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MANUAL 
 
 OF 
 
 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS; 
 
 CONTAINING AN 
 
 HISTORICAL SKETCH OF THE DENOillNATION, 
 
 AND 
 
 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 NEW YORK : 
 PUBLISHED BY GEORGE B. UTTER. 
 
 Stereotyped from Tobitt's Combination Type. 
 
 1858. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 Ddring the thirteen years of my connection 
 with the pubHcation interests of the Seventh- 
 day Baptist Denomination, I was often called 
 upon by inquirers, and interrogated after the 
 following manner : " In what respects do the 
 Seventh-day Baptists differ from other Baptists ? 
 When did they come into existence ? How 
 many churches have they ? "Where are they 
 located ? Are they in favor of Missions, Edu- 
 cation, and Reforms ? Do they really believe, 
 that the Day of the Sabbath is a matter of 
 sufficient importance to justify calling in ques- 
 tion the practice of Christians generally, and 
 keeping up separate church organizations ? " 
 With a view of answering fully all such ques- 
 tions, I have collected much statistical, biogra- 
 phical, and documentar}^ matter, which will 
 probably be given to the public when complete 
 information is obtained on some points at present 
 
IV PREFACE. 
 
 comparatively obscure. Meanwhile it has been 
 suggested, that a brief Historical Sketch of the 
 Denomination, with some of their Reasons for 
 Emphasizing the Day of the Sabbath, would be 
 convenient and useful. In accordance with that 
 suggestion, the following pages were prepared. 
 If they prove helpful to even a few inquirers, 
 the writer will feel that he is amply rewarded 
 for his labor. George B. Utter. 
 
 New York, May 6, 1858. 
 

 
 The terms Sabbatarian and Seventh-day Baptist, . 7 
 
 Seventh-day Baptists differ from other Baptists, . 7 
 
 Date of their origin, 8 
 
 Early observance of the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, 10 
 
 The Sabbath at the time of the Reformation, . 14 
 
 Sabbath-keepers in Germany, Transylvania, &c. . 16 
 
 Seventh-day Baptists in England, . . . .17 
 Joljn Traslie, Philip Tandy, 
 
 Theophilus Brabourne, James Ockford. 
 
 List of Churches in England, . . . .20 
 
 The Mill-Yard Church, 21 
 
 John James, Robert Cornthwaite, 
 
 William Sellers, Daniel Noble, 
 
 Henry Soursby, William Slater, 
 
 Mr. Savage, William H. Black, 
 
 John Mauldon, Joseph Davis. 
 
 The Cripplegate Church, 27 
 
 Francis Bampfield, Thomas Whitewood, 
 
 Edward Stennett, Samuel Stennett, 
 
 Joseph Stennett, Robert Burnside, 
 
 Edmund Townsend, John B. Shenstone. 
 
 The Natton Church, 35 
 
 John Purser, Thomas Hiller, 
 
 Philip Jones, John Francis, 
 
 Thomas Boston, Benjamin Purser. 
 
 General Remarks on Churches in England, . . 37 
 1* 
 
VI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Seventh-day Baptists in America, .... 39 
 The Church at Newport, R. I., . . . .39 
 Enumeration of Churches in Rhode Island, Connecti- 
 cut, New Jersey, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, 
 
 Virginia, Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa, . . 41 
 
 The Yearly Meeting, 44 
 
 The General Conference, 45 
 
 The Associations, 46 
 
 Benevolent Societies, 47 
 
 Literary Institutions, 50 
 
 Statistics of the Churches, . . . . , 51 
 
 General Remarks on Churches in America, . . 53 
 
 List of Ministers, with their Post-offices, May 6, 1858, 55 
 
 Reasons for Emphasizing the Day of the Sabbath, . 57 
 

 REC. NOV 1880 
 
 HISTOrl 
 
 
 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS. 
 
 The terms Sabbatarian and Seventh-day 
 Baptist are used to designate a body of Christians 
 who observe the seventh or last day of the week 
 as the Sabbath. The former term was adopted 
 by them in England soon after the Reformation, 
 when the word Sabbath was applied exclusively 
 to the seventh day, and when those who observ- 
 ed that day were regarded as the only Sabbath- 
 keepers. In the year 1818, the term Sabbatarian 
 was rejected by the General Conference in Ame- 
 rica, on account of its supposed indefiniteness, 
 and the term Seventh-day Baptist was retained 
 as more descriptive of the opinions and practices 
 of the people. 
 
 The Seventh-day Baptists diflfer from other 
 Baptists mainly in the views which they hold of 
 the Sabbath. In respect to this, they believe, 
 that the seventh day of the week was sanctified 
 and blessed for the Sabbath in Paradise, and was 
 
8 ' THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 designed for all mankind ; that it forms a neces- 
 sary part of the Decalogue, which is immutable 
 in its nature, and universally binding ; that no 
 change as to the day of the Sabbath was made 
 by Divine Authority at the introduction of 
 Christianity ; that those passages in the New 
 Testament which speak of the first day of the 
 w^eek do not imply, either the substitution of that 
 da}'' for the seventh as the Sabbath, or its ap- 
 pointment as a day of religious w^orship ; that 
 whatever respect the early Christians paid to the 
 first day of the week, under the idea of its being 
 the day of Christ's resurrection, yet they never 
 regarded it as the Sabbath, but continued to 
 observe the seventh day in that character, until, 
 by the edicts of Emperors and the decrees of 
 Councils, the first day was made gradually to 
 supersede it. 
 
 At what precise time the observers of the 
 seventh day took a denominational form, it is not 
 easy to say. According to Eoss' " Picture of 
 all Eeligions, " they apjDeared in Germany late in 
 the fifteenth or early in the sixteenth century. 
 According to Dr. Chambers, they arose in Eng- 
 land in the sixteenth century. Assuming the 
 beginning of the sixteenth century as the period 
 of their origin, would carry them back nearly 
 as far as any of the modern denominations of 
 Christians date. But whatever difficulty there 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 9 
 
 may be in fixing the precise time of their taking 
 a denominational form, Seventh-day Baptists 
 think there is no difficulty in proving the anti- 
 quity of their sentiments. Indeed, they believe 
 that there has been no time since the commence- 
 ment of the Christian era, when there were not 
 upon the earth some Christians observing the 
 seventh day as the Sabbath. That the apostles 
 observed that day, there is little reason to doubt. 
 In their writings they uniformly distinguish be- 
 tween ihe Sabhatli and the first day of the iveek. 
 In consistency with this distinction, it was their 
 custom to rest from labor and engage in religious 
 exercises upon the seventh day. The women 
 who were present at the crucifixion, after pre- 
 paring their spices, " rested the Sabbath day, 
 accordinof to the commandment." When Paul 
 was at Antioch, he preached in the synagogue 
 on a certain Sabbath day, and so interested his 
 Gentile hearers, that they asked him to preach 
 the next Sabbath day, when nearly the whole 
 city came together to hear him. At Corinth, he 
 reasoned in the synagogue every Sabbath day 
 for nearly a year and a half. On one occasion, 
 in addressing the Jews, Paul asserted that he 
 had committed nothinor aofainst the customs of 
 their fathers, who are known to have been strict 
 observers of the seventh day. And though the 
 Jews were ever on the watch to discover any 
 
10 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 discrepancy between the practices of the early 
 Christians and the customs of their own people, 
 they are not known in a single instance to have 
 charged them with a neglect or violation of the 
 Sabbath. This circumstance, in connection with 
 the other facts stated, certainly justihes the con- 
 clusion, that it was the practice of the apostles 
 to keep the seventh day of the week as the Sab- 
 bath. 
 
 Passing from inspired history to that which is 
 "uninspired, we find frequent notices of Sabbath- 
 keepers during the first six centuries of the 
 church. Indeed, the notion that a change had 
 been introduced as to the day on which the Sab- 
 bath should be observed, seems not then to have 
 been entertained. At an early period, however, 
 a custom arose of celebrating the resurrection of 
 Christ by a religious meeting on the first day of 
 the week. No historical record, sacred or pro- 
 fane, informs us of the first celebration of this 
 day ; nor is there positive evidence that it was 
 at first observed weekly. It seems to have been 
 introduced as a voluntary festival to commemo- 
 rate the resurrection, just as the sixth day of 
 the week was observed to commemorate the cru- 
 cifixion, and the fifth day to commemorate the 
 ascension. Though not regarded as the Sab- 
 bath, it gradually grew in the estimation of 
 Christians during the first three centuries. In 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 11 
 
 the fourth century, the Emperor Constantine em- 
 braced Christianity. In his zeal to magnify those 
 institutions which were regarded as pecuharly 
 Christian, and to bring into disrepute those which 
 were in any way connected with the Jew^s, he 
 w^ent at work to give importance to the first day 
 of the week. He required his armies, and the 
 people generally, to spend the day in devotional 
 exercises. No courts of judicature were to be 
 held on that day, and no suits or trials in law 
 prosecuted. Certain works of necessity and 
 mercy, however, were declared lawful — such, for 
 instance, as the emancipation of slaves, and the 
 labor of the husbandman in pleasant weather. 
 These decrees of Constantine were confirmed and 
 extended by subsequent Emperors, and similar 
 decrees were passed by the various ecclesiastical 
 Councils. 
 
 While the civil and ecclesiastical powers were 
 making such efforts to establish the observance 
 of the first day, they w^ere equally zealous to 
 abolish the observance of the seventh day, which 
 they endeavored to do by casting odium upon 
 those who persisted in it. Constantine, in a de- 
 cree issued A. D. 321, speaks of the Sabbath as 
 a Jewish institution, represents those who ob- 
 serve it as giving countenance to the Jews, and 
 says, " Let us have nothing in common with that 
 most odious brood, the Jews." The Council of 
 
12 THE ^gJBVENTU-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 Laodicea, about 350, passed a decree, saying, 
 ''It is not proper for Christians to Judaize, and 
 to cease from labor on the Sabbath ; but they 
 ought to labor on that day, and put especial 
 honor upon the Lord's Day; if any be found 
 Judaizing, let him he anailiematized?'' 
 
 Notwithstanding this opposition from the high- 
 est authorities, many Christians continued to ob- 
 serve the Sabbath. Athanasius^ A. D. 340, says, 
 "We assemble on Saturday, not that we are 
 infected with Judaism, but only to worship 
 Christ, the Lord of the Sabbath." Sozofnen, 
 A. D. 440, says, " There are various customs 
 concerning assembling ; for though nearly all the 
 churches throughout the world do celebrate the 
 holy mysteries on the Sabbath day, yet they of 
 Alexandria and Rome refuse to do this ; the 
 Egyptians, however, in the neighborhood of 
 Alexandria, and the inhabitants of Thebes, have 
 assemblies upon the Sabbath, but do not parti- 
 cipate in the mysteries." Gregory of Nyssa, 
 about 3^0, speaking of the relation of the two 
 institutions, says, " How can you look upon the 
 Lord's Day, when you neglect the Sabbath ? Do 
 you not know that they are twin sisters, and that 
 in slighting the one you affront the other ?" 
 
 The facts in regard to the early observance of 
 the Sabbath and the Lord's Day, appear to be 
 candidly stated in the following extract from an 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 13 
 
 article prepared by Eev. L. Colemax, Instructor 
 in Ecclesiastical History, and published in the 
 Bihliotheca Sacra and Theological Review : 
 
 '' 1. Both were observed in the Christian church down to 
 the fifth century, with this difference, that in the Eastern 
 churches both days were regarded as joyful occasions, and 
 in the Western the Jewish Sabbath was liept as a fast. 
 
 " 2. Both were solemnized by public religious assemblies 
 for the instruction and spiritual edification of the hearers, 
 and for the celebration of the Lord's Supper. 
 
 " 3. The Sabbath of the Jews was kept chiefly by con- 
 verts from that people, and on their own account ; who, 
 though freed from the bondage of the law, adhered in this 
 respect to the custom of their fathers. But in time, after 
 the Lord's Day was fully established, the observance of the 
 Sabbath of the Jews was gradually discontinued, and 
 finally was denounced as heretical." 
 
 It is somewhat difficult to trace the history of 
 Sabbath-keepers — as it would be to trace the his- 
 tory of any unpopular sect or doctrine — through 
 the darkness which intervened between the es- 
 tablishment of papal dominion and the dawning 
 of the Eeformation. There are, however, scraps 
 of history scattered over that period, which have 
 a bearing upon the subject, and deserve atten- 
 tion. Early in the seventh century, in the time 
 of Pope Gregory I., the claims of the Sabbath 
 were somewhat discussed ; when, according to 
 ffeylin, there was a class of persons who con- 
 tended " that it was not lawful to do any manner 
 2 
 
14 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS : 
 
 of work upon the Saturday, or the old Sabbath." 
 Nearly five hundred years later, in the eleventh 
 century, while Gregory VII. occupied the papal 
 chair, the same doctrine was preached again. 
 In both instances it w^as denounced as heretical, 
 and treated to severe papal censures. Accord- 
 ina; to Mosheim, there was a sect of Christians 
 in Lombardy, in the twelfth century, called the 
 Passaginians, who kept the " Jewish Sabbath." 
 These facts are sufficient proof of the existence of 
 Sabbath-keepers, not only in the earlier and 
 purer ages of the church, but throughout the pe- 
 riod of papal ascendancy. Indeed, they render 
 it quite probable, that wherever, during that pe- 
 riod, the Sabbath was made a topic of popular 
 discussion, there the seventh day found advo- 
 cates and observers. 
 
 The Eeformation in the sixteenth century in- 
 troduced an important era in the history of the 
 Sabbath. The point on which that movement 
 turned was the doctrine of justification by faith. 
 The unfolding of it necessarily led to the discus- 
 sion of many kindred topics, among which was 
 that of festivals. The Church of Rome had 
 multiplied her festivals to a burdensome extent, 
 and had taught that the days on which they oc- 
 curred were inherently more holy than other days, 
 and that there was great merit in observing them. 
 In their zeal to oppose this doctrine, the leading 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 15 
 
 Reformers went to the other extreme of as- 
 serting that under the Gospel all days are alike. 
 Accordingly, they rejected the Sabbath. They 
 soon discovered, however, that it was necessary 
 to have some fixed times and public occasions for 
 bringing the truths of religion into contact with 
 the minds of the people. They could not go 
 back to the ancient Sabbath, because that might 
 subject them to the charge of Judaizing. Hence 
 they advanced the doctrine, that the church has 
 power to appoint such festivals as are necessary 
 for her prosperity, and to alter them at her pleas- 
 ure. The first day of the week was accepted 
 for the Sabbath, because it was in common 
 use. But it is said that John Calvin once pro- 
 posed to transfer the weekly festival from the 
 first to the fifth day of the week as an illustra- 
 tion of Christian liberty. In process of time, 
 these loose sentiments respecting the day of wor- 
 ship were found to operate disastrously. Hence 
 a class of Reformers sprung up, who taught the 
 morality and perpetuity of the fourth command- 
 ment, but interpreted it so as to require simply 
 one seventh part of time, or a day of rest after 
 any six days of labor. This doctrine spread 
 rapidly on the Continent, and led to a controversy 
 about the Sabbath, which soon became very 
 warm and prominent. At an early stage of it, 
 we find several able and zealous defenders of the 
 
16 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 Sabbath of Jehovah. Materials for the prepa- 
 ration of a history of them, however, are quite 
 meager, this field of inquiry having never been 
 explored as it deserves to be. 
 
 Early in the sixteenth century there are traces 
 of Sabbath-keepers in Germany. The old Dutch 
 Martyrology gives an account of a Baptist min- 
 ister, named Stephen Benedict, somewhat famous 
 for baptizing during a severe persecution in Hol- 
 land, who is supposed by good authorities to 
 have kept the seventh day as the Sabbath. One 
 of the persons baptized by him was Barbary von 
 Thiers, wife of Hans Borzen, who was executed 
 on the 16th of September, 1529. At her trial, 
 she declared her rejection of the idolatrous 
 sacrament of the priest, and also the mass. 
 " Relative to Sunday and the holy-days, she said 
 the Lord God had commanded to rest the seventh 
 day ; in this she acquiesced, and it was her de- 
 sire, by the help and grace of God, to remain and 
 die as she was, for it was the true faith and right 
 way in Christ." In Transylvania, there were 
 Sabbath-keepers, among whom was Francis Da- 
 vidis, first chaplain of the court Sigismund, and 
 afterward Superintendent of the Transylvania 
 churches. In France, also, there were Christians 
 of this class, among whom was M. de la Eoque, 
 who wrote in defense of the Sabbath, against 
 Bossuett, Catholic Bishop of Meaux. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 17 
 
 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS IN ENGLAND. 
 
 In England, the controversy relative to the 
 Sabbath commenced near the close of the six- 
 teenth century. Nicholas Bound, D. D., of ISTor- 
 ton, in Suffolk, published a book in 1595, in 
 which he advanced the modern view concerning 
 the " Christian Sabbath," that it is a perpetua- 
 tion of the Sabbath of the fourth commandment, 
 but that the day specified in the commandment 
 has been changed by Divine Authority from the 
 seventh to the first day of the week. This doc- 
 trine was very taking, proclaimed as it was at 
 a time when there was felt to be much need of 
 greater strictness in observing the day of rest. 
 According to a learned writer of that age, " in a 
 very little time it became the most bewitching 
 error, and the most popular infatuation, that ever 
 was embraced by the people of England." Dr. 
 Bound's book was suppressed by order of Arch- 
 bishop AVhitgift in 1599. But its suppression 
 was followed by the publication of numerous 
 other works, in which nearly every shade of 
 opinion on the subject was expressed. While 
 this discussion was in progress, several advocates 
 of the seventh day arose, who vindicated its 
 claims with great boldness and ability. 
 
 John Traske began to speak and write in 
 
 favor of the seventh day as the Sabbath of the 
 2* 
 
18 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 Lord about the time that the Book of Sports for 
 Sunday was pubUshed under the direction of the 
 Archbishop of Canterbury and King James I., 
 in 1618. He took high ground as to the suffi- 
 ciency of the Scriptures to direct in all religious 
 services, and the duty of the State to refrain from 
 imposing any thing contrary to the "Word of God. 
 For this he was brought before the Star Cham- 
 ber, where a long discussion was held respecting 
 the Sabbath, in which Dr. Andrews, Bishop of 
 "Winchester, took a prominent part. Traske was 
 not turned from his opinion, and was censured 
 in the Star Chamber. Paggitt's Heresiography 
 says that he " was sentenced, on account of his 
 being a Sabbatarian, to be set upon the Pillory 
 at Westminster, and from thence to be whipt to 
 the Fleet Prison, there to remain a prisoner for 
 three years. Mrs. Traske, his wife, lay in Maid- 
 en-Lane and the Gate-House Prisons fifteen 
 years, where she died, for the same crime." 
 
 Theophilus Brabourne, a learned minister of 
 the Gospel in the Established Church, wrote a 
 book, which w\as printed at London in 1628, 
 wherein he argued " that the Lord's Day is not 
 the Sabbath Day by Divine Institution," but 
 " that the Seventh-day Sabbath is now in force." 
 Mr. Brabourne published another book in 1632, 
 entitled, " A Defense of that most ancient and 
 sacred ordinance of God, the Sabbath Day." 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 19 
 
 For this he was called to account before the 
 Lord Archbishop of Canterbury and the Court 
 of High Commission. Several lords of his Ma- 
 jesty's Private Council, and many other persons 
 of quality, were present at his examination. 
 For some reason — whether from being overawed 
 by the character of that assembly, or from fear- 
 ing the consequences of rejecting its overtures, 
 it is not possible now to say — Mr. Brabourne 
 went back to the embrace of the Established 
 Church. He continued to maintain, however, 
 that if the sabbatic institution was indeed moral 
 and perpetually binding, then his conclusion, that 
 the seventh day of the week ought to be kept 
 as the Sabbath, was necessary and irresistible. 
 
 About this time Philip Tandy began to 
 promulgate in the northern part of England 
 the same doctrine concerning the Sabbath. He 
 was educated in the Established Church, of 
 which he became a minister. Having changed 
 his views respecting the mode of baptism and 
 the day of the Sabbath, he abandoned that 
 Church, and became "a mark for many shots." 
 He held several public disputes about his pecul- 
 iar sentiments, and did much to propagate them. 
 
 James Ockford was another early advocate 
 in England of the claims of the seventh day as 
 the Sabbath. He appears to have been well ac- 
 quainted with the discussions in which Traske 
 
20 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 and Brabourne had been engaged. Being dis- 
 satisiied with the pretended conviction of Bra- 
 bourne, he wrote a book in defense of Sabbata- 
 rian views, entitled, " The doctrine of the Fourth 
 Commandment." This book, published about 
 the year 1G42, w^as burnt by order of the author- 
 ities in the Established Church, Mr. Cawdrey, 
 a Presbyterian, and a member of the Assembly 
 of Divines, fearing that this " sharp confutation 
 by fire " w^ould be complained of as harsh, v/rote 
 a review of Mr. Ockford's book, wiiich is extant. 
 
 Several influences combined to prevent the 
 early organization of Sabbatarian churches in 
 England. The laws passed to secure uniformity 
 in worship, and to hinder the holding of religious 
 meetins:s amonof all dissenters from the Estab- 
 lished Church, were doubly oppressive upon 
 those who kept the Sabbath on a day different 
 from the mass of Christians. To this and similar 
 causes, probably, is attributable the fact, that 
 there were no churches regularly organized until 
 about 1650. Within fifty j^ears of that date, 
 there were eleven Sabbatarian churches in Eng- 
 land, besides many scattered Sabbath-keepers, 
 in various parts of the Kingdom. These churches 
 were located in the following places : Braintree, 
 in Essex ; Chersey ; Norweston ; Salisbury, in 
 "Wiltshire ; Sherbourne, in Buckinghamshire ; 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 21 
 
 Tewkesbury, or Natton, in Gloucestershire ; 
 Wallingford, in Berkshire ; Woodbridge, in Suf- 
 folk; and three in London, viz., the Mill- Yard 
 Church, the Cripplegate Church gathered by 
 Francis Bampfield, and the Pinner's Hall Church 
 under the care of Mr. Belcher. Eight of these 
 churches are now extinct, and no complete ac- 
 count of them is known to exist. Of the three 
 which remain, the following is a brief sketch. 
 
 The 3Iill-Yard Church. 
 
 The Mill- Yard Sabbatarian Church is located 
 in the eastern part of London. At what time 
 it was organized is not certainly knowa. The 
 Book of Records now in possession of the Church 
 reaches back only to 1673 ; but as it contains 
 no account of the organization, and refers to an- 
 other book which had been previously used, it is 
 probable that the Church dates from a period 
 considerably earlier. Indeed, there can be but 
 little doubt, from its location and doctrinal views, 
 that this Church is a perpetuation of the Society 
 gathered by John James, the martyr, which ori- 
 ginally met in Bull-Steak Alley, Whitechapel. 
 It is probably safe, therefore, to put down John 
 James as the first pastor of the Mill- Yard Church. 
 On the 19th day of October, 1661, while Mr. 
 James was preaching, an officer entered the place 
 
22 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS: 
 
 of worship, pulled him down from the pulpit, and 
 led him away to the court under a strong guard. 
 About thirty members of his congregation were 
 taken before a bench of justices, then sitting at 
 a tavern in the vicinity, where the oath of alle- 
 giance was tendered to each, and those who 
 refused it were committed to Newgate Prison. 
 Mr. James himself was examined and committed 
 to Newgate, on the testimony of several profli- 
 gate witnesses, who accused him of speaking 
 treasonable words against the King. His trial 
 took place about a month afterward, at which he 
 conducted himself in such a manner as to create 
 much sympathy. He was, however, sentenced 
 to be " hanged, drawn, and quartered." This 
 awful sentence did not dismay him in the least. 
 He calmly said, " Blessed be God, whom man 
 condemneth, God justifieth." "While he lay in 
 prison, under sentence of death, many persons of 
 distinction visited him, who were greatly affected 
 by his piety and resignation, and offered to exert 
 themselves to secure his pardon. But he seems 
 to have had little hope of their success. Mrs. 
 James, by advice of her friends, twice presented 
 petitions to the King, setting forth the innocence 
 of her husband, the character of the witnesses 
 against him, and entreating His Majesty to grant 
 a pardon. In both instances she was repulsed 
 with scoffs and ridicule. At the scaffold, on the 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 23 
 
 day of his execution, Mr. James addressed the 
 assembly in a very noble and affecting manner. 
 Having finished his address, and kneeling down, 
 he thanked God for covenant mercies, and for 
 conscious innocence ; he prayed for the witnesses 
 against him, for the executioner, for the people 
 of God, for the removal of divisions, for the 
 coming of Christ, for the spectators, and for 
 himself, that he might enjoy a sense of God's 
 favor and presence, and an entrance into glory. 
 When he had ended, the executioner said, 
 "The Lord receive your soul;" to which Mr. 
 James replied, " I thank thee." A friend ob- 
 serving to him, " This is a happy day," he an- 
 swered, "I bless God it is." Then, having 
 thanked the sheriff for his courtesy, he said, 
 " Father, into thy hands I commit my spirit;" 
 and was immediately launched into eternity. 
 After he was dead, his heart was taken out and 
 burned, his quarters were affixed to the gates of 
 the city, and his head was set up in Whitechapel 
 on a pole opposite to the Alley in which his 
 meeting-house stood. 
 
 William Sellers was pastor of the Mill- 
 Yard Church at the time when the present Re- 
 cords begin, 1673. The church was then in a 
 prosperous condition, the members were quite 
 numerous, and strict discipline was maintained. 
 Mr. Sellers was probably the author of a work 
 
24 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS : 
 
 on the Sabbath, in review of Dr. Owen, which 
 appeared in 1671. He is supposed to have con- 
 tinued his ministry until 1678. 
 
 Henry Soursby succeeded Mr. Sellers. He 
 was a man of considerable controversial talent, 
 which he exercised in defense of the Sabbath. 
 The Church Records allude to a book upon the 
 subject prepared by him. He ministered to the 
 church until 1710. 
 
 Two persons named Slater about this time 
 preached occasionally. But as there is no notice 
 of their having become elders, it is quite likely 
 that they w^ere only " preaching brethren " — a 
 class of persons always much encouraged in this 
 church. 
 
 In 1711, Mr. Savage became pastor of the 
 church. He had for an assistant, or co-pastor, 
 the venerable Mr. John Maulden, who had long 
 been the pastor of a Baptist church in Good- 
 man's Fields, which he left because he had em- 
 braced Sabbatarian principles. 
 
 After the death of Mr. Maulden and Mr. 
 Savage, there was a vacancy in the pastoral 
 office, the preaching brethren officiating on the 
 Sabbath, in an order prescribed at the business 
 meetings of the church. It w^as during this va- 
 cancy, in 1720, that Dr. Joseph Stennett was 
 invited to take the pastoral care of the church, 
 which after considerable delay he declined. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 25 
 
 In 1726, Robert Cornthwaite joined himself 
 to this church. He was originally connected 
 with the Established Church ; but becoming con- 
 vinced that the Gospel did not prescribe any reli- 
 gious establishment, he identified himself with 
 the Dissenters, and commenced preaching among 
 the Baptists. "When the Sabbath question came 
 before him, he decided to keep the seventh day, 
 and was chosen pastor of the Mill- Yard church, 
 which position he continued to occupy until his 
 death, in 1754. Mr. Cornthwaite was man of 
 much mental vigor, and great tenacity for what- 
 ever he deemed true and scriptural. He pub- 
 lished six works relating to the Sabbath, which 
 contributed much to draw attention to the sub- 
 ject, and to improve the condition of the church. 
 
 Daniel Noble, the successor of Mr. Corn- 
 thwaite, descended from a Sabbatarian family. 
 He became pious at an early age, and entered 
 upon preparation for the ministry. His studies 
 were pursued first in London, then under Dr. 
 Rotheram at Kendall, and afterward at the Glas- 
 gow University. He commenced preaching oc- 
 casionally at Mill- Yard in 1752, and took the 
 oversight of the church when the pastoral office 
 became vacant. His ministry continued until his 
 death, in 1783. 
 
 About that time William Slater, a member 
 of the church, vvas invited to conduct the ser- 
 
26 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS : 
 
 vices. He was afterward ordained as a preacher, 
 became the pastor, and discharged the duties of 
 the office until he died, in 1819. 
 
 Por many years after the death of Mr. Slater, 
 the church was without a pastor, the pulpit being 
 supplied by several ministers of other denomina- 
 tions, until the election of the present elder and 
 pastor, AViLLiAM Henry Black, in 1840. 
 
 The Mill- Yard Church is indebted to one of 
 its early members for a very liberal endowment. 
 Mr. Joseph Davis w^as probably a member of the 
 church at the time that John James suffered 
 martyrdom. Being a man of considerable influ- 
 ence, and very bold in the advocacy of his opin- 
 ions, he became obnoxious to the dominant party, 
 and was exposed to severe persecutions. He 
 was a prisoner in Oxford Castle for nearly ten 
 years, from which he was released in 1673 by 
 order of the King. Soon after being set free, he 
 entered into business in London ; and notwith- 
 standing the interruption of his business occa- 
 sioned by a strict observance of the Sabbath, he 
 prospered beyond his highest expectations. He 
 soon found himself at ease, surrounded by a hap- 
 py famil}^, and enjoying the confidence of a large 
 circle of friends. Near the close of his life, Mr. 
 Davis says, his heart was drawn forth to do 
 something for the pure worship of his Lord and 
 Saviour, and to manifest that outward blessings 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 27 
 
 had not been bestowed upon him in vain. He 
 felt that "the Lord had sent him, as a Joseph, 
 to do something for the cause of rehgion." Un- 
 der the influence of this impression, he purchas- 
 ed, in 1691, the grounds adjoining the present 
 meeting-house, erected a place of worship, and 
 thus provided for the permanence of the society 
 with which he was connected. This property 
 was conveyed to Trustees duly appointed by the 
 church in the year 1700. In 1706, just before 
 his death, IVIr. Davis bequeathed the bulk of his 
 property to his son, subject to an annual rent- 
 charge in favor of the Mill- Yard Church, toge- 
 ther with seven other Sabbatarian Churches in 
 England. He likewise made a conditional pro- 
 \asion in favor of the church, by virtue of which 
 it afterward came into possession of the princi- 
 pal part of his estate. 
 
 The G rippleg oAe Church. 
 
 The congregation of Sabbatarians in London 
 commonly known as the Cripplegate or Devon- 
 shire Square Church, was gathered in the reign 
 of King Charles II., by the learned Mr. Francis 
 Bampfield, who descended from an honorable 
 family in Devonshire, and was brother to Thomas 
 Bampfield, Speaker in one of Cromwell's Par- 
 liaments. Having been from childhood designed 
 
i:© THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS : 
 
 for the ministry, he was at sixteen years of age 
 sent to Wadham College, Oxford, from which he 
 received two degrees at the end of eight years. 
 He was soon afterward provided with a living in 
 Dorsetshire, and was chosen Prebend of Exeter 
 Cathedral. From Dorsetshire he was transferred 
 to the populous town of Sherbourne, where he 
 exerted an extensive influence among the adher- 
 ents of the Established Church. While there 
 he began to doubt the authority of his church 
 to prescribe forms of worship, and finally he be- 
 came an open non-conformist. As a conse- 
 quence, he w^as ejected from the ministry, and 
 was imprisoned in Dorchester jail, on the charge 
 of preaching and conducting religious services 
 contrary to law. During this imprisonment, 
 which lasted about eight years, Mr. Bampfield's 
 views upon Baptism and the Sabbath underwent 
 a change, and he became a Seventh-day Baptist. 
 He preached his new opinions boldly to his fellow 
 prisoners, several of whom were led to embrace 
 them. Soon after his release from prison, Mr. 
 Bampfield went to London, where his ' liberty 
 to preach the Gospel continued, like his former 
 imprisonment, about ten years.' His labors 
 were at first in the vicinity of Bethnal Green, in 
 the eastern part of London, where he preached 
 and administered the Lord's Supper to a compa- 
 ny of brethren in his own hired house. At the 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 29 
 
 end of one year, on the 5th of March, 1676, 
 to use the language of the Record, they " passed 
 into a church state, on these two great principles, 
 viz : Owning and professing Jesus Christ to be 
 the one and only Lord over our consciences and 
 Lawgiver to our souls, and the Holy Scriptures 
 of Truth to be our only Rule of Faith, Worship, 
 and Life." Mr. Bampfield continued to labor 
 as pastor of this church until 1682, when he was 
 brought before the Court of Sessions on a vari- 
 ety of charges connected with his non-conformity. 
 He was several times examined, and at each ex- 
 amination the oath of allegiance was tendered to 
 him, which he constantly refused, because his 
 conscience would not allow him to take it. The 
 result was, that the Court declared him to be out 
 of the protection of the King, his goods to be 
 forfeited, and he to be imprisoned during life, 
 or the King's pleasure. His constitution had 
 always been feeble, and the anxieties attending 
 his trial, together with the privations which he 
 endured, brought on disease, of which he died, 
 in Newgate Prison, on the 15th day of February, 
 1684, at the age of sixty-eight years. His fune- 
 ral sermon was preached by Mr. Collins, one of 
 his fellow prisoners ; and his body was interred, 
 in the presence of a large concourse of specta- 
 tors, in the burial-place of the Baptist Church in 
 Glass-house Yard, Goswell-street, London. 
 
30 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS: 
 
 After the imprisonment of Mr. Bampfield, the 
 church was dispersed for a season. But the 
 times becoming more favorable, they re-united 
 in church fellovs^ship on the 14th day of October, 
 1686, and invited Mr. Edward Stennett, of 
 Wallingford, to take the oversight of them. He 
 acceded to their w^ishes in part, and came to 
 London at stated periods to preach and adminis- 
 ter the ordinances. He still retained his connect- 
 ion with the people at Wallingford, however ; 
 and finding it difficult also to serve the church in 
 London as he desired, he resigned the pastoral 
 care of them in 1G89, and recommended the ap- 
 pointment of some one to fill his place. Mr. 
 Stennett is described as " a minister of note and 
 learning in those times." He is distinguished 
 as being the ancestor of the famous Stennett 
 family, who all kept the seventh day, and were 
 for several generations an ornament to religion, 
 and to the cause of Protestant Dissent. The 
 part which he took in the civil wars, being on the 
 side of Parliament, exposed him to the neglect 
 of his relatives, and many other difficulties. His 
 dissent from the Established Church deprived 
 him of the means of maintaining his family, al- 
 though he was a faithful and laborious minister. 
 He therefore applied himself to the study of 
 medicine, by the practice of which he was ena- 
 bled to provide for his children, and to give them 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 31 
 
 a liberal education. He bore a considerable 
 share in the persecutions which fell upon the 
 Dissenters of his time. Several instances are 
 recorded, in which his escape seems altogether 
 miraculous, and affords a striking evidence of 
 Divine interposition. 
 
 In 1690, Joseph Stennett, the second son of 
 Edward Stennett, was ordained pastor of this 
 church. With a view to usefulness in the minis- 
 try, he early devoted himself to study, mastered 
 the French and Italian languages, became a critic 
 in the Hebrew, and made considerable progress 
 in philosophy and the liberal sciences. He came 
 to London in 1685, and was employed for a time 
 in the education of youth. "He was at length 
 prevailed upon, by the earnest solicitations of his 
 friends, to appear in the pulpit, where his efforts 
 proved acceptable, and led to his being called to 
 succeed his father. His ministry was eminently 
 evangehca] and faithful. His labors were not 
 confined to his own people ; but while he served 
 them on the seventh day, he preached frequently 
 to other congregations on the first day. Among 
 the Dissenters of England, he maintained a high 
 standing and exerted a wide influence. In the 
 reign of King William, he was chosen by the 
 Baptists to draw up and present their Address to 
 His Majesty on his deliverance from the assassi- 
 nation plot. On another occasion, he was ap- 
 
32 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 pointed by the dissenting ministers of London to 
 prepare an Address to Queen Anne, which was 
 presented in 1706. He also prepared a paper of 
 Advice, which was presented by the citizens of 
 London to their representatives in Parhament, in 
 1708. "When David Eussen published his book, 
 " Fundamentals ivithout a Foundation^ or a True 
 Picture of the Anabaptists^'''' Mr. Stennett was 
 prevailed on to answer it, which he did so suc- 
 cessfully that his antagonist never thought best 
 to reply. The popularity which he gained by 
 this work, led to many solicitations from his 
 friends to prepare a complete History of Bap- 
 tism. This he intended to have done, and he 
 was several years engaged in collecting materials 
 for it. But the feeble state of his health pre- 
 vented his carrying out the plan. Early in the 
 year 1713, he began to decline more rapidly, 
 and on the 11th day of July he fell asleep, in the 
 forty-ninth year of his age, and the twenty-third 
 of his ministry. 
 
 For fourteen years after the death of Mr. 
 Stennett, the church was without a pastor, dur- 
 ing which time the pulpit was supplied by minis- 
 ters of other denominations, or the meetings on 
 the Sabbath were held with the Mill- Yard 
 Church. But on the 3d of December, 1727, 
 according to the Record, " the church gave them- 
 selves up to Mr. Edmund Townsend," who con- 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 66 
 
 tinued to serve them as pastor until his death, in 
 1763. Although not an educated man, Mr, 
 Townsend was a faithful and useful minister, and 
 was much esteemed among his own people and 
 others with whom he associated. He appears to 
 have come to London as a ^lessenger from the 
 church at Natton. For a while he preached to 
 both of the London churches, in the Mill- Yard 
 meeting-house, until invited to take the pastoral 
 care of the Cripplegate Church. 
 
 After the death of Mr. Townsend, the church 
 was for four years supphed with preachinsf by 
 various Baptist ministers, until Mr. Thomas 
 White WOOD was chosen pastor, in June, 1767. 
 His race, however, was short : for after having: 
 preached three times, and administered the 
 Lord's Supper once, he was laid aside by severe 
 illness, of which he died in October of the same 
 year. 
 
 At that time Samuel Stennett, D. D., a great- 
 grandson of Edward Stennett, and son of Jo- 
 seph Stennett, D. D., was pastor of the Baptist 
 church in Little Wild Street, London. As his 
 principles and practice corresponded with those 
 of the Cripplegate Church — '' his judgment, as 
 is well known, being for the observance of the 
 seventh day, which he strictly regarded in his 
 own family " — he was solicited to accept the 
 pastoral office. There is no record, however, 
 
34 THE SEVENTH-DAT BAPTISTS : 
 
 of his having done so, although he performed 
 the duties of a pastor, administered the Lord's 
 Supper, and preached for them regularly on the 
 Sabbath morning. The afternoon service was 
 conducted by four Baptist ministers in rotation, 
 among whom were Dr. Jenkins and Dr. Eippon. 
 
 This order of things continued for nearly 
 twenty years, until, in 1785, Kobert Burnside 
 was chosen pastor of the church. Mr. Burnside 
 belonged to a Sabbath-keeping family, was re- 
 ceived into the church in 1776, and was afterward 
 educated for the ministry at the Marischal Col- 
 lege, Aberdeen. He sustained the pastoral rela- 
 tion to the church forty-one years. Meanwhile 
 a large portion of his time was occupied in giv- 
 ing instruction in families of distinction, and in 
 preparing several works for the press, among 
 which w^ere a volume on the subject of the Sab- 
 bath, and two volumes on the Eeligion of Man- 
 kind. Mr. Burnside died in 1826. 
 
 John Brittain Shenstone succeeded Mr. 
 Burnside. During the early part of his public 
 life, Mr. Shenstone labored as a minister among 
 the Baptists. For more than forty years he was 
 connected with the Board of Baptist Ministers 
 in London, and as the senior member was pleas- 
 antly called the father of the Board. Having 
 become convinced of the claims of the seventh 
 day, he commenced observing it as the Sabbath 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 35 
 
 in 1825. Soon after Mr. Burnside's death, he 
 was called to the pastoral care of the church, 
 and he continued to fill the office until his own 
 deatli, on the 12th day of May, 1844. 
 
 Since the death of Mr. Shenstone, the church 
 has been without a pastor, but has enjoyed the 
 ministerial labors of several Baptist preachers. 
 
 The Nation Church. 
 
 The Natton Church is located near Tewkes- 
 bury, in the west of England, about ninety miles 
 from London, and fifteen from Gloucester. The 
 precise date of its organization is not known. 
 It is certain, however, that the church was in 
 existence as early as 1660 ; and it is quite pro- 
 bable, that there were Sabbath-keepers in that 
 region as early as 1640, who were prevented 
 from forming a regular church, by the unsettled 
 state of the country, and their exposure to per- 
 secution. 
 
 The first pastor of the Natton Church, of 
 whom any reliable account can be given, was 
 Mr. John Purser. He is spoken of as a very 
 worthy man, who suffered much persecution for 
 conscience's sake, between 1660 and 1690. He 
 descended from an honorable family, and was 
 heir to a considerable estate, of which his father 
 disinherited him because he persisted in keeping 
 
36 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 the seventh day as the Sabbath. But it pleased 
 God to bless him in the little which he had, so 
 that he became a reputable farmer, as did many 
 of the most worthy ministers of that time. He 
 reared up a large family of children, who " all 
 walked in his steps." The principal place of 
 meeting, in the early days of the church, was at 
 the house of Mr. Purser, in Asston ; but other 
 meetings were held at different places within a 
 range of twenty-five miles, for the accommoda- 
 tion of the widely-scattered members. Mr. 
 Purser was a faithful minister among them until 
 the close of his life, in 1720. 
 
 About that time there were two young men 
 in the church who gave promise of considerable 
 usefulness — Mr. Philip Jones and Mr. Thomas 
 Boston. Mr. Jones was chosen pastor of the 
 church, and discharged the duties of that office 
 until his death, in 1770 — a period nearly fifty 
 years. 
 
 Mr. Jones was succeeded by his nephew, Mr. 
 Thomas Hiller, who, although a Sabbatarian, 
 became also the pastor of a First-day Baptist 
 church in Tewkesbury. His ministry is spoken 
 of as having been " successful at Natton as well 
 as at Tewkesbury." 
 
 After the death of Mr. Hiller, the church was 
 for many years destitute of a pastor, but sus- 
 tained meetings on the Sabbath with the aid of a 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. St 
 
 worthy Baptist preacher residing in Te\Ykesbiiry. 
 At present, it is presided over by Mr. John 
 Francis, under whose pastoral care there have 
 been several additions to its membership. 
 
 In 1718, Mr. Benjamin Purser, a son of the 
 first pastor of the Natton Church, purchased an 
 estate at Natton, on which he fitted up a chapel 
 for worship on the Sabbath. It is a small room, 
 with a board floor, a pulpit, one pew, a row of 
 benches, a communion table, and a gallery. 
 He also walled in a corner of his orchard for a 
 place of burial. "When he died, in 1765, he left 
 the chapel and burying-place to the church, to- 
 gether with a small annuity from his estate to all 
 succeeding ministers. 
 
 The foregoing sketch gives a glimpse of the 
 only three Sabbatarian churches now remaining 
 of the eleven which existed in England one hun- 
 dred and fifty years ago. Their decline haa 
 been slow but constant. It is believed, however, 
 that adequate causes for this decline may be as- 
 signed, without calling in question the correct- 
 ness of their views on the subject of the Sabbath.. 
 The observance of the Sabbath on a day different 
 from the one commonly observed, is probably 
 connected with greater inconvenience than re- 
 sults from adopting the peculiar doctrines of any- 
 other Christian denomination. It w^ould not be 
 
 4: 
 
38 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 surprising, therefore, if, in England, where the 
 standard of doctrine, even among Dissenters, has 
 been gradually adjusting itself to the lax notions 
 of the Established Church, the number of those 
 willing to endure the inconvenience of sabbatiz- 
 ing on the seventh day should gradually dimin- 
 ish. In addition to this, there have been 
 influences at work in the churches themselves 
 exactly adapted to produce the results which 
 are now witnessed. From an early period, it 
 was the practice of Sabbatarian preachers, and 
 pastors of churches observing the seventh day, 
 to accept also the pastoral care of churches ob- 
 serving the first day — thus attempting at one 
 time to serve two masters, and practically pro- 
 claiming a low estimate of the doctrine with 
 which, as Sabbatarians, they w^ere identified. 
 Closely connected with this — perhaps a natural 
 result of it — w^as the almost total neglect, for a 
 long period, to make any vigorous and combined 
 efforts to disseminate their distinguishing views. 
 Take into account these considerations, together 
 with the fact that no associational or missionary 
 organizations were ever formed to promote ac- 
 quaintance and brotherly interest among the 
 churches, and the existence of those churches 
 for so long a period as their history covers seems 
 more a matter for surprise than does their gra- 
 dual decline. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 39 
 
 SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS IX AMERICA. 
 
 The Seventh-day Baptists in America date 
 from about the same period that their brethren 
 in England began to organize regular churches. 
 Mr. Stephen Mumford was one of the earliest 
 among them. He came from England to New- 
 port, Ehode Island, in 1664, and " brought with 
 him the opinion, that the Ten Commandments, 
 as they were delivered from Mount Sinai, were 
 moral and immutable, and that it was an anti- 
 christian power which changed the Sabbath from 
 the seventh to the first day of the week." He 
 associated much with members of the First-day 
 Baptist Church in Newport, and soon won seve- 
 ral of them to his views. They continued to 
 walk with the church for a time, however, until 
 a difficulty arose in consequence of the hard 
 things which were said of them by their breth- 
 ren, such as, that the Ten Commandments, being 
 given to the Jews, were not binding upon the 
 Gentiles, and that those who observed the seventh 
 day were gone from Christ to Moses. In De- 
 cember, 1671, they came to an open separation, 
 when Stephen Mumford, William Hiscox, 
 Samuel Hubbard, Koger Baster, and three 
 Sisters, entered into church covenant together, 
 thus forming the First Seventh-day Baptist 
 
40 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 Church in America. "William Hiscox was 
 chosen and ordained their pastor, which office he 
 filled until his death, in 1704, in the 66th year of 
 his age. He was succeeded by William Gib- 
 son, a minister from London, who continued to 
 labor among them until he died, in 1717, at the 
 age of 79 years. Joseph Crandall, who had 
 been his colleague for two years, was selected 
 to succeed him, and presided over the church 
 until he died, in 1737. Joseph Maxson and 
 Thomas Hiscox were evangelists of the church 
 about this time, the former having been chosen 
 in 1732, and died in 1748. John Maxson was 
 chosen pastor in 1754, and performed the duties 
 of the office until 1778. He was followed by 
 William Bliss, who served the church as pas- 
 tor until his death, in 1808, at the age of 81 
 years. Henry Burdick succeeded to the pas- 
 torate of the church, and occupied that post 
 until his death. Besides its regular pastors, the 
 Newport Church ordained several ministers, 
 who labored with great usefulness, both at home 
 and abroad. The church also included among 
 its early members several prominent public 
 men, one of whom, TticiiARD Ward, Governor of 
 the State of Khode Island, is well known to his- 
 tory. 
 
 For more than thirty years after its organiza- 
 tion, tlie Newport Church included nearly all 
 
HISTORIQAL SKETCH. 41 
 
 persons obsenang the seventh day in the States 
 of Ehocle Island and Connecticut ; and its pas- 
 tors were accustomed to hold religious meetings 
 at several different places, for the better accom- 
 modation of the widely-scattered membership. 
 In 1708, however, the brethren living in what 
 was then called Westerly, R. I., comprehending 
 all the south-western part of the State, thought 
 best to form another society. Accordingly they 
 proceeded to organize a church, now called the 
 First Hopkinton, w^hich had a succession of 
 worthy pastors, became very numerous, and 
 built three meetino^-houses for the accommoda- 
 tion of the members in different neighborhoods. 
 There are now seven Seventh-day Baptist 
 Churches in the State of Hhode Island, viz : 
 Newport, 1st Hopkinton, 2d Hopkinton, 3d 
 Hopkinton or Eockville, Pawcatuck, South 
 Kingston, and "Westerly. In Connecticut, there 
 are two churches, of which one is at Waterford 
 and the other at Greenmanville 
 
 The first Seventh-day Baptist church in New 
 Jersey was formed at Piscataway, about thirty 
 miles from the City of New York, in 1705. The 
 circumstance from which it originated is some- 
 what singular and noteworthy. " About 1701, 
 one Edmund Dunham, a member of the old first- 
 day church in that town, admonished one Bon- 
 ham, who was doing some servile work on Sun- 
 
42 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS '. 
 
 day. Bonham put him on proving that the first 
 day of the week was holy by divine appoint- 
 ment. This set Dunham to examining the point, 
 and the consequence was, that he rejected the 
 first day, and received the fourth commandment 
 as moral, and therefore unchangeable." In a 
 short time, seventeen of the church sided with 
 Mr. Dunham, formed a church, chose him as 
 their pastor, and sent him to Ehode Island to be 
 ordained. He served the church until his death, 
 in 1734, and was succeeded by his son, Jona- 
 than Dunham, who died in 1777, in the 8Cth 
 year of his age. Since that time, the church 
 has enjoyed the labors of several worthy pastors. 
 Erom this church originated the one at Shiloh, 
 about forty miles south-west from Philadelphia, 
 which was organized in 1737, and now embraces 
 more members than the mother church. There 
 are four Seventh-day Baptist churches in New 
 Jersey, located at Piscataway, Shiloh, Marl- 
 borough, and Plainfield. 
 
 In the State of New York, there are thirty- 
 three Seventh- day Baptist churches — the follow- 
 ing sketch of which is arranged according to 
 their geographical position, A church was or- 
 ganized at Berlin, Pensselaer County, about 25 
 miles from Albany, in 1780, which gradually 
 increased in numbers, and established a branch 
 twelve miles south in Stephentown. It also led 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 43 
 
 to the formation of a church four miles north in 
 the town of Petersburgh. From this neighbor- 
 hood, several famihes removed to Adams, Jeffer- 
 son County, and organized a church, from which 
 another church was afterward formed in the ad- 
 joining town of Hounsfield. A church was or- 
 ganized at Brookfield, Madison County, in 1797. 
 As this church increased in numbers, and gradu- 
 ally extended over a larger territory, two other 
 churches were formed in the same town, which 
 are in a prosperous condition. Scattered around 
 these churches in Central New York, are the 
 churches at Verona, in Oneida Co. ; at Watson, 
 in Lewis Co. ; at Preston, Otselic, and Lincklaen, 
 in Chenango Co. ; at De Puyter, in Madison Co. ; 
 and at Truxton and Scott, in Cortland Co. 
 Proceeding westward, there will be found eleven 
 churches in Allegany Co., viz : 1st Alfred, 2d 
 Alfred, Hartsville, Independence, Amity, AYill- 
 ing. Friendship, Richburgh, 1st Genesee, 2d 
 Genesee, and 3d Genesee. There is also a 
 church at each of the following places, viz : at 
 Persia, in Cattaraugus Co. ; at Clarence in Erie 
 Co. ; at Darien and Covvlesville, in AVyoming 
 Co. ; at Pendleton and at Wilson, in Niagara Co. ; 
 and in New York City. 
 
 In Ohio, there are two churches which make 
 regular reports — one at Jackson, Shelby Co., 
 and the other at Stokes, Logan Co. 
 
44 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 In Pennsylvania, there are five churches, viz : 
 at Hebron and at Ulysses, in Potter Co. ; at 
 Hayfield and at Cussewago, in Crawford Co. ; 
 and at Woodbridgetown, in. Fayette Co. 
 
 In Virginia, there are churches at Lost Creek 
 and at New Salem, in Harrison Co. ; on Middle 
 Island, and on Hughes' Eiver. 
 
 In Wisconsin, there are churches at Walworth, 
 in Walworth Co. ; at Milton and at Rock Piver, 
 in Pock Co. ; at Albion and at Christiana, in 
 Dane Co. ; at Berlin, in Marquette Co. ; at Da- 
 kota and at Coloma, in Waushara Co. 
 
 In Illinois, there is a church at Southampton, 
 Peoria Co. 
 
 In Iowa, there is a church at Welton, in Clin- 
 ton Co. 
 
 Besides the foregoing, there are many points 
 at which Seventh-day Baptists are located in 
 numbers sufficient to sustain meetings weekly 
 for prayer and conference, but where churches 
 have not yet been organized. 
 
 Th e Yearly II eeting . 
 
 A Yearly Meeting of the Seventh-day Bap- 
 tists in America was established at an early 
 period. In 1708, when the Church in Newport, 
 P. I., consented to the organization of a part of 
 its members into a distinct body, now known 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. ' 45 
 
 as the 1st Hopkinton Church, an annual inter- 
 view was agreed upon, for a friendly interchange 
 of sentiment, and for mutual encouragement and 
 edification. The bounds of this confederacy 
 gradually enlarged, as new churches were form- 
 ed, until it included the early churches in Rhode 
 Island, Connecticut, ISTew Jersey, and Xew York. 
 The churches generally appointed their ministers 
 and several leading members to attend the meet- 
 ings, who traveled for the most part at their 
 ovv^n expense, and sometimes occupied two or 
 three months in this social and religious visit. 
 The effect of the visit was highly beneficial. It 
 furnished an opportunity for brethren who had 
 been widely separated, and would otherwise have 
 remained comparative strangers, to become ac- 
 quainted with each other; and it served also to 
 interest them in the efforts which were being 
 made in different sections to promote the cause 
 of Christ. 
 
 The General Conference . 
 
 About the year 1800, the churches observing 
 the seventh day having greatly increased in num- 
 bers, and being not altogether agreed in doc- 
 trinal sentiments, the question arose, whether 
 union and prosperity among them would not be 
 promoted by a more formal ecclesiastical organ- 
 
46 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 ization. This question was under consideration 
 for two or three years, and the discussion of it 
 resulted in the formation of the Seventh-day 
 Baptist General Conference — a body com- 
 posed of delegates appointed by the churches, 
 a prominent object of which was to counsel and 
 advise the churches in cases of difficulty which 
 might arise among them. Meetings were held 
 each year, at places so chosen that they would 
 take a circuit of the denomination. The Con- 
 ference has continued, with slight modifications, 
 to the present time. Since 1846, however, its 
 meetings have been held only once in three 
 years. 
 
 The A s sociations . 
 
 The division of the denomination into Asso- 
 ciations took place in 1835. About that time, 
 it was thought by many, that the Conference 
 had too much business to transact, and that the 
 churches were located too far apart to justify 
 the continuance of a general meeting every year. 
 They therefore proposed a division of the 
 churches into two Conferences, according to 
 their geographical position. "When the subject 
 came up for action, however, it was deemed ad- 
 visable to continue the General Conference, but 
 to divide the denomination into Associations, 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 47 
 
 which should meet each year, transact the busi- 
 ness arising among the churches within their 
 own bounds, and appoint delegates to represent 
 them in the Conference. There are four Asso- 
 ciations formed in partial accordance with this 
 plan — the Eastern, embracing the churches in 
 Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Vir- 
 ginia, and those in New York east of the Hud- 
 son Eiver ; the Central, embracing those church- 
 es in the State of New York located between 
 the Hudson Eiver and the Small Lakes ; the 
 Western, embracing the churches in "Western 
 New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio ; and the 
 North- Western, embracing the churches in 
 Wisconsin, Illinois, and Iowa. 
 
 B enev olent Societies . 
 
 The Seventh-day Baptists have always been 
 forward to engage in the benevolent enterprises 
 of the da3^ In their ecclesiastical bodies, they 
 have repeatedly taken action against Slavery, 
 and in favor of Temperance and other Moral 
 Eeforms. In most of their churches, they sus- 
 tain Sabbath Schools, Bible Classes, and meet- 
 ings for social prayer and conference. They 
 have also had among them, for a long time, So- 
 cieties for missionary purposes, and to promote 
 the circulation of Reliofious Tracts and Books. 
 
48 the seventh-day baptists '. 
 
 The Seventii-day Baptist Missionary So- 
 ciety, in its present form, was organized in 1842. 
 Its object is to disseminate the Gospel at home 
 and abroad. In carrying out this 9bject, it has 
 employed ministers of the Gospel to labor with 
 the feeble churches in this countr}^, and to preach 
 to the destitute wherever opportunities offered. 
 It has also sent four missionaries — Solomon 
 Carpenter and Nathan Wardner, with their 
 wives — to preach Christ among the heathen. 
 These laborers sailed from New York in Janu- 
 ary, 1847, and located at Shanghae, China, wliere 
 they have built a chapel and two dwelling houses, 
 and organized a church. After nearly ten years 
 of service, Mr. Wardner was compelled by the 
 ill health of his family to return to this country, 
 where he arrived in September, 1857. Mr. Car- 
 penter is still on the field. The Society also 
 has a Mission in Palestine, consisting of William 
 M. Jones and Charles Saunders, with their 
 families, the former located at Jerusalem, and 
 the latter near Jaffa. 
 
 The American Sabbath Tract Society was 
 organized in 1843. Its object is " to promote 
 the observance of the Sabbath, as originally 
 instituted, enjoined in the Decalogue, and con- 
 firmed by the precepts and example of Christ 
 and the Apostles." This it is laboring to do by 
 the circulation of Tracts and Books. It has a 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 49 
 
 series of fifteen stereotyped Tracts, of which 
 editions are pubhshed according to the means 
 and demands of the Society. Besides these, it 
 has several pubhcations not connected with the 
 series, but all relating to the subject of the Sab- 
 bath. It has also issued a work in Defense of 
 the Sabbath, wTitten by George Carlow^, and ori- 
 ginally published in London in 1724. 
 
 The Seventh-day Baptist Publishing Soci- 
 ety was organized in 1849, for the purpose of 
 giving permanence to the periodical publications 
 of the denomination. It issues a weekly paper, 
 called The Sahhath Recorder, and a monthly, 
 called The Sahhath School Visitor. It has also 
 published for three years a quarterly magazine 
 of history, biography, and statistics, called The 
 Seventh-day Baptist Memorial. 
 
 The Seventh-day Baptist Education Soci- 
 ety was organized in 1855, for the purpose of 
 promoting Education, "in such a manner as 
 shall tend to the ultimate founding: and full en- 
 dow^ment of a Denominational College and Theo- 
 logical Seminary." During the first two years 
 of its existence, the Society took the necessary 
 steps to secure from the Legislature of New 
 York a Charter for a University at Alfred, 
 Allegany Co., N. Y., and obtained Notes to 
 the amount of nearly fifty thousand dollars to- 
 wards the endowment of that Institution. 
 5 
 
60 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS I 
 
 Literary Institutions. 
 
 The Seventh-day Baptists have several flour- 
 ishing Literary Institutions, designed to en- 
 courage, and furnish the means of obtaining, a 
 thorough education. In December, 1836, a 
 School was started at Alfred, Allegany Co., 
 N. Y., which has increased in facilities and im- 
 portance, until it has ten departments of in- 
 struction, with an able and experienced instructor 
 at the head of each. It is now organized as a 
 University, under a Charter from the State, and 
 affords to both sexes facilities for classical study. 
 In the Autumn of 1837, an Institution was open- 
 ed at De Euyter, Madison Co., N. Y., with am- 
 ple buildings and apparatus for academic pur- 
 poses, which has done good service in the cause 
 of education. There are, in the State of Wis- 
 consin, three Academies of a high order, under 
 the partial or entire supervision of Seventh-day 
 Baptists. One is located at Albion, in Dane Co. ; 
 another at Milton, in Eock Co. ; and the third 
 at Walworth, in Walworth Co. All three have 
 good buildings, and that at Albion has a Col- 
 lege Charter. Besides these, there are several 
 smaller academic schools, which are liberally 
 patronized by the denomination, and are la^dng 
 broad and deep the foundations of intelligence 
 among them. 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 51 
 
 Statistics of the Churches . 
 
 Churches. 
 
 Date of 
 formation. 
 
 Commu- 
 nicants. 
 
 
 'Newport, E. I., 
 
 1671 
 
 15 
 
 
 1st Hopkinton, E. I. 
 
 1708 
 
 362 
 
 
 2d Hopkinton, E. I. 
 
 1835 
 
 96 
 
 
 3d Hopkinton, E. I. 
 
 1835 
 
 204 
 
 
 Westerly, E. I. 
 
 1837 
 
 63 
 
 c 
 
 o 
 
 Puwcatuck, E. I. 
 
 1840 
 
 235 
 
 1 
 
 South Kingston, E. I. 
 
 1843 
 
 54 
 
 
 Waterford, Ct. 
 
 1784 
 
 96 
 
 m 
 
 Greenmanville, Ct. 
 
 1851 
 
 38 
 
 <' 
 
 Piscataway, N. J. 
 
 1707 
 
 127 
 
 C 
 
 Shiloh, N. J. 
 
 1737 
 
 248 
 
 <D 
 
 Marlborou2:li, N. J. 
 
 1811 
 
 99 
 
 00 
 
 Plainiield, N. J. 
 
 1838 
 
 119 
 
 P^ 
 
 New York City, 
 
 1845 
 
 40 
 
 
 Berlin, N. Y. " 
 
 1780 
 
 178 
 
 
 Petersburgh, N. Y. 
 
 1829 
 
 91 
 
 
 Lost Creek, Va. 
 
 1805 
 
 91 
 
 
 New Salem, Va. 
 
 1745 
 
 87 
 
 < 
 
 
 Adams, N. Y. 
 1st Brookfield, N. Y. 
 2d Brookfield, N. Y. 
 West Edmeston, N. Y. 
 De Euyter, N. Y. 
 Hoimsfield, N. Y. 
 Lincklaen, N. Y. 
 Otselic, N. Y. 
 Preston, N. Y. 
 Scott, N. Y. 
 Truxton, N. Y. 
 1st Verona, N. Y. 
 2d Verona, N. Y. 
 Watson, N. Y. 
 
 1822 
 1757 
 1823 
 1823 
 1816 
 1841 
 1831 
 1830 
 1834 
 1820 
 1824 
 1820 
 1837 
 1841 
 
 249 
 
 164 
 
 200 
 
 136 
 
 134 
 
 36 
 
 101 
 
 44 
 
 42 
 
 163 
 
 28 
 
 126 
 
 21 
 
 59 
 
52 
 
 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS 
 
 Churches. 
 
 Date of 
 formation. 
 
 Commu- 
 nicants. 
 
 
 r 1st Alfred, N. Y. 
 
 '"1816 
 
 412 
 
 
 2d Alfred, N. Y. 
 
 1831 
 
 177 
 
 
 Hartsville, N. Y. 
 
 1847 
 
 101 
 
 
 1st Genesee, N. Y. 
 
 1827 
 
 182 
 
 
 2d Genesee, N. Y. 
 
 1834 
 
 22 
 
 
 3d Genesee, N. Y. 
 
 1842 
 
 52 , 
 
 
 Friendship, N. Y. 
 
 1824 
 
 105 
 
 d 
 o 
 
 Independence, N. Y. 
 
 1834 
 
 162 
 
 
 Willing, N. Y. 
 
 1834 
 
 24 
 
 c3 
 
 Eichbiirirh, N. Y. 
 
 1827 
 
 69 
 
 o 
 
 03 
 
 Amity, N. Y. 
 
 1834 
 
 25 
 
 <1 ^ 
 
 Clarence, N. Y. 
 
 1828 
 
 45 
 
 1 
 
 Persia, N. Y. 
 
 1832 
 
 35 
 
 
 Pendleton, N. Y. 
 
 1844 
 
 12 
 
 02 
 
 Darien and Cowlesville, 
 
 1851 
 
 29 
 
 o 
 
 ^ 
 
 AVilson, N. Y. 
 
 1855 
 
 21 
 
 Hayfield, Pa. 
 
 1829 
 
 50 
 
 
 Cussewago, Pa. 
 
 1853 
 
 35 
 
 
 Hebron, Pa. 
 
 1833 
 
 61 
 
 
 Ulysses, Pa. 
 
 1845 
 
 37 
 
 
 Woodbridgetown, Pa. 
 
 
 10 
 
 
 Jackson, Ohio, 
 
 1840 
 
 56 
 
 
 Stokes, Ohio, 
 
 1837 
 
 18 
 
 < 
 
 a» 
 
 -4-1 
 02 
 
 O 
 
 Milton, "Wisconsin, 
 
 Eock Piver, AVis. 
 
 Albion, Wis. 
 
 Christiana, Wis. 
 
 Walworth, Wis. 
 ] Berlin, Wis. 
 
 Dakota, Wis. 
 
 Coloma, Wis. 
 
 Sonthampton, Illinois, 
 ^Welton, Iowa, 
 
 1840 
 1856 
 1843 
 1850 
 
 1847 
 1850 
 1853 
 
 1857 
 1850 
 1855 
 
 223 
 82 
 
 187 
 64 
 80 
 72 
 82 
 16 
 32 
 34 
 
HISTORICAL SKETCH. 
 
 53 
 
 The foregoing statistics are taken mostly from 
 the Minutes of Associations for 1857. It is 
 projDer to state, that within a few years several 
 of the churches have revised their lists of mem- 
 bers, dropping the names of many persons whose 
 location and standing are not definitely known, 
 although they are supposed to be still living in 
 conformity w^ith the principles of the denomin- 
 ation. 
 
 The following table shows the number of 
 communicants reported to the Seventh-day Bap- 
 tist General Conference from year to year for 
 forty years previous to 1846. 
 
 i'ear. 
 
 Com. 
 
 Vear, 
 
 Com. 
 
 Vertr. 
 
 Com. 
 
 1807, 
 
 1648 
 
 1819, 
 
 1922 
 
 1831, 
 
 3970 
 
 1808, 
 
 1744 
 
 1820, 
 
 2330 
 
 1832, 
 
 4170 
 
 1800, 
 
 1748 
 
 1821, 
 
 2528 
 
 1833, 
 
 4364 
 
 1810, 
 
 1738 
 
 1822, 
 
 2605 
 
 1834, 
 
 4355 
 
 1811, 
 
 1675 
 
 1823, 
 
 2862 
 
 1835, 
 
 4584 
 
 1812, 
 
 1804 
 
 1824, 
 
 2824 
 
 1838, 
 
 4746 
 
 1813, 
 
 1893 
 
 1825, 
 
 2878 
 
 1839, 
 
 5005 
 
 1814, 
 
 1953 
 
 1826, 
 
 2833 
 
 1840, 
 
 5022 
 
 1815, 
 
 2066 
 
 1827, 
 
 2832 
 
 1841, 
 
 5319 
 
 1816, 
 
 2056 
 
 1828, 
 
 3035 
 
 1842, 
 
 5360 
 
 1817, 
 
 2063 
 
 1829, 
 
 3587 
 
 1843, 
 
 6077 
 
 1818, 
 
 2143 
 
 1830, 
 
 3462 
 
 1846, 
 
 6092 
 
 Few^ words will suffice to conclude this sketch 
 
 of the Seventh-day Baptists in America. From 
 
 the time when they were represented by a single 
 
 man at Newport, R. I., to the present, their pro- 
 
 5" 
 
64 THE SEVENTH-DAY BAPTISTS. 
 
 gress, though slow, has been miinterrupted. 
 The persons who have conformed to their views, 
 have necessarily been subjected to much incon- 
 venience in the transaction of their business, 
 and have been shut out from many social and 
 political privileges which they might otherwise 
 have enjoyed. One consequence has been, that 
 many who were trained up in the observance 
 of the seventh day, and who believed in heart 
 that the practice was accordant with Scripture, 
 have abandoned it ; while many others, who 
 were convinced of its claims, have refused to 
 yield to them. Only the few have found their 
 hearts framed to the holy resolve expressed by 
 Francis Bampfield : " Duty is mine — the issues 
 and successes of things are God's, and do be 
 long to Him." Still, the number of such has 
 steadily increased, and the prospect before them 
 has steadily brightened. As they now review 
 the past, and glance toward the future, they see 
 no occasion for discouragement, but rather feel 
 called upon to thank God and take courage. 
 
LIST OF MINISTEES. 
 
 Leman Andrus, Richburgh, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 Daniel Babcock, Milton, Rock Co., Wis. 
 Geo. C. Babcock, Dakota, Waushara Co., Wis. 
 Hiram W. Babcock, Coloma, Waushara Co. Wis. 
 Maxson Babcock, Montra, Shelby Co., Ohio. 
 Rowse Babcock, Galva, Henry Co., Illinois. 
 Simeon Babcock, Pratt, Shelby Co., Ohio. 
 Thomas E. Babcock, Albion, Dane Co., Wis. 
 EH S. Bailey, Brookfield, Madison Co., N. Y. 
 James Bailey, Plainfield, Essex Co., N. J. 
 H. H. Baker, New Market, Middlesex Co., N. J. 
 E. Barnes, Sackett's Harbor, Jefterson Co., N. Y. 
 Asa and Ezekiel Bee, Culp's Store, Virginia. 
 Richard C. Bond, Milton, Rock Co., Wis. 
 T. B. Brown, Little Genesee, Allegany Co., N.Y. 
 Alfred B. Burdick, Westerly, R. I. 
 Ehas Burdick, So. Richland, Oswego Co., N. Y. 
 Hiram P. Burdick, Alfred, Allegany Co., X. Y. 
 Russell G. Burdick, Utica, Dane Co., Wis. 
 Stephen Burdick, Rockville, R. I. 
 Alex. Campbell, Adams Center, Jeff 'n Co., N. Y. 
 Zuriel Campbell, Utica, Dane Co., Wis. 
 Solomon Carpenter Shanghae, China. 
 Christopher Chester, Ashaway, R. I. 
 Henry Clarke, Dorrville, R. I. 
 Joshua Clarke, Potter Hill, R. I. 
 David Clawson, Shiloh, Cumberland Co., N. J. 
 Benjamin Clement, Montra, Shelby Co., Ohio. 
 Amos W. Coon, Berlin, Rensselaer Co., N. Y. 
 Daniel Coon, Potter Hill, R. I. 
 Stillman Coon, Milton, Rock Co., Wis. 
 L. M. Cottrell, West Edmeston, Otsego Co., N.Y. 
 Lucius Crandall, Plainfield, Essex Co., N. J. 
 P. S. Crandall, Shiloh, Cumberland Co., N. J. 
 J. Croffut, New York City. 
 David P. Curtis, Oxford, Chenango Co., N. Y. 
 Lewis A. Davis, Welton, Clinton Co., Iowa. 
 Peter Davis, New Salem, Harrison Co., Va. 
 
 55 
 
56 LIST OF MINISTERS. 
 
 Samuel D. Davis, Janelew, Lewis Co., Va. 
 Samuel Davison, Farmington, Fulton Co., 111. 
 Azor Estee, Petersburgh, Rensselaer Co., N. Y. 
 Thomas Fislier, De Euyter, Madison Co., N. Y. 
 Walter B. Gillette, Shiloh, Cumberland Co., N. J. 
 S. S. Griswold, Mystic Bridge, Conn. 
 H. P. Greene, Little Genesee, Allegany Co., N.Y. 
 Joel Greene, post-office address not known. 
 Wm. Greene, Stow ell's Corners, Jeff 'n Co., N.Y. 
 
 A. Hakes, Southampton, Peoria Co., Illinois, 
 
 B. F. Holmes, Palmyra, Jefferson Co., Wis. 
 
 N. V. Hull, Alfred Center, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 O. P. Hull, Walworth, Walworth Co., Wis. 
 Varnum Hull, Milton, Pock Co., Wis. 
 J. P. Hunting, De Euyter, Madison Co., N. Y. 
 James R. Irish, Alfred, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 William M. Jones, Jerusalem, Palestine. 
 Jared Kenyon, Independence, Allegany Co. N.Y. 
 
 C. M. Lewis, Leonardsville, Madison Co., N. Y. 
 
 D. E. Maxson, Alfred Center, Allegany Co., N.Y. 
 T. A. Maxson, Petersburgh, Rensselaer Co., N.Y. 
 Wm. B. Maxson, New York City. 
 
 E. Pool, DeRuyter, Madison Co., N. Y. 
 
 Wm. G. Quibell, Adams Center, Jeff 'n Co., N.Y. 
 A.A. F.Randolph, Sagerstown, Crawford Co., Pa. 
 
 B. F. Robbins, Friendship, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 Elihu Robinson, Watson, Lewis Co., N. Y. 
 James C. Rogers, Southampton, Peoria Co., 111. 
 Charles Rowley, Wellsville, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 William Satterlee, Berlin, Rensselaer Co., N. Y. 
 
 C. C. Stillman, Westerly, R. I. 
 
 J. Summerbell, Adams Center, Jeff 'n Co., N. Y. 
 J. M. Todd, Brookfield, Madison Co., N. Y. 
 George B. titter. New York City. 
 N. Wardner, Independence, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 Joel C. West, Nile, Allegany Co., N. Y. 
 George R. Wheeler, Salem, Salem Co., N. J. 
 Wilham C. Whitford, Milton, Rock Co., Wis. 
 
REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 
 THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 
 
 When those who observe the Seventh Day of 
 the Week as the Sabbath, urge the claims of 
 that day upon the attention of their fellow 
 Christians, it is not unfrequently suggested, that 
 they place too much emphasis on iJie day of the 
 Sabbath — that they magnify a " positive institu- 
 tion " at the cost of unnecessary division. A 
 consideration of some of the Reasons which im- 
 pel them to take the course they do, may help 
 in deciding whether the suggestion is just or 
 unjust. 
 
 Prominent among these Reasons stands the 
 utility of the Sabbath. God, "whose tender 
 mercies are over all his works," in giving the 
 Sabbath, provided a weekly season of rest from 
 secular labor — just such a rest as the observation 
 of men has shown that their natures imperiously 
 demanded. The statesman, the scholar, the man 
 of business, and the day laborer, alike need a 
 regularly-recurring season of relaxation from 
 the dull routine of ordinary duties, to recruit 
 their exhausted energies of body and mind. It 
 
58 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 4 
 
 is their only safeguard against the evils of con- 
 stant anxiety, or the excessive toils \yhich avarice 
 and cruelty might demand. Indeed, the tempo- 
 ral interests of men in every respect are pro- 
 moted by the Sabbath. It secures neatness and 
 comfort ; it abases pride and encourages civility ; 
 and by bringing men together as the children of 
 a common Father, with a common destiny, it 
 produces such an interchange of kind regards as 
 greatly improves their general character, and 
 adds to the sum of their social blessings. But 
 it is in connection with the spiritual interests of 
 men that the highest importance of the Sabbath 
 is seen. It is a season in which, set free from 
 other cares, they may give their thoughts espe- 
 cially to religious subjects, and cultivate the 
 graces of a spiritual life. It is a time when the 
 truths of the Gospel, w^ith their sanctifying in- 
 fluence, may be brought to bear upon the masses 
 of society. It is, in short, the time when that 
 system of means which is designed to work out 
 the redemption of man receives its chief impulse. 
 From such views of the utility of the Sabbath, 
 is apparent the vast importance of maintaining 
 it inviolate. 
 
 Another Eeason for urging attention to the 
 claims of the Seventh Day, is the ivide-spread 
 disregard of the Sabbatic Institution. It can 
 not be disguised, that in our own country there 
 
5 THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 59 
 
 is a growing disregard of all sacred time. One 
 has only to pass along our great thoroughfares, 
 go through our cities and large towns, or visit 
 any of the places of fashionable resort, to find 
 abundant proof of this. The day which the 
 church devotes to religious worship, is for " the 
 world " a day of recreation. Its claim to sacred 
 regard is practically and theoretically denied, 
 and it is often devoted to the most demoralizino* 
 purposes. Nor does this assertion apply to 
 " the world " alone : there are those bearino- the 
 Christian name who would make the day of 
 weekly rest a season for recreation and amuse- 
 ment — a day of idleness, festivity, and mirth. 
 The influences which have contributed to pro- 
 duce this state of things, are worthy of serious 
 consideration. In England, low views of the 
 Sabbatic Institution, have done much to weaken 
 its authority over the consciences of men. On 
 the Continent of Europe, the claim of Eoman- 
 ism, that the day of the Sabbath is one wiiich 
 the Church has fixed and may alter at pleasure, 
 has placed it on the same footing with other 
 church holidays. The consequence is, that all 
 over the Continent, the Sabbatic Institution, so 
 far as its influence upon vital godliness is con- 
 cerned, lies prostrate. In our own country, the 
 multiplied and often conflicting theories by which 
 the professed friends of the Institution attempt 
 
60 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 6 
 
 to establish its claims, have had much the same 
 effect. While one class of men enforce its ob- 
 servance by the fourth commandment, and yet 
 change the day from the seventh to the first day 
 of the week ; and a second class, seeing the im- 
 possibility of proving from Scripture a change 
 of the day, treat the fourth commandment as 
 abolished at the death of Christ, and urge the 
 observance of a Sabbath on the ground of mere 
 expediency ; and a third class claim that they 
 are set free from all obligation to observe a day 
 of rest, except as they from time to time feel 
 inclined — -what else could be expected, than that 
 the sacred authority of the Sabbath would cease 
 to be felt, and to affect the practices of men ? 
 Through such influences the Institution has been 
 robbed of that high sanction which alone can 
 give a just sense of the obligation to observe it, 
 and the evil of desecrating it. 
 
 In these circumstances, it is useless to look to 
 human legislation for help. All history proves 
 the impotency of such an expedient. Laws to 
 protect the Sabbath have been enacted by nearly 
 every Protestant State. But what is the result ? 
 They remain dead upon the statute books. 
 They do not express the sentiment of the people, 
 and while not sanctioned by public opinion, they 
 must continue inoperative. Even if put in exe- 
 cution, what can they do to promote the real de- 
 
7 THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 61 
 
 sign of the Sabbath ? They may compel men 
 to abandon their ordinary avocations on one day 
 of the week, and resort to the house of prayer ; 
 but they can never make them worshipers of God 
 in spirit and in truth. It is only when men ' call 
 the Sabbath a delight, the holy of the Lord, 
 honorable, and honor Him, not doing their own 
 ways, nor finding their own pleasure, nor speak- 
 ing their own words,' that God has promised 
 they shall delight themselves in Him, and ride 
 upon the high places of the earth. It is then 
 only that the real design of the Sabbath is se- 
 cured. And such a regard for the day can not 
 be compelled by human enactments ; it springs 
 only from a heart to which the day is endeared, 
 and which delights in its duties. To set the 
 Institution adrift, therefore, on the turbid ocean 
 of human legislation, can not possibly be help- 
 ful, and is quite likely to be hurtful. 
 
 What, then, should be done ? To this ques- 
 tion there would seem to be but one answer. 
 We should come back to the Law of the Sab- 
 bath, place the Institution under the guardian 
 care of the Lawgiver, and rest its claims on His 
 authority alone. Legislative enactments, eccle- 
 siastical recommendations, and individual pledg- 
 es, have been thoroughly tried, and the result 
 has shown, that when men are relieved of all 
 obligation from the Word of God to " remember 
 
62 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 8 
 
 the Sabbath day and keep it holy," the efforts of 
 its friends are utterly futile. Nay, more — it is 
 feared, that those efforts which have been made 
 in reliance upon other than scriptural means, 
 have actually injured the cause they were intend- 
 ed to benefit. 
 
 But what does the Law of the Sabbath, to 
 which we should come, require ? Its essential 
 principle is that of devoting a definite portion of 
 time to rest and religious duties. This portion 
 of time must be authoritatively iixed and gener- 
 ally known. It will not do for one man to de- 
 vote to this purpose a fifth and another a tenth 
 of his time ; for what is due from one is due 
 from all. It will not do for one man to observe 
 the first day of the week, another the fourth, 
 and another the seventh ; for that would lead 
 to a confusion which w^ould defeat the design 
 and endanger the existence of the Institution. 
 If, then, a particular day must be set apart for 
 this purpose, v/ho shall fix that day ? There are 
 urgent reasons why God himself should do it. 
 He only is fully acquainted with our necessities, 
 and He only has authority to enforce obedience. 
 If He speaks on the subject, no man can ques- 
 tion the wisdom of the arrangement, or his own 
 obligation to conform to it. There is, therefore, 
 in the nature of the case, a necessity for a divine 
 appointment of the day. No views of expedi- 
 
9 THE DAY OF THE SABBAXn. 63 
 
 ency, or voluntary agreement — no civil or eccle- 
 siastical legislation — indeed, nothing short of the 
 paramount and universal authority of God — 
 could bind the consciences and control the act- 
 ions of men. " God's decision settles the point 
 of duty forever, and binds all men alike to keep 
 holy that portion of thne, and that day of the 
 week, which He sets apart for the high and 
 sacred purposes of religion." 
 
 Has God appointed a particular portion of 
 time, and a particular day of the iveeh, for the 
 Sabbath ? On this subject, the Scriptures are 
 the tribunal of ultimate appeal. Let them an- 
 swer the question. " On the seventh day God 
 ended his work w^hich he had made, and he 
 rested on the seventh day from all the work 
 which he had made. And God blessed the 
 seventh day, and sanctified it, because that in it 
 he had rested from all his work which God cre- 
 ated and made." It seems hardly possible to 
 mistake the import of this passage. The seventh 
 day of the week is the day blessed and .sanctified, 
 and the resting of God on that day is the reason 
 given for appointing it in preference to any other. 
 If w^e pass now to the commandment in the 
 Decalogue, we shall find that the same requisi- 
 tion was made two thousand five hundred years 
 afterward. It is there written, " Six days shalt 
 thou labor and do all thy work ; but the seventh 
 
G4 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 10 
 
 day is the Sabbath oi* the Lord thy God." In 
 this place, as in the narrative of the original 
 giving of the institution, the Sevenih Day and 
 the Sabbath are used as synonymous terms ; and 
 of course to neglect one is to neglect the other. 
 The argument from this passage in favor of the 
 Seventh Day can not be evaded by connecting 
 that day with Judaism. If its observance was 
 originally required of all men through Adam, 
 the fact that it was enjoined upon God's chosen 
 people by the most powerful sanctions, instead 
 of leaving the rest of mankind at liberty to 
 trample upon it with impunity, would lay them 
 under increased obligation to observe it. Nor 
 can a valid objection to the Seventh Day, as an 
 essential element of the commandment, be based 
 upon its 2^ositive character. What if it be posi- 
 tive ? Is it therefore less binding ? The com- 
 mand given to the progenitor of our race was 
 positive. But God has shown his displeasure 
 at its transgression by the miseries of a w^orld. 
 If the simple will of God is to determine our 
 duty in the case, then the observance of the 
 Seventh Day would be as binding on men as the 
 command to have no other god before the Lord. 
 God has seen fit to enshrine the command to 
 keep holy the Sabbath among other imperishable 
 and unchangeable precepts of his moral law ; 
 and while it remains there, to renounce the Insti- 
 
11 THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 65 
 
 tiition, or change the day of its observance, 
 "svithout authority as clear and certain as that 
 which first enjoined it, is practically to renounce 
 allegiance to the Lawgiver. 
 
 Has such clear and certain authority been 
 given ? Although a great majority of profess- 
 ing Christians are now observing the first day of 
 the w^eek instead of the seventh as the Sabbath, 
 few of them claim that they have authority for 
 the change as explicit as that which required the 
 observance of the seventh day. Indeed, some 
 of the most intelligent among them frankly say, 
 " We find no express command for such a 
 change." But a theory is not wanting on which 
 they attempt to justify the change for which 
 they admit that there is no command. It is this : 
 That the resurrection of Christ occurred on the 
 first day of the w^eek ; that an event so import- 
 ant ought to be commemorated ; that in order 
 to do this, the day of the Sabbath was changed 
 from the seventh to the first day ; and that this 
 change does not impair the original Institution. 
 To this theory we have several brief replies. 
 The first reply is, that since the seventh day of 
 the w^eek was the day appointed by God for 
 the Sabbath, and since the commemoration 
 of God's restins: from His work of creation 
 was . the reason given for the appointment of 
 that particular day, to change both the day ap- 
 6* 
 
66 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 12 
 
 pointea and the event commemorated is to annul 
 the Institution. — The second reply is, that in the 
 New Testament not a word is said of this 
 change from the seventh to the first day. Can 
 it be supposed, that so radical and practical a 
 change would be made in the Law of the Sab- 
 bath, and yet the Scriptures contain no hint 
 of it ? — The third reply is, that the early 
 Christians knew nothing of such a change. 
 They were chiefly Jews, and continued to ob- 
 serve the Sabbath, or Seventh Day, as scrupu- 
 lously as ever. This is evident from the fact 
 that no charge of abandonino* the Sabbath was 
 ever made against them, as well as from the 
 declaration of the elders to Paul, " There are 
 many thousands of Jews which believe, and they 
 are all zealous of the Law." 
 
 The natural conclusion from these considera- 
 tions is, that if we would retain the Sabbatic 
 Institution, we must retain the day appointed 
 and the event commemorated. The command- 
 ment must be received as it was given, and en- 
 forced by the same means which we would em- 
 ploy in persuading men to repent and believe 
 the Gospel. The Sabbath must be anchored fast 
 by the throne of God, and its claims rested upon 
 His authority. This only can invest it with a 
 sacredness which will follow its violator wherever 
 he may go, and fasten its obligations upon his 
 
13 THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 67 
 
 conscience so that nothins; short of a renunciation 
 of allegiance to God can shake them off. Such a 
 course will endear the day to every pious heart, 
 and make it a delight. By this means we may 
 combine in a single day the commemoration of 
 the Creator's work, of Israel's release from 
 Egyptian bondage, and of the Saviour's resur- 
 rection — in short, all of the glorious recollections 
 which can be gathered from the whole history 
 of God's gracious dealings with man. Above 
 all, by this means we may secure the presence of 
 the Lord of the Sabbath, and enlist in behalf of 
 labors for Sabbath Eeform the attributes of His 
 character and the promises of His Word. 
 
 Another Reason which impels those who 
 observe the Seventh Day to urge their views 
 upon the attention of their fellow Christians, is 
 the probable influence of a return to the Sabbath 
 of the Bible. The question at issue between 
 Evangelical Christianity and Papacy has long 
 been, whether the Scriptures, without the aid of 
 tradition, are a sufficient Rule of Faith. The 
 leaders of the Reformation asserted, that " the 
 Scriptures are the only judge, the only Rule of 
 Faith ; that it is to them, as to a touchstone, that 
 all dogmas ought to be brought." Yet from 
 this doctrine there is a constant tendency to de- 
 part ; and it can not be doubted, that Protest- 
 antism has yet to maintain a vigorous struggle 
 
68 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 14 
 
 in its support. One of the most common facts 
 to which papal writers refer in proof of the au- 
 thority of their church and lier traditions, is the 
 change of the day of the Sabbath. They find 
 almost the whole body of Protestant churches 
 observing the first day of the week instead of 
 the seventh ; and believing that this change was 
 produced by the same authority and traditions 
 for which tliey contend, they regard the practice 
 as an inconsistency suflScient to shield themselves 
 against the weapons of truth. Proofs of this 
 may be found, not only in the discussions be- 
 tween Papists and Protestants, but in papal 
 Catechisms and other works for primary in- 
 struction in Christian Doctrine. In one of these 
 Catechisms, it is set forth, that " the power of 
 the Church to command feasts and holy-days," 
 is proven "by this very act of changing the 
 Sabbath into Sunday, which Protestants allow 
 of; and therefore they fondly contradict them- 
 selves by keeping Sunday so strictly, and break- 
 ing most other feasts commanded by the same 
 Church;" "because, by keeping Sunday they 
 acknowledge the Church's power to ordain Sab- 
 bath and to command them under sin, and by 
 not keeping the feasts by her commanded, they 
 again deny the same power." Protestant prac- 
 tices, therefore, oppose Protestant principles ; 
 and while this is the case, is it surprising that 
 
15 THE DAY OF THE SABBAXn. 69 
 
 the words of Protestants fall powerless upon 
 the ears of Papists ? But we are not indebted 
 to Papists alone for such arguments as these. 
 It is quite common for even Protestants, when 
 contending for the divine authority of some prac- 
 tice not expressly enjoined in the Scriptures, to 
 refer to the change in the day of the Sabbath, 
 as proof that some things may be binding which 
 the Scriptures do not expressly enjoin. An Eng- 
 lish writer of high repute, in replying to those 
 who contend for the maxim, that ' the Bible only 
 is the Protestant's Rule of Faith,' refers to the 
 observance of the first day of the week instead 
 of the seventh for the Sabbath, and says, that 
 " here we are absolutely coinpelled to resort to 
 the aid of ancient usage, as recorded, not by 
 inspired, but by uninspired wTiters." Ano- 
 ther English churchman, in reply to those who 
 would not observe Easter and other festivals of 
 the Church, because it is not known on what 
 days the commemorated events occurred, refers 
 to the change in the day of the Sabbath as fol- 
 lows : " ' The sevenih day is the Sabbath of the 
 Lord thy God ' ; we celebrate the first. "Was 
 this done by divine command ? No. I do not 
 recollect that the Saviour or the Apostles say 
 we shall rest on the first day of the week instead 
 of the seventh." From this he concludes, " The 
 same reasons which urge you to dissent from 
 
70 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING 16 
 
 the observance of the three grand festivals of 
 the Church of England, ought to operate with 
 you respecting the Sabbath." To such purposes 
 is the change in the day of the Sabbath turned. 
 That it was made without express authority 
 from Scripture, is admitted. That it is right, is 
 taken for granted, because the great mass of 
 Christians approve it. Therefore both Pro- 
 testants and Papists use it to justify any reli- 
 gious dogma or practice for which they find 
 themselves unable to bring a ' Thus saith the 
 Lord.' But the sufficiency of the Scriptures to 
 direct in all matters of Faith, is still the only 
 safe platform on which to stand. And if Pro- 
 testants, in their zeal for this doctrine, and for 
 the supremacy of Christ in his church, were to 
 conform their practice strictly to the Inspired 
 "Word, they would aim a most effectual blow at 
 the root of all traditional authority and papist- 
 ical domination. Until they do this, their re- 
 bukes of such domination will no doubt continue 
 to be met and resisted with the advice, " Physi- 
 cian, heal thyself" "Why beholdest thou the 
 mote that is in thy brother's eye, and considerest 
 not the beam which is in thine own eye ? Or 
 how wilt thou say to thy brother. Let me pull 
 out the mote out of thine eye ; and, behold, a 
 beam is in thine own eye ? Thou hypocrite, 
 first cast out the beam out of thine own eye ; 
 
17 THE DAY OF THE SABBATH. 71 
 
 and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the 
 mote that is in thy brother's eye." 
 
 Another consideration which ouo;ht not to be 
 overlooked in this connection, is the probable 
 influence upon the Jewish nation of a general 
 return to the Sabbath of the Fourth Command- 
 ment. The Sabbatic Institution has ever been 
 sacred to the mind of a Jew. He has seen the 
 solemnity with which it was instituted in Para- 
 dise, by a resting of the Creator. He has marked 
 the prominence given to it among the Command- 
 ments of the Decalogue, which, from their na- 
 ture, he supposes will be binding until the end of 
 time. He has observed the regard which God 
 had for the Institution, in the fact that through- 
 out his nation's history every blessing follow- 
 ed its observance and every curse its neglect. 
 Yet he hears members of the Christian church 
 pronouncing sacred the first day of the week, 
 which God has not called sacred, and sees them 
 desecrating the seventh day, which God has 
 blessed and sanctified ; and while contemplating 
 this, and supposing that the change was made 
 by the authority of Jesus Christ, can it surprise 
 us, that he doubts whether this is the long- 
 expected Messiah, who should come to fulfil the 
 Law and the Prophets, and to do the Father's 
 Will ? The practice of the Christian church in 
 regard to the dav of the Sabbath, is to the Jew 
 
72 REASONS FOR EMPHASIZING, &cC. 18 
 
 an occasion of stumbling ; and unless Divine 
 Authority for that practice can be clearly shown, 
 those who desire his conversion should be care- 
 ful how they countenance it. 
 
 The foregoing are some of the Reasons which 
 impel Seventh-day Baptists to emphasize the 
 day of the Sabbath. It is not from a wish to 
 arouse opposition, or to promote any sectarian 
 end. It is because they love the Sabbatic Insti- 
 tution, and believe it to be vital to the best inter- 
 ests of men. It is because they see the Institu- 
 tion losing its hold upon the conscience, and have 
 no hope that it will ever be universally and sa- 
 credly regarded until its claims are based upon 
 the Bible and enforced by the authority of God. 
 It is because they believe that a neglect of the 
 day of God's appointment for the Sabbath has 
 opened the way for a multitude of heresies, and 
 that only by ceasing such neglect can those 
 heresies be effectually rebuked and destroyed. 
 It is, in short, because faithfulness to their views 
 of truth will not allow them to do otherwise, 
 that they insist upon the duty of returning to 
 the Day of the Sabbath which was appointed 
 in Paradise, reaffirmed in the Decalogue, and 
 observed by Christ and the Apostles.