Columbia (Bntftem'tp 
 mtljeCitpofJUrttigork 
 
 THE LIBRARIES 
 
 Bequest of 
 
 Frederic Bancroft 
 
 1860-1945 
 
REMINISCENCES, 
 
 Sketches and Addeesses 
 
 SELECTED FROM MY PAPERS 
 
 During a Ministry of Forty-five Years 
 
 IN MISSISSIPPI, LOUISIANA AND TEXAS. 
 
 BY 
 
 EEY. I. E. HUTCHISON D.D. 
 
 HOUSTON, TEXAS: 
 
 E. H. GUSHING, PUBLISHER, 
 
 1874. 
 
o - 
 
 Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1874, by 
 
 E. H. GUSHING, 
 In the Office of the Librarian of Congress, at "Washington, 
 
 / ^^.Sxf- i) 
 
 c c % 
 
 Lange, Little & Co., 
 
 PKINTKES, KLKCTBOTVPERS AND STKBKOTYPEKS. 
 
 108 TO 114 WoosTER Street, N. Y. 
 
oo]srTE:^Ts 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Personal Recollections 7 
 
 CPresbyterianism in the Southwest: 
 Origin of Oakland College — Murder of President Cham- 
 berlain 21 
 
 ("history of the Church of Bethel and Rodney 29 
 
 Physical Science 35 
 
 Dueling in Vicksburg 51 
 
 The Code of Honor 55 
 
 The Dignity of the Ministerial Office 70 
 
 History of the Presbyterian Church, Houston, Texas . 84 
 
 Rev. J. M. Atkinson 85 
 
 Rev. J. W. Miller 85 
 
 Rev. L. S. Gibson 85 
 
 Rev. Alex. Fairbairn. 86 
 
 Rev. Jerome Twichell 86 
 
 Rev. R. H. Byers 86 
 
 Rev. Thos. Castleton 86 
 
 Rev. J. R. Hutchison, D. D 87 
 
 Rev. Wm. Somerville 87 
 
 Rev. Jno. J. Read 87 
 
 The Sabbath 88 
 
 A Christmas Story 99 
 
 The Hope of the Nation 108 
 
 The Glory of the Chltich 117 
 
 Universal Benevolence 125 
 
 Moral Insanity , . . .136 
 
 Love of Money 139 
 
 Influence 141 
 
VI CONTENTS. 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Semi-Centennial of Presbyterianism in New Orleans . 146 
 
 The Services 147 
 
 An Historical Paper on the Origin and Growth of Pres- 
 
 byterianism in the City of New Orleans 147 
 
 Reminiscences 168 
 
 The Origin and Growth of Preshyterianism in the South- 
 west 173 
 
 Texas 183 
 
 Indians in Texas 184 
 
 The French in Texas 185 
 
 The First White Man Lost in Texas 187 
 
 The Spaniards in Texas 189 
 
 Americans in Texas 191 
 
 First American Colony in Texas 194 
 
 Galveston Island 196 
 
 The Fall of the Alamo 198 
 
 Capture and Slaughter of Fannin's Men at Goliad 201 
 
 Battle of San Jacinto 205 
 
 Religion in Texas 208 
 
 Animals of Texas 211 
 
 Early Churches in Texas 212 
 
 Letter from Nashville : 
 
 The Texas Dead of Hood's Brigade at the Battle of 
 Franklin 216 
 
PEESONAL EECOLLEOTIONS. 
 
 During ray long residence in the Southwest, I have 
 often been surprised at the want of interest manifested 
 in the preservation of family reminiscences. Many 
 grandchildren know not where their grandparents came 
 from. An adventurer from the North strays off to this 
 new land of promise, forms new family ties, and finally 
 dies and is buried, and carries to an unmarked grave 
 much which his sons should have been proud to remem- 
 ber and transmit to their posterity. Even titles to land 
 have been forfeited by this neglect of parental or filial 
 oblioation. I have almost literally helped in decipher- 
 ing the dim records of old gravestones to aid Northern 
 claimants to establish heirship to Southern dead men's 
 property. What an unexpected surprise to a descend- 
 ant of Dr. Timothy Dwight, if in some old Georgia 
 cabin were yet to turn up a quaint tin box, containing 
 the long-lost original title-deeds of his father and Gen- 
 eral Lyman to all that rich section of country embrac- 
 ing the city of Natchez and the surrounding region ! 
 But it is in reference to what is more precious than lost 
 land-titles that I would infuse a new spirit into every 
 rising Southern village. Pride of ancestry is as valua- 
 ble at the South as at the North, and should contribute 
 as much in building up a Texan family as a New Eng- 
 land town. 
 
 I was born in Columbia County, in the State of Penn- 
 sylvania, on the 12th of February, 1807. I am a lineal 
 descendant, by my father's side, of those noble patriots 
 
8 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 who maintained the celebrated siege of Deny, in the 
 north of Ireland, against the combined forces of James 
 of England and the king of France. This siege lasted 
 from December, 1688, to August, 1689. From this 
 dates the " Protestant succession," and William, Prince 
 of Orange, ascended the British throne. The sufferings 
 of the people, during that memorable occasion, equal 
 anything to be found in the records of English history. 
 For several generations after coming to this country, 
 there was preserved in my family a knife with which 
 the original owner, of the name of Hutchison, dug up 
 roots beneath the walls of Derry upon which to subsist 
 during the horrors of that terrible siege. (Read Mac- 
 aulay's England and Charlotte Elizabeth's Sketches.) 
 
 At what time my family crossed the Atlantic I am 
 unable to say. I think it was in 1732. But my grand- 
 father, Joseph Hutchison, ^vas a native American, and 
 was born in Dauphin County, Pennsylvania, near the 
 spot where now stands the city of Harrisburg, the 
 capital of the State. 
 
 In early times the Susquehanna, as well as all other 
 Northern rivers, abounded in shad. It was customary, 
 immediately after wheat-harvest, in those days, for 
 neighbors to assemble together, and in a short time, by 
 dragging the seine, to supply their families with fish suffi- 
 cient to last during the ensuing winter. During my 
 grandfather's boyhood, in one of those assemblies of the 
 farmers for fishing, a violent thunderstorm coming up, 
 my great-grandfather took shelter under a tree on a 
 small island opposite where the city of Harrisburg now 
 stands, and was instantly killed by a stroke of light- 
 ning. 
 
 Soon after the birth of my father, my grandfather 
 and his brother Samuel removed to that part of North- 
 umberland County (Pennsylvania) now called Columbia 
 
PERSONAL RECOIJLECTIONS. 9 
 
 County, where they purchased a large tract of land on 
 the Cliillisqnuque Greek, near the present village of 
 Washiugtonville, and midway between Danville and 
 Milton. This purchase included Bosley's Mills, where 
 there was a small fort during the Revolutionary AVar. 
 This neighborhood '^vas the scene of many stirring inci- 
 dents in the early settlement of tlie country. I remem- 
 ber, when a child, of hearing many romantic and thrill- 
 ing incidents of border Avarfare and Indian barbarities. 
 Whole settlements were often broken u]), and the in- 
 habitants killed or scattered. It was customary for 
 families, on a sudden incursion of Indians, to hide their 
 most valuable articles of property and flee to some more 
 populous and better defended locality. I have, when a 
 child, seen various articles, such as pots, gridirons, gar- 
 ments, etc., turned up by the plough in my grandfa- 
 ther's field, where they were buried in baste by tlie flee- 
 ing inhabitants. The place of my nativity is about 
 thirty miles south of the valley of Wyoming, the scene 
 of a massacre by Indians and Tories which will be for- 
 ever remembered in the annals of the country. 
 
 I will here relate an incident which I heard from my 
 mother, and which illustrates the state of the times and 
 the character of the people. At the massacre of Wyo- 
 ming the whole region was aroused and the people fled 
 to the block-houses. My mother, then a small girl, 
 and residing with an aunt, had to flee with the rest. 
 Hungry and exhausted, and gaining a respite from their 
 savage pursuers, she and her young friends supplied 
 themselves with a quantity of red apples, taken from a 
 crib on the wayside which had been abandoned by its 
 owners. When this act of taking the fruit came to the 
 knowledge of the parents and guardians of the children, 
 it was construed into a species of theft, and though in 
 the direction of their Indian pursuers, all were required 
 
10 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 to retrace their steps and replace the apples, and thus 
 run the risk of meeting the Indians. Such a require- 
 ment in a parent or guardian in our day would have 
 been viewed by most persons as a cruel exposure of the 
 life of a child. But in those days children were taught 
 elevated views of morality, and the slightest approach 
 to theft or falsehood was most promptly punished. The 
 effect upon the mind of my mother of this severe test 
 of her courage and obedience was most beneficial, and 
 she often alluded to the incident in her family as exert- 
 ing a happy influence on her character in all subsequent 
 life. 
 
 My father, Andrew Hutchison, the second son of my 
 grandfather, was a man of fine personal ajDpearance, of 
 medium size, of great muscular activity, and was very 
 popular in his neighborhood. Possessing a better edu- 
 cation than most other young men of his day, his ser- 
 vices were in great demand as a surveyor, a writer of 
 deeds, letters, etc. His earlier days were spent in at- 
 tending the mills of his father and uncle, and towards 
 manhood he was engaged in teaching school. He mar- 
 ried young and settled on a small farm adjoining that 
 of my grandfather. In 1813 he was chosen colonel of 
 a regiment of militia which was ordered to the northern 
 frontier to engage in the war with Great Britain. 
 Though but six years old at the time, I remember every 
 important event that occurred — the frequent mustering 
 of the militia, my father's gay military dress, the patri- 
 otic songs, and many other thrilling incidents of a time 
 of war. At last, my father's departure for Black Rock, 
 my mother's tears, and the adieus of friends are all re- 
 membered. Equally well do I remember my father's 
 return in a short time — his illness, his death, in dead 
 of winter, amid the deep snow, the grave (the first I 
 had ever seen), and the painful impression I long enter- 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 11 
 
 tained of his confinement in the cold ground. The 
 first dead man I ever saw was my father. 
 
 After my father's death my mother continued to re- 
 side on the same farm, and support and educate her 
 family of five children, the eldest of whom was ten 
 years old. She was a woman of remarkable energy of 
 character. At this distant day, her many virtues, ren- 
 dered prominent by her heroic struggles with compara- 
 tive poverty, stand out before my mind in bold relief. 
 She was a woman of great decision of character, and in 
 great demand as a counselor in the neighborhood. After 
 my father's death (who was a professor of religion and 
 maintained family worship) my mother continued the 
 practice of praying in her family, and maintained it 
 while she lived. She labored faithfully, and often with 
 tears, to impress upon the minds of her children the 
 importance of youthful piety. My earliest and most 
 important religious impressions were produced by her 
 instructions and prayers. She was firm but tender in 
 domestic discipline, often weeping when using the rod, 
 mingling tears with correction. Precious is the memo- 
 ry of my mother. 
 
 In recalling the scenes and incidents of my childhood, 
 I wish here to record my unbounded admiration of the 
 character of the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians, who were 
 the principal settlers of the middle counties of Pennsyl- 
 vania, and of many other States of the Union. Much 
 has been said, and with justice, of the noble character 
 of the Puritans, the Huguenots, and cavaliers. But the 
 influence which has been exerted upon the nation by the 
 Scotch-Irish element, spread out as it now is throughout 
 Pennsylvania, Western Virginia, the Carolinas, New 
 York, Eastern Mississippi, and all the Western States, can 
 never be fully appreciated. I glory in my descent from 
 such a noble stock. My impression also is that much 
 
12 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 more information was communicated, when I was young, 
 by oral instruction, than at the present time. Old 
 people rehearsed by the fireside the incidents of their 
 early days and what they had heard from their fathers, 
 and the young were eager listeners. Though books and 
 newspapers and traveling afford greater means of impart- 
 ing knowledge now than then, yet I doubt whether 
 youth are better taught in useful things, or have the 
 more important faculties both of mind and heart better 
 developed at the present day than, formerly. 
 My mother died when I was eight years old. 
 
 " My mother, when I learned that thou wast dead. 
 Say, wast thou conscious of the tears I shed ? 
 Hover'd thy spirit o'er thy sorrowing son. 
 Wretch, even then, life's journey just begun ? " 
 
 Immediately after the death of my mother, our fami- 
 ly (five in number) were scattered among our relatives. 
 I became a member of the family of my uncle, the Eev. 
 John Hutchison, of MifiBlintown, Juniata County (Penn- 
 sylvania). He was the only full brother of my father, 
 by whom I was adopted and educated. He was a supe- 
 rior man in almost every respect. He graduated at 
 Dickinson College (Pennsylvania), under the presidency 
 of the celebrated Dr. Nesbitt. In 1805 he assumed the 
 pastoral charge of the churches of Miffiintown and Lost 
 Creek, where he continued to labor until his death, 
 which took place on the 11th of November, 1844, hav- 
 ing retained the charge of the same churches for thirty- 
 nine years. Few ministers of the Gospel in Central 
 Pennsylvania have lived more honored and died more 
 lamented than he. He was a man of great purity and 
 simplicity — an entertaining companion, a firm friend, a 
 wise counselor, a patient endurer of reproach, and a 
 fearless defender of the faith. He seemed to have pos- 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 13 
 
 sessed an intuitive knowledge of human nature. Tlie 
 motives of men seemed to reveal themselves at once to 
 his view. He was the last man on whom any one could 
 palm an imposition. lie was also famed throughout 
 the country for great neatness and system in all the 
 ordinary affairs of life. His house, his apparel, his do- 
 mestic economy, his traveling equipage, were all e-^res- 
 sive of the order and native sense of propriety which 
 characterized him. His attainments as a scholar and 
 theologian were of a highly respectable order, and for 
 many years he was a prominent member of Hunt- 
 ington Presbytery. Like many of the Presbyterian 
 clergymen of the Northern States, he devoted much of 
 his time and attention to classical studies. His acade- 
 my was known for more than thirty years as the best in 
 all Central Pennsylvania, and his Latin and Greek 
 scholars always took a high position upon entering any 
 of the colleges of the State. A large number of the 
 professional men in the middle counties of Pennsylva- 
 nia were trained under his tuition. At the age of thir- 
 teen I commenced the study of the Latin and Greek 
 languages. When I arrived at the age of seventeen I 
 became his assistant, and thus secured the means of fin- 
 ishing my college course. 1 thus had an opportunity 
 of attaining a degree of accuracy in classical studies 
 which has proved of essential advantage to me in all 
 my subsequent life. 
 
 I wpuld here remark that, after having been for a long 
 time professor of the Latin, Greek, and Hebrew lan- 
 guages, it is my opinion that better classical scholars 
 Avere made fifty years ago than now. Several causes 
 may be assigned for the present degeneracy: First. In 
 the present day boys are taught too many things in con- 
 nection with languages. Second. The many new gram- 
 mars and new editions of the classics, with their various 
 
14 PERSONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 helps, explanations, and English notes, are no real im- 
 provement on the old ones. These modern lielps to 
 study prevent study. Tliird. Teachers have degener- 
 ated. Now, our teachers are young men, nice young 
 men, possessed of great self-esteem, intending to study 
 law or medicine, and making teaching only a stepping- 
 stone to something else. In my early day, teachers 
 were usually Presbyterian ministers, or candidates for 
 the ministry, who loved to teach, who knew how to 
 teach, and who had a reputation to sustain. Fourth. 
 Boys in the present day are more difficult to be taught 
 than formerly. They are not taught as much at home 
 as in former years. Especially, their memories are not 
 drilled, as they once were, by committing to memory 
 the (xeneral Assembly's shorter catechism. Conse- 
 quently, they are not so capable of committing with 
 accuracy the Latin and Greek grammars. I have always 
 noticed that the sons of old-fashioned Presbyterians 
 usually make the best classical scholars. Their superior 
 religious training renders them more susceptible of a 
 thorough classical training. From these and other con- 
 siderations, I am more and more convinced that if we 
 would have better scholarship in our colleges, we must 
 have our youth prepared, not in preparatory schools, 
 but by the pastors of our churches, or in parochial 
 schools under their care. 
 
 I resided in Mifflintown from 1815 to 1824. Those 
 years constitute the most important period of my life. 
 I can now trace back almost all my habits and my pecu- 
 liarities of character to that period. My residence in 
 my uncle's family imposed upon me the duty of work 
 as well as of study. Gardening, the providing of fire- 
 wood in winter, the care of horses, cows, etc., were, for- 
 tunately for me, combined with intellectual culture, 
 thus giving the best means of developing the powers 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 15 
 
 both of mind and body. Having also access to all 
 kinds of books, I then formed habits of general read- 
 ing, and by some assistance and close application I 
 qnaliik'd myself for entering the Junior Class in Jeffer- 
 son College. How often do I now revert in thought to 
 those pleasant by-gone days. Within a few months 
 past, I was once more permitted to revisit those scenes 
 of my youth, after an absence of twenty years. But 
 alas, how changed! Nature was there. There were 
 the bold Alleghany Mountains, the green hills, the 
 beautiful stream of the Juniata. But almost all the 
 companions of my youth and my kindred were no more. 
 Strange faces looked upon me, and I found myself more 
 at home among the tombs of the dead than in the dwell- 
 ings of the living. 
 
 In the Spring of 1825, 1 left Mifflintown for Jefferson 
 College, Cannonsburg (Pennsylvania). Stopping at 
 Pittsburg for a few days, I had the opportunity of see- 
 ing the distinguished General La Fayette, the compan- 
 ion of Washington, the eai-iy and devoted friend of the 
 struggling American colonies, who was then revisiting 
 the scenes of his early battles in the cause of liberty, 
 and whose progress through the country resembled a 
 continued Roman triumph. 
 
 I entered the Junior Class in Jefferson College half 
 advanced. The class consisted of thirty members. Jef- 
 ferson College, at the time I entered it, was in its zen- 
 ith. It was the most prominent institution west of 
 the Alleghany Mountains, and under the long presi- 
 dency of Dr. Matthew Brown, it furnished the ministry 
 which gave character to the Presbyterian Church in all 
 that vast region of country. Rev. Aaron Williams and 
 Rev. Dr. A. T. McGill, now professor at Princeton (New 
 Jersey) were my associates in study. I entered the 
 Theological Seminary at Princeton in the Fall of 1826. 
 
16 PEBSONAL EECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 My health failing in two years, I became an inmate for 
 a few months in the family of the Rev. Dr. E. S. Ely, 
 pastor of the Pine Street Church, Philadelphia. Dr. 
 Ely was at that time at the height of his f\ime as a pop- 
 ular preacher, a leader in ecclesiastical courts, a man of 
 wealth, a skillful financier, a patron of all public insti- 
 tutions, and the liberal friend and helper of all young 
 men seeking the ministry of the Gospel. Though a 
 man of eccentricity, " full of fat, fun, and fortune," yet 
 he exerted for many years a controlling influence in all 
 matters connected with the Presbyterian Church in the 
 Middle States. About the year 1831, he became a 
 prominent leader in an effort to found a great Western 
 city on the Missouri River. Many persons, by his influ- 
 ence and wealth, were induced to unite with him in 
 this plausible scheme. Many widows, and others hav- 
 ing the control of small means throughout the country, 
 cast in their lot with him and invested their all — and 
 Marion City, near Alton, for a short time bid fair to rise 
 to some eminence. But the pecuniary revulsion which 
 spread over the whole country in 1837-8, fell upon all 
 such enterprises with a stunning blow. The greater 
 portion of the people assembled at Marion City were 
 dispersed, their means were squandered, their health and 
 spirits broken, their chief leaders abandoned the project, 
 and Dr. Ely, broken in fortune and spirits, returned to 
 Philadelphia. Though Dr. Ely's course in the incidents 
 just narrated, and also in the part he took in the divis- 
 ion of the Presbyterian Church into Old and Xew School, 
 is certainly to be condemned, yet he deserved great 
 honor while he lived, and his memory should be still 
 cherished since his death, for the great good he accom- 
 plished in the earlier period of his life. Multitudes of 
 young men were aided by him in their efforts to enter 
 the ministry. His residence in Philadelphia was the 
 
PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 17 
 
 abode of elegant liospitality. Tlie Jefferson Mediccil 
 College was founded mainly by his efforts. Many 
 widows and orphans were clothed and fed by his money; 
 and for many years he expended thdwhole of his salary 
 from his congregation in acts of benevolence. I must 
 place on record this tribute to the name of Dr. Ezra 
 Stiles Ely. 
 
 On the 22d of April, 1829, and when in my twenty- 
 second year, I was licensed to preach the Gospel by the 
 Presbytery of Philadelphia, at Frankfort, a village some 
 miles from the city. Two other young men were li- 
 censed at the same time : Rev. Nicholas Murray, now 
 deceased, for many years pastor of the First Presbyteri- 
 an Ciiurch at Elizabethtown (New Jersey), a man emi- 
 nent for his learning, and particularly a popular writer 
 against Catholicism, over the name of "Kirwan." The 
 other was the Rev. Alexander Aikman, of Bordentown 
 (New Jersey), a young man of varied attainments in 
 learning and theology, who was sent to New Orleans in 
 1832 to take charge of the First Presbyterian Church 
 in that city, rendered vacant by the deposition from the 
 ministry of Rev. Theodore Clapp by the Presbytery of 
 Mississippi. Mr. Aikman commenced his labors under 
 most encouraging auspices, and did much to divest 
 Presbyterianism of the odium under which it had been 
 suffering for many years from the misrepresentations of 
 Mr. Clapp. But in a short time his health failed, and, 
 leaving New Orleans, he came to Natchez, where, after 
 lingering for some weeks, he died. His sun went down 
 at noon. 
 
 My first appearance in the pulpit was at Norristown, 
 in Montgomery County, about twenty miles from Phila- 
 delphia. In the month of October, 1829, I started for 
 Mississippi, landed at Rodney, walked out to the resi- 
 dence of Dr. Rush Nutt (two miles from the river); 
 
18 PEKSONAL EECO'lLECTIONS. 
 
 remained in that vicinity, preaching at Rodney and 
 Bethel, until July following, when I removed to Baton 
 Rouge (Louisiana) ; succeeded Rev. John Dorrance as 
 pastor of the church ; married on the 20th of September, 
 1832 ; in January, 1834, became connected with the Col- 
 lege of Louisiana at Jackson ; went as a delegate to the 
 General Assembly at Pittsburg in May, 1836 ; visited 
 New England during the summer of that year; returned 
 to Louisiana in the fall ; accepted a call to the church of 
 Vicksburg, with a salary of 13,000, where I remained 
 pastor for six years ; then accepted a professorship in 
 Oakland College, which I held for twelve years ; then 
 resigned in 1854, and removed to Covington (Louisiana), 
 where I had charge of a private seminary of learning 
 for three years, preaching also during the same time at 
 Covington and Madisonville ; then removed to New 
 Orleans, and purchased the property called the Brick 
 House Station, on the Carrollton Railroad, where I 
 established a male high school, and, at the same time, 
 preaching at Carrollton Church and the Prytania Street 
 Church in the city. In the fall of 1860 I removed to 
 Houston, in Texas, and took charge of the Public 
 Academy; was removed from the institution by the 
 military authorities of the Confederate States, which 
 converted the establishment into a hospital ; then 
 opened a private male and female academy at Turner's 
 Hall, where I also preached to the Presbyterian Church 
 until their edifice, which was burned down, was rebuilt. 
 At the close of my superintendence of the Public Acad- 
 emy of Houston I had one hundred and fifty male and 
 female pupils. 
 
 At the close of the war, in 1865, 1 became deeply con- 
 cerned as to my duty in reference to the spiritual deso- 
 lations of the villages and churches within the bounds 
 of the Brazos Presbytery, and accessible by railroads 
 
PERSONAL RECOLIiECTIONS. 19 
 
 from the city of Houston. My convictions of duty iu 
 this mutter led me to open a correspondence with my 
 ministerial brethren in the region referred to, asking 
 their advice and co-operation, and inquiring whether 
 my entrance into the field would meet their approval, 
 and ill no way interfere with their respective fields of 
 labor. From all with whom I corresponded I received 
 cordial encouragement. And then the question pre- 
 sented itself to my mind, " How shall I obtain a pecu- 
 niary support ? " for, up to the close of the war, no reor- 
 ganization of the Presbyterian Church had been efiected 
 within the boundsof the Confederate States. The Cor- 
 responding Secretary of the Board of Domestic Missions 
 at Philadelphia, intimated, through a third party, that, 
 on evidence of "loyalty," a sufficient salary would be 
 secured to me, if I would enter upon the same field. 
 Such a proposition I could not entertain. In the fall 
 of 1866, in a conference with some prominent members 
 of the Church, I was urged to carry out my original 
 purpose ; and the late Thomas M. Bagly, of Houston, 
 and Mr. James Sorley, of Galveston, placed in my hands 
 $50 each, as a salary for the month of January, in 18G7, 
 to justify me to leave my home and commence my work. 
 It was agreed and understood that I should explore the 
 whole field, ascertain the Presbyterian element in each 
 destitute community, preach the Gospel, organize 
 churches, and prepare the way for the settlement of 
 pastors and stated supplies. On the 1st of January, 
 1867, I commenced my labors, visiting as soon as pos- 
 sible the towns of Hempstead, Chappell Hill, Navesota, 
 Eichmond, Harrisburg, Columbus, Alleytown and Beau- 
 mont. AVithin six months from the commencement of 
 the year, I had reorganized the churches of Hempstead 
 and Chappell Hill, and organized new churches at 
 Navesota and Bryan City. During the first year of my 
 
20 PERSONAL RECOLLECTIONS. 
 
 mission, I received no formal recognition from the 
 Presbytery, and no pecnniary aid, excepting from the 
 two brethren above named, and from the voluntary 
 contributions of the people to whom I ministered. And 
 during no single month, from the commencement of 
 my services until now (1874), has my entire income 
 ever exceeded one hundred dollars. At all the points 
 where I have labored, I have always been emphatic, 
 both in my private and public announcements, that so 
 soon as any congregation may think itself able to call a 
 pastor or stated supply of its own, I should at once 
 retire from the field. The people of Navesota and 
 Bryan City can testify to the truth of my present 
 assertion. 
 
 In recapitulating my ministerial life of forty-five 
 years, I wish here devoutly to record the goodness of a 
 special Providence in prolonging my days to the com- 
 mencement of my sixty-seventh year, preserving me 
 amid sickness, amid epidemics, amid war, blessing me 
 with a faithful and loving wife, and ten grown and 
 affectionate children. Though I have had the yellow 
 fever more than oncej yet I have never been seriously 
 interrupted in my profession by any dangerous or pro- 
 tracted sickness. I have never lost the confidence and 
 esteem of any community in which I have lived. I 
 served the church of Baton Rouge for three years ; the 
 College of Louisiana, three years; theVicksbnrg Church, 
 six years; Oakland College, twelve years; Covington, 
 three years ; New Orleans, three years ; and Houston, 
 fifteen years. I have married three hundred couples, 
 and received in marriage fees four thousand three hun- 
 dred dollars. 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
 ORIGIJS" OF OAKLAND COLLEGE — MURDER OF PRESIDENT 
 CHAMBERLAIN. 
 
 Oakland College is located in Claiborne County 
 (Mississippi), thirty-five miles north of the city of 
 Natchez, and five miles east of the Mississippi River. 
 Rodney is the nearest landing. Bruinsburg, three miles 
 north, is the spot where General Grant crossed the 
 river and gained possession of the rear of the city of 
 Vicksbnrg, and soon that city fell. Oakland is situated 
 in a region of country rendered interesting from many 
 reminiscences of early times. Here was the scene of 
 some characteristic incidents in the life of General 
 Andrew Jackson. A few miles from the college was 
 the residence of Blennerhassett. HerQ was the place of 
 the capture of Aaron Burr. In this vicinity was the 
 plantation of the amiable, patriotic, and lamented Gen- 
 eral Zachary Taylor. This- region also derives much 
 interest from the visits and labors of some of the earliest 
 pioneers of Presbyterianism in the Southwest. Rickhow, 
 and Smylie, and Montgomery — the last lately gone to 
 his reward after a long life of labor in the Master's 
 vineyard, the two former still living at an advanced 
 age — here came, when the dew of their youth was upon 
 them, and laid the foundation of our churches. Here 
 visited and preached Schermerhorn, and S. J. Mills, and 
 Larned, and Bullen, and many others whose praise is 
 in our Southern Zion. The eccentric Lorenzo Dow 
 here rode his mule and blew his horn, and attracted 
 
22 PRESBYTERIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
 crowds of the first settlers, preaching on housetops and 
 haystacks, resembling Peter the Hermit, who once mar- 
 shalled all Europe under the Crusader's banner. 
 
 The origin of Oakland College may be traced to a 
 meeting of Presbyterian ministers, held in the town of 
 Baton Rouge, Louisiana, in April, 1829. Some circum- 
 stances had occurred previous to this meeting which 
 had particularly attracted the attention of Presbyterians 
 to the subject of Southern education. There was not, 
 at that time, a single college, prepared to give a regular 
 collegiate education, w^ithin the States of Louisiana, 
 Mississippi, and the territory of Arkansas — containing 
 a population at that time of more than three hundred 
 thousand souls, and a tract of country of more than one 
 hundred and forty-five thousand square miles, embrac- 
 ing the growing city of New Orleans and other cities — 
 with a soil capable of sustaining a vast population. 
 Efforts had been made by the Legislature of Tjouisiana, 
 with princely liberality, to establish several institutions 
 of learning, all of which had virtually failed. In the 
 State of Mississippi exertions had been made for nearly 
 thirty years, and large donations from the general gov- 
 ernment, and from corporations and individuals, had 
 been expended ; and yet not one individual was known 
 to have been graduated. The religious community had 
 done nothing. 
 
 After viewing these facts, and having a full inter- 
 change of sentiments, the clergymen above referred to 
 concluded that they would fail in their duty, and forfeit 
 the character of their Church, as the great champion of 
 learning, if they did not make an efibrt to meet the 
 claims of the country, and provide means for a thorough 
 Southern education. A committee was accordingly 
 appointed who, after an extensive correspondence, con- 
 tinued through several months, called a meeting of the 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 23 
 
 friends of education at Bethel Church, two miles from 
 the present location of the college, on tlie 14th of Janu- 
 ary, 1830. This meeting was composed of gentlemen 
 from tlie parishes of East Baton Rouge, East Feliciana, 
 and West Feliciana, Louisiana; and from the counties 
 of Claiborne, Amite, "Wilkinson, Adams, Jefferson, War- 
 ren, Hinds, and Madison, in Mississippi, and continued 
 six days. The following resolution was presented: 
 
 Resolved, That it is expedient to establish and endow an insti- 
 tution of -learning within our bounds, which, when complete, 
 shall embrace the usual branches of science and literature taught 
 in the colleges of our country, together with a preparatory Eng- 
 lish and Grammar School, and Theological Professorship, or 
 Seminary. 
 
 This resolution was sustained by gentlemen from 
 every part of the country represented in the meeting ; 
 and after considering it for three days, it was unani- 
 mously adopted. A subscription was immediately 
 opened to supply the requisite funds. Twelve thousand 
 dollars were contributed for the purchase of a site and 
 the erection of necessary buildings. Committees were 
 appointed to prepare a constitution, to view the various 
 locations which had been spoken of, and to make all 
 necessary arrangements for opening the school. 
 
 The Presbytery of Mississippi, embracing, at that 
 time, all the Presbyterian ministers in Louisiana, Mis- 
 sissippi, and Arkansas, received the proposed seminary 
 under its care, adopted a constitution, appointed a Board 
 of Trustees and the President of the college, and fixed 
 the location within three miles of Bethel Church, in 
 Claiborne County, Mississippi. On the l-4th of May 
 the school opened with three pupils, who had accom- 
 panied the President, the Rev. Jeremiah Chamberlain, 
 D.D., from Jackson, Louisiana, where he had been pre- 
 siding for some time over the " College of Louisiana." 
 
24 PEESBYTERIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
 On tlie 2d of July, 1830, the first clearing was begun on 
 the magnificent Oak Eidge, now occupied by the college 
 buildings. At the end of the session, March 28th, the 
 school consisted of sixty-five pupils. The two more ad- 
 vanced formed a sophomore class, and there were five in 
 the freshman class ; the remainder were in the English 
 and classical schools. The President instructed the 
 two college classes and the classical school in the lan- 
 guages; and his brother, Mr. John Chamberlain, after- 
 wards professor of chemistry and natural philosophy, 
 instructed the classes in mathematics and in the Eng- 
 lish school. In the winter of 1831, a charter was received 
 from the legislature of the State. In 1833, the first 
 commencement was held; and Mr. James M. Smylie, 
 recent Vice-Chancellor of the State of Mississippi, was 
 the first graduate of Oakland College. His classmate, 
 William Montgomery, son of Rev. William Montgomery, 
 one of our oldest ministers, who expected to receive his 
 degree at the same time, was removed by death about 
 three weeks before the commencement. This is believed 
 to be the first commencement south of Tennessee, and 
 Judge Siiiylie is the first native Mississippian who re- 
 ceived the degree of A. B. in his own State. 
 
 Such was the origin of Oakland College, an institu- 
 tion which has aided in the education of nearly one 
 thousand native youth, and which now has on the roll 
 of its graduates one hundred and twenty alumni, who 
 are scattered throughout the Southwest, and occupied 
 in the cultivation of the soil or in the learned profes- 
 sions. And the writer believes that there is not on the 
 list of the graduates of Oakland College a single name 
 upon which rests a blemish of dishonor or immorality. 
 And the large number of those educated young men 
 who assemble annually in the groves and halls of their 
 alma mater, is a pleasing token of their interest and 
 
PRESBYTERLVNISM IN THE SOUTHTVEST. 2o 
 
 affection, and a guarantee of what the institution may 
 hereafter expect from the influence and character of her 
 own sons. 
 
 The necessary buildings and accommodations for 
 students and teachers have been provided as the wants 
 of the institution have required. There are, at this 
 time, about thirty cottages for the occupancy of the 
 pupils ; residences for the President and professors; two 
 handsome halls for the literary societies, with libraries 
 attached; a college library of upwards of four thousand 
 volumes; a philosophical, chemical, and astronomical 
 apparatus, which cost nearly $4,000 ; a main college of 
 brick, one hundred and twelve by sixty, containing a 
 college chapel, prayer hall, lecture rooms, and other 
 requisite accommodations. The institution has never 
 received any aid from the State or general government. 
 Its funds have been provided entirely from private 
 liberality. And these funds would now be sufficient to 
 sustain the college, were it not for some unfortunate 
 investments a few years since in the banks of the State. 
 
 We shall conclude this brief history of Oakland Col- 
 lege, by stating a recent occurrence, which, at the time, 
 cast a deep gloom over the institution, and filled the 
 whole land with astonishment and grief. The President 
 and professors had been performing their quiet and 
 laborious duties, unconscious of being the objects of 
 any great amount of popular dislike or favor, when, 
 during the pendency of the election in the State of Mis- 
 sissippi, in the summer of 1851, for members to the 
 State Convention, the faculty were accused by indi- 
 viduals, and by some of the State Eights papers, of 
 giving in their teachings undue favor to the sentiments 
 of the Union Party. These clamors gained ground, 
 until, during the election in September, handbills were 
 circulated directly charging the faculty with highly 
 2 
 
26 PRESBYTEKIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
 improper conduct in this respect. These charges were 
 mildly but firmly repelled in a card signed by the Presi- 
 dent of the college. The leaders of the two parties were 
 General H. S. Foot and Jefferson Davis. A citizen of the 
 neighborhood, who had no connection with the college, 
 either as a student or in any other respect, but who 
 deemed himself either personally or politically implicated 
 in the denial of the President, stopped at Dr. Chamber- 
 lain's house, on the evening of the 5th of September (at a 
 time when the professors and students were absent enjoy- 
 ing the vacation), and called the doctor to his gate.. Ee- 
 taining his seat in his vehicle, he commenced denounc- 
 ing the doctor in very abusive terms, and made some 
 charge against him, the nature of which was not dis- 
 tinctly heard. Dr. Chamberlain, quietly leaning upon the 
 top rail of his gate on the inside, denied the charge, and 
 said that it could not be proved. Instantly the assail- 
 ant sprang from his carriage, and knocked the doctor 
 down with the butt-end of a loaded whip. As the 
 doctor rose, or attempted to rise, he was knocked down 
 again ; and as he attempted to rise the second time, he 
 was stabbed to the heart with a bowie-knife. All this 
 took place in the presence of the female members of the 
 family, wbose screams were heard at a distance, and 
 brought the doctor's son-in-law to the spot. He found 
 the doctor standing up, but bleeding, and the murderer, 
 outside of the gate, wiping his bloody knife upon his 
 handkerchief. The doctor had strength to walk to the 
 house, but, on reaching the middle of the open passage, 
 lie exclaimed, " I am killed ; " and, sinking on the floor, 
 he immediately expired. 
 
 Thus fell a great and good man. Conciliatory in all 
 his intercourse, bland and courteous in his manners, 
 even when smarting under unmerited obloquy, but 
 brave and firm as a martyr for principle, and ready to 
 
PKESBYTEEIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 27 
 
 stand in his lot for the cause of truth and right, at all 
 times and against any odds, he at last fell to appease 
 the bitterness of partisan malice and personal hate. 
 For more than a quarter of a century he devoted him- 
 self, with a zeal, a self-abnegation, and a success un- 
 paralleled, to the cause of Southern education. Mainly 
 by his efforts and sacrifices, a college has been founded 
 in Mississippi which has educated and graduated more 
 young men than all other colleges south of Tennessee. 
 And after all the labors, the trials, and the temptations 
 of his long career, he has left the memory of no one 
 act which his bitterest enemy will now venture to 
 censure. 
 
 We would here simply remark that a coroner's jury, 
 consisting of fourteen citizens, i)ronounced the act by 
 which Dr. Chamberlain came to his death, murder. 
 The perpetrator of the crime, on the second day after 
 the deed, committed suicide, and passed beyond the 
 reach of all human tribunals. 
 
 Although President Chamberlain thus fell, so cruelly, 
 so suddenly, yet Oakland College did not fall with him. 
 It still lives, and shall live, a monument of his fame, 
 and a blessing to the present and future generations. 
 And as it is the ordainment of heaven that martyr 
 blood becomes precious seed, whence springs nn dying 
 truth, we doubt not that the great principle, in this 
 instance as in others, will be fully developed. No 
 sooner was Oakland's chief founder and first President 
 cut down, than the true and firm friends of the insti- 
 tution began to rally. Precisely one year has elapsed 
 since the sad event occurred; and in that year much 
 has been done to place the college upon a firm and per- 
 manent basis. Upwards of $60,000 have been con- 
 tributed to pay its debts, and meet its more immediate 
 wants. The name of its first President is to be per- 
 
28 PKESBYTERIANISM IN THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
 petuated, by the investment of a permanent fund, to be 
 called the " Chamberlain Fund," the interest of which 
 is to pay the salary of his successor. Overtures have 
 been made from a distant source to found a professor- 
 ship of Natural Science ; and from various other sources 
 are cheering indications that this infant seat of learning, 
 which has struggled so long and done so much, will yet 
 become the glory of the South, and a rich blessing to 
 the future generations. 
 
 The present faculty are: Rev. E. L. Stanton, D.D., 
 President, and Professor of Moral Sciences ; Rev. •J. R. 
 Hutchison, D.D., Professor of Latin, Greek, and He- 
 brew Languages J T. Newton Wilson, A.M., Professor 
 of Mathematics; W. Le Roy Brown, A.M., Professor of 
 Chemistry and Natural Philosophy ; H. B. Underhill, 
 A.M., Principal of the Preparatory Department ; James 
 Collier, Esq., Steward. 
 
 September 6, 1853. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 OF TUB 
 
 CHURCH OF BETHEL AND RODNEY, 
 
 (NEAR OAKLAND COLXKGE, MISS.)- 
 
 In* the year 1838 tlie Legislature of Mississippi 
 granted a charter to that portion of Bethel Congrega- 
 tion now worshiping in Rodney, under the name of 
 the "Presbyterian Congregation of Petit Gulf," and 
 designated David Hunt, John H. Savage, John Watt, 
 and James Couden as trustees, with the power of ap- 
 pointing their successors. At the same time and in the 
 same act, the Legislature granted a charter to that por- 
 tion of the congregation worshiping at Bethel, two 
 miles from the college, under the style and name of the 
 "Presbyterian Congregation of Bethel," and named 
 William Young, Lewellin Price, John Magruder, and 
 Smith C. Daniel trustees of the same, with similar pow- 
 er of electing their successors. The first building for 
 public worship erected by this double congregation was 
 located in the rear of the plantations of the late Smith 
 Hubbard and James M. Batchelor, about three miles 
 east of the town of Rodney. The prominent actors in 
 this new enterprise were Daniel Hunt, John Bolls, Smith 
 Hubbard, Dr. Rush Nutt, John Murdock, Sen., M. Mc- 
 Clutchy, and also Matthew Bolls. The last named was 
 the son of John Bolls, who was a man distinguished in 
 the early annals of the church in this region, and whose 
 name appears on several church books — a man who, 
 though little in stature, was mighty in faith, swift of 
 
30 HISTORY OF 
 
 foot, great at a bear-hunt or in taming wild steers, the 
 fii'st to hear of a new preacher coming to the settlement 
 and ride thirty miles to see him ; mighty in cutting 
 down trees to build meeting-houses, and who had the 
 honor of being imprisoned in the calaboose in l^atchez 
 for being a heretic, having been betrayed to the priest 
 by a stranger whom he had sheltered and nursed in 
 sickness. His son Matthew was as large again as his 
 father, tall and gaunt,' a wit and a poet, whose quaint 
 sayings, famous " book of chronicles," and imitations of 
 Burns' poems convulsed many a circle with laughter. 
 Eorty years ago, he had much to say about early times 
 — how he soon outgrew his father, but still dared not 
 disobey him — how he never regularly wore shoes and 
 stockings until after he was married — how, for the want 
 of saddles and bridles, he and his companions would 
 seize wild horses, noose them with grape-vines, and ride 
 furiously to merry-makings. He knew something by 
 experience of the toilsome mode of removing cotton 
 from the cotton-seed, before the introduction of the cot- 
 ton-gin. Then every little boy and girl, white and 
 black, had to bend themselves to the task, just as in 
 picking wool ; and when a sufficient amount was pre- 
 pared, a large barrel, like an empty tobacco hogshead, 
 was filled, shafts were attached to each end, and it was 
 trundled across hills and cane-brakes to Selsertown, to 
 be pressed into bags. Cotton was precious in those 
 days, bringing forty cents per pound. Matthew Boll's 
 account of the first meeting to build the church build- 
 ing, of which we are speaking, was characteristic of the 
 men and the times. One thought that it would come 
 to nothing. Another, that it would break up the faces 
 down at Greenville and spoil their Sunday sports. 
 Another, that it might help to keep the women and 
 children in order. But all concluded to try it, and each 
 
THE CHURCH OF BETHEL AND RODNEY. 31 
 
 put clown a dollar to begin with. Noble effort! In that 
 little gathering were men who learned from that time to 
 give their thousands to the cause of Christ and educa- 
 tion. In a short time, " the little church down Hub- 
 bard's lane— the little church round the corner" — be- 
 came inconvenient ; and about 1824 efforts were made 
 to build two houses, one at Bethel cross-roads, two miles 
 from Oakland College, and another at Rodney. 
 
 The first stated minister of the church was Rev. Sam- 
 uel Hunter, a native of Ireland, who preached at differ- 
 ent points in the vicinity; and about 1826 organized 
 " Bethel Church," an offshoot of the Old Bethel, near 
 Fayette, made up of members principally from the old 
 "Bayou Pierre Church," which worshiped formerly in 
 a log building on the road now leading from Mrs. 
 Crane's residence to Port Gibson, and near the residence 
 of Mr. Venable. The place where the house stood can 
 only now be identified by a few old trees and sunken 
 graves. I know the spot. As early as 1824, the old 
 Presbytery of Mississippi met in session there. There 
 were Rickhow, and Montgomery, and Patterson, and 
 Chase, and others. A young man from New England 
 offered himself as a candidate for the ministry, was li- 
 censed (the first licensure ever witnessed by the people), 
 and after laboring a short time at St. Francisville and 
 Baton Rouge, returned to his home, and within two 
 years past has ceased from his labors. He was the Rca'. 
 Thomas Savage, late of Londonderry Presbytery. A 
 later incident connected with this lonely spot is familiar 
 from personal presence. Nearly twenty years ago, two 
 horsemen, on a sultry day, turned aside at these old 
 graves to repose beneath the shade, and have time to get 
 to Oakland at sundown. Plucking some wild grapes 
 from overhead, they stretched themselves on the grass 
 to rest and talk. Being both given to being merry and 
 
r>J " HISTORY OF 
 
 sad as occasion offered, the time and the place gave food 
 to both extremes of temperament. They talked about 
 the past, the present, and the future. They then arose 
 and departed. One remains until this day to record the 
 past. The other (three days after) fell by the hand of 
 an assassin ! (See History of Oakland College.) 
 
 The original members composing the " Bayou Pierre 
 Church/' and then incorporated into Bethel Church, 
 were John Bolls, elder (noble old man, with a little 
 body but a big soul, and who loaned himself about 
 among the churches as an elder until other elders arose), 
 Mrs. Catherine Crane, Lewellin Price (grandfather of 
 Rev. Robert Price), William Young, Clara Young, Dr. 
 Rush Nutt, Mrs. Nutt, Mrs. Elisa Kerr, David Hunt, 
 Mrs. Ann F. Hunt, and others. Early in the spring of 
 1828, Mr. Hunter retired from the care of Bethel and 
 Rodney churches, and the Rev. Zebulon Butler took 
 charge of the congregation in conjunction Avith the 
 church of Port Gibson, for one year. In November, 
 the Rev. J. R. Hutchison came from Princeton Theo- 
 logical Seminary, and preached at Rodney as stated sup-- 
 ply until the following July, when he removed to Baton 
 Rouge and succeeded Rev. John Dorrance, who returned 
 to Pennsylvania. While J. R. Hutchison preached at 
 Rodney, there Avere but two members of the Presbyterian 
 Church residing in the place, although the village con- 
 tained a larger population than at present. Yet almost 
 all the heads of families in the town formed themselves 
 mto a Bible Class and were instructed weekly in the 
 Holy Scriptures. The first place used for public worship 
 was the bar-room of a house of entertainment. On 
 Sabbath morning the landlord would ring the dinner- 
 bell, wipe the stains of decanters and bottles from the 
 table, bring out an old Bible, and the people would come 
 in. Some objected to the preacher because he was too 
 
THE CHURCH OF BETHEL .VXD RODNEY. 33 
 
 young; but ^[attliew Bolls, the great oracle, thought 
 that "if they would give the youug man a little time, 
 he would get over that defect." The young man lias 
 long since got over tliat fault. The writer has now lost 
 his raven locks, has put on gray hairs, and is old enough. 
 
 Early in 1829 steps were taken to erect the j)resent 
 brick church at Rodney. It was dedicated to the wor- 
 ship of God on the first day of January, 1832, by the 
 preacliing of a sermon by Rev. I)r. Chamberlain from 
 Exodus XX. 24 : " In all places where I record my name, 
 I will come unto thee and I will bless thee." After the 
 house was finished, it appeared that the builder still held 
 a claim against it of 81,500 — which debt was quietly 
 paid by Mr. David Hunt, a princely man, and the build- 
 ing released from all embarrassments. 
 
 Early in the spring of 1830 a new element of life 
 and vigor was introduced into this church, by the loca- 
 tion of Oakland College within its bounds, towards 
 which the members of the congregation subscribed 
 $12,000. Afterwards the same individuals multiplied 
 their donations to the amount of tens of thousands. 
 The reason why the college was located in so retired a 
 spot, was this: at that time no toivn or city in the South- 
 west was deemed siifficiently healthy or sufficiently moral 
 to be the seat of a college. In addition to his position as 
 president. Dr. Chamberlain preached at Rodney and 
 Bethel alternately for seven years. During that time, 
 in addition to the support of their preacher, the people 
 contributed to the different boards of the church about 
 $1,000 annually. On the 11th of November, 1837, the 
 Rev. J. T. Russell was installed pastor, and resigned in 
 1842. For the twelve next succeeding years, Rev. J. R. 
 Hutchison, having removed from Vicksburg, acted in 
 the capacity of both professor of ancient languages and 
 pastor of the church. During those years the cougre- 
 
34 HISTORY OF THE CHURCH OF BETHEL AND RODNEY. 
 
 gation in its spiritual aspects assumed many interesting 
 features. In 1837, about twenty were added to the 
 church, principally young men connected with the col- 
 lege. In 1845, about fifty persons were added to the 
 communion. During the long term of thirty years, the 
 congregation contributed largely to the boards of the 
 church — to the Tract cause, the Bible Society, Sunday- 
 school Union. Tlie American Colonization Society al- 
 ways was a favorite, and sometimes received from indi- 
 viduals contributions amounting to thousands of dol- 
 lars. For many years, a few noble planters supported a 
 minister to labor exclusively among their slaves. At 
 one time, forty negroes, valued at $330,000, were liberated 
 and sent to Liberia. An individual (Thomas Freeland) 
 contributed, from 1833 to 1843, $333 annually, to sup- 
 port a missionary in China. The students in the college 
 gave about $300 for the boards of the church. Besides, 
 the Theological Seminary at Maryville (Tennessee), the 
 Natchez Orphan Asylum, etc., received large contribu- 
 tions. ! those were palmy days, gone, never to return. 
 
 HousTOF Texas, August 28, 1871. 
 
PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 An Address delivered at Oakland College, on the occasion of the Inauguration 
 of Dr. J. II. Savage, as Professor of Chemistry, August, 1&42. 
 
 Oentlemen of the Board of Trustees and Faculty : 
 
 All attentive students of history have remarked that 
 great men and great events have generally appeared in 
 clusters. When one individual of vast enterprise or 
 learning has attracted the gaze and admiration of the 
 world, others, remarkable for similar qualities, have 
 arisen almost simultaneously with him. When great 
 inventions and discoveries have dawned upon the earth, 
 others of a kindred character have sprung up around 
 them. 
 What is the philosophy of this historic truth ? 
 How do we account for it ? By the following simple 
 process : — That waking up and inquisitiveness of the 
 human intellect, which results in the discovery of some 
 new principle, or the development of some new and 
 startling invention, impel it forward in a new career, 
 — a career of universal investigation; and speedily 
 other discoveries and inventions open before it, and re- 
 ward its newly-awakened energies. In addition to 
 this, all truth is intimately affiliated and interwoven, 
 and any change in one of her departments, speedily 
 extends its influence to every other, and, ere long, all 
 things become neic. But the chief cause why great 
 events and discoveries have so often appealed simulta- 
 neously has been, that witliout such simultaneous ap- 
 pearance they would have been of no great benefit to 
 
36 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 the world. Providence seems somefcimes designedly to 
 have held lack the mind of man from the perception of 
 certain great principles because the world loas not ready 
 for them ; their time had not yet come. What worthy 
 advantage could have resulted from the discovery of the 
 a}'t of printing, had not mankind about the same time 
 begun to call in question the old and time-hallowed 
 dogma that none but kings and priests should possess 
 power and learning — that it was a sin against God for 
 the common people to investigate political and theolog- 
 ical opinions. Hence, the discoveries of Johannes 
 Faust and Martin Luther appeared in close proximity 
 — the one standing ready to aid the other — the power 
 of the Press to advance and perpetuate the power of 
 the unshackled mind. 
 
 This simultaneous appearance of great events and 
 their adaptation the one to the other, was most strik- 
 ingly displayed in the discovery of America, and those 
 other astonishing discoveries and inventions which 
 appeared at the same time. 
 
 About the middle of the fifteenth century, that deep 
 night of intellectual and moral darkness which had 
 brooded over the earth for a thousand years began to 
 break away, and the day began to dawn. Suddenly, 
 as by a common impulse, Europe became the theater of 
 great and marvelous events : — the invention of the 
 mariner's compass — the use of gunpowder — the art of 
 printing — the commencement of the glorious reforma- 
 tion, — and the discovery of a new continent beyond the 
 vast Atlantic! These and a thousand other magnificent 
 discoveries thronged upon eacli other with pressing 
 haste ; when with a steady and triumphant step the 
 peerless form of human intellect arose erect, and throw- 
 ing off from her freshening limbs the death-shade and 
 the grave dothes which had so long enshrouded her. 
 
PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 37 
 
 ascended to the glorious resurrection of that noontide 
 luster which irradiates the horizon of our own day, 
 " rejoicing like a strong man to run a race." 
 
 Now some of these events paved the wa}^ for others 
 — some were rendered useful solely from the previous 
 existence of others, and all exerted upon each a re- 
 ciprocal effect. 
 
 Among the fruits of this new order of things — of 
 these new developments of mind — of this fresh impulse 
 to the spirit of universal investigation, of which that 
 cluster of great events was partly the cause and partly 
 the effect, we should always give a prominent place 
 to that department of knowledge called " Physical 
 Science.'^ For although the middle of the fifteenth 
 century is generally marked as the great era of the 
 revival of religion and of letters, it is no less deserving 
 of being distinguished as the time in which men began 
 to study, appreciate, and comprehend the laws and 
 phenomena of the material world; and it is a remark- 
 able historical fact, that at the very time Martin 
 Luther effected the revolution of the theological 
 system, at Wittenberg, in a city sixty miles to the 
 north, Nicholas Copernicus was revolutionizing the 
 long-received system of astronomy. "While the one 
 taught that the " Seven-hilled City " was not the center 
 of the Church, the other demonstrated that this world 
 was not the center of the universe: glorious coinci- 
 dence of great events — the type and the prophecy of 
 the approaching emancipation of Matter and of Mind ! 
 
 My theme is the present position and aspect of the 
 Physical Sciences. 
 
 1. The Physical Sciences, previous to the fifteenth 
 century, were the main agents and hand-maids of 
 superstition. 
 
 Instead of contributing to the happiness of the race, 
 
38 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 as they were tlien understood and wielded, they were 
 the chief source of human disquietude and suffering. 
 
 The mass of men, ignorant of the hiws which govern 
 the material world, and hence wholly incompetent to 
 unravel their mysteries and explain their phenomena, 
 became the sport of every strange fact or uncommon 
 occurrence which nature presented. The sudden ap- 
 pearance of an eclipse, or of a comet with its blazing 
 tail, the coruscations of the Aurora Borealis, the ex- 
 plosion of subterranean gases, the bursting up of vol- 
 canic fires, the ignis fatuus, dancing over the marshy 
 meadow at nightfall, have often filled whole nations 
 with alarm. 
 
 Nor in those cases where a solution of these physical 
 facts was known to a few more gifted than their fellows 
 were the masses the wiser or the better. For such 
 knowledge was hoarded up with jealous care — became 
 the exclusive property of the mysterious alchymist— the 
 cunning priest, the ambitious ruler, and was held in 
 terror over the heads of the multitude. 
 
 And it is a subject of curious investigation, to trace 
 out the mode in which science thus became an instru- 
 ment in the hands oifhofetu, to overawe and enslave the 
 many. And we believe that history will bear us out in 
 the assertion, that every known branch of physical 
 science was laid under contribution to sustain some one 
 species of religious and political imposture. 
 
 How often did a knowledge of the principles of As- 
 tronomy enable the general on the eve of battle, to 
 calculate the time of an approaching eclipse, and at- 
 tacking the enemy at the moment darkness was spread- 
 ing over the earth, decide the contest in his own favor, 
 by appealing to this visible interposition of the gods. 
 Did not Archimedes, by his knowledge of Mechanics, 
 toss the Eoman ships in the air ? or consume them with 
 
PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 39 
 
 his burning lenses, thus arming Syracuse with protec- 
 tion more terrible thtin a wall of fire ? 
 
 The Egyptian priests, by some secret art resembling 
 our modern mesmerism, could charm the adder, and the 
 serpent, and thus rivet the chains of ghostly power upon 
 the necks of the people. In a word, what constituted 
 the hidden mysteries of the ancient sorcerer, the physi- 
 cian, the astrologer ? Nothing but a knowledge of a 
 few chemical, astronomical, or herbal secrets, as familiar 
 now as the letters of the alphabet. Doubtless the secret 
 use which the ancients made of their scientific discov- 
 eries, has prevented many of their inventions from 
 reaching our day : as for instance, the Egyptian art of 
 embalming, their dead, and the erection of the pyra- 
 mids. Yet an examination of most of their famous 
 miracles and fables will show us that their chief decep- 
 tions had their origin in physical science. 
 
 "The science of acoustics furnished the ancient sor- 
 cerers with some of their best deceptions. The imitation 
 of thunder in their subterranean temples could not fail 
 to indicate to a superstitious worshiper, the presence of a 
 supernatural agent. The golden virgins, whose charm- 
 ing voices resounded through the temple of Delphos, — 
 the stone from the river Pactolus, whose trumpet notes 
 frightened the robber from the treasure which it guarded; 
 the speaking head which uttered its oracular responses 
 at Lesbos ; the vocal statue of Memnon, which began at 
 break of day to accost the rising sun in strains of 
 melody; were all deceptions, derived from science, and 
 from an imitation of the phenomenona of nature." 
 
 The principles of Hydrostatics were equally available 
 in the work of popular deception. The marvelous 
 fountain, which Pliny describes, in the island of An- 
 dres, as discharging wine for seven days, and water 
 during the rest of the year ; the spring of oil, which 
 
40 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 broke out at Rome, to welcome the return of Augustus 
 from the Cicilian war; the empty urns which filled 
 themselves with wine at the annual bacchanalian feasts 
 in the city of Elis ; the weeping statues, and the per- 
 petual lamps in the old Greek and Eoman temples ; 
 were all the efiects of the equilibrium and pressure of 
 fluids, known to the initiated, but hid from the vulgar. 
 
 The department of Mechanics, also, lent its aid. In 
 the Eleusinian mysteries of ancien Rome, when the un- 
 fortunate victim was carried off by the gods, there is 
 reason to believe that he was hurried away by the aid 
 of machinery concealed in their temples. 
 
 When Appolonius, conducted by the Indian sages to 
 the sanctuary of their deity, felt the earth rising and 
 sinking beneath his feet, like the agitated sea, he was 
 doubtless placed upon a moving floor, made to imitate 
 the heaving of the waves. 
 
 The rapid descent of those who consulted the oracle 
 in the cave of Trophonius ; the walking statues of An- 
 tium; the wooden pigeons of Archytas; yea, almost 
 all the pretended miracles of antiquity, are specimens of 
 the mechanical resources of ancient magic. 
 
 But, doubtless, the science of Optics w^as the main de- 
 pendence in the ancient arts of deception. The power 
 of bringing remote objects apparently within the very 
 grasp of the observer, and swelling iuto gigantic mag- 
 nitude objects the most minute, never fails to inspire 
 with astonishment even those who know something of 
 the process by which such marvels are accomplished. 
 What then must have been their effect upon the minds 
 of the ignorant? The ancients, indeed, were not ac- 
 quainted with those combinations of lenses and mirrors 
 which constitute the modern telescope and microscope, 
 but they possessed the power of distorting, inverting, 
 and even of igniting objects by means of plates of 
 
THYSICAL SCIENCE. 41 
 
 polished steel ; and iii miiny of the descriptions of the 
 o[)ticul displays wliich hallowed their temples, we rec- 
 ognize all the transformations of the modern 2)ha)itas- 
 magoria (See Brewster's Letters). 
 
 Now, when we contemplate these facts, how wonder- 
 ful the change in the aspect and use of the physical 
 sciences ! How has the right arm of superstition heen 
 broken ? How has the giant been shorn of his strength 
 and laid harmless at our feet? and man can now walk 
 abroad, and gaze upon nature in all her external dis- 
 jdays or hidden wonders, unawed, unterrified. 
 
 2. Another new aspect which the physical sciences 
 have assumed, and in which they differ from what they 
 were in former ages, is their diffusion. Once they well 
 deserved the name of Occult Sciences ; for they were 
 secrets known only to i\\Q fciu — sacred mysteries veiled 
 from the vulgar. They were like light upon the moun- 
 tain top, while the valleys were wrapped in darkness — 
 fountains in high places, whose streams sent down a 
 penurious supply to the plains below. 
 
 The custom, ever since the revival of learning, of 
 writing all scientific works in the Latin language (a 
 language unknown to the people) ; the scarcity and 
 high price of books; the want of philosophical instru- 
 ments, in connection with the warlike habits of the 
 world — all conspired to render science, for many ages, 
 a 7nonopoli/, and confined it to the call of the monk, and 
 the dusty garret of the alchymist. But now the spell is 
 dissolved. Nature has thrown wide her doors, has re- 
 vealed her hidden wonders, and all men are invited to 
 enter and worship at her shrine. 
 
 The physical sciences received their first great im- 
 pulse from the art of printing, fostered by the universal 
 inquisitiveness and adventurous spirit which that art 
 created. Next came the labors of Lord Bacon (the 
 
42 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 greatest genius, in many respects, which Enghind ever 
 produced), who pointed out the only true mode of phi- 
 losophizing. Then came the discoveries of Galileo, Kep- 
 ler, and Newton; and finally, about the middle of the 
 last century, there began to issue from the press a large 
 number of popular works on natural history, geogra- 
 phy, astronomy, and experimental philosophy; and 
 these, divested of the pedantry of former times, and the 
 technicalities of the old philosophy, began to operate on 
 the mass, and transferred knowledge from the few to 
 the 7na7iy — from the pampered priest and feudal lord, 
 to the peasant and mechanic. And thus, in process of 
 time, a neAv order of things has arisen. A new era in 
 the age of the world has dawned. And now the arts 
 and sciences are like the light of the sun, or the showers 
 that burst from the clouds, or the broad surface ol 
 rivers and seas; the birthright and blessing of all men ; 
 and, guided by the light of a few simple principles, mul- 
 titudes in the humbler walks of life, who would once 
 have been spurned as unworthy to set their unhallowed 
 feet upon the threshold of the temple of science, are 
 astonishing the world by their inventions and dis- 
 coveries. Verily " many are running to and fro, and 
 knowledge is increased." 
 
 3. Another remarkable aspect of the physical sciences, 
 and in which they differ essentially from what they 
 once were, is their practical tendency ; their every day 
 utility; their adaptedness to the actual state of things ; 
 affording direct alleviation to the physical and social 
 wants of man. 
 
 The age of theories and day-dreams is no more. The 
 time when men shut themselves up, and exhausted both 
 mind and body with learned trifles, and spun out fine 
 cobwebs of the brain, of no practical benefit to them- 
 selves or others, has passed awny never to return. 
 
PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 43 
 
 How humiliating to contemplate the follies of the 
 ancient school-men; the utter destitution in their most 
 profound disquisitions of anything like practical utility. 
 Yea, it Avould seem that the greatest 7;Ai7o6-o/;7ier.9 were 
 the greatest fools^ and that the higher they advanced 
 in their fancied learning, the farther they receded from 
 common sense. " Men,'* says Lord Bacon, " withdrew 
 themselves from the contemplation of Nature, and 
 tumbled up and down, in their own fancies and conceits. 
 They sought truth in their own little world, and not 
 in the great and common world " around them. 
 
 Behold a conclave of grave fathers of the Church, 
 laboring with holy fervor and orthodox zeal, to deter- 
 mine, — whether God can exist as well in imaginary 
 space as in real space ; whether God loves a non-exist- 
 ing angel more than an existing insect ; whether 
 angels can see in the dark ; whether an angel can pass 
 from one point of space to another, without passing 
 through the intermediate space. Is it not such " stuff 
 that dreams are made of ? " Equally absurd were the trifles 
 which absorbed the attention of the student oi physical 
 science. Look at one toiling from youth to hoary age 
 to find out the philosoi:)her's stone ; another, the secret 
 of transmuting all metals into gold; a third is bent 
 upon the perpetual motion ; a fourth tortures Nature to 
 extract from her a universal medicine, by which to cure 
 all earthly diseases and rejuvenate the powers of man ; 
 while a fifth consults the stars to foretell coming events, 
 and cast the horoscope of kings. 
 
 "They could foretell whatever was 
 By consequence to come to pass — 
 As death of great men, alterations, 
 Diseases, battles, inundations ; 
 They would search a planet's house to know 
 Who broke and robbed a house below ; 
 
4A PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 Examine Venus and the moon, 
 
 Who stole a thimble or a spoon ; 
 
 They would question Mars, and, by his looks. 
 
 Detect who 'twas that soiled your books ; 
 
 They'd feel the pulses of the stars. 
 
 To find out agues, coughs, catarrhs ; 
 
 And. all earth's mysteries unriddle, 
 
 As easily as you can thread a needle." — Hudihras. 
 
 But now this age of learned folly, of wise ignorance, 
 of sublime nonsense, has passed forever away, and been 
 succeeded by an age oi practical utility. 
 
 And now can be realized, in some good degree, another 
 beautiful sentiment of tlie great Lord Bacon : " Men no 
 longer seek in knowledge a couch, whereon to rest a 
 searching and restless spirit; nor a terrace, for a wan- 
 dering mind to walk up and down, with a fair prospect; 
 nor a toioer of state, for a fond mind to raise itself upon ; 
 nor Si fort or commanding ground, for strife and conten- 
 tion ; nor a shop, for profit and sale ; but a rich store- 
 house, for the glory of the Creator and the good of man's 
 estate.'' 
 
 We set out by attempting to account for all the 
 strange facts and j^henomena of antiquity, upon some 
 well-known principle of physical scienge. We think 
 we have explained a feiv, but there are some which are 
 too profound for our philosophy. For instance, Mer- 
 catus, physician to Philip 11. of Spain, relates that he 
 actually saw a beautiful lady break a steel mirror to 
 pieces, and peel the bark off some trees, by a single 
 glance of her eyes ! Josephus relates that a certain Jew, 
 named Eleazer, in the presence of the Emperor Vespa- 
 sian, drew the devil out of an old woman's nostrils by 
 the application of Solomon's seal to her nose! Good 
 old Dr. Mynsight is said to have cured several bewitched 
 persons with a plaster of assafcetida. How the assa- 
 
PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 45 
 
 fcetida was efficacious was much disputed among the 
 learned. Some thought the devil might consider such 
 an application to any part an insult, and ran off in a 
 passion. But others very sagely observed that, as devils 
 are supposed to have eyes and ears, they doubtless have 
 noses also, and dislike vile smells to come between the 
 wind and their olfactories. But let us drop this point, 
 lest we suffer in the conflict. It is dangerous to meddle 
 with devils and witches. 
 
 They Ml haul you o'er the coals. 
 And stir the fires of Phlegethon, 
 With every mother's son ; 
 Nor say one single- mass. 
 To cool the caldron's bubble, 
 That boils your bones — 
 Unless you pay them double. 
 
 We repeat the remark, that every branch of physical 
 science is now cultivated, primarily, for the sake of 
 utility. " Ciii lono " is the motto of every philosoplier. 
 Behold Astronomy taking up her instruments, and 
 making an actual measurement of the magnitude and 
 distances of the heavenly bodies, explaining their influ- 
 ences and variations, and even measuring the comet in 
 its swift and fiery flight. The moon has struck and 
 come under our lee, that we may gaze upon her burning 
 mountains. The little star, which seems no bigger than 
 the diamond that glitters on a lady's ring, is really 
 found to be the center of a magnificent system, around 
 which vast worlds revolve. 
 
 View Meteorology^ explaining the laws of the clouds, 
 and the philosophy of storms, for the benefit of the 
 farmer, tlie mariner, and the fisherman. 
 
 6^foZo^?/ searches 'amid primeval rocks, and the dry 
 beds of old oceans, to furnish man with a knowledge of 
 shells and soils and metals. 
 
46 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 Natural History unfolds, for practical purposes, the 
 properties and uses of beasts, insects, and birds. 
 
 Botany takes man by the hand, and leads him out 
 into the green fields, to teach him the uses of plants 
 and roots and flowers. 
 
 Cheniistry stands behind her retorts and crucibles, 
 and discourses of earths and alkalies and gases, teaching 
 man how to compound medicines, prepare food, improve 
 soils, burnish metals, manufacture glass, disinfect im- 
 pure habitations, and bleach and dye garments. 
 
 And what shall we say of 3Iechanics ? Calling to her 
 aid a few of the simple principles of nature and art, and 
 pressing them into her service, she has given the world 
 the mariner's compass, the safety-lamp, the diving-bell, 
 the air-pump, the microscope, ihe spinning-jenny, the 
 lightning-rod, the magnetic needle, the electric tele- 
 graph. Such are her rich gifts to man. 
 
 And what shall we say of the practical application of 
 science in the wonders of Steam ? Oh, this is the lever 
 by which we are moving the world. It has armed the 
 feeble hand of man with a power to which no limits can 
 be assigned, completed the dominion of mind over matter, 
 and is causing old things to pass away and all things to 
 become new. Men have dug down mountains and 
 crossed oceans by steam. The Birmingham fire-king 
 has visited the fabulous East, and the genius of the 
 Cape has been alarmed at the thunders of his voice. 
 The shuttle drops from the fingers of the weaver, and 
 falls into iron fingers that can move it faster. The 
 horse is stripped of its harness, and finds a fleet fire- 
 horse yoked in its stead. The sailor has folded his sails, 
 to bid a strong, unwearied servant to bear him on vapory 
 wings over the waters. "The Allegheny has bowed 
 down his back like a camel to receive the load of com- 
 merce; and the waters have gone over him, and the 
 
PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 47 
 
 navies of boats ride in triumph over his high places." 
 Nature, through all her works, has surrendered. The 
 victory of mind is achieved. Even distance has been 
 annihilated, and, panic-struck, has vanished from St. 
 Anthony to New Orleans ; and the panic is spreading, 
 and distance, in all directions, is fleeing away. If such 
 are the achievements of Science in her infancy, what 
 will she not achieve when arrived at manhood? when 
 other ISTewtons, and Arkwrights, and Fultons, and 
 Morses shall arise, with minds still more brilliantly illu- 
 minated with the lights of science, and the splendid 
 achievements of the present age shall be far surpassed 
 by the future miracles of mechanic power. 
 
 4. We should be doing violence to our own feelings, 
 and injustice to our subject, were we to omit to point 
 out another prominent characteristic of physical science. 
 It is the fact that it is confirmatory of revelation. It is 
 becoming the direct auxiliary of Christianity. And 
 every new fact and development is only adding to that 
 great cloud of witnesses which attest the divinity of our 
 holy religion. Once it was not so. Once science was 
 viewed with suspicion. Once it was discountenanced 
 because of its supposed contrariety to the principles of 
 the Gospel. The inventor of the art of printing was 
 thought to be in league with the devil. Galileo was 
 cast into the dungeons of the Inquisition, for teaching 
 that the sun is stationary and the earth moves around 
 it. Columbus was opposed in his theory of the globular 
 shape of the world, and of a western passage to the In- 
 dies, by its alleged inconsistency with revelation. But 
 a short time has elapsed since geology was looked upon 
 as subversive of the whole Mosaic narrative. But now 
 how changed the whole aspect of the scientific world. 
 Our men of wisdom are becoming men of God. Every 
 science and every system is now bringing its offering, to 
 
48 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 lay them at the foot of the cross. Science and Eevela- 
 tion walk hand in hand, the one as the queen, the other 
 as the queen-daughter by her side. And the missionary 
 of salvation, as he goes far hence to enlighten the teem- 
 ing millions of the East, has only to teach the first 
 principles of ioliy8ical science, and many of the systems 
 of heathenism begin to crumble, and their idols totter 
 to the ground. Glorious aspect of the sign of the times. 
 The revelations of nature are in harmony with the 
 revelations of Scripture. And future Lockes, placing 
 it above all philosophy ; and Bacons, above all learning ; 
 and JSTewtons, above all science ; and Miltons, above all 
 song — each bearing his precious gift — shall come, like 
 Eastern magi, with their gold, their frankincense and 
 myrrh, and lay them in lowly worship at the feet of the 
 Prince of Peace. 
 
 I call upon the devotee of science to contemplate this 
 noble and sublime aspect of revealed religion. It is the 
 great fixed point around which all things else revolve, 
 while itself remains unchanged. It is the emblem of 
 Him who gave it, the all-embracing medium, in which 
 every other thing moves, increases, or lessens, is born 
 and destroyed. It is the last refuge of thought, the 
 binding link between the visible and invisible. It is 
 the solution of all anomalies, the determination of all 
 problems in outward nature and in the inward soul. It 
 is the fixing and steadifying element of every system, 
 tlie grand object of every meditation. It appears to us 
 even as the olive, that emblem of peace and duration, as 
 described by Sophocles; a plant not set by human 
 hands, but of spontaneous and necessary growth, in the 
 great order of creative wisdom ; fearful to its enemies, 
 and so firmly grounded that none, in ancient or modern 
 times, have been able to uproot it. Yea, it is a monu- 
 ment, standing in the solitude of the desert, upon which 
 
THYSICAL SCIENCE. 49 
 
 is inscribed the history of men and nations, which for 
 ages rose and flourislied, and then burst like bubbles at 
 its base. It is a rock in the ocean of time, which has 
 braved the fury of a thousand storms. It has withstood 
 the plots of politicians, the revolutions of empires, the 
 gloom of the dark ages, the sophistry of infidels, the 
 fires of martyrdom, and the rage of devils. 
 
 In concluding this imperfect sketch of the present 
 aspect and practical tendencies of the physical sciences, 
 we shall detain the audience with only one reflection. 
 This subject teaches the transcendent importance of 
 fostering schools and colleges. The discoveries of the 
 past must be carefully transmitted to the future. And 
 what shall be tlie medium ? Let the great Lord Bacon 
 answer. "Our duty towards learning," says he, "is 
 conversant about three objects — the places of learning, 
 the books of learning, and the persons of the learned. 
 For as Avater, whether it be of the dew of heaven, or the 
 springs of the earth, doth scatter and lose itself in the 
 ground, except it be collected into some receptacle, 
 where it may, by union, comfort and sustain itself; and 
 for that cause the industry of man hath made and 
 framed spring-heads, conduits, cisterns, and pools, Avhicli 
 men have accustomed likewise to beautify and adorn ;- 
 so this excellent liquor of knowledge, whether it descends 
 from divine inspiration or springs from human sense, 
 would soon'perish and vanish to oblivion, if it were not 
 preserved in books, traditions, conferences," and places 
 appointed; as universities, colleges, and schools, for the 
 receipt and comforting of the same." Let all, then, 
 who are engaged in founding institutions of learning, 
 be encouraged by the fact that they are forming spring- 
 heads and pools to collect and preserve *' this excellent 
 liquor of knoAvledge." Not all the luster of a noble 
 birth, not all the influence of wealth or fame, not all 
 
 3 
 
50 PHYSICAL SCIENCE. 
 
 the pomp of titles, not all the splendor of power, not 
 all the joys of carnal pleasure, not all the charms of 
 beauty, can impart such dignity to the soul, or so 
 assimilate man to the angels, as this. This will grow, 
 while all else decays. This will cling to us, while all 
 else forsakes. This will survive, while the grandest 
 works of genius and of art will expire amid the univer- 
 sal wreck of matter and of worlds. Colleges will outlive 
 empires. 
 
DUELmG IN YICKSBUEG. 
 
 About the time of the removal of the Indians from 
 North Mississippi to the Indian Territory, west of the 
 river, Vicksburg began to assume the appearance of a 
 city. On my arrival from Louisiana to take the pastoral 
 charge of the Presbyterian Church in that place, in the 
 Fall of 1836, I beheld a most animated scene. The eye 
 of the stranger was greeted by the sight of a most bril- 
 liant panorama — crowded streets, thronged wharfs, well- 
 filled warehouses, and a large and bustling population. 
 Every man seemed to be a man of business. Multi- 
 tudes were running to and fro. The countenances of 
 all beamed with hope, the hearts of all beat high with 
 joyous expectation. Crowds of Virginians and Ken- 
 tuckians, with their families and slaves, were pouring in 
 from every steamer; and from this city of the bluffs, as 
 from a hill of observation, multitudes were selecting 
 fresh homes on the Sunflower, the Yazoo, and other por- 
 tions of the vast territory offered for sale, by the with- 
 drawal of the red men to the further west. New streets 
 were opening, scores of new dwellings were in process 
 of erection, and every corner rang with the noise of the 
 saw and the hammer. Property of all kinds in Vicks- 
 burg rose to a fabulous height; and hotels were crowded 
 to such a degree as to make it necessary to portion out, 
 by chalk-marks on the floor, designated spots where 
 strangers might lie down and repose for the night. 
 Physicians and lawyers and land speculators were innu- 
 
52 DUELING IN VICKSBUBG. 
 
 merable. No city in the South was more attractive than 
 Vicksbnrg. Every man was going to Vicksburg. Every 
 speculator was buying lots in Vicksburg. Soon, how- 
 ever, the scene was changed. That melancholy pecu- 
 niary revulsion which, in 1838, came upon the whole 
 commercial world, spread like a funeral pall over the 
 young city. The hum of business began to die away. 
 The wheels of industry moved sluggishly. The sinews 
 of trade were cut; and ere long every citizen experi- 
 euced the effects of a wide-spread embarrassment. And 
 soon, from loss of confidence and loss of trade, from 
 fires and epidemics, Vicksburg became but the shadow 
 of its former self. Its wealth had taken to itself wings 
 like an eagle, and had fled. The gay and busy multi- 
 tude that once thronged its streets had faded away. 
 They slept their last sleep on the bleak hillside after 
 life's*fitful fever was over. "Lord, what is man! His 
 days are as grass. As a flower of the fieM, so he flour- 
 isheth. For the wind passeth over it, and it is gone ; 
 and the place thereof shall know it no more, forever." 
 
 Let us take a brief glance at another "picture from 
 life in Vicksburg." We pass over the years of 1838 and 
 1839, down to 1840. But the gloomy fall of 1841, who 
 can forget it, who can describe it? It was the great 
 yelloiv fever year. If an invading army had. suddenly 
 burst upon the town, the panic could not have been 
 more terrible or the effects more desolating. Disease 
 and death entered almost every dwelling. For six long 
 weeks we bore the dead to the grave in almost one con- 
 tinuous stream. The shafts of the pestilence flew thick 
 and fast. And the fairest were the first to fall. The 
 maiden was cut down in her bloom and beauty, the 
 young man in the midst of his pleasures ; the old man 
 and the man of influence, the learned counselor and the 
 eloquent orator. Death tore away the props of families, 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 53 
 
 removed the ornaments of the State, broke clown the 
 pillars of the church, and clad our city in lamentation 
 and woe, leaving behind weeping widows and desolate 
 orphans. Then, upon a damp and chilly Sabbath 
 morning in November, with a heart almost broken with 
 the afflictions of the people, I staggered to the church, 
 and in the audience of sixty-four men (all*told), and 
 not a female in the house, I spoke from these words of 
 St. Paul : '' But this I say, brethren, the time is short. 
 It remaineth that both they that have wives be as though 
 they had none; and they that weep, as though they 
 wept not; and they that rejoice, as though they rejoiced 
 not; and they that buy, as though they possessed not; 
 and they that use this world, as not abusing it, for the 
 fashion of this world passeth away." 
 
 Turn over to another tragedy in the Walnut Hill 
 city. Vicksburg had been, for some years befoft the 
 season of yellow fever, the seat of the gamblers. The 
 formidable gang of the Murell men, which had per- 
 vaded the entire State, had been dispersed. Murell, 
 their ringleader, had been incarcerated in the peniten- 
 tiary at Nashville, and hordes of horse-thieves and ne- 
 gro-stealers had been broken up. Then another formi- 
 dable cloud arose. Fierce and lawless men, but of pol- 
 ished manners, who had been increasing in numbers and 
 power in the young city of Vicksburg, had attracted 
 the notice of the people of the great South, and had 
 even called down the animadversions of members of the 
 British Parliament. Gamblers ruled the day. Gam- 
 bling-tables had usurped the place of law and set peace- 
 ful citizens at defiance. Suddenly the mass of quiet 
 and law-abiding men, who loved their property and their 
 families, arose in their armed majesty, and, after the 
 outlaws had killed Dr. Bodley, they seized the ringlead- 
 ers, put some on flatboats and set. them adrift on the 
 
64 DUELIXG IN VICKSBUEG. 
 
 Mississippi, and dragging five of the remaining num- 
 ber to a neighboring hill, improvised a long gallows, 
 hung them by the neck until they were dead, and buried 
 them in unhallowed graves. 
 
 Then, for a time, the place had peace. Next arose 
 the reign of the duello. Almost " every man had his 
 little game." Every one had his duel. Eival lovers had 
 their duel. Almost every dispute was settled by a duel. 
 Foote and Prentiss had their duel. Hagan and McCar- 
 dle had their duel. There were duels of pastime and 
 duels of etiquette. Aikenhead and Flaherty fought 
 about the right mode of preparing Irish potatoes for 
 the dinner-table. Chilton and Harris left the Odd Fel- 
 low's lodge when in session, crossed the river, and fought. 
 General Foote and S. S. Prentiss had a rambling and 
 aw^kward duel; and so crooked was the general's firing, 
 that ePrentiss cried out to the little boys on the trees 
 that overhung the ground, " Boys, look out, or you will 
 be hit. General Foote can't shoot straight. He has 
 missed me three times." Lastly, there were some who 
 became celebrated surgeons or famous seconds to duels. 
 Dr. Green was tall and gaunt. He seemed to me near 
 seven feet high, solemn and grim at that : 
 
 " The fiend was long, and lean, and lank, 
 And moved upon a spindle shank." 
 
 But because of his skill in loading rifies for duels, Pren- 
 tiss dabbed him "Death's ramrod." 
 
 Thus, from grave to gay, swung the popular current. 
 
 The last serious affair of the kind, to which I would 
 now advert, was the celebrated duel between Col. A. K. 
 McClung and Major Menifee, opposite the city, in No- 
 vember, 1838. Col. McClung was a nephew of Chief 
 Justice Marshall, was a famous duelist, skilled to per- 
 fection in deadly weapons, had killed Col. Allen, of 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 55 
 
 Brandon, and, after many rencounters of the kind, 
 finally committed suicide. A challenge was passed and 
 accepted between the parties. Great preparations wore 
 made. Fresh dueling weapons were ordered from New 
 Orleans. Sporting men came in crowds from Jackson, 
 Brandon, and the interior towns. Bets were freely made 
 and accepted. The hills around the fatal spot were 
 covered with thousands of spectators. At the hour ap- 
 pointed the parties took their position, the word was 
 given, the parties fired, and Menifee fell. McClung fled 
 to the interior. Major Menifee was buried on Friday. 
 
 On the following Sabbatli morning a crowd assembled 
 at the Presbyterian Church, when the writer, who had 
 been preparing a discourse for the occasion, arose and 
 spoke as follows 
 
 THE CODE OF HONOR. 
 
 "Tliou Shalt not ^u7/."— Exodus 20:13. This pro- 
 hibitory enactment of heaven, was designed to be of 
 universal application ; forbidding the taking, not merely 
 the life of man, but likewise of beast. 
 
 Before any one, therefore, can be innocent in taking 
 life from any creature, whether rational or irrational, 
 he must first obtain express permission from the same 
 high authority from which this law originally emanated. 
 Such permission, has, in some few particular cases, been 
 obtained. Thus God expressly gave to Noah and his 
 sons permission to destroy the lives of animals and use 
 their flesh as food. And this grant contains our only 
 warrant for the taking of animal life. 
 
 If, then, we may not take the lives of animals without 
 express permission from the King of heaven, much less 
 may we take away the life of man — God's noblest work, 
 made in his own image, constituted Lord of Creation, 
 endowed with reason, and heir of immortality. 
 
56 DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 
 
 Has God specified any cases where the life of man 
 may be taken ? He has. The Scriptures, in several 
 places and in a variety of forms, declare that human life 
 may be lawfully destroyed in righteous warfare between 
 two nations; by the civil magistrate as a punishment 
 for murder, and in necessary self-defence. "With these 
 three exceptions, the Scriptures are most solemn and 
 fearful in their denunciations of divine wrath and in- 
 dignation against the destruction of human life under 
 any other circumstances. 
 
 The prohibition of the text therefore — " tJioit sJialt 
 not hilV^ — is aimed directly against all acts of violence 
 oflfered to man which are not included under these three 
 specified exceptions, i. e., it is aimed against murder, 
 suicide, and diieling. I call your attention to the latter 
 crime. 
 
 Dueling is a crime of very great prevalence, upheld 
 by many plausible arguments, and sometimes practiced 
 or countenanced by individuals of high respectability, 
 and in some respects of much moral worth. 
 What are the arguments against it 9 
 
 1. Its very origin and history condemns it. Dueling 
 was entirely unknown among the ancient Greeks and 
 Romans. The polished Greek knew nothing of it; the 
 noble Roman was above it. The custom is exclusively 
 of a heathenish and savage origin. It arose among the 
 fierce and warlike nations of the north of Europe. The 
 ancient Germans, Danes, and Franks, carried this mode 
 of warfare so far, that none were excused, except women, 
 sick persons, cripples, and those over sixty years of 
 age. Even ecclesiastics and monks were required to 
 decide many of their contests by an appeal to single 
 combat. 
 
 Bear in mind, however, that the object and design of 
 contest by duel, among those northern barbarians, was 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 57 
 
 very different and far more rational, than the duel of 
 modern times. 
 
 The object of the ancient duel was to decide impor- 
 tant points relative to crime or property. Criminal ac- 
 cusations, or titles to landed estates, were always the 
 subjects of dispute. And the trial by duel was a species 
 of high court of appeals. It was considered as a direct 
 reference of the whole matter to God, the great arbiter 
 of right; who, it was believed, would always decide the 
 contest by terminating it in favor of the innocent party ; 
 and then the party vanquished, if not slain upon the 
 spot, was punished by hanging, beheading, or mutila- 
 tion of members. 
 
 But tlie design of the modern duel is vastly different. 
 Its object is to decide, not the titles to property, or ac- 
 cusations of crime, but points of honor — points of such 
 a delicate and invisible character, that half the world 
 have never yet been able to perceive them, or determine 
 in what they consist. 
 
 The modern duel, or the duel upon points of honor, 
 may be dated as far back as the year 1528, when 
 Charles V., emperor of Germany, challenged Francis I. 
 of France, by a public herald, accompanied by the grace- 
 ful epithets of coward, liar, poltroon, etc. From that 
 period it became customary, throughout Europe, when- 
 ever a gentleman received an insult or injury which 
 seemed fo touch his honor, he thought himself entitled 
 immediately to draw his sword and demand satisfac- 
 tion. Dueling became so common in France, that it is 
 calculated that six thousand persons perished in single 
 combat, during ten years of the reign of Henry IV. 
 The effusion of human blood from the same cause, was 
 frightfully prevalent in England during the time of 
 James I. and the two Charleses. And what is the his- 
 tory of this bloody code of honor in our own land? 
 
68 DUELING m VICKSBURG. 
 
 "Within the last luilf century of our political existence, 
 how often has our land been clad in mourning? How 
 often have we yielded up the most costly victim to glut 
 the maw of this bloody Moloch ? Hamilton, and Deca- 
 tur, and Cilley, and a host of others, both of our army 
 ajid navy, the pride of many a rising family, our coun- 
 try's strength in war, its ornaments in peace, — Oh "how 
 are the mighty fallen ! " How have the most valuable 
 lives been sacrificed, and the most precious blood been 
 spilt, in conformity to a custom which knows no origin 
 but superstition, no reason but madness, no apology but 
 revenge! And the practice is still gaining ground, with 
 all its attendant curses, — such as the dishonorable and 
 cowardly practice of carrying concealed weapons, mak- 
 ing a man an offender for a word — bloody broils and 
 street fights — a disposition to decide every contest, ex- 
 cept that relating to property, by a resort to the pistol 
 or the dagger. Even our sacred halls of legislation 
 have been the scene of bloody strife. Alas, our land 
 is soaked in gore, and calls on God for vengeance. 
 The very history of dueling then, with its attendant 
 evils, proclaims its condemnation and brands it with 
 infamy. 
 
 2. Dueling is a direct violation of all the settled prin- 
 ciples of law, both human and divine. 
 
 In Genesis, 9 : 6, God thus declares : " Whc^ shed- 
 deth man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed ; for 
 in the image of God made he man." 
 
 In Numbers, 35 : 16, etc., it is thus written — if a man 
 smite any person "with an instrument of iron, so that 
 he die," he is a murderer ; " the murderer shall surely be 
 put to death." And if he smite him " with a hand weapon 
 of wood, wherewith he may die, and he die, he is a mur- 
 derer; the murderer shall surely be put to death." 
 " Whoso killeth any person, the murderer shall be put 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 59 
 
 to death by the month of witnesses." " Moreover, ye 
 shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer who 
 is guilty of death, but he shall surely be put to death." 
 "The land cannot be cleansed of the blood shed therein 
 but by the blood of him that shed it." Such is the law 
 of God. E(iually explicit are the laws of man. What 
 says Blackstone, Book IV., ch. 14? "If two persons, A 
 and B, agree to fight a duel, and A gives the first onset, 
 and B retreats as fiir as he safely can, and then kills A, 
 this is murder, because of the previous malice and con- 
 certed design." Again says the sameautliority : "Kill- 
 ing must be committed with malice aforethoiight to 
 make it the crime of murder." " This takes in the case 
 of deliberate dueling, where both parties meet avow- 
 edly with an intent to murder, thinking it their duty 
 as gentlemen, and claiming it as their right to wanton 
 with their own lives and those of their fellow creatures, 
 without any warrant or authority from any power, 
 either divine or human, but in direct contradiction to 
 the laws of both God and man; and, therefore, the law 
 has justly fixed the crime of punishment of murder on 
 tliem, and their seconds also." 
 
 What says Dr. Paley ? " Murder is forbidden, and 
 wherever human life is deliberately taken away, other- 
 wise than by public authority, there is murder." 
 
 AVhat says Mr. Russell, in his treatise on crimes ? " A 
 party killing another in a deliberate duel is guilty of 
 murder, and cannot help himself by alleging that he 
 Avas first struck by the deceased, or that he had often 
 declined to meet him, and was prevailed upon to do so 
 by his importunity, or that it w^as his intent only to 
 vindicate his reputation, or that he meant not to kill, 
 only to disarm his adversary. He has deliberately 
 engaged in an act highly unlawful, and he must abide 
 the consequences." 
 
60 DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 
 
 Such is the law of England. The laws of almost 
 every commonwealth in the United States are equally 
 explicit. In Vermont, for killing in a duel, it is death. 
 In Massachusetts it is the same. In Rhode Island, 
 for fighting, although death may not ensue, the punish- 
 ment is carting to the gallows, with a rope ahout the 
 neck, and sitting on the gallows an hour, and subse- 
 quent imprisonment. In Maryland and Virginia, it is 
 political disfranchisement. What is the law of Missis- 
 sippi ? The challenger, or bearer of a challenge, is pro- 
 hibited from holding any office of trust, and is liable to 
 six months' imprisonment, and a fine of one thousand 
 dollars. 
 
 All justices of the peace are required to give testi- 
 mony against duelists, and the survivors in a duel 
 required to pay the debts of the man killed. 
 
 But here is a code of laws, setting at naught all these 
 sacred enactments both of earth and heaven. Coming 
 out like Goliath of Gath, and defying the authority of 
 the living God. 
 
 3. Dueling is murder, and tliat too of the most aggra- 
 vated and enormous character, and it is murder, not 
 merely where the death of one of the parties ensues. 
 For the common law declares that if one man attempts 
 the life of another and fails in tlie attempt, he is a mur- 
 derer, and should be punished accordingly. Look, too, 
 at the many additional circumstances, which constitute 
 every duel, whether resulting fatally or not, the most 
 lieav en-daring murder. 
 
 It is premeditated murder ; for every challenge con- 
 tains a proposition to kill or be killed! It is accepted 
 always with the express expectation of killing or being 
 killed. It is deliberate murder ; for days and even 
 weeks often elapse previous to the contemplated meet- 
 ing. In the meantime weapons are prepared, and that 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. Gl 
 
 too of the most deadly character. Previous practicing 
 takes place. Friends are chosen. The spot is marked 
 out. Witnesses are present. The broad light of heaven 
 beams down upon the guilty scene; and then, all tilings 
 being ready, the most deliberate aim is taken at the seat 
 of life — the head, the heart, and the lungs. 
 
 Can any murder be conceived of a more atrocious 
 character than this? Does the highwayman or the 
 assassin commit murder under circumstances half so 
 aggravating? Murder, then, is committed in duels with 
 ten-fold more deliberation than murder under any other 
 circumstances, and murder is here committed without 
 any adequate cause. "Trifles light as air," causes the 
 most contemptible and silly, a rash word, a disrespectful 
 look, an indiscreet remark, dropped in the heat of de- 
 bate, the clashing claims of rival lovers, party politics, 
 petty envy — oh! these are the causes for which men ex- 
 pose their blood, and rush upon the bosses of Jehovah's 
 buckler. 
 
 But it is said that the duelist feels no malice ; that 
 he fights merely for the point of honor. IS'either does 
 the highwayman feel malice. He who cuts the throat 
 and rifles the pocket of the passing traveler, feels no 
 malice ; and if he could procure his money at a less 
 costly price, would stay his murderous hand and let the 
 trembling victim off. But what says the common law 
 relative to this thing of killing without malice ? It de- 
 clares where one man assails another with a deadly 
 instrument with an intent to kill, malice is implied. 
 For if he have not a particular malice, he entertains a 
 general malice — a malice against all mankind — an in- 
 nate thirst for blood, which renders him unfit to live. 
 But we deny that the duelist is free from particular 
 malice. 
 
 Duels are generally the result of the most deliberate 
 
62 DUELING m YICKSBURG. 
 
 malice; burning, diabolical malice; malice, which 
 nothing will satisfy but the heart's blood. 
 
 Duelists, as a class, are preeminently haughty, irri- 
 table and revengeful^ and to overlook an insult, that 
 magnanimous act of a noble soul, is, in their view, the 
 height of pusilanimity. 
 
 4. Dueling is suicide, as well as murder, and suicide 
 may be committed not merely by one's own weapon, but 
 by the weapon of another. 
 
 To permit another man deliberately to kill you, is the 
 same as to commit the act yourself. Take away the 
 circumstance of the duelist exposing his own life, and 
 dueling becomes assassination. Add this circumstance 
 and it becomes suicide. And who gave you authority 
 to take away your own life, that most precious treasure, 
 upon which such momentous interests depend ? Your 
 life is not your own. It belongs to your friends, your 
 family, your creditors, your country. How dare you 
 then, destroy that in which you do not possess an ex- 
 clusive title ? How dare you destroy that which was 
 given you with which to work out your soul's salvation ? 
 Yea, the duelist puts himself upon an equality with the 
 Lord Jesus Christ. Christ says, " I have power (or au- 
 thority) to lay down my life." The duelist says " so 
 have I ! " 
 
 5. Dueling affords no reasonable prospect of securing 
 the proposed end. The end or object proposed by the 
 duelist is to gain satisfaction for some alleged insult, or 
 to inflict punishment for some alleged crime. But how 
 can the fighting a duel secure either satisfaction or 
 punishment, seeing that the innocent is just as liable 
 to fall as the guilty ; seeing that the victim depends not 
 upon the rectitude of the cause, but upon skill in the 
 use of deadly weapons. Or, is the object of a duel to 
 wipe off a disgrace, to repel a foul and infamous charge ? 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBUIIG. 63 
 
 How can it possibly effect this object ? How can 
 smoke, and noise, and blood alter the nature of things ? 
 I am accused of being a liar, how can the firing of a 
 pistol make me a man of truth ? I am accused of being 
 a yillain and a knave, how can the same process prove 
 the charge false, and make me an honorable man ? 
 
 But absurd as it would seem to the dull comprehen- 
 sion of some of us, such is the magic power of an ex- 
 change of shots. According to the laws of honor, " it 
 entirely varnishes over a defective and smutty charac- 
 ter; transforms vice to virtue; cowardice to courage; 
 makes falsehood, truth; guilt, innocence." In a word, 
 it gives a new complexion to the whole state of things. 
 The Ethiopian changes his skin, the leopard his spots ; 
 and the debauched and treacherous, having shot away 
 the infamy of a sorry life, comes back from the field of 
 perfectibility quite regenerated, and in the fullest sense, 
 an honorable man. He is now fit for the company of 
 *' gentlemen." And let none dare dispute his title, or 
 he will vindicate his tarnished honor by another act of 
 homicide. Oh, what a cheap and expeditious mode of 
 making gentlemen ! 
 
 6. Dueling implies cowardice. Many brave men have 
 fought, but their fighting was no part of their bravery. 
 True, there may be courage, but it is only brute cour- 
 age. Why is it that duelists often find such difficulty 
 to screw their courage to the sticking point, and ex- 
 hibit such woe-begone visages on the field of battle ? 
 Why so many wild and random shots ? 
 
 But it is not the lack of physical courage for which we 
 contend. The duelist lacks moral courage. He fights 
 because he is afraid of public sentiment — afraid of being 
 called a coward ; he stands in awe of the sneers of the 
 ungodly multitude. Who is the truly brave ? He who 
 conquers his corrupt passions. He who stems manfully 
 
64 DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 
 
 the torrent of depraved public sentiment. He who dares 
 to do what he knows to be right, and dares to abstain 
 from what he knows to be wrong. But mark that little 
 pusillanimous soul, violating his conscience, lest for- 
 sooth he may be called a coioard — thus x^roving himself 
 to be the very thing he would not have the world to 
 think him ! 
 
 7. Dueling, if it terminate fatally, damns the soul. 
 "No murderer hath eternal life abiding in him." 
 
 In the case of suicide we may hope there was insan- 
 ity. In the case of execution for murder, we may see 
 previous exhibitions of genuine repentance. But what 
 is our hope of him, who falls in the very act of defying 
 the authority of the great Jehovah — dies a murderer — 
 dies and goes to judgment — with blood upon his soul! 
 
 They turn'd liim on his back ; his breast 
 And brow were stain'd with gore and dust 
 And through his lips the life-blood oozed, 
 From its deep veins so lately loosed ; 
 But in his pulse there was no throb, 
 Nor on his lips one dying sob ; 
 Sigh, nor word, nor struggling breath 
 Heralded his way to death : 
 Ere his very thought could pray, 
 Unanel'd he pass'd away. 
 Without a hope from mercy's aid — 
 To the last a renegade. 
 
 8. Dueling is a most unjust and disproportioned code 
 of iniquity. It inflicts the very same degree of punish- 
 ment upon all offences indiscriminately. Death for a 
 thoughtless word ; and death for a deliberate act. Yea, 
 it is a complete system of bullying. See with what in- 
 stinctive sagacity this trained blood-hound selects his 
 victim — always, if he can, insulting some one over whom 
 he knows he has some advantage ; and then dogging 
 him from place to place to seek his blood. Oh, the 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 65 
 
 horrors of this bloody code of honor ; trampling with 
 fiendish cruelty upon all the sacred feelings of the 
 heart; stained with the blood of statesmen, fathers, 
 husbands ; revelling in the groans of widows, the wail 
 of orphans, the shrieks of sisters, lovers, friends ! 
 
 " Is there not some chosen curse, 
 
 Some hidden thunder in the stores of heaven, 
 Red with uncommon wratli, to blast the man 
 "Who gains his honor from the blood of souls?" 
 
 9. Dueling is condemned by tlie very confessions of 
 duelists themselves. What bitter groans and regrets 
 fell from the lips of Hamilton and Decatur ! Observe 
 the subsequent life and conduct of a successful duelist. 
 Did you ever know such a man to be happy ? Is he not 
 pre-eminently miserable ? afraid of being alone ; plung- 
 ing into one crime to avoid the reflection of another; 
 drowning conscience in the intoxicating cup ; and often 
 becoming the victim of derangement. Then how con- 
 science thunders and remorse goads; and the grim and 
 gory ghost of the murdered one haunts him in his 
 dreams! Oh, could he but drink of some oblivious 
 stream and forget the past — forget that once he opened 
 the fountain of the orphan's tears, and broke the widow's 
 heart! But no, he cannot. Eternal justice will not 
 suffer it. Oh! duelist, the remembrance of your deeds 
 must follow you. Conscience will interpret everything 
 into an accusation. When men fasten their eyes upon 
 you, you will think they remember the man you mur- 
 dered. 
 
 When men stand in groups and speak in whispers, 
 you will imagine they are talking about you. Every 
 work of God, and every deed of man will be to you an 
 accuser. Oh, the horrors of blood-guiltiness ! How it 
 clings like a hungry vulture to the guilty soul ! 
 
QQ DUELING m VICKSBUEa. 
 
 *' Tliough thy slumbers may be deep. 
 Yet tliy spirit sliall not sleep, 
 There are shades that will not vanish, 
 There are thoughts thou canst not banish ; 
 By a power to thee unknown, 
 Thou canst never be alone. 
 By thy delight in others' pain, 
 By thy brotherhood of Cain, 
 I call upon thee and compel, 
 Thyself to be thy proper hell." 
 
 10. Dueling is subversive of all law and government. 
 It saps the very foundations of civilized society ; for it 
 usurps the highest prerogatives of a nation : the right 
 of taking away human life. The duelist takes upon 
 himself the adjudication of his own wrongs, and thus 
 lends his influence to resolve society into its original 
 elements. All the laws of God and man must give way, 
 while this man adjusts his quarrels. He must have the 
 whole field of social, civil, and domestic relations sub- 
 ject to his fury. What though his enemy be a citizen 
 charged with duty to the State ; or a representative en- 
 trusted with the interest of his constituents ; or a friend 
 gladdening many a social circle; or a son sustaining 
 and blessing fond and white-haired parents; or a hus- 
 band cherishing a devoted, faithful wife; or a father, 
 surrounded by afiectionate, helpless children ; what 
 though he be all these and more — the claim of the 
 duelist for his blood, on account of some unguarded or 
 disrespectful word, is paramount to every other. God, 
 and law, and nature, with all their sacredness, must be 
 despised and trampled under foot, while this incarna- 
 tion of ferocity gnashes his teeth, and gluts his maw, 
 and quenches his fevered thirst for blood. And if he 
 may act thus, why not his neighbor ? 
 
 For what is right in one man, cannot be wrong in 
 another. If you have a right to adjudicate your own 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBUIIG. 67 
 
 quarrels, so have /. If men have, so have hoys. And 
 if you may kill your fellow-man for a word, why not for 
 a deed? why not for a malicious prosecution, for dis- 
 turbing your slumbers by a midnight riot, for bringing 
 a contagious disease into your neighborhood and en- 
 dangering the lives of your family ? Oh, the long train 
 of cause which follow in the train of this bloody god of 
 honor! Every day our ears are made to tingle by tales 
 of anarchy and violence, the brandishing of knives and 
 pistols, the deeds of desperadoes and cut-throats, and all 
 from what cause? Dueling is the cause of it. 
 
 Let us noiv briefly hear and ansioer some of the argu- 
 ments of the duelist. 
 
 The duelist says that dueling, notwithstanding all 
 that has been said against it, is necessary " as giving a 
 man a passport among gentlemen." What a cheap way 
 of making a gentleman! But are duelists more of 
 gentlemen than their neighbors ? Are they more hon- 
 orable in their dealings, more punctual in the payment 
 of their debts, and more attentive to all the courtesies 
 of life than other men ? Who generally fight duels ? 
 The blustering and the boisterous, bankrupts, gamblers, 
 and upstarts — men often stained with a thousand 
 crimes. 
 
 The duelist contends that the practice "has a ten- 
 dency to make men polite and cautious in their 
 remarks." Oh, it is making us polite savages, accom- 
 plished barbarians; causing men, from fear of some 
 swaggering bully, to go armed to the teeth. Dueling, 
 then, is producing the politeness of bandits and pirates. 
 AVe are told that there are certain offences for which the 
 law of the land provides no remedy, and, therefore, the 
 duelist must fight. And what are these off'ences ? Are 
 they not generally the silliest trifles, fit only for children 
 in the nursery ? And where is the duelist's magna- 
 
68 DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 
 
 nimity, that he cannot pass over an insult? A gentle- 
 man luill not insult you, a blackguard cannot. 
 
 We are told that it is the only way of avoiding the 
 imputation of cowardice. You say, " How shall I avoid 
 tlie imputation of cowardice unless I fight?" I would 
 reply, if you do fight, how will you avoid the imputa- 
 tion of cruelty to your friends ? of dishonesty to your 
 creditors ? of guilt to your conscience and your God ? 
 And if you fall, hoAV will you avoid the damnation of 
 hell? These are previous questions, which you are 
 called upon to settle. Let your motto be, "I am not 
 afraid to fight, but I am afraid to sin." And if you 
 wish to show your courage, prosecute your challenger ; 
 defend your person, if he assails you ; and help in voting 
 out of office every officer who. does not exert his au- 
 thority in suppressing this vice, and in keeping the 
 peace. 
 
 But the duelist says: "My character — my precious 
 character has been assailed, and I must defend it." 
 And what a frail thing your character must be, that a 
 little breath of calumny can tarnish it. If your char- 
 acter is such a brittle thing as this, you had better get 
 a better character — a firmer, stronger character. But 
 the duelist says again : " I cannot bear up under the 
 imputations cast upon my honor. I would rather die 
 than bear it." Where is the duelist's vaunted courage ? 
 I thought duelists were all brave and heroic men. But 
 it seems that a little charge breaks them down. They 
 have not half the courage of many Avomen. Others 
 have been called liars and cowards, and still have sur- 
 vived, the charge. And why may not these brave and 
 fearless souls, by a few years of perseverance in the path 
 of rectitude, silence every slander, and live down every 
 imputation ? 
 
 In conclusion, by all the solemn motives which can 
 
DUELING IN VICKSBURG. 69 I 
 
 operate upon a higli-mindecl and generous community, ; 
 
 I appeal to yoii: — 1 call upon you as patriots, as heads 
 of families, as lovers of peace, as friends of God — by all ' 
 
 the sacredness of human life, by the law of your country, 
 by the universal conscience of the civilized world ; for 
 the sake of our talented and cliivalrous youth, on whom I 
 
 our country depends in war and in peace ; by the silence I 
 
 of the dead; by the agony of surviving friends; by the 
 anguish of widows, and the loneliness of orphans; by 
 all the joys of heaven and hopeless misery of the lost, I \ 
 
 adjure you to stay this foe to God and man. Let every 
 freeman, and every man of moral courage, raise his voice 
 in lionest indignation; let the press speak out, and 
 record every duel as a murder; let the lodge expel every \ 
 
 Mason who fights; let candidates for office be required : 
 
 to abjure the bloody code; let every association whicli ' 
 
 has for its object the amelioration of society, or the pro- ' 
 
 tection of property, frown upon the duelist, and drive j 
 
 him forth, a second Cain, with the brand of guilt burn- ^ 
 
 ing on his brow — the stigma of murder fixed upon his I 
 
 name. ; 
 
THE DIGNITY 
 
 MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 
 
 Preached at the installation of Rev. J, J. Read, of Houston Church, Dec. 10, 1873. 
 
 " I magnify mine office^ — EomaJis 11 : 13. No man 
 ever entertained a more exalted conception of the dig- 
 nity of his office, than did the apostle Paul. With an 
 intellect refined to all the culture of the age, with pros- 
 pects of worldly eminence unsurpassed by any of his 
 cotemporaries, he made of them a most willing sacrifice. 
 Yea, doubtless he counted all things but loss that he 
 might win Christ, and become a herald of his great 
 salvation to the Gentile world. Acting on the principle 
 suggested by sound philosophy, that no one can excel 
 in any profession or pursuit in life, who does not enter- 
 tain for it a most exalted conception, and engage in its 
 duties with an ardor bordering on enthusiasm, he com- 
 menced a career of toil, of self-denial, and of sufi'ering, 
 of which the world cannot present a parallel. Hence, 
 in every sacrifice he made, in every epistle he penned, 
 in every church he founded, in every peril by land and 
 sea which he endured — whether we view him standing 
 before Felix, and reasoning with such overpowering 
 majesty, as to cause that proud ruler to tremble, or as 
 stauding on Mars Hill, surrounded by the venerable 
 court of the Areopagus, and there uttering terrible de- 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERLVL OFFICE. 71 
 
 imiiciutions against those heathen gods, Avhose mag- 
 nificent temples reared their stately columns all around 
 him — one grand conception filled his soul, one master 
 passion ruled his life, and that was, to "magnify his 
 office" — to feel himself and make all around him feel, 
 that he was clad with a vocation of all others the most 
 honorable and the most important, Avorthy of his loftiest 
 ambition, his most fervent zeal, his most unbounded 
 efforts. 
 
 TJie text suggests the dignity and importance of the 
 ministerial office. 
 
 1. This is shown from the honor which God has 
 placed upon it in all ages of the world, and under all 
 dispensations of the Church. God has but rarely com- 
 municated his will to earth, without the instrumental 
 agency of man. Though sometimes he has made his 
 purposes known by the medium of angels, by voices 
 from the skies, by miracles, by solemn and significant 
 ceremonies, by the peaceful rainbow, and the rumbling 
 earthquakes ; yet it has ever be^n his chosen and most 
 peculiar method to transmit his pleasure to earth by the 
 lips of the living preacher, and the familiar and per- 
 suasive tones of the human voice. And although this 
 chosen medium of divine communication is designated 
 in Scripture by different appellations — though the men 
 thus called by God are denominated Priests, Prophets, 
 Preachers, or Seers, — yet the honor and the office have 
 ever been substantially the same. Enoch, the seventh 
 from Adam, was a prophet of the Lord, a public pro- 
 claimer of the will of heaven ; and at last, in public at- 
 testation of his ministerial character and holy life, he 
 was translated to heaven, that he should not see death. 
 Noah also is denominated a preacher of righteousness; 
 and during that long term of years in which he was 
 preparing an ark for the saving of his house, he was oc- 
 
72 THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTEKIAL OFFICE. 
 
 cupied in publicly denouncing the sins of his time, and 
 warning an ungodly world of its approaching doom. 
 Abraham commanded his numerous household to serve 
 the living God. Melchisedec was Prince of Salem, 
 priest of the most high God, a glorious type of Christ, 
 and i^ublished the glad news of future Gospel times. 
 Moses was a most eminent publisher of heaven's will, 
 deliverer, judge, ruler, and preacher — proclaimed the 
 law of God from Mount Sinai, established the Jewish 
 Church, and for forty years, his speech distilled like the 
 dew upon the assembled congregations of God's chosen 
 people. And thus, from Moses and Aaron to Solomon, 
 Prince of Judah, and Amos, a herdsman of Tekoa, the 
 noblest and most honored of all Israel's sons were pub- 
 lic proclaimers of heaven's will. Some of these preachers 
 delivered their messages in camps, and in courts, in 
 deserts and on housetops. Some spoke to crowds, and 
 some to individual auditors, as the Lord commanded. 
 Sometimes they appeared in public with dishevelled 
 hair and torn garments — with leathern girdles around 
 their loins, and weapons of war in their hands, and 
 yokes of slavery on their necks, and in various other 
 methods by which to startle and alarm the people. They 
 wept, and fasted, and prayed, and prophesied, and 
 preached. There were schools of the prophets, semina- 
 ries for theological training, over which venerable men, 
 such as Elisha, and Samuel, and others, presided. Be- 
 hold Elijah, the Tishbite. He was an awful and soli- 
 tary man. The divine afflatus came upon him, and 
 tore him from the plow, and hurried him into the wil- 
 derness, where, communing with God and nature, he 
 becomes qualified to be a reprover of kings, a denouncer 
 of woe to a degenerate people. Then suddenly, as a 
 vision of the night, he bursts upon King Ahab, delivers 
 his message, and as suddenly disappears. Where is he ? 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. to 
 
 AVe find him shortly after in a poor widow's dwelling, 
 multiplying her Inmdful of meal and crnse of oil, and 
 raising her dead son to life. Again we see him upon 
 the top of Mount Carmel, challenging the priests of 
 Baal (four hundred and fifty), and the prophets of the 
 groves (four hundred and fifty), to a public decision hy 
 fire, whether Baal be God, or Jehovah be God. Where 
 is he now ? He is at the brook Kishon, a heaven-con- 
 stituted homicide, shiying the false prophets, heaps 
 upon heaps. Now we find him compelling clouds and 
 rain from the brazen sky and running before Ahab's 
 chariot, to the entrance of Jezreel. We follow him 
 again, a fugitive from Jezebel's vengeance, fleeing into 
 the wilderness ; fed by ravens ; lodged in a cave ; com- 
 muning with God in the wind, in the earthquake, and 
 the fire ; and as he hears the still, small voice, he wraps 
 his face in his mantle and bows his head, and worships. 
 Again he sallies forth into the busy populace, armed 
 with new terror, and burning to utter new messages ; 
 anoints Elisha as his successor ; appears once more as a 
 ghost to king Ahab ; then turns his weary steps once 
 more towards Jordan, with none but Elisha with him ; 
 smites the waters with his mantle ; passes over dryshod ; 
 meets the fiery chariot let down from heaven ; mounts 
 the chariot like a king and conqueror ; is carried up- 
 ward in a whirlwind ; drops his mantle ; while Elisha 
 stands awe-struck and cries after him, " My father, my 
 father, the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof." 
 (See Gillfillan). 
 
 Pass now over a long sweep of years, and see what 
 honor still clings to the heaven-constituted office of 
 God's ministry, at a most important crisis in Jewish his- 
 tory. The Babylonish captivity, covering a period of 
 seventy years, is drawing to its close. The captives of 
 Israel, who had long hung their harps on the willows 
 4 
 
74 THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 
 
 that skirted tlie streams of Babylon, and wept in silence 
 when they remembered their distant homes, now lift up 
 their heads with joy. The edict of Cyrus has gone 
 forth — "Jerusalem shall be rebuilt — her altars re-es- 
 tablished. Eeturn, ye ransomed people, home." Then, 
 at the grand re-organization of state and temple, behold 
 God calling into prominent view his own chosen servants 
 to do his own chosen work. What moral sublimity, 
 clusters around the person of Ezra, as, on the return of 
 the people, he collects fifty thousand souls together near 
 the water-gate, in the streets of Jerusalem. A pulpit 
 of wood is erected above the heads of the immense 
 mass, where, on elevated seats, on right and left, sat the 
 Levites and elders of the people. As Ezra ascends the 
 pulpit and opens the law, the whole mass, by a simulta- 
 neous impulse, rise and stand. As he offers up prayer 
 and praise to God the people bow their heads and wor- 
 ship, with their faces to the ground ; and at the pray- 
 er's close, with uplifted heads and hands, they respond, 
 "Amen, amen." 
 
 Then the sermon begins — and what a sermon! For, 
 as the preacher proceeds, every eye becomes a fountain 
 of tears; and the elders weep; and the Levites weep; 
 and all the people weep. And toward noon tlie weeping 
 became so excessive and exhausting that the preacher 
 and Levites had to restrain them. And in obedience to 
 these wise and holy men, fifty thousand hearts are 
 calmed in a moment, and they disperse in peace. Plato 
 was alive at this very time, teaching cold philosophy to 
 cold academies. But what was Plato, and what was 
 Xenophon, and what was Demosthenes, in comparison 
 with Ezra preaching at the water-gate, in the streets of 
 Jerusalem ? 
 
 From this period to the Christian era, public preach- 
 ing was universal; synagogues were multiplied; vast 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE IHINISTERLVL OFFICE. 75 
 
 numbers attended ; and elders and preachers were ap- 
 pointed for the purpose of order and instruction. At 
 last " came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilder- 
 ness of Judea, and saying, repent ye ; for the kingdom 
 of heaven is at hand. For this is he that was spoken 
 of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one cry- 
 ing in tlie wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, 
 ■make his paths straight. And the same John had his 
 raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his 
 loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey. Then 
 went out to him Jerusalem, and all Judea, and all the 
 region round about Jordan. And were baptized of him 
 in Jordan, confessing their sins." 
 
 But this bright "morning star" soon faded away be- 
 fore the rising splendor of the " glorious sun of right- 
 eousness," who spake as never man spake, and suffered 
 as never man suffered, and died as never man died, and 
 rose as never man rose ; and forty days after his resur- 
 rection, led his disciples out as far as to Bethany, where 
 he uttered his great commission : " Go ye into all the 
 world and preach the Gospel to every creature ; he that 
 believeth and is baptized shall be saved, and he that be- 
 lieveth not shall be damned." 
 
 " He spake and light shone round his head, 
 On a bright cloud to heaven he rode ; 
 They to the farthest nations spread 
 The faith of their ascending Lord." 
 
 2. The great dignity and honor of the ministerial 
 office is shadowed forth by the many names and appella- 
 tions by which it is designated in Holy Scripture. 
 There is not an honorable epithet or title applied to oc- 
 cupations of distinction among men which is not used 
 to illustrate the office of the ministry. Is the Church 
 'represented in Scripture under the similitude of a vine- 
 yard, ministers are the laborers toiling in its culture. 
 
76 THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 
 
 Is the cliiircli called a city, ministers are the watchmen 
 stationed on its walls, to descry danger from afar and 
 sound the alarm. Is the Church a sheep fold, they are 
 the shepherds, guarding and feeding the flock. Is she 
 a building, rising in fair proportions, eventually to be 
 polished after the similitude of a palace, they are the 
 builders rearing the gigantic and beauteous structure. 
 Is Zion an army with banners, they are the standard- 
 bearers. Is this world a revolted province of God's em- 
 pire, they are the ambassadors, sent forth to adjust the 
 claims of heaven's court and beseech men, in Christ's 
 stead, to become reconciled to God. Is the Church on 
 earth an object upon which the ascending Saviour 
 wishes to bestow the richest boon, ministers are the pre- 
 cious donation. " Wherefore when he ascended up on 
 high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men. 
 And he gave some, apostles ; and some, prophets ; and 
 some, evangelists ; and some, pastors and teachers ; for 
 the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the minis- 
 try, for the edifying of the body of Christ : till we all 
 come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of 
 the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure 
 of the stature of the fulness of Christ." Would the en- 
 raptured Isaiah depict the future glories of the universal 
 church, ministers form a prominent object in the glow- 
 ing picture : "How beautiful upon the mountains are 
 the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that pub- 
 lisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that 
 publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God 
 reigneth! Thy watchmen shall lift up the voice; with 
 the voice together shall they sing ; for they shall see eye 
 to eye, when the Lord shall bring again Zion." 
 
 3. The ministerial office assumes an aspect of vast 
 dignity because of its rich fruits — its countless and 
 transcendent blessings. Pen cannot recount, tongue 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE MDsISTERLVL OFFICE. 77 
 
 cannot utter, history will never adequately record the 
 blessings which accompany and flow from the estab- 
 lishment of the Gospel ministry — diffusing themselves 
 in ten thousand channels, over the Church and the 
 world, over religion and science, over refinement and 
 laws. Since the days of Christ and his inspired apos- 
 tles, the voice of the living preaclier has been the method 
 the most conspicuous and the most honored of God in 
 propagating the truth and conserving the world. For 
 ever since that period, the chief function of the ministry 
 consists in preaching, accompanied with prayer and the 
 administration of the ordinances. There are no suc- 
 cessors of the Jewish priests — there are no successors of 
 the twelve apostles. The ministry now hath no sacer- 
 dotal or apostolic character. There are no lords over 
 God's heritage. All God's ministers are equal. All are 
 bishops, and all are brethren ; and Christ alone is Head, 
 and Christ alone is King. And in compensation for the 
 withdrawal from the world of miraculous gifts, pro- 
 phetic tongues, apostolic pens, and angels' visits, God 
 has concentrated the essence of all former honors and 
 offices upon the Christian ministy. Yea, there are clear 
 intimations in Holy Scripture of God's design to cir- 
 cumscribe great spiritual blessings within its immediate 
 range. " How, then (saith the apostle), shall they call 
 on him in whom they have not believed; and how shall 
 they believe in him of whom they have not heard; and 
 how shall they hear without a preacher; and how shall 
 they preach except they be sent." " So faith cometh 
 by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." As true 
 as God does not warm men without fire, nor nourish 
 men without food, nor drown men without water, just 
 "so sure does he not usually convert men without preach- 
 ing. Though there ever have been, and ever will be, 
 cases of sincere conversion without the public preaching 
 
78 THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 
 
 of the Gospel, yet they are of rare occurrence — excep- 
 tions to God's great rule. " The pulpit 
 
 " Must stand acknowledged while the world shall stand, 
 The most important and effectual guard, 
 Support and ornament of virtue's cause." 
 
 What myriads of sacred influences and associations 
 cluster around the pulpit, calculated to enhance its im- 
 portance as a 7noral poiver. There is a vast element for 
 good in having a class of men expressly set apart to 
 instruct the people in holy things — with minds stored 
 with learning — with hearts warm with love — with "lips 
 eloquent with truth — whose themes are divine — whose 
 topics are the whole range of Bible facts — and whose 
 arguments and motives are drawn from life and from 
 death, from time and eternity. Look also at the influ- 
 ence of numbers, the power of sympathy, the expression 
 of the human eye, the tones of the human voice, the 
 whole force and magnetic power of human eloquence, 
 calculated to awe, to thrill, to convince. Who can fully 
 estimate the amount of knowledge communicated by 
 the weekly ministrations of the Sanctuary, to a people 
 many of whom are thoughtless and would never other- 
 wise pause and reflect, and many are defective in educa- 
 tion and incompetent to comprehend without a teacher ? 
 Who can recount the blessings to neighborhoods and 
 villages in the instruction given, the impressions pro- 
 duced, the vices restrained, the public order upheld, and 
 the peace, harmony, and friendships created by a regu- 
 lar ministry ? And, on the other hand, what a melan- 
 choly scene presents itself to the eye, where there is 
 no Christian ministry — in Sabbaths desecrated, public 
 morals lowered, youth unrestrained, the Bible unread,* 
 and God and eternity forgotten — vice stalking abroad 
 unrebuked, and the large mass grasping after wealth and. 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 79 
 
 pleasure, and no one to raise his voice and warn them 
 to fiee from the wrath to come. 
 
 And Oh, wlien we take a higher range — when we look 
 upon the ministry as chiefly designed to proclaim to 
 men a crucified Saviour, and qualify them for heaven, 
 how the office swells in honor and dignity. And next 
 to Jesus, the Lamb in the midst of the throne, the chief 
 objects of interest and attraction in the upper state, will 
 be those ministers of the Gospel, who have converted 
 the largest number of souls to God. For "they that 
 turn many to righteousness, shall shine as the stars 
 forever and ever." Raphael took a piece of canvas, of 
 which the maker thought nothing, and the vendor 
 thought nothing, and threw upon it his own immortal 
 colors, and has made it live forever in the galleries of 
 Europe. So a minister of the Gospel takes a- human 
 heart, for which the possessor cares but little, and re- 
 traces upon it the lineaments of God's own image, to be 
 exhibited forever in the galleries of heaven, as a trophy 
 of redeeming grace. 
 
 Tui-n for a moment more to earth, and look at the 
 temporal achievements of the ministry. What hath 
 God wrought by preaching ? The Roman empire was 
 Christianized by preaching — the preaching of Paul and 
 his noble companions. And though the " weapons of 
 their warfare were not carnal, yet they were mighty 
 through God, to the pulling down of strongholds." 
 There sat Paganism at the capital, enthroned above the 
 heads of kings and emperors — clad in all her dazzling 
 splendor — with her magnificent temples — her gorgeous 
 train of priests — her holy vestal virgins — her learned 
 interpreters of the sibylline oracles— her gladiatorial 
 shouts — her vast amphitheatres, some of which could 
 contain tens of thousands of spectators. But Paul 
 preached, and institutions venerable by ages tottered 
 
80 THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 
 
 and fell. The glorious Eeformation was chiefly brought 
 about by preachiiig — the preaching of Luther. The 
 Eepublic of Geneva, after which our own Republic was 
 fashioned, was produced hj preaching, the preaching of 
 Calvin. The sturdy national character of Scotland was 
 formed chiefly by the preaching of men like John Knox, 
 of whom at his grave it was said, " There lies one who 
 never feared the face of men." The present quiet of 
 every New England village was laid far back in the 
 preaching of the Stoddards, and the Mathers, and the 
 Edwardses. The present national existence of the Samd- 
 wich Islands, whose people forty years ago were wild 
 cannibals, is the fruit of the* preaching of American 
 missionaries. The foundations of the American Union 
 were laid in the labors and toils of such men as George 
 Fox, the Quaker, and John Wesley, the Methodist, 
 and George Whitfield, the Calvinist, who traveled and 
 preached from Massachusetts to Georgia, and aided 
 the people to form religious and ecclesiastical affinities, 
 before the cry to arms rung out from old Faneuil 
 Hall. Civil liberty, in the days of our fathers, was 
 perched upon the standard of the cross, and will al- 
 ways visit every land where that standard is unfurled. 
 And the conversion of the nations to God, and the final 
 and universal triumphs of the Gospel, will be effected 
 mainly by the same heaven-ordained and heaven-owned 
 method. For the Lord shall give the word ; great shall 
 be the army of the publishers. " For an angel shall be 
 seen, flying through the clouds of heaven, having the 
 everlasting Gospel to preach to every nation." And as 
 that blessed Gospel shall begin to walk abroad on its 
 last triumph, thrones shall tremble, .oracles shall grow 
 dumb, and the brows of tyrants shall turn white as 
 aslies. Then cities and palaces shall fling wide their 
 gates at her advancing tread, and the great mass of 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERLyi. OFFICE. 81 
 
 suffering, sinful men shall bow their adoring heads as 
 her sweet voice sliall fall upon their ear. 
 
 1. In view of all that has been said, it is expedient 
 that there should be a much more exalted appreciation 
 of the ministerial office. It should be magnified above 
 all other callings. Is lie deemed great who founds em- 
 pires, gains victories, amasses wealth, or glitters in stars 
 and coronets — whose praises live in history, and whose 
 name is engraven on marble ? How much more hon- 
 orable, and how much more deserving of gratitude, 
 s]?ould they be deemed who ameliorate the hearts of 
 men, subdue passions, found churches, form public 
 morals, and produce effects on character and conduct 
 that shall last forever. 
 
 2. AVe also see, from this subject, the propriety of set- 
 ting apart a distinct class of men to the ministerial work. 
 If the ministry be of divine appointment, honored of 
 God, magnified of Paul, filled by Christ, surely not 
 every one is competent to enter it, and none should 
 enter upon it, but he that is " called of God, as Avas 
 Aaron" — called by the Church, called by his own breth- 
 ren, called by the Spirit, called by his own heart, glow- 
 ing with love for souls, and appropriating the words of 
 the Apostle, " for necessity is laid upon me, yea, woe is 
 me if I preach not the Gospel." And when such a one 
 has assumed the ministry, he should never desert it. He 
 should wear out in it, and become every day more and 
 more a centre of influence, and a saver of life unto life 
 to immortal souls. Alas for those who do not thus 
 magnify their office. ^Yoe to those who degrade the 
 ministry — detract from its heavenly dignity by pervert- 
 ing it to secular purposes, and "steal the livery of the 
 court of heaven to serve the devil in." Among such we 
 include sectarian preachers, poetical preachers, sensa- 
 tional preachers, political preachers, fanatical preachers. 
 
82 THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 
 
 3. Contemplate the elevated position of onr Church 
 in its high appreciation of the dignity and sacredness 
 of the office, in permitting none to enter it but men of 
 piety and learning, that the ark of the Lord be not car- 
 ried by inefficient or unholy hands. Hence the honor- 
 able distinction of our Zion in her zeal in educating the 
 young, in founding schools and colleges, and furnishing 
 the world with a learned ministry. 
 
 4. You here learn the duty of the people to provide 
 for the temporal wants of the ministry. If we minister 
 to you in spiritual things, is it not a small matter that 
 you should contribute to us of your temporal things? 
 Is not the laborer worthy of his hire ? Should not they 
 who serve at the altar, live of the altar ? And is not 
 that church most criminally remiss in her duty to 
 herself and her head, which expects of her ministry 
 constant services and elevated mental toil, but which 
 extends to them a scanty and niggard support, expect- 
 ing men to be given to hospitality and devoted to study, 
 as well as punctual in meeting their pecuniary obliga- 
 tions, but whose worldly maintenance is inadequate or 
 paid with reluctance. 
 
 5. The views which we have advanced respecting the 
 ministry, so far from begetting in the mind feelings of 
 vain glory, are calulated to instill the deepest humility. 
 When we recount our arduous duties, our severe trials, 
 and our fearful responsibilities, we would cry out with 
 the Apostle : " Who is sufficient for these things ? " Oh, 
 brethren, " we are wdtli you in weakness, and in fear, 
 and in much trembling." And we Avould appeal to you 
 in the language of the same Apostle, " Brethren, pray 
 for us." Nothing will so much relieve us, nothing will 
 so much encourage us, as your fervent prayers. For a 
 prayerless people will always have a desponding minis- 
 try ; while, on the other hand, the performance of this 
 
THE DIGNITY OF THE MINISTEKIAL OFFICE. 83 
 
 duty will lead to the performance of every other. They 
 who pray for their pastor will necessarily love him ; they 
 will contribute to his worldly support; they will be 
 careful of his reputation ; they will punctually wait on 
 his ministry; they will receive with meekness the word 
 of God from his lips, will grow up with him as heirs of 
 the grace of life, and finally enter with him into the 
 same eternal j.oy. 
 
HISTORY 
 
 or THE 
 
 PEESBYTERIAISr CHURCH, 
 
 HOUSTON, TEXAS. 
 
 This cliarcli was organized on tlie 31st of March, 
 1839, in the Senate Chamber of the Congress of the 
 Eepublic of Texas, by Rev. William Y. Allen, after a 
 sermon preached by him from Psalm cxxii., verse 6: 
 "Pray for the peace of Jerusalem, they shall prosper 
 that love thee." 
 
 The following preamble and resolutions were adopted 
 as the basis of organization, viz. : 
 
 "For the purpose of promoting Divine worship, and our 
 mutual edification in the knowledge and practice of piety, we, 
 whose names are hereunto subscribed, do agree to associate our- 
 selves together as a Presbyterian Church upon the following 
 principles, viz. : 
 
 " 1st. We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testa- 
 ments to be the Word of God, the only infallible rule of faith 
 and practice. 
 
 " 2d. We sincerely adopt the Confession of Faith of the Pres- 
 byterian Church in the United States of America as containing 
 the system of doctrine taught in the Holy Scriptures, 
 
 " 3d. We adopt the form of Government and Directory for 
 worship as laid down in the Constitution of the Presbyterian 
 Church in the United States of America." 
 
 To the above agreement the following names were appended; 
 A. B. Shelby, Marian Shelby, 
 
 J. Wilson Copes, James Bailey, 
 
 James Burke, Sarah Woodward, 
 
 Isabella R. Parker, Jennett Smith, 
 
 Edwin Belden, Harris G. Avery, 
 
 Sophia B. Hodge. 
 
rRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HOUSTON, TEXAS. 85 
 
 The organization was completed by the election of 
 James Burke to the office of Ruling Elder. 
 
 On the 14th of April, 1839, the sacrament of the 
 Lord's Supper was administered to twenty-five com- 
 municants. This was the first celebration of this sacra- 
 ment in Houston, most probably the first in Texas. 
 
 After organizing the church. Rev. W. Y. Allen con- 
 tinued to minister to it until the spring of 1842, when 
 he resigned and returned to Kentucky, and was suc- 
 ceeded by 
 
 REV. J. M. ATKINSOJ^, 
 
 then on a visit to Texas. lie received a unanimous 
 call to become pastor of the church. Finding his 
 health unfitted him for the labors of the office, he de- 
 clined the call, and left the State early in 1843, having 
 served the church about one year. 
 
 In the spring of 1843, application was made to the 
 Board of Foreign Missions of the Presbyterian Church, 
 in the United States, which commissioned the Eev. J. 
 W. Miller as a missionary to this field. 
 
 REV. J. W. MILLER 
 
 arrived December, 1844, and entered on the discharge 
 of his duties. He received a unanimous call to the pas- 
 torate, and was installed November 21, 1847. His health 
 failing, he resigned the charge in January, 1850, having 
 been five years over the congregation, during which time 
 seventy members were admitted to the church. 
 
 REV. L. S. GIBSON", 
 
 being in the city, received a unanimous call from the 
 church and congregation. His health failed under two 
 severe bilious attacks, in 1850 and 1851, which caused 
 him to cease preaching. He died in Philadelphia, in 
 
86 HISTOKY OF THE 
 
 May, 1853, while in attendance on the General Assem- 
 bly, as commissioner from the presbytery of Brazos. 
 
 On December 31, 1851, an invitation to supply the 
 pulpit for one year, was made to 
 
 REV. ALEX. FAIRBAIRl^. 
 
 In 1853, he received a call for his services as pastor, 
 and was installed in February of that year. He resigned 
 his charge in December, 1854, and moved to Huntsville. 
 
 REY. JEROME TWICHELL 
 
 was installed as pastor of the church in April, 1855, and 
 was lost on the "Nautilus," in the Gulf, during the 
 storm of August 10, 1856. 
 
 REV. R. H. BYERS 
 
 was called on June 20, 1857, and entered on his minis- 
 tration in the following September. 
 
 In November, 1859, he accepted the financial agency 
 of Austin College, by which the pulpit again became 
 vacant. He was succeeded by 
 
 REV. THOS. CASTLETOiq", 
 
 called in April, 1860, and installed April, 1861; he filled 
 the pulpit during the greater part of the war. 
 
 On October .25, 1862, the church, a frame building, 
 fronting on Main-street, was destroyed by fire. Under 
 the exertions of Mr. Castleton, plans were speedily ma- 
 tured to replace it by a brick structure, which he was 
 not permitted to see completed. In October, 1864, his 
 relations with the church were dissolved by presbytery. 
 In 1865 — with his wife — he embarked on the " Shibbo- 
 leth." for New York, and is supposed to have been lost 
 at sea, as that vessel was not heard of any more after 
 leaving Galveston. 
 
PRESBYTERIAN CHURCH, HOUSTON, TEXAS. 87 
 
 After the fire, worship was conducted in the Court 
 House, until it was taken for barracks, when Turner's 
 Hall was obtained ])y 
 
 REV. J. R. HUTCHISON, D. D., 
 
 who preached every Sabbath morning until June, 1865, 
 when the hall liad to be given up. 
 
 The New Building was dedicated on Sabbath, July 
 7, 18G7, by Rev. R. H. Byers, D. D., assisted by Rev. S. 
 A. King and Mr. Moore. On April 1, 18G8, 
 
 REV. WM. SOMERVILLE 
 
 was invited to supply the pulpit one year, when the 
 regular services of the church, after a long interruption, 
 were resumed. He was installed pastor of the church 
 in May, 1869, and resigned in October, 1870. On Sep- 
 tember, 1871, 
 
 REV. JNO. J. READ, 
 
 a licentiate of the presbytery of Mississippi, received the 
 unanimous call of the church and congregation to be- 
 come pastor thereof, having accepted the same, he was 
 dismissed to the care of the presbytery of Brazos. 
 
 After having sustained a satisfactory examination, the 
 presbytery proceeded on Sabbath, December 10, to or- 
 dain him to the full work of the Gospel ministry, the 
 Moderator, Rev. R. F. Bunting, D.D., presiding. The 
 Rev. J. R. Hutchison, D.D., was appointed to preach the 
 Ordination Sermon ; Rev. J. W. Miller, D. D., to deliver 
 a charge to the congregation, and Rev. R. F. Bunting, 
 D. D., a charge to the pastor. 
 
THE SABBATH. 
 
 Preached at Hempstead, Texas, October, 1869. 
 
 ^^ Remember the Sahhath day to keep it holy" — Exo- 
 dus 20 : 8. The observance of the Sabbath is essential 
 to the spread of Christianity, and to its transmission 
 from one age to another. The Sabbath is the centre of 
 the system, the keystone of the arch. Without it, the 
 Gospel would have no opportunity of exerting its benign 
 influences upon the masses, of giving forth, in public 
 assemblies, its loud and solemn utterances of warning 
 and instruction. For how could mankind retain a 
 knowledge of the great doctrines of the Cross, unless 
 they were plainly and publicly taught them ? And how 
 could they be publicly taught them, unless there were a 
 specific day on which, by common consent, they might 
 assemble for the purpose ? 
 
 The necessity and importance, therefore, of the Sab- 
 bath, as a day of religious instruction and meditation, 
 the honor which it confers on God, the peace and quiet 
 which it brings to man, the rest it imparts to the body, 
 the solemn pause it secures to all the secularities of life 
 — these, with other most weighty considerations, com- 
 bine in enforcing the command of the Decalogue, "Re- 
 member the Sabbath da}^, to keep it holy." 
 
 It has, however, been contended by some that the 
 Sabbath day is a Jewish institution, and being merely 
 national and ceremonial in its character, is not of per- 
 petual and universal obligation. But can it not be 
 
THE SABBATH. 89 
 
 shown that the Sabbath was instituted long before the 
 Jewish nation existed, and although incorporated into 
 the civil and ecclesiastical polity of that people, it never 
 exclusively belonged to them, but is binding, in all its 
 force, upon the people of every country and every age? 
 
 Our first argument is drawn from its great antiquity. 
 The Sabbath was instituted two thousand years before 
 the Jewish nation existed. It is as old as thef creation. 
 It was given by God to the first man, Adam. It is then 
 binding on us ; because Adam was a public character, 
 and acted in a public capacity. Adam was not merely 
 our great progenitor; he was also our federal head and 
 representative. Adam negotiated with the court of 
 heaven, not only for himself, but for all his posterity. 
 This is one of the plainest doctrines of the Bible. Con- 
 sequently, according to the laws of imputation and 
 representation, all Adam's acts become our acts, all 
 Adam's institutions become our institutions. If, then, 
 the institution of the Sabbath was observed by Adam, 
 it must be observed by us, for the same reason that we 
 observe the institution of marriage. 
 
 Where, then, is the evidence that the Sabbath was 
 known to our great representative ? It i^ found in the 
 book of Genesis, second chapter, second and third verses : 
 " On the seventh day God ended His work which He had 
 made, and He rested on the seventh day from all His 
 work which He had made. And God blessed the seventh 
 day and sanctified it, because that on it He had rested 
 from all His Avork which God created and made." Adam 
 was created on the sixth day; the next day was the 
 sacred day of rest. Hence the first rising sun which 
 Adam ever saw, ushered in the hallowed rest of the 
 new-born Sabbath. 
 
 But we have other evidence that the Sabbath is as old 
 as the creation. We find traces of its existence and * 
 
90 THE SABBATH. 
 
 partial observance in the history of every nation of 
 antiquity, both Jewish and heathen. Begin Avith the 
 history of the Jews in the wilderness, as they were jour- 
 neying from Egypt to Palestine, and before they reached 
 Mount Sinai. Observe how regularly they abstained 
 from the gathering of manna, at the close of every sixth 
 day, in order that they might rest on the seventh. 
 Mark how familiarly Moses refers to the Sabbath in the 
 giving of the ten commandments. He there takes for 
 granted that the Jews knew of the Sabbath before the 
 giving of the law on Sinai. For he says, " Rememher 
 the Sabbath," implying that it had been previously 
 known. 
 
 Now go further back into the history of the Jews, 
 and you will still find proofs of the existence of the Sab- 
 bath. Examine the history of Job, forty years previous 
 to the giving of the law, and you will find familiar men- 
 tion of the Sabbath. Go two hundred and fifty years 
 further back, to the time of Jacob, and you will observe 
 that he observed the Sabbath. Go one hundred and 
 fifty years further back, to the time of Abraham, and 
 you will find that he knew the Sabbath. Then go back 
 four hundred and fifty years further, to the time of 
 Noah, and you will perceive that he also observed the 
 Sabbath. In this day, the Sabbath can be traced back 
 to Adam. 
 
 Now turn from the history of the Jews to the history 
 of early heathen nations, and go back until all history 
 is lost in fable or is merged in the Mosaic narrative. 
 The Sabbath is mentioned by Homer, the father of 
 Greek poetry. He says, " The seventh day is the day 
 on which all things were finished." It is referred to by 
 Linens, another early Grecian writer, who says, " The 
 seventh day is an auspicious day, for it is the birthday 
 of all things." It is mentioned by Philo, an early 
 
THE SABBATH. 91 
 
 Egyptian writer. He asserts that "the Sabbath is a 
 festival, not peenliar to any one country, but is common 
 to all the world." Josephus, the Jewish historian, tells 
 us tliat in his day ^' there was no city, either of Greeks 
 or barbarians, where the obligation of the Sabbath was 
 not known." And the learned Grotius declares " that 
 the memory of the creation being performed in the 
 seven days, was preserved not only among the Greeks 
 and Italians, but also among the Celts and Indians, all 
 of whom divided their time into weeks." Thus we find 
 traces of the Sabbath among all the nations of antiquity. 
 
 And now the important question presents itself: 
 How did those early heathen nations acquire their 
 knowledge of the Sabbath ? Whence conld have arisen 
 this universal practice of dividing time into weeks, and 
 of showing such marked deference to the seventh day ? 
 How happened it that people inhabiting different coun- 
 tries, speaking different languages, and adhering to 
 different religions, all agree in this one practice ? Would 
 their notions respecting astronomy have led them to 
 such a division of time ? No ; their astronomical views 
 would have led them to divide their time into months 
 and days and years, but would never have suggested to 
 them a division of time into weeks. Weeks are unnat- 
 ural divisions of time, suggested by no revolutions of 
 the heavenly bodies. Nor did the ancient heathen de- 
 rive their knowledge of weeks from the Jews. For 
 many of these nations existed before the Jews were em- 
 bodied into a nation. Some of them never heard of the 
 Jews, and some entertained for Jewish customs a very 
 strong abhorrence. 
 
 The only method, then, of accounting for the early 
 and universal practice of dividing time into weeks, is 
 that it was communicated by God to Adam in Paradise, 
 as was the rite of marriage, handed down by tradition 
 
92 THE SABBATH. 
 
 among the antediluvian patriarchs, then scattered, after 
 the flood, among all the nations of the earth. 
 
 We base the perpetual obligation of the Sabbath, not 
 merely upon its institution in Paradise, its recognition 
 among all the nations of antiquity, and its incorpora- 
 tion into the Jewish economy, but mainly on the fact 
 of its constituting a prominent part of the ten com- 
 mandments. Hence, all who admit the universal and 
 perpetual obligation of the Decalogue, must admit the 
 equally binding nature of the Sabbath. 
 
 For if the Sabbath w^as merely ceremonial, serving a 
 temporary purpose, and then passing away, like other 
 temporary rites of the old dis2:)ensation, why should it 
 occupy such a prominent place in that code of laws 
 designed by God to be binding on the whole human 
 race? Why is it found there at all? AYhy select it 
 from the number of the merely temporary ordinances 
 of the Mosaic economy, and place it so conspicuously 
 in the very centre of that eternal compendium of moral 
 duties, given for the government of the whole world? 
 The fact of its being found where it is decides the ques- 
 tion.- And there is something in the peculiar position 
 w^hich this command occupies in the Decalogue, and the 
 language in which it is couched, w^hich renders it the 
 most remarkable precept of the entire ten. It is the 
 longest commandment. It is the most minute and 
 specific in its language, carefully enumerating a large 
 number of particulars. It is located in the very heart 
 of the code, between the two tables of the law — the 
 first embracing our duties to God, the second our duties 
 to man. And because this precept partakes of the 
 nature of both tables, and enjoins duties to both God 
 and man, it is placed hetween both. It is the golden 
 dasp which binds the two tables together; and whoever 
 would take it away, breaks the clasp and mars the 
 
THE SABBATH. 93 
 
 whole. For he robs God of his worship and man of his 
 rest. The fact, then, of the law of the Sabbath being 
 found in the Decalogue, settles the question under dis- 
 cussion. And mankind have no more riglit to violate 
 or ignore its requirements, than they liave to set aside 
 the law respecting idolatry, or murder, or theft, or filial 
 insubordination, or conjugal infidelity. 
 
 Another weighty argument for the obligation of the 
 Sabbath, is derived from considering the great design 
 for which it was originally instituted. What was that 
 design ? It was of the most beneficial nature. It was 
 that man might have time to rest his body, improve his 
 mind, and purify his heart; that he might have sufi&- 
 cient respite from physical toil — sufficient leisure to 
 worship God and prepare for eternity. Now, are not 
 these uses of the Sabbath just as important now as they 
 ever were, and, therefore, is not the observance of the 
 Sabbath just as necessary ? Does not man require just 
 as much time to rest his body, to improve his mind, to 
 purify his heart, to serve his God, and to prepare for 
 eternity, as he did in the juvenile ages ? It is the tes- 
 timony of anatomists, that the constitutions of both 
 man and beast absolutely require one-seventh portion 
 of time for rest and relaxation, or else they will soon 
 wear out. Behold, then, the wonderful adaptation of 
 this part of the moral government of God, for the physic- 
 al constitution of man. And if it was necessary that 
 the ancient patriarchs and the other early inhabitants 
 of the world, should have one-seventh portion of their 
 time for rest and relaxation, is it not far more impor- 
 tant that we should liave the same rest ? The bodies of 
 men and beasts now are not half so vigorous as they 
 were in those early ages, and require more rest and 
 more leisure. And the laborious employments of men 
 now are far greater than they were then. For in those 
 
94 THE SABBATH. 
 
 primeval days of simplicity, men had little else to do 
 than to attend to their peaceful flocks, shoot the passing 
 game, and drink the crystal stream. And still they 
 needed a day of rest. How mnch more do ice need it. 
 Now, arguing from the design for which the Sabbath 
 day was originally instituted, we may safely argue the 
 necessity of its continuation and perpetuity. Does the 
 cause for which it was originally given exist still ? then 
 should not the day exist likewise ? So long as man's 
 physical nature remains what it is; so long as the soul 
 retains its importance ; so long as man shall sweat and 
 toil both in body and mind the larger portion of his 
 time, just so long does he need the merciful provision 
 of the Sabbath. If Adam in Paradise required the 
 sacred day of rest, much more do his sinful descendants 
 need it. Not, then, as punishment, but as a merciful 
 condescension to our infirmities, has God said, " Ee- 
 member the Sabbath-day, to keep it holy." 
 
 The obligation to sanctify the Sabbath, in addition 
 to what has been set forth in our former issues, rece-ives 
 still greater force by contemplating the great blessings 
 and advantages resulting from its observance, and the 
 sad results flowing from its desecration. In enumerat- 
 ing these blessings both to soul and body, both to man 
 as an individual and as a member of the social compact, 
 both as a dweller on earth and as a candidate for heaven, 
 where shall we begin, and where end ? 
 
 By keeping the Sabbath, those who are compelled to 
 toil during the week are permitted to rest and recruit 
 their exhausted energies. ^len of business and specu- 
 lation are permitted to pause in their career of bargain- 
 ing and sales, have time to reflect calmly and dispas- 
 sionately, and are thus often held back from sudden 
 bankruptcy or a too great love of money. Those also 
 whose incessant occupations during the week prevent 
 
THE S.U3BATH. 95 
 
 them from having access to books find time to read and 
 improve their minds. Attention can be given to dress 
 and cleanliness, and to the polite civilities of friends. 
 People of all classes can assemble together in the house 
 of God. The high and the low, the rich and the poor, 
 meet together upon a perfect equality. They are taught 
 to feel that they have a common God and a common 
 Saviour ; a common origin — a common end. They are 
 also instructed in these things in the best possible man- 
 ner. For there is something in the presence of a crowd, 
 in the power of sympathy, and in the thrilling tones of 
 the human voice, which renders the -public preaching 
 of the gospel, and the songs and prayers of the sanctu- 
 ary, the most effective means of impressing divine truth 
 upon the hearts of men. They who are unable to 
 read and improve themselves at home, can listen to the 
 reading and reasoning of another. Impressions are 
 thus made which are deep and lasting. A thousand 
 conflicting passions are harmonized. The affections 
 are weaned from earth and soar towards heaven. The 
 pious are edified ; the ignorant are instructed ; the 
 wicked are warned; the wavering are confirmed. A 
 love for morality and order is diffused from heart to 
 heart, and from family to family. The community Is 
 improved; intelligence is diffused; crimes are dimin- 
 ished. A moral sentiment is spread all around, which 
 forms a more effectual preservation of the liberties of 
 the country than pikes and armies. Oh] in view of 
 such blessings, who ought not to love the Sabbath ? 
 What patriot, what Christian, what lover of his own 
 family, what friend of the poor, should not sanctify the 
 Sabbath ? 
 
 But reverse this pleasing picture and view the result. 
 Abolish the Sabbath, and you take away every one of 
 the blessings we have enumerated, and you substitute a 
 
96 THE SABBATH. 
 
 corresponding curse. Abolish the Sabbath, and you 
 give the laboring class no stated time to rest, and the 
 commercial class no regular period to pause in their 
 career of worldliness. Abolish the Sabbath, and you 
 place in its stead no other effectual method of instruct- 
 ing the ignorant, of restraining the vicious, or of im- 
 proving the manners of the masses without injuring their 
 morals. In a word, take away the Sabbath, and you 
 give us no other method of diffusing the blessings of 
 Christianity. And if Christianity be not diffused, vir- 
 tue, morality, and liberty must soon bid farewell to the 
 land. Nothing but the power of the Gospel can purify 
 and save this nation. Nothing but this can preserve 
 us from the effects of infidelity, of intemperance, of 
 party-strife, and national pride. Our general intelli- 
 gence, our growing w^ealth, our ardent patriotism, and 
 our invincible courage cannot, of themselves, preserve 
 us. They did not preserve Greece, or Rome, or France. 
 Hence nothing but the Sabbath, as a means of incul- 
 cating our holy religion, can preserve the fair temple 
 of American liberty. Nothing but a phalanx of holy 
 hearts clustering thick around the Sabbath, can pre- 
 serve us from going down to the gloomy grave of 
 nations. 
 
 We haye had an instance in modern times, of a whole 
 nation deliberately abolishing the Sabbath, and what 
 was the result ? No sooner had France blotted out this 
 moral sun from her heavens, than the mighty God whose 
 being she denied, and whose worship she ignored, stood 
 aloof and gave her up ; and a scene of proscription and 
 assassination and crime ensued, unparalleled in the an- 
 nals of the civilized world. Every moral and domestic 
 tie was ruthlessly torn asunder. A brother's hand was 
 deeply imbrued in a brother's blood. The tears of the 
 lisping babe, the shrieks of the agonized mother, and 
 
THE SABBATH. 97 
 
 the frantic cries of hoary and decrepit age, mingled with 
 the demoniac shouts of an infuriated sokliery, dragging 
 their victims to the guillotine. Yea, says one, it seemed 
 as if the nation's knell had tolled, and the whole world 
 was summoned to the funeral. In the city of Paris, 
 there were in 1803 eight hundred and seven suicides 
 and murders. Among the criminals executed, there 
 were seven fathers who had poisoned their children, ten 
 husbands wdio had murdered their wives, six wives who 
 had poisoned their husbands — and fifteen children wdio 
 had destroyed their parents! Do then the Infidels of 
 this land desire to have the scenes of revolutionary 
 France re-enacted, let them abolish the Sabbath, and 
 forthwith, from the vasty deep will come up the demons 
 of blood. The Sabbath is the "cord by which God 
 holds up the nation from the yawning rolls beneath it." 
 AVhile, then, one strand of this cord after another is cut, 
 w^hat can prevent, when the last cord is severed, this 
 mighty nation, like the massive rock on the mountain's 
 clifi", from thundering doAvn to ruin. Give up the Sab- 
 bath — blot out that orb of day — suspend its blessed at- 
 tractions — and the reign of chaos and old night will 
 return. The weaves of our unquiet sea will roll and 
 dash, shipwrecking the hopes of patriots and the world. 
 The elements around us may remain, and our gigantic 
 mountains and rivers; our miserable descendants may 
 multiply and rot in moral darkness and putrefaction. 
 But the American character and the American nation 
 will go down into the same grave that entombs the Sab- 
 bath — and our epitaph will be, '' Here ended the nation 
 that despised the laws of heaven, and gloried in their 
 wisdom, wealth, and power." 
 
 Be entreated then, to " Eemember the Sabbath-day to 
 keep it holy." This is the day the Lord hath made. 
 He calls the hours his owm. Remember it, for it comes 
 
 5 
 
98 THE SABBATH. 
 
 to rest the weary laborer, to calm the fevered brow of 
 the anxious merchant. Remember it, for it is the type 
 of heaven — of that rest which remaineth for the people 
 of God. Remember it, for God wrote it with his own 
 finger upon tables of stone, and proclaimed it, amid 
 thunderings and lightning and earthquakes, from the 
 summit of Mount Sinai. Remember it, because of the 
 awful judgments inflicted on those nations and individ- 
 uals who have violated it — on rebellious Israel, on In- 
 fidel France, when God thinned their families, wasted 
 their treasures, and drenched their cities in blood. Re- 
 member it, because of the many terrible calamities which 
 have come under your own observation in consequence 
 of its violation — the carriage accident — the boat disas- 
 ter — the faithless gun — the gay party of pleasure, which 
 went out on the morning of God's holy day, but who 
 never returned, or else were brought home mere man- 
 gled corpses, monuments of the wrath of heaven. 
 
 We never, in the whole course of our recollection, met 
 with a Christian friend who bore upon his character any 
 evidence of the spirit's renovation, who did not keep 
 holy the Sab.bath. " We appeal to the memory of all 
 the worthies who are now lying in their graves; we 
 appeal to every one who reads these lines, and who car- 
 ries in his bosom a recollection of a father's worth and 
 a mother's piety, if, on the coming round of the seventh 
 day, an air of peculiar sacredness did not spread itself 
 over the mansion where he drew his first breath, and 
 was taught to lisp his infant hymn, and breathe his 
 infant prayer. The Sabbath is still dear to him. He 
 loves the quietness of the hallowed morn. He loves the 
 church bell sound, which summons him to the house of 
 prayer. He loves to join the chorus of devotion, and sit 
 and listen to the voice of persuasion, which is lifted up 
 in the hearing of the great congregation." 
 
A CHEISTMAS STOEY. 
 
 Preached at Baton Rouge, November 25, 1831. 
 
 ^^ Beliold, I bring yo\i good tidings of great joy, loliicJi 
 shall le to all inople^ — Luke 2 : 10. The silence of mid- 
 night reigns over Judea. The inhabitants of the city 
 of Bethlehem are reposing in peaceful slumber, all save 
 a ia^ humble herdsmen upon a neighboring field. The 
 notes of a sliepherd's pipe float across the moonlit plain. 
 Suddenly those notes are hushed ; for music of a loftier 
 strain — music such as is set and sung in heaven— comes 
 along the breeze. A seraph's wing rustles in the sky, 
 a seraph's dazzling form comes down, a seraph's voice 
 proclaims the embassy, "Behold, I bring you good 
 tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For 
 unto you is born this day, in the city of David, a 
 Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And suddenly there 
 was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host, 
 praising God, and saying, Glory to God in the highest, 
 and on earth peace, good will toward men." 
 
 Oh, what emotions of rapture must have thrilled 
 through .those shepherds' hearts, as this announcement 
 fell from the angel's lips ! " The predicted Messiah, the 
 long-expected deliverer of the world, has He at last 
 come ? That glorious Personage, the theme of many a 
 poet's song, the burden of many a prophet's rapture, has 
 He at last actually appeared ? And now no more shall 
 the nations mourn ; no longer shall their ardent expec- 
 tations be disappointed. The darkness of superstition 
 
100 A CHRISTMAS STOEY. 
 
 will now roll away ; the types will all be fulfilled ; the 
 spirituality of a once sublime system of worship will be 
 restored; the blind shall see, the deaf hear, the lame 
 man shall leap as an hart, and the tongue of the dumb 
 sing; for the Lord whom we have long sought has 
 come to his temple. Let us haste to the city, and wor- 
 ship the heavenly stranger." 
 
 Was this announcement of the incarnation an event 
 of intense interest to the Jew, it is equally so to the 
 Gentile. For hear its language : " Behold, I bring you 
 good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people." 
 And all peo^Dle have had reason so to view it. The 
 assumption of human nature by the Son of God was 
 the commencement of that chain of glorious events 
 which received their consummation on Calvary, consti- 
 tuting a scheme of redemption for sinners of every age 
 and nation, forming a river of free grace, which has 
 rolled and widened, and watered the earth ; upon whose 
 sacred brink loe are permitted to stand and drink and 
 never die. Yea, must not the historian, in tracing all 
 the improvements of modern society to their true cause, 
 go directly back to him who was born in a manger in 
 Bethlehem, and expired as a malefactor on the Cross ? 
 For what else but his benign religion — the combined 
 product of his incarnation, his example, his teachings^ 
 and his death — has changed the aspect of our world; 
 communicating its kindly influences to every public 
 and private department of life; working itself into the 
 framework of civil states ; giving a tinge to the com- 
 plexion of governments, to the temper and administra- 
 tion of laws ; restraining the spirit of princes and the 
 madness of the people ; softening the rigor of despotism ; 
 blunting the edge of the sword, and spreading a vail of 
 mercy over the horrors of modern warftire ? Its kindly 
 influences have descended into families, improved every 
 
A CHRISTMAS STORY. 101 
 
 domestic endearment, given tenderness to the parent, 
 humanity to the master, respect to superiors, to inferiors 
 ease. And what is its influence on our prospects of a 
 life to come ? It is all our dependence and all our 
 hope. When the soul is burdened under a sense of 
 guilt, how readily it reverts to those awful scenes which 
 occurred eighteen hundred years ago. There, while 
 dwelling by a retrospective faith upon Bethlehem and 
 Gethsemane and the Cross, the hard heart is softened 
 into penitence and love. There death itself has lost its 
 sting, and the soul, with a holy magnanimity, has borne 
 up under the terrors of dissolution, and has sung old 
 Simeon's song, "Lord, now lettest thou thy servant de- 
 part in peace, for mine eyes have seen thy salvation." 
 
 Behold, then, we bring you good tidings of great joy, 
 which shall be to all people. All people are benefited 
 by his birth, all people are instructed by his life, all 
 people are saved, if saved at all, by his death. The 
 time of the advent was one of great joy. 
 
 1. Christ became incarnate at a period in which the 
 whole civilized world were expecting him. History 
 asserts that not merely were the Jews at that time con- 
 fidently looking for the promised Messiah, but also that 
 a profound impression was pervading all civilized na- 
 tions, that a glorious personal personage was about to 
 arise to reform and bless ^le whole earth. Hence, as if 
 by a common impulse, the nations had laid aside their 
 bloody conflicts, and were reposing in unwonted har- 
 mony. AVars had ceased. The temple of Janus at 
 Rome was closed. The blessings of peace were enjoyed 
 throughout the vast Eoman empire. The wise men of 
 Greece and Rome and Persia, impelled either from a 
 secret impulse from heaven, or else from the influence 
 of a wide-spread tradition, were all casting their anxious 
 gaze to the land of Judea, as the place from which would 
 
102 A CHRISTMAS STORY. 
 
 Speedily issue the world's great deliverer. And thus we 
 read, that when Jesus was born in Bethlehem in Judea, 
 in the days of Herod the king, there came wise men 
 from the East to Jerusalem, saying, "Where is he that 
 is born King of the Jews ? For we have seen his star 
 in the East, and are come to worship him." And 
 guided by that mysterious star, they came to the place 
 where the sleeping infant lay, and bowing down before 
 him, they gave him their gold, their frankincense, and 
 their myrrh. 
 
 2. The incarnation of Christ occurred at a time his 
 presence was most needed. It is a historical fact, no less 
 strange than true, that the period of the advent was a 
 period of unprecedented moral darkness. The repose 
 of the nations was the slumber of spiritual death. Not- 
 withstanding Jerusalem had her temple, Greece her 
 academic groves, and Kome her senate and her forum, 
 and all three had their priests, their poets, and their 
 orators, yet still a gloomy night of ignorance, supersti- 
 tion, and vice, brooded over the earth. The Jewish 
 Church had utterly lost her spirituality, and was repos- 
 ing complacently on mere external ceremonies. The 
 Pharisee, on the one hand, placed all religion in mere 
 external morality. The Sadducee, on the other hand, 
 destroyed all religion by denying the immortality of the 
 soul. Was such the condition of the Jews, what was 
 the state of the Gentiles ? Darker still. The nations 
 had sunk into the most abject ignorance on moral 
 topics, and were calling on their wise men for light and 
 knowledge, but all in vain. The speculations of human 
 reason, the refinements of human philosophy, all the 
 elegant accomplishments of the Augustan age, had 
 utterly failed in elevating the morals and restraining 
 the vices of men. Yea, their gods were hideous mon- 
 sters, debauchery and crime. There was not a single 
 
A CHRISTMAS STORY. 103 
 
 vice, in the dark catalogue of human enormities, which 
 was not shamelessly perpetrated under the sanction of 
 some one of those innumerable gods and goddesses 
 before whose shrines the nations bowed. "The world 
 by wisdom knew not God." Then it was clearly demon- 
 strated that no attainments of poetry, eloquence, or 
 science, however great, can supersede the necessity of 
 divine revelation ; that a man may be affluent in all the 
 riches of learning, and glittering in all the attractions 
 of wit, and still need a teacher from heaven, a divine 
 physician to heal his moral maladies, a supernatural 
 light from the skies to dispel the darkness of his soul. 
 Hence the declaration of a heathen writer of that day, 
 that unless the gods sent down to earth a special mes- 
 senger, the nations must wax worse and worse. Xow, 
 in view of these facts, I a^k you, when was such a being 
 as Jesus Christ more needed? "When was such a de- 
 liverer more longed for? And what was calculated to 
 give more joy to the earth than the announcement of 
 his incarnation ? 
 
 3. The period of the incarnation was the best possi- 
 ble period for the propagation of a new religion. Kot 
 merely did the world expect a Saviour — not merely did 
 the debased state of the world absolutely need his pres- 
 ence — but the condition of the nations at that time 
 presented peculiar facilities for the spread of a new 
 faith. The fullness of the time had come. There was 
 the Greek language — the language of Christ and his 
 apostles — the language of poetry and passion, spoken 
 throughout the civilized world — standing ready to serve 
 as a most happy vehicle for the spread of a new religion. 
 Never had there been a period in which there was greater 
 intercourse between the various nations of the earth. 
 All the large cities were filled with strangers. Mer- 
 chants and philosophers were continually traveling from 
 
104 ' A CHRISTMAS STORY. 
 
 city to city, in searcli of wealth and knowledge. Hence 
 we read that when Peter stood up on the day of Pente- 
 cost and preached his first sermon, he was heard by the 
 representatives of seventeen different nations — "Par- 
 thians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in 
 Mesopotamia, and in Judea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, 
 and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in 
 the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Eome, 
 Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians, we do hear 
 them speak in our tongues the wonderful works of God. 
 And they were all amazed, and were in doubt, saying 
 one to another, What meaneth this?" Aud returning 
 to their distant homes, they spread the wondrous story. 
 Oh what an auspicious era for the coming of our Lord! 
 4. The time of the advent was the time accurately 
 foretold by the prophets of the old dispensation. The 
 seventy weeks of Daniel were now drawing to a close. 
 The types and ceremonies — the slaughtering of sheep 
 and of goats — all the solemn pomp of the Jewish wor- 
 ship, were pointing in a manner not to be misunder- 
 stood, to the speedy coming of the Lamb of God, who, 
 by the sacrifice ^ himself upon the Cross, would take 
 away the sins of the world. There are nearly two hun- 
 dred prophecies in the Old Testament Scriptures, which 
 clearly indicated the approaching advent. One prophet 
 had predicted the circumstances of his birth — another, 
 the tribe from which he would spring — a third, the very 
 month of his incarnation. Had he not then appeared 
 at the specified time and place, the credit of the Old 
 Testament as a divine Revelation would have been for- 
 ever destroyed. But " behold we bring you good tidings 
 of great joy;" for unto you was born in the city of 
 David, a Saviour. By being so born, he has fulfilled the 
 prophecies, abolished the sacrifices, broken down the 
 middle wall of partition between Jew and Gentile, and 
 
A CHRISTMAS STORY. 105 
 
 has purchased everlasting salvatioo for men of every 
 age, and tribe, and people. " Glory be to God in the 
 highest, on earth peace, good will to men." In Christ 
 there is neither Jew nor Greek, Barbarian, Scythian, 
 bond or free — but all are one, one Lord, one faith, one 
 baptism, one church, and one heaven. 
 
 5. We come now to the most important consideration 
 which made the incarnation of Jesus a source of " great 
 joy to all people." " Jesus was born in Bethlehem of 
 Judea," in order that he might die upon the cross for 
 the redemption of a lost world. Or, as St. Paul ex- 
 presses it, "When the fullness of the time was come, 
 God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten 
 Son, that whosoever believeth on him might not perish, 
 but have everlasting life." No wonder that a multitude 
 of the heavenly host came down and sung glory to God 
 in the highest, and on earth, peace, good will to men. 
 And why all this ? Why the awful mystery of the in- 
 carnation ? Why must the second person in the God- 
 head be wrapt in a veil of mortal flesh ? Why born of 
 a woman and cradled in a manger ? 
 
 Man is placed under the moral government of God. 
 'No moral government can exist without law. No law 
 has any force without penalty. Penalties are useless, 
 unless they are executed. Must God reward the right- 
 eous, Avhen they obey ? Then, for the same reason, he 
 is bound to punish the wicked when they transgress. 
 Could the honor of his law, could the stability of his 
 throne, could the well-being of the universe for one 
 moment be maintained, were he to permit the guilty to 
 escape ? Who tlien have incurred the penalty ? Man. 
 Who can remove the penalty ? Christ. " Christ hath 
 redeemed us from the curse of the law, having been 
 made a curse for us." He bore the load. He endured 
 the penalty. He paid down the ransom. He released 
 
106 A CHRISTMAS STORY. 
 
 the captive. lie redeemed the slave. His wounds are 
 our healing — his groans, our songs — his death, our life — 
 his crown of thorns, our crown of glory. But could not 
 Christ achieve this great work, without becoming in- 
 carnate? No. Human nature had sinned. Hence, 
 human nature must suffer. For, " without shedding of 
 . blood, there is no remission." Blood, then, must first 
 be possessed, before blood could be shed. Hence the 
 absolute necessity, that the Eedeemer should become 
 man — man to set us an example, man to enable him to 
 sympathize with humanity, man to suffer death in the 
 room of the guilty. Equally essential was it, that He 
 should be God; otherwise, his sufferings and death, 
 however agonizing, could have had nothing meritori- 
 ous, no more than the death of the martyrs. Christ 
 must needs be man, to qualify him to suffer; he must 
 needs be God, to im|)art to his sufferings infinite merit. 
 And by virtue of his being both God and man, he of all 
 beings in heaven and earth, is qualified to be the Re- 
 deemer of the world. By the union of the two natures, 
 the blood of Cah'ary becomes efficacious, and mercy 
 flows down to a lost race. "Behold the man! How- 
 glorious He." 
 
 Are you guilty? We bring you good tidings; Christ 
 hath delivered us from the curse of the law. Are you 
 tempted ? Here are good tidings. " He is able to suc- 
 cor them that are tempted." 
 
 Are you bowed down under the troubles of life ? 
 Hear him saying, " Come unto me all ye that labor and 
 are heavy laden." 
 
 Are ye poor ? He is the poor man's friend. Are you 
 afraid to die? He hath abolished death, and become 
 the conqueror of the king of terrors. Finally, to one 
 and to all, we bring good news. In the effects of his 
 wonderful incarnation, you are all interested — of the 
 
A CHBISTMAS STORY. 107 
 
 fruits of his death, you are all invited to partake. Be- 
 cause he became man, you may become kings and priests 
 unto God. You may, however, neglect the offer — refuse 
 the message — turn a deaf ear to tidings that made all 
 heaven glad ; the time will come when this strange in- 
 difference will be over. " Pleasure will fold her wing, 
 and friend and lover shall to the embraces of the worm 
 have gone." The moment you enter eternity, how 
 changed the scene. The love of Christ, the infinite 
 felicity of being saved, the unspeakable misery of being 
 lost, will occupy the vast capacities of the immortal 
 soul. 
 
THE HOPE OF THE NATIOIf. 
 
 Preached in Houston, Dec. 16, 1864, by request of President Davis. 
 
 ^^ For the nation and kingdom that icill not serve 
 thee shall perish; yea, those nations shall be utterly 
 wasted" — Isaiah 60 : 12. Nations exist only in this life. 
 Hence, they receive all their rewards and all their pun- 
 ishments here. And they are rewarded or punished in 
 proportion to the degree in which they obey or trans- 
 gress the laws of Heaven. It is a truth susceptible of 
 the clearest moral demonstration that righteousness 
 exalteth a nation as well as an individual, and that 
 " Godliness is profitable for all things, having the prom- 
 ise of the life that now is, and that which is to come." 
 If the Gospel were permitted to exert its proper influ- 
 ence upon the kingdoms of the world, the highest de- 
 gree of temporal happiness and prosperity would be the 
 sure result. Civil liberty is perched upon the standard 
 of the Cross, and will visit every land where that stand- 
 ard is unfurled. In the religion of the Bible we have 
 an unfailing antidote against all those moral maladies 
 which in past ages have brought ruin on nations. The 
 Gospel proposes to change the hearts of men — to soften 
 their tein^ers — to impart a holy direction to the govern- 
 ing purposes of the soul — thus leading men to be moral 
 and virtuous from principle ; not from constraint, but 
 from choice — not from the dread of temporal punish- 
 mients, but from a cheerful preference. The Gospel is 
 opposed to ambition, the bane of empires. It forbids 
 
THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 109 
 
 reyenge, the usual cause of national conflicts. It con- 
 demns avarice, the prolific parent of oppression, dishon- 
 esty, and fraud. It denounces idleness, and declares 
 that " if a man will not work, neither shall he eat." It 
 imposes a solemn restriction on the animal appetites, 
 "teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly 
 lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in 
 this present world," thus cutting off ten thousand 
 avenues to miser}^, violence, and blood. The Gospel 
 inculcates the fear of an invisible but omnipotent Jeho- 
 vah, and thus leads men to be virtuous in secret — to 
 reverence the obligation of oaths, upon the observance 
 of which property, reputation, and life so frequently 
 depend. It likewise teaches us to love our country — to 
 defend our rights — to obey magistrates — to pity and 
 help the poor. It elevates the female sex, and gives 
 woman her proper rank in the social state. It proclaims 
 the original equalit)|of the human race, and thus frowns 
 upon the arrogant claims of kings — the divine right of 
 the few to rule the many, of the strong to oppress the 
 weak. 
 
 Are such some of the pure and elevating principles 
 of our holy religion, all must at once perceive that their 
 belief and practice would exalt the nations of the earth, 
 and make them great, glorious, and free. And there- 
 fore, must not every community in which these princi- 
 ples are unknown be poor and abject — a prey to misrule 
 and faction, and, in its gradual but sure decline, soon ex- 
 hibit a melancholy illustration of the^truth of the text, 
 that " the nation and kingdom that will not serve God 
 shall perish ; yea those nations shall be utterly wasted ? " 
 
 But if it be true that the belief and practice of the 
 precepts of the Gospel can alone make nations great, 
 the remark applies with most peculiar force to a country 
 like ours. Here the people govern themselves. All 
 
110 THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 
 
 authority and all power emanates from them. Hence 
 if the people be not enlightened and virtuous, our ex- 
 periment of self-government must assuredly fail. If the 
 fountain be impure, the streams will be polluted, and 
 will form a river of death, which will desolate and curse 
 our fair inheritance. The waves of our unquiet sea will 
 rise and swell as high as our mountains, and shipwreck 
 the hopes of patriots and the world. For who, then, 
 can rally the nation and roll back the burning tide ? 
 Who then can guide the bark of liberty, amid the raging 
 and the roaring of such a sea of fire ? 
 
 It is idle to say that the enforcement of our wise and 
 equitable laws will, witliout the moral power of the 
 Gospel, ensure our continued prosperity. How can laws 
 bind the heart and purify the motives ? How can laws 
 repress selfishness, or curb ambition, or eradicate volup- 
 tuousness and pride ? The worst enemies to civil liberty 
 are offenses which human laws caff never reach. Hu- 
 man laws are restricted to the government of external 
 actions, and only such actions as are grossly wrong, and 
 wiiich can be proved by competent witnesses; while the 
 great mainsprings of vice and corruption, lying deep 
 within the soul, remain unreached and unchecked. 
 There must then be a profound reverence for Almighty 
 God resting upon the spirit— an inward love of virtue — 
 a solemn regard to the retributions of eternity, or crime 
 and passion will rage in defiance of all law. The 
 streams of corruption, originating in the recesses of the 
 unsanctified heart, will rise and swell until they burst 
 through every barrier, and our glory and our country 
 will sink down amid the vortex of revolutions. Nations 
 are like volcanoes ; they contain within their own bow- 
 els the seeds of ruin ; and if God takes off his hand 
 they will explode, scattering far and wide the fragments 
 of their greatness. "Manners," says Chatham, "have 
 
THE HOPE OF THE NATION. Ill 
 
 more influence than laws." Public sentiment, especially 
 in a country like ours, is superior to all legislation. For 
 it matters not Iioav good and wholesome may be our 
 written code, it will remain forever a dead letter if there 
 be not public virtue in the mass of the people, sufficient 
 to sustain the officers in its execution. 
 
 Now, can the diftusion of knowledge, the spread of 
 education, of itself, perpetuate our free institutions? 
 There are no moral qualities in intellect. A man may 
 be glittering in all the attractions of wit, and rich in all 
 the gifts of fancy, and still have within him the heart 
 of a demon. Science is a mere instrument which may 
 be turned either to good or bad account. So that, 
 while knowledge does not of itself corrupt, it does not 
 of itself purify. History lifts her venerable voice and 
 declares that those countries and ages that have been 
 most distinguished for the arts and sciences, have also 
 been most conspicuous for voluptuousness and crime, 
 thus showing that the era of moral dissolution may 
 follow close upon that of the highest intellectual cul- 
 ture. At no period were scientific pursuits more pop- 
 ular in France than during her terrible revolution, 
 when blood flowed in streams down the streets of her 
 capital, and crimes, enough to make devils blush, were 
 daily perpetrated under the sacred name of Liberty. 
 . Nor can national wealth, of itself, preserve the liber- 
 ties of our country. From the manner in which our 
 politicians and public men talk, it is evident that they 
 look upon riches as the chief element of national great- 
 ness. Hence their frequent and noisy harangues upon 
 the currency, the taxes, the revenues, and trade. But his- 
 tory declares that national opulence has always been del- 
 eterious to national virtue — cooling the patriot's ardor, 
 impairing moral principle, weakening both mind and 
 body, and disqualifying men to defend their country. 
 
112 THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 
 
 The history of our present war shows that the poor have 
 been more prompt to rush to the conflict than the rich. 
 All, therefore, that is done to accumulate wealth and 
 stimulate the nation's thirst for gain, is only providing 
 fuel to the flames which will consume us. The greater 
 our wealth, the more speedy our downfall, nnless the 
 power of the Gospel come to the rescue, and teach the 
 people self-denial, curb their avarice, inculcate prin- 
 ciples of honesty, and hold up the claims of God and of 
 the soul. Where is Babylon, and Athens, and Rome, 
 those ancient depositories of wealth ? Their pomp has 
 gone down to the grave, and the noise of their viols has 
 ceased; and from their gray ruins comes np a voice 
 which seems to say : " Let not the wise man glory in 
 his wisdom ; let not the mighty man glory in his might ; 
 let not the rich man glory in his riches, but let him 
 that glorieth, glory in the Lord." " For the nation and 
 kingdom that will not serve God shall perish ; yea, those 
 nations shall be utterly wasted." 
 
 Let it then be proclaimed aloud this day, throughout 
 the whole length aud breadth of the land, that nothing 
 but an enlightened public sentiment, under the control 
 of religious principle, can maintain the ascendency over 
 corruption, and preserve our country. Tell us not of 
 our wise legislation, of our patriotism, and of our armies. 
 Tell us not that in a nation like ours, wealth is joower, 
 or that talent is power, or that knowledge is power, or 
 that law is power, or that bayonets are power. There 
 is a declaration that must be placed above them all, viz. : 
 Truth is 2^owe7\ Wealth cannot purchase it, talent can- 
 not refute it, knowledge cannot overreach it, laws can- 
 not silence it, bayonets cannot crush it. Fling it into 
 the most tremendous billows of popular commotion, 
 cast it into the seven-fold heated furnace of the tyrant's 
 wrath, it will mount aloft like the ark on the waves of 
 
THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 113 
 
 the deluge ; it wiH walk like the Son of God, untouched 
 amid the burning fiery furnace. Truth — evangelic 
 truth; a profound reverence for Almighty God ; a deep 
 sense of personal responsibility, pervading all classes 
 from the lowest to the most exalted, it is this (in con- 
 I'unction with education and the love of liberty) which 
 will preserve our country, and make it a blessing to our 
 descendants and the world. 
 
 And now, in view of all that has been said, let us 
 here pause, and ask ourselves this solemn question: 
 What are we, as a nation, doing to uphold and spread 
 these great principles, which are essential to the per- 
 petuity of our free institutions ? How are we acting 
 in view of the fact that " righteousness exalteth a na- 
 tion/' and that the nation and kingdom that will not 
 serve God, shall perisli ? Have we no national sins to 
 mourn over ? Are there no indications among us of an 
 alarming degeneracy ? Is there nothing in the signs of 
 the times forcing the conviction upon the Christian 
 patriot's heart, that we, as a people, are forsaking the 
 God of our fathers, and are cherishing in our bosom 
 the seeds of national ruin ? Bear in mind that the con- 
 nection between national sins and national ruin is not 
 arbitrary — it is natural. God does not usually destroy 
 guilty nations by a miracle. The people that will not 
 serve God shall perish, as the legitimate result of their 
 own conduct. They destroy themselves. 
 
 And what are some of our national sins ? Must we 
 not place prominently in the list the wide-spread dese- 
 cration of the Sabbath ; thousands making the day a 
 season for secular business, or of festivity and gossip ; 
 the transaction of official duties under the plea of mili- 
 tary necessity; the example of our governors, our 
 judges, our congressmen, and our military officers, who 
 are notorious for their neglect of public worship. Look 
 
114 THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 
 
 at intemperance, with its kindred vices of profanity, 
 lewdness, and gambling ; the awful increase of conjugal 
 infidelity; military libertines and gaily attired Avantons, 
 unblushingly parading all our towns, and jostling 
 honest men's wives and daughters ; the growing laxity 
 of family discipline; the withdrawal of the requisite 
 means to support the Gospel, and the conseqent ne- 
 cessity of ministers engaging in secular pursuits to 
 sustain their families; the wide-spread speculations 
 and exorbitant prices in reference to the necessaries of 
 life ; the frauds and peculations in our various army 
 bureaux ; the corruption of the press ; the neglect of 
 the duties of masters to their slaves; the neglect of the 
 families of our brave soldiers who have gone far from 
 home to fight the battles of our country. 
 
 Are these some of our national sins ? What then 
 must be our doom, unless speedy repentance and ref- 
 ormation interpose? "Shall not the Lord visit for 
 these things, and shall not he be avenged on such a 
 nation as this ? " And may he not give us over to our 
 own lusts, a prey ? A lingering decay is worse than a 
 sudden overthrow. 
 
 A nation dies when everything great and good dies 
 in it. The name may live after the glory has departed. 
 Talk not of our written Constitution, glorious as it is — 
 immortal as we hope it may be. Political security 
 dwells not in the letter, but in the spirit of our free in- 
 stitutions. Yet many deem all safe, so long as the 
 letter is safe. Death does not take away the soul and 
 body both. Life may have departed, and yet not an 
 artery, or bone, or fiber be removed. And so the spirit 
 of a government may perish, and not a line or letter of 
 its written constitution be effaced. When usurpation 
 comes in, masked and hypocritical, its abiding place is 
 usually the dead letter of a once free Constitution. 
 
THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 115 
 
 beheld Augustus Caesar wielding imperial power amid 
 the forms of a dead republic. The safest place of 
 despotism is the vacant temple of freedom — a woeful 
 desecration, like the temple of God turned into the 
 mart of the money changers. 
 
 Finally, I call upon all, in view of our alarming con- 
 dition, to prostrate themselves before the mighty Ruler 
 of the Universe. Humble yourselves under the mighty 
 hand of God. Be afflicted and mourn and weep. Let 
 your laughter be turned into mourning, and your joy 
 to heaviness. Let your prayer be, " Spare, oh Lord, 
 spare thy people, and give not thy heritage to reproach." 
 Forget not that the sins of the nation are the sins of 
 the individuals who compose it. Let each one, then 
 repent of his personal sins. Let each one enquire how 
 far he has, by his example, contributed to swell the 
 guilt of the land, and excite the wrath of the Almighty. 
 
 We read that when Nineveh was threatened by the 
 prophet Jonah, the king proclaimed a fast. " ' And he 
 arose from his throne, and he laid his robe from him, 
 and covered himself with sackcloth, and sat in ashes.' 
 And the whole city was clad in the habiliments of sor- 
 row. Yea, the very cattle were deprived of their usual 
 sustenance, that by their mournful lowing, they might 
 increase the solemnity of the occasion. And, in con- 
 sequence of this public and universal humiliation, the 
 Lord spared the city. If, on this day, set apart as a 
 season of national fasting and prayer, our honored 
 Chief Magistrate, with his distinguished associates in 
 the government, has cast aside the pomp and ceremoni- 
 als of office, and has prostrated himself in humility 
 before his God, and if a loud and fervent cry for mercy 
 has ascended from a million of penitent hearts in all 
 parts of this bleeding country, may we not humbly 
 trust that our prayers will be heard ; that our sins as 
 
116 THE HOPE OF THE NATION. 
 
 a nation shall be blotted out, that the judgments of 
 heaven will be arrested, and that rich and abundant 
 blessings such as God alone can besto^v, will visit all 
 our borders ? ' Then shall the earth yield her increase ; 
 and God, even our own God, shall bless us.' " 
 
THE GLOEY OF THE OHUECH. 
 
 Preached at Bethel Church (near Oakland College), on taking the pastoral 
 charge of said church, April 23, 1843. 
 
 " The King^s daughter is all glorious luithin." — 
 Psalm 45 : 13. This language is figurative. By " the 
 King's daughter " is meant the Church. And by the 
 Church is meant — the body of all true believers of every 
 name and country, however separated by national or 
 ecclesiastical barriers. What, are we informed, consti- 
 tutes the glory of the Church? Something which is 
 internal. " The King's daughter is all glorious within." 
 JSTow, if the glory of the universal Church be internal, 
 the glory of every particular branch of the Church must 
 be internal likewise. Because, whatever is true of the 
 whole, must be true of all the several parts. Conse- 
 quently the glory of every individual Christian, as well 
 as of every particular denomination, is internal glory — 
 the glory of the inner man — a glory arising not from 
 external splendor, but from internal tempers and graces. 
 " The King's daughter is all glorious within." " The 
 kingdom of heaven is not meat and drink, but right- 
 ousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost." 
 
 Taking the text as our infallible guide, let us pro- 
 ceed to enquire in what consists the true glory of a par- 
 ticular local church or denomination of Christians. 
 
 In w^hat does it not consist ? 
 
 1. It does not necessarily consist in wealth. The pos- 
 session of ample pecuniary means is not essential to the 
 health or vigor of a particular denomination. The 
 
118 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 moral power of a Church is often impaired instead of 
 being increased by the influence of great temporal re- 
 sources. There are two forms in which a Church may 
 possess wealth. It may consist either in the wealth of 
 its individual members, or in the possession of vested 
 funds. If in the former, these results will most gener- 
 ally follow — a sufficiency of pecuniary means to sustain 
 the Church is obtained without a struggle; conse- 
 quently there exists no powerful cause to beget a deep 
 sense of dependence on God. The pecuniary burdens 
 of the Church, are, in that case, usually borne by a few. 
 These few, because of their wealth or importance, are 
 strongly tempted to arrogate to themselves dangerous 
 prerogatives, to frown upon their poor brethren, aud 
 even to interfere with the pastor in the faithful dis- 
 charge of his duties. Or, does the wealth of a Churcli 
 consist in vested funds ? Consequences still more inju- 
 rious are liable to ensue. These funds give rise to a 
 spirit of contention. Various and contradictory are the 
 plans proposed for their disbursement; and hypocritical 
 and designing men often insinuate themselves into the 
 pale of the Church, and pervert these funds from their 
 original purposes. Facts to substantiate these remarks 
 might be easily adduced. 
 
 But let a denomination be comparatively poor ; let it 
 experience difficulty as it respects its pecuniary con- 
 cerns, and this very difficulty will prove a benefit. It 
 will beget a sense of dependence of God. It will tend 
 to awake up the energies of the whole Church; to bring 
 into requisition the services of every member, and cause 
 every individual to feel that he is called upon to bear 
 his part of the common burden. And just in proportion 
 to the difficulties to be encountered, and in proportion 
 to the degree in which these difficulties are met and 
 borne by the entire mass of the Church, will the interest 
 
THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 119 
 
 which will be uwukened, and the energy tind vigor 
 which will pervade the entire denomination. For noth- 
 ing tends more powerfully to cement societies or empires 
 together, than a sense of common weakness, or an ap- 
 prehension of common danger. And nothing is more 
 calculated to beget a deep interest in any object or pos- 
 session, than the labor and care which have been be- 
 stowed upon it. Comparative poverty, pecuniary diffi- 
 culties, personal self-denial, often aid materially in 
 building up a Church. 
 
 2. The glory of a Church does not consist in mem- 
 bers. How often has a feeling of despondency insensi- 
 bly pervaded a denomination and paralyzed its energies, 
 merely from the fe"\vuess of its adherents; from a small 
 membership — a thin audience. And, on the other hand, 
 how frequently have very unholy feelings and sentiments 
 been begotten, from the fact that the Church is large, its 
 members numerous, and its stated services attract 
 crowds of hearers. There is something exceedingly flat- 
 tering to human pride, in the face of numbers. The 
 consciousness that our cause is popular — that we are 
 enrolled with the majority — that there is a large multi- 
 tude who are acting in concert with us — is calculated to 
 beget a train of feelings by no means in accordance with 
 the humility of the Gospel. Under such circumstances, 
 the Church is in danger of being caressed merely be- 
 cause it is fashionable. There is great danger, also, that 
 excitement will be mistaken for religion, that persons 
 may be admitted upon very slight inquiry into their 
 qualifications, and that hypocrites and designing per- 
 sons may enroll themselves among the dominant party, 
 golely from selfish and sinister purposes ; until, erelong, 
 the Church, trusting wholly to her own strength, loses 
 sight of her great heavenly reliance. But, on the con- 
 trary, what more clearly indicates the sincerity and ster- 
 
120 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 ling integrity of a Church ? When her friends adhere 
 to her through evil as well as through good report; even 
 when her members are few, when her cause is unpopu- 
 lar, and the w^orld treat her with contempt. Then her 
 friends, few and solitary, cling more closely around her. 
 Then their hearts become knit together as the heart of 
 one man ; and trusting not to an arm of flesh, rely more 
 implicitly on the arm of the Lord. Then it is they can 
 plead the promise of Scripture — "Fear not, little 
 flock," " Where two or three are met together in my 
 name, there am I in the midst of them." Oh, it is easy 
 and pleasant to go with the multitude. But to stem 
 the current ; to breast the storm ; to maintain an attach- 
 ment to a cause which has but few adherents ; it is this 
 which tests the character ; it is this which lightens all 
 the Christian graces, and evinces a lofty and magnani- 
 mous soul. 
 
 3. The glory of a Church does not consist in impos- 
 ing and attractive forms of worship ; in the eloquence 
 of her ministry ; in the splendor of her architecture ; in 
 the visible impressiveness of her stated ceremonies. 
 History declares that the Church has often flourished 
 most and been most glorious within, when persecuted 
 without ; when her members have had to take refuge in 
 caves and mountain-tops from the storms of persecutions. 
 True, there is no essential inconsistency between true 
 piety and impressive external ceremonies. But when does 
 there exist the greatest danger of mistaking mere forms 
 for true religion ? of substituting the excitement of the 
 imagination for the devotion of the heart ? It is when 
 wealth, and taste, and fashion combine their influence 
 to array Christianity in borrowed plumes beneath the 
 splendid domes of some time-hallowed pile ; where the 
 dim religious light streams through carved openings, 
 and architecture and dazzling priestly vestments com- 
 
THE GLORY OF THE CHUBCH. 121 
 
 bine with the solemn music of the full-toned organ, to 
 impart an unearthly grandeur to the scene. There the 
 senses may be feasted while the heart remains untouched. 
 There tears may flow, but not the tears of penitence. 
 There the whole soul may be elevated by a species of 
 ecstasy ; and after gaziug for an hour upon the gaudy 
 pantomime, return with greater zest to the lusts of pleas- 
 ure of an irreligious. Oh, be not deceived ; " God is a 
 spirit, and they that worshij^ him must worship him 
 in spirit and in truth." 
 
 Having thus briefly dwelt upon the negative part of 
 our subject, we come now to dwell upon its positive 
 import. Having shown in what the glory of the Church 
 does not consist, let us now^ show in what it does con- 
 sist. The text declares that it consists in something 
 wiiich is internal. "The king's daughter is all glorious 
 within." 1. The glory of the Church consists in her 
 doctrinal purity: in her being the depository of the 
 truth — the advocate and the guardian of the great lead- 
 ing doctrines of the Gospel. A sound and scrij^tural 
 creed lies at the foundation of all holy obedience. Where 
 there exists in a Church no doctrinal purity, it is impos- 
 sible long to maintain holiness of heart and life among 
 her members. There can be no elevated morality where 
 there are no sound religious princii^les. If we think 
 wrong we will act wrong. The creed and the conduct 
 will always go together. Hence, where a Church is un- 
 sound in her doctrines, she will be unsound and unholy 
 in her practice. Hence, God has committed to his 
 Church the sacred principles and ordinances of the Gos- 
 pel, and the Church is commanded to maintain them at 
 all hazards, and transmit them pure and unadulterated 
 from age to age. To this end, we are commanded to 
 " contend earnestly for the faith once delivered to the 
 saints" — "to buy the truth and sell it not" — "to write 
 
 6 
 
122 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 it upon our hearts" — "to bind it as frontlets upon our 
 foreheads, and to teach it to our children, and to medi- 
 tate upon it when we lie down, and when we rise up." 
 When, then, is the '' King's daughter all glorious with- 
 in?" When her ministers and her members proclaim 
 to the world that there is but one living and true God — 
 existing in three persons, the Father, the Son, and the 
 Holy Ghost — that the Scriptures are the only infallible 
 guide of faith and practice — that man is a sinner, lost 
 and ruined by the fall — his whole soul utterly depraved 
 and exposed to the wrath and curse of God — that salva- 
 tion can be obtained only through the blood of Jesus 
 Christ — that the heart must be regenerated by the 
 power of fhe Holy Ghost — that man must lead a holy 
 life, or else his profession of religion is vain — " that God 
 has appointed a day in which he will judge the world," 
 " when the Lord Jesus will descend from heaven with a 
 shout," " when the heavens shall pass away, and the ele- 
 ments shall melt with fervent heat." When these great 
 truths are believed in all sincerity — proclaimed from the 
 pulpit with all fidelity, and when they produce a holy 
 influence upon the external conduct of those who be- 
 lieve them, then the glory of the Church will shine forth, 
 and '- Zion will arise from the dust, put on her beautiful 
 garments, and appear, fair as the moon, clear as the sun, 
 and terrible as an army with banners." 
 
 2. The glory of a church consists in her spirituality— 
 in her cultivation of heart-religion — in her tenderness 
 of feeling, ardor of love, and fervency of devotion. Let 
 none suppose we would exalt mere orthodoxy of creed 
 above the more important possession of experimental 
 godliness. No : faith without works is dead. Such a 
 faith will save no man. It will only deepen his future 
 damnation. "For he that knoweth his Master's will 
 and doeth it not, the same shall be beaten with many 
 
THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 123 
 
 stripes." An orthodox creed without a holy heart, is a 
 mere shadow without substance — a house without a 
 foundation — a dead carcass without an animating prin- 
 ciple of life — a palace of ice, beautiful externally, but 
 within it is chilliness and death. "Though I speak 
 with the tongues of men and of angels, and have not 
 charity, I am become as sounding brass, or a tinkling 
 cymbal. And though I have the gift of prophecy, and 
 understand all mysteries, and all knowledge ; and though 
 I have all faith, so that I could remove mountains, and 
 have not charity, or love, it profiteth me nothing." 
 And what is this love, to which the apostle attaches 
 such infinite value ? Love for communion with God — 
 love for secret prayer — love for the Holy Scriptures — 
 love for the Lord Jesus Christ — love for the ordinances 
 of the Church — love for all true Christians — love for our 
 bitterest enemies. Oh, it is when Christians entertain 
 these feelings, that the Church becomes " all glorious 
 within." 
 
 3. The glory of a Church consists in the harmony of 
 its members. " Behold, how good and how pleasant it 
 is for brethren to dwell together in unity ! It is like 
 precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon 
 the beard, even Aaron's beard ; that went down to the 
 skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as 
 the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion : 
 for there the Lord commanded the blessing, even life 
 for evermore." Nothing more powerfully illustrates the 
 divinity of our holy religion, than a oneness of feeling, 
 of sentiment, and of action, among its professors. And 
 why should it not be so? How gloriously was this ex- 
 hibited on the day of Pentecost: "And when the day 
 of Pentecost was fully come, they were all with one ac- 
 cord in one place. And suddenly there came a sound 
 from heaven, as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled 
 
124 THE GLORY OF THE CHURCH. 
 
 all the house Avliere they were sitting. And there ap- 
 peared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it 
 sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with 
 the Holy Ghost, and began to speak with other tongues, 
 as the Spirit gave them utterance." Then was the 
 Church '*all glorious within." Christians bore the im- 
 j)ress of the divine image in their hearts, and brought 
 forth the fruits of holiness in their lives. Ministers and 
 people felt a common impulse. They had one heart, 
 one hope, and one interest. "The love of Christ con- 
 strained them," and losing sight of all party feuds and 
 personal animosities, they were wholly absorbed in one 
 sublime object, the glory of God, and the salvation of 
 the souls of men. And that object was attained. The 
 Holy Ghost came down, and three thousand were added 
 in one day. Now let Christians in our day, unite to- 
 gether in the same harmonious union — let them all 
 come together with one accord, in one place — full of 
 faith, full of zeal, full of brotherly love, and effects as 
 glorious would be sure to follow. The whole united 
 energy of the Church, concentrated in this one grand 
 object, would call down the influences of the spirit of 
 God. A deep solemnity would pervade all classes. But 
 why the low state of piety in the Church ? The aliena- 
 tions, the strifes, and the unhallowed divisions of Chris- 
 tians. "One is for Paul, another for Apollos, and few 
 for Christ." One finds fault with the preacher ; another 
 complains of being slighted by his brethren; a third is 
 given to a continued spirit of fault-finding ; and mur- 
 muring, and envyings, and heart-burnings mar the beauty 
 of Zion. " And the Spirit, like a peaceful dove, flees 
 from the scenes of noise and strife." 
 
UNIVEESAL BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 An address preached before the Young Men's Christian Association of 
 Houston, August, 1873. 
 
 ^' As we have, therefore, opporhmiti/, let us do good 
 unto all men; especially to them, who are of the house- 
 hold of faith." — Gulatians, G : 10. Those who "are of 
 the household of faith," have special claims upon the 
 benevolence of their brethren ; for they have com- 
 menced a life of peculiar trials, have espoused a cause 
 to which is often attached peculiar odium, and against 
 which are often arrayed enemies of no common viru- 
 lence. Hence they need a peculiar and unusual share 
 of fraternal sympathy and aid. From these considera- 
 tions, however, we are by no means to infer that this 
 class of our fellow-men are to be exclusive objects of 
 our love. We must " do good unto all men." Where'er 
 there is a sufferer throughout the immense brotherhood 
 of man, there must love hover on her downy pinion. 
 Like the knight-errant in the days of chivalry, who 
 roamed the earth to punish proud oppressors, and vin- 
 dicate the trodden-down rights of the friendless, so 
 must man sally forth with a hand to succor and a heart 
 to feel ; prompt to every call of mercy ; equipped, as op- 
 portunity may present, to dispel ignorance, to soothe 
 sorrow, to reclaim the wanderer from the path of virtue, 
 and wipe the cold sweat from the brow of the dying. 
 
 / shall attempt to advocate the claims of universal 
 henevolence. Why 7nust we do good unto all men ? 
 
126 UNIVEESAL BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 1. Universal benevolence constitutes the true dignity 
 of man. 
 
 Under no other garb does human nature present a 
 more sublime aspect. He who is actuated by the ex- 
 pansive spirit of doing good ; he who aspires to be not 
 a mere passive recipient, but an active, a muniticent dis- 
 tributer of blessings, feels that he is born for a high 
 and noble destiny. Hence he learns to look down with 
 abhorrence upon all that is base, tyrannical, and bigoted. 
 He gradually gains the mastery over his evil passions; 
 bursts the chains of selfishness and pride; overleaps the 
 narrow bounds of sectarian exclusiveness ; obtains an 
 effectual antidote against the undue love of money, and 
 throws wqde the doors of his heart to the entrance of 
 every generous and philanthropic impulse^ Must not 
 that be the most exalted species of human nobleness, 
 which gives birth to feelings and results like these ? 
 The possession of this virtue constitutes the true dignity 
 of man, for it leads directly and necessarily to an ob- 
 servance of the holy Decalogue. " Love is the fulfilling 
 of the law." Let universal benevolence become the 
 prevailing temper of the heart. And how can its pos- 
 sessor, for one moment, endure the thought of assailing 
 a fellow-mortaj's person, or breathing a whisper of 
 calumny against his reputation, or violating his rights 
 of property, or coveting his dear and most cherished 
 possessions? Benevolence is man's true dignity, for it 
 assimilates him to all the great and noble beings in the 
 universe. It causes him to bear some resemblance to 
 Almighty God. "God is love." His very existence 
 constitutes a boundless ocean of benevolence. It causes 
 him to resemble the Lord Jesus Christ, that glorious 
 Prince of benefactors. It elevates him to a place among 
 the most exalted and renowned spirits that have ever 
 trod the earth — the Washingtons, the La Fayettes, and 
 
UNIVERSAL BENEVOLENCE. 127 
 
 the Howards ; men avIio lived, and toiled, and wept for 
 the good of their fellow-men ; the effects of whose bene- 
 factions will be coeval with Time ; the measure of whose 
 fame will be boundless as Eternity. It is the spirit of 
 expanded benevolence which lives and breathes through 
 all the works of nature. Every object througliout the 
 vast material univej'se, seems to exist on ])urpose to do 
 good, to communicate blessings to other beings, while 
 it apparently makes no provision for itself The glori- 
 ous sun, the rolling ocean, the rivers, the silvery moun- 
 tain streamlet, the many-colored rainbow, the enameled 
 flowers, the dappled morn, the bending fruits of autumn 
 — all, all are continually pouring forth streams of pure 
 beneficence into the laj:) of man, whilst they take back 
 no blessing in return. All nature is '* beauty to the eye, 
 or music to the ear." And will that which gives so 
 much loveliness and grandeur to nature, impart no 
 moral sublimity and dignity to man ? 
 
 2. Universal benevolence constitutes the true happi- 
 ness of man. 
 
 All those other sources to which mankind usually re- 
 sort for pleasure — such as fame, wealth, exemption from 
 pain and care — are often very difficult to be found; or 
 if found, are most difficult to be retained ; or if retained, 
 and indulged in beyond a certain limit, recoil upon the 
 heart surcharged with a load of remorse, satiety, and 
 disgust. But here is one pure fountain, to which every 
 thirsty soul may have free and unobstructed access. 
 The crystal streams flow perennially. The channel 
 never dries. Of its healthful waters full and frequent 
 draughts may be imbibed, and lU) loathing disrelish 
 will e'er ensue. 
 
 The pleasures of benevolence are of two kinds : posi- 
 tive and negative. It creates happiness; it prevents ?nis- 
 ery. And if the blessing of benevolence was merely of 
 
128 UNIYEESAL BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 the latter kind, it would constitute the most desirable 
 of all possessions. For, let it once gain entrance into 
 the heart, and how instantaneously will it drive out a 
 legion of diabolical passions — envy, anger, covetousness, 
 revenge — passions that rankle in the heart like barbed 
 arrows, sting like scorpions, gnaw like vultures ; and 
 ever aud anon bursting forth like the smoldering fires 
 of a hidden volcano, roll their scalding lava over society. 
 But pour the oil of pure philanthropy into the soul, and 
 the billows cease to roll ; the storm subsides into a 
 placid calm. 
 
 Is this the only species of negative happiness which 
 benevolence occasions ? It is not. The God of heaven 
 has so constituted man, that not more than one-half of 
 his existence is absolutely requisite for needful toil, 
 sleep, and animal indulgence. Consequently, as a gen- 
 eral rule, every human being has a large surplus of 
 time, talent, and energy, over and above what is neces- 
 sary for his own use. A very important question then 
 here arises: How shall this siirphisage be enqjloyed? 
 In what way shall it be expended? To what cause 
 shall it be sacredly devoted ? Benevolence would gladly 
 step in and borrow it of man ; and after having employed 
 it in her sacred service, pour a glorious compensation 
 into the owner's bosom. But man will not accept of 
 the overture. This precious capital, instead of being 
 made to yield a daily revenue of unalloyed pleasure, is 
 most wickedly perverted ; and by being so, generates a 
 countless train of woes. " What shall we do to get rid 
 of this useless portion of our existence? how shall we 
 kill time?" is the constant aim of multitudes. 
 
 One seems to aspire to no higher honor than the life 
 of a mere animal. He has eat and drank and slept like 
 a stall-fed ox, until at last he can endure it no longer. 
 And linked to his species by no strong ties of sympa- 
 
UNIVERSAL BENEVOLENCE. 129 
 
 thetic feeling, absorbed and elevated by no grand object 
 of pursuit, life becomes an intolerable burden ; the world, 
 a gloomy prison-house ; and raising his suicidal hand, 
 he plunges the dagger to his own heart, and rushes un- 
 bidden into eternity. AuQther has too great dread 
 of death, thus suddenly to let go his hold on life. But 
 still, he has unoccupied time and unemployed energies, 
 which hang heavy on liis hands; and what shall he do 
 with them ? He turns lazy monk, or musing anchorite. 
 Behold a third. He has spent many a year of toil and 
 care, to accumulate wealth. At last he has attained his 
 object. And now what shall he do with the remainder 
 of his days? How shall he enjoy his dear-bought pos- 
 sessions ? V Oh, this he will do : he will retire from busi- 
 ness, and having bought him a beautiful villa far from 
 the bustling throng, he Avill there doze out the remainder 
 of his days in calm retirement — a second Cincinnatus or 
 Sage of Monticello ; forgetting, however, tliat he has no 
 fountains of enjoyment, as they had, in his own breast. 
 And no sooner, then, is he fairly housed in his new 
 retreat, than he falls a prey to the most morbid melan- 
 choly; and unless he speedily retake himself to his 
 former bustling occupation, he will die of premature old 
 age, or sink into all the whims and frailties of a second 
 childhood. Behold a fourth. He is determined that lie 
 will not die, like his purse-proud neighbor, of gout or 
 ennui; but will keep on at the goodly and respectable 
 occupation of making money. Wan and care-worn, he 
 pursues his ceaseless round — counts his bags and cons 
 his ledger; until at last he falls a victim to a most 
 wretched monomania; avarice lays her cold clutches 
 upon his stinted soul; money, money, is his god — "give, 
 give," like the horse-leech's daughter. And finally, 
 death tears him from his idol, and throws his worthless 
 body to the worms. There is still another, perhaps 
 
130 UNIVERSAL BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 somewhat singular in the plan he adopts, to squander 
 the precious surplus capital with which nature hath en- 
 dowed him : 
 
 "This is your modern man of fashion— 
 A man of taste and dissipation : 
 A busy man without employment, 
 A happy man without enjoyment. 
 In sleep, and dress, and sport, and play, 
 He throws his worthless life away. 
 Has no opinion of his own, 
 But takes from leading beaux the ton. 
 Custom pursues, his only rule, 
 And lives an ape and dies a fool." 
 
 Now what a blessed antidote to all these miserable 
 modes of dragging out life, of murdering existence, does 
 benevolence propose. Take that surplus of time, talent, 
 and energy, which you do not need lor your own wants, 
 and the squandering of which causes so much sin and 
 folly, and expend it in the cause of others. " Go about 
 doing good." Open thine eyes upon a world of misery. 
 Instruct the ignorant, reclaim the vicious, espouse the 
 cause of the friendless. Seek out retiring merit and 
 unrequited virtue from tlieir secret abodes, and demand 
 for them a public reward. Aid in sending the Gospel 
 to the heathen. Oh, let the wail of the orphan and the 
 tears of the widow — let the piteous tale of the penniless, 
 the groans that issue from dungeons and battle-fields, 
 from families escaping from their blazing habitations, 
 and mariners wrecked upon the ocean, reach thine ears, 
 and pierce thine heart, and nerve thy soul to noble deeds 
 of charity. Then thine energies will never stagnate; 
 then thy sympathies in life will never expire for want 
 of nutriment ; then thou wilt never become a prey to 
 melancholy, nor life hang heavy on thy hands, because 
 of no great object of pursuit to give healthful occupa- 
 tion to thy powers. 
 
UNRTEKS^U. BENEVOLENCE. 131 
 
 Such are some of the mere negative portions of the 
 pleasures of benevolence. But, in addition to all this, 
 she has happiness of a jjositive kind, joys of her own 
 creation, pure fountains in the heart, of which none can 
 taste but their own possessor. For there is the fervent 
 prayer of the poor; tliere is the tear of gratitude trick- 
 ling down the cheek; and the heart-felt invocation of 
 heaven's richest blessing on thy soul, uttered by him 
 thou hast so timely succored. There, too, is the joy of 
 giving, the luxury of doing good, sweeter to the soul 
 than music's richest melody, or the gush of water in the 
 desert to the thirsty pilgrim. Oh, if there be a foretaste 
 of angel's food on earth, it is the consciousness of having 
 done a noble action, of having dried a mourner's tears, 
 or stanched one bleeding w^onnd in sorrow's breast. 
 
 " This world's not ' all a fleeting sliow, 
 
 For man's illusion given ; ' 
 He tliat hatli soothed a widow's woe. 
 Or wiped an orphan's tears, doth know 
 
 There is something here of heaven." 
 
 "It is more blessed to give than to receive." "The 
 liberal soul shall be made fat; and he that watereth, 
 shall be watered also himself" While he that has no 
 boon to bestow upon his species, is the meanest of all 
 God's creatures. He has no music in his soul. He is 
 
 " Creation's blot, creation's blank ; 
 Whom none can love, whom none can thank." 
 
 Power will cause you to be feared; learning, to be 
 admired ; wealth and beauty, to be flattered. But naught 
 but benevolence will cause you to be truly loved. And 
 when thou diest, tears of gratitude will be poured out 
 like sweet incense on thy tomb, and children yet unborn 
 shall lisp with reverence thy name. 
 
 3. The virtue which we advocate is the very essence 
 of true piety. 
 
13'2 UNIYERSAL BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 In proof of tliis position, hear tlie plain and positive 
 declarations of God's word. 1 John 4 : 20 : " If a man 
 say, I love God, aod hateth his brother, he is a liar; for 
 he that loveth not his brother whom he hath seen, how 
 can he love God whom he hath not seen ? " James 2 : 
 15, 16: "If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute 
 of daily food; and one of you say unto them, depart in 
 peace, be ye warmed, and filled; notwithstanding ye 
 give them uot those things which are needful to the 
 body ; what doth it profit ? " " Pure religion and unde- 
 filed before God and the Father is this, to visit the 
 fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep 
 one's self unspotted from the world." And at the awful 
 day of judgment, after the glorious temple of truth and 
 righteousness, which is now erecting on this earth, shall 
 have received its completion, and " Grace, Grace," shall 
 be the shout of heaven's anthem at the laying of the 
 top-stone, and when the mighty Architect shall come 
 down to review the work, and knock away this external 
 scaffolding, and pay off the laborers, " then shall he sit 
 upon the throne of his glory ; and before him shall be 
 gathered all nations; and he shall separate them one 
 from another, as a shepherd divideth his sheep from the 
 goats. And he shall set the sheep on the right hand, 
 but the goats on the left. Then shall the King say to 
 them on his right hand. Come ye blessed of my Father, 
 inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the founda- 
 tion of the world. For I was an hungered, and ye gave 
 me meat; I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink; I was a 
 stranger, and ye took me in ; naked, and ye clothed me ; 
 I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye 
 came unto me. Then shall the righteous (bowed down 
 with a sense of their great unworthiness and many im- 
 perfections) answer him, saying, Lord, when sa^ we 
 thee an hungered, and fed thee ? or thirsty, and gave 
 
UNIYERSAL BENEVOLENCE. 133 
 
 thee drink ? When stiw we tlice <i stranger, and took 
 ihee in ? or naked, and clothed tliee ? or wlien saw we 
 thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the 
 King shall answer, and say unto them, Verily I say unto 
 you, inasmuch as ye done it unto one of the least of 
 these my brethren, ye have done it unto me." (For the 
 poor are my representatives on earth. I myself was 
 once a homeless wanderer; and while the foxes had 
 holes, and the birds of the air had nests, the son of man 
 had not where to lay his head.) 
 
 The aAvards of the great day, you perceive, will turn 
 upon the discharge or neglect of these six charities. 
 The Judge then will not ask, '* Have ye possessed mere 
 cold and heartless orthodoxy, or flaming zeal ? Have 
 ye punctiliously adhered to certain rites and ceremonies, 
 or contended with unseemly w^armth for ecclesiastical 
 order. But, more than all this, have ye fed the hungry ? 
 have ye clothed the naked? have ye given water to the 
 thirsty soul ? sheltered the houseless stranger ? soothed 
 the moaning anguish of the sick ? and visited the 
 prisoner in his dungeon ? " 
 
 " Abou Ben Adhem (may liis tribe increase !) 
 Awoke one nigbt from a deep dream of peace 
 And saw, within the moonlight in his room. 
 Making it rich, and like a lily in bloom. 
 An angel writing in a book of gold : — 
 Exceeding peace had made Ben Adhem bold. 
 And to the angel in the room he said, 
 * What writest thou ? ' The vision raised its head, 
 And with a look made of all sweet accord, 
 Answer'd, ' The names of those who love the Lord/ 
 ' And is mine one ? ' asked Abou, ' Nay, not so,' 
 Replied the angel. Abou spoke more low. 
 But cheerly still ; and said, ' I pray thee, then. 
 Write me as one that loves his fellow-men.' 
 The angel ■« rote, and vanish'd. The next night 
 It came again, with a great wakening light, 
 
134 UNIYEESAL BENEVOLENCE. 
 
 And sliow'd the names wliom love of God had bless'd. 
 And lo ! Ben Adhem's name led all the rest," 
 
 4. Universal benevolence is strongly inculcated from 
 taking into consideration the identity of the human 
 race. 
 
 "And who is my neighbor?" Where are the mem- 
 bers of my fraternity ? Oh, I see one, shivering amidst 
 the snows of Greenland; another, wrapt in furs amidst 
 the smoke of his Norwegian cottage; a third, wading 
 with the weary caravan over the burning sands of 
 Sahara's desert. I recognize my brother in that sable 
 form, musing in plaintive mood, amidst the gray ruins 
 of Babel or of Tadmor; in that naked savage, chasing 
 the deer wp the steeps of the Eocky Mountains, far 
 towards the setting sun. 
 
 Therefore we would enforce the exhortation of the 
 text: "Let us do good unto all 7nen" from the fact that 
 all men are brethren. 
 
 " Ne'er withdraw thy pity from thy brother •. 
 
 Whatsoe'er his garb 
 
 Or lineament may be ; howe'er the sun 
 Hath burnt dark tints upon him, or the yoke 
 Of vassalage and scorn hath bowed him low — 
 Still must thy spirit at thy brother's pain. 
 Vibrate as the sweet lyre." 
 
 5. Universal benevolence is most solemnly inculcated, 
 by considering the great benefits and blessings which 
 would flow from its universal prevalence. 
 
 Is it not enough to make one "blush and hang his 
 head to think himself a man," when he reflects upon 
 the mighty talents, the transcendent capabilities with 
 which God hath endowed the race, and which, instead 
 of being made to subserve the cause of virtue, have been 
 used to scathe and desolate the earth ? Oh, to what a 
 peerless height of bliss and beauty would this world 
 
UNIYERSAL BENEVOLENCE. 135 
 
 have long ago aspired, liad all our great men been good 
 men; had men of might been men of God; had Alex- 
 ander the Great been a missionary of mercy; had Julius 
 Csesar crossed the Rubicon as a herald of salvation; 
 had Napoleon Bonaparte vowed upon his bended knees 
 before high heaven, that he would rush to the rescue 
 of his suffering fellow-men, and no more revisit the 
 blushing vinehills of his lovely France until he had 
 penetrated the icy regions of the North, crossed the 
 frozen Alps, doubled the stormy Cape, and planted the 
 standard of light and love amid the teeming millions of 
 the East. 
 
 But what would be the inevitable results flowing from 
 the prevalence of universal love? Wars would cease. 
 National jealousies would expire. Dueling would be 
 known merely as the relic of a dark and murderous age. 
 Tlie dishonorable and cowardly practice of carrying con- 
 cealed weapons would meet with one loud, long hiss of 
 scorn. Lawless ambition, political oppression, slander, 
 disobedience to parents, falsehood, theft, conjugal infi- 
 delity, sectarian exclusiveness, all would expire. And 
 from earth's regenerated energies would spring forth a 
 glorious harvest of every generous and noble virtue. 
 Then every hovel of distress would be visited, every 
 afflicted and persecuted soul would find a friend, every 
 debt would be punctually paid, every commodity sold at 
 its real value, every article of merchandise exhibited in 
 its true light, every promise faithfully kept, every dis- 
 pute amicably adjusted, every man's character held in 
 sacred estimation. Oh, glorious era ! 
 
 " Lord, for those days we wait — those days 
 Are in thy word foretold : — 
 Fly swifter, sun and stars, and bring 
 That promised age of gold." 
 
MORAL IE"SAinTT. 
 
 Preached at Vickeburg, 1841. 
 
 "/ am not mad, most Nolle Fesfus."— Acts 26 : 25. 
 The learned Paul was esteemed a maniac. And in 
 reference to one greater than Paul, it was said, " he is 
 beside himself." And how often has the same ckarge 
 been brought against ardent Christians in our own day. 
 — Glowing zeal for the truth, devout reverence for God, 
 pungent sorrow for sin, occasional rapture of devotion, 
 or uncommon fervor in prosecuting some great scheme 
 of benevolence, have often been viewed as evidences of 
 mental derangement. But is the charge just? Let us 
 examine and see. Mental derangement usually exhibits 
 itself in the form of ^nonomania — i. e., derangement 
 upon some particular topic, while on all other themes 
 the mind retains its equilibrium. None but idiots 
 manifest entire mental fatuity. It is only when unduly 
 occupied by some one train of thought, or when in- 
 dulging in some darling passion, or when prosecuting 
 with intemperate ardor some favorite object of pursuit, 
 that the intellect becomes unsettled. Hence, it is a 
 most rare phenomenon, to meet with an individual 
 frenzied or insane, whose business or situation in life 
 requires him frequently to change his trains of thought, 
 or to pass, in pleasant transition, from one occupation 
 to another. And it is a fact of frequent occurrence, 
 that those who have lost their intellectual balance, have 
 found immediate relief from a change of scenery or oc- 
 
MORAL INSANITY. 137 
 
 cupation — from traveling, music, literary pursuits, or 
 the conversation of persons of sprightly conversational 
 powers. 
 
 Now, if such be the cause, and such the cure of 
 mental alienation, how can experimental religion ever 
 make a man a maniac ? Experimental piety, wherever 
 healthful and scriptural, precludes entire and undivided 
 absorption in one train of thought or one species of 
 emotions, to the exclusion of all others. It calls into 
 exercise a great variety of mental powers, and gives 
 indulgence to every species of emotions and pursuits. 
 Does it create fears, it also creates hopes. Hath it sor- 
 rows, it hath also joys. Does it inculcate gravity, it 
 likewise enjoins cheerfulness. Does it demand attention 
 to the concerns of the soul, it is equally explicit in en- 
 forcing attention to the claims of the body. Does it 
 call for the exercise of love to God, it is equally pointed 
 in commanding love to man. Let then the religion of 
 the Gospel exert its legitimate power upon the mind 
 and heart, and it will serve as a complete system of 
 chcclcs and halanceSy precluding, in its very nature, 
 everything like mental insanity. The thoughts it be- 
 gets, the feelings it enkindles, the duties and pursuits 
 it inculcates, are too diversified to lead to such a result. 
 
 But experimental religion is not only not the* cause 
 of insanity, it is often its cure, or its prevoitive — 
 " ministering to a mind diseased, and plucking from the 
 heart a rooted sorrow." Religion forbids violent grief, 
 and violent anger — excessive mirth or excessive melan- 
 choly — fanatic wailings for the dead, or wild bursts of 
 joy at the sudden attainment of wealth or honor. It 
 pacifies a guilty conscience, removes the pangs of re- 
 morse, curbs the fiend-like passion of revenge, imparts 
 contentment to the lot assigned by Providence, and re- 
 moves the terrors of death. Oh, how often have we 
 
138 MORAL INSANITY. 
 
 known it to come suddenly to the rescue, like an angel 
 of mercy, seizing the stricken spirit from the grasp of 
 some foul fiend, and preventing the lunatic's vacant stare, 
 the maniac's gloom, or the madman's frenzy. There- 
 fore, can that which prevents insanity, ever cause it? 
 Can the antidote become the bane ? " Can the same 
 fountain send forth saltwater and fresh." 
 
 A celebrated medical gentleman, at the head of an 
 English lunatic asylum, has informed the world, that 
 " moral impulses very rarely produce insanity." And he 
 states that he came to this conclusion from the sedulous 
 treatment of nearly 700 cases of the disease, only one 
 individual of which number had become insane from a 
 religious cause. He had frequently been informed that 
 some particular patient had become religiously insane. 
 But whenever he had obtained an intelligent history of 
 the case, he uniformly found that the individual had 
 exhibited symptoms of insanity, before he became a 
 religious devotee. 
 
LOYE OF MOITET 
 
 Missionary Address in New Orleans, 1860. 
 
 How universal and idolatrons is the estimate which 
 mankind attach to money! Although there is no pos- 
 session more uncertain, none more destructive of peace 
 of mind, none more productive of crime and prodigality 
 among children, yet there is nothing after which the 
 majority of men grasp more eagerly, and for which they 
 are willing to make greater sacrifices, than for this. 
 The Scriptures declare that " the love of money is the 
 root of all evil,'* i. e., all kinds of evil have had their 
 origin in the love of money. There is no species of 
 evil, whether physical or mental, which has not, at some 
 time or other, originated here. The sin of covetousness 
 is, in some respects, the most heinous and dangerous 
 sin of which man is liable. — It is so, not merely on ac- 
 count of its direct and positive effects, but also because 
 of the many plausible and winning aspects which it is 
 capable of assuming. It can transform itself into an 
 angel of light. Under the commendable plea of taking 
 care of the family, or laying up in store for old age, or 
 providing something for the cause of charity, it can 
 impose upon the most cautious, until it finally takes 
 entire possession of the soul. Covetousness is almost 
 the only sin which is tolerated in decent society. Pro- 
 faneness, drunkenness, and sensuality must often hide 
 their heads; while covetousness, because of its genteel 
 and frugal aspects, rears its head unrebuked and 
 
14:0 LOYE OF MONEY. 
 
 i 
 
 unabashed. Covetousness is the only sin which is ! 
 tolerated in the Church. A professing Christian dare 1 
 not be grossly immoral, but he dare be covetous. As 1 
 the loss of one of the five senses renders the others more ; 
 acute, so, the giving up of the common and grosser 
 forms of vice, by some persons, when they become mem- i 
 bers of the Church, imparts to this darling sin a ten- i 
 fold power. And while men of the world commit all i 
 sins without restraint, covetous members of the Church j 
 concentrate their corrupt nature upon this one. Hence \ 
 it becomes intense, absorbing. The moral power of the , 
 Church is lowered, her energies are crippled, and mul- | 
 titudes bow down before the shrine of Mammon. 
 Banyan tells of some pilgrims, who, on their jour- ] 
 neying to the Heavenly City, were inducedto turn aside - : 
 from their road, to look at a silver mine, recently dis- 
 covered in a little hill called "Lucre." *' Now," says ■ 
 the great dreamer, " whether they went down therein to ^ 
 dig or were choked by the fumes that arose from the i 
 bottom, I know not. But they were never heard of | 
 afterwards." Christian, beware of "covetousness, j 
 which is idolatry." Let the case of the rich young j 
 man, "Avho went away sorrowful, because he had great \ 
 possession"— let the fate of Achan, who "perished not ! 
 alone in his iniquity" — of Judas, who sold his Master 
 " for thirty pieces of silver " — of Ananias and Sapphira, 
 who '-' kept back part of the possession " and "lied unto ! 
 the Holy Ghost," serve as solemn warnings of danger. 
 
I IsT F L U E ]Sr O E 
 
 ^^ For none of us livetk to himself. — Romans 14:7. 
 Human beings are linked together by indissoluble ties. 
 They are virtuous or vicious in groups. They rise and 
 fall in masses. Every one is surrounded by a species of 
 atmosphere. This atmosphere others breathe, and by it 
 others are affected. Hence, the impulse given either to 
 truth or error, by a single individual, may be felt 
 throughout a whole nation, and affect unborn genera- 
 tions : "For none of us livcth to himself, and no man 
 dieth to himself." None can isolate himself from his 
 race and move on in an independent sphere. On the 
 contrary, we are continually radiating images of our- 
 selves, which others see and others feel. All men have 
 an influence. The good and the bad have each an influ- 
 ence. How do bad meiL acquire their influence ? 
 
 1. Precept gives them influence. They lead others to 
 do wrong, by teaching to do wrong. This is done much 
 more extensively than many suppose. Without boldly 
 advocating palpable errors or admitted crimes, at which 
 the moral sense of the community would be shocked, 
 bad men often gain their object by a method less obvi- 
 ous but not less effectual. They inculcate a lax but 
 plausible system of morality. They talk lightly of the 
 sanctions of the Divine law, and thus weaken its hold 
 on the hearts of the young. They talk disparagingly 
 of conscience, and represent its secret admonitions as 
 
142 INFLUENCE. 
 
 the effects of an early education or the offspring of a 
 morbid sensibility. And thus their associates, ere they 
 are aware of it, have imbibed a poison more deadly than 
 the viper's tooth. The moral sense is blunted. The 
 distinction between right and wrong is obliterated. 
 Corrupt principles of action are instilled, and vice is 
 soon practiced instead of virtue. How plausible and 
 liow smooth-tongued is often the teacher of error! He 
 professes a profound reverence for truth. None more 
 rigid in contending for principles than he. He would 
 sooner cut off his right arm than teach a falsehood or 
 advocate a crime. And while he dare not openly attack 
 the gates of the citadel, he, in his way, slyly undermines 
 the foundations. He secures the outposts, bribes the 
 sentinels, and, by allaying all suspicion, more effectually 
 gains an entrance. Vice is always more dangerous when 
 clothed in the garb of virtue, and the errorist when ar- 
 rayed in the panoply of truth. The most successful 
 knaves come thns disguised, as smooth as razors dipped 
 in oil, but as sharp. 
 
 2. Example gives influence. Wicked men usually 
 accompany their sophistical reasonings by a corrupt 
 practice. This gives authority to their precepts, and 
 renders them tenfold more dangerous. They who are 
 at first shocked at a bad man's principles may insensibly 
 fall in love with his example; and, following at first at 
 a respectful distance, may gradually approach nearer, 
 until at length they become his bosom companions, his 
 obsequious imitators. For it is not the example of the 
 most vicious and abandoned which is the most corrupt- 
 ing. The drunkard who wallows in the mire may be 
 abhorred, while the more temperate drinker may have a 
 host of imitators. The bold blasphemer may be viewed 
 as a public nuisance, while the polite skeptic, the gay 
 sportsman, the accomplished man of pleasure, may have 
 
INFLUENCE. 143 
 
 troops of friends and give tone to the whole community. 
 Some serpents are gifted Avith the power of fascination. 
 They first charm their victim ere they strike their fang. 
 And so it is with some men. Their example is a gilded 
 one. They attract by their manners, they win by their 
 eloquence, they overawe the censures of the good by 
 their popularity and wealth. And at last, when they 
 die, a vast multitude of the young, the amiable, and the 
 inexperienced will rise up in the judgment and heap 
 curses on their heads as the authors of their ruin. 
 
 3. Age g^vcs influence. The precepts and example 
 of an old man, whether upon the side of vice or virtue, 
 always have more weight than those of a younger one. 
 An old man has lived longer. He has had more experi- 
 ence, and is better acquainted with the world. His gray 
 hairs are reverenced. He has more authority. He has 
 his family circle and connections around him. While, 
 then, it is true that "one sinner destroyeth much good," 
 this is peculiarly true of an old sinner. Here you be- 
 hold the case of one, the combined influence of whose 
 entire life has been polluting a whole family and a whole 
 neighborhood. The companions of his youth, the chil- 
 dren and associates of his riper years, as well as the 
 familiar companions of his declining days — a large mul- 
 titude, have all been breathing his corrupting atmos- 
 phere, have been inhaling the slow poison of his con- 
 taminating influence. 
 
 4. Exalted station gives influence. When the fount- 
 ains are corrupt, the streams are always impure. Rulers 
 have an influence which the people have not. Public 
 men frame our laws, and are the models by which mul- 
 titudes shape their opinions and their conduct. Wide 
 and fearful, then* is the prevalence of vice, when public 
 men are corrupt. They send forth streams of impurity 
 to the extremities of the land, corrupt the fountains of 
 
144 INFLUENCE. 
 
 justice, and bring a whole nation under the curse of 
 Heaven, causing thousands to perish in their sins, like 
 the vessel freighted with a precious cargo of human life, 
 which is dashed against the rocks through the negli- 
 gence of a drunken pilot, and all go down together. 
 
 5. The domestic relations give influence. Yea, this 
 is the chief source of influence. It is here, where almost 
 all that is good or ill in human life has its origin. It is 
 around the domestic hearth that piety and every noble 
 virtue begin to grow. It is by the domestic fireside that 
 youth are trained up to be their country's ornament or 
 their country's scourge. It is from the family that 
 heaven and hell are peopled. If rulers have an influ- 
 ence over the people, parents exert a tenfold greater 
 influence over their children, husbands over wives, and 
 brothers and sisters over each other. As is the parent, 
 so is the child. As are the associations of early life, so 
 are the sentiments of riper years. If parents sow the 
 seeds of piety, inculcate principles of goodly living, 
 "allure to brighter worlds and lead the way," children 
 are almost sure to follow. But if parents inculcate no 
 good sentiments, crush no vicious propensities, set no 
 godly example, use no eff'orts to ward ofi" those countless 
 unhallowed influences which prowl around the domestic 
 enclosure, how, under such circumstances, can piety 
 obtain a lodgment in the youthful bosom ? You might 
 as well expect roses to bloom upon a mountain of snow. 
 Such are some of the causes of that mysterious power 
 which every human being, even the humblest, is con- 
 tinually exerting over the circle in which he moves. 
 Every utterance of the lips, every action of the life, the 
 whole force of example, the station occupied, the relation 
 sustained, whether of ruler, friend, teacher, parent, hus- 
 band, wife, or child, is casting an image upon some fel- 
 low mortal, and is influencing him for good or evil. It 
 
INFLUENCE. 145 
 
 is evident, then, that no one is sufficiently fiware of his 
 influence. An indiscreet remark, made in thoughtless- 
 ness or excitement, may have formed the germ of vice 
 in some youthful bosom, and may bring forth fruit unto 
 death, long after he who uttered it has passed away from 
 earth. Eeader, what is your influence ? Is it salutary ? 
 Your exami)le, is it safe ? Your vowed principles, are 
 they sound? Remember, you are in a certain sense 
 your brother's keeper. You cannot prevent your influ- 
 ence. It IV ill he felt. 
 
SEMI-CENTENNIAL 
 
 OF 
 
 PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 In accordance with prerious notice, the Presbyte- 
 rian congregations assembled in the First Presbyterian 
 Church, on Lafayette square, on last Sabbath evening, 
 to celebrate, with appropriate services, the organization 
 of the first Presbyterian church in this city, on the 
 twenty-third of November, fifty years ago. 
 
 The pulpit and its surroundings were tastefully dec- 
 orated with floral wreaths and emblems, suited to the 
 occasion. To the right of the pulpit was the single 
 name — " Lamed" — and to the left — " Palmer" — in ever- 
 green letters ; with a wreath (also of evergreen) under- 
 neath each. On a line with, and between the two, were 
 the figures 1823 and 1873, with a hyphen between the 
 dates; thus joining together as one, the names and 
 years which this memorial day celebrated. The letters 
 were about twelve inches in length, and the figures 
 eighteen. The latter were made of pure chrysanthe- 
 mums, and looked charming in their rich whiteness. 
 
 Upon the communion table, in front of the pulpit, 
 was a mound of flowers, three feet high by three wide, 
 surrounded by evergreens; typical of the names and 
 dates, the i^ast and the present, the living and the dead 
 — erected out of respect to the memory of the founder 
 of the church, and also in honor of the present, living 
 
rRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 147 
 
 occupant, erected no less to commemorate the lapse of 
 half a century of time between the two. 
 
 The cliancel rails, i)illars of the candelabras, and front 
 of the pulpit platform were festooned with wreaths of 
 evergreens, intermingled with flowers, while cedars and 
 exotic plants were interspersed within and around the 
 altar — altogether creating a beautiful though chaste 
 and solemn effect. 
 
 THE SERVICES. 
 
 The services were opened precisely at seven o'clock 
 with a beautiful voluntary from the choir. 
 
 Rev. B. Wayne, then read the 48th Psalm. 
 
 A fervent and impressive prayer was offered by Rev. 
 James Beattie. 
 
 Dr. Palmer then read the following narrative : 
 
 AN" HISTORICAL PAPER ON THE ORIGIN AND GROWTH OF 
 PRESBYTERIANISM IN THE CITY OF NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 It is a little remarkable that the first successful effort 
 to plant Presbyterianism in the city of New Orleans 
 should have originated with the Congregationalists of 
 New Eugliind. Near the beginning of the year 1817, 
 the Rev. Elias Cornelius was appointed by the Connec- 
 ticut Missionary Society, to engage in a missionary tour 
 through the southwestern States, more especially to visit 
 New Orleans, then containing a population of thirty to 
 thirty-four thousand, and with but one Protestant min- 
 ister, the Rev. Dr. Hull ; to examine its moral condi- 
 tion, and, while preaching the Gospel to many who 
 seldom heard it, to invite the friends of the Congrega- 
 tional or Presbyterian Communion to establish a church, 
 and secure an able and faithful pastor. In this tour, 
 Dr. Cornelius acted also as agent for the A. B. C. F. M., 
 to solicit funds for the evangelization of the Indian 
 
148 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 tribes. In this Avork he was eminently successful — 
 devoting an entire year to a lengthened tour from Mas- 
 sachusetts to Louisiana — collecting large sums for the 
 American Board, and arrived in Xew Orleans on De- 
 cember 30, 1817. 
 
 The most important service rendered by Dr. Corne- 
 lius, however, was that of introducing the Eev. Sylvester 
 Larned to this field of labor. In passing through New 
 Jersey, on his journey southward. Dr. Cornelius formed 
 the acquaintance of Mr. Larned, then finishing his di- 
 vinity course at Princeton, and giving, in the reputation 
 acquired as a student, brilliant promise of a successful 
 career as a preacher. The arrangement was there formed 
 between the two, that Mr. Larned should follow Dr. 
 Cornelius to New Orleans after he should have passed 
 his trials, and should have been admitted to the min- 
 istry. 
 
 On July 15, 1817, Mr. Larned was licensed and or- 
 dained by the Presbytery of New York. This ordina- 
 tion was clearly to the office of Evangelist, which he 
 was in the fullest sense of the word. It appears, too, 
 that the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 was brought into co-operation with this scheme ; from 
 the fact that Drs. Nott and Eomeyn were appointed by 
 that body to accompany Mr. Larned to the southwest. 
 This appointment was not, however, fulfilled, and we 
 find the young evangelist, after a brief visit to his native 
 home, leaving on September 26, and journeying alone 
 to the field where he was to gather the laurels of an un- 
 fading reputation, and then to sanctify it by an early 
 death. He reached his destination after innumerable 
 delays, January 22, 1818. 
 
 Through the antecedent preparation of his friend, Dr. 
 Cornelius, who had preceded him exactly three weeks — 
 and still more by his own splendid attractions — over- 
 
PEESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLKiNS. 149 
 
 turcs were soon made to liim for a permanent settle- 
 ment. Subscriptions were circulated for the building 
 of a church edifice, whicli, by April 5, amounted to 
 $1G,000. It was proposed, as soon as the subscriptions 
 were completed, to negotiate a loan of $40,000, the esti- 
 mated cost of a building sixty feet by ninety, with about 
 two thousand sittings. Considering the infancy of the 
 enterprise, the largeness of these plans betokens great 
 vigor of effort, and the confidence felt of final success in 
 collecting and maintaining a flourishing church. In 
 this costly undertakiiig, generous assistance was received 
 from the City Council, in the grant of two lots of ground 
 valued at $G,000, and in a subsequent loan of $10,000. 
 In the erection of the building, Mr. Larned's spiritual 
 labors were interrupted during the summer of 1818 by 
 a visit north, for the purpose of soliciting money, and 
 also of purchasing materials for building. 
 
 On January 8, 1819, the corner-stone of the new edi- 
 fice was laid with imposing ceremonies (and in the pres- 
 ence of an immense throng), on the selected site on St. 
 Charles street, between Gravier and Union, and on July 
 4, following, was solemnly dedicated to the worship of 
 Almighty God — with a discourse from Psalms 48 : 9 : 
 "We have thought of thy loving kindness, God, in 
 the midst of thy temple," which will be found the fourth 
 in the series of sermons published in connection with 
 Mr. Larned's Memoirs. 
 
 There are no records from which to learn the spiritual 
 growth of the church during this early period, except 
 that in one of his letters, Mr. Larned speaks of a com- 
 munion season about the middle of July, 1820, in which 
 there were forty-two at the table of the Lord, part of 
 whom were, however, Methodists. Mr. Larned's labors 
 were those exclusively of an evangelist; and his brief 
 life was spent in gathering a congregation and building 
 
150 SEMI-CENTENMAL OF 
 
 a house of worship. There is no record of his hav- 
 ing organized a church according to our ecclesiastical 
 canons, by the election and ordination of ruling elders ; 
 and he himself was never installed into the pastoral re- 
 lation by ecclesiastical authority. It pleased the Great 
 Head of the Church to arrest his labors before they 
 reached this point of consummation. During the 
 month of August, 1820, the scourge which has so often 
 desolated our city, made its appearance. On Sabbath, 
 August 27, he preached from Phil. 1 : 21, " For me to 
 live is Christ, and to die is gain ; " w^ords alas ! prophetic 
 of his speedy call to those mansions where all is "gain" 
 forever to the believer. On the following Thursday, 
 August 21, the very day on which he completed the 
 twenty-fourth year of his age, he fell asleep in Jesus — 
 or rather awoke to the glory and joy of his Lord. His 
 remains were consigned to the tomb in Girod Cemetery, 
 with the Episcopal service for the dead rendered by the 
 Kev. Dr. Hull. 
 
 Mr. Larned's successor, after an interval of eighteen 
 months, was the Eev. Theodore Clapp, a native of Mas- 
 sachusetts, and a graduate of Yale College, and of the 
 Theological Seminary at Andover. He was licensed by 
 a Congregational Association, October, 1817; and was 
 led providentially to Kentucky, by an engagement as 
 private tutor in a family residing near Lexington, iu 
 that State. During the summer of 1821, he spent a few 
 weeks at a watering place in Kentucky, and on the Sab- 
 bath preached in one of the public rooms of the hotel to 
 the assembled guests. This apparently casual circum- 
 stance led to his settlement in New Orleans. Amongst 
 his hearers on that occasion, were two gentlemen from 
 our city, trustees of Mr. Larned's church ; who, upon 
 their return home, caused a letter to be written, inviting 
 him to New Orleans. This invitation, at first declined. 
 
PKESBYTERIANISM EN NEW ORLEANS. 15l 
 
 led to ix visit to this city near iiie close of Febriuiry, 
 1822. 
 
 On the third Siibbath after his arrival, he was unani- 
 mously chosen to fill the vacant pulpit. Finding tlie 
 church embarrassed by a debt of $45,000, he naturally 
 hesitated, and finally made its lif[uidation the condition 
 of his acceptance of the call. Tlie method adopted for 
 this purpose, though deemed proper at the time, would 
 now be disallowed by the better educated conscience of 
 the Church. The trustees made application to the Leg- 
 islature of Louisiana, then in session, for a lottery ; 
 which being sold to Yates & Mclntyre of New York, for 
 $25,000, relieved the pressure of debt to that amount. 
 For the remaining $20,000 the building was sold to 
 Judah Touro, Esq., a merchant of wealth, whose mag- 
 nificent charities have left his name in grateful remem- 
 brance to the people of New Orleans. It may be well to 
 state here, though a little in advance of dates, that Mr. 
 Touro held the building to the time of its destruction 
 by fire; allowing the income from pew-rents to the use 
 of the minister, and incurring the expense of keeping it 
 in repair. He was Mr. Clapp's personal friend and 
 benefactor throughout life ; and when the original build- 
 ing was burnt, and long after it had been carried away 
 from Presbyterians by Mr. Clapp's secession, Mr. Touro, 
 •we believe, built a small chapel for the Unitarian con- 
 gregation, until a larger edifice could be erected for 
 their accommodation. Such instances of princely 
 munificence deserve to be engraved upon tablets of 
 marble. But this is to anticipate. 
 
 The first notice of the organization of this church, as 
 a spiritual body, is in the record of a meeting held for 
 this purpose on November 23, 1823. Prior to this, 
 the labors of Mr. Larned, extending over a period of 
 two years and seven months, from January 22, 1818, 
 
152 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 to August 31, 1820 ; and those of Mr. Clapp over a 
 period of one year and nine months, from March, 1822, 
 to November, 1823, were sim2:)ly evangelistic. A con- 
 gregation liad been gathered, a house of worship built, 
 the word and sacrament administered, and the materials 
 collected for the S23iritual Church in the admission of 
 persons to sealing ordinances; all in the exercise of 
 that power which the Scriptures and our Presbyterian 
 standards assign to the evangelist. The time had now 
 arrived for the gathering up the results of these labors 
 in a permanent and organized form. 
 
 On the evening of November 23, 1823, just fifty 
 years ago, at a meeting moderated by Rev. Mr. Clapp, 
 nine males and fifteen females presented credentials of 
 having been admitted to the sacrament of the Lord's 
 supper, by Mr. Larned, as follows : 
 
 Males: — Alfred Hennen, James Eobinson, William 
 Eoss, Robert H. McNair, Moses Cox, Hugli Farrie, 
 Richard Pearse, John Spittal, John Rollins. Females: 
 — Phebe Farrie, Catherine Hearsey, Celeste Hearsey, 
 Doza A. Hearse}^, Margaret Agur, Ann Ross, Eliza Hill, 
 Margaret McNair, Sarah Ann Harper, Ann Davison, 
 Stella Mercer, Jane Robinson, Eliza Baldwin, Mary 
 Porter, Eliza Davidson. 
 
 These persons, twenty-four in all, were formed into a 
 church by the adoption of the Presbyterian standards 
 in doctrine, government, discipline, and worship ; and 
 by a petition to the Presbytery of Mississippi to be en- 
 rolled among the churches under its care, with the style 
 and title of ^* The First Presbyterian Church in the city 
 and parish of New Orleans." The organization was 
 completed by the election on the same evening of four 
 persons to be ruling elders, viz. : William Ross, Moses 
 Cox, James Robinson, and Robert H. McNair, who were 
 accordingly ordained and installed on the following 
 Sabbath, November 30, 1823. 
 
TRESBYTEEIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 153 
 
 Mr. Chipp's ministry was a troubled one, from sus- 
 picions entertained of liis doctrinal soundness. From 
 his own statements, as early as 1824, his faith was 
 shaken as to tlie doctrine of the eternity of future pun- 
 ishment. He pushed his investigations, doubts darken- 
 ing upon him, through years, until at length he was 
 forced to phmt liimself in open hostility to the whole 
 Calvinistic Theology. It is not strange that inconsis- 
 tent and wavering statements of truth should find their 
 way into the ministrations of the pulpit, at the very 
 time his faitli was shaken in the tenets which he had 
 subscribed, and when his own mind was working to an 
 entire renunciation of them. A single crack in a bell is 
 sufficient to destroy its tone ; and it is not surprising that 
 some of his parishioners should miss tliat clear ring which 
 the pulpit is expected to give forth. Certain it is, that 
 the repose of the church was seriously disturbed for 
 years by two parallel prosecutions before the Session 
 against two prominent members of the church, one of 
 them a ruling elder, grounded upon their undisguised 
 dissatisfaction with the minister. In the course of these 
 complicated proceedings, the Session, by death and dep- 
 osition from offices, became reduced below a constitu- 
 tional quorum ; which led, in March, 1828, to the elec- 
 tion and ordination of five new elders, Alfred Hennen, 
 Joseph A. Maybin, William W. Caldwell, Josiah 
 Crocker, and Fabric! us Reynolds. 
 
 On March 5, 1830, Mr. Clapp addressed a letter 
 to the Presbytery of Mississippi, in which he says, " I 
 have not found, and I at present despair of finding auy 
 text of Holy Writ to prove unanswerably the distin- 
 guishing tenets of Calvinism." He, therefore, solicited 
 a dismission from the Presbytery to the Hampshire 
 County Association of Congregational ministers in the 
 State of Massachusetts. This dismission was refused by 
 
154 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 the Presbytery, on the ground that it was inconsistent 
 to dismiss, in good standing, to another body one whom 
 they could no longer recognize in their own ; and they 
 proceeded to declare Mr. Clapp no longer a member of 
 their body, or a minister in the Presbyterian Church. 
 A letter was also addressed to the church advising them 
 of this action, and declaring the pulpit yacant. Xo 
 definite action was taken upon this communication of 
 the Presbytery until January, 1831, when the Session 
 proposed to take the mind of the church, whether to 
 retain Mr. Clapp as their pastor, or to abide by the de- 
 cision of the Presbytery and to sever that connection. 
 This sifting process was, however, arrested by an excep- 
 tion taken against this action and against the Presbyte- 
 rial decree upon which it was based. By common 
 consent, the case was carried over the intermediate 
 court immediately to the General Assembly, which body 
 sustained the exception, declaring '- that, as Mr. Clapp 
 had neither been dismissed nor suspended by the Pres- 
 bytery, he ought to be regarded as a member of that 
 body, and that in the opinion of the xVssembly, they 
 have sufficient reasons for proceeding to try him upon 
 the charge of error in doctrine." 
 
 The case being thus remanded to the Presbytery, had 
 to be taken up anew. Meanwhile the agitation in the 
 bosom of the church could not be allayed. On January 
 13, 1832, fifteen members, including elders McISTair 
 and Caldwell, were dismissed at their request, for the 
 purpose of forming another church upon the principles 
 of the doctrine and discipline of the Presbyterian 
 Church. This seceding body worshiped in a warehouse 
 of Mr. Cornelius Paulding, opposite Lafayette square, 
 on the site covered by the building in which we are now 
 assembled. It enjoyed the services of the Rev. Mr. 
 Harris ; but the references to it are scant, and after a 
 
PKESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLExVNS. 155 
 
 brief and flickering existence, its elements were reab- 
 sorbed into the First Chnrch. Meanwhile the Presby- 
 tery concluded its proceedings in tlie trial of Mr. Chipp, 
 on January 10, 1833 ; when lie was deposed from the 
 office of the ministry, and his relations to tlie cliurch, 
 which had only heen those of a stated supply and not 
 of an installed pastor, were finally canceled. The roll 
 of communicants, just before the secession in 1832, 
 numbered eighty-nine. 
 
 Presbyterianism had now to start aneAV, from a begin- 
 ning quite as small as at first. The social and amiable 
 qualities of Mr. Clapp endeared him greatly as a man ; 
 the large majority of his hearers could not appreciate 
 this clamor about doctrine ; and many of the truly pious 
 Avere slow to credit the extent of his departure from the 
 faith, and were disposed to sympathize with him as one 
 unkindly persecuted. The few, therefore, who came 
 forth, exactly nine, with the two elders, Hennen and 
 Maybin, found themselves in the condition of seceders 
 who were houseless in the streets. Fortunately a spirit- 
 ual guide was immediately provided. The Kev. Joel 
 Parker, in the service of the American Home Mission 
 Society, being in the city, was at once solicited to be- 
 come their stated supjoly. His connection began Jan- 
 nary 12, 1833, and the little band worshiped alter- 
 nately with the organization formed a year before under 
 Mr. Harris, in the wareroom on Lafayette square. 
 These two wings finally coalesced in 1835. In March, 
 1834, Dr. Parker was unanimously chosen pastor, and 
 on April 27th, was duly installed by the Presbytery of 
 Mississippi. During this summer he was absent at the 
 North, collecting funds for building a new house of 
 worship. Some statements made by him to Northern 
 audiences respecting the religious condition and neces- 
 sities of New Orleans were grossly misrepresented in 
 
156 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 the public prints. A violent excitement was created 
 against liim in the city, indignation meetings were held, 
 and he was once or twice burnt in effigy by the popula- 
 tion. The storm was met with great firmness and dignity 
 by the church, which rallied around its pastor, produced 
 written evidence that Dr. Parker had been entirely mis- 
 represented, and contended earnestly for the exercise of 
 their own religious rights. In a short time, the fierce 
 opposition was quelled, and was eventually lived down. 
 
 Upon the pastor's return. in the autumn, worship was 
 resumed in a room on Julia street until March 15, 
 1835, when the basement of the new building on La- 
 fayette square was first occupied. This edifice, so well 
 remembered by many present, was erected at an original 
 cost, including the site, of $57,616. Subsequent im- 
 provements and enlargements, in 1844, with an addi- 
 tional purchase of ground, amounted to over $17,000 
 more ; making the whole cost of the church, which was 
 destroyed by fire in 1854, $75,000. 
 
 Dr. Parker's connection with the church extended 
 over a period of five years and six months, from January 
 12, 1833, to June 14, 1838, at which date he left, 
 never to return. The pastoral relation was not, how- 
 ever, dissolved till the spring of 1839. During his pas- 
 torship, the church was greatly prospered,, having se- 
 cured a commodious sanctuary, and showing, as early 
 as 1836, a church-roll numbering one hundred and 
 forty-two communicants. There were two elections of 
 elders ; in 1834, Dr. John E. Moore, Frederic R. Soutli- 
 mayd, and Truman Parmele being chosen to that office ; 
 and in 1838, Stephen Franklin, John S. Walton, and 
 James Be at tie. 
 
 The next incumbent of the pulpit was the Rev. Dr. 
 John Breckinridge, with whom the church opened ne- 
 gotiations in February, 1839. This gentleman was at 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEiVNS. 157 
 
 the time tlie ISccretary of the Assembly's Board of 
 Foreign Missions. In his letter to the church, dated 
 May, 1839, he consents to serve it in conjunction Avitli 
 his secretaryship, from -which his brethren were unwil- 
 ling to release him, the Board giving him a dispensa- 
 tion for six or seven months for this purpose. These 
 conditions being accepted. Dr. Breckinridge spent the 
 winter of 1839 in New Orleans; and still again the 
 winter of 1840, till April of 1841. He was called to the 
 eternal rest in August, 1841, retaining in his hand the 
 call of this church, as pastor elect. His labors were 
 fragmentary, but efficient ; and the church was left to 
 mourn over hopes disappointed in his death. 
 
 The attention of the church was soon turned to the 
 Kev. Dr. W. A. Scott, of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, who was 
 installed as pastor on March 19, 1843, and whose 
 pastoral relation was formally dissolved in September, 
 1855. His active connection with the church, however, 
 began and closed earlier than these dates. His term of 
 service, as pastor elect, began in the fall of 1842, and his 
 active labors ceased in November, 1854, covering a 
 period of tAvelve years. Dr. Scott's ministry was ex- 
 ceedingly productive, during which vigorous and con- 
 stant eiforts were made to build up the interests of Pres- 
 byterianism in the city. These will be briefly sketched 
 in the notices soon to be given of the other church organ- 
 izations. The roll of communicants swelled, in 1844, 
 to four hundred and thirty-nine, and before the close 
 of his ministry to over six hundred. 
 
 On July 20, 1845, Dr. J. M. AY. Picton, and Charles 
 Gardiner were ordained to the office of ruling elder ; 
 and Thomas Bowman and William P. Campbell, to that 
 of deacon. On December 23, 1849, K. B. Shepherd, W. 
 P. Campbell, and W. A. Bartlett w^re ordained to the 
 eldership ; and W. H. Reese, L. L. Brown, and James 
 
158 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 Kainey, to the diaconate; and on November 28,1852, 
 the bench of deacons was increased by the installation 
 of W. 0. Black, Eobert A. Grinnan, and Simon De- 
 visser, and of J. Gr. Dnnlap, on January 23, 1853. 
 
 The chnrch edifice was burnt on October 29, 1854; 
 and it is to the last degree creditable to the congrega- 
 tion that amidst all the discouragements of a vacant 
 bishopric and a congregation scattered, it should have 
 proceeded at once to build another of larger proportions 
 and more finished in style. In 1857, the house in which 
 we are now assembled was finished and dedicated to the 
 worship of God. Its cost, with all its appointments, 
 was about $87,000. 
 
 On September 21, 1854, a call was made out to the 
 Rev. B. M. Palmer, of South Carolina, which, upon being 
 presented before his Presbytery and Synod, was defeated 
 by the refusal of those bodies to place it in his hands. 
 The call was renewed on March 16, 1856, and prevailed. 
 His labors began early in December of that year, and on 
 the 28th of the same month he was installed by the 
 Presbytery of New Orleans. After the lapse of seven- 
 teen years, he is present to-night to read this record of 
 God's exceeding faithfulness and mercy to His redeemed 
 people. It is only proper to add, that the membership 
 of this church, which, after Dr. Scott's withdrawal, was 
 thrown down to three hundred and fifty, was carried up 
 in 1861, just before the war, to five hundred and thirty- 
 one. By the war, in 1866, it was again reduced to four 
 hundred and thirty-six, and now reaches to six hundred 
 and forty-eight. 
 
 Three successful Mission schools are sustained and 
 two buildings erected for their accommodation, one of 
 these large and comfortable, at a cost of some $10,000. 
 It is now sustaining a city missionary, which it has 
 often done in the past, and always with marked results 
 
rRESBYTERLVNISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 159 
 
 in the extension of the cause so dear to all our 
 hearts. 
 
 We have preferred to give the history of this particular 
 church without breaking its continuity. It is time, 
 however, that we turn to tlie efforts of church extension, 
 which will bring into view the other Presbyterian 
 organizations in the city. 
 
 The first effort in this direction was the employment, 
 on January 30, 1840, by the Session of the First Church, 
 of Eev. Jerome Twichell, as a city missionary, Avith four 
 points of labor, viz. : in the lecture-room, to the colored 
 people ; at Orleans Cotton Press to the seamen ; at the 
 city prison, and in the District of Lafayette. Mr. 
 Twichell began his work at once, opening a service in 
 the house of Mrs. Dick, on February 4 — thirty per- 
 sons being present. This was the germ of the Lafa- 
 yette Presbyterian Church, now under the pastoral care 
 of Rev. Dr. Markham. On March 1, divine service 
 was transferred to the Lafayette Court-room. On March 
 19, a meeting was held of the citizens of the district, 
 to consider the erection of a church-edifice, which was 
 prosecuted with such vigor, that in January, 1842, a 
 house of worship was finished, at a cost of some $5,000, 
 and dedicated, on Fulton street, between Josephine and 
 St. Andrew. 
 
 The Lafayette Church was not, however, organized 
 till September 21, 1843, when twenty members of the 
 First Church were set off as a colony for this purpose. 
 Dr. John Rollins, Richard Leech, and John Hume being 
 the first elders. 
 
 Rev. Jerome Twichell was elected pastor and installed, 
 the first Sabbath in January, 1844, and continued in 
 this relation till December 4, 1853 — ten years. 
 
 His successor. Rev. J. Sidney Hays, Avas installed May 
 7, 1854, who died of yellow fever, August 26, 1855, hav- 
 
160 SEMI-CENTENOTAL OF 
 
 ing served one year and four months. Sixteen months 
 elapsed before the sad vacancy was filled. On Febru- 
 ary 1, 1857, Rev. T. R. Markham, then a licentiate, was 
 engaged as a supply for one year ; on May 24 he was 
 ordained as an evangelist; elected pastor, December 
 20, and installed on January 24, 1858. His efficient 
 ministry continues to the present time, covering a 
 period of more than sixteen years. 
 
 On Sabbath night, November 18, 18G0, tlie church 
 building was destroyed by fire, and the congregation 
 assembled for worship in Union Hall on Jackson street, 
 until the Federal occupation of the city, May, 18G2. 
 After the war, the church held its services in the First 
 German Church on First street until April, 1867, when 
 they entered their present comfortable and handsome 
 building on Magazine street, above Jackson, which was 
 dedicated on the following Sabbath, April 14. The 
 cost of this structure, with ground, is about $45,000. 
 
 The growth of this church, the first off-shoot from 
 the parent church, was, at first, gradual and slow. In 
 1844, the membership is reported to be twenty-tliree. 
 In 1855, it had increased only to thirty-seven. In 1858, 
 to fifty. In 1866, the first year after the war, the 
 church-roll presents one hundred and thirty communi- 
 cants, and in 1873, this number has increased to four 
 hundred and thirty-five. 
 
 The next enterprise undertaken resulted in the or- 
 ganization of what was known as the Second Churcli, at 
 the corner of Prytania and Calliope streets, which is 
 now extinct, the building having passed into the hands 
 of another denomination. It appears from the minutes 
 of the First Church, that on November 13, 1843, the 
 Rev. R. L. Stanton, of Woodville, accepted an invitation 
 to serve as a city missionary, and in April, 1845, twenty- 
 two persons were set off as a nucleus to form the Second 
 
PRESBYTEKIANISM IN NEW OKLEANR. IGl 
 
 Chiircli, under Mr. Stanton, uliose relations as a mis- 
 sionary under Session of First Church ceased about ^lay 
 15 of the same year. Lots were purchased in 1844 on 
 the corner of Prytania and Calliope streets, and a church 
 building erected. Mr. Stanton resigned about 1852, to 
 assume the presidency of Oakland College ; and in 1853 
 his })lace Avas sup]ilied by Rev. Dr. S. Woodbridge, who 
 died in 18G3. The enterprise was never a successful 
 one, due, we think, in -purt to its location, which, after 
 the inauguration of the Prytania Street Church, was 
 something like a trough of the sea, between it and the 
 First Church. After the war, the church was dissolved 
 by act of Presbytery, its roll being transferred to the 
 Tiialia Street Church, except in cases where the mem- 
 bers preferred to attach themselves elsewhere. 
 
 The next enterprise undertaken laid the foundation 
 of what is known as the 71iird Clmrcli. In the autumn 
 of 1844, a few members of the First Church established 
 a Sabbath school in the Third district, under the super- 
 intendency of Mr. F. Stringer. The ground floor of 
 No. 20 Moreau street was fitted up, and divine service 
 conducted by Rev. E. R. Beadle, for about six months. 
 The school was then removed to Mr. Elkin's houSe on 
 Chartres street. In the fall of 1845, Rev. James Beattie 
 took charge of the mission, and opened service in his 
 own house on Esplanade street, near Burgundy. On 
 March 7, 1847, after a sermon by Rev. Dr. W. A. Scott, 
 the Third Church was organized with a colony of 
 eighteen members set off from the First Church, F. 
 Stringer and C. C. Lyon, elders, Mr. Beattie continuing 
 in charge till 1850, when he removed with his family to 
 the North. 
 
 In 1848, a neat frame building, with about one hun- 
 dred and fifty sittings, was erected on Casacalvo street, at 
 an expense of some 82,500, which was occupied by the 
 
162 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 congregation until the completion of its present large 
 and tasteful house of worship on Washington square. 
 This building was begun in 1858, and completed by 
 January 1, 18G0, at a cost of about $45,000. 
 
 In December, 1850, Rev. D. S, Baker succeeded Mr. 
 Beattie in the pulpit, and continued till August, 1852. 
 From that time till February, 1854, the church was 
 without a regular supply, when Rev. James Richards 
 became its pastor, which relation was terminated in 
 March, 1855, about one year. From that time to Janu- 
 ary, 1857, the church was served by Rev. IST. G. K"orth, 
 at which date begins the term of its present pastor, the 
 Rev. Dr. H. M. Smith, lasting now almost seventeen 
 years. 
 
 In 1850 the church reported a membership of forty- 
 four; in 1855, a membership of forty- two; in 1857, a 
 membership of fifty-three; in 1860, a membership of 
 seventy-one; and now, of one hundred and two. F. 
 Stringer and W. C. Raymond, elders. 
 
 The growth of this church is impaired by the constant 
 tendency of English-speaking residents to move above 
 Canal street. 
 
 These three churches were directly colonized from the 
 First Church. The Prytania Street organization was 
 an independent movement, originating nearly at the 
 same time and in the same way with the Third Church. 
 A mission Sabbath school was started up town. In 
 1846, three lots were purchased for $1,285, at the corner 
 of Prytania and Josephine streets, and a small frame 
 building erected at a cost of $1,342, which has since 
 been enlarged into their present lecture room. The 
 Rev. E. R. Beadle, brought here by the First Church as 
 a city missionary in conjunction with the editorship of 
 the Neiu Orleans Protestant, was identified with the 
 movement from the beginning. On May 31, 1846, the 
 
rEESBYTERL\NISM IN NEW ORLEiVNS. 163 
 
 chiircli was orgjuiized by tlie Presbytery of Loiiisiaiia, 
 with twelve members, six male and six female ; of whom 
 three were from the First Church, two from tlic Second, 
 and seven from the Fulton Street, now the Lafayette 
 Church. Mr. David lladden was the first elder, and 
 H. T. Bartlett the first deacon. In June, Mr. Beadle 
 was chosen pastor, who served six years, until Septem- 
 ber, 1852. During his term, the present church build- 
 ing* was erected, in tlie winters of 1848-9, at a cost of 
 $l-i,040; and the membership was increased from twelve 
 to one hundred and thirty. 
 
 The second pastor, Eev. Isaac Henderson, was called 
 in November, 1852, and served till April, 18G5, a period 
 of twelve years and six months. During an interval of 
 twenty months, the pulpit was supplied by the Rev. B. 
 Wayne and Rev. W. F. V. Barlett, till December 9, 
 1866, when Rev. R. Q. Mallard, the present pastor, was 
 installed. 
 
 The increase of its communicants is as follows: At 
 its organization, in 184G, twelve; on September 21, 
 1852, one hundred and thirty; on April 2, 1855, two 
 hundred and eleven; on March 30, 1857, one hundred 
 and ninety-eight; on December 9, 1866, when present 
 pastorship began, one hundred and fifty-seven ; at the 
 present time, two hundred and twenty-eight. 
 
 In January, 1854, a colony of seventeen Germans, 
 gathered in by Mr. Young, as colporteur, was set off to 
 form the First German Church, which, though now in 
 connection with the Northern Assembly, is the direct 
 fruit of missionary labor by Presbyterians in this city. 
 
 In 1860, also, a colony of twelve was set off, with Mr. 
 n. T. Bartlett at its head, to reinforce the Thalia Street 
 Church. It now maintains a flourishing mission Sab- 
 bath school, and has erected a suitable building for the 
 same. 
 
164 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 Througli the agency of a general committee of do- 
 mestic missions, chapels were erected on Canal street, 
 corner of Franklin ; on Thalia street, corner of Frank- 
 lin ; in Jefferson City, and in Carrollton. Their cost 
 cannot well be ascertained, the records of this committee 
 having been lost. The property in each case has been 
 conveyed to the congregations worshiping therein, as 
 soon as incorporated. 
 
 As early as 1845, Eev. Noah F. Packard preached in 
 the Canal Street Chapel, and died of yellow fever in 
 1846. On April 11, 1847, a church was organized by 
 the Presbytery of Louisiana, known as the Fourth 
 Chin'cli, with nine members, of whom five were from the 
 First Church, and four were from abroad. Heman 
 Packard was the first elder, and Alexander Reid the 
 first deacon. 
 
 On March 1, 1848, a call was made to Eev. Henry G. 
 Blinn, a licentiate, which was renewed November 27 
 of the same year, from which moment his name disap- 
 pears from the record. 
 
 On March 12, 1854, Rev. William McConnell was 
 chosen pastor, the membership being twenty-five, which 
 soon increased to fifty-two, and in 1857 to sixty-nine; 
 Viall, Young, and Henderson being added to the elder- 
 ship. 
 
 Rev. Gaylord L. Moore succeeded Mr. McConnell as 
 pastor from 1858 to May, 1863. During his administra- 
 tion a new and large church was built, at a cost of over 
 $40,000, on the corner of Gasquet and Liberty streets, 
 the basement of which was occupied in Ma)^, 1860, and 
 the church itself dedicated in November of the same 
 year. Mr. Moore returned in the autumn of 1865, after 
 the war, and remained in charge of the pulpit till June, 
 1868. He was succeeded in December of that year by 
 Rev. A. F. Dickson, whose term of service continued 
 
PRESBYTEllLVXISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 165 
 
 three years. Under a financial pressure, the clinrcli 
 buikling Mas sold in May, 1871, and a better location 
 purchased, and a new but smaller building erected, at 
 the corner of Canal and Dorbigny streets. Tlie enter- 
 prise is now free from debt, and only needs a faitliful 
 pastor in order to spring forth upon a more hopeful 
 career. Its present membership is one hundred and 
 thirty-five. 
 
 An attempt to organize a church in the Thalia Chapel 
 was made by Rev. N. G. North, as early as January 16, 
 1853, with seventeen members. The organization was 
 not completed by the election of elders, and appears to 
 have lapsed. An irregular mission was maintained, 
 principally through a Sabbath school, till June, 1860; 
 when a church was fully organized by the Presbytery 
 with twelve members set off' from Prytania Street con- 
 gregation, and two additional on profession. H. T. 
 Bartlett and A. D. Donovan were the first elders ; A. E. 
 Gillett, F. Beaumont, and J. A. Hall, the first deacons. 
 
 The infant church was served by Eev. Dr. Wm. Fisher, 
 from :N"ovember, 1860, to May 30, 1861. On October 
 27, 1861, Rev. W. A. Hall was called to the pastorate, 
 and resigned October 25, 1866, five years. On Decem- 
 ber 12, 1867, Rev. W. C. Dunlap became the suppl}^, and 
 closed his connection, October 4, 1868. On February 
 5, 1869, Rev. Wm. Flinn was chosen pastor, and was in- 
 stalled in the April following. During this pastorate, 
 which still happily continues, one hundred and six have 
 been added to the church membership, of whom seventy- 
 three have been received on profession of faith. The 
 congregation has built a comfortable parsonage, and 
 hoi)es soon to erect a new house of worship, corner of 
 Franklin and Euterpe streets, for which it has funds in 
 bank between 815,000 and 816,000, and for which its 
 present property will be further available. 
 
166 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 In the lioiiligny chapel, built 1850, an irregular mis- 
 sion was conducted with yarying success, till 1860, when 
 regular preaching was begun there by Eev. B. Wayne. 
 In May, 18G1, a church was organized by the Presbytery 
 of New Orleans, now known as the Napoleon Avenue 
 Church, with twenty members, John Dyer, the only elder. 
 The war came on, and everything was suspended; on 
 the return of peace, services were resumed, and have 
 since been regularly maintained. In March, 1870, the 
 present location on Napoleon avenue was purchased; 
 in December, 1871, a new brick building was com- 
 menced, and sufficiently finished in July, 1872, to be 
 occupied, in a rude and incomplete condition. During 
 the past season it has been entirely finished, and in Sep- 
 tember, 1873, was publicly dedicated, free of debt, to the 
 worship of Almighty God. This handsome structure, 
 with all its appointments, and with the ground on which 
 it stands, has cost the sum of $18,000, a monument to 
 the liberality of our people, and to the enterprise and 
 zeal of the pastor and congregation who have persist- 
 ently carried it through. Chiefly since the war, one 
 hundred and forty-eight persons have been received 
 into its membership, of whom one hundred and eleven 
 were on profession of faith. The present roll numbers 
 seventy members. Messrs. G. W. H. Marr and S. McGin- 
 nis are the elders. 
 
 On September 1, 1855, a church was organized by the 
 Presbytery, at Carrollton, with seventeen members, of 
 whom seven were from the First Church, nine from 
 the Prytania Street Church, and one from the Second 
 Church ; J. S. McComb, II. T. Bartlett, and E. G. Lat- 
 ting were chosen elders. On February 4, 1856, Rev. 
 N. P. Chamberlain was chosen pastor, and served in this 
 relation till January 31, 1858, a period of two years. 
 The pulpit was kept open by supplies, principally Rev. 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 1G7 
 
 Dr. J. R. Ilutcliison, Principal of Belle Grove Collegiiite 
 Institute, till everything was broken up by the war, and 
 Dr. Hutchison removed to Houston. In 18GG, it ai)pear- 
 ing- tliat the church had been so reduced that tliere were 
 no elders, and not even a male member, Carrollton was 
 taken under care of the Presbytery as a Mission station, 
 and is at present held as such against a better time for 
 re-organizjition. It enjoys the efficient labors of Elder 
 Joseph A. Maybin, which have been greatly blessed, and 
 yield promise that the church may at no distant day be 
 revived. 
 
 In this roll of our churches must be added the Second 
 German Cliurclt. organized during the war; with its 
 pastor. Rev. F. 0. Koelle, and a membership of iifty-six, 
 it is now in full connection with the Presbytery of Isaw 
 Orleans. Its handsome and commodious house of wor- 
 ship is on lower Claiborne street. 
 
 The limits within which we are restrained will not 
 suffer any mention to be made of the efforts to establish 
 a religious newspaper, and also a Depository; except to 
 say, that after innumerable backsets, they have both 
 proved successful; the Synod of Mississippi being in 
 possession of a valuable property in its Depository build- 
 ing, and also of an able and influential paper, edited by 
 the Rev. Dr. Smith. 
 
 From this meager sketch, we may gather some im- 
 pression of the growth of Presbyterianism in this city. 
 In 1818, it started from nothing; in 1823, the church 
 re-organized with twenty-four members. Ten years later 
 it found itself thrown back npou this identical number, 
 and was forced to begin ancAV in the midst of feuds and 
 dissensions, and with its good name discredited before 
 the world. Our real progress dates from 1833, start- 
 ing with twenty-four; to-day, after the lapse of forty 
 years, we count nine organized churches, including the 
 
168 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 First German ; which, though it has bolted, and is now 
 under the jurisdiction of the Northern Assembly, is 
 nevertheless a part of this historical development aud a 
 fruit of missionary zeal put forth by ourselves. In ad- 
 dition, there are two or three hopeful Mission stations, 
 where the experience of the past justifies the expectation 
 that they will eventually crystallize into churches. Our 
 original number of twenty-three has increased nearly to 
 two thousand communicants; and with about two thou- 
 sand three hundred children in our various Sabbath 
 schools. "Though our beginning was small, yet our 
 latter end hath greatly increased." We may truly say 
 with the Patriarch Jacob, " with my staff I passed over 
 this Jordan, and now I am become two bands." Surely 
 on this Fiftieth Anniversary, we may exclaim, looking 
 back over the past, "What hath God wrought!" With 
 our present point of support, and the immense leverage 
 we have thereby gained, what may not be accomplished 
 during the fifty years which are to come! May God 
 give to us, and to those who shall succeed us, grace to 
 fulfill the precious and solemn trust; that when the 
 Century of Presbyterianism shall be observed here, " the 
 handful of corn," sown by our fathers " upon the top of 
 the mountain," may be seen in "its fruit to shake like 
 Lebanon" — and "they of the city to flourish like grass 
 of the earth!" 
 
 Eev. Wm. Flinn read the Hymn, 
 
 " Glorious tilings of thee are spoken, 
 Zion, City of our God," 
 
 and the congregation rose and sang. 
 
 REMIJ^ISCENCES. 
 
 The venerable Joseph A. Maybin, for forty-five years 
 a ruling elder, and the oldest surviving member of 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 169 
 
 tliis church, followed, with interesting personal remi- 
 niscences, beginning with Larned's iirrival in the city, 
 January 22, 1818. 
 
 The following is a synopsis. 
 
 At that time there was little of the city this side of 
 Canal street. There was then only one Protestant 
 church below Canal, and that was Episcopal, situated 
 on the corner of Bourbon and Canal streets. 
 
 Sylvester Larned, the first Presbyterian minister, ar- 
 rived in this city about the time that the present min- 
 ister of the First Presbyterian Church was born. The 
 Kev. Mr. Hull, the Episcopal minister, generously per- 
 mitted the use of his church to the Presbyterians from 
 one until four in the afternoon, at which hours Mr. 
 Larned would preach. His eloquence soon attracted 
 attention, and an effort was made to erect a Presbyte- 
 rian place of worship. Some were of the opinion that 
 Kew Orleans could not support two Protestant places 
 of worship — the city was too small for that — yet, not- 
 withstanding, the Presbyterians were successful in ob- 
 taining a place of worship on the site of the building 
 now occupied by Stauffer, Macready & Co., on -Canal 
 street. 
 
 Mr. Larned attended the Presbytery of Mississippi 
 the year before his death. AVhile there, the yellow fever 
 broke out in the city, and he was advised, by his trustees 
 and the physicians, not to return to New Orleans until 
 the danger had passed. To this he consented reluc- 
 tantly; and his sensitive spirit, being galled by the re- 
 proach that he had fled from the fever, the next year lie 
 stood at his post like the brave man that he was. His 
 sense of honor would not allow him to leave, and he 
 remained in New Orleans to die. From the little one- 
 story building on Camp street, nearly opposite the i\\>- 
 })er corner of Lalayette square, within a square of this 
 
170 SEm-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 church, all that remained of Sylvester Larned was con- 
 veyed to the Girod street cemetery. 
 
 He was a man of strong social feelings, peculiarly 
 adapted to 2:>lease the Southern people. He had a heart 
 "broad as the heavens and deep as the ocean." His 
 brow was open, his eye gentle, features intellectual; 
 in person reminding you of the Apollo Belvidere; of a 
 sweet and affectionate disposition, and a " silver-tongued 
 voice " that rolled music, and captivated all his hearers. 
 Said a distinguished judge once of him, "I cannot go to 
 hear that young man because he makes me shed tears." 
 
 Mr. Clapp was a great conversationalist. His style 
 of delivery was impressive and eloquent. His mind 
 was neither analytical nor logical, still less, profound. 
 He impressed his audience and had many warm per- 
 sonal friends, whom he retained even after he left this 
 city, and Avho generously contributed to his support until 
 his death at Louisville in 1866. 
 
 The Eev. Mr. Parker, who followed Mr. Clapp, 
 walked from his home in Vermont to Union College at 
 Schenectady, New York. He represented to the pro- 
 fessors that his father was a poor farmer and a revolu- 
 tionary soldier, that he could not afford to furnish the 
 money required for his education, but that if they 
 would give him work, he would try and repay them for 
 the trouble and expense of his graduation. The pro- 
 fessors were pleased with his determination, and Parker 
 studied for the ministry. He was a man of great de- 
 cision of character, vigorous and logical, plaiii in person, 
 not prepossessing in feature, and not calculated to ob- 
 tain and keep personal friends. Yet he was a man 
 spoken of as having the highest order of talent as a 
 minister of the Gospel. 
 
 In the summer of 1831 he was sent North to 
 solicit subscriptions in the larger cities, for the 
 
PEESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 171 
 
 purpose of obtaining, if possible, a sum sufficient to 
 finish the church tiien building. While on the tour it 
 was represented that he had stated "that there were 
 forty thousand Catholics in the city of New Orleans 
 who were atheists, and that the Protestants were no 
 better." This statement was published in the news- 
 papers and copied into the Neio Orleans Bulletin, 
 creating great excitement and indignation. Mr. Parker 
 replied to the charges made in one of the newspapers 
 North, denying that he had made any such statement. 
 The Ma3'or of this city advised that "that i^riest" be 
 sent away, and — if Mr. Maybin was not mistaken — a 
 proclamation was issued commanding the peace. When 
 it was known that he was returning to this city word 
 was sent to the Balize that he be landed before the ar- 
 rival of the packet in New Orleans, and Mr. Parker was 
 accordingly put off at the English turn. The next day 
 he arrived in New Orleans, and appeared upon the 
 streets to vindicate his innocence. A meeting was called 
 the next day at the City Hotel, at which Mr. Parker 
 was requested to explain. He made a clear statement, 
 but the people were not satisfied. Eesolutions were drawn 
 up and passed, that he leave the city, that the elders of 
 the church dismiss him, etc. A meeting of the members 
 of the church was immediately called. Fifty attended. 
 They one and all supported Mr. Parker as being in the 
 right. They all believed his representation made at 
 the City Hotel, and declared they had a right to have 
 for a pastor whom they pleased, and they intended to 
 maintain that right; and they did, and Mr. Parker was 
 retained. That was a trying hour in the history of the 
 Protestant Church in this city, but the storm was 
 weathered. If Mr. Parker was abandoned, what secu- 
 rity had other pastors that they would be retained. 
 They were weak, feeble, discouraged, but they stood 
 
172 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 their ground and conquered. Like the weak little band 
 of Apostles on the sea of G-alilee when they called upon 
 the Saviour to stay the storm, while the waves ran 
 mountain high and threatened to dash their little bark 
 to pieces, the storm was hushed by the Master. He 
 said to the waves "be still," and they went down. He 
 bade the winds to cease, and they slept as gently as a 
 babe upon the bosom of its mother. 
 
 Eev. Dr. John Breckinridge, descended from the 
 pioneer stock of Kentucky heroes, was the next pastor. 
 A courteous aud polished gentleman, with a sweet voice 
 and allow of native eloquence, but a feeble frame ; his 
 brief pastorate was soon closed by death. His successor 
 was Rev. W. A. Scott, who at the age of eighteen, en- 
 tered the army as Chaplain, by appointment from Presi- 
 dent Jackson, and was thus enabled to save sufiicient 
 money to finish his theological education at Princeton. 
 
 Mr. Scott was called to this position from the 
 pastoral charge of the church at Tuscaloosa, Ala., 
 his Presbytery, as in the case of the present pastor, 
 having at first refused to place the call in his hands. 
 Dr. Scott was an attractive and eloquent preacher, 
 distinguished for his ability to set forth the truth by 
 illustrations drawn •from all sources, whether from na- 
 ture or the customs and institutions of men. 
 
 In referring to those who rendered most effective 
 co-operation in building up Presbyterianism in New 
 Orleans he paid a passing tribute to the late Nathan 
 Goodale, elder of the Lafayette Church — "whose every 
 vein was filled with philanthropy." All honor to the 
 little band of twenty-four, who comprised the original 
 church organization — would you see their monument — 
 look around upon this congregation ! " Are they not 
 at this moment, while singing their songs of everlast- 
 ing praise — looking down on this scene from Heaven ? " 
 
PRESBYTEIILINISM IN NEW OKLEANS. 173 
 
 You see before you the lust elder of that baud — 
 staudiug as au isthmus betweeu the preseut aud the 
 past, the last conuectiug liuk. It is to me a crushiug 
 thought. 
 
 Ou this occasion, and it may be my last opportunity, 
 I desire to return my humble and heartfelt thanks 
 to the pastor, elders, and members of this church for 
 all the kindness I have ever received at their hands. 
 
 And now I want to declare that it is my wish to 
 die in the service of this honored church ; and that 
 my children and children's children may die in the 
 same faith. I stand here — a brand snatched from the 
 burning. And when I die let it be inscribed on my 
 coffin over my heart, "It is a faithful saying and 
 worthy of all acceptation, that Jesus Christ came into 
 the world to save sinners, of whom I — I — I — am chief! '* 
 
 The congregation then sang, 
 
 " I love tliy Kingdom, Lord." 
 Dr. Smith then read the following historical paper : 
 
 CTHE ORIGII^ AN'D GROWTH OF PRESBYTERIA:NISM IN" 
 THE SOUTHWEST. 
 
 The history of our Church in New Orleans, belongs 
 to the history of the Church in the Southwest. We shall 
 better appreciate the significance of the chapter which 
 concludes our work, if we glance at the more general 
 movement of which it forms such an important part. 
 To do this, we must go back into the past more than 
 a quarter of a century before our work in the city was 
 organized ; even to the times when the tide of our 
 immigration was first turned in this direction. 
 
 The settlement of the Southwest was much encour- 
 aged by the policy of the British GoverDment. At the 
 close of the French war of 17G3, she obtained the 
 
174 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OP 
 
 Natchez country and East and West Florida. "West 
 Florida was attached to the Natchez country, and set- 
 tlers were attracted by liberal grants of land. 
 
 One result — unfortunately — of our war of the Eevo- 
 lution was, that this country was ceded back to Spain. 
 The Natchez country thus became a Spanish Province, 
 and continued to be for twenty years. By the Spanish 
 authorities Protestant worship was decreed to be a 
 criminal offense. Intolerant laws were enacted and re- 
 morselessly enforced. Three quarters of a century ago 
 Presbyterians at Natchez could not worship God with- 
 out a sentinel at the door to warn them of danger. 
 Persons detected in this crime were arrested, thrown 
 into a filthy prison until they gave bonds not to repeat 
 the offense, and were threatened if detected in repeating 
 this offense to be sent to the mines of Mexico. Many 
 were imprisoned. Among those imprisoned for holding 
 prayer-meetings was John Bolls, a ruling elder of the 
 Presbyterian Church, from North Carolina, who had 
 served in the Eevolutionary war. 
 
 John Bolls was not destined to slavery in the mines 
 of Mexico, for this distressing state of things at 
 length came to an end. On the night of March 29, 
 1798j the Spanish commandant evacuated the post. 
 Next morning the American flag floated from the walls 
 of Fort St. Rosalie, and religious liberty found shelter 
 beneath its folds. 
 
 It would be hard to enumerate the various routes by 
 which you may gain access to the Southwest now, but 
 in the year A. D. 1800, the best known land route was 
 a bridle path. The Natchez trace was an Indian trail 
 from Nashville, which could be traveled only on horse- 
 back or on foot. It passed through tangled forests and 
 swamps, through warlike Indian tribes, and was infested 
 by bands of lawless desperadoes, more dreaded than the 
 
PRESBYTEMANISM IN NEW ORUEANS. 175 
 
 Indians tliemselves. Along this friendless path came 
 Hall, Montgomery, and Bowman, missionaries sent from 
 the Synod of the Carolinas. Amidst the perils of this 
 adventurous journey they found, at Pontotoc, Joseph 
 Biillen, missionary to the Indians, sent there by the 
 Xew York Missionary Society in 1797, and after meet- 
 ing this sympathizing laborer they entered again on 
 their perilous journey, evaded death and outstripped 
 starvation, and, liually, reached Natchez, the field of 
 their future labors. These were the pioneers of our 
 Church in the Southwest. 
 
 At that time there were about seven thousand Ameri- 
 cans in the province. From many of these the mission- 
 aries met a cordial reception. With Natchez as their 
 headquarters, they entered on their work, and visited 
 the settlements, and established preaching places ; 
 gathering up the scattered Presbyterians and forming 
 them into communities, soon to grow up into organized 
 churches. In a year or two they returned home. But 
 Joseph Bullen, the Indian missionary, took up the work 
 they had begun. Coming southward in 1803, he preached 
 with great acceptability to these congregations. And in 
 A. D. 1804, it was his privilege to organize the first Pres- 
 byterian church established in the Southwest. It was 
 well named Bethel. It has survived, too, the many 
 changes that have intervened, and is existing still. 
 
 For years afterwards, the Synod of the Carolinas con- 
 tinued to send missionaries to this field, and other 
 churches were organized from time to time. At length 
 the need of Presbyterial jurisdiction came to be felt. 
 At that time the general jurisdiction of this region was 
 vested in the Synod of Kentucky. Ten years after the 
 first church was organized, the Synod of Kentucky was 
 overtured to establish the Presbylery of Mississippiy 
 which? was done a. d. 1815. And the name of John 
 
176 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 Bolls stands first on the list of its ruling elders, as the 
 representative of the first church organized in the South- 
 west. 
 
 In the year 1818, the honored name of Sylvester 
 Larned was added to the list of its members. And in 
 1823 the Presbyterian Church in New Orleans was 
 placed upon its roll, and two important streams of in- 
 fluence coalesced, to form thereafter but one current of 
 moral energy. 
 
 The Presbytery of Mississippi, when organized, formed 
 part of the Synod of Kentucky. The movement of 
 population, and the expansion of our church, involved 
 certain changes in its subsequent relations. In 1817, 
 it was associated with the Synod of Tennessee. In 
 1826, we find it placed upon the roll of the Synod of 
 West Tennessee. But in 18,29, in connection with other 
 Presbyteries, which appear to have been set off from its 
 territory, it was erected into a Synod, called the Synod 
 of Mississippi and South Alabama. In 1835, three 
 Presbyteries were set off from this growing Synod to 
 form the Synod of Alabama, and from that time it is 
 known as the Synod of Mississipjn. God so prospered 
 this Synod, that in 1817 it became necessary to divide 
 it again, an(i four more Presbyteries were set off to form 
 the Synod of Mejnphis. And in 1851, three more of its 
 Presbyteries were erected into the Synod of Texas. And 
 in 1852, out of the territory ceded to the Synod of 
 Memphis, there was formed still another Synod, the 
 Synod of Arkansas. 
 
 In the light of this interesting record, the unity of 
 sentiment and harmony of purpose which have hitherto 
 prevailed among us in the Southwest, cannot seem sur- 
 prising. Our membership is largely drawn by descent 
 from the Presbyterian stock of the best of the older com- 
 munities ; bound together by strong ecclesiastic^ fam- 
 
PRESBYTEKIANISM IN NEW OrvLE.\.NS. 177 
 
 i]y-iies; linked together in common interests, and labor- 
 ing shoulder to shoulder in a common cause ; we con- 
 stitute, to a large extent, a homogeneous Presbyterianism, 
 whose moral influence, if combined and wisely directed, 
 must prove a permanent benefit to the world. 
 
 The piety of those formative times was bold and ag- 
 gressive. For many years, while the country as yet was 
 new, camp-meetings were annually held at some central 
 point, easy of access to a wide region of country. To 
 these points people from long distances Avould come, to 
 spend a week or two in waiting on God, and seeking 
 his face. Immense assemblies would congregate in 
 these cathedrals of the wilderness, and great religious 
 revivals were often the result. The utmost decorum 
 prevailed on such occasions, and unbounded hospitality 
 made all comers welcome. It was not unusual for the 
 Presbyteries to convene at these meetings. And on one 
 occasion, as we told, a meeting of the Synod was held. 
 
 The style of doing the work of the Gospel was adapted 
 to the needs of the times. And the work was blessed. 
 These meetings were not discontinued until facilities 
 for public worship became more abundant, when the 
 necessity for them had accordingly passed away. 
 
 The spirit of the Synod, also, was a missfonary spirit. 
 With such men as Montgomery, Smylie, Kingsbury, 
 Alfred Wright, Moore, and Chase, men of apostolic zeal, 
 amongst its members, it could not be otherwise. Such 
 men prosecuted their missionary work under its juris- 
 diction. After the manner of the Synod of the Caro- 
 linas, it sent out its evangelists into the broad domain 
 of Texas, as soon as the Republic was established. And 
 we find it overturing the Assembly to consider the ques- 
 tion of sending missionaries to Mexico and Oregon. lb 
 never shrunk from the call to press the evangelistic 
 work in any direction. So that, in the course of time. 
 
178 SEMI-CENTENNIAL OF 
 
 there has passed under its jurisdiction a territory which 
 stretches from Georgia to the Rio Grande, and which 
 reaches northward far enough to include the State of 
 Arkansas, and the Indian nation. 
 
 Texas will have a religious history of its own, and it 
 will be characteristic, as it ought to be. It will be 
 found that it was born in battle — the offspring of that 
 struggle for constitutional liberty which planted Travis, 
 Bonham, and Crockett, with their little band of heroes, 
 in the path of the ferocious army of Santa Anna. The 
 massacre of the Alamo, in 1836, was undoubtedly the 
 Thermopylae of civil and religious liberty for the far 
 Southwest. 
 
 That form of Christianity will best succeed among 
 its diversified and scattered communities which most 
 clearly enunciates the simple principles of the Gospel, 
 and best illustrates the power of vital godliness. In 
 these respects, it seems to us, our Church in that State 
 has a great work before it. So we find one little band 
 borrowing the use of a blacksmith's shop to inaugurate 
 public worship, then and there laying the foundations 
 of an important and influential church. Elsewhere we 
 see some Scotch-Irish elder assembling his neighbors 
 in his house 'for prayer- meetings, and laying the founda- 
 tions of another church. And again, we find the un- 
 converted son of pious parents appalled by the sur- 
 rounding destitutions, feeling that the responsibility 
 for the continuance of this spiritual ignorance rests on 
 his own conscience, essaying to meet it by establishing 
 Sabbath-schools and Bible-classes ; and carrying them 
 on, to the best of his ability, until such time as it may 
 please God to relieve him from the duty, which God so 
 mysteriously laid upon him. In so far as our people 
 courageously accept these allotments of Providence, 
 they represent a form of Christianity full of vital force 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 179 
 
 and growth, and set forth, by pure principles and a con- 
 sistent, earnest activity, that blessed Gospel which in 
 all possible emergencies is the one thing needful for 
 man. No one can tell how much, and in how many 
 instances, the Gospel has been, and still is, proclaimed 
 in our sister State through such unpretending but 
 noble instruments. The coming years will rejoice in 
 the harvest, but the names of those who planted for it, 
 it must be left for eternity to disclose. 
 
 It becomes us, also, to refer with gratitude to the re- 
 sults of our work, as a Church, among the Indian tribes 
 of the Southwest. It ig a much greater work than is 
 generally known. There is far more piety and Chris- 
 tian character, and a far greater knowledge and appre- 
 ciation of Christian truth, among the tribes brought 
 into contact with the institutions of Christianity than 
 is believed by the uninformed. In the bounds of the 
 Creek nation, the Baptists report twenty-four ordained 
 Indian preachers, some of whom are well known Creek 
 and Seminole chiefs. The Methodist Church South 
 can claim a similar record. From the times of Joseph 
 Bullen, the Indian missionary and founder of the First 
 Presbyterian Church in the Southwest, until to-day, our 
 church has evinced a deep and constant interest in the 
 welfare of those tribes. Perhaps the most important 
 mission work among them is conducted by the South- 
 ern Presbyterian Church. And what is the result of 
 these various labors ? It is this. They have printing- 
 presses, newspapers, and books; they have preachers of 
 their own race — men of culture, piety, and moral power; 
 and, in proportion to their population, the people of the 
 Indian nation have more schools, more churclies, attend 
 more largely religious Avorship, and contribute more 
 money for religious purposes than the people of any 
 Territory in the United States. 
 
180 SEMI-CENTEKNIAL OF 
 
 It is a strange mistake to suppose that the nature of 
 the Indian cannot be brought under the power of the 
 principles of the Gospel. At a Bible Anniversary in one 
 of our AVestern cities not .long since, one of those Indian 
 chiefs stepped forward, and with intense feeling, said, 
 "When I come from among my people and visit the 
 cities, I hear white men debating, whether it is of any 
 use to send the Gospel to the heathen? Some seem to 
 think that it is of no use ; that the Gospel cannot con- 
 vert the heathen. It is of use to send the Gospel to 
 the heathen. I and my people were heathen ; we be- 
 lieved in all its silly and degrading superstitions ; we 
 worshiped we knew not what ; we knew of no future 
 for the soul ; we were without God .and without hope. 
 But now the true light shines among us. We know and 
 love God, and we live in hope of a happy home beyond 
 the grave. This is what the Gospel has done for us. 
 Let no man doubt that the Gospel has power to convert 
 the heathen ! I was a heathen, and it converted me." 
 
 Who shall gainsay such testimony to the work which 
 it has pleased God to accomplish, by those who have 
 preceded us in this field ? 
 
 Our Church in the Southwest may not boast of having 
 achieved all that it aimed to achieve. Perhaps a sense 
 of comparative failure and shortcoming has attended 
 its most successful enterprises. Nevertheless, there is 
 much to gratify a Christian heart in the contrast be- 
 tween its present efficiency and its humble origin. 
 There is no great interval between the extensive relig- 
 ious liberty and influence which Ave enjoy to-day, and 
 that Spanish prison at Natchez — and the connection is 
 not hard to trace. It is onlj another illustration of 
 God's fidelity in rewarding the devotedness of his ser- 
 vants. John Bolls' prayer-meeting led him to a Spanish 
 prison seventy- five years ago; and slavery in the mines 
 
PRESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 181 
 
 of Mexico seemed to be the inevitable result of them. 
 But where duty to God is concerned, the apparent result 
 is often vastly different from the actual result. Could 
 he have looked through the bars of his prison on tlie 
 Held of religious activity, of which that prison was de- 
 stined to be the center — could his eye have pierced the 
 veil of three-quarters of a century, he would have seen 
 this wide territory covered with a goodly family of five 
 Synods, twenty Presbyteries, and nearly six hundred 
 churches ; together with all the multiform kinds of 
 moral, benevolent, and religious enterprises which they 
 represent or sustain. 
 
 The history of the world does not often produce, in 
 such a limited period, and from such a desj^ised begin- 
 ning, a more glorious result. 
 
 Yet this was not merely the work of one man, nor is 
 it the mere development of any one line or form of effort. 
 Many a worker wrought in that field — each in his own 
 sphere, at his own work, in his own way — known or un- 
 known, scattered or united, organized or unorganized 
 — but each and all for the Lord. And by the myste- 
 rious control of an Almighty hand, all things, whether 
 good or evil, or the work of friend or foe, were ruled 
 and overruled, and made to combine and co-operate to 
 accomplish his gracious purpose. 
 
 The future may have great things in store for us, but- 
 it can teach us no better than the past has taught us, 
 that great lesson, that fidelity to God is not lost — 
 neither is it to be held as of little moment, though it be 
 obscure and seemingly uninfluential. However trivial 
 it may seem, each particular and individual movement 
 must live till it obeys the laAvs of a divine attraction, and 
 combines with a greater, which shall lead it on till it 
 co-operate even with the greatest. 
 
 We may be as insignificant as the raindrop on the 
 
182 PEESBYTERIANISM IN NEW ORLEANS. 
 
 mountain side ; yet that drop must not perish till it 
 blends with others, and compels the rivulet to spring 
 into being. And the rivulets can find no rest, until they 
 make to bound forth into life the growing river, wealth- 
 bearing and life-producing. Nor can the rivers return or 
 cease, till they have mingled their mighty burdens on 
 the bosom of the deep. And so the act of fidelity and 
 the prayer of faith ; the godly life and the preached 
 word; prayer-meetings aud Sunday-schools will join 
 and conjoin, and operate and co-operate, increase and 
 multiply, overleap all restraints, and in their ebb and 
 flow bear down and continue to bear down all opposing 
 forces. -Out of tlie feeble will come the strong, and from 
 the bosom of patience shall leap forth might ; till the 
 grace of God shall sweep over society like the tides 
 of the ocean in their strength ; till the knowledge of 
 God shall fill and cover the earth ; till the time shall 
 come, when rejoicing angels shall declare," It isfinished,'' 
 "The kingdoms of this world have become the empire 
 of our God." 
 
 Dr. T. R. Markham, and Rev. R. Q. Mallard delivered 
 addresses admirably illustrating the aggressive move- 
 ment of the Church, through the two arms of her ser- 
 vice, the pastorship, and the pulpit; the one urging 
 home the Gospel to the heart of the individual, in per- 
 sonal intercourse; the other, in the stated systematic 
 presentation of truth to the masses. 
 
 The audience then rose and sung 
 
 "All hail tlie power of Jesus' name." 
 
 The benediction was then pronounced by Rev. W. 
 Flinn. 
 
TEXAS. 
 
 If you look at the map, you will see that the Gulf of 
 Mexico is somewhat in the shape of a horse-shoe. Its 
 opening is defended and adorned by the island of Cuba. 
 Commencing at Cape Florida, we find that its capes and 
 harbors are very numerous, and are sufficient for the 
 vast commerce of this great inland sea, and the rich 
 territories that border it. They are Tampa, Apalachee, 
 Mobile, New Orleans, Atchafalaya, Calcasieu, Sabine, 
 Galveston, Brazos River, Matagorda, Corpus Christi, 
 Brazos Santiago, Tehuantepec, Campeachy, and Sisal. 
 
 At the toe of this great slioe lies the State of Texas, 
 reaching for a distance of four hundred miles along the 
 coast, and embracing in its entire boundaries two hun- 
 dred and thirty-seven thousand square miles, or about 
 one hundred and fifty millions of acres. It is four times 
 as large as Virginia. The country along the coast is a 
 level prairie ; but as you pass to the interior, the surface 
 gradually rises and becomes more uneven; and still 
 further inland, it becomes hilly and mountainous. 
 After crossing an extensive belt of timber, and reaching 
 more than a hundred miles from the coast, you find the 
 nigh rolling prairies, composed of the richest soil in the 
 world, covered with musquit-grass, and having along 
 the streams and valleys sufficient timber for all needful 
 purposes. 
 
 Texas is what is called" an alluvial country, and bears 
 strong evidence of having been once under water. Very 
 
184 TEXAS. 
 
 little rock is found, except in the northern part. It 
 possesses every variety of climate and surface, and there 
 is nothing which can contribute to the comfort and 
 wants of man which will not grow here. Oranges and 
 sugar-cane flourish in the south ; cotton in the middle 
 regions ; wheat in the north ; and potatoes, corn and 
 vegetables flourish everywhere; while countless numbers 
 of cattle, horses, sheep, and hogs can be reared in any 
 part of the State. In fact, there is no country on the 
 continent better suited to become the abode of millions 
 of contented and happy people. It is a world in itself, 
 where nature teems with all kind of riches, and holds 
 out all kind of attractions to people of other States to 
 come and find homes for themselves and their children. 
 Our only wonder is, that so boundless a country has 
 remained so long without being filled up with civilized 
 peoj^le. 
 
 IJ^DIANS IN" TEXAS. 
 
 The Indians, from their mode of living, and the con- 
 tinual wars among their different tribes, were but thinly 
 scattered over the immense country lying between the 
 Eio Grande and Eed River. The Lipans and the Caran- 
 kaws lived along the lower Eio Grande and the Colorado 
 and Brazos. They subsisted mainly upon fish. The 
 next tribe, going east, was the Cenis, inhabiting Buffalo 
 Bayou, the San Jacinto Valley, and the Trinity Eiver. 
 On the banks of the Trinity their villages were large 
 and numerous. Their habitations were like bee-hives, 
 and some of them were forty feet high. As they de- 
 voted much time to raising corn, they were compara- 
 tively wealthy. They traded with the Spaniards of New 
 Mexico, from whom they procured horses, money, spurs, 
 and clothing. The next tribe east were the Nassoriis, 
 living between tlie Cenis and the Sabine Eiver. These 
 
TEXAS. 185 
 
 four tribes, two ceuturics.ago, formed the original iiiluib- 
 itants of Texas. The hmding of the colony of La Salle 
 Avas to them a new and wonderful event. The sight of 
 ships and the sound of fire-arms were to them subjects 
 of awe and astonishment. Living in the simplicity of 
 nature, they were free from most of the diseases and 
 vices of European nations. They were worshipers of 
 tlie sun, and full of the superstitions common to other 
 North American Indians. They had their rain-makers, 
 their game-finders, and their witches. Living in a mild 
 climate, and among prairies covered with buff;ilo and 
 game of all kinds, and near streams and bays abounding 
 in fish, they obtained their living with but little effort. 
 They were contented and as free as people ever can be- 
 come who know nothing of the usages of civilized life. 
 Early and vigorous efforts were made by Catholic 
 missionaries to convert them to Christianity. Estab- 
 lishments were formed called presidios or missions. 
 Buildings were erected round a square, and consisted 
 of a church, storehouses, dwellings for priests, officers, 
 and soldiers. Huts were erected at a short distance for 
 the converted Indians. The ruins of many of these old 
 presidios remain to this day. But the Indians are now 
 all gone, and none are found except on the northern 
 and western frontiers of the State. One race has dis- 
 appeared, and a new one is fast filling its place. The 
 weak have yielded to the strong — the savage to the 
 civilized ; and before many years roll round, the only 
 record of once powerful Indian tribes will be the beau- 
 tiful names which still cling to some of our rivers and 
 our mountains. 
 
 THE ERENCH li^ TEXAS. 
 
 The first Europeans who visited Texas were led here 
 by La Salle, who landed near the entrance of Mata- 
 
186 TEXAS. 
 
 gorda Bay, on February 18, 1685. La Salle was a brave 
 and gallant knight under Louis XIV., King of France. 
 Born of a good family, and intended for the priesthood 
 in the Catholic Church, he had received a finished edu- 
 cation. He was a man of great talents, of an enter- 
 prising spirit, and possessed firmness of mind which 
 danger and adversity seemed only to strengthen. He 
 kept his own secrets, relied upon his own genius, and 
 bore without a murmur whatever ills befell him. 
 
 A squadron of four vessels was provided and fur- 
 nished by the king, and the whole number of persons 
 embarked in the enterprise, was three hundred. The 
 squadron first touched land near Sabine Bay, but mak- 
 ing no discoveries, and being unable to get any in- 
 formation from the Indians, they proceeded westward, 
 and sailing through Pass Cavallo, entered the Bay of 
 St. Bernard, since known by its present name. One of 
 the vessels was wrecked in attempting to land. The 
 others landed in safety, and a camp was formed on 
 the west side near the entrance of the Bay. The little 
 colony was greatly refreshed by an abundance of game 
 and fish. They were charmed with the country. The 
 herds of buffalo and deer that were seen grazing on the 
 prairies, the innumerable wild flowers that covered the 
 earth, and the birds that warbled in the trees, led 
 them to believe that they had found an earthly para- 
 dise. 
 
 But these bright prospects were soon clouded. 
 Troubles arose with the Indians. Their chief supply 
 of provisions was lost. Sickness began to thin their 
 numbers. Disagreements arose between La Salle and 
 the leading men of the colony. A captain of one of 
 the vessels set sail for France, carrying away most of 
 the ammunition. Finally, the settlement was aban- 
 doned, and a new location was selected on the Lavaca 
 
TEXAS. 187 
 
 River, and a fort was there erected, and named St. Louis, 
 in honor of the king. 
 
 La Salle, the leading spirit of this infant colony, 
 being of an ad venturous disposition, and being intensely 
 desirous of ascertaining the exact mouth of the great 
 Mississippi River, started on the business of exploring 
 the vast regions between Texas and Illinois; aiid after 
 enduring incredible hardships, and meeting with many 
 wild and romantic adventures, was finally murdered by 
 one of his own men. The Indians, on hearing of La 
 Salle's death, attacked Fort St. Louis, and killed or 
 scattered all the colonists. This was the end of the 
 first European colony in Texas. 
 
 THE FIRST WHITE MAN" LOST IN TEXAS. 
 
 In 1720, a colony of Europeans entered the Gulf of 
 Mexico, with the view of settling in Louisiana. Among 
 them was M. de Belisle, a gentleman of distinction. 
 The wind and current carried the vessel on which he 
 was sailing into Matagorda Bay. A boat was sent 
 ashore for water, and Belisle, with four others, went in 
 it. As the boat had to make several trips to and from 
 the ship during the day, these men concluded to remain 
 on shore and go out hunting. But, overstaying their 
 time, the boat made the last trip, and the captain, be- 
 coming impatient, weighed anchor and sailed from the 
 Bay. Being thus left alone in an unknoAvn country, 
 the hunters traveled westward along the coast for 
 several days, living upon herbs and insects. Belisle had 
 brought a young dog with him from the vessel. This 
 he gave up to one of the men to be killed for food. 
 The man was so weak with hunger that he was un- 
 able to kill him, and the dog escaped and disappeared. 
 The four companions of Belisle died of starvation and 
 despair before his eyes; and for some days after, he 
 
188 TEXAS. 
 
 continued to live on worms and insects, until at last 
 the dog returned with an opossum which he had killed. 
 Shortly after this, the dog was wounded by a wild 
 beast, and he was compelled to kill him. Being thus 
 left aloue, he turned from the west, and bent his 
 course to the interior, in sea.di of men. He found 
 footsteps, and followed them to a river, on the opposite 
 side of which he saw some Indians engaged in drying 
 meat. They soon discovered him, caught him, stripped 
 him, and divided his clothes among them. They then 
 took him to their village, and gaye him to an old 
 squaw, w^ho treated him so kindly, that he soon re- 
 covered his strength. He learned their language, be- 
 came a warrior, and rose to distinction among them. 
 
 After some time, a party of strange Indians visited 
 the tribe where he was a captive, and, seeing him, re- 
 marked that they had also in their nation some men 
 of the same color. This remark excited Bel isle's feel- 
 ings, and he determined to profit by it. He then made 
 some ink of soot, and wrote on a piece of paper which 
 he had secretly saved, an account of his condition. One 
 of the strange Indians secretly agreed to carry it to the 
 white people at Katchitoches. He performed his prom- 
 ise, delivered the paper to Captain St. Denis, com- 
 mandant of that post, who wept on learning the fate of 
 his white brother. As St. Denis was a great friend of 
 the Indians, and a favorite with them, ten of their 
 number volunteered to go after Belisle, and return in 
 two moons. They were furnished with horses, and a 
 horse, arms, and clothing for the prisoner. They 
 reached the village, and fired off their guns, which 
 overawed the Indians. Then delivering a letter from 
 St. Denis to Belisle, they helped him to mount his 
 horse' and the whole party galloped away, and reached 
 Natchitoches in safety. From there Belisle found his 
 
TEXAS. 189 
 
 way to the infant city of New Orleans, and became 
 Major General of the Marine of Louisiana. 
 
 THE SPANIARDS IN TEXAS. 
 
 Early in 1G8G, the Spaniards, who at this time held 
 possession of Mexico, hearing of the effort of the French, 
 under La Salle, to make settlements in Texas, deter- 
 mined on driving them out of the country. An expe- 
 dition of one hundred men left the Spanish settlement 
 of Monclava in the spring of 1G89. But on arriving at 
 Fort St. Louis, on the Lavaca, they found it abandoned. 
 Going into the country, they found two of the French 
 colonists among the Cenis Lidians, whom they took 
 prisoners, and sent to Mexico, and there condemned to 
 work in the mines. Keturning to Fort St. Louis, they 
 there established the Mission of San Francisco; and 
 collecting some priests and friars, commenced their 
 efforts to convert the Lidians. The king of Spain now 
 determined to recover the possession of all Texas and 
 Coahuila. A governor of the country was accordingly 
 appointed ; soldiers and priests were sent out to different 
 points, to establish military posts and missions. They 
 took with them cattle, and seeds for planting. They 
 formed settlements on tlie Red River, the Neches, and 
 the Guadalupe. But in a short time, all these infant 
 colonies, and also that of Fort St. Louis, began to de- 
 cline. The Indians were hostile, the crops failed, and 
 the cattle died. So that in 1693, they were all aban- 
 doned, and Texas was once more without any European 
 settlers. 
 
 Not much was done by the Spaniards after this to 
 settle Texas, until the year 1715. From tliis year may 
 be dated its permanent occupation by Spain. They now 
 commenced in good earnest to found colonies, to estab- 
 lish missions, and by arms, agriculture and arts, to ex- 
 
190 TEXAS. 
 
 tend and establish their influence and laws over the 
 whole country. But notwithstanding all their efforts 
 and sacrifices, the Government was not prosperous; and 
 in the year 1745, the entire Spanish population in Texas 
 did not exceed fifteen hundred, with perhaps an equal 
 number of converted Indians. In 1758, a sad scene 
 occurred at San Saba. The Indians, in large numbers, 
 assaulted the mission, and murdered priests, soldiers, 
 and Indian converts, leaving not one alive to tell the 
 tale. This fearful butchery caused the Spanish missions 
 in Texas everywhere to decline. They never recovered 
 from the blow. 
 
 During the American Revolution, the Spanish pos- 
 sessions of Mexico and Texas remained in quiet. Texas 
 was safe from danger. Her harbors were almost un- 
 known ; her property offered no temptation to pillage, 
 and her scattered population could aflbrd no recruits. 
 The Spanish settlement at Xatchez, however, had opened 
 up a trade with Texas through Nacogdoches. This road 
 had become familiar to many besides the Spaniards. 
 Traders, on their return, would make known to the 
 Americans in and around Natchez, the advantages of 
 trade in Texas, the surpassing beauty and richness of 
 the country, the abundance of the game, and a thousand 
 other attractions to adventurers. Thus the tide of travel 
 and of trade began to set in the direction of this new 
 country about the beginning of the present century. 
 The town of Nacogdoches soon became a place' of much 
 importance. Many persons of wealth and education 
 emigrated from Louisiana to that place. The old mis- 
 sionary station became a town. An arsenal, barrat3ks, 
 and other substantial buildings soon made their appear- 
 ance — some of which are still standing. 
 
 Although the Spaniards held the country for upwards 
 of one hundred and fifty years, yet little now exists in 
 
TEXAS. 191 
 
 Texas to remind us of their rule here, excepting the 
 names which they gave to the principal towns and 
 rivers. Most of these names are still retained. 
 
 AMERICANS IN TEXAS. 
 
 A trader, called Philip Nolan, engaged in traffic be- 
 tween Natchez (Mississippi) and San Antonio, about 
 the year 1785. In October, 1800, he started on one of 
 his expeditions into Texiis, with a company of about 
 twenty men. Among them was Ellis P. Bean, a young 
 man of seventeen years of age, whose romantic charac- 
 ter and strange adventures entitle him to a more ex- 
 tended notice. Nolan and his company, in order to 
 avoid attracting public attention, took a new route, after 
 crossing the Mississippi at Natchez. Occasionally they 
 halted to kill game and refresh themselves. Before 
 reaching Red River, three of them strayed off, got lost, 
 but afterwards found their way back to Natchez. Nolan 
 and his remaining men passed around the head of Lake 
 Bistineau, and crossing Red River, came to a Caddo 
 village, where they obtained some fine horses. In ten 
 days they crossed the Trinity, and immediately entered 
 upon an immense rolling prairie, through which they 
 advanced, till they came to a spring, which they named 
 the Painted SpriJig. At the head of this spring stood 
 a rock, painted by the Indians, to commemorate a treaty 
 which had once been made there. 
 
 In the vast prairie around them they could find no 
 fuel with which to cook their food. The buffalo, once 
 so numerous here, had all disappeared, and they were 
 compelled to live for nine days on the flesh of mustang 
 horses. By this time they reached the Brazos, where 
 they found plenty of deer, elk, and "wild horses by 
 thousands." Here they built an enclosure, and caught 
 and penned three hundred head of mustangs. At this 
 
192 TEXAS. 
 
 place, they were visited by two hundred Camanche In- 
 dians, with whom they went on a visit to the great chief 
 Necoroco, on the south bank of Eed Eiver, where they 
 remained a month, making many friends, and gaining 
 much information. They returned at length to their 
 old camp, accompanied by an escort of the natives, who 
 managed to steal eleven of their best American horses. 
 
 The company at this time consisted of Captain Nolan, 
 five Spaniards, eleven Americans, and one negro. As 
 they could do nothing without their horses, some six of 
 the company volunteered to go after them. They went 
 on foot, and after a march of nine days found four of 
 the horses, under the care of a few Indians. The other 
 horses, the Indians said, had been taken on a buffalo- 
 hunt by the balance of their party, and would return in 
 the evening. They further stated that the one who 
 stole the horses was a one-eyed Indian chief. In the 
 evening, the Indians came in, bringing the horses and 
 abundance of meat. The whites tied the one-eyed chief, 
 and guarded him till morning; they then took such 
 provisions as they wanted for their journey, let the In- 
 dians go, and returned to their camp in four days. 
 
 While in camp, resting themselves, a troop of one 
 hundred and fifty Spaniards came suddenly upon them. 
 The trampling of the horses aroused the Americans, 
 who, seeing their danger, prepared for defense. They 
 had built a square in closure of logs, in which they slept 
 at night. Into this they fled. The Spaniards at day- 
 break commenced their fire, wiiich was returned from 
 the log pen. In ten minutes, Captain Nolan was killed 
 by a ball in the head. Bean then took the command, 
 and continued the fight. In a short time after, two 
 more of the little company fell. The Spaniards had 
 brought with them a swivel on the back of a mule, with 
 which they fired grape. At this time, Bean proposed to 
 
TEXAS. 193 
 
 his men to charge on this piece of artillery, but the men 
 jointly opposed it. It was next proposed to retreat, 
 which was agreed to. Eacli one filled his powder-horn, 
 and the remaining ammunition was placed in charge of 
 the negro. They left the inclosure, and gained a small 
 creek. "While here engaged in fighting, the negro with 
 the ammunition, and one wounded man, stopped and 
 surrendered. Bean and his party, though under a con- 
 stant fire from the enemy on both sides, kept up the 
 fight, until at last they took refuge in a ravine, and, for 
 a short time, the firing ceased. At length the enemy 
 began to close in upon the ravine, but were soon re- 
 pulsed. About two o'clock in the afternoon, the Span- 
 iards hoisted a white flag, and an American, who was 
 with the Spaniards, Avas appointed to hold a parley with 
 Bean. They said, all they desired was, that the Ameri- 
 cans would return to their homes, and cease to come any 
 more into Texas. The Americans agreed to this. A 
 treaty was made, in which it was agreed that both 
 parties should return together to Nacogdoches — the 
 Americans not to surrender, but to retain their arms. 
 
 They soon reached the Trinity River, which was over- 
 flowino^ its banks. Bean soon contrived to make a small 
 canoe out of a dry cotton- wood tree, and managed to 
 carry over all the Spaniards, leaving their arms and com- 
 mander on the other side. He now proposed to his men 
 to throw the arms into the river, start the commander 
 over, and again march for the prairies. In this, how- 
 ever, he was not seconded. 
 
 In a few days they all reached Nacogdoches, where 
 they remained a month, expecting, according to promise, 
 to be sent home. But in violation of the treaty, they 
 were all put in 'irons and sent to San Antonio. Here 
 they were kept in prison three months. They were then 
 sent to San Louis Potosi, where they remained in prison 
 
 9 
 
194 TEXAS. 
 
 for sixteen months. The prisoners being without 
 clothes, contrived means to procure them. Bean and 
 Charles King gave themselves out as shoemakers, and 
 were permitted to work at their prison doors, by which 
 means they earned some money. Then they were started 
 off to Chihuahua. Arriving at Saltillo, they were treated 
 with more kindness. Their irons were taken off, and 
 they were permitted to walk about the towai. Here we 
 will leave them for the present, simply remarking, that 
 this battle of twelve Americans with one hundred and 
 fifty mounted Spaniards, was probably the first which 
 ever took place between these two nations, and from it 
 we may judge of the character of each. 
 
 FIRST AMERICAN COLONY IIT TEXAS. 
 
 The first grant from the Mexican Government to 
 found an American colony in Texas, was dated January 
 17, 1821. This grant was given to Moses Austin, a 
 native of Connecticut, and the father of the distin- 
 guished Colonel Stephen F. Austin. The father dying 
 suddenly, the son undertook the great and benevolent 
 work of carrying out his father's plans. He accordingly 
 explored the country watered by the Guadalupe, Colo- 
 rado, and Brazos Eivers, and laid out the town of San 
 Felipe de Austin, on the Brazos. The news of Austin's 
 colony had spread over the western country, and there 
 were many adventurers who were anxious to join him ; 
 so that the number of colonists came on faster than 
 provision could be made for their support. The first 
 settlers were often reduced to the necessity of living en- 
 tirely on wild game, and clothing themselves with skins. 
 They also suffered greatly for several years from the 
 Carankaw Indians. In the year 1813, one of the colon- 
 ists gives us the following account of their sufferings : 
 
 " Those of us who have no families live with families 
 
TEXAS. 195 
 
 of the settlement. A part of us are obliged to go out 
 in the morning to hunt food, leaving a part of the men 
 behind to protect the women and children from the In- 
 dians. Game is now so scarce that we often hunt a 
 whole day for a deer or turkey, and return at night 
 empty-handed. It would make your heart sick to see 
 the poor little half-naked children, who have eaten 
 nothing during the day, watch for the return of the 
 hunters at night. As soon as they catch the first 
 glimpse of them, they eagerly run out to meet them, and 
 learn if tliey have found any game. If the hunters re- 
 turn with a deer or turkey, the children are wild with 
 delight. But if they return without food, the little 
 creatures suddenly stop in their course, and the big tears 
 start and roll down their pale cheeks." 
 
 These were hard times for the young colony. But 
 they were engaged in a great and good work, and met 
 and overcame all difficulties with manly firmness. The 
 common dress of the people was buckskin; and occa- 
 sionally a strolling peddler would penetrate into the 
 wilderness with a piece of domestic or calico, which was 
 deemed of as much elegance as silk or satin is among'us. 
 
 Soon after the establishment of Austin's colony, many 
 other colonies were founded in different parts of the 
 country. The settlement at Victoria was begun in 
 1825. The town of Gonzales was laid ofi" about the same 
 time. In 1828, Colonel Austin obtained another con- 
 tract to colonize three hundred families on lands near 
 the Gulf Texas had now become the great point of at- 
 traction to thousands of adventurers from all parts of 
 the United States. Men of desperate fortunes and of 
 roving habits, speculators in land, broken-down politi- 
 cians^ refugees from justice, as well as multitudes of a 
 better class, who were desirous of finding new homes for 
 their growing families, and fresh lands for their increas- 
 
196 TEXAS. 
 
 ing slaves, swelled the tide of Texas immigration. This 
 tide, rolling down from the Xorthern and Western 
 states, at last excited the jealousy of the Mexican gov- 
 ernment, and finally brought on a Avar with Mexico, 
 which ended in the independence of Texas. 
 
 GALVESTOi^ ISLAND. 
 
 From the discovery of this island, in 1686, by the 
 French under La Salle, until 1816, it remained un- 
 settled. A few^ roving Indians occasionally resorted to 
 the western end of the island for the purpose of fishing, 
 but there were no human habitations on it. As late as 
 1816, it was covered with a long, green grass, on which 
 fed herds of deer. It also abounded in serpents, and 
 was hence called by the pirates of the Gulf, Sncike 
 Island. In 1816, Don Louis Aury, commodore of the 
 fleet of the Republics of Mexico, Venezuela, La Plata, 
 and New Granada, consisting of fifteen small vessels, 
 was chosen governor of the province of Texas and Gal- 
 veston Island. He immediately set out upon a cruise 
 against Spanish commerce, and soon swept from the 
 Gulf the vessels of the mother country. The rich prizes 
 brought into Galveston soon enabled Aury and his little 
 garrison to live handsomely. African slaves were also 
 smuggled into the place, and sold at about one hundred 
 and fifty dollars apiece, and sent across the country into 
 Louisiana. In 1817, it fell into the possession of the 
 celebrated Lafitte, who had for many years been the 
 terror of the Gulf — a man of great accomplishments and 
 of many crimes — who, when the war between England 
 and the United States broke out in 1812, had his head- 
 quarters at Barataria, in Louisiana, and after refusing to 
 join the British, offered his services to the American 
 Government, was pardoned by the Legislature of Louisi- 
 
TEXAS. 197 
 
 ana, and fought bravely at the battle of New Orleans 
 under General Jackson. 
 
 After the battle of New Orleans, Lafitte returned to 
 his former occupation, and he and his followers on Gal- 
 veston Island numbered nearly a thousand men. They 
 were of all nations and languages, and though pretend- 
 ing to be engaged, under tlieir distinguished leader, as 
 privateers, were actually nothing but pirates. Lafitte 
 was a man of handsome person, winning manners, gen- 
 erous disposition, and had a wonderful influence over 
 his men. He built his town on the ruins of Aury's 
 village, erected a dwelling called the red house, and con- 
 structed a fort, a small arsenal and dock-yard. From 
 New Orleans he was supplied with building materials, 
 provisions, and many of the luxuries of life. A "Yankee " 
 boarding-house sprung up, and Galveston soon became 
 a place of many attractions to the wild free-booters of 
 the Gulf. But, in 1820, Lafitte and his men committed 
 some acts which brought on him the displeasure of the 
 United Stales Government, who sent an armed vessel 
 and broke up his establishment. This prince of pirates 
 entertained the captain of the American vessel with 
 great hospitality at the red house. He then assem.bled 
 his followers, made them an address, supplied them 
 Avith money, advised them to disperse, and bidding the 
 American officer farewell, sailed out of the bay, and 
 left Galveston forever. 
 
 Galveston, in 1822, was again desolate, and for some 
 years it was only visited occasionally by sailors in search 
 of Lafitte's hidden treasures. 1\\ 1836, the eastern end 
 of the Island was occupied by some Texas troops under 
 Colonel Morgan, who had charge of some Mexican 
 prisoners. Two years after this, when Texas had estab- 
 lished its independence, and crowds of strangers com- 
 menced coming into the country, the town began to 
 
198 TEXAS. 
 
 rise ill importance. Comnierce had sought out the 
 harbor as the best in the young Republic, and respon- 
 sible merchants began to make it their permanent abode. 
 In 1838, vessels were arriying and departing daily, and 
 the harbor presented the appearance of an Atlantic port. 
 In the first quarter of the year 1840, ninety-two vessels 
 arrived at the port of Galveston. 
 
 THE FALL OF THE ALAMO. 
 
 In 1836, Santa Anna, who was at that time President 
 of Mexico, determined to invade Texas, and either drive 
 the Americans out of the country, or crush out the 
 spirit of independence which had broken out among 
 them. Accordingly he set out for the Eio Grande on 
 the 1st of February of that year, at the head of seven 
 thousand troops, and on the 27th of the same month, 
 he marched into the city of San Antonio. The few 
 Texas soldiers who were stationed in that city retired 
 across the river in good order, and took refuge in the 
 Alamo. The Alamo, though strong, Avas not properly 
 a fort, but a presidio or mission. It had been standing 
 for nearly one hundred and fifty years, and had been 
 the scene of many strange and interesting events. Here 
 Colonel Travis, with his small force of not more than 
 one hundred and fifty men, determined to make a stand, 
 and conquer or die. He had only eight cannon, and 
 was greatly deficient in provisions and ammunition. 
 When the enemy first appeared before the place, he had 
 only ninety bushels of corn and thirty head of cattle. 
 But the watch-word of the little band of heroes was, 
 " Victory or death ! " Santa Anna immediately de- 
 manded a surrender, which was answered by a shot from 
 the fort. The enemy then hoisted the red flag, and 
 commenced the attack. They erected a number of bat- 
 teries, and for several days kept up a constant skirmish- 
 
TEX.VS. 199 
 
 ing. Travis and his little band frequently sallied out 
 and met their assailants, whom they drove back with 
 considerable loss. On the 1st of March, thirty-two gal- 
 lant men, from Gonzales, forced their way into the Ala- 
 mo, thus swelling the force of Travis to one hundred 
 and eighty-eight. For several succeeding days the con- 
 test was kept up with spirit on both sides, the Texans 
 firing but seldom, in order to save their ammunition ; 
 and the Mexicans advancing their batteries nearer and 
 nearer to the walls. Travis succeeded in sending out, 
 through the enemy's lines, a last appeal to his country 
 for help in this his terrible extremity, setting forth 
 his position, and stating that if not soon reinforced, he 
 and his men had solemnly determined to perish in the 
 struggle. By the same courier he wrote to a friend in 
 Washington County the following affecting message: 
 " Take care of my little boy. If the country is saved, 
 I may make him a fortune. But if all is lost, and I 
 shall perish, I Avill leave him nothing but the proud rec- 
 ollection that he is the son of a man wlio died for his 
 country." 
 
 Thus for one long week did this little band of heroes 
 defend themselves against the overwhelming force of the 
 enemy, until they were completely worn down by con- 
 stant watching and fighting. On Sunday morning, the 
 Cth of March, Santa Anna determined to take tlie place 
 by storm, and the Alamo was completely surrounded by 
 the whole Mexican army. The infantry was placed in 
 a circle nearest the fort, and the cavalry around them, 
 so that not a single straggler might escape. At a given 
 signal, tlie whole host advanced rapidly, under a tre- 
 mendous fi"re from the Texans. Just at daylight, ladders 
 were placed against the walls, and the soldiers began to 
 climb up. But they were hurled down by the brave 
 defenders within. Again the charge was sounded, and a 
 
200 TEXAS. 
 
 second effort made to reach tlie top of the wall ; but 
 again the assailants were beaten back. For a few min- 
 utes there was a pause. A third attempt was made with 
 more success. Some reached the top of the wall, wavered 
 and fell; but their places were supplied by hundreds 
 pressing up behind them on every ladder. At last, cut 
 down, killed and wounded, the Texan defenders began 
 to give way. Instantly the fort was filled with hundreds 
 of infuriated murderers. The survivors within the walls 
 still continued the battle. They clubbed their guns, 
 and with shouts and yells of defiance, fought from wall 
 to wall, from room to room. Some few cried for quarter, 
 but no quarter was given. Travis and Crockett fell with 
 piles of dead Mexicans around them. Major Evans, in 
 attempting to set fire to the magazine, was shot down. 
 Colonel Bowie, who was sick in his bed, was murdered 
 and his body mangled. Major Dickinson, in attempting 
 to leap from the wall with his child tied on his back, 
 was instantly killed. Thus, one by one those noble 
 heroes sold their lives; and by sunrise on that Sabbath 
 morn, every one had perished, and all was still. But 
 around them lay the dead bodies of over five hundred 
 Mexicans, with an equal number of w^ounded. 
 
 The only survivors of this terrible conflict were Mrs. 
 Dickinson, her child, a negro servant of Colonel Travis, 
 and two Mexican women. The bodies of the Texans 
 were stripped, mutilated, and then thrown into heaps 
 and burnt. 
 
 As not one of all the defenders of the Alamo escaped, 
 we shall never know the full particulars of that desper- 
 ate struggle. 
 
 About a year after, their bones and ashes were col- 
 lected, placed in a coffin, and buried with due solemnity. 
 A small monument was made from the stones of the 
 fortress in 1841, was purchased by the State, and now 
 
TEXAS, 201 
 
 stands in the Capitol at Austin. But the most lasting 
 monument of the heroes of the Alamo is found in the 
 hearts of their countrymen, who will cherish their 
 memory, and tell each succeeding generation the tale 
 of their sufferings, their endurance, and their heroic end. 
 
 They fell unnoticed, but undying — 
 
 The very gales their names seem sighing". 
 
 CAPTURE AND SLAUGHTER OF FANKIN'S MEJq- AT 
 GOLIAD. 
 
 The news of the fall of the Alamo and the entire 
 destruction of its brave defenders soon spread through- 
 out Texas. It now became necessary that the army of 
 the young republic should retreat before the advance 
 of the larger force under Santa Anna, and make a stand 
 against him in the eastern part of the country. Ac- 
 cordingly, General Houston, who was at the time at 
 Gonzales, issued orders that the scattered troops should 
 fall back and unite at some more favorable place. In 
 this retreat the two armies had frequent skirmishes, in 
 some of which the Texan s gained signal advantages. 
 
 Colonel Fannin, who was stationed at Goliad with 
 three hundred men, began his retreat. Thinking that 
 the enemy would not pursue him, he was not suflScient- 
 ly on his guard, and was overtaken at the Coleta Creek, 
 about thirty miles east of Goliad, on the 20th of March. 
 He and his men were in an open prairie, and the infant- 
 ry and cavalry of the enemy were concealed in the tim- 
 ber near the creek. The enemy's cavalry, coming up 
 within a quarter of a mile, dismounted, and began to 
 advance and fire. Fannin ordered his men to reserve 
 their fire and to lie down in the grass. The Mexicans 
 having now come within one hundred yards, the Texans 
 opened a fire of rifles, muskets, and artillery. Fannin 
 here received a flesh wound in the les^. 
 
202 TEXAS. 
 
 While thus engaged with the Mexican cavah\y on their 
 right flank, they suddenly discovered the enemy's in- 
 fantry, one thousand strong, advancing on their left 
 and rear, and concealing themselves in the long grass. 
 Whenever they would rise to shoot, and show their 
 heads, the Texas rifles generally took them down. The 
 battle soon became general. The Texan s having no 
 w^ater to sponge their cannon, the pieces soon became 
 so hot that they could not use them, and they were 
 forced to rely wholly on their small arms. With these 
 they kept up the fight from one o'clock until sundown. 
 At dusk, a party of Camanche Indians, who had joined 
 the Mexicans, were placed in the high grass, about thirty 
 yards from the Texan s, from which they poured a de- 
 structive fire. But, as soon as it became suflSciently 
 dark for the Texans to see the flash of their guns, they 
 seldom flashed twice from the same place. A little after 
 dark, the enemy drew off their troops. 
 
 The Texans lost, during the day, seven killed and 
 sixty wounded. The enemy's loss must have been five 
 times as great. 
 
 The Mexicans took position, during the night, in the 
 skirt of the woods. Early in the morning they renewed 
 the attack, and, arranging their whole force in the most 
 imposing manner, surrounded the little band of Texans 
 with overwhelming numbers. Fannin and his officers 
 now held a consultation, and it was the opinion of the 
 majority that they should surrender. A white flag was 
 raised, and terms were agreed on. It was stipulated 
 that the Texans should be received as prisoners of war, 
 and in eight days should be sent to the coast and 
 shipped to the United States. This agreement was 
 reduced to writing in both the English and Spanish 
 languages, read over two or three times, and the writing 
 exchanged "in the most formal and solemn manner." 
 
TEXAS. 203 
 
 The Texaus immediately stacked their arms and such 
 of them as were able to walk, were marched back to 
 Goliad on the same day. At Goliad they were crowded 
 into the old church, with no other food than a little 
 beef, without bread or salt. Some other prisoners were 
 also brought in who had been captured at other points. 
 Here they were kept until the 27th of the month, ex- 
 pecting every day to leave for the United States. The 
 prisoners were spending the evening of the 27th in the 
 most pleasant manner. Colonel Fannin was entertain- 
 ing his friends with the prospect of a speedy return to 
 the United States; and some of the young men, who 
 could perform well on the flute, were singing "Home, 
 Sweet Home." Alas ! how little they knew of the sad 
 fate that was awaiting them. At seven o'clock at night, 
 a courier arrived with an order from Santa Anna, that 
 the prisoners should all be shot ! Accordingly, on the 
 next morning at the dawn of day, the Texans were 
 awakened by a Mexican officer, who said he wished 
 them to form a line that they might be counted. The 
 men were marched out in several divisions, under differ- 
 ent pretexts. Some were told that they were to be 
 taken to Copano, to be sent immediately home ; others, 
 that they were going out to kill beeves; and others 
 again, that they were being removed from the church 
 to make room for Santa Anna and his suite. Dr. 
 Shackleford, who had been reserved jrs a surgeon for the 
 wounded Mexicans, and was invited to the tent of a 
 Mexican officer, a little distance from the fort, says: 
 " In about half an hour we heard the report of a volley 
 of small arms on the east of the fort. I immediately 
 inquired the cause of the firing. The officer replied 
 that he did not know, but supposed it was the guard 
 firing off their guns. In about fifteen or twenty min- 
 utes after, another such volley was heard directly south 
 
204: TEXAS. 
 
 of US. At the same time I could distinguish the heads 
 of some of the men through the branches of some peach- 
 trees, and could hear their screams. It was then, for 
 the first time, that the awful conviction seized upon our 
 minds, that treachery and murder had begun their work. 
 I then asked the officer if it could be possible they were 
 murdering our men. He replied that it was so, but that 
 he had not given the order, neither had executed it. In 
 about an hour more the wounded were dragged out 
 and butchered. Colonel Fannin was the last to suffer. 
 When informed of his fate, he met it like a soldier. 
 He handed his watch to the man who was to kill him, 
 and requested him to shoot him in the head, and not in 
 the back. He then seated himself in a chair, tied a 
 handkerchief over his eyes, bared his bosom, and re- 
 ceived the fire. 
 
 " As different divisions were brought to the place of 
 execution, they were ordered to sit down with their 
 backs to the guard. A young man, of the name of Fen- 
 ner, rose on his feet, and exclaimed, 'Boys, they are 
 going to kill us — die with your faces to them, like 
 men ! ' At the same time, two other young men, swing- 
 ing their caps over their heads, shouted at the top of 
 their voices, 'Hurrah for Texas!' 
 
 " Many attempted to escape ; but most of those who 
 survived the first fire were pursued by the cavalry and 
 cut down. It is- believed that twenty-seven of those 
 who were marched out to be slaughtered made their 
 escape, leaving three hundred and thirty who were 
 butchered in cold blood. The dead were then stripped, 
 and their naked bodies thrown into piles, and though 
 an attempt w^as made to burn them, it did not fully suc- 
 ceed, and many of them were left a prey to dogs and 
 vultures." 
 
 Peace to the ashes of these noble martyrs of liberty ! 
 
TEXAS. 205 
 
 They did not full in vain. A cry for vengeance arose to 
 Heaven. It rung through the land, and a terrible ret- 
 ribution overtook the cruel murderer and his army at 
 the battle of San Jacinto. 
 
 BATTLE OF SAN JACINTO. 
 
 The battle of San Jacinto was the last and most im- 
 portant one which took place in the war between Texas 
 and Mexico. Though the numbers engaged in it were 
 not very large, yet the victory of the Texans wjis so 
 great, that it brought the war to a close, and soon led 
 to the independence of Texas. It was fought on Buffalo 
 Bayou, and near San Jacinto River, in Harris county, on 
 April 21, 1836. General Santa Anna, the President of 
 Mexico, commanded the Mexicans, and General Hous- 
 ton led the Texans. The Mexicans numbered fif- 
 teen hundred men, and the Texans only about seven 
 hundred. We need not describe the proud advance 
 of the Mexican army, the retreat of the Texans, 
 the burning of Ilarrisburg, the skirmishing on the 
 20th, and other incidents which took place before the 
 battle. 
 
 General Houston called a council of war, and it was de- 
 cided that they must now fight, or the Mexicans would 
 drive them out of the country, and compel them to cross 
 over into Louisiana. Many of the soldiers were impa- 
 tient to bring the matter to close quarters, and were de- 
 termined either to meet the enemy at once, or else go 
 home and take care of their families and property, which 
 were in danger of being destroyed by parties from the 
 Mexican army, who were prowling over the country. It 
 was about three o'clock on the afternoon of the 21 st, when 
 General Houston made preparations for the attack. The 
 Mexicans seemed to be almost entirely unprepared for 
 battle. They had just finished their dinner. Some were 
 
206 TEXAS. 
 
 lounging about the camp. Some were playing monte, and 
 many were taking a quiet nap. Santa Anna was him- 
 self asleep. The Texans formed their plan of attack 
 behind the shelter of some trees, which concealed them 
 from view. Burleson's regiment was placed in the 
 center ; Sherman's on the left wing, and the cavalry, 
 under Lamar, on the extreme right. The artillery, 
 including the " Twin Sisters," was under the charge of 
 Hockley. The whole army was soon in readiness. The 
 " Twin Sisters " now advanced to within two hundred 
 yards of the Mexican breastworks, and opened a de- 
 structive fire with grape and canister. Sherman's 
 regiment rushed forward and began the attack with 
 great fury. The whole line then advanced in double- 
 quick time, shouting, " Eemember the Alamo ! " "Re- 
 member Goliad ! " The Mexicans fired as the Texans 
 approached, but the latter reserved their fire until they 
 were within pistol shot. They then opened fire along 
 their whole line. The effect of this discharge was ter- 
 rible. They made no halt. Onward they rushed, firing 
 and yelling as they went. The Texan cavalry then 
 charged that of the Mexicans, who immediately fled; 
 and in a few minutes Burleson's regiment and Millard's 
 infantry stormed the breastwork, and captured their 
 whole artillery. In fifteen minutes after the charge, 
 the Mexicans gave way at all points, and the pursuit 
 became general. Some fled to the river ; some to the 
 swamp, and most of them to a clump of trees in their 
 rear, where they surrendered. Such was their terror, 
 and so sudden was their flight, that many of their 
 cannon were left loaded, their money and other valuables 
 left untouched. — Those that were asleep, awoke only 
 to be overwhelmed or killed. Those that were cooking 
 left their food untouched; and those that were playing 
 monte, left the game unfinished. The swamp, in the 
 
TEXAS. 207 
 
 rear of their camp, presented an awful scene. Men and 
 horses, the dead and dying, were piled in heaps, and 
 formed a bridge over which their terrible pursuers con- 
 tinued the chase. The Texans, not having time to load 
 their guns, used them as clubs ; and then, seizing their 
 bowie-knives, slaughtered the poor fugitives like sheep. 
 Many begged for their lives, but no quarter was given 
 them. Their pursuers remembered the many fearful 
 outrages committed by the Mexicans on former occa- 
 sions, and they were determined to put to death all 
 who came within their power. 
 
 At dark the pursuit of the flying enemy ceased. 
 The prisoners who surrendered before the flight com- 
 menced, were conducted to the Texan camp, a guard 
 placed over them, and were furnished with provisions. 
 The wounded of both armies were cared for. In sum- 
 ming up the results of the battle, it was found that 630 
 Mexicans were killed, 208 wounded, and 103 made pris- 
 oners. A large quantity of arms, great numbers of 
 mules and horses, camp equipage, and the army chest, 
 containing 112,000, were captured. The Texans had 
 only 8 killed and 25 w^ounded. General Houston re- 
 ceived a wound in the leg. 
 
 On the morning of the 22d, detachments were sent 
 out to scour the country in the direction towards 
 Harrisburg, and pick up stragglers. A party of five 
 continued their search down Buffalo Bayou. One of 
 them, in the act of shooting a deer, saw a Mexican hid- 
 ing in the tall grass, with a blanket over his head. 
 They called to him to rise and come to them. He ad- 
 vanced, and taking one of them by the hand, kissed it. 
 They asked him who he was. He replied that he was 
 only a private soldier. But, seeing some gold buttons 
 on his shirt, they pointed to them. He then burst into 
 tears, and begged to be conducted to General Houston. 
 
208 TEXAS. 
 
 This prisoner was none other than the celebrated Santa 
 Anna. On approaching Houston, he announced his 
 name, and declared himself a prisoner of war. General 
 Houston was reclining beneath a tree, and was suffer- 
 ing considerable pain from his wound. He, however, 
 received the prisoner with due consideration. Santa 
 Anna was much agitated and much alarmed. Knowing 
 the hatred entertained towards him by the Texans, be- 
 cause of his many former cruelties, he justly feared 
 their vengeance. He asked for opium, some of which 
 he swallowed, whether for the purpose of quieting his 
 nerves, or destroying his life, we know not. But in a 
 few minutes he recovered his usual composure, and be- 
 gan to display his usual vanity. He at once made 
 application to be released from captivity. " You," said 
 he to Houston, " can afford to be generous, for you have 
 conquered the IN'apoleon of the West ! " General Hous- 
 ton distinctly informed him that he should be turned 
 over to the civil authorities. President Burnett then 
 took charge of him ; and after detaining him for some 
 time a prisoner, he was permitted to go to Washington 
 City, from whence he was sent home by General Jack- 
 son, in a vessel of war, to Vera Cruz. 
 
 Thus ended the celebrated battle of San Jacinto. 
 The brave band, under their distinguished leader, ob- 
 tained a victory as glorious as any other recorded in 
 the annals of history, and the happy consequences of 
 it will be felt in Texas in all future generations. It 
 shows what brave men can do when fighting for liberty 
 against tyrants. 
 
 RELIGIOl^ IN- TEXAS. 
 
 Although many of the early settlers in Texas were 
 immoral in their habits, yet the mass of the people 
 entertained a great regard for religious observances. 
 
TEXAS. 209 
 
 Most of them Avere educated in the older States, and 
 brought with tliem their reverence for sacred things. 
 The leading men among them were well aware that no 
 people can be prosperous who do not encourage the 
 worsliip of God. This was particularly true after the 
 country became independent of Mexico. It was then 
 that a feeling of gratitude to Heaven, for its blessing on 
 tlieir efforts to become a free people, seemed to pervade 
 all classes, and ministers of the Gospel, of all denom- 
 inations, were cordially welcomed to the country. It 
 is now difficult to decide what Christian sect had 
 the honor of organizing the first church in Texas. 
 The Methodists and Baptists both claim this distinc- 
 tion. 
 
 As early as 1818, tlie Rev. Henry Stephenson, of the 
 Methodist denomination, preached in the Kcd Eiver 
 settlements, in Western Louisiana. In 1824 he paid a 
 visit to Texas, and preached the first Protestant sermon 
 west of the Brazos, near San Felipe. There were four 
 families present on that occasion. The first camp- 
 meeting was held in Texas in 1833, ten miles from San 
 Augustine. About eighty persons attended. A few 
 individuals professed religion, and a church was organ- 
 ized. On January 17, 1838, the corner-stone of a Meth- 
 odist house of worship was laid in San Augustine. Gen. 
 Thomas J. Rusk delivered an address on the occasion. 
 This w^as the first effort to erect a church building west 
 of the Sabine. 
 
 In 1837, the Rev. R. Alexander, D.D., emigrated to 
 Texas, preached extensively throughout the State, was 
 the means of doing a great amount of good, and still 
 lives to see the fruits of his labors. About the same 
 time, the Rev. Dr. Ruter, for some time president of 
 Alleghany College in Pennsylvania, a man of practical 
 views, sound learning, and of a truly missionary spirit, 
 
210 TEXAS. 
 
 settled within tlie bounds of the young republic, and 
 labored and died in Texas. 
 
 One of the most remarkable preachers, whose name 
 appears in the early history of the State, was Paul 
 Denton. He was early left an orphan in Arkansas, and 
 liyed in a family where he was treated as a servant, and 
 had to cook, wash, scour, and perform other degrading 
 work. Until he was twelve years of age, he was a 
 stranger to hat and shoes. "When he became older, he 
 ran away from his oppressors, and commenced life for 
 himself. At an early age he married, and learned to 
 read and write after becoming the head of a family. 
 He finally became a preacher, and soon showed remark- 
 able powers as a public speaker. He was a man of fine 
 person, agreeable manners, and although without any 
 advantages of education, displayed a high degree of elo- 
 quence. His first efforts as a preacher of the Gospel 
 were in the Eed Lands in Eastern Texas. He after- 
 wards removed to the northern part of the State. He 
 was a man of public sx)irit, and was brave as well as 
 good. He raised a company of volunteers to chastise 
 the Indians, who had become troublesome to the white 
 settlers, and was killed in battle. Texas has honored 
 him in calling a county by his name. 
 
 Among other ministers of the Gospel who came to 
 Texas at an early time the Eev. Sumner Bacon is worthy 
 of honorable notice. He arrived in the country in 1828. 
 He was a native of Massachusetts, and was first a soldier 
 in the United States army before he became a clergy- 
 man. He was a man of great energy and courage. In 
 connection with his duties as a preacher, he distributed 
 thousands of copies of the Bible from the Sabine to San 
 Antonio. On one occasion he was overtaken by a band 
 of ruffians, who seized him and threatened him with 
 instant death. He begged his captors to first join with 
 
TEX.VS. 211 
 
 him in prayer. They refused to unite with him, but 
 consented that he might first pray himself before they 
 put their tlireat into execntion. He knelt down and 
 prayed so fervently, that tliey all quietly left him. On 
 another occasion, as he and some others were preparing 
 to hold religious services near San Antonio, certain per- 
 sons sent him word that they intended to come and 
 break up the meeting. Col. James Bowie, being in the 
 neighborhood, and hearing of their purpose, went to the 
 place where the meeting was to be held. He made the 
 sign of the cross on the ground, and informed them that 
 he was captain in those parts, and that the meeting 
 should take place. Knowing the character of Bowie, 
 and fearing his wrath, the opposers of the meeting with- 
 drew, and Bacon and his friends proceeded with their 
 services. Mr. Bacon belonged to the Cumberland Pres- 
 byterian Church. 
 
 AKIMALS OF TEXAS. 
 
 A stranger, on first arriving in Texas, is struck with 
 the large size and spreading horns of the cattle. Their 
 large and superior forms are probably owdng to the mild 
 climate and the abundance of grass, which yields a rich 
 supply of food at all seasons of the year. They require 
 no other care than occasional herding to keep them 
 gentle and prevent their straying, and to mark the 
 calves. 
 
 Hogs thrive admirably in Texas on grass, roots, mast, 
 and fruits. Pork is easily converted into bacon, and 
 preserved without difficulty, owing greatly to the pecu- 
 liar dryness of the air. 
 
 Herds of wild horses feed on the prairies, and increase 
 in numbers as you proceed west. They are easily sub- 
 dued to the saddle. The catching of a wild horse by a 
 Mexican is a display of skill and valor which is truly 
 
212 TEXAS. 
 
 wonderful. The ranchero on horseback dashes among 
 the herd as they rush over the prairie, and swinging 
 about his head his lariat — a platted rawhide with a run- 
 ning noose at the end — he throws it with great accuracy 
 over the neck of the wild animal, and in a few minutes 
 he is run down and captured. Mules are also raised in 
 great numbers, though perhaps not so good as those of 
 Kentucky. 
 
 No country surpasses Texas in abundance of game. 
 Immeuse herds of bnifalo were still found, within a few 
 years past, in the northwestern settlements. Deer flock 
 over every j^rairie. Wild turkeys, the prairie hen, par- 
 tridges, the delicate rice-bird, with numerous others, are 
 found in great numbers. During the winter, the bays 
 are alive with thousands of wild geese and ducks. The 
 flamingo is occasionally seen to display its brilliant 
 plumage. The stately swan frequents the waters of the 
 bays; and around the houses of the plantations the 
 mocking-bird sings its melodious notes. 
 
 In all the waters, fish, of the choicest kind, abound. 
 Along the coast are oysters of the largest size and finest 
 flavor. 
 
 The fiercest wild animal in Texas is probably the 
 panther, though it is rarely met with. There are also 
 bears, wolves and a few wild-cats. Among the lesser 
 animals are the opossum, rabbit, and gray squirrel. 
 
 EAELY CHUKCHES li^ TEXAS. 
 
 In a previous article it will be seen that the Method- 
 ist Church sent the largest number of clergymen, in 
 early times, to Texas. 
 
 The first Baptist preacher who came to the country, 
 was the Rev. Joseph Bays, who emigrated from Mis- 
 souri, and preached on Peach Creek, on the west side of 
 
TEXAS. 213 
 
 the Brazos, in the year 182G. In a short time he re- 
 moved to San Antonio, where he continued to labor 
 until he was ordered away by the Mexican autliorities. 
 In 1829, a number of Baptists, who came from New 
 York, establislied the first Sabbath-school in the country, 
 in the town of San Felipe. It was taught by T. J. Pil- 
 grim, who was the interpreter of the Spanish language 
 in Austin's colony. The same year another Sabbath- 
 school was opened at Matagorda, and in the year follow- 
 ing a similar one was started at '' Old Caney," by 
 members of the same Church. After this time, many 
 members and ministers of the Baptist Church came to 
 the country and organized churches in different parts 
 of the State. 
 
 In the year 1838, the Rev. Caleb S. Ives, of the Prot- 
 estant Episcopal Church, arrived at Matagorda, where 
 he collected a congregation, established a school, and 
 built a church. He continued to. labor until 1819, Avhen 
 he died. In the fall of 1838, the Rev. R. M. Chapman, 
 of the same Church, came to Houston and organized a 
 parish. In 1810, he was succeeded by Rev. H. B. God- 
 win. 
 
 In the spring of 1810, the Rt. Rev. Leonidas Polk 
 (late General Polk of the Confederate army) visited and 
 explored the country between the Trinity and the Colo- 
 rado. In 1811, the Rt. Rev. G. W. Freeman, Bisliop of 
 Arkansas, visited the churches of Texas, and continued 
 his visits annually for several years. In 1811, the Rev. 
 B. Eaton was sent out, as a missionary, to Galveston 
 and Houston. On January 1, 1819, a separate diocese 
 was organized for Texas with six clergymen. Since 
 that time the Episcopal Church has continued to grow 
 both in numbers and influence. 
 
 The Presbyterian Church was not among the pioneer 
 churches in Texas. About the year 1838, the Rev. 
 
214 TEXAS. 
 
 Hugh Wilson arrived in the new republic. He was 
 probably the first Presbyterian minister who settled in 
 Texas. He organized a Presbyterian Church in San 
 Antonio shortly after his arrival, and in the year follow- 
 ing established one at Independence. He was a labori- 
 ous and useful man, and will always stand high among 
 the first ministers of the Gospel in Texas. The Rev. 
 John McCulloch came to Galveston about the same 
 time, and gathered a congregation and founded a Sab- 
 bath-school under many disadvantages. The state of 
 morals and religion in the Island City at that time was 
 not very favorable to the efforts of the young mission- 
 ary.* 
 
 With the Rev. W. Y. Allen, at Houston, and Rev. W. 
 C. Blair, P. H. Fullenwider, I.J. Henderson, F. Ruther- 
 ford, and a few others, located at different points in the 
 State, the Presbyterian Church began, about the year 
 1840, to take a position among the other religious de- 
 nominations in the country, and has been gradually 
 advancing in influence and usefulness until the present 
 time. As most of the clergymen referred to are still 
 living, we can say but little more respecting them than 
 merely to give their names. 
 
 The most laborious and useful minister of the Pres- 
 byterian Church, who ever lived in Texas, was the J.iev. 
 Dr. Baker, who died within a few years past at Austin. 
 He was a man of great energy and apostolic zeal. All 
 could see that his sole aim aiid purpose was to preach 
 the Gospel and do good to the souls of men. Coming 
 to Texas as a missionary about the year 1810, he visited 
 almost every part of the State, and preached most abun- 
 dantly. In all weathers and in all places, he showed 
 himself the fearless soldier of the cross. With a fine 
 
 * Mr. McCulloch died within the last three years. 
 
TEXAS. 215 
 
 person, a silvery voice, and often with melting eyes, he 
 presented the great truths of salvation in sncli a man- 
 ner as to attract large congregations, and win many 
 converts to Christ. At last, after a long and useful 
 ministry, he died a peaceful and happy death in the city 
 of Austin. The college at Huntsville owes its existence 
 to his exertions. 
 
LETTEE FEOM ISTASHVILLE. 
 
 the' TEXAS DEAD OF HOOD's BRIGADE AT THE BATTLE 
 OF FRANKLIN". 
 
 Nashville, Tennessee, Nov. 26, 1867. 
 Being in attendance as a delegate from Texas to the 
 Southern General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church 
 now in session in this city, I accepted an invitation a 
 few days ago to visit the mansion of Colonel John Mc- 
 Gavock at Franklin, twenty miles from Nashville, that 
 I might partake of his princely hospitality and view the 
 quiet resting-place of those Southern soldiers who fell 
 in the disastrous battle of Franklin on the 30th of De- 
 cember, 1864. Three Louisiana friends accompanied 
 me. Here repose, in peaceful graves, the mortal remains 
 of nearly fifteen hundred Confederate soldiers who fell 
 on that eventful day. Around their silent dust an ele- 
 gant iron fence is now near its completion, erected by 
 the citizens of Galveston, Houston, and the surround- 
 ing villages, through the agency of Miss Gay, of Georgia, 
 whose presence in Houston some months ago will be 
 remembered by many, and whose faithful disbursement 
 of the funds contributed, together with the names of 
 every Texian contributor, is attested by documents now 
 in the hands of Colonel McGavock. In full view of the 
 mansion, and on a gently-sloping lawn, we entered the 
 gate, and paced solemnly down the smooth walk that 
 
LETTER FROM NASHVILLE. 217 
 
 separates the long rows of rounded hillocks where, in 
 regular order, are interred the remains of Mississippians 
 and Tennesseans, soldiers from Georgia, Alabama, and 
 Texas — each in his warrior bed, on which is inscribed 
 the name, company, and former residence of the occu- 
 pant. "With emotions which patriotic and Christian 
 hearts alone can fully feel, and with silent tears on the 
 cheeks of men not used to weep, we advanced from 
 grave to grave. We thought of the bloody strife and 
 of these sad results. Here lies the mangled body of 
 many a father who came far from home to fight the 
 battles of his country ; of many a son, the pride of his 
 mother ; of many a brother, the idol of fond sisters, and 
 many more, bound to distant ones by still tenderer and 
 holier ties. 
 
 But the largest share of our attention and the deep- 
 est sympathy of our hearts were elicited, as we stopped 
 and lingered long around that portion of the ground 
 where lie the dead from Texas. There are fifty-nine in 
 all, with the name of the Lone Star State inscribed on 
 each tablet. Here they lie, far from home, and many a 
 heart was left desolate by their fall. How grateful 
 should those Texas parents feel, whose sons were spared 
 through many a bloody conflict, and are now at their 
 happy firesides, cheering their households by their pres- 
 ence, and cultivating the arts of peace. Why were these 
 taken and others left ? AVhy did my friend's son fall 
 and mine escape? "Even so. Father, for so it seemed 
 good in thy sight." 
 
 But we would not omit to say, that on many of the 
 tablets of the Texas dead no name is lettered; but in 
 its stead is simply the word ^^ Unknown ! " — unknown, 
 alas, his name, his age, his calling — unknown the place 
 where his kindred dwell — and unknown to kindred 
 where lies the body of their lost Texan I As the sad 
 
 10 
 
218 LETTER FROM NASHVILLE. 
 
 word " unknown " was repeated with a low and saddened 
 voice which 1 thought none near me could hear, the 
 imposing form of an old friend (not of the clerical pro- 
 fession) advanced to my side, and with quivering lips 
 uttered these cheering words : 
 
 * ' Unknown ' is all the epitaph can tell — 
 If Jesus knew thee — all is well." 
 
 I now looked around and inquired where lie the re- 
 mains of General Granberry — that man of classic taste, 
 and commanding form, and trumpet voice — Granberry, 
 once my pupil, who sat in my recitation-room for four 
 full years, in the quiet groves of Oakland College. " He 
 is not yet here," replied our host; "but as soon as his 
 Texas friends shall request his removal from a neighbor- 
 ing farm, he shall come here also, to repose among his 
 friends who fell with him on the field of battle." 
 
 To those in Texas who have friends buried in this at- 
 tractive spot, I would add that if they have inquiries to 
 make, or requests to present respecting their dead, they 
 may communicate without reserve with Colonel McGav- 
 ©ck, the proprietor of the premises, who will cheerfully 
 and promptly impart all needed information. And to 
 some who may ask to be more fully informed respecting 
 the agency of Miss Gay, who presented the claims of 
 the cemetery to their consideration, I may add that no 
 one more worthy of their confidence could have been 
 selected to convey their offerings to the place designated. 
 
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