush, 323; goes to England, 269; 
 his learning, 217; his first Univer- 
 sal ist sermon, 237; his friends at- 
 tempt to build a meeting-house in 
 Philadelphia, but fail, and pur- 
 chase "Mason's Lodge," 254, 256; 
 his theology, 247; how he was 
 brought to the belief of Universal- 
 ism, 219; incidents in his life, 
 213 ; labors in Philadelphia and 
 New York, 447, 461; last sermon 
 and death, 479; letter to Zepha- 
 niah Andrews, 210; letter to Rev. 
 Dr. Stilhnan, 239 ; makes the ac- 
 quaintance of Rev. John Murray, 
 251; moderator of the New Eng- 
 land Convention in 1794, 431 ; or- 
 ganizes the "Society of Universal 
 Baptists," 255; publishes a Hymn- 
 book, 256 ; prevalence of his views, 
 381; returns from England, and 
 has great success in preaching, 
 
 429; sermon on ''The Outcasts 
 Comforted," 238; troubles with the 
 Baptist church in Philadelphia, 
 231; visits Dr. George De Benne- 
 ville, 233; writes against Paine's 
 " Age of Reason," 430. 
 
 Winchester, Rev. Moses, 252- 
 
 Winstanley, Gerard, 11. 
 
 Woolf , Father, a Dunker preacher, 4 1. 
 
 Wooley, Rev. Miles T., 537. 
 
 Worth, Rev. William, 311; modera- 
 tor of the Philadelphia Convention 
 in 1790, 296. 
 
 Wright [Reuz or Rights], Rev. Mat- 
 thew, 43. 
 
 Yancky, Rev. Robert, 46, 221. 
 Young, Rev. Joab, 352 ; clerk of the 
 
 New England Convention, in 1794. 
 
 431 ; is appointed missionary, 433. 
 
 Young, Joseph, M. D., 427. 
 
 END OF VOL. I. 
 
 Oniversity Press : .Tohn Wilson & Son, Cambridge. 
 
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